JOURNAL: Famous Last Words

  • Second AMV idea 2010-06-01 12:57:06 Music: Nightwish - The Poet and The Pendulum (original or demo)
    Anime: D.Gray-man
    Concept: Given the length of the song, this AMV would feature at least the core main characters (Kanda, Lenna-Lee, Lavi, and Allen) and be a character development progression through the song, with scenes dictated by the lyrics of the music.

    Execution: Likely, the biggest obstacle to making this AMV happen is the length of the song, something like nearly 12 minutes long. That's pretty massive for an AMV that isn't a mix (AniMix) or 'switching channels' (AMV Hell). It would be nice if the editor didn't have to cut anything out, however, and to go for a truly epic final product, similar to how 'Tearing the Viel From Grace' ended up. The most important part of the video, for me, would be the segment in the music where it cuts over to metal guitar with the lyrics, "Second robber to the right of Christ.."

    However, starting from the top, with the soft piano opening, the overall mood should be set by clips that would indicate to everyone watching that this is either a dark and tragic story, or that it is specifically D.Gray-Man, depending on how the editor decides to tell the story with the music. At the point where 'the end' is sung (first lyrics), the death of Mana should be used in some way, and this segment can be used to tell the story of young Allen and his hardships, and how it ended in tragedy. For this segment, either a dream-like filter could be used to make it seem like it is all in the past, or a sepia 'old movie' filter even. This will last through the entirety of the slow somber cadence of the first verse, but special attention should be paid to having clips of Allen's Innocence (or at least the interaction between Innocence and himself when he was young) during the last four lines, since two of those lines are 'Innocence'.

    As the music shifts to the faster segway (with guitar) leading to the second verse, the timeline should shift to the older Allen, with a natural transition in accordance to how the first segment ended. Now begins the segment where the lyrics change and the entire mood of the music shifts again. Here, clips of Allen joining with the other characters should play, as well as some of the initial struggles he endures. Once the music shifts into the first chorus ("Get away, run away, fly away.."), the character focus should shift to Lena-Lee as well as Kanda, and the clips should be action clips of the three of them working together to overcome difficulties. From here, the focus would change away from focusing just on Allen.

    When the third verse begins, the mood of the clips should change back to more peaceful character background development, adding lyric-appropriate clips from Lena-Lee and Kanda's past (this can include clips that are out of sequence with the actual series episode order, as much as makes sense). Lavi can be added at this point during the 'peaceful' times, leading into the second chorus. When the second chorus begins, the clips should move back to more action scenes, with the timeline of the episodes headed towards the ocean voyage. In fact, if the editor can somehow squeeze in enough logical clip progression to push the timeline shown fast enough to encompass the battles at sea before the end of the chorus, that would be the best possible scenario.

    As the second chorus fades, it leads to the soft choir segment in the music. As this verse begins, the clips should be in memorial to those who had died throughout all of the struggles thus far in the timeline of the series. Which characters and how this is portrayed is up to the editor to create maximum dramatic effect. Some editors might want to go for tears, others might go for something more somber and less emotional. This should last till the lead singer rejoins with "On the shore.." and the focus should become more hopeful, with clips showing all four characters turning towards the next monumental task ahead of them, where they must eventually face Tiki in the battle scene that I mentioned in the first paragraph.

    I think keeping the thread of the plotline might be difficult given how much happens throughout the series that will have to be skipped over. As the music transitions into the "I'm afraid, I'm so afraid.." speaking verse, the focus should move towards the bad guys. This is likely going to be the most difficult part of the entire song to deal with since it involves rape and the speaking part is a child's voice. I don't know how to address it, but I'm certain that focusing upon either the fact that it is a child speaking or the actual events being told is a bad idea, so this might be a good time to try to gloss through the lyrics or at least use clips to shift visual attention away from the lyrics. If the editor is using the 'demo version' of this song, they could throw out this advice and completely embrace the lyrics since the speaking part is Tomas, and adult male, which could be lip-synced to Tiki. Either way, this section should lead up to the climactic battle between the heroes and Tiki, where Allen has not shown up yet.

    Once the speaking lyrics are done, the music quickly grows very conducive to the battle scene, and clips should take full advantage of every hit and every pop in the music. The entire point of this should be to lead the viewer up to the climax of this segment in the music where the metal guitar kicks in, which is where Allen arrives to save everyone, evoking his 'Crown Clown' ability with the sword. There is a break in the music between the 'metal lyrics' where it goes back to the earlier battle-style music, and this should include clips that show Allen being pushed back as well as the struggle between him and Tiki overall.

    As the second set of lyrics that begin with "Everyone must bury their own.." begins, the clips should go back to Allen pushing back and eventually succeeding in purging Tiki of the Akuma power with his sword. As the music shifts back to the third chorus, clips showing Tiki reviving as the 'super evil dude' should lead the battle right back into the thick of it, until finnally at the end of this segment of the music Tiki is defeated and the battle has ended with both sides being wounded, exhausted, etc.

    Now the music sinks back into melancholy, and it is up to the editor whether they want to make this a 'this is the price of freedom, it has cost us so much' ending or if they want to make it more of an epilogue for each of the four characters and how they cope with the battles and the pains of the losses they've accumulated. The music and lyrics always make me think of a soldier coming home from war, psychologically changed from the young man or woman who left for service with bright hopes for the future, now hardened and distant, but still loved by their family. The ending lyrics are "The beginning" which should be how the final scenes of the AMV should end, and depending on how the editor has chosen to proceed, that should determine whether the end gives hope or offers condolences.

    The end. 
  • After all these years..ideas that persist 2010-05-31 20:34:05 So this is my first journal entry here. I've been here on and off, so I've been pretty thoroughly removed from the community, as well as from AMVs themselves. There were a number of ideas I had over the past 5+ years that I've always wanted to make happen..and I've concluded that I just do NOT have the skill to make it happen.

    I say this without shame, because I've got a lot of other things going on in my life that take precedence over making AMVs and my career has nothing to do with video editing. But these ideas, even after all these years, just will NOT let me go. Every time I listen to the music, I can't help but imagine the scenes of the video playing out..and even though I see these scenes vividly, I cannot make them become reality.

    And so I offer these ideas to any who would read this journal. Perhaps they might spark an editor to put the idea into action, but ultimately, I just want to get these ideas down. It's sort of like exorcising a demon..but in a good way?

    Here is the first idea (more will be posted in subsequent journal entries):

    Music: Shinedown - 45
    Anime: Noir
    Concept: Focus on Kirika as the subject of the song's lyrics, syncing various specific scenes to the lyrical progression of the song. Retell the story to fit the music, but each section of clips should be logical in progression.

    Execution: For the beginning of the song, up through the first chorus, the scenes would be contemplative clips of Kirika, as well as scenes to set the overall mood and tone of the AMV. I can't remember specific clips, but essentially the idea was to create a strong backdrop featuring Kirika's lack of emotion, perhaps in thoughtful contemplation as the lyrics suggest. Disregard the reference to 'young man', as the three main chars of Noir are all female.

    As the song builds into the first chorus, combine clips of Kirika firing her gun, synced with the guitar hits and the lyrics 'as he slowly fell apart', to create a huge dramatic hit and hopefully evoke a strong reaction from the viewer. During the first chorus, as the lyrics 'staring down the barrel of a 45' play (in both instances) feature clips with Kirika aiming down her gun, or aiming at her target specifically. These should be slow and dramatic moments in the anime, or at least slow enough to create the tension that the song refers to. By the end of the first chorus, after the second 'barrel of a 45' finishes and the music drops back to the somber tone, the aiming clip used for that line should end in a discharge of the firearm.

    During the transition between the first chorus into the second somber verse, scenes should play out of the downtime that Kirika has between missions, relaxing and perhaps thinking about the previous events in the clips used during the first chorus. As the second verse's lyrics play, there should again be a building of contemplation clips, of Kirika being thoughtful, with a particular moment coinciding with the lyrics, 'keep your eyes open/for a while' with perhaps a scene of Kirika being surprised with her eyes flicking open.

    As the second series of lyrics play in the second verse, the first or second episodes should be used with Kirika pulling down the box from her attic that have her ID and so forth, coinciding with 'in a box, high upon a shelf/left for you, no one else'. After this, during the third set of lyrics in the second verse, the clips should show Kirika showing more emotion, and should include the clips from the mission where she had to kill the old man towards the later episodes. This should work with the lyrics 'piece of a puzzle known as life' as well as 'wrapped in guilt'.

    With the second chorus building, more of the clips from the episode where she killed the old man should be used, again synced with the music and the lyrics, building up to the 'slowly fell apart' hit in the music where he closes his eyes, accepting that he is about to die and Kirika's unemotional facade cracks and she cries. The rest of the second chorus after the hit should have the clip of her going ahead with killing the old man, perhaps with a clip of her looking down the barrel at him one more time before pulling the trigger. Further clips supporting this 'acceptance' of her role as killer/bringer of justice should be used to finish out the chorus.

    The third verse, or refrain, hits and with this there should be a shift in the video's focus, or at least some sort of shift within the thread of the plot being told by the AMV. Honestly, things get fuzzy from here on, and I'm not sure whether to use scenes from when Kirika was taken in by the old folks in that creepy village, showing the soldiers fighting with the villagers, and ending the verse with the scenes of the village burning. It should be a set of clips that fans of Noir would recognize and be able to follow logically.

    After the third verse, the third chorus hits and clips should return back to the original theme of Kirika and her firearms, whether they be handguns or rifles. The clips should again be logical in how they play out but do not have to be only from the end of the anime (though that would be ideal). It would then be up to the editor to decide how they want to end the story the AMV is telling, whether to show Kirika smiling (as I think she did at the end of the anime series) or whether to show her as a cold-blooded killer who had thrown away her humanity (which would support the village scenes for the third verse).

    The end. 
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