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Unexpected absense, my days at the hospital.
2003-08-23 00:14:33
Ok. I don't know who all knows my situation at home, I think Omnistrata is the only one who knows, but I spend much of my time at home as a 24 hour caretaker for my 92 year old grandmother who suffers from Parkinsons.
Wednesday night she had some complications due to her Cumadin, a blood thiner she takes because of her mechanical heart valve. In essense her blood was too thin. (Cumadin is used to prevent the blood from clotting too fast clogging up the mechanical heart valve) On Wednesday she was showing signes of possible internal bleeding, and to be on the safe side the doctor decided it was best that she be admitted into the hospital for evaluation, and fortunately I caught the signs early enough for them to administer some vitamin K to help stabalize her blood. (Vitamin K actually helps blood regain its abuility to clot, which she needed.)
Fortunately there was no internal hemoraging and we were able to stabalize her and she is now back at home. I am glad because I do not want her to stay in the hospital more than I can help it. It can be much more dangerous for her than being at home because here she is not exposed to so many diseases, while in the hospital there are thousands.
With granny in the hospital, and myself preparing for another semester of teaching, you could say it has been a little hectic around here, but getting back to watching some good AMV's is helping me relax again. For those who are waiting for reviews from me, I appologise. I am going to be getting back into the swing of things again and everything should be back to normal. -
My method of reviewing AMV's
2003-08-17 17:56:16
Ok. I have never used the journal before, but I am going to start now. First off, for those who wish to know how I come up with my opinion scores, I have broken down what it is I look for, and how I score each section.
My scores: My normal range is between 5 and 8. 5 being average, and 8 being very good. 9 and 10 are reserved for extraordinary and outstanding work. They are rare so feel very good if you get one.
Here are the categories, and what I look for when scoring them.
Originality - I base this on not just using original anime/music combinations, but in how the video does things that distinguish itself from other videos. This could be a very original theme, or original editing techniques, interesting scene selection, well used special effects (You can have great special effects, but if you don't use them right, they can get in the way) Anything done that really makes the video special.
Video/Audio quality - This is both on how the video looks and sounds, but also on file size and compression. For those using WMM and such, I do take that into account. Remember, 8 is very good while 5 is average.
Action / Edit sync - Ok. This covers two major things, first is pacing. Pacing is how well the video flows with the music as well as how well it fits thematically with the music. You want to have your video feel like the visuals were just made to be in this video, and they work so well together. Second is your edits themselves. How well do they coincide with the music, and do they help keep the video flowing, or do they hamper the flow. Also, do they work in any special way to convey feeling or emotion, such as shock, or sadness. Scene selection also plays a part here, but not as much as in originality.
Lip Sync - This one is self-explanatory. Does it look like the characters on screen are the ones singing.
Special Effects - Ok. It takes something really special, more on the lines of Terminator2 type special effects, to get a 10 here. But more importantly, it is how you use your special effects to enhance your video rather than the impressiveness of them that is important here.
Effort - This is not based on how many hours you spent on a video, though if you spend enough it will show in the video itself. This is more based on how well planed out your video is. How good your edits go with the music, how well does your scene selection help express your main theme. These are signs that someone has taken loving care to put their video together. (I also take pain and suffering of using extremely aggravating programs like WMM into consideration, especially when they come up with something extroardinary while using them.)
Re-Viewability - Ok. This is not necessarily linked to any one section, but a combination of everything combined. It is also the hardest section to really get a good score in. Why? Because you can make a technically perfect video, but is it enjoyable enough to make someone watch it over and over again. But in general, the better you do in all the rest, the better you do here. The videos that tend to do poorly in this area are ones that lack originality, are poorly paced, show sloppy care in putting things together, and are generally devoid of any essence at all. But if you have put together a pretty good video, you should fair well here.
Overall - Ok. The overall score is not an average of all the other scores combined, but an analysis on how well the video comes together as a whole. Sometimes an overall score can go higher or lower than the individual scores, that is because your video may be well paced, excellently timed, but be very un-original, or be very original, but be only average in the pacing, yet overall be something that touches something inside that overcomes the technical difficulties it has. But I will assure you, it usually runs about average with the other scores. The only ones that may run high while the overall score is low, or visa-versa, is the Video/Audio quality. You can have a beautiful stinky video, or an ugly duckling that turns into a swan.
JOURNAL: Braveliver (Braveliver McFearce (aka David Seymour))
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