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THANK YOU AMV GODS
2007-12-17 21:33:39
YESSSSSS!!!
I made a nice little beta. Or not so little, it's about 57 MB. But it's just perfect! No weird aspect ratio, the images are nice and clean...
Although this does showcase how rough my AMV is. I also had the frightening realization while doing sit-ups at the gym that my entire approach has, possibly, been completely wrong and I've sunk almost 100 hours into a piece of crap.
OH WELL -
Firaga Weekend - here comes a big post
2007-12-17 10:08:24
'Bustin
Pre-edit: 24
Editing: 59
This weekend will be remembered for a long time as “Firaga” weekend. First of all, I spent about three hours messing around with Sephiroth’s famous bonfire scene, only to realize when I was done that my tampering completely undercut the whole REASON I used that scene, which is as a setup for the first big gag. As such, it can’t really be tampered with. Secondly, I almost torched my apartment – twice – because I’d forgotten I put some clothes in the oven to dry off. Friday night I made pizza, but only after rescuing my smoking jeans from the stove innards. Saturday afternoon I made cinnamon rolls, but only after yanking my best hiking pants from the hellish maw shortly before they … well I’m not sure what they would have done. There are three holes melted in the left leg, so whether they would have gone up in flames or oozed into a crispy ball of polyester is beyond me. This is probably a good time to invest in a fire extinguisher, these two incidents made me painfully aware of the fact that the one I did have disappeared.
The Good: Tons of good, but most importantly, I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve been so obsessed with the beginning/middle of this AMV – having already fooled around with the end enough to know that it will work, whenever I get around to it – that finally turning my attention to the last quarter of it is definitely refreshing. I can watch pretty much the whole thing now without wincing, though there still are a lot of areas that need minor tweaking.
The Bad: Being of the Libran persuasion, I constantly weigh my options, evaluate the situation – on the outside appearing to change my mind constantly. Rather disturbed that I would willingly enter a sub par AMV in a competition “just” because it’s been a goal of mine for three years now and I finally have a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding, I’ve decided that the real test is going to be how I feel about ‘Bustin when it’s completed. If I feel like essentially saying to thousands of people “Look, its good enough to be entered in a contest,” then I should be able to staunchly defend its merits. I’d also better be prepared to take scathing criticism from certain individuals who (I suspect) would jump all over me if it later was revealed that my entry fell into the category of “Well, it’s not really that good, but there weren’t enough entries to pick and choose who got into the finals, so we had to show it.” I was thinking about sitting there in the audience with the other editors and being embarrassed that my AMV is being shown and...and…whoa!! BIG red flag, wrong attitude! Granted, I have always been quite enthusiastic about the concept for this AMV, so I have no reservations about defending it on those grounds, but I don’t know whether its presentation and editing is of competition caliber. I’ve seen some snore-worthy comedy/fun AMVs on the big screen, but very few with poor editing that stuck out like a sore thumb. I mean, I don’t think my editing is bad, but it’s nothing to write home about, either.
The Ugly: I’ve been putting off creating a beta because I’m petrified that the second I try to make a low-res AVI file, I’m going to discover I’ve royally screwed up my aspect ratios or compression or something. This is just like the snow tires I bought online – I wouldn’t check with my mechanic to make sure they would actually fit my car, because I didn’t want to know that I’d just thrown away $350 until the last minute. -
I'm trying!
2007-12-14 10:14:45
"C'mon Lauren, this is like my 5th video since your last video..."
Is that moi you're referring to? If not, ignore this... :D
My goal this weekend is to get a beta (or several) in shape for disbursement to prove I have been working very hard. My reasoning is that I've come far enough that:
1. People will know what I'm trying to do, so instead of making suggestions like "you need to fill that hole" they can say "maybe if you began the track matte sooner the text would pop up faster."
2. If something is not working, I need to know NOW, not in the middle of February when I'm freaking out because the competition deadline is two weeks away. Yes, I've decided that this will probably head to AB as long as I get it done. Why? Well, I've been watching a lot of Ghostbusters AMVs lately to get an idea of what other people have done... and I'm pretty disappointed. So my motivation has evolved a little beyond the self-gratification level to setting out to prove the song deserves a really unique, really fun treatment. Add Advent Children to the mix, and I think I've got something no one's ever seen before (if they have, I want to see it too!!).
3. I'm a little shaky on a few technical items in 'Bustin and there are a few overarching issues I'd like to throw out there to see if I'm being overly paranoid.
Beta testers are very much wanted!! -
Meh
2007-12-13 12:44:51
Bustin
Pre-edit: 24
Editing: 51
The Good: I have gotten to that lovely point in this wretched process where not finishing is completely unacceptable.
The Bad: Unfortunately, the stuff I have left to do is probably going to be more difficult than all the rest of the AMV combined, which I've already spent over 50 hours on.
The Ugly: My pre-edit hours are about to go through the roof. The last minute and a half of this AMV is, if I can accomplish what I want to accomplish, going to have to drown in the funny sauce, which means I have to slave away over a hot Photoshop for hours and hours and hours (days, really). I also may have to get out the potholders and fire up AE. Oh yay.
FF7FM-wise, I'm suffering from what I most feared: the urge to make complete AMVs out of the tracks that were supposed to only be featured briefly. My reasoning is that maybe I COULD pull off full length AMVs, not just snippets, and that it will be far more satisfactory if I do. I think I really need to STOP listening to the songs...
My mother's cat says "Meh." Except it's more like "Meeeehhh?"
Meeehhh meehhh, meh meh meehh meh meh mehhh! <---- watching birds out the window -
Spinster me this
2007-12-11 15:11:30
Bustin
Pre-edit: 24
Editing: 50
The Good: There we go, there's the official halfway mark, 50 hours. I’m starting to sweat a little, because I’m running out of time. Only two months left! I work two jobs, I don’t get a day off! I can’t sit at a computer 14 hours a day, five days a week, and then do the same thing for fun 10 hours on the weekend!
The Bad: So the intro is winding down into eye-rolling mediocre territory. I figure it's better than having an intro that doesn't accomplish what it needs to, though (leaving something on screen long enough for it to soak in). I can't spend any more time on that whopping 7 seconds of my AMV, though. I've...got...to move on.
The Ugly: This AMV is going to have to be a lot better than it currently is for me to enter it in any kind of competition. I can't think pessimistically like: "Well, if I enter it then at least it'll be shown in overflow," either. That's really bad for morale and really stupid. If I have no faith in my own AMV, why should I expect anyone else to?
Yeesh, what an awful thing...out of 700 or so hits, I've got 140 or so downloads on S.A. What scared everybody off? Oh, that's right, I'm not supposed to admit that it was my first AMV. Mmm, yeah, I'm supposed to hide that fact in hopes of bamboozling folks who ditch first AMVs like unwanted kittens on the side of the highway. After all, those are exactly the people I want watching my AMVs: the kitten killers. I hope someday I can reach their level of feline foul play and take such measures to protect my eyes from the appalling creations of lesser beings.
What’s that? The entire star rating system is a joke of cosmic proportions? I’m supposed to make AMVs for my own enjoyment, and to hell with everyone else? Yes, yes…but I’m pretending the star scores actually mean something and that I’m losing track of the innocent, lighthearted nature of this hobby.
And then there are the people who say “this is my first AMV" and you just have to raise your eyebrows because its level of editing is so high (hrm, I’ve been watching GetBackers and it’s showing – I keep talking about people’s “levels.”)
I’ve noticed that these little conversations I have with myself are increasing in frequency. A few hundred years ago, I’d probably have been labeled a crazy person. Not married by age 30, I MUST be bonkers!
JOURNAL: DriftRoot (Lauren C.)
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