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Around and around we go
2007-12-10 10:20:00
Bustin
Pre-edit: 24
Editing: 49
I dived back into the intro last night, after spending probably the longest block of time OFF a computer since I don't know when (at least a year). This means I went just about 24 hours sans PC work. Such a nice feeling (I'm not counting the DVDs I was playing, either, this is hardcore computer work I avoided, not benign things like watching movies).
Regardless, after tweaking and tweaking and tweaking the intro, I arrived at exactly the same place I was about three weeks ago. It was one of those classic moments when I render what I assume is an entirely new, entirely better sequence made from scratch, watch it play back and think happily "Ok, this is getting better" and then, not so happily, "Wait a second, haven't I seen this before?" and then, "Oh maaannn." I am literally editing in circles.
On the other hand, it's becoming very obvious that the way I want the intro to look has potential, even if I'm only catching glimpses of it here and there. It's like, ALMOST there, I can see it...I just can't figure out how to grab it. This is probably because Premiere doesn't offer the kind of control I need. AE is, again, jumping up and down in the corner and it's starting to sway me to its way of thinking. -
Funny sauce and other important condiments
2007-12-07 12:38:38
'Bustin
Pre-edit: 24
Editing: 47
Well, it took me less than an hour to work out the earthquake-like wrinkles in the middle of my AMV. It's getting a heck of a lot closer to what it needs to look like, though once again my stock of funny sauce is running low. I had to watch one scene about 20 times before realizing, "DUH, put a dollop of sauce THERE - problems solved!" Where did my funny sauce goooo? 'Bustin may be headed for the fun/upbeat/other category at AB if I can't find a hell of a lot more of the stuff. It's just not comedic enough to keep people laughing the entire four minutes, though to be fair, it never was supposed to do that.
So this weekend is shaping up to be kind of a mess. I've got to get a lot of Christmas shopping done, which is amusing since I live an hour and a half from any major city/shopping area that doesn't suck (yes, West Lebanon, N.H., you do suck - escape the 80's already). In between, I've got to squeeze in obtaining a Christmas tree, doing barn chores, finishing a freelance project and working on 'Bustin. 'Bustin is pretty low on the list, and I have no idea what I should tackle next, because I'm creeping up on the finale which absolutely must drive home the idea that this is a funny AMV - which involves the possibility of over a minute of frame by frame rotoscoping - but that intro is still haunting me...
Maybe they sell funny sauce in Burlington.
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DOING DOING
2007-12-06 15:16:36
My sock puppets may not work. The audio isn't good enough, and I cannot figure out where/when Statler and Waldorf say their "More More!" or "Minute and a Half" lines. I really do not have time to sit through X seasons of the Muppet show, plus all the movies and specials, to find them, either.
It's always SOMETHING, isn't it! *shakes her fist at the AMV gods*
Worse, every time I think about working on 'Bustin, now, given last weekend's giant waste of time, I'm like "Um...I think I need to...wash the kitchen floor..." My floor does not need washing. *sniff sniff* Well, I could always just...no...I must finish this AMV in its entirety, it's not going to wind up in FF7FM. -
DING DING
2007-12-05 10:29:56
It’s occurred to me that I could, theoretically, enter my FF7FM “Relax” track in Anime Boston’s competition. It would have to go in the fun/upbeat/other category, because it’s not blatantly obvious what I’m up to until the last three seconds of the AMV, so comedy is definitely impossible. The only real problem is that it’s not meant to be a standalone AMV – it uses a short, hacked up segment of the song that, while it goes out with a bang really, really well, that bang is in danger of leaving the viewer hanging in mid-air, 20 feet from the edge of the proverbial cliff, thinking “What…the hell…was that? Wait, that was IT? Ohhh…, um, OH!” On the other hand, I’ve seen some rather strange stuff in the fun/upbeat/other category at AB, so that might not be a problem at all.
The other issue is that I have to remake it from scratch and fix a few areas along the way, nevermind figure out how to get away with the ending, and get it in by the deadline – might be difficult given the pace my “real” entry is going at. It would be a huge joke on me if “Relax,” an 8-hour experiment, got into the competition, and my 100+ hour, carefully planned ‘Bustin AMV didn’t. oh wait…oh WAIT A MINUTE (this is me thinking out loud, suddenly hit by awesome inspiration) I might be able to use my sock puppets. @_@ IT’S PERFECT!!! *cue mad scientist (a.k.a. Hojo) laughter*
How in the world am I going to get that done by March 1, though? And is the timing really right? I can’t use my puppets if the timing is off. Must…investigate…tonight…I think it’s ok, though. It can’t be Kadaj and Sephiroth, though, I’d have to use…maybe Cloud instead of Kadaj. Or, I could be twisted and use Kadaj and Rufus. Hrm. Might be a little too twisted…
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Whew, ok, the time is starting to inch into (total) 100-hour territory
2007-12-03 12:51:27
'Bustin
Pre-edit: 23
Editing: 46
So eight hours this weekend messing around with about 1 minute of footage and I STILL can't get it right. Apparently Final Fantasy folks aren't cut out for the dance floor, because more choreography lessons are needed:
*foot - Take 15*
"Damnit, Reno, put you foot down right THERE!"
*puts foot down*
"I said, there, not THERE."
*foot - Take 16*
"OMG, are you an idiot? How hard is it to put your right foot down when the beat goes BHUM? Ok ok, fine, we'll try it somewhere else instead."
*foot - Take 17*
"ARGHH!! You have no sense of rhythm, you know that? Cloud can do it with his huge sword, Tifa can do it with her huge...er...and even Denzel can do it with his pupils!! But can YOU just put your foot down when it needs to go down and have it stay there until the closeup? NO."
I also screwed up the intro even more, after attempting to fix it for the umpteenth time. *sigh*
My desire to be more daring with my editing style (not that I have a style) is being stymied by the fact that this song is so forceful that synching to anything but what one would expect just sucks the energy right out of a scene (though one place it worked really well, unfortunately I don't think I can let that remain if everything following it doesn't work at all). When I get depressed, though, I can just cuddle with my FF7FM "Relax" track and enjoy the warm fuzzies from that completely blind, completely off the top of my head editing success (as far as I'm concerned).
JOURNAL: DriftRoot (Lauren C.)
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