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A little break and then back to work
2007-08-14 07:59:54
Positive feedback is trickling in on my beta, which is heartening except that I put OUT the beta because I want input on what isn't so great. Maybe the problem is that it's fairly clear this is the best I can do...so people don't bother to make suggestions because what's there is pretty simple and solid. I guess I'll keep plugging away in #amv-review... :(
Had fun in last night's review session, though I really wish I'd been able to properly participate. Apparently I was the only one there who'd actually seen the series (Loveless). I plan to download the AMV and op it today as recompense.
The big plan is to reformat my harddrive this coming weekend which should be oh-so-joyous since I have to handle updates and things via dial-up. Maybe I should use the raise I just got to pay for satellite Internet...hmm...nah. The next big plan is to jump full-scale into my next project:
1. Haruhi+ I had a zing of inspiration for this at the gym last night. It's really going to be a lot of work, though, so I need to plan carefully. I also have to check and see when the rest of the series will come out. I have high-quality softsubs that I can use if I have to, but I'd rather not, particularly given the amount of work this AMV will be if I go at it without holding back.
2. B.A.D. Although the idea of continuing to work with Advent Children makes me somewhat ill, this IS a project I put on hold to do Sephiration Anxiety and I've had a few more ideas about how to handle it since then. One I can't pull off. :(
3. Portrait of the Addict Ah yes, my bastard child, the AMV I've been trying to make for three years now. I went so far as to re-rip the clips that went missing, but fooling around in the AMV was a depressing experience. The idea is great, but I don't really have the footage to pull it off...
4. Whiplash I have all the Gankutsuou footage I need, just have to sort through it all and go at it. This would be a huge endeavor. I have only the vaguest idea of what I want and that's not a good way to start.
5. In the Key of V I still desperately want to make this video, but I fear my technical skills are not up to the task. May be a good project down the road.
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One positive review in
2007-08-13 10:41:10
I woke up this morning feeling more depressed than ever about my AMV, so I downloaded it at work (my site's link works, thank god) and finally watched it on my PC here (confirming that my PC at home doesn't always play it back at the right speed!!!) and feel better because it is good...it's not a bad AMV at all. Further, it's good for ME, just finishing an AMV is an enormous accomplishment for ME, nevermind having it come out halfway decent.
So anyways, I asked a fellow employee (who's asked me to give her an opinion on HER creative projects in the past) to watch it and tell what what she thought. This is someone who has never seen an AMV, Advent Children or FFVII and doesn't know anything about the storyline. The response was good, she loved the song (said it was perfect) and "got" the general idea behind the entire fight. This means that even if you don't get a lot of the "deeper" (I don't really want to use that word, but oh well) stuff in this AMV, you can still get the most important. The "deeper" stuff requires familiarity with the game and the movie.
Tonight I'll sit in on the AMV review session and throw out my beta for comment then. *sweatdrop* I want this AMV to be better and I need some help doing that, uploading it as is and getting criticisms after the fact is not going to work. -
Almost there..! Wait I already used this title...
2007-08-12 18:25:10
S.A.
Pre-edit: 14?
Editing: 76
I bit the bullet today and uploaded a beta version of my AMV. I then went through paroxysms of joy, depression, annoyance and fear that must be withdrawal symptoms of some sort. I had to sternly remind myself that making this AMV was an accomplishment for ME, not for anyone else. It's something I set out to do more than four years ago and finally did - through all kinds of trauma that would discourage less stubborn (or wiser?) folk.
I can't figure out yet if my drive to make my other AMVs is lessened by finally finishing at least ONE or if I'm that much more confident in my ability to make them and therefore don't feel so pressured to do so. Now I also get to look forward to doing all the things I was putting off by trying to finish this AMV, like reformatting my computer, rebuilding my Web site, doing some design work for one of my nonpaying "clients," learning Flash and better Web site practices...yay. -_-
An exhaustive rundown of the help I'm seeking with S.E. is in the Op Exchange forum under "WIP - Sephiration Anxiety (a six-point questionnaire)" where a link to my AMV also is provided.
I don't know if I will include in my AMV summary the time it took me to create S.E. It's rather embarrassing. -
2007-08-10 10:09:35
S.A.
Pre-edit: 14?
Editing: 69
Look at that. I'm up to almost 70 hours of work in Premiere. I'd never believe it if I hadn't kept track and you'd never be able to tell from the way the AMV looks. The pathetic part is that it's taking me longer to fine tune my AMV than cobble it together in the first place. I'm a perfectionist, though, and generally don't manage to do things right the first time out the door.
Oh yeah, and I’m not going crazy and my previous theory on the slow/fast situation is kaput. My computer really IS playing back my AMV at different speeds – the bad part is that I think it’s doing so at the WRONG speeds, either too fast or too slow. This is NOT good because I like my AMV a heck of a lot better at the faster speed!!
Premiere may be going into death throws. Last night it crashed twice on me while I was attempting to alter a pretty simple area (ok, maybe not so simple, 7 semi-opaque tracks, but it never had a problem with it before). I love how polite the program is, though. If this was a Microsoft application, you’d get a big red warning sign and rude error message, then some tyrannical admonition about reporting the problem so MS can “look into it.” Adobe actually apologizes for the inconvenience and says please when making suggestions about how to handle the issue. I’m sure this was done because they anticipate a lot of cursing and hair-ripping going on when crashes do happen and figure it’s a good idea to calm everyone down.
So no beta today. The new plan is to make some final adjustments over the weekend and try to upload the file from home to my site. I’ve dived back into messing around with things that I should just leave well enough alone and screwed up a half dozen areas, so I can’t possibly present a beta in this condition. It would have to include a long list of “please ignore [xx.xx.xx] because I’m going to do [X] with it.” One positive fallout of said screwing around was that I accomplished a certain nice effect on a segment that’s been plaguing me for weeks. It turned out so well that I’m going to try using it on some other areas. It’ll be just my luck if people tell me it’s stupid…
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On overused Advent Children footage...
2007-08-09 13:03:12
There is cause to cheer when you feel you've used an overused scene better than most people. Whheee!!!! I just watched two highly-rated AMVs with A.C. footage and felt an outpouring of sympathy for the editors mixed with guilty pleasure, so this explains this entry.
I'm beginning to understand why sometimes I look at my AMV and think "oy that's too slow" and other times "oh, that was a little too fast," yet never really considered altering the speed of the music to pump it up a little. The footage synchs really well to the song, frighteningly well, which means that a lot of the Advent Children fight scenes WERE slow!! (Assuming I'm watching my AMV at the right speed, that has yet to be determined). Many action AMVs that use these scenes feature heavily sped up/chopped up clips to synch with the fast-paced music most action videos use. This is one reason I relied on a lot of internal synching for my video, because you lose those details if you try to have too many fast cuts.
I'm beginning to toy with the idea of using some of my wonderfully synched clips during the credits. I don't have many credits to show, though...so that's a problem. tee hee
JOURNAL: DriftRoot (Lauren C.)
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