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Funny story
2008-11-05 21:59:04
My sister, a fairly PC-illiterate individual who - up until two years ago - thought she was supposed to save all her files on 3.5" floppy disks because, waaaay back in the day, that was the safe way to store files (and not use up previous HD space), had a little run in with a vicious trojan of some sort which attached itself to one of my AMV files. She calls me up and yells at me via the answering machine about "THAT HORRIBLE AMV SITE" and swears up and down she'll never touch another AMV from here again, since she thinks the .ORG is a den of evil, I guess.
The whole Internet is a den of evil, I don't know why this surprises her, but I've always felt safer HERE than a lot of other places. So after being extra considerate and checking with the powers-that-be (and .org folk at large) that yes, just as I thought a virus is highly unlikely, I returned the phone call with a rather miffed one of my own. She then returns IT and, in a somewhat more contrite tone, says all she knows is the virus was IDed as originating from my AMV file. So her b/f is reformatting her computer. Her b/f who is an IT guy of some sort and who constantly accuses me (behind my back) of screwing up my sister's computer.
Excuse me, but if my computer activity was so deadly, wouldn't it stand to reason my own PC would be a smoking pile of rubbish by now? It's not, and it never has been, and I've NEVER run into half as many problems as my sister does with her PC...so who's the one who knows what they're doing, huh? Drives me up the wall, it does. I don't reach for the reformat option every single time some little problem crops up. I troubleshoot the problem and I fix it, something I have yet to see this b/f of her's do. Reformatting a PC is easy (in a 12-16-hour kind of way, where mine's concerned). Hunting down viruses and whatnot demands a heck of a lot more skill, patience and knowledge.
Grrr....GRRRRRR!!!! And I'd just barely gotten my sister to the point where she was actively interested in seeking out and downloading AMVs on her own, too. Talk about a setback. It's taken me over a decade to get her this far. She used to be an anime hater!
erm, off-topic, but thank you to whomever decided to show my AMV at Youmacon. I've been hearing about it second-hand via the Tube (as usual), but I'm still not quite sure what was going on (as usual). It was part of an AMV panel or screening or something, but that's all I know. Makes me wonder what other videos were shown. @_@ -
So tell me if I've got this right -
2008-11-03 12:29:39
The part about making AMVs that I never "got" is ... that....
*drumroll*
It's supposed to be fun?
*confetti bursts over the whole room*
Well that explains a heck of a lot.
In other news:
- it's cool to log into my amv.org gmail account and see my banner up in the corner.
- it's neat to look at the Tube statistics for AMVs. For example, with 'Bustin they tell me that the majority (76%) of viewers are female and that many are between the ages of 13 and 17. Guys don't like people messing with AC, I guess. Most people find my AMV by doing a Tube search on it. The biggest pile-on of views was after Anime Expo (but only because I didn't get it up on the Tube for several days after Anime Boston, during which time two other people put it up and swiped about 5-6,000 views). Most people rewind/pause the AMV to see the intro section and the news screen, but a lot more people ditch the whole thing around the 3/4 mark. Fun stuff. It would be neat if the .ORG had similar statistics available - say, as another donater perk!
- I wish I could write my donations to the .org off on my taxes. Or at least all the software/hardware I purchase to support this hobby. Maybe if someone pays me to make an AMV, then I can write it all off as work-related expenses? -
*wanders*
2008-11-01 19:39:35
I've been eyeing next year's big (for me) AMV thing, a.k.a. Anime Boston, and wondering what the heck I can come up with to get into the finals again. Of course, it's not just about getting into the finals, it's about me making an AMV I feel is a personal accomplishment. Right now I feel that demands I step out of my comfort zone (itchy though it is) and attempt to make an AMV that bears no resemblance to anything I've made before.
I've said it before: I don't quite understand how to make an action AMV. I watch other people's stuff (the good stuff) and am overwhelmed not only by awe and appreciation, but by the feeling that I just don't "get" it. How to make an AMV might have finally clicked, but how to make the type of AMV a lot of people seem to make by default definitely hasn't. I suspect it's not something you can learn, either - you either get it or you don't...and I don't. People who can storyboard AMVs and have them come out right also are awe-inspiring.
It might be quite instructive and interesting to interrogate one of my editor idols regarding how they put a certain AMV together. To get some insight into their thought process and - you know - *Delete*
All this election stuff going on is making me unusually PC. Two months ago I'd never have censored that. :| And I've never been PC, in fact, I'm usually the exact opposite. What the hell is wrong with me?? Oh, right, I'm trying to *Delete*
Jeez. :|
Thing is, I'm a voracious learner, so maybe if I could figure out the thought processes behind certain action/drama AMVs, then I could make one. IS there a thought process? Maybe that's my problem...I overanalyze what I'm doing...? Or maybe I'm too focused on the big picture? I've been told on several occasions - when I was particularly interested in something - that it's a little scary how I always go from Point A to Point M and that I should content myself with Point B or C instead. PPFFT!! Who the heck wants to settle for Point B or C if I can see M off in the distance?! -
Not only can you make a good AMV without masks, you can make a good AMV without effects.
2008-10-28 17:55:55
XII
Pre-edit: Um...? Been awhile, let's say 15 hours
Edit: 3ish? Nah, I'm going to start over at zero
The Good: Received my music, today. I have no idea why it took me so long to get my hands on this. It's unfortunate I only happen to like the song I'm using for my AMV on this CD, but at least I've got it. It sounds ok, but not as good as I had expected.
The Bad: Made a preliminary run through the footage I'd collected a few months back and was disappointed all over again by the lack of it. I’m probably going to have to comb through the whole series again for more stuff. This is a somewhat ironic situation in that several of my AMVs thus far were faced with the challenge of extremely limited pools of footage (in one case, approximately 15 minutes of footage) and I had to make do. Now, I’ve got a 26-episode series that I am slightly intimidated by, in terms of just how much material there is to deal with, and I find out that there’s not the kind of footage I was hoping to find. Consequently I’m once again trying to make an AMV on a bare-bones footage budget, except this time I’m going to be complaining a lot more about it.
The Ugly: I foresee a LOT of complaining about this AMV. It always amuses me that you can take a three- or four-minute song and blow through it very quickly just on a listen, but when you start thinking about the ins and outs of making an AMV with it, suddenly the music morphs into a monstrously long and tortuous experience. But! I just need to keep reminding myself not to attempt things I can't have a reasonable amount of success at, which means my initial plans for XII have been scaled back to a pale shadow of their former glory. This will cause my AMV to be far less flashy, but I'd rather it be less flashy than dragged down by poorly executed effects.
We'll see. First things first, and I have a lot of things to do before I start on this AMV.
Oh yes: one of my favorite movies: "Mean Guns." <3 The title implies exactly how B-grade, pretentiously self-deprecating and excessively violent this filmis. It stars Christopher Lambert (another B-grade red flag) and Ice T in one of his earlier film roles. One hasn't lived until they've heard Ice T say "Don't hold the knife, THROW the knife." Definitely one of those movies that glories in being exactly what it is, even if it has plot holes and bizarre, half-told story lines that take about four viewings even begin to pull together into a coherent whole. "Mean Guns" still makes no sense after four viewings, though, in fact its ridiculousness only gets more and more obvious, but the awesome thing is it DOESN'T CARE, which is exactly what almost the entire movie spends its time doing - not caring and having a grand ole time at it. This is a very fun movie to watch with a bunch of people who like this sort of thing, because it's good for all kinds of conversation afterwards.
You see how I snuck a totally non-AMV related topic into a journal post? I feel guilty using a journal post for non-AMV matters. But this time it was for a good cause: Mean Guns needs more fans. -
One more thing
2008-10-25 17:53:51
Yes, Copycat, FF8 did come out in early September 1999. That was neither here nor there as far as I was concerned, however, because I didn't have a console at the time and had to wait until early 2000 to purchase the PC version of the game.
I think that about clears everything up. I also made several grammatical errors in my autobiography, but we're all just going to have to live with it because they won't give me an edit button.
Next week/tomorrow: the low-down on one of my favorite movies that I think just about everyone should watch. Thus far I've thrown several movie-watching parties that have always been a blast, and I need something to write about in my journal while I'm on an AMV haitus so that will be the topic, probably sooner rather than later. :E
I'm in a damn good mood, aren't I? This medicine rocks! I'm...back to normal, I guess. :D
JOURNAL: DriftRoot (Lauren C.)
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