JOURNAL: Sladious

  • My Take On AMVs 2007-10-13 17:44:45 I have been a member of amv.org for quite a while, but I have only recently started posting videos. For the past four years I have been editing videos, starting with .hack//SIGN clips and Weezer MP3s, and I have ditched many of my first attempts simply because they SUCKED.

    Unsuccessful attempts:
    .hack//DUSK -- Weezer's "Holiday"
    Trigun -- Stephen Lynch's "Standing on the Shoulders of Freaks"
    Trigun -- Metallica's "Unforgiven II"
    Fullmetal Panic! -- The Exies' "Lo-Fi"
    Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children -- Foo Fighters' "My Hero"
    FLCL -- Green Day's "Rest"

    There were others, but I can't remember all of them now. Only a few of my old projects remain on my computer.

    Of course, when I started, I was all about mixing my favorite song with my favorite anime, that way I can enjoy my favorite tunes with some Japanese eye-candy. That's a given...that's why we watch AMVs, right? But hey, I don't like to stick with one thing for too long, and...why do what everyone else is doing?

    At the time I had been watching more anime and AMVs (more than I do now), and my favorite videos always matched the music with the anime perfectly, either with the lyrics or the beat. Some videos were purely for fun, but others actually kept me entranced...I was mystified by some of them. Maybe I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Who knows... I do know I was a big fan of the More Than Toast videos.

    Anyway, after a while I started to take my videos too seriously. As it turns out, the videos I put the most thought into are my best, so this was a good move. Now my videos are usually melancholic or deadly serious, but occasionally I'll let loose and make a video just for fun. My FLCL video "Up In Guitars" was for fun, but somewhere in the mix I think I tried to say something about relationships. I can't be too sure. I've had weird girlfriends, so my perspective on relationships is a bit skewed.

    I'm releasing my finished videos here. I have a few more in the works, but who knows if they'll ever be finished? I know for sure one will be done pretty soon, but that might be all. I'm about done with this whole thing. It's just a hobby.

    After a while, you have to admit that mixing copywritten material isn't going to do any good for you in the long run. AMVs are tributes, covers of our favorite songs, animated fan-art...

    When you scrape away all the hype, aren't we just using other people's words to say what we mean? I love AMVs, I think they're tons of fun, and if we didn't make them, who would? But let's admit it: we must not be very creative if we have to rely on other bands and artists to help us express ourselves.

    It's like buying a guitar just so you can play a few of your favorite Green Day tunes.

    Groupies who spend all of their time making banners and websites for their favorite band (who don't want anything to do with the groupies).

    But I guess it's all the same. Otakus are the groupies of the anime craze, and otakus show their appreciation for Japanese animation by mixing it with American music...? Wait a minute...

    I can't make heads or tails of this whole thing...

    I probably didn't get enough sleep last night. 
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