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Information

• Members: milkmandan, Manganate
• Studio: Lolicious Designs
• Title: Critical Mass
• Premiered: 2008-05-06
• Categories:
  • Action
  • Serious
• Song:
  • Toby Mac ignition
• Anime:
  • Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion (TV)
• Participation:
  • Fanime Con 2008, Fanime Music Video Contest 2008 (2008-05-23)
  • Japan Expo 9ème Impact, Japan Expo International AMV Contest 2008 (2008-07-06)
  • Otakon, Otakon AMV Contest (2008-08-08)
• Comments:
  
  
  --------------------------------
  Introduction
  --------------------------------
  
  Like every year, I delay my AMV ideas until the LAST minute. Check my video history and you'll notice a trend of video creation/premiere dates. All around May 5th, except for the first one. I guess I am no good unless I work under pressure. So this video, much like last year, had to be squeezed out in-between work, school, DotA and NBA Jam! (Yes, the old SNES game). NBA Jam! was probably the only thing that kept me from going insane.
  
  Video editing for 3 days straight sucked this time around and so I am vowing to never slack again.
  
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  Technical Information
  --------------------------------
  
  The Japanese DVD version of Code Geass is actually in widescreen format, so I edited the video in widescreen as to retain it's quality. No more fullscreen crap, compared to my old “The Path of Regret” video.
  
  If you watch my video, you will notice several scenes from Season 2. This year, Sunrise has been nice enough to provide Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 (Season 2) in 720p widescreen resolution.
  Lucky for me, I was able to download the Raws and LancozResize() to a lower resolution to match my DVD rips. So I had nice clean, season 2 footage in my project bin. :)
  
  My video resolution was 848 by 480 (This resolution was required for Square Pixel Aspect Ratio editing from my NTSC DVD rips.) Not even close to the required 720 by 480 for submission. I had to LancozResize() down to 720 by 408 and then add 36 pixels of black letterboxing to get the widescreen feeling on 720 by 480 video.
  (distribution version is in 848 by 480 resolution, so you guys don't have to deal with forced letterboxing)
  
  Total editing time took me exactly 3 days. My Adobe Premiere project file was created May 2nd. Submissions deadline for FanimeCon and Anime Expo were due May 5th.
  What really sucked was when my video card FAILED on Saturday night (May 3rd). I had to wait one whole night and rush to Fry's Sunday morning (May 4th) and buy a new cheap crap video card. Video editing was almost impossible with a bad video card. I was getting fuzzy and rainbow colored dots and lines all over the screen.
  
  At the end, I exported the full movie out as a HuffyUV encoded AVI and then re-encoded through VirtualDubMod for online distribution.
  
  --------------------------------
  How the video came about
  --------------------------------
  
  I though of using Toby Mac because during the summer I saw an awesome music video of Transformers using the Toby Mac – Ignition song, and it was so fitting. High energy action, with large robots. Why not? Who doesn't like large robots.
  
  This video idea was originally planned to use the new Evangelion movies as footage, but that idea fell through when I found out the Japanese DVD release of the 1st movie wasn't going to be out in time, not to mention the fact that I had planned to use the 3 other movies for footage as well.
  
  My default choice became Code Geass for several reasons.
  1. As of April 26th, Code Geass Season 1 is being aired on [Adult Swim]
  2. Code Geass Season 2 started in Japan.
  3. I had all the R2 Japanese DVDs of Code Geass Season 1, so I had nice CLEAN Raws to work with.
  
  So the video created is an Action video focusing on the conflict and struggle between Lelouch/The Black Knights and Suzaku/Holy Empire of Britannia.
  
  The name for the video "Critical Mass" came from the World of Warcraft, as you Mage players might have noticed. It is more of an inside joke, but I'll do my best to explain. "Critical Mass" is a Talent/Spell that Mages can learn that increases the critical strike chance of your fire spells by 6% (Maxed out). "Critical Mass" is also needed for the spell "Combustion". When activated, this spell causes each of your Fire damage spell hits to increase your critical strike chance with Fire damage spells by 10%. This effect lasts until you have caused 3 critical strikes with Fire spells. Activating Combustion with Critical Mass, in the game will end up having your mage do thousands of damage. So going with this idea, having a video with so much energy/action, I only though it fitting to call it "Critical Mass".
  
  --------------------------------
  Toby Mac – Ignition (lyrics)
  --------------------------------
  Start it up
  Turn it on
  We can ride this storm
  A grip of hope in our hands
  For the coming dawn
  Up to our necks in complexities
  Causing us to pause
  As we collect our thoughts
  
  So don't blink if you wanna come cross the border
  Take a look around or come test the water
  We won't stop 'till we see the morning
  So welcome to the quiet before the storm hits
  
  Turn on, turn on the ignition
  Everybody
  Come on, come on and turn on the ignition [x3]
  
  Comatose
  Half-hearted
  Room temperature's fine
  Sleep walking, no dream is even filling our minds
  Earth shaking
  
  We be quaking like a wake up bomb
  This ain't no trouble overseas
  No Vietnam
  
  So don't blink if you wanna come cross the border
  Take a look around or come test the water
  We won't stop 'till we see the morning
  So welcome to the quiet before the storm hits
  
  (Take it up a notch, come on, come on turn it up a notch.)
  
  Turn on, turn on the ignition
  Everybody
  Come on, come on and turn on the ignition [x3]
  
  Your sleep walking
  I'm sleep walking
  Your sleep walking
  I'm still talking
  Come spark the parts in me that all but died
  Jump start my heart and wake the sleeper inside
  Hold up the flag 'cause it's ride or die
  Hold up the flag 'cause it's ride or die
  
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------
  
  
  Short Synopsis of Code Geass
  --------------------------------
  http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=4521
  --------------------------------
  Japan has been invaded and conquered by the Britannian Empire. Japan is now known as `Area 11` and its citizens known as `Elevens`. The Britannian Empire takes away Japan`s autonomous power and imposes its rule through the use of `Nightmares/Knightmares`. The Empire`s rule has never faltered, but cracks have begun to show...
  
  The Britannian youth, Lelouch, received a special power from a mysterious girl. GEASS. An absolute power which allows the user to give orders to anyone. Lelouch decided to plan the destruction of the Britannian Empire by using this as a weapon. his goals are take revenge for his mother, and create a world in which his little sister, Nunnally, could live in peace. All while knowing that what lies ahead is his father, the Emperor of Britannia.
  
  Character design by CLAMP.
  Story by Sunrise.
  
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