How do you plan/start your amv's?

[WolfandAngel]

I would like to know what your posses is when you start a amv?

For example this is how I make most of my amv:

Well I'm fairly new at making amv but I prefer making trailer/story driven amv, so most times I got a anime in mind and know what typ of music I'm looking for (sad/happy/action oriented...). Next I spend a few days looking for music with these criteria and imagine while listening to the music the different possible scenarios that could play out. When I have chosen my music I spend about two hour editing the music to suite my need better, marking beats and so on. Then I start adding the anime at this stage the dialog of the anime and the music dictate the pace.

So I'dd be really interested how you approach making amv's ? Do you plan it from a-z or just wing it?

[pacotacoshell]

Most of my ideas stem from listening to music, so I pair the song I want to edit to with an anime instead of the other way around. Then I start clipping while listening to the song I'm editing to on repeat. After I finish clipping I normally end up with over 1hr of clips so I have to skim through those clips again and remove all the scenes that aren't important. After this I end up removing only about 15-20 mins of footage and I just stare at my timeline in utter defeat with the sheer overabundance of scenes. Then by the end of all of this I get tired of the song and I close the project for a week or two unless it's an IC. Then I listen to another cool song and repeat the process with no videos edited. This is literally how it's been for me for the past 8 months minus two IC vids and some MEP parts.

Needless to say my editing process is not as efficient as I'd like it to be.

[Ileia]

If I find a song I want to use, I listen to it on repeat for a week. Walking, gym, whatever, that's my song. I see the visuals clearly enough in my head so that by the time I sit down in front of a computer, I know what's going where and it takes me very little time to actually edit it.

[lloyd9988]

If I find a song I want to use, I listen to it on repeat for a week. Walking, gym, whatever, that's my song. I see the visuals clearly enough in my head so that by the time I sit down in front of a computer, I know what's going where and it takes me very little time to actually edit it.

I'm going to try this and see if it'll work. Thanks for the idea!

[TritioAFB]

At my case is different:

Normally I find first the anime. The most I like the anime, the highest the chances to make an amv. But not always work: Sometimes I find an anime not worthy to watch, but found the song that reminds me to it.

This is in one hand. In the other hand, by doing a random search in any site made for music, I find in the related results songs that in the first impression leaves me with the feeling of: Good, I will like to edit it... But no anime atm.

Although sometimes I try to edit with anime I havent watched yet or finished yet (This is true in the case of Psycho Pass which is my current anime) the song plays an important role in the development of the video

[tuxedomarty]

Well, if I come up with an idea, I think about it for a few days or weeks to see if I really like it or think it's good, and when I feel inspired enough, I make up what I think it should look like in my head little by little, and then I start work on it by adding the scenes I think will fit, and thinking of scenes to go with the other parts later on.

[Okaketsu92]

Hmm? That is interesting idea for me I just my time watch few anime to I find a anime that I use for a amv then I listen to some music to I find the right I can and then I clip the anime with music. That how I make my amv.

[ngsilver]

I'm very mood/musically inclined when it comes to being creative, so every video basically starts with the song. I find one that really moves me in some way and then I think of the anime I know of/have/have seen and from there I find what fits. I'll listen to the song for hours on end on repeat and basically plan out the video in my head. I'll create scenes and sections and edits in my head. I then try to find those scenes in the actual source. Doesn't always work out entirely, but that's how I do it.

Unless this is a gif video. Then I just pick a song I like and randomly put gifs on the timeline and see what fits

[Otohiko]

If I find a song I want to use, I listen to it on repeat for a week. Walking, gym, whatever, that's my song. I see the visuals clearly enough in my head so that by the time I sit down in front of a computer, I know what's going where and it takes me very little time to actually edit it.

This is a really good strategy that works for me, too!

One thing I'd like to add to that, in terms of what I like to do, is that after doing some repeat listening, I sit down and just scroll through some footage of the anime I plan to use with the sound muted, while playing the song, just to get a bit of a feel for how the song and anime would mesh. Sometimes that helps nail down (or reject) early scene choices, cause sometimes stuff looks great in your head, but not so much on the actual screen. So this can really help.

[The_McLaughlin]

Usually for me I hear a song and an anime or multiple animes pop into my head. I then usually listen to it on repeat for the entire day(when I'm listening to music) then usually I'll grab the lyrics and listen to the song with them and then kind of while looking over the lyrics I think of which anime or anime's that I thought of earlier work best with the song. Sometimes at this point the amv gets scrapped or if I feel I have enough to make something that's at least decent I start writing down ideas on the lyrics, and then start shifting through my dvd's of anime and solidifying ideas (I find that my brain makes up scenes in anime when I just think about them so I have to re-watch the series sometimes to make sure that the scene I wanted to use is actually there, or if the set up of the scene was the same as I pictured in my head and if it will work or not). At that point I start prepping clips, I pretty much listen to the song I'm using everyday when I have the chance and I start finalizing what scenes I want to use on a fresh set of lyrics.