Making an AMV with a potentially overused song?

[Gestaltz]

Hi guys, I'm currently trying to find a song to fit with Chainsaw Man's overall chaotic/crazy atmosphere and recalled Uzumaki by Machine Girl, although I saw there were many edits/AMVs already posted on Youtube. The AMV is intended to be entered into contests. Would it be considered boring or potentially plagiarism if I were to use both media? Or what are yall's thoughts?

[Gestaltz]

The song I'm referring to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYkShnaf454

[Rider4Z]

I have several years of experience both judging and coordinating contests. I'm going to be honest with you, that is not a good song choice to compete with. You have to get by judges before being seen by an audience and your song choice has a very polarizing audience. Unless your video editing is the most amazing thing judges have ever seen you will not get far. (I listened to 30 seconds before I had to turn it off.)

This is just my personal advice and I'm not going to argue over it. If you want song suggestions I can poke around for potential ideas.

To answer your plagiarism question, executing combos that have been done before are always risky because they're not exactly innovative, but if you have a passion for an idea and maybe a different take then there's no harm in trying so long as yours stands out from the other(s).

[ProstrateConstantly]

I personally never look up existing AMVs for combo's I'm considering making an AMV with. It will only ever discourage me, and if there's already existing similar AMVs it doesn't matter because I know they won't edit it in the same way I will.

If you feel a cool AMV song combination, just go for it. You never know what sort of idea will blossom into something cool and it's always worth a shot. AMV contests have such a broad range of tastes, I've had videos barred from certain contests that went on to win big awards at others. My most favorite AMVs I've made have never won any awards at any contests, but that's fine because AMVs are a form of expression whose worth aren't determined by competitions.

I'd love to see what you could do with this concept and hope you pursue it if you find it compelling.

[Gestaltz]

I have several years of experience both judging and coordinating contests. I'm going to be honest with you, that is not a good song choice to compete with. You have to get by judges before being seen by an audience and your song choice has a very polarizing audience. Unless your video editing is the most amazing thing judges have ever seen you will not get far. (I listened to 30 seconds before I had to turn it off.)

This is just my personal advice and I'm not going to argue over it. If you want song suggestions I can poke around for potential ideas.

To answer your plagiarism question, executing combos that have been done before are always risky because they're not exactly innovative, but if you have a passion for an idea and maybe a different take then there's no harm in trying so long as yours stands out from the other(s).

Thanks for the response, yeah I agree that the song choice might be a bit unique. I'd love to see what song suggestions you'd have. Any help is appreciated. So far, some artists I can think of that could fit CSM is Mindless Self Indulgence (albeit their songs contain a lot of profanity to avoid) and System of a Down. I think I'm looking for something fast-paced.

[Gestaltz]

I personally never look up existing AMVs for combo's I'm considering making an AMV with. It will only ever discourage me, and if there's already existing similar AMVs it doesn't matter because I know they won't edit it in the same way I will.

If you feel a cool AMV song combination, just go for it. You never know what sort of idea will blossom into something cool and it's always worth a shot. AMV contests have such a broad range of tastes, I've had videos barred from certain contests that went on to win big awards at others. My most favorite AMVs I've made have never won any awards at any contests, but that's fine because AMVs are a form of expression whose worth aren't determined by competitions.

I'd love to see what you could do with this concept and hope you pursue it if you find it compelling.

That's true, I also tend to avoid searching for existing AMV combos. I usually look for inspiration from previous AMV contest winners. Thanks for the response!

[Rider4Z]

Thanks for the response, yeah I agree that the song choice might be a bit unique. I'd love to see what song suggestions you'd have. Any help is appreciated. So far, some artists I can think of that could fit CSM is Mindless Self Indulgence (albeit their songs contain a lot of profanity to avoid) and System of a Down. I think I'm looking for something fast-paced.

This song is upbeat, quirky, and has room for ups and downs in your editing.


This has a similar edge as your original song cover but the vocals don't blow out your ear drums.


This one's got a really cool vibe and I think could fit well in an offbeat way with chainsaw man's visuals.

[Gestaltz]

Thanks for the response, yeah I agree that the song choice might be a bit unique. I'd love to see what song suggestions you'd have. Any help is appreciated. So far, some artists I can think of that could fit CSM is Mindless Self Indulgence (albeit their songs contain a lot of profanity to avoid) and System of a Down. I think I'm looking for something fast-paced.

This song is upbeat, quirky, and has room for ups and downs in your editing.



This has a similar edge as your original song cover but the vocals don't blow out your ear drums.


This one's got a really cool vibe and I think could fit well in an offbeat way with chainsaw man's visuals.

These are really good choices, I appreciate it! Curious though, what are your thoughts on this song: Fur Elise - Leaf XCEED https://youtu.be/1P8-hNp-Wxw

[Rider4Z]

These are really good choices, I appreciate it! Curious though, what are your thoughts on this song: Fur Elise - Leaf XCEED https://youtu.be/1P8-hNp-Wxw

So that song is better than your first choice, but I still think you could do better. My fear with a song like that because there's just so much going on in the audio - the drums are really fast, the guitar is really fast - that you will have an instinctive urge to match that energy in your visuals. And I promise you, if your editing matches the energy of that song, it will be too much. The viewer will be overloaded with information. You might get a lot of hits on YouTube but less likely with judges.

If you can control the urge to edit as fast as the song then you might be able to pull off something. But then again I don't know your work or style so these are broad suggestions.

[Gestaltz]

So that song is better than your first choice, but I still think you could do better. My fear with a song like that because there's just so much going on in the audio - the drums are really fast, the guitar is really fast - that you will have an instinctive urge to match that energy in your visuals. And I promise you, if your editing matches the energy of that song, it will be too much. The viewer will be overloaded with information. You might get a lot of hits on YouTube but less likely with judges.

If you can control the urge to edit as fast as the song then you might be able to pull off something. But then again I don't know your work or style so these are broad suggestions.

I'm going to stick with the last song I mentioned and avoid overwhelming the audience, of course, I'm not really a big fan of some AMVs that just throw so many quick scenes at you to the point you can't appreciate or sometimes even comprehend what you're looking at. Thanks a bunch for the advice, I do appreciate the help from an experienced editor.