What makes a good anime music video?

[Otohiko]

Yea, <insert random Bawls name-related joke here>

***

And, to make a serious contribution to the thread... well...

...I guess the validity of my advice depends on whether my videos can be considered good AMV's...

But my own approach involves a lot of active listening (since I'm a music-driven editor). That means that before I really get anywhere with actually editing an AMV, I'll listen to potentially-useful music as both just music and a potential AMV track, and I listen to it very carefully. This way, I learn both the external and internal musical structure and the implied/imagined visual structure of the music piece/song. That way, by the time I sit down, I have an intimate understanding of the music and know what's going to be involved in visualizing it.

Technically though, I do that with all my music, whether or not I ever intend to make AMV's to it.

By the the time I get the anime worked into the formula, I already have a visual structure. So, then it's left to work out the exact visuals (translate the musical impressions taken from active listening into what's actually available) and, just as importantly, consider very carefully the context of the anime - story and characterisations, and look for ways of incorporating them meaningfully into the video.

So, going by this approach, I think it's possible to make some very good, meaningful serious videos. Or that's just me

[Scootamis919]

The whole flow of the video and how much it works with the music u have with it, if u use an anime that doesnt work with the music, i would probably come out pretty bad

[Zarxrax]

A good video is one that entertains you.
A good video is one that mesmerizes you with its technical achievement.
A good video is one that impresses with its artistic merit.
A good video is one that leaves a warm feeling in your heart.

There is no formula to a good video. Good videos simply are.

[Arigatomina]

What makes a good anime music video? A fan: someone who thinks that video is good. And the more people who think it's good (the more fans), the more 'good' that video has to claim. No video is good if no one watches it and considers it 'good.'

Nothing else matters. Pick a different word if you mean a 'complete/coherent/synthesized mixture of anime and music'. Good is what someone who likes something calls that thing. It changes according to the person and his or her standards of 'good' versus 'bad'.

So for a 'good' vid, according to my tastes, you need to have characters I like, or a song I like, or even just a theme that I like. You need to have editing that I like and a 'gimmic' that I like (whether it's some visible effects to spice it up, or merely a new spin on an old concept). You need to have quality so that I can see the video without too much interference (excess fuzz/blocks/subtitles), and audio that I can hear without scratches or hisses making me turn it off halfway through. You need to format it so that I don't have to run all over trying to play it - if it's a hassel to play, it's not an enjoyable pastime to watch. A good video is one I enjoy watching. But even if you combine all of those things, I can't guarantee that I'll think the video is good - I'd still have to see it first.

/Zarxrax said it best

[Kalium]

A good video is a piece of art. Like art, it is subject to opinion, and not everyone agrees.

A bad video, on the other hand, is like... um..... a suitably nasty metaphor that I shall think of at a later time.

[fyrtenheimer]

Good AMV = Good Song + Good Editing

x2

that's what it takes to like a video (atleast for you). there's a difference I think

[AMVfreak]

doing good in everything that has to do with making an AMV will make teh amv good

[Akai Rurouni]

This is an interesting question I think. We all have our ideas of what makes a _bad_ AMV ready at our finger tips. What makes a _good_ AMV makes me think a bit harder... =)

Obviously, don't do the things that make bad videos. And of course all the technical merit you can lend to your video is good. (Doesn't necessarily mean throw in one of every effect you can do though.) But as for the creative side of things, that's a tricky quetion. There may be more to it than this, but I think that at least one vital thing is the story.

All good AMVs must have a story. But I use the word 'story' very loosely too. It doesn't mean they all have to be ballads. However, there must be something happening, or some idea you're trying to get across.

Now that's not what makes a good AMV, it's just a component. There are plenty of bad AMVs that have stories too. (Usually bad stories.) But there are no good AMVs that do not have a story. So know what your story is before you start editing. 8)

(Incidentally, the same is true of video games. I got this whole idea about story from a computer game design class that I took when I was an undergraduate.)

[GMM2005]

Well:
1)music that goes with the anime you are using
2)the clips have to be in sync with the music somehow
3)some good effects

But thats my opinion ^^

[Hitokiri Ninie]

Okay, I think that the song you choose has to fit, the clips too (timing) and the quality of the video.