When to use lip synching...

Castor Troy · Post by **Castor Troy** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:36 pm

Whenever you feel like it?

Kusoyaro · Post by **Kusoyaro** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:25 pm

Just remember to never, EVER use lip sync as a way to fill a segment of a song that you haven't figured out any way to deal with. 90% of poor lip sync usage that I've seen falls into this category.

Digitalex · Post by **Digitalex** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:35 pm

Kusoyaro wrote:Just remember to never, EVER use lip sync as a way to fill a segment of a song that you haven't figured out any way to deal with. 90% of poor lip sync usage that I've seen falls into this category.

Hmmm, that's a really good point. I think that's what I couldn't put a finger to when viewing AMVs with lip synching that I felt didn't fit (drama, comedy, parody, etc). It seemed like a filler more than anything.

I think I'm guilty of that as I view my own stuff now right now. At the time I edited it, I felt it emphasized the scene but when I'm looking back at it, I might have been able to use a different clip instead.

Scintilla · Post by **Scintilla** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:05 pm

I should mention that I also don't mind lip synch in a serious video if part of the point is to mirror a real-life relationship that involves singing.*

* because if I didn't after what I said before, Cyanna would hurt me.

Kalium · Post by **Kalium** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:12 pm

I find lip synching very useful in several situations. First, when you're trying to portray one character explicitly saying something to another. I'm guilty of this. Second, it's also very useful when you're trying to maintain something approaching a point of view. I'm also guilty of attempting this (degree of actual guilt debateable). Third, lip synch can help with characterization quite a bit.

On the other hand, random lip synch can work on occasion. Particularily if it's during a short lul in a fast-paced song.

jasper-isis · Post by **jasper-isis** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 11:25 pm

I found the lipsynching in downwithpants' The Winged Brothers to be a little amusing at first. But the more I watched it, the more it grew on me.

Matching expressions (and not just lipsynch) is especially important for drama videos. How else could anybody pull off a video like Sappy Self-Indulgence?

Other than mismatched expressions, the other big mistake IMO is when the editor thinks that a solitary flapping mouth can substitute for an entire scene of action synch. That gets boring pretty quickly.

>__>

And I'm still in favor of a Disney songs MEP with required lipsynching.

FoxJones · Post by **FoxJones** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:22 pm

MASKED-IN LIP-SYNC FACE OF DOOM!

*cough*
<mindless ranting during a heat wave>
Ah.. yes. There has been many good points already. My personal point of view to lip-syncing is.. don't. This is only because I tend to enjoy something else in the AMVs I watch, so nevermind that.
There are editors who like to make lip-sync and there are viewers that enjoy them. To them it works.. even with drama AMVs. So there will (and with gritted teeth I also say should) be more lip-synced AMVs in the future.
Just make them good, ok.

It was mentioned that 90% of poor lip sync is fillers. I think the 90% comes from editors not seeing the difference of singing/talking. What makes my eyebrow twitch is these intensely sung lyrics fitted with scenes where the anime character is only talking. Not singing, not even yelling/screaming. Just having a conversation with much, some or none animated movement. It has been already mentioned that more spoken-like lyrics work better than more intense singing.
This problem can be reduced considerably with the comic factor, which brings the topic back to already mentioned comedy/fun AVMs. I also think that lip sync works MUCH better with comedic AMVs than it does with serious ones. (and this is not only because lip-sync itself is silly enough to force a smile)

Basically with lip-sync goes the same thumb rule that goes with effects. If you really think it will add something to your AMV, do it. If it won't, leave it out.

The lost point here is that no matter what you do, you can't please them all. So if you add MAS*cough* lip-sync, don't get too discouraged if you get opinion-chewed-out (like I scolded Gene once) by people with other school of AMVing. There are right and wrong ways to make lip sync, but there's also viewers that will see all the ways a wrong way

</mindless ranting etc..>
<heat stroke>

bloodyhawk · Post by **bloodyhawk** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:08 pm

well i usallyuse fast songs, but in some of my songs it goes slow thats when i bring out lip sync. But i find that lip sync is usally in comedy and some romance vids.

Knowname · Post by **Knowname** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:36 pm

For drama vids lipping should be concentrated to one character per singer but, yes, when done properly, it adds to the drama. When not done properly it looks ridiculed and stupid IMO.

Tono_Fyr · Post by **Tono_Fyr** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:29 am

Scintilla wrote:I should mention that I also don't mind lip synch in a serious video if part of the point is to mirror a real-life relationship that involves singing.*

* because if I didn't after what I said before, Cyanna would hurt me.

*Cough* That's the only reason I bothered with lip synch in my last video. Ended up killing it for some, not bothering it for others, and making it better for others (well, I know it made it better for one person).

As Fox said, "masked in lip synch face of doom" basically described it. I should've done all of the masking for it in Vegas, then made them less.. poppy. That would have made it less funny for some people (*cough*kionon*cough*)

As for you, man, the only really 'weak' part about your first video was the fact that you used lip synch. What you were TRYING to do fit, but a lot of the lip synch was off time and didn't really work out that well.

As for the divide between "comedic lip synch" and "serious lip synch" that really is up to you and how you execute it, in my opinion. I don't think that it's JUST a comedy thing, unless you go for something awkward (quick example that everyone's seen: Asuka in Caldwell's Engel).

~Tono~ gotta go to work now and just lost my train of thought, so it works out.