AMV's: Orthadox Editing Vs. Un-orthadox Editing

[godix]

Why should I follow a set of rules laid out by some guy so many some odd years ago? We get too caught up in expectations and in ways that things should be done, that we don't seek out newer ways to do things. And don't sit there and tell me that there isn't any because that's bull. It's called adventure. It's like a game of hide and seek. You look for something that works and can appeal to people. Or find something that you can make work in your own way. What about ignoring all those damn text books and doing something your own way for once, instead of adhearing to some rules or traditions or ways of doing things that were set by someone else. Become a pioneer yourself and find new ways to do things. THat's what I've been trying to say and do.

Humans are hardwired to view certain things in a certain way. Complimentary colors clash. Movement in one direction followed by movement in the opposite direction is jarring. Blacks and dark colors give a sober mood while bright primary colors convey excitement or other similar emotions. For centuries, millennia really, artists have been studying how humans react to stuff and how to manipulate those reactions in artistic endeavors. You can seek out 'newer' ways of doing things, or you can read a fucking art theory book and find out what lessons thousands of years of experience and experiments have discovered.

I have to wonder, do you think scientists should ignore all previous theories on the atom and instead seek out 'newer ways to do things'? Should carpenters discard their tools and try to figure out this whole hammer/nail thing in a 'newer way'? Do writers discard english and make up their own language because it's 'newer'? In almost every field people use existing knowledge as a basis and try to advance from there. It's called cumulative knowledge and it's the reason we aren't sitting in caves with each person trying to rediscover fire. Except for AMVs, for some reason you seem to think learning lessons from previous artists is considered a bad thing in AMVs. Which is rather odd considering the entire point of this thread is for you to get the perspective and knowledge of other people about AMVs. If you REALLY want to learn from other people's experiences then you'd quit asking random uneducated idiots on the internet and pick up a god damned art theory book.

[Douggie]

Why should I follow a set of rules laid out by some guy so many some odd years ago? We get too caught up in expectations and in ways that things should be done, that we don't seek out newer ways to do things. And don't sit there and tell me that there isn't any because that's bull. It's called adventure. It's like a game of hide and seek. You look for something that works and can appeal to people. Or find something that you can make work in your own way. What about ignoring all those damn text books and doing something your own way for once, instead of adhearing to some rules or traditions or ways of doing things that were set by someone else. Become a pioneer yourself and find new ways to do things. THat's what I've been trying to say and do.

I really try to get to learn the foundations of editing, because believe it or not, once you know that, you can get to creating new things, things your way. It doesn't mean that you have to follow everything a book says, but reading about the philosophies of editing doesn't only give you a better grasp of how things work, but also gets you thinking about their and your ways and how to improve them - which is where your style starts.

I don't know if I'm a bad example in this, but I have read a bunch of books about editing and design and I don't think you can tell me or anybody else that I don't try new things in every video I do.

[Pwolf]

As godix mentioned, yes, there is a proper way to edit. He has a really good point about fundamentals. You cannot make a good video without knowing the fundamentals of editing. On top of that, if you want to do motion graphics and other more intensive editing, you need to know about the fundamentals of color theory, animation (squash/strech, ease in/out, etc), and even music theory. What makes a video new and unique is how you take those fundamentals and turn it into something no one has seen before.

I typed out a big long thing for you but I'm going to condense this and hope this get across easier...

What is it you want to do? Do you want people to like your videos or do you want people to like videos that go against the fundamentals of editing?

If you want to try new things, then, to put it bluntly, quit your bitching. Do it the way you want to don't listen to what other people say. You will only get criticism. Deal with it. Einstein was laughed at for his ideas. He dealt with it.

If you want people to like your videos, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Listen to what people have to say but take it with a grain of salt. You don't have to do what someone tells you but good editors will take that advice and think about it the next time they come across the same issue.


Pwolf

[LuluandAuron]

-A good edit is not noticed by the average viewer.
-Make the edit look like how the music sounds

Now whether either of those is orthodox or not doesn't really matter. In the business, I hear over and over that hiring most people out of school, is like hiring a robot. So I say, don't be a robot, do what looks good, and stay out of the mold

[8bit_samurai]

As godix mentioned, yes, there is a proper way to edit. He has a really good point about fundamentals. You cannot make a good video without knowing the fundamentals of editing. On top of that, if you want to do motion graphics and other more intensive editing, you need to know about the fundamentals of color theory, animation (squash/strech, ease in/out, etc), and even music theory. What makes a video new and unique is how you take those fundamentals and turn it into something no one has seen before.

I typed out a big long thing for you but I'm going to condense this and hope this get across easier...

What is it you want to do? Do you want people to like your videos or do you want people to like videos that go against the fundamentals of editing?

If you want to try new things, then, to put it bluntly, quit your bitching. Do it the way you want to don't listen to what other people say. You will only get criticism. Deal with it. Einstein was laughed at for his ideas. He dealt with it.

If you want people to like your videos, don't try to reinvent the wheel. Listen to what people have to say but take it with a grain of salt. You don't have to do what someone tells you but good editors will take that advice and think about it the next time they come across the same issue.


Pwolf

x2

Also, In addition to getting an art theory book, there are numerous guides about editing techniques and such. I believe Scintilla had one, but I'm not sure it's relevant to the topic. I haven't read some of these myself (though one of these days I should), so I'm not sure how much is being repeated with different wording. There's also the possibility of "studying" AMVs and the feedback they receive (opinions made publicly for the viewing and the such) themselves, though I'm not sure how helpful that'll be.

[Pwolf]

I managed to get that IC video and watched it...

Your editing is fine (mostly... only thing I thought needed some cleaning up on was the strobe and the white flashes). The problem, after reading most of the thread is your direction and scene selection. Half of the video is different from the other half with no transition in between the two (no clear transition at least... and i'm not talking about a physical transition on the timeline). This is where you screwed up:

Really, there was nothing else I could use, unless you wanna count the dance scene with rose, but that would have been totally out of place as Rose would have just completely come out of nowhere.

It actually might be better then the fighting cause then it might actually fit the second half the video. The whole second half of the video comes out of nowhere! I was expecting fighting the whole time! The video started off as a weird actiony video and turned into a sentimental drama!

Let me make this clear, there's nothing wrong with doing that. I do it all the time (see Macross Angel's Voice: starts off sentimental and become action). But it has to make sense and there has to be some kind of build up (or slow down) in the music that the video can follow to allow such a transition.

Pwolf

[Castor Troy]

I say the only wrong way to edit is not editing.

aka, putting a long 5 minute scene to the song with no original cuts you made.

Then again, I can't tell in Advent Children videos. I actually remember during the CSUN 2002 judging, one video was the entire Tenchi Universe opening to a song and we gave it all 1's for that reason.

[PaperIsland]

Most editing rules are trying to aim the editor towards naturalness.

The accomplished editor Walter Murch says,

The grounding of film must be very deep in some common human perception which I think must be the language of dreams. The way human beings use images in dreams is very similar from culture to culture. The content might be different, but the transitions that happen in dreams are very similar.

Editing rules can be ignored for good reasons, but they're useful guides when there is no reason to ignore them. Now, if you're editing a music video, your reasons probably come from the music.

[TwilightChrono]

My whole life, I've never never followed the current trend. I've never been a follower, always a leader of sorts. I'm just used to doing things my own way, and I'm afraid that if I start doing things like everyone else, I'll just become another faceless person in the crowd. I wish to maintain my individuality as a person, an editor and as a husband.

So forgive me for not wanting to adhere top common editing techniques. I just don't feel that all that fancy editing isn't really necessary to make a video enjoyable or otherwise. It's all the passion you have for doing something and the amount of effort you put into your videos.

And it's not just video's. It's anything you do. So forgive me for not wanting to be a follower. Not to mention that I've read all the guys that have been put on the org. And frankly, I didn't really understand it all. I mean, I did....but I didn't. Telling me it's recommended to do stuff like this, and stuff like that, and and it would be best if you.......

Get it out of my face. Editing Philosophy, Music Philosophy? I prefer to listen and feel the music. Not feel what a book tells me I'm suppose to feel. I'm stubborn. I get it. But I feel a lot of what I say makes sense as well. Although to you all, your probably sitting there say what the fuck is this guy's problem. I don't blame you. I just prefer to break way from the mold.

And please. Tastes and human perception are always changing, so eventually, those books are going to go out of date. Maybe not now, maybe not in my life-time, but eventually they will. What will you do then? It's proven that people don't like change. Which is why I believe everybody edits almost the same way or at least in ways the guides tell them too. I'm just not a big fan of conformity.

[blabbler]

my goodness o:

in the time you spent spewing that bullshit you could've learned the fundamentals of continuity editing or read about montage theory. maybe understanding a tiny bit about editing for emphasis, or knowing a few techniques for hiding your cuts such as eyeline matches, matching on action, cutting by association or cross cutting scenes would you know... make your videos suck less?

or you could just assume that posessing knowledge of such things makes you a follower, and lead us all into a glorious new dark age.

stop bitching and making excuses for yourself and embrace the fact that you HAVE TO LEARN STUFF TO GET BETTER AT THINGS