Do aged AMVs still hold weight in 2009?

[Kevmaster]

effects suck.

[Nya-chan Production]

If by "weight" you mean "space on hard disc", then yes, of course!

[Ingow]

Whether an AMV ages badly or not depends on its emotional depth and the uniqueness of its content.

Just like with movies it's not the standard action flicks that became classics but rather stuff like Predator or Alien for being unique rather than for having special effects. Without the right design and monster concept for the Alien creature the movies would've never taken off that much. Back to the Future is only a classic because of the great characters and the lovely plot, not because of the special effects. And Star Wars or Lord of the Rings are the same damn thing. Effects never mean anything by themselves, movies that only have great effects and nothing behind them are easily forgotten and nobody will give a shit for them after seeing them once.

That's why so many AMVs on here suck so much.

[Nya-chan Production]

Now seriously:

(...)most of what IS released tends to be simple 'I did this in a few days' hoopla.(...)

Have you given a thought what's behind this? Isn't it the fact that when you make a simple 2-3minutes video video without the help of AE/stuff, which is single-source (nothing like the latest Nikolakis or Zarx's 58008) (say, simple cuts/fades, 1 anime series/movie, maybe some text), then, considered you are experienced editor, it CAN'T take more than those few days? Even if you include some easy masking or short rotoing... if you know HOW (and made tens, hundreds, thousands of those), they are usually fairly simple to do. Seriously, subclipping REALLY usually takes longer than actual editing.

[inthesto]

I can'ts say I've ever purchased cocaine from an AMV.

[blabbler]

editing is storytelling. manipulating your source or creating new content are methods you can employ to facilitate the communication of your ideas.
if you aren't motivated to learn the relevant skills that's fine, you can have plenty of fun without them - but if you can't see the value or potential that even basic fx work can provide, you're retarded.

like kev.

and i mostly agree with ingow, if fx are driven by the story and the story captures your attention, the fx will never look dated.

[fujji]

personally i hold the people who made
chibi things that kill
right now someone is reading this title
vicbond's die another day
and istiv's shounen bushidou
as gods

[Knowname]

(...)most of what IS released tends to be simple 'I did this in a few days' hoopla.(...)

Have you given a thought what's behind this? Isn't it the fact that when you make a simple 2-3minutes video video without the help of AE/stuff, which is single-source (nothing like the latest Nikolakis or Zarx's 58008) (say, simple cuts/fades, 1 anime series/movie, maybe some text), then, considered you are experienced editor, it CAN'T take more than those few days? Even if you include some easy masking or short rotoing... if you know HOW (and made tens, hundreds, thousands of those), they are usually fairly simple to do. Seriously, subclipping REALLY usually takes longer than actual editing.

agreed, so many have just come to expect amvs to be the 'couple of days' work variety that even the reviewers nowadays tend to put them down without even putting some thought into them.

But to play Devil's advocate. Not everybody is gonna understand every amv. Not everybody's vision is all that clear in the FIRST place! I'll take my own as an example just because I don't want to criticize anybody. But I spend YEARS formulating my AMVs but you gotta understand, even with all that work, I can only see it from MY side! Not all of my AMVs will really be all that clear. It's an unfortunate truth but it is a fact. IE you KNOW what your trying to get to, you KNOW how the story goes. The viewer does not. Perhaps what you want revolves around a small object in one scene and the viewer simply doesn't see it! It's your fault, yes, it IS your video, but there's only so much an AMV editor can do without re-animating the whole thing... That coupled with the fact that the more cynical reviewers only put as much effort into their review as they PERCEIVE you put into your own video. Missing that one little event or object, or maybe even quite a few, you can never be TOO clear, yet there's ALWAYS gonna be that dunce in the audience that takes your drama video as a comedy, anyway if that reviewer misses whatever triggers you have what you will get is a sorry review and most likely a sorry rating.

What I'm saying is it doesn't matter how LONG you spent doing it, it just matters how clear you make it to the one that is rating the thing. You may or may not pass it's all an opinionated thing. Personally I can't STAND most videos molded to fit some story UNLESS the audio goes with it, if I gotta read the info page to get it that's a TERRIBLE thing... and I'm really something of a dunce when it comes to AMVs. I don't watch AMVs to think, I usually watch them to relax. Thinking? no thank you.

[Megamom]

I think the effects are to be used in a smart, many unnecessary effects that are used in many AMVs, I believe that the effects are to be used for the video has a style that goes according to what would be shown not to make it visually appealing. In many cases, if not done right, is wrong!

[Minimoto]

I agree with some of the people at the top. A piece of shit is a piece of shit. You can put a ribbon on it and it'll still be a piece of shit right? While a flower is a flower, put a ribbon on it and it'll be a gift for someone right? Yes, my metaphor is crap but whatever. All in all, no matter how many effects you can put on a video, what's good is good and what's crap is crap.