The Beginning
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I still remember when I downloaded my first Anime Music Video. I was 16 yrs old. I was looking for Anime on a program called Scour Exchange. Then, I came across a Tenchi Muyo amv called "The Pain of Ryoko's heart". I was into tenchi muyo when I saw this video and I loved it so much that as soon as the video was over, I hopped onto the internet and looked up Eric Jones' Website (Fly High Studios). I don't know if people remember Eric or not, but this guy got me hooked on AMVs. After I visited his website, I ran into the links of both Aluminum Studios (Will Milberry) and Kusoyaro Productions (Hsien Lee). Later on, it moved to watching works from Joe Croasdaile, Jason Salace, Brad DeMoss, etc. Thus, MindWarp Entertainment was born!
Kusoyaro Productions (Hsien Lee)
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I remember when I wrote my first email to him. It had been a few months since I started editing my own videos with just simple programs. I remember I downloaded all of the footage form the new PSX remake of Chrono Trigger and put it together with a Metallica song "Sad but True". I wrote to Hsien Lee telling him that I had been inspired by several of his videos including some of Aluminum's. But I thanked him for all the videos he had made available for me to download. His Transformation video blew me away and it led me to make my 2nd video with a lot of special effects called "Cursed" with a NIN song (with Adobe Premiere). 4 months later, Hsien Lee wrote back. I remember I flipped out of my chair after reading his response. WOW! I wrote Hsien back later on and thanked him for writing back and told him I would hopefully meet him in the future.
Aluminum Studios (Will Milberry)
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Will was probably the biggest inspiration I ever had. I still remember when I was an upcoming newbie and took some footage from one of his Lain videos to make one of my own. He later saw it was mad about it....I remember he wrote me 2 emails. The first one was him almost yelling at me...but the second one was him telling me not to worry, he wasn't a mean person, but he was upset. I almost panicked. I didn't know what to do. Then, Will wrote to me again. He gave me full descriptions about Capture Cards and the programs I should consider using and how to make my own videos capturing my own footage. I took his advice and waited until I could buy a capture card. I bought a DC10+ since it was one he recommended. I went and bout the Lain VHS tapes and captured right away and made an entirely new music video. I was still learning Adobe Premiere at the time so the video came out better than I thought it would. I showed Will my video (via email gave link) and he liked it a lot! I remember I got so happy when he put the link of my website on his links section. Woohoo! I remember telling him in an email that I was determined to meet him one day.
Adobe Premiere
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Since this is pretty much a confession of all that's happen to me I guess I'll say it. The first program I used was the Adobe P. 5.1c version. It was difficult to learn at first but I worked with it everyday until I could get everything right and knew how to run with the program. I think I got it the way everyone else did...off a file sharing program. It wasn't until I bought my DV500plus capture card. That was the first time I bought Premiere Legally. This program is really something. I've worked for the last 3 1/2 yrs of my life with it and can do just about anything with it (if I really put my mind to it). Not only was I making anime music videos with it, but I started producing and editing my own short films including the Con Documentaries and coming soon, my first actually feature film which I hope to finish by this summer. This program has done a lot for me ^_^.
Sour Gripes
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I remember a couple of sour gripes I've had with people through the years here at The Org and on an email basis. I remember when Will Milberry emailed me after I made my perfect blue video which had the same effect as Justin Emerson's Closer video. I was a bit angry with him because I thought he was acting like an Elitist talking down to me. Since that day, Will and I would have a very bad relationship up until I would come to meet him face to face at Anime Weekend Atlanta 8. Then came Justin. An AMV creator way ahead for his time. The two of us were always bumping heads for a while. At first I thought he was serious but then I later thought it was all an act and I pictured him laughing his ass off as he posted threads. I even made fun of him on my Ushicon Documentary. It continued with him for a good long while, until I met up with him at Anime Expo 2002. My entire opinion of him changed that day. He just a simple guy who loved to have fun! I realized then that whatever is posted on the internet aren’t anyone's true words. But I also found out how things can be taken the wrong way by a lot of people. The Internet is very tricky
But it did lead me to dedicate an AMV to Will Milberry later on to prove that I wasn't a complete failure Ushicon 2001
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Ushicon1 would prove to be my very first Convention. I flew to Austin. While I was there I visited UT Austin and loved it. Later I would find out in March that I was accepted to this University. RAWK! Anyways, Milan (Frost) my cousin came with me to Ushicon. It was there that I thought it would be a great idea to film my experiences at a con. Thus began the Ushicon Documentary. I met up with EK for the first time. I had seen her Failed Experiments video a few months earlier and loved it. I remember she had the Hot Office Lady thing going while she was at her desk. Hehe ok, anyways, later on however, EK would end up being a great friend of mine when I would come to UT Austin. Her office at the Union Building is only 3 blocks away from my apartment...hence I would stop occasionally to see how bored she was at work but we would end up talking a lot as time went by. Good Times! She handed me my Badge for the Con and I was on my way. Later that night, I would meet up with Sotero Lopez (aka Mexican Junior) or MJ as we know him now. Frost ended up falling asleep somewhere in a video room so MJ and I decide to get the camera up and running and go exploring for parties. His AnimeMusicVideos.org cap was a big hit! Once we hit the parties we ended up seeing all sorts of things around that hotel. Even though this is a confession post, I'm going to have to tell you guys to Refer to the Ushicon Documentary to get the full story of the experiences. It was from then on that MJ and I would become great friends and our adventures would continue all the way to the almost nearing Ushicon 2.
Voice Actors
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Along the way I have also met a lot of Voice Actors/Actress at several Cons. I remember at Ushicon1 that Amanda Winn Lee read to us 2 of her worst fan letters. They were really bad. One talked about how thanks to her, some kid had his first Nocturnal Emission (for you non-science guys, it’s called a Wet Dream). I remember the whole crowd laughed about it but was shocked at the same time. Later I would meet up with Doug Smith...the Golden Boy himself. It freaked me out because he didn't sound anything like Kentaro...that is, until he raised his voice a notch or two. Then I walked along the tables and met up with Jessica Calvello and Steve Bennett. Jessica was very wild for the moment I met her. It’s almost an identical match with her Excel character. I remember they brought the first 4 Eps of Excel Saga to the Con before it was even released. Unfortunately we didn't get to see them. Steve Bennett proved to be a fun guy to hang out with and a very talented artist (as was Doug Smith).
I remember how he made me laugh when he pulled out his video camera and videotaped EK on the stage. He kept making moaning sounds while he did it...OH YEA BABY! THAT’S IT! Man I couldn't stop laughing for the longest time. Next came Mr. Nabashi himself, Brett Weaver. He proved to be a very unpredictable guy as he was talking to several other CON goers. It amazes me how EK is able to keep up with him. Incredible!
Later when the Ushicon AMV showcase was on...I sat down in the front next to Jessica and Brett. I remember when my video Faces of Death was going to come on that I warned Jessica and Brett about it. To my biggest surprise, Brett ended up leaving his chair. Only Jessica stayed. It boggled my mind. Later I asked Brett why he left....he said he didn't like gore all that much. I didn’t get a chance to talk to Tiffany Grant all too much. She did say hi to my cousin Mia on the Ushicon Doc. She sounded exactly like all of her anime characters. Quite scry but cool at the same time. Haha! So in conclusion, VA's can be very fun people to hang out with or talk to at CONs. Just don't stalk them with dirty fan mail 
A-KON 13 (The birth of La Familia)
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Akon 13 proved to be one of the greatest Conventions I had ever attended. There was always something to do. It was insane. I hated standing in line for pre-reg. It took forever! But once I got in (after letting Jonathan and MJ cut in line
) we proceeded to film the 2nd Documentary...Akon13. Ushicon had turned out to be a big success with several people...hence my little sequel work on it ^_^. MJ and I interviewed Tiffany Grant one more time. It was also at Akon 13 that I met up with Hypeodermic Studios aka Wonka and Julian. They told me that they lived in Austin TX. Since I was going to UT Austin, it would be a lot of fun to hang out with local AMV creators. Wonka and Julian would later turn out to be great friends and I would be accepted into their family when Julian almost died in front of me thanks to his bad diabetic track. Ok back to the story. We all met outside the Akon13 AMV contest after it was over. Wonka's Perfect Blue video ended up not having any sound and my Shamanic Princess video would end up blinding a lot of the crowd. Hahah. Good times. We went on to film the rest of the doc by having lunch together. But before we went to lunch, we ended up filming 2 school girls kissing in front of our camera....I must say that we felt as if time had gone in slow motion for us as we were watching this. It would prove to be one of the high points of the Akon13 doc I also got the chance to meet the Legend himself Hsien Lee. I would end up bowing in his greatness telling him that I was not worthy to be in his presence. We ended up buying him a Sprite Bottle since we had heard about his AWA7 incident. But it was all for fun and a good joke 8) . When that weekend ended, we realized that we weren't going to see each other for a long while but we bid farewell and we and all posed together and said good-bye.Anime Expo 2002
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I'm not going to talk much about this particular con because it ended up being on of the worse Cons in history. But I do want to acknowledge that I met several great people including Vlad Bohert, Justin, Brad DeMoss, Charles Bathal (my co-host for that con), Alpha Omega, Anneke, and Tainted Donuts master himself Eric Cobet. Refer to the Anime Expo Documentary for more info.
AKON-13 Documentary Scandal
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Well I don't know if you would really call it a scandal, but it did raise a lot of eyebrows. I remember thinking that it was a small joke and wouldn't be a problem. Brian (Rozard) had sent me some footage of JACON and I decided to incorporate it into the Akon doc since both had happened at the same time. I had a few shots of EK, More Than Toast, and even XenoDrake to work with. I decided to put small jokes for each one. Later, the doc ended up having so much success that I got mad when More Than Toast came in and told me that they didn't like what I put about them. I'll admit I was kind of an ass since the Akon Doc was having so much success and they were coming to spoil the fun....but later everyone would get involved and things would blow clear out of the water. Man talk about a ruckus. I even had a bad convo with Elizebeth (Zabet)....I wasn’t aware of the whole MTT crew and thought Zabet was a guy so I said some pretty bad shit to her. Big ouch when I later found out he was a she. *Insert Foot into Mouth.* But this would blow to be even bigger. Since I had announced that I would be making an AWA Documentary to seal the deal, too many people were angry about what was happening and all hell broke loose. I still remember talking to Tim Stair (Fluxmeister) about the whole situation and he showed me what ended up being the biggest back-stabbing I had ever seen. Well, maybe not as much as a back-stabbing, but more of a very cowardly attempt to fix the situation. I guess I couldn't blame anyone for what was happening. And I guess I did deserve it after everything that had happened. Hence because of the huge incident, I was in no position to even consider making an AWA Documentary without making everyone even angrier then they already were. Thus AMV politics were born (at least they were for me
)Anime-FEST 2002
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Afterwards, I ended up moving to Austin TX since I would be start at UT Austin in a few days. Once I moved there, I looked up Wonka and Julian and we went to go eat. We talked about a lot of what was going on and how I would try to fix it. They told me not to worry since AnimeFEST was coming up this weekend and we would drive up to Dallas for it and stay over at MJ's house. That weekend ended up being a lot of fun. Jonathan wasn't able to come which sucked. But we ended up meeting a newcomer to La Familia...his name was Big Dave. Dave and MJ = best comedy duo ever! Well that weekend was over pretty quickly. I even had to bow to Wonka and MJ because their Music Videos ended up beating mine at the Contest. GRR!!! They always polish those damn trophies in front of me. All I have to show for it are a few certificates from several other cons
. Hahaha. Damn CONs never send their prizes to the winners; lazy asses. Let’s see, oh yea, Daniel Chang annoyed us with his forced cussing habit. I thought it was funny as hell but it got on people’s nerves after awhile. But he’s still an ok guy for me =).Anime Weekend Atlanta 8
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Anime Weekend Atlanta would prove to be the most wonderful trip I’ve ever had in my life. The day finally came to go to the airport. Wonka, Julian, MJ, and Big Dave would be driving non-stop to Atlanta while I flew. They would meet me at the airport. That’s where I finally met Fluxmeister (Tim Stair) for the first time. He somewhat resembled Jesus in a computer science sort of way. Before we left for the CON, I dropped of my baggage at MJ’s hotel room and took a couple shots of Jack Daniels to loosen me up for the big meeting. I was about to head into unknown territory not knowing if people would be angry with me or not. I had brought my camera since I was helping Vlad with the DDR Project Documentary. I was going to try to stay away from un-needed confrontations. When we arrived, I met up with everyone. That day I met everyone…Will Milberry, Akimbo, Zabet, Kwasek, Sam Buca, Jason Salace, Jared, Joe Croasdaile, Ian Roberts, Nathan Bezner, Lee Thompson, Studio Hybrid, Rozard, Xenodrake, Bloodyfang, Nicole Barrs, Molly Kips, Bill, J-Bone, David Violence, etc etc. Returning faces from Anime Expo were Ermac, Vlad, Brad DeMoss, Tim Park, EK, Jescaflowne, and several others (sorry I can’t name everyone =P). I admit I felt odd shaking hands with Will Milberry for the first time. But I had kept my promise, I knew one day I would meet him and that day was finally here. We sat down and watch a few AMVs together and talked about old times and about our new projects. I even exchanged CDs with him. Made me really happy everything was cool between us. Now all I needed to do was clear things up with MTT.
The DDR Project ended up being one of the best nights! We all got wasted and danced into the night. I remember filming a lot of people for the DDR Doc and everyone seemed to be having a great time. I remember I had asked Molly to dance but she refused and said she didn’t want to right now. It kind of bugged me for a bit. I had talked to her a lot in the past but never really met her in person. I offered her a hotel room for 2 nights which she was cool with…but I found it rather odd that she didn’t want to dance. Oh well. I moved on and danced some more. That same night was also when I met Mandy Thomas while dancing. Julian, MJ, Big Dave, Mandy, and I all danced the night away. I only talked to Mandy for a short while; I wish it could have been longer. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to make an AWA doc, but I wondered how David Violence would do his. I knew I wasn’t the only camera there. But anyways, the DDR project ended and everyone was tired. I remember Big Dave took me and Molly to eat at a Waffle House later that night after we bought the liquor for everyone. I cam back rather late since Dave had to drop off Molly at the hotel first. I stayed there talked for a little bit with a few people. I even got to see Will smash a coke can on his Aluminum Head =). The joke circled the entire table which was hilarious. The next day I came late to the Con and missed Tim’s and Will’s Excellent Panel. Damn! But it was ok. I sat and talked with then a later on that day.
The time came for the AWA Expo, Professional, and Masters contests. It went by very slowly but was entertaining. I remember as I was leaving the contest that I heard someone say “What the Fuck was that Boogiepop Video?” I guess I felt bad but laughed at the same time about it. Oh well. I cheered up when Vlad told me something similar about my video on the patio. I decided to head downstairs to check out the dealer room and I ran into Mandy one last time. Our eyes just met with each other for a short time and then she was gone again. The Iron Chef competition pretty much blew us all away with Hsien’s and Joe’s “1337” editing skills. Ian came around and gave me a class of Absinthe which he brought from England. That glass of Absinthe ples the punch bottles with ever-clear proved to be my undoing that night. Apples and Oranges one judge said. After Hsien’s win, we all went up to Jason Salace’s room and ended up having one of the best AMV creator parties ever! I even remember Molly asking Elizebeth about ever having a lesbian experience. Too Fucking Funny! I remember I also talked with Kwasek and Akimbo and made amends with them about the whole Akon Doc thing. I also talked with Zabet and apologized to her as well. We all took Kodak moments at the party. The final day of AWA came and I had one final lunch with La Familia. Fluxy didn’t make it which was sad =(. But afterwards, I was still hung-over from the night before thanks to the Absinthe and the Everclear Punch. I still don’t remember getting to my flight but some how I did. Thus AWA8 ended
The Aftermath of AWA8
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I did receive an email from Will Milberry though. I read it and wrote back to him. The two of us had become great friends and I now speak to him via email and online whenever I can. Everything ended well with the two us and we continue to exchange ideas to this day.
I had exchanged info with Mandy while at the con and we have spoken over the phone for the last 4 months since AWA ended. She is coming to stay with me Ushicon weekend. A lot has happened between the two of us that I’m almost scared but excited to see her again. My feelings have grown for in a very odd yet great way.
One last thing that has still shocked me to this day is the amount of fan mail I receive. I still think strange of it when people email me telling me that they loved a certain video or that I inspired them to start their own studio and make AMVs. All I do is think back and wonder if this is how it was for Will and Hsien when someone as little as me had written to them in the past and told them that I was inspired through their work. It really is a strange feeling, but its good feeling. Thus time passes on….
Ushicon 2
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This event is coming up in less than one week. Mandy, Jonathan, Hitori, Jbone, and Fluxy will all be flying in on Thursday of this week for the CON. It will be nice to see and hang out with all of them again. I’m exceptionally nervous about meeting Mandy. I can’t say I’ve ever really hugged or kissed her yet, but I guess that’s the beauty of life. Letting everything be un-predictable usually leads me to appreciate things more. Don’t ask me why, it just does. Also, since I didn’t get a chance to film a final Documentary at AWA, Ushicon 2 will be the final one for me, but I still don’t know if I will use any old AWA footage or not. I did speak to David Violence and he may send me some of his footage to work with on the new doc. Actually, it may end up being more of a movie than an actual documentary. Based on all the friends I’ve made since Ushicon1. The day slowly approaches…..
Current Studies
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At first, I had wanted to go into Computer Science since I had been working with computers since I was 11. I ended up hating it. I loved to make movies and edit music videos instead….thus I found the Radio Television and Film program at UT Austin. It was then I realized how fascinating the MEDIA was and thought about how much influence and knowledge the world of AMVs had brought to my life. Thus I am currently studying to be a Film Director here at UT Austin. Who knows, this might make a cool movie someday.
Closing Thoughts
I hope no one is angry with me about what you have just read. As I mentioned in the beginning, these are my confessions of the last 3 ½ years of being an AMV creator. I loved every moment of the past and I still continue forward toward new experiences in the future. I hope some of you have realized that I too was once a newbie and that you realize that everyone has to start somewhere. Thus I know that nowadays it can be very discouraging being a newbie…especially here at animemusicvideos.org. I still remember being afraid to talk to Hsien, Will, Jason, and Joe on AIM for the longest time until one day I did. If you’re going through this, don’t worry about it. Just have a little bit of courage.
I do offer one piece of advice to all the new people joining the AMV scene. Read the Guides! Several of us have worked on them so that you may benefit from their wisdom. Also, don’t just pick and anime and a song just because you want to make a music video. One thing I love about watching other people’s music videos is trying to find whether or not there was an idea or a concept within it. Someone who comes up with an original idea for an AMV will feel more at ease with himself/herself when the time comes for it to be shown either to friends or at a Convention. You will be like I once was…afraid yet excited about how people will react to your music video. Some will be bad, some will be good. But never give up. If you really love editing or making music videos or making movies, just do your best!
It’s been along 3 ½ years for me….but I’ve loved every moment of it….I am currently 19 yrs old and a full time student at the University of Texas in Austin. My best friends include: MJ, Wonka, Fluxy, Jonathan, Mandy, Hitori, Dave, and Rozard.
To everyone I haven’t met….I hope to meet you someday and hang out with you at a local CON near you.
To everyone I’m going to see at Ushicon2 and for the Ushicon 2 Doc….
ALL BETS ARE OFF!!!!
~Carlos Corral of MindWarp Entertainment
Your whole life story as an AWV dude in one message....
<-- tears of joy
