AMV Salad 4: TV Dinner (next stop - Nekocon)

[Gaelstrom]

...the POS? I was using that as a buffer to go between the Salads as a PSA or "news break," hence no test pattern.

Hmm... well if that's the case, then how about this. What if there were an actual AMVS4 title between the Sony POS and the first clips? It'll solve multiple problems, including the fade, the lack of a stronger AMVS4 intro, and clear it off that first slap chop clip (which could use a bit crisper editing in the beginning I think). If you want, it's almost nothing to do a 3D logo with some reflectivity and lighting. Could do something fun with it. Like off the top of my head, have AMVS4 floating in with the Space Odyssey 2001 theme, and right when it gets to the trumpet flourish, have it spark and the music cut in and out, kind of like the THX logo in theaters that needed to repair bot, but have it just fall the hell out of the screen and just have someone curse or something ^^ I could do that relatively easily, especially with so much time to do it. I know the exact curse to use too ^^

Also, is it decided that AMVS3 and AMVS4 are going to be separate? Were the AMVS3 credits there just to test how it'd be if they were connected?

I originally had yours and Commander in Heat switched. I'll make the adjustment and look again for the DV. As far as the credits, I can see how they're sloppy, even for a first beta. I knew there would have to be work done on those. We'll work on it.

Looking at it, that may be a little too soon, but yeah. Ideally it'd be around the 16-18 minute mark in the current version of things. Also, a strange thing I noticed that may be worth looking out for. Watching the Commander in Heat one, I realized it may be 'dangerous' to the connectivity of Haruvi Baadoman and the end credits clip if there's another Haruhi clip between them. It may actually disconnect them in the audience's mind to see her out of that context between them. Guess just something for us to watch out for just in case.

Thunderbirds: Will see what the creator says.

I'll backpedal on this one. Watching it again, it works the way it is. I was in 'first impression mode' when I first watched, and didn't focus that the editing was solid enough that it worked as a continuation. I still believe the joke lands after the first Thunderbirds, but the later edits punctuate it, so it doesn't harm the joke at all.

Kyoko Bunch:: Honestly, even though it's not a closing punchline, keeping the theme song intact is important; especially filling in he center square.

Agreed... without the center square it would feel unfinished. It could actually be shortened in the theme. Could be Soundforge edited to bring the ending trumpets up against the first "way they all became the brady bunch" section and cut out a good ten seconds of audio without losing anything. Could do an experiment with it if the author doesn't have soundforge or anything to see what it's like.

Hallmark:: Not too sure about doing anything with this one except for, maybe, placing it earlier on the timeline. Anyone who's seen That 70s Show should recognize the source. Also, the opening segment is needed as a setup so I understand it being there.

Guess that makes sense. I've never really liked That 70s Show so I didn't recognize it. All I know is I was left generally confused by it. I was listening to everything with the base thought "Will the general audience get these?" and this is one that is dependent on the popularity of That 70s Show I guess, which is apparently pretty popular. So no biggy there I guess.

[moonbunnychan]

Oh man, I had a big long reply typed up and it seems to have just vanished into the oblivion. I'm retype it later if it doesn't magically show up. -_-

But also, I actually liked the Birdman/Haruhi one being right before the credits. I honestly don't think I would have connected the two jokes if they hadn't been right after each other. It flowed nicely that way and connected the ending to the credits.

[Gaelstrom]

Oh man, I had a big long reply typed up and it seems to have just vanished into the oblivion. I'm retype it later if it doesn't magically show up. -_-

But also, I actually liked the Birdman/Haruhi one being right before the credits. I honestly don't think I would have connected the two jokes if they hadn't been right after each other. It flowed nicely that way and connected the ending to the credits.

I agree, I don't want it very far away from the credits for that exact reason, but maybe not directly before. But also the music over the clip completely destroys the audience's ability to concentrate on either the clip or the credit song. I'd like in the next beta to interrupt the credits with an obvious visual and audio interruption, then have the full clip play. The intention was to make the audience have to think just a bit to recognize the voice during the hallway scenes, and make it more obvious when they saw the students and Kyon. Separating the clip into two didn't work well. But if it fits better at the end, so be it. I only wanted a reasonable gap between the two to get the effect. The credits themselves may pull that off.

[moonbunnychan]

Ya...I think the credits give it a good separation. Plus it's a real solid thing to end on, as it's definitely one of the funnier bits...and like I said makes a good link between the end and credits. I just think it works well personally.

[Gaelstrom]

I'm open to it being at the end after some consideration. I may be overestimating the time required. If the actual credits clip is separated by some author sigs, then it should give the desired effect without too much distraction. The problem I can see is that people may think it's just another author sig then, and take too much time adapting. Another thought is it could be a clip or two from the end, then the first thing to play after like... 10-15 frames of credits is the Haruhi credits clip, but before any author sigs, to guarantee it's not mistaken for one. If we're going to do a couple more betas, we could try it different ways perhaps.

I'm not sure if you read what I wrote before regarding the Geico commercials, but would you be willing to look for some still shots of just scenes with nobody there for Princess Tutu and the others so that the 'money you could be saving' doesn't look so pixelated and floating? Your idea's very sound, but I think it could be given some more lovin'. If there's a scene with a character walking in to sit on a bench for example, you could take two shots from the scene and composite an empty image and place it there. I'm certain you can do that with Haruhi scenes, I know of several from looking through the footage where it'd work. You could even place it in strange places each time, like on Haruhi's monitor or something. I'd be willing to help with some photoshopping as well to get a character out of a scene if need be.

Would that be something you'd be willing to look into?

[Kireblue]

Kyoko Bunch: Little long, but the text commentary trying to keep up with the inconsistencies was pretty funny so I didn't feel the length as much. It was the ending that I couldn't follow. After the text commentary I guess the rest you'd have had to have seen the show to get. Personally I'd suggest cutting it after the Kyoko Bunch logo comes up, but it depends how popular the series is I guess. I am not familiar with it.

Oh I see. The names that I used were the names of the voice actors that play Kyoka, Oka and Akeru "Pierre". In the anime series, Kyoka is the mother. Oka is the father, and Pierre always makes them and the children food.

Anyway, I'm glad that you liked the text commentary. The series isn't very popular, so only a few people would be get all of the jokes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ky%C5%8Dran_Kazoku_Nikki And my Hollywood Squares reference "Arranges Marriages FTW" can be easily missed as well, but if someone has seen the anime, they'll laugh for a different reason.

Kyoko Bunch:: Honestly, even though it's not a closing punchline, keeping the theme song intact is important; especially filling in he center square.

Agreed... without the center square it would feel unfinished. It could actually be shortened in the theme. Could be Soundforge edited to bring the ending trumpets up against the first "way they all became the brady bunch" section and cut out a good ten seconds of audio without losing anything. Could do an experiment with it if the author doesn't have soundforge or anything to see what it's like.

I have soundforge, but I don't think that it would sound right to edit out 10 seconds of the theme. Also, that would mean that I would have to add the center square immediately after "The Kyoka Bunch" leaves the screen, and even take out the "and staring Eri Kitamura as Pierre" text. I feel that the "and staring Ann B. Davis as Alice" line from the original opening is just a iconic as the center square. So I don't think that the video would feel complete without it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou-FeOoKDq4

[Angelyco]

I thought the Haruhi clips during the credits were fine, it reminded me of when they show deleted scenes during the credits of a movie. I think an actual interruption would jar me too much and interrupt the flow, but that's just me.

[krvabo]

All right, first impressions that this is definitely more consistently strong than AMVS3 ^^ These are awesome.

Thunderbirds: I laughed after "Thunderbirds are GO!". After that was okay, but the punchline had landed, so I found myself waiting for it to end. Definitely a good clip, just went on a bit too long I feel.

Chris Hansen clip: Took me a couple times to realize what it was, but after that I liked it. One part that I found weak though is between the office scene and the ball to the... balls ^^ I'd suggest searching for a reaction shot for the teacher guy to place in between. Otherwise it's pretty stoic.

As I'm the creator of both clips I certainly will comment

- Thunderbirds: I saw you replied later retracting this comment, but I do agree that it's a bit long. The part after the punchline is content that I felt fit very nicely after it, I'm glad you saw that too. I would not have mind cutting it, but it's at a bit of a weird place though.

- Chris Hansen / Catch a Predator: I'm not really sure what you mean by that. It could be cut in a bit, so the punch comes sooner, but I'm not really sure if that'll sound right. The main reason I left that 'gap' there is because you can 'feel' the guy's shock. It was too bad I could not find any running away scene, otherwise that would've fit perfectly. Could you specify what you mean?


I concur that this Salad was very good, I really laughed out loud some times, and that's saying something
Here are my favorite clips:

irl lol @ sony - lucky star
lol @ i don't want to lose the house
liked it very much @ jamaica - feel alright
lol @ southpark jezus songs
lol @ 'fuck it, im gonna go masturbate'
lol @ jack ass, maybe there should have an outline around the title / text, so it stands out more
nicely done @ bomberman
wtf lol @ movie commercials / commander heat, is that one part? It's awesome
irl lol @ marine 'fuck you too'
irl hard lol @ 'fuck you' from nagato 'number two' from Haruhi
irl lol @ pedobear

There where a few errors / notes I want to make:
- encode errors @ stewie 'let me get a condom'
- the sony / lucky star clip was done -very- nice, but it was -very- long

[Kei83]

Hmm... that added part I honestly don't like. It's kind of like a 'captain obvious' moment, commenting to the audience on how it's an abnormal clip, when the whole production is about abnormal clips. So it contradicts the humor. The sound and strange voice and effect coming across the screen actually stopped me from laughing (which I was going to do, because your clip gets me every time when I see Naruto even after half a dozen times seeing it ). In that regard I can only beg you to accept that you had it right the first time. It may seem like it's cut off there since you don't have a test pattern, but imagine a test pattern after it, and it won't feel empty, I promise.

For example, "Some people stand in the darkness" is all you need for Nancy Boy. Then "Afraid to step into the light" for the girl. That's an effective length, and still fits the timing of a more modern intro, so you won't cause issue with anyone.

And you're right, I had no idea the names were parodies on breast sizes, in fact I'd never ever heard of those terms being used to describe breast sizes, so in that regard I can only suggest making them much more obvious. I'm fond of jokes inside jokes, which is why I suggested having the credits become like a commenting character. The Brady Bunch clip does a similar concept, where the "Narrator" of sorts becomes an active character in the clip. In fact that text is the only reason that clip is amusing to me, otherwise it'd be a bunch of still images of a show I know nothing about. With the text, the text itself becomes the audience perspective character, and draws in even those who know nothing of the show like me.

If you'd like I could help you brainstorm some possibilities for making the clip land a bit stronger. Can't guarantee I'd come up with the best ideas, but my clips all go through the gauntlet of my friends, and they tell me flat out if my idea just doesn't work and help me get it on course. I find that having more heads involved really does guarantee higher quality.

As far as the voice on the captain planet I actually wasn't going for this is abnormal and wrong so goodbye.... Im actually surprised you have never seen the joke it was relating to. there is a very popular internet flash site that has a flash character called "Strongbad" who checks e-mails and replies to them in very funny ways however the running joke is that when he reads an e-mail that he feels is not even worth his time to reply or even read all the way he basically says deleted you see it appear on screen in words the the screen does the green out thing. it was more of a "this is just too crappy to finish joke" as well as the computer monitor around the video. However I did enjoy the joke as it came up originally and worked on that timing initially a lot so maybe i did not feel it would be that funny just ending there without something more and it might be due to seeing it some 100 plus times. I fully concede that being too involved in a project can make you miss the obvious... Unfortunately between work and school full time its hard to have a friend check my work and say what's good and bad.

So i am more than happy to go with it cut right there and if need be i can send that clip cut there.

As for baywatch it is already shorter than the intro for the show by a good 45 seconds if not more. I wanted that movement even though anime does rely on still frames i felt trying to balance the 2 was the best approach. I guess not. I had thought of the commentary aspect but that would run a still frame for longer or be mostly still frames because the source material has a lot of quick cuts to something completely off or wide shots that don't focus on one character to keeping the flow in a simple manner.

(For example, "Some people stand in the darkness" is all you need for Nancy Boy. Then "Afraid to step into the light" for the girl. That's an effective length, and still fits the timing of a more modern intro, so you won't cause issue with anyone.) I guess maybe I am missing the understanding here would this just be mostly name and still frame or quick movement with name giving the audience very little time to read the name? and the music would be cut in between the lyrics? I wouldn't mind brain storming. (the question is, how much allotted time do i really have to rework the clip because these proposed changes are a little more involved.)

Just one quick comment on the bra size thing... I used DDD and JJ as basically they are most ridiculously largest bra sizes available and thought it would be a little more obvious that way. But i guess its hard for people to have come across that information when they are very uncommon sizes as well so not seen in regular stores you usually just hear about them on news or talk shows where they discuss plastic surgery or breast augmentation. So maybe something to the effect of a different name with a commentary line such as " Pamela anderson. Breast size 44 ddd... Im not sure

[moonbunnychan]

Heh, glad you guys liked the Commander in Heat one...I was so on the fence about including it in part due to length.

I'm totally open to re-editing of the Geico ones. If you've got a good idea for a scene in Haruhi that's like a mostly blank room let me know, I think I can rework the Princess Tutu one, which ya, upon watching it again last night I felt needed it too. I also think it needs a couple more for it really to be more of a running joke...they're kinda spread out as is and kinda easy to forget about. I also think the Princess Tutu one first would set up the joke better, since it's not quite so obvious what's going on.

It would involve making another clip, but it might set it up as more of a running joke if there was a Birdman/Haruhi thing towards the very beginning as well as the end....make it kind of bridge. Just an idea. For the part during the credits, for it to be more a jarring from the credits, the editor tags themselves would have to be less of a jar (since as it is the credits kind of stop for them). Maybe by turning down their volume a bit and still having the TV Dinner song play under them? Something along those lines so the Haruhi part stands out more as not just another tag. Otherwise ya, I think people might just think it's another editor tag. (I do like them music under it though...having it start up partway through kind of adds comedic effect).

I LOVE the Sony POS one. I'm only a touch concerned that the language in it may be a bit much. I know con goers in general are a lot more lax on F-bombs and such then the average Joe, but I'm more concerned about what con staff will stay, especially since it's the very first thing. Are the fan parodies at Otakon 18+? I honestly can't remember. But at other cons you show it at it'd definitely push it over that 18+ ledge. And I know on the Ota page it says offensive things would be shown later...so this might be pushed back to like 1am or something.

I was gonna say something about the Naruto one but that seems to have been taken care of. I'm torn on the length of the Fraggle Rock one. It both overstays it's welcome but also has some good parts later on. I think the Thunderbirds one works the way it is. I AM familiar with the show the Brady Bunch one is from, so I find it hilarious. I'm not sure how popular the show is though. Maybe there's a way to make it a little more clear...or have the last square be a more general joke then specific to the show as more of a punchline. I utterly didn't catch the joke on the Baywatch one, so it just kinda seemed to drag that way....love the concept though. On the Hallmark one, the first part is definitely needed to set up the joke...but...I dunno maybe it's just me but the second half with the black faces, it took me a sec to realize it WASN'T how my brain first interpreted it. The Haruhi one with the dub audio, I know cons in general tend to frown upon using dub audio, like in the regular amv contest it would get it disqualified. I know past ones have had dub audio, but I'd hate to see it get rejected or something for something so minor.

Whoever made the Death Note/Family Guy one...I love you. That's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Bravo!