P.O.E Season 3 : Round 3 - "Mythical Tales"

[CodeZTM]

I can haz video 1? We wish to start our viewing party soon :3

It says 10 minutes remaining. So hopefully soon. ^_^

[CodeZTM]

They're all up! Please enjoy!

[sakuraslight]

good luck all ^^

[SilverFreedoms]

I may just have to download a few of these.

[pacotacoshell]

OMG A SARA B SONG

I HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED THE VIDS YET BUT THIS ONE PROBABLY WON ;_________;

[pacotacoshell]

Woah, I didn't even put that taco in my last post and it magically got there. It's fate.

Vid 1: L-O-FREAKING-L, I'm sorry but that masked part at 0:29 made me laugh a little too hard. Other than that, the crossover bits are good. You got the mood right for each part too. Though the lip sync could be tighter and some of the facial expressions could have matched better. Some other technical stuff like bad quality on a lot of parts (that you probably over-zoomed) and some frame blending. But overall it's a good vid, and it'll definitely be something I keep when this gets polished for an org version.
Vid 2: The story's good, but I don't really like the editing that much. The sync's not there at all for me, and some of the cuts are pretty harsh.
Vid 3: Awww, and here I thought they were gonna be killing the wolf girl. The Hellsing Ultimate bits were out of place and way too noticeable. At one point I thought this was an attempted thriller version of Twilight. Also, you really need intense sync with this kind of song or else it gets boring quick. Not many of the super loud beats were hit so you don't feel the impact that you would want here. Overall looked promising but didn't sell at all for me in the end.
Vid 4: Oh my lord the crossfades. SO MANY FREAKING CROSSFADES. >___> Tons of respect for the Mawaru Penguindrum usage though. Some gripes: again, the crossfades. There was a good amount of lip flap here too. Also, your story was all over the place. You added all of these characters that were irrelevant to the story you were trying to portray (even though they matched the lyrics but that's besides the point), when it should have been just Himari and the brothers. Overall you main story was good, but less crossfades and removal of irrelevant characters are needed. Oh and 0:35-0:37 was perfect.
Vid 5: OH MY GOD THIS IS JUST SOMETHING ELSE, I MEAN I MIGHT BE BIASED RIGHT NOW BUT GOD. I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WERE OTHER PEOPLE THAT LISTEN TO SARA BAREILLES ;________________________; Okay seriously. Good editing, but lazy scene selection. Too many OPs and EDs that didn't even fit. Lots of pans needed here too, a good amount of clips were really, really static. OKAY THAT'S IT BACK TO FANBOYING. MAN THIS WAS SO FREAKING GOOD AND I SERIOUSLY LOVE WHOEVER MADE THIS VID. SERIOUSLY. PLEASE LET ME BETA TEST THIS FOR YOU BEFORE YOU PUT THIS ON THE ORG. The world needs more amazing Sara Bareilles vids and this would be one of the besterestest after some really good polishing.
Vid 6: Man those really long parts of black in the beginning make me really sad. You had a whole 3 1/2 seconds of black at 0:50. You could have definitely filled in something there. The story was sorta promising, but I didn't feel any sense of closure to the story at the end. She beat Lancer and then what? We were back to basically the beginning of the story and nothing happened. No progress at all. It felt like you just tried to curve the story into a typical action vid with really, really tiny hints of the story being there.
Vid 7: Oh hey I just downloaded this anime the other day. I have some problems with the sync on a few parts, and some hardcuts shouldn't have been hardcuts. But overall I thought it was a pretty solid vid with good storytelling.
Vid 8: I didn't really get the story when I watched it so I won't comment on it. As a stand alone video, I think it's pretty average. I didn't like the sync overall, but you managed to hit the nail on the impact near the end. And...yeah. That's pretty much it <___<
Vid 9: Ooooh, I like this. Really creative typography going on. It's really good in the first half, but the second half falls pretty hard in the sync department. So many long clips on such a high impact, fast paced part of the song. Also that overlay was too much near the ending (around 2:10). It was way too harsh and ruined the picture for me, especially at the clip where she falls. Some panning needed on a good amount of parts too. But overall, great storytelling here. I've never watched the anime so I don't know if this was the original story, but it gave me feels. ;__;

My top tres would probably be 5, 1, and 9 (in order). Have a taco, friends.

Oh and props for no drops again this round!

[AngelDragoon]

5, 6, and 7 are my favorites for this round. (Extra special for video number 7. I understood what you were trying to convey while still having a pretty original spin on it. Then again, I'm probably biased since Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. )

[meleechampion]

Oh and props for no drops again this round!

There were three drops. >.>

[pacotacoshell]

Oh and props for no drops again this round!

There were three drops. >.>

I only looked at the safe contestants list from the r2 result thread, I forgot about the top 3 <_____< Have a taco to forget this ever happened

[Radical_Yue]

Video 1

Spoiler :

- Concept is easy enough to understand
- You tried?

- Laughably bad effects work
- Even for a trailer it was lazy

Trailers were guaranteed to score you theme this round considering all that goes into the majority of trailers are "match this scene with this sound/line" and you're basically given story line as long as you pull that off. While you managed to do this for the most part, the means that you used were not so great. I could nitpick on specific effects but that would be pointless because I'd be going over all of them. I know that what you attempted was actually a pretty major thing being a crossover in such a short time span but I'm going to go after you just like I did Lopez in the CDVV IC. If you're going to attempt something like this then you better make sure it's done right. You can't submit a stick figure drawing coupled with an awesome concept essay to an art competition and expect people to say "Well, they obviously had brilliant plans but they didn't have the time so we'll just pretend they actually finished it and it is therefore awesome!" It's nice that you're shooting for the stars but if you've only got an hour to build a rocket ship you need to rethink your game plan.

Video 2

Spoiler :

-Solid concept with lesbo-sleeping beauty

-Messy editing

This one was easy enough to understand once it got going. Homura is an evil witch who puts the blue power ranger to sleep and the red power ranger has to save her because they want to have lesbian sexy times or something. The first thing that bugged me however was it was like, blue girl was cursed and then somehow she made it onto a train and even went running around for a bit. My theory behind this is that before she was cursed she drank like, 5 redbulls so it's taking a while for the curse to kick in. But finally, she passes out and red is out to save her. Now, so far so good, but your battle sequence is probably the one thing that bugs me the most. Sure, you've got some awesome scenes of the red power ranger doing her thing and looking like a bamf...but what in the hell is she fighting? It's impossible to identify with, care for, or feel any sense of anticipation concerning a character if you have no idea what the hell she is fighting and why it's so difficult. Beyond the scene that shows the monster at the start of the battle and one where it blows up at the end, for all I know it could've been attempting to tickle her to death with hugs and bunnies. But it's coo' because Blue wakes up and has no idea who her savior is and it's okay because Red is chillin outside her window looking all stalker-y and eating apples. And they all lived happily ever after.

Oh, and don't think no one caught that scene you reversed the speed on. Nice try.

Video 3

Spoiler :

-
- Editing was rather solid

- What the hell is going on?
- Dat eye roto.

I see the wolves, and there is the boy...but where is the whole 'lying is bad' moral that the entire fairy tale is based around? The only time I can imagine him crying is when the wolves rip him to shreds. It's like you skipped the boring part of the fairy tale and went straight into death by wolf. I assume that the "consequences" the title speaks of are that if you are within a 50 miles radius of wolves they will eat you. That's what you get for being within a 50 mile radius of wolves. Consequences.

Also, dat eye roto.

Video 4

Spoiler :

- Really great/solid editing
- Very interesting take on Snow White

- Why was the brown hair girl raped?
- Wait...it wasn't snow white?

The editing level in this video is easily one of the highest this round without a doubt, but your concept is killing you. For one, I really don't understand why the brown hair girl got raped. She seemed nice enough so what'd she ever do to you?
And then we have the main character, Snow Whi-er...Sleeping Beauty. With all the apple symbolism and such in Penguindrum and the way this video was set up I was totally sure it was Snow White (the other princess who falls asleep) minus those creepy midgets she has chosen to hang out with, but Sleeping Beauty eh? That is where you kind of lost me considering she spent most of the video awake and also probably wondering why brownie got raped. I do give you credit for this song though just because it's this song. All credit given may be exchanged at Paco Taco's Taco Shop and Bordello.

Video 5

Spoiler :

- Probably the only video I can see myself watching outside of this contest and enjoying
- Solid editing overall

- Utena REALLY stood out quality wise among your other sources
- Beyond Air girl getting her hair cut, she really didn't have a purpose

This is probably my favorite song by this artist so I went into the video prepared to cut the editor if they screwed it up. You sir, shall escape with minor scratches. The video was entertaining as a whole and as I said, it's probably the only one of the batch I can see myself watching outside of the contest and enjoying. One of the main problems I have with Org Editor is that people try sooo hard to work with an esoteric theme that they completely forget about making the video enjoyable to watch when viewed outside of the contest. This video went with an interesting take on the theme and was pretty fun to watch. The only major complaints I had were the Utena footage and Air. Utena REALLY needed to be cleaned up. When placed next to brand spanking new shiny shows, it looked like it had been beaten with an ugly stick for several days straight. As for Air, beyond the whole cutting hair lyric, it really felt like she didn't fit there at all. All the other girls you selected display a wide range of emotions while Air girl only really knows how to spin around and look really happy or really tired like she was slipped a date rape drug.

Video 6

Spoiler :

- Yup, Fate/Zero is a really pretty source

- Bro, do you even font?

If it wasn't for the text, I would have no idea what the hell was going on in this video and even then it devolves into every Fate/Zero video ever. Yes, those scenes are very pretty but overall they felt like giant unedited fight sequences with text wrapped around them trying to make sense of things. The text however, was almost impossible to read half the time due to the font section. You tried to take a lame fairy tale and make it badass but instead you made a Fate/Zero video that looks like all the others. I give you credit for trying but next time you need to mix things up. Those fight sequences may be gorgeous but I can only watch them so many times.

Video 7

Spoiler :

- You tried?
- God, Xam'd is pretty

- Dear god that was LONG

I am a HUGE Xam'd fan and now I am disappoint. Beauty and the Beast would've worked brilliantly if done right but you chose a long, monotonous song that doesn't really change and you've created a long monotonous video. As I watch this there were glimpses of what you were going for but because of the length it was easy to see there were long stretches of cop out trying to fill the timeline. While it's ambitious to attempt a full song without cutting it, this was one of those situations where it actually worked against you as opposed to enhancing the video. You need to recognize the limitations you're working with, cut things down and apply more focus.

Video 8

Spoiler :

This video shall henceforth be re-titled "The Tower of Babel 2: The Tower Strikes Back (Also, zombies or some shit. Did you see that kid hit his mom with a bat?!)"

Video 9

Spoiler :

- Very interesting take on The Little Mermaid

- That color/flame overlay near the end
- You made me cry and now we can never be friends

Seeing a take on the original story done like this was really neat! I'm a big Kanon fan so I will admit I got slightly happy in my pants when I saw you were doing a Makoto profile. Then I got incredibly sad in my pants when I remembered how it ended for Makoto ;_; Overall, you got your story across very well and the actual storybook effects at the very beginning and end looked pretty good. That random fire/orange effect that you threw in though...just, no man. Don't do that again. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go punch the next person that tells me "Shiori had it pretty bad too." SHUT UP. SHIORI GOT TO LIVE.

EDIT: And a message to you guys that dropped, you suck. Seriously MeleeChampion freakin' IC'd a video in 2 hours last round and still made something better than you did. Why is that you ask? Because you made NOTHING. If your schedule wasn't going to work out you should've dropped at the start of the round so someone who didn't make it last round could've taken your spot. At least some of them still really wanted to edit. Not cool bro. NOT COOL. GUILT TRIP!