I tried zooming in to get rid of the letterbox but the aspect ratio was locked and it would have seriously compromised the visual quality. The original author, KojiroShinkara, needs to fix that on their end.
I'd say it won't hurt to let the clips go widescreen, since everything is changing its aspect ratio anyway. The letterbox never bothered me before. It was feeling like some shoulder shots were becoming extreme closeups and becoming uncomfortable, and whole sections of shots were getting cut off, so yeah I'd say the shots are good. As for the Bebop one, it's short enough that it can get away with being scaled up in editing software if worse comes to worst.
My only question now is what is to be done with the production tags if neither the beginning nor end works?
I think you may have misunderstood. They work totally fine in the ending. This ending song is nothing like "Song that never ends." The fact that it has TV dinner in it is all that really matters to me, otherwise it's not that great a song in my opinion (it's not upbeat and dance-ish, and its presence is the real joke), so cutting in production tags and any other clips is fine, and even expected considering this is AMVS4. What was discussed above, about Haruvi Baadoman cutting in being mistaken for a production tag, I am reasonably sure it'll be solved by being the first thing that cuts in, and as long as we use the version that has the fuzz and make sure the music gets cut off.
I just came up with something that may work. If you have a way to make the music quickly slow down and cut like someone unplugged a record player or something, then have the clip cut in, then after it fuzzes out, do the reverse and have it speed up into the song again if you know what I'm talking about. I think that could be potentially amusing.
While I agree about the television frame being distracting (I found myself looking to see what it was), I LOLed at the ending. It was an unexpected WTF moment for me but I digress. It's up to the author in the end, I guess, but either way the current version of this clip is gonna hit with some viewers and miss with others.
It's true that if the author really wants it like this then your choices are limited to appease the 'members' but if several people notice the same types of distractions, that's a red flag that probably shouldn't be ignored. Since you're the coordinator, wouldn't you say that on top of your contributions you were being a stand that the largest portion of the audience got the most enjoyment possible? You could let everything be 'some will get it, some will not' but then this will just be good instead of great. I'm of the mindset "Let's go the extra mile and make every clip as strong as it can be." Far more people will get Captain Planet than Strongbad, and objectively I believe that the laughter from the actual joke may hit a wall with the 'deleted' for many people. You know the power of test patterns. I'd bet money that the strongbad 'deleted' was put there because the author hadn't seen it with a test pattern. Captain Planet with that Naruto pic caused me to lose it, but not as much this time, because the tv monitor was distracting, and then the 'deleted' stunned me so much I stopped laughing. You don't
want that type of 'wtf' laughter, because it's usually just uncertain laughter that knocks people out of the reverie.
First, the song used is the actual show theme. Second, the credits are set up the exact same way as in the opening sequence. Third, this wasn't initially made for AMV Salad - it's a competing contest entry (which we screened for Katsucon and where I found this). I asked Kitsuner permission to use it.
See previous comments, I guess. I mean it couldn't hurt to ask Kitsuner if they'd be able to make a title slate. Like I mentioned above, I've never seen psych, but it is unique in that its advertisements are memorable, so I know of several people who know of its premise and humor style without actually seeing any episodes. It can hit more people than you may expect with the right nudge. This clip is basically just a new intro to Case Closed otherwise. Well cut and well done, definitely, but very specific, not reaching as much of the audience as it could. As well made as it is, it's basically just good cutting rather than all that humorous to a general audience. If it wasn't made for AMVS4, I'd go so far as to suggest leaving it out without some type of reference for a wider audience.
I thought the "I'm gonna moon him" would be a good place to end the main reel. I placed the Pedobear thing where I did so there wouldn't be so many people leaving by the time the credits were half-through. I want them to see every piece but the room is usually left with only a scattered few when the credits are done rolling. I also started the music to mask the abrupt cut in the middle of her scream. I was thinking, to add a slight element of creepiness, let the video fade out and let her scream for a second or two longer...like, "What's gonna happen now?" Anyway, I'll restore it to original form if you want.
I don't know why you think the room is clear by the credits. At Otakon at least, AMVS started the parodies, not one person left, because AMVS totally started off the fireworks with the finale
It was the live action 'parody' that cleared the room... If you think it's a problem though, go ahead and speed up the credits more. Either way, I don't want people to be uncomfortable with the pedobear clip, because he's a gag, but he's also a gag related to a touchy subject (no pun intended ^^). I didn't intend for him to be creepy, and I'm changing his face to look more stunned by her scream. I specifically cut it where I did because it's a half-beat. The audience knows she continues screaming, and knows his reaction, the joke doesn't need to go further. It was specifically designed for a test pattern so that the audience sees his reaction for a split second and reacts/laughs through the test pattern into the next clip. A trailing off scream changes it completely to something... much more creepy than it should be
It definitely was a bit of a risky clip ^^
Right. It's gonna take another view or three and then I'll "storyboard" the entire time line. However it comes out, AMA is gonna get a stellar beta. I need to get back with Otakon about my proposal, too...
What proposal? Are we still trying to make AMVS3 and 4 combined by the way?
EDIT: This was at Katsucon? How was it?
I'm glad the tutu fans appreciated it though, I'm sure there are definitely MANY at the con, but the shorter version gets the point across strongly.
