AMVs that make you want to give up

[Panky]

Well, the fact that you can't achieve certain effects doesn't mean that you can't create a good video. I must admit that sometimes, effects, when well applied, can become the center of the video itself. But then again, the most important thing is the substance, to try and send some kind of message.

[Davis 51]

I guess it's just discouraging to see one that's such an all-out assault on one's senses (or at least attempts to be) that just falls flat and doesn't excite or inspire

Let me make a film analogy: You have films like The Social Network, multiple Oscar/Globe nods, everybody and their mother went to see it, made a killing at the box office, real moving story etc. It had a ton of effects, you wouldn't know because most of them are subtle, and go to achieving the mood and the period. It's got all sorts of clever editing and digital wizardry in the background to make you feel emotions subtly. Very few will notice 99% of this stuff, because none of it is obvious.

Then you have film like Transformers. An amazing film with amazing effect, and a unique Spielberg-ian charm. The right balance of effects, action, and editing, to really entice you. The CGI is generally stunning, and does its best to make you care about characters that aren't really there at all.

Then you have films like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Now, I loved the first Transformers, but was hugely disappointed with the second one. Ultimately, it was a disco, a sensory assault amounting to very little. Whereas the first had a simple plot, this one had a tissue-thin plot with more holes than a swiss cheese factory. The visual effects are clearly unmatched: ILM outdid themselves and should be proud of the work they created. Now, both Transformers films used CGI only when necessary, preferring to use practical effects (mainly because Bay prefers to blow shit up IRL instead of CGI-ing it), however, TF:ROTF had so much overload of everything that despite everyone going to see it and it making billions of dollars, none of it really amounted to anything. The plot was throwaway, the characters were so many you had no connection to any of them, and what's worse, you had people assuming scenes that were filmed practically were CG. It was a boring film with one or two really cool scenes and amazing effects. Even most of the action sequences fell short of the first one.

And then you have films like The Kings speech, which have barely any effects at all, and yet still are universally acclaimed for its drama and acting.

AMV's are kindaexactly like that. Effects are neither a pro nor a con, it all depends on how they're used. I made an effects-heavy video a year back, it's Avatar:The Last Airbender so it's not on the Org anymore, but it did make it to a few cons. Those that praised it praised the underlying concepts, those that bashed it bashed my (over?) use of effects. I like the effects I used, I think they worked great with the story I was trying to tell, but if I made an alternate version with all except the most necessary chroma key/transition stuff, the essence would still remain.

The video you posted is actually a lot less impressive than it seems like, and it looks like the guy just dragged-and-dropped every transition/mask layer that was available with Premiere/Vegas/whatever he was using. He had some decent sync, and just dropped an effect whenever there was a beat. Nothing special here. Someone could probably teach you how do it too in an hour or so just by standing over your shoulder and pointing out step by step what he did. In my effects vid, every single effect was chosen for a reason, a purpose to enhance the story I was telling. The one you posted was just a hodgepodge. If you learn the storytelling first, with the effects second, you will be far better off in the long run. So don't be disheartened! Learn effects as a complement, not a substitute! Pick up tricks as you go along editing for story/comedy/drama, and those times you go "hmm, I feel like something really flashy here would enhance the video as a whole." I think you might just find that works for you.

Happy editing!

[Khat17]

Lots of encouragement that I think you should listen to. There are lots of videos out there - I have about 8Gb of OLD ones backed up on discs somewhere - but personally I think that each video speaks to at least one person. Then again some videos just don't speak at all. Anyways - looking at one of your videos I don't really get why you're down. I like what I see. The song speaks to the situation quite well IMO and the timing was very good. Effects or not - depending on the audience - if your AMV speaks to someone then you've accomplished half of what you're supposed to do - the other half is to have fun making the video

There will always be something to be criticized in a video - whether truthfully by yourself or others, or by someone who is just plain nasty. Either way, when you get criticized you can take it and learn from it or choose not to based on how you perceive the comments. The same can be done when you watch someone's video - but depending on the situation I guess you should be careful not to steal the concept. And speaking of "speaking to" - I would love to see "Inuyasha - Here's To The Night" once more - but YouTube removed it.....but after watching it those years ago I thought about some of the techniques and effects that I saw and decided to try them out - not perfect but I learned something from it.

So you watched said video - timing looked ok but it doesn't speak to you (why upload a 20sec WIP? why not make it private or send it only to those you want opinions from? I guess public opinion matters) - maybe it speaks to some other persons - maybe you'll do a video that triggers absolutely no response from someone watching - but that is one person. When I think you should worry is when your style, or the message you're trying to get across in your AMV is not felt, appreciated or understood by EVERY SINGLE PERSON that watches it. I'm sure you haven't had that. So keep up the good work that I've seen and happy editing!

[Ikore]

if your AMV speaks to someone then you've accomplished half of what you're supposed to do - the other half is to have fun making the video

qft

[ShaggyD]

90% of videos from the past 5 years have better effects[/quote]
Even so, those videos rather lack charm[/quote]

Yea guys, my AMV's got Deleted from youtube, short Action packed seizures like this one are lacking in charm as the d00d above me stated,
this is rather simple really.

[Fryslayer Productions]

I didn't really watch the vid, but I did notice that OP said the vid didn't move them at all. I also saw that someone said the vid may have been an experiment. I for one tend to take my vids in a direction I haven't seen much or do things that I haven't seen before, but sometimes I like to test my limits. Even in my tests, I still try to make a good Video, for Example My Trinity Blood/ Hellsing Video to Confrontation( available for DL soon). I player with Windows Movie Maker's visual effects to create something different, but still worked to create something meaningful.

[requiett]

I player with Windows Movie Maker's visual effects to create something different, but still worked to create something meaningful.

[Kyotachi]

yeah you're right
this video just makes me give up editing but not because it astonished me but because it makes no sense to me at all

I guess everyone has his own opinion with that