Character Profile Videos - Story or Character driven?

[Yorae]

I’ve been working on a character profile video for about two months now. I’ve successfully passed that initial stage where your commitment to the project kind of wavers and you start fantasizing about other songs/sources/concepts etc.. And I’m now stuck with the project till I complete it!

The problem is that I am at a fork in the road right now. I’ve originally planned to have an alternate storyline focusing on my character rather than the main guy, however, that concept by itself would not sustain the entire song (almost 5 minutes long), so I’ve edited to the first half of the song in the form of an introduction to the character: who he is, what his situation is and so on. I plan to introduce the alternate story in the second half and carry it out till the end of the song.

Now here’s my question: would it be distracting to have a video start out as a story-free character profile and then switch to a linear telling of events, focusing on the character? I’ve never actually mixed the two before in a video so it kind of worries me that I might go through all the trouble and then end up with a disconnect between the two parts.

Well, I could always allude to the second part in segments throughout the first part, but I would love to hear your thoughts on how a character profile would be ideally constructed (btw, I’ve read Godix’s guide, but I felt I needed more info )

[TritioAFB]

Actually all my videos are character profiles so here's what I do:

Normally I choose my char, then I look about all the possible events about him/her, next I try to vary things since I like to bring always a different view from the anime, so at my case I also add crossover to the video. Then an alternate story takes place, but my char keeps appearing.

In the first part you present the character you want to be your main star of the video right? You said you want to create a story with your char, sure you can, why not? Now here's the problem: Make sure that the story you plan to create is not more relevant than the character him/herself. Otherwise your character profile will look like it doesn't fit, and that the viewer could have the idea that the amv is actually about the story rather than the character profile.

And yes, you can alternate with scenes of your character alone or with other chars, so that the viewer can have an idea like: 'Hmm the amv changed, but there's still the girl/boy from the beginning'

[Yorae]

Actually all my videos are character profiles so here's what I do:

Normally I choose my char, then I look about all the possible events about him/her, next I try to vary things since I like to bring always a different view from the anime, so at my case I also add crossover to the video. Then an alternate story takes place, but my char keeps appearing.

In the first part you present the character you want to be your main star of the video right? You said you want to create a story with your char, sure you can, why not? Now here's the problem: Make sure that the story you plan to create is not more relevant than the character him/herself. Otherwise your character profile will look like it doesn't fit, and that the viewer could have the idea that the amv is actually about the story rather than the character profile.

And yes, you can alternate with scenes of your character alone or with other chars, so that the viewer can have an idea like: 'Hmm the amv changed, but there's still the girl/boy from the beginning'

Thanks for the input! I especially found the point about not having the story overshadow the character useful. Though I wonder how I could pull that off.. I'll probably start with filling in some of the story related bits within the profile bits and go from there.

Thank you again ;D

[TritioAFB]

You're welcome. And perhaps any other experienced authors in character profile may have additional opinions about the topic

[BasharOfTheAges]

Don't forget, there's always the option of cutting down the song too.