AMV Planning

[JaddziaDax]

I have an image of what I want to do for a long time before I work on it, that is if it has effects... lots of my vids are no effects and then I just edit to gut feeling

[TheLuminaireShow]

Quoted Image converted to link:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K-G4RD2Kppw/T ... iting2.jpg

I always look at the overall structure of the music first. Then simply edit my AMV around that.
In my humble opinion, this is the most important thing you can do when making an AMV, seriously.

Because once you break down the music into musical sections, it's quite easy to assign a purpose to each section in your overall AMV. Timing of your mood shifts will be much better too. Even if that means pairing the perfect scene with the perfect part of the song, and that's the only thing you are confident with, just build your AMV around that. (This should make your amv flow better too because it gives the viewer time to digest the smaller ideas in each section which build up to higher-order ideas.) It also allows you to introduce parallels amongst sections, like in the timeline above, the first double-repeat can focus on the protagonist, and the second double-repeat can focus on the antagonist... which gives rise to parallel structure (and each of those can be broken down further into Setting/Character or whatever you like for even better parallelism). Then it would be appropriate to have the two meet face to face in the quad-repeat, perhaps in a four-part fight or something. Be creative, but keep it simple too. I mean, there's only so much you can cover in an AMV-- remember all those different parts to a short story you learned in grade school? Those actually help. Look that shit up right now, really it's not just BS your english teacher wanted you to learn... But anyway, I strongly encourage this method since you are far more limited by the song than you are by the anime, so for me, it just makes sense to structure your AMV around the music. Plus I think it makes it easier for both you and the viewer to focus on multiple smaller ideas which come together afterwards. Really, you'll finish your AMV faster (particularly with clip hunting), and it will probably be easier for the viewer to follow too. All it comes down to is developing your ability to recognize the musical shifts, and organize it's structure in your timeline. Then just mix and match ideas to the different sections until the overall structure looks like something you can live with. At that point you are basically done your AMV-- and all that's left is to edit the darn thing. But hey, that's just what I do...

Quoted for maximum truth. Segmenting parts of the song and mentally assigning a purpose for each part goes a long way. AMVs can indeed be a form of storytelling, with a multi-act structure. Now, I'm not the kind of person that outlines stuff before I do it. I generally have a pretty vague overall idea of what kinds of scenes and effects I want for each part of a song. In general, I find it good to mirror the song. If a certain part of the song is complex with many layers and energy, a few good effects and overlays would synch really well here. If it's a relatively slow tempo part of the song, or it's relatively simplistic, it's appropriate to show simple scenes with minimum to no effects at all. Maybe just a little motion, slight zoom or color change if necessary.

Personally I had wanted to make AMVs for years and conjured plenty of ideas in my head over time inspired by favorite of mine. What works for me doesn't necessarily work for you, but I feel if you can get your foot in the door and just make ONE part of your video, it'll encourage you to keep adding to it. I don't make an AMV in chronological order of the song. I put video to audio wherever I'm currently inspired to and in the mood for.

[Phantasmagoriat]

@TheLuminaireShow: I'm glad we're on the same page
A lot of it really is about feeling the music. And:

I feel if you can get your foot in the door and just make ONE part of your video, it'll encourage you to keep adding to it. I don't make an AMV in chronological order of the song. I put video to audio wherever I'm currently inspired to and in the mood for.

OMG YES!