Soul Eater - Zombie Dance (My first AMV!)
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NostalgicMelody
- Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:08 pm
Soul Eater - Zombie Dance (My first AMV!)
So, this is my very first AMV ever, and I was really excited while I was making it ^.^ I hope you guys enjoy! (In one clip there's a casual subtitle, I only realized after I was done rendering it and all that junk, so just ignore it LOL)
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CodeZTM
- Spin Me Round
- Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:13 pm
- Status: Flapping Lips
- Location: Arkansas
- Contact:
Re: Soul Eater - Zombie Dance (My first AMV!)
This was pretty neat. Had a good combination and the atmosphere really fit soul eater nicely. Visuals were in need of some work, but that's something to learn over time.
Scene selection wise, I was a tad off-put by the lack of focus. At first it seemed to revolved around profiling the purple haired girl while having bits of her attacker (the Medusa thing?) also highlighted, but then there were also a lot of Stein/Blondie involved too with battle scenes. It's a minor complaint, but just something I felt like mentioning.
Scene selection wise, there were some things that I couldn't ignore. Some of the "funny" scenes (like 1:28) just did not fit with the pacing/mood of the song and really cut the flow.
Other than those two things, I felt like it was a pretty nice AMV. A little slow at times (like at 1:59-2:06), but it really did feel like a nice drama AMV with action bits spicing it up.
So nice job.
Scene selection wise, I was a tad off-put by the lack of focus. At first it seemed to revolved around profiling the purple haired girl while having bits of her attacker (the Medusa thing?) also highlighted, but then there were also a lot of Stein/Blondie involved too with battle scenes. It's a minor complaint, but just something I felt like mentioning.
Scene selection wise, there were some things that I couldn't ignore. Some of the "funny" scenes (like 1:28) just did not fit with the pacing/mood of the song and really cut the flow.
Other than those two things, I felt like it was a pretty nice AMV. A little slow at times (like at 1:59-2:06), but it really did feel like a nice drama AMV with action bits spicing it up.
So nice job.
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NostalgicMelody
- Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2012 8:08 pm
Re: Soul Eater - Zombie Dance (My first AMV!)
Thanks for the input! :D
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DriftRoot
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2003 7:18 pm
- Status: As important as any plug-in.
- Location: N.H.
Re: Soul Eater - Zombie Dance (My first AMV!)
Well, this reminded me that I need to finish watching Soul Eater. 
I agree with Code's comments, and would add a few of my own.
I felt there needed to be much more correlation between the lyrics and what was going on with the video. This does not mean lyric sync, this means evaluating what message the lyrics are sending and then attempting to convey that same message with your scene choices. This is particularly important with this song because it relies so heavily on a repeated chorus, which means it's relying heavily on conveying the same message over and over. The visuals should also keep hammering this message home, but there were a lot of scenes in this AMV which didn't relate to the song's message at all. A lot of scenes just seemed like filler, in this regard.
Along these lines, there were a number of scenes where you started out showing a character reacting dramatically to something or someone, but you never showed what that something or someone was or else you cut away just when that was about to come into play. It is very important to build up to those reactions, otherwise there is no context for them, which really sucks all the power out of them. You want the viewer to get caught up in the drama and emotional power of a scene, but if they aren't presented with any reason for drama or emotion to exist, that becomes very difficult.
For the most part I thought you were on a pretty good roll with the synch, it never became too repetitive or predictable and at times definitely had a stylistic flair which matched the energy of the song. I really enjoyed it, overall, though there were hiccups along the way. I would caution most about using long cross dissolves when transitioning from action scene to action scene, where the internal sync is supposed to drive the transition. There were a number of times when that cross dissolve went on for too long, to the point where it was a distracting halfway step between one scene and another. When you're syncing action scenes like that, it helps to be as tight and quick as possible, don't linger at any mediocre halfway points with scene transitions, don't give the viewer time to realize any transition is even taking place.
Lip flap: Eliminate from your video unless you are actively trying to lip synch or otherwise have a nefarious purpose for leaving it in. Nine times out of 10, characters talking out of place are an unnecessary, distracting flaw in an AMV. It's pretty easy to remove, and there are many ways to remove it. If you need help or advice about the technical aspects of how to go about removing lip flap, just let me know and I'll be happy to give you a hand. ^_^ Lots of other people can help, too, and there are probably forum threads dealing with this issue if you do a search for them.
In any case, please keep making videos, take your knowledge and skills to the next level and I look forward to seeing what you'll make next!
I agree with Code's comments, and would add a few of my own.
I felt there needed to be much more correlation between the lyrics and what was going on with the video. This does not mean lyric sync, this means evaluating what message the lyrics are sending and then attempting to convey that same message with your scene choices. This is particularly important with this song because it relies so heavily on a repeated chorus, which means it's relying heavily on conveying the same message over and over. The visuals should also keep hammering this message home, but there were a lot of scenes in this AMV which didn't relate to the song's message at all. A lot of scenes just seemed like filler, in this regard.
Along these lines, there were a number of scenes where you started out showing a character reacting dramatically to something or someone, but you never showed what that something or someone was or else you cut away just when that was about to come into play. It is very important to build up to those reactions, otherwise there is no context for them, which really sucks all the power out of them. You want the viewer to get caught up in the drama and emotional power of a scene, but if they aren't presented with any reason for drama or emotion to exist, that becomes very difficult.
For the most part I thought you were on a pretty good roll with the synch, it never became too repetitive or predictable and at times definitely had a stylistic flair which matched the energy of the song. I really enjoyed it, overall, though there were hiccups along the way. I would caution most about using long cross dissolves when transitioning from action scene to action scene, where the internal sync is supposed to drive the transition. There were a number of times when that cross dissolve went on for too long, to the point where it was a distracting halfway step between one scene and another. When you're syncing action scenes like that, it helps to be as tight and quick as possible, don't linger at any mediocre halfway points with scene transitions, don't give the viewer time to realize any transition is even taking place.
Lip flap: Eliminate from your video unless you are actively trying to lip synch or otherwise have a nefarious purpose for leaving it in. Nine times out of 10, characters talking out of place are an unnecessary, distracting flaw in an AMV. It's pretty easy to remove, and there are many ways to remove it. If you need help or advice about the technical aspects of how to go about removing lip flap, just let me know and I'll be happy to give you a hand. ^_^ Lots of other people can help, too, and there are probably forum threads dealing with this issue if you do a search for them.
In any case, please keep making videos, take your knowledge and skills to the next level and I look forward to seeing what you'll make next!