So...what exactly makes a video "good" or "bad" to you?

[CrackTheSky]

As ever, I'm a curious person when it comes to how people respond to AMVs. This community fascinates me as it always has and I got to thinking about some very basic questions. I'm sure this has been asked before but I haven't seen a thread like this in a while so I thought I'd ask again.

Basically, what do you like to see in an AMV? Are there any broad, general styles/techniques that get you every time (assuming they're executed well)? Are there specific effects or sync styles that you just love in any context? I'm less interested in hearing noncommittal responses like "So long as it's edited well and everything's done tastefully I can enjoy the video" than I am in hearing specifically what it means to be "edited well". I tend to throw that phrase around a lot without really substantiating it, so I'm guilty in this too. I want to know the core things that make a video great in your eyes, if such things can be generalized. (And if not, what specific things do you love about your favorite video?)

On the other side of the coin, what things will absolutely ruin a video for you, no matter how much else the editor might get right? Are there certain effects that just slap you across the face with unpleasantness? Are there things that an editor should do in a video, but doesn't, that lessen a video's impact? Are you able to enjoy a video that uses a song and/or anime that you hate, if it does everything else correctly? How important are technical things like visual quality?

Details details, gimme the details!

[Rider4Z]

In general, I like just about everything as far as genre or style goes. I don't like just one thing, i like change and differences. I like seeing new techniques/songs/footage that i never thought of.

The videos that impress me the most, are the ones that appear to have no effects in them. Meaning they are either a "No-effects" video, or the effects they use are subtle or hidden with the strict intention of advancing the video. A good editor is one who pulls off different techniques or styles without people noticing they're even there. * I like flow. I like when my eye naturally follows a certain path throughout the video instead of having to constantly jump around - a continuous focal point if you will.

My no-nos - * obviously slowed or sped up footage ESPECIALLY if lip flap is involved. I had an entry into Anime Conji this year that was so emotional and touching (instrumental) and near the end came a sped up scene and they did NOTHING about the lip flap. Absolutely KILLED it for me X(
* When aspect ratios don't match. zooming in fullscreen to fit widescreen is one thing, but stretching it is crime.
* Obviously cut or trimmed audio. If i have to trim my audio in some way, i put forth extra effort to make sure it sounds natural and you can't tell anything was cut. a lot of people take that for granted the audio doesn't matter as much as the footage and they're wrong. your eyes and ears work together. that's what makes AMVs magic.

i'll probably think of more later.

[Taite]

Are there any broad, general styles/techniques that get you every time (assuming they're executed well)?

This may seem weird, but glows, pans, and fades. Those are the main three elements in all of my videos, albeit they're very simple, but I simply just enjoy them. I'm a sucker for glow-y shit, but it's not so easily achieved by many people. Pans are less noticeable, but I notice nearly all videos flow better when there's a direction to the pans. There can also be a lack of them that is beneficial. And fades, because I think they're pretty powerful. When someone knows where to use it, you know. The music just calls for it, same with pans. Therefore a lack of pans/fades or not, I notice.

Are there specific effects or sync styles that you just love in any context?

In any context, I think blurs and glows work. I tend to prefer a video though that doesn't use any specific effect that I personally like, but rather has one awesome effect that kind of carries through the video so when you see it again it makes you giddy (anything from black and white over certain scenes to tv glitches). I like videos that can pull that specific effect out of the context of their video, and so I prefer when each video has a unique "effect" to it, since all videos require something different and slapping the same thing on there doesn't always work.

I want to know the core things that make a video great in your eyes, if such things can be generalized. (And if not, what specific things do you love about your favorite video?)

The main things I judge all videos on and what makes them great are 1) atmosphere, 2) "flow", and 3) some special element. Each element has a relationship between the anime and song that is very crucial.

Atmosphere:
You need to pick up on the atmosphere the song exhibits and find the appropriate clips that fit that, period. Therefore, you could have a random ass story or just throw clips everywhere, but if you know how to pick up on a certain mood, your video has something going for it (number 3 plays a part in this though.)

Flow:
I remember when everyone went all batshit crazy hating on the term flow because "What duz it meann?? flow can be anethennnnn." Everyone knows what "flow" is, though it's not so easily "described," because it's not a specific effect you drag onto the timeline. It is the movement of the clips, both in their internal sense (what is happening within that clip regarding the focal point, ie a character's eyes blinking, a mountain ridge in the distance,etc) and an external sense (since all scenes are generally viewed through your eyes, literally, like you're watching what's going on, it's the movement of your "eyes" on that internal scene involving the character), in relationship to the "movement" of the song. A good flow means there is a strong relationship between the movements of the clip and the song.
Because each person interprets the movement of a song differently (which we like to describe through terms like lyrical or beat sync when critiquing videos), flow can not be taught. The same song can be interpreted a thousand ways by the same person even, leading us to constantly change where we cut our clips at, depending on how we're "syncing" to the song. Most all videos tend to be a combination of this beat/lyrical sync, however, within each are the intonations of the voice and the different instruments and their tones, and we pick up on all of these, so we're doing this lyrical (ie vocal) and beat (ie intrumental) sync ya, but within each are many many factors that we also sync to, and so it becomes more complex.
However, a good editor is able to translate these movements by choosing the appropriate scenes/effects/transitions and you notice this very simply because the video is not harsh, it moves as one cohesive piece.

Special Element:
Each video must have some special element that calls for its creation. With flow and atmosphere you have a pretty good video already, but you could have the shittiest storyline or random crap everywhere or unappealing colors/effects, etc etc. A special element may be an emotion, it may be a story, it may be a theme, and I find these three are the main elements a video will have. It doesn't have to be all three by any means, and some people are drawn more to certain things than others (I prefer a video that invokes some kind of emotion, and so I tend to care less for story-central videos. It may have a story in it, but it need not.) So that's why though you may think you have an awesome atmosphere and flow, your video can completely crumble. It needs a core.

On the other side of the coin, what things will absolutely ruin a video for you, no matter how much else the editor might get right?

I actually hate a whole genre of amvs, and those are the ones made with trance-esque music. Very very very very few tend to have that "special element." They're random ass pieces of shit and I pretty much refuse to give any critique involving that kind of music.

In terms of other things, if they don't have any of the three listed above, I'll tend to dislike it.
When people make an amv that is very focused on a story, you better hope your the lyrics of your song are either 1) contributing to telling your story, or 2) not distracting to it. I hate watching amvs where they try to tell a story but the song is saying something completely different, and it happens a lot.

Are there certain effects that just slap you across the face with unpleasantness?

There is also one effect that, again, very very very very very few tend to know how to use, and I fucking despise people who slap it on there, and that's gradients. There will be a gradient of color from the top of the screen down, and despite the movement of the subsequent clips or the angle of them or the lighting, the gradient will sit there. It fucks up the atmosphere and flow, and it tends to generally just look amateurish. I hate gradients with a flaming passion and if I ever ever ever see it on a video, no matter how subtle, I bring it up.

Are there things that an editor should do in a video, but doesn't, that lessen a video's impact?

Pans. The reason why it's one of my three favorite things is because it is the most powerful tool for making a video come together/flow. A lot of the time I see people leave the raw clip's external movements alone, so you have the naturally still scene of a mountain ridge and then you have this shot of the character at the desk, and the camera is moving parallel them. It may be such a subtle pan that it doesn't make a huge difference when the clips are set beside each other, but adding a small parallel pan to that scene before of the mountain ridge just makes things so much cleaner. Obviously this doesn't mean pan right/left the entire video, and if there's an appropriate transition it may not be needed, but pans are the most useful thing in achieving flow for nearly every video (or the lack of pans as well, mind you.)

Are you able to enjoy a video that uses a song and/or anime that you hate, if it does everything else correctly?

I hate trance, other than that, I'm game for anything. I tend to enjoy videos made with anime that have a naturally flowing internal movement in them because this contributes to a better flow (so not the glitchy hair wisps of an anime from 10 years ago), but it can be dealt with.

How important are technical things like visual quality?

Because good visual quality is so easily achieved nowadays, if you're not able to do it then it does distract from your video. I'm not interested in watching the pixels buzz in the dark background of a very solemn scene. It's very easy to get good quality out of your video, I pretty much just expect it (and even my standards for "good" quality are pretty low.)

[ngsilver]

More then anything it's the song that really does it for me when determining if I like a video or not. It may seem petty but if I can't stand a song I often will think of the video to be a 'bad' video. It doesn't mean it isn't well edited but without a song that I enjoy I just can't get into it.

Sure, there are techniques and effect styles that I enjoy and lead further into my enjoyment of a video. Internal sync, flow, hidden effects (similar to Rider4Z's explanation,) jump cuts, and old school editing. However in the end if I don't feel the song fits the video then I just can't get into it.

What I don't like in videos is blatant effects, effects for effects sake, poor masking, obvious masking, poor flow, no story, action for action's sake (goes back to lack of flow, ) lip flap, and pretty much anything that contradicts my likes. However, most of all it's the music.

I can't say there is a style or genre of music I actually hate since I like songs from all genre's but also dislike songs from all genre's. In the end, what I like is usually a wash. So I'll just leave it at that.

[Ileia]

I could write out a long post that no one would read but, basically, my preferences all boil down to the audio-video connection. That can honestly make or break a video for me. The anime and music should be working in harmony to create the video. If you could slap another song on an AMV and it doesn't change anything about it, I probably don't like that video.

[ibabrak]

I could write out a long post that no one would read but, basically, my preferences all boil down to the audio-video connection. That can honestly make or break a video for me. The anime and music should be working in harmony to create the video. If you could slap another song on an AMV and it doesn't change anything about it, I probably don't like that video.

this

[FarmXD]

After 12 years watching and 10 making, somehow I got bored of it and I don't know why. Today I like to watch "different" stuff, but I can explain myself very well (Poor english skills)...it's like, from 100 videos with multi anime sources, I like one, and it's the one that's different. Not for the effects, mountage, sync or whatever technical point you say, but for the originality of what the editor is showing to me. That "thing" that makes it different. Nostromo edits good with multi anime sources but I don't like his stuff. Feels monotonous. Instead I prefer Centurione's Pandora, or Qwaqa's Pencil Head because they're unique and any copy you want to do about it will be noticed. Man, I'm getting old..

[FarmXD]

can't**
x_x sorry

[allmostanyone]

This does not make an AMV "Bad" per-say but it is a "no-no" to me. Mixing media. CG and animes, video games and cartoons, live action and anime. The flow is just lost to me. I think it actually could be pulled off but I haven't seen it done successfully yet. A few years ago I felt multi anime mix were tacky till I tried making one myself and now I love them xD I'm open to having my mind changed again.
Another "bad" is what I refer to as "fad" AMV. For example, a few years ago when Evacuate the Dance Floor was released to the masses I wanted to evacuate planet earth ._. I felt guilty sometimes for dismissing a video that was genuinely good because I had just gone through 10 videos, same song and pretty much the same dance animes used.

[Shui]

There are many factors which make a video enjoyable for me.
Music is very important of course but unless it's a song which makes my ears bleed (Like David Guetta or Lady Gaga or Dubstep) I generally think a solid concept and editing can make up for it.
Really good examples in this case are Nightmagi Cometh or the need for speed. And yes I absolutely hate those songs but love the AMVs
I also think that De:Light was so popular mainly because of the song (it's a good amv too, don't get me wrong).

Then it really depends on the genre of the AMV. I don't expect good editing in Romance or Comedy for it to be good. But I do expect that in Action or Dance. And when it comes to Tribute Videos (Charakter Profiles, Drama etc) it's a mix.
With some AMVs I can feel that the editors put some heart into it, even if they aren't all that good editing wise.
Since Action is my favourite genre I should go into Detail what I'm looking for there. My absolute favourite amv of all time is Between Two Worlds. There are many Karas Action AMVs but this one takes it to a different Level. It has solid, amazing synch even in detail all the motion feels like it's being dragged by the voice of the singer and instruments. This level of manipulation takes the Anime and makes it the AMVs own thing. I use that sentence when I feel the Editor took out as much as possible from the Anime, making it seemingly more than there was to begin with. My 2nd Favorite AMV does this too. Another aspect which I keep in mind is how well the pacing of the cut or amv fits the song and if it has been consistent through the amv. Sometimes an AMV just feels off because the editor uses fast scenes in parts where the song slowed down. Or if they break the flow.

And that's definitely not all but I'm gonna stop here else I'll waste too much time for something nobody cares in the first place.
I have an archive of my favourite AMVs on my Server and if you want to get to know my taste you can watch them should take you a few hours hahahaha