Why does everyone love Evanescence AMV's so much?

Gaikotsu · Post by **Gaikotsu** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:34 pm

SQ: It was talked about a little earlier in the thread, but basically: (SPOILERS if you haven't seen the movie)

Basically, some of the lyrics match scenes from The Neverending Story. "Call my name and save me from the dark" for example refers to the end of the movie where Bastion (I think that's how you spell the kid's name), has to give the princess from the book a name to keep her world from being completely swallowed by the Nothing.

Also, "Save me from the nothing I've become" could be a reference to the theme of people losing their imaginations, which led to the existence of the Nothing in the first place.

"Now that I know what I'm without, you can't just leave me"
"Breathe into me and make me real..." Both references to either the princess herself, or the world in which she lived.

That's the basic theme, although I'm sure you could find more examples if you look hard enough.

Also, the dragon's name from the movie was "Falcor" I believe.

SQ · Post by SQ » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:38 pm

Oh, the movie. I thought it was like.. A never ending song. But that just goes to show how naive I am. =\

Lyrs · Post by **Lyrs** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 4:40 pm

OmniStrata wrote:Um...
"Going Under" is better than that song... *cough*

"Haunted" is *cough* better then either of those.

thefool1972 · Post by **thefool1972** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 7:30 pm

Actually, after hearing the song "Wake me up" (is that the real title? I'm at work), I came up with an excellent video concept for it.

The problem is that it would have to be made from scratch.

Picture this: (Or don't... I'm not pushy...)

Lyrics:
how can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb

Scene:
Shows a closeup of a woman's eye, with the camera zooming slowly out. Everything seems normal except for the look of apprehention. Toward the end of these lyrics, enough of the face shows to allow you to see it is an animatronic face, only half finished. The other eye is a lense.

Lyrics:
without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

Scene:
Camera continues to zoom out slowly, allowing you to see a man walking about in the background. Now you can also see her head is mounted on a "cyber rack" that holds it in place. Her eyes seem to be trying to look for the man, even though she cannot turn her head to see him.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Scene:
He turns to the camera (and the female robot) and begins to sing his counterpoint. He has no eyes, just goggles that seem to be a part of his face. As he does so, you can see him popping a series of tables and washing it down with a bottle of what seems to be alchohol. He seems manicly cheerful, and perhaps unstable as well. She seems unnerved.

Lyrics:
now that I know what I’m without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

Scene:
Now he scene starts with her face, right eye still unfinished. Cable-like 'hair' flows down from her head and connects into machines behind her. As the camera zooms out and pans, you can see she now has and upper torso and arms. Only the left arm and 2/3 of her torso is complete with full flesh. As the man works at a series of terminals (think cyberpunk meets really old computers...) she floats around him with the help of a "camra arm" (attached where her hip would be) that allows her to move about the room while still being ancored to the middle of the room. Her motions are smooth, except for the occasional "glitch" in her movements (think 1/10th a second seisure), the glitches are most pronounced when he is NOT looking at her.
For his part, he seems to be becomming nervous. He now tends to run his hand through his hair, alot.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Scene:
Continuation of the above, with him saying "wake me up" and looking like hell. She, trying to be helpful, grabs for the pills and bottles and gives them to him. Her attitude is heading toward desperate.

Lyrics:
there's nothing inside

Scene:
Continuation of the above, with him looking away from her and into 'space' (past camera). Her hands go to her mouth in near horror. It is obvious she understands her situation if he stops work on her.

Lyrics:
frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

Scene:
Realizing that she is loosing him, she sings this final plea. Hear motions are pleading, with wide-spread arms. She attempts to look as non-threatening as she can.

Lyrics:
all this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more

Scene:
At this point he seems to break. He begins pointing an accusing finger at her and backing away toward the terminals. She responds with aggressive pleading, which only seems to drive him back more. He finally accuses her of being "without a thought without a voice without a soul". Her response to that all of the terminals behind him light up with her face and a mechanical voice from them saying "don't let me die here". He of course runs in terror, right past her form and toward the exit, screaming the last line.

Lyrics:
bring me to life

Scene:
The camera shows her full body at this point, with the 'hair' cables rising up in a way reminecent of the way static raises hair. Her face is not angry, but not pleading anymore either. It is not a request, it is a demand.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside

Scene:
As she sings each of the "Wake me up inside' lyrics, her legs are pulled from the wall and attached to her hips by the (now animated) tendrils extending from her head. He is clawing at the door, watching the horror (in his eyes) unfold behind him.

Lyrics:
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark

Scene:
She begins to walk forward, in long regal strides toward the door, her steps matching the beat of "save me from the dark" (one beat per half second). He scampers (badly) from the door along the wall away from her.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

(Bring me to life)
I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside
(Bring me to life)

Scene:
She follows him, finally grabbing him from behind and pulling him toward him. He struggles, and finally it is too much. To the scream "I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside", he dies. As he goes slowly limp, her voice croons out "Bring me to life" one last time as she too, expires. As the light fades from her eyes, they remain a gothic scene with her head tilted lightly to one side staring into space. He lies in her grip, limp and a look of horror etched into his face.

And as the camera shows more of the scene, a faded picture in an old frame with the man (with eyes) and a human woman that looks much like the robot comes into view.

Fade out.

Arigatomina · Post by **Arigatomina** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 7:41 pm

SQ wrote:Oh, the movie. I thought it was like.. A never ending song. But that just goes to show how naive I am. =\

Yes, I meant the movie as well. And Magic Knight Rayearth would really lend itself toward that sort of theme since you have the girls being summoned to the world (like Bastion) by the child princess (who lives only to sustain the world) because here world is crumbling around her. I'm pretty sure that anime is a spinnoff of the neverending story - or it has ties to the same origin as that old movie (something else that's even older, maybe). But I don't have enough of the MKR series to make it work without adding some other characters and such. And it wouldn't be a romance vid since there's nothing between the girls and Emerade (nothing like that, anyway).

I've never seen a vid that comes anything close to this sort of angle, and the only ones that didn't feature romance either ignored the lyrics or synced only to the 'wake me up' parts.

And 'thefool1972' - The name is actually "Bring Me To Life" - it's just that people get the mp3s and label their vids as 'wake me up' since that's one of the repeating choruses. Leads to confusion.

SQ · Post by SQ » Sat Oct 11, 2003 11:01 am

thefool1972 wrote:Actually, after hearing the song "Wake me up" (is that the real title? I'm at work), I came up with an excellent video concept for it.

The problem is that it would have to be made from scratch.

Picture this: (Or don't... I'm not pushy...)

Lyrics:
how can you see into my eyes like open doors
leading you down into my core
where I’ve become so numb

Scene:
Shows a closeup of a woman's eye, with the camera zooming slowly out. Everything seems normal except for the look of apprehention. Toward the end of these lyrics, enough of the face shows to allow you to see it is an animatronic face, only half finished. The other eye is a lense.

Lyrics:
without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold
until you find it there and lead it back home

Scene:
Camera continues to zoom out slowly, allowing you to see a man walking about in the background. Now you can also see her head is mounted on a "cyber rack" that holds it in place. Her eyes seem to be trying to look for the man, even though she cannot turn her head to see him.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Scene:
He turns to the camera (and the female robot) and begins to sing his counterpoint. He has no eyes, just goggles that seem to be a part of his face. As he does so, you can see him popping a series of tables and washing it down with a bottle of what seems to be alchohol. He seems manicly cheerful, and perhaps unstable as well. She seems unnerved.

Lyrics:
now that I know what I’m without
you can't just leave me
breathe into me and make me real
bring me to life

Scene:
Now he scene starts with her face, right eye still unfinished. Cable-like 'hair' flows down from her head and connects into machines behind her. As the camera zooms out and pans, you can see she now has and upper torso and arms. Only the left arm and 2/3 of her torso is complete with full flesh. As the man works at a series of terminals (think cyberpunk meets really old computers...) she floats around him with the help of a "camra arm" (attached where her hip would be) that allows her to move about the room while still being ancored to the middle of the room. Her motions are smooth, except for the occasional "glitch" in her movements (think 1/10th a second seisure), the glitches are most pronounced when he is NOT looking at her.
For his part, he seems to be becomming nervous. He now tends to run his hand through his hair, alot.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

Scene:
Continuation of the above, with him saying "wake me up" and looking like hell. She, trying to be helpful, grabs for the pills and bottles and gives them to him. Her attitude is heading toward desperate.

Lyrics:
there's nothing inside

Scene:
Continuation of the above, with him looking away from her and into 'space' (past camera). Her hands go to her mouth in near horror. It is obvious she understands her situation if he stops work on her.

Lyrics:
frozen inside without your touch without your love darling only you are the life among the dead

Scene:
Realizing that she is loosing him, she sings this final plea. Hear motions are pleading, with wide-spread arms. She attempts to look as non-threatening as she can.

Lyrics:
all this time I can't believe I couldn't see
kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I’ve been sleeping a thousand years it seems
got to open my eyes to everything
without a thought without a voice without a soul
don't let me die here
there must be something more

Scene:
At this point he seems to break. He begins pointing an accusing finger at her and backing away toward the terminals. She responds with aggressive pleading, which only seems to drive him back more. He finally accuses her of being "without a thought without a voice without a soul". Her response to that all of the terminals behind him light up with her face and a mechanical voice from them saying "don't let me die here". He of course runs in terror, right past her form and toward the exit, screaming the last line.

Lyrics:
bring me to life

Scene:
The camera shows her full body at this point, with the 'hair' cables rising up in a way reminecent of the way static raises hair. Her face is not angry, but not pleading anymore either. It is not a request, it is a demand.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside

Scene:
As she sings each of the "Wake me up inside' lyrics, her legs are pulled from the wall and attached to her hips by the (now animated) tendrils extending from her head. He is clawing at the door, watching the horror (in his eyes) unfold behind him.

Lyrics:
(Save me)
call my name and save me from the dark

Scene:
She begins to walk forward, in long regal strides toward the door, her steps matching the beat of "save me from the dark" (one beat per half second). He scampers (badly) from the door along the wall away from her.

Lyrics:
(Wake me up)
bid my blood to run
(I can’t wake up)
before I come undone
(Save me)
save me from the nothing I’ve become

(Bring me to life)
I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside
(Bring me to life)

Scene:
She follows him, finally grabbing him from behind and pulling him toward him. He struggles, and finally it is too much. To the scream "I’ve been living a lie, there’s nothing inside", he dies. As he goes slowly limp, her voice croons out "Bring me to life" one last time as she too, expires. As the light fades from her eyes, they remain a gothic scene with her head tilted lightly to one side staring into space. He lies in her grip, limp and a look of horror etched into his face.

And as the camera shows more of the scene, a faded picture in an old frame with the man (with eyes) and a human woman that looks much like the robot comes into view.

Fade out.

Although the idea is nice, the way you would do it(if you did it) would be very boring. Which is why I hate bring me to life videos(BMTL for shor, since I'm lazy.)
The main reason that I hate BMTL vids right now is because they ONLY synch to the lyrics. I mean, what the crap is that? BMTL is one of THE loudest songs ever, that beat SCREAMS to be synched to, yet people COMPLETELY ignore it and only synch to the lyrics. THAT'S what gets to me.

The other half being that they're all romance videos. I mean, I don't mind Romance videos; in fact, every single BMTL vid I've seen(except for one) had a GREAT story to it, it's just the not synching to the beat just did it in.

But, whatever. I made my own BMTL vid that I like, so whenever I feel the need to watch a BMTL vid, I always watch mine. Meh. Call me hypocratic, if you will.

PS: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex might work for your idea. It may not fit EXACTLY, but it would fit pretty close.

---

Sarah:
Yeah, MKR would probably work. If you don't have enough of the series, you could always fill in gaps with Rayearth(The OVA) and Spirited Away.

Or, you COULD just make a live-action music video to The Never ending Story and all it's sequels.

thefool1972 · Post by **thefool1972** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 4:49 pm

Boring? In what way? As a quick script written up in about 10 minutes? Does it need explosions or a lightshow.

I'm not being sarcastic, I just don't understand what part is boring.

The Fool
"Huh?"

SQ · Post by SQ » Sat Oct 11, 2003 4:56 pm

I wrote:because they ONLY synch to the lyrics. I mean, what the crap is that? BMTL is one of THE loudest songs ever, that beat SCREAMS to be synched to, yet people COMPLETELY ignore it and only synch to the lyrics. THAT'S what gets to me.

thefool1972 · Post by **thefool1972** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 7:09 pm

Actually, I though all good music videos were created to follow the beat of the music. The connection with people matching the lyrics is also needed though. I really feel that both are important.

But really, you're not being fair. How can a script follow the beat of written (text only) music. That's something that has to be put into the actual design. Even if you can read sheet music, you still have to be able to keep a beat to play it.

But I do understand what you mean now.

The Fool
"Trifle not in the affairs of dragons... For you are cruchy, and taste good with catsup!"