JOURNAL: ErMaC

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  • Dreaming 2002-06-12 05:41:07 Oh yea, forgot to mention, I picked up two albums today, Paul Oakenfold's "Tranceport" because I've had a burn of the CD for ages and I saw it for $15 at best buy and I'm like $hit I gotta buy it if it's that cheap!

    The other album is the US release of Aurora's debut album. In the UK it was self-titled but in the US they titled it Dreaming after the debut single from the album. The US version has 2 extra tracks (an edit of the Love To Infinity remix of Dreaming and the original Trance version of Ordinary World) which the UK one doesn't, however it seems that the volume level on the whole CD is a little too loud and a couple tracks (most notably track 2 - The Day It Rained Forever) start getting distorted during some parts. A pity, but I still highly recommend the album. Aurora is a group very much like Fragma in that they both started doing really awesome trance stuff and moved onto more dancy mainstream europop stuff that's still really good. 
  • Zoinks! 2002-06-12 05:31:58 OK So my AX entries have finally been decided, and they go in the mail tomorrow

    Xanthrax, happy birthday! Dude I had no idea you were only 16, you're an incredibly articulate lad, there. ^_^ Still waiting on that I Pray review, BTW. ;-) I know you wanted to warm up but just so you know I'm eagerly anticipating it.

    In other news I should be getting hosting back soon. When exactly, I dunno, but hopefully sooner rather than later.

    One of the videos I'm entering to AX is a direct response to all the @#$% I put up from people, if it makes it to the finals you will all know which one it is. My other video is dedicated to all my RL friends who have just been so unbelievably supportive and helpful the entire time I've been making AMVs.

    Heh, one video dedicated to my friends, the other to my enemies. The third one's just silly, don't ask.

    For those who've been reading my journal, the "Quickie" video did not make the AX cut... it's not gonna be going, neither is the "wrong" video I was talking about a couple weeks back. Instead I'm sending one I did very early this year, the one which I thought sucked at first but then worked out well, and then the other one is the one that was seen at Fanime and will be seen at Otakon. 
  • It's official 2002-06-03 08:22:24 OK I've gotten it on very good authority now from multiple sources that the video does not suck. ^_^ The MaC is pleased.

    Unfortunately making this video made me realize something about the way my videos wind up.

    I can't NOT make dramatic AMVs.

    I'm literally INCAPABLE of making an AMV devoid of any dramatic elements. I mean, WTF? I go into this video thinking "OK I'm gonna make a really kickass action video" and by the time I'm done it's half action half drama. Well sh1t.

    Anyways, in DDR news I can beat Pop 8 regularly now, and on Thursday I managed to achieve more than a _1500_ combo doing it. And Combos in Oni mode aren't just consecutive steps, they're the # of _perfect_ steps you've gotten without a Good, Boo, or Miss. In other words, without screwing up once I got 1500 perfects in a row (with some greats interspersed between). I was like /whoa/.
    I just realized how very valley that last sounds, and stuff and junk. Like wow, you know?

    Anyways, since I'm not sleeping tonight (damn me and my forked up sleeping schedule) I guess it's back to working on my philosophy paper. 
  • Death by Shamisen 2002-06-03 02:43:34 OK so last night at around midnight I'm trying to think of ideas for an action video for AX since I'm thinking of giving up trying to enter a comedy video at all since I have a feeling my FAnime/Otakon video would be disqualified by AX... so I'm looking around my hard drive and I get this neato idea.

    Fast forward 12 hours. After about 5 hours of actually /working/ on the video, it's done. How did it turn out? Well, I dunno actually. I'm trying to find some people to show it to so I can ask them "Does this suck?" because honestly I dunno how to judge action videos. I never thought they were very interesting so when I went to make this one I just tried to make it look cool and I guess it kinda worked, but I just don't know. The one person I showed it to so far has dug it, but I'm looking for more than just the opinions of close friends who may be wary of saying bad things about my videos. Plus he's a fan of both the song and the show that are used in the video so it may not be a very unbiased opinion in that sense either.

    This marks my third real "Speed Video" attempt. Previous speed videos were Eurobebop and Lord's Prayer, both of which were completed in under a few days because I wanted to do something silly or wacky without a lot of planning. I'd almost like to call it Improv AMV making, kinda like what they do at the Iron Chef thingy down at AWA. I take a song and a series and with no plan just go in and edit. It feels pretty good sometimes, but I almost had to kick myself half way through making the video to go and finish it.

    For the first time, I actually edited backwards at a certain point. I went through the first half to two-thirds of the video and then I skipped to the ending and worked backwards from there.

    And while working through this video I think I've finally figured out how the "emotional curve" in AMV making works for me:

    Step 1) I start out, think concept is really cool
    Step 2) I actually have to start. This is tough, at least for me. I wonder whether or not this is really gonna work, instead of just sitting down and slapping stuff on the timeline to at least get started.
    Step 3) I get part way into the video. I think it's pretty good and I'm jazzed.
    Step 4) In the immortal words of the very inebriated Hsien Lee: "My video SUCKS!!" You begin to think the video's a complete waste of hard drive space and monitor realestate and I get like *this* close to just trashing the whole thing and saying f@#$ it.
    Step 5) Hardest part of the creation process. When I hit that wall in step 4 and get close to scrapping the project, I just gotta kick myself in the ass and say "Edit, stupid!" and keep going, no matter how much I think it sucks.
    Step 6) Video is eventually finished.

    Sometimes at Step 6 I know the video kicks ass, but more often than not I'm unsure of what reactions will be. This is definately one of those videos where I have no idea. ^_^ 
  • My feet hurt... with destiny! 2002-05-30 00:19:28 OK so my feet are still sore from yesterday.

    "Yesterday?" I hear you ask. "But you said you went DDR'ing on Monday!" Well yes that's true, but like a true addict I also went on Tuesday. I managed to beat Pop 8, which is an Oni course that's _8_ songs long. That means I danced through eight songs (approximately 12 minutes) without a single break, and the last half of the songs are rather intensive when you've already been dancing for an hour. I'm glad I beat it, but man did I pay for it.

    Amazingly, I'm developing additional calluses on my feet where I'm usually stepping - the area where the foot baloons outward where the toes join the foot. I used to only have a callus behind the big toe and the pinkie toe, but now I'm getting it all the way across from the constant pounding. And yet it still hurts like hell sometimes. Go figure.

    At least it's keeping me in shape - 144 pounds, down from 165 when I first came to UCI.

    In more relevant and interesting news, I've got 2 more shots to tweak and then I'm done with this video I've been working on. I'm entering as Action/Adventure at AnimeExpo - and hopefully they'll do the same as last year and NOT incorrectly recategorize my Action/Adventure video as Drama.
    This issue came up again while I was preparing for the AMV panel at AX, and Troy apparently wanted to make a joke about me winning best drama--er action video. Which annoys me since I've repeatedly stated that it's not meant to be a drama video at face value.
    From my email to him:
    "Yes it contains dramatic elements, but the focus of the video is not on
    drama. The video is driven by the action, while it may have dramatic
    elements.

    If you confine the role of "Action" videos to videos completely devoid of
    any dramatic elements, then you turn the category into the "meathead" video
    department, and I don't think that's what it's meant for. The category is
    called Action/Adventure for a reason - it's not just about the Action.
    Adventure in and of itself can be dramatic, but it is action-driven drama.

    Thus I will always claim that Soul of an Angel is an action/adventure video
    and was not miscategorized. The AX judges I talked to felt the same way, and they left it in that category on purpose, and for good reason."

    So yes it does contain dramatic elements (as I've outlined previously in my journal) but I don't think they are the focus of the video, at least not entirely. 
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