Well, I've got nuthin'. And when I've got nuthin', it's time for the old standby: AMVs!

(*cue canned applause*)

Thank you, thank you, no really, thank you. You're lovely, I wish I could take you all home with me.

(*cue canned laughter*)

First up on the list of "AMVs that Wonderduck has been watching incessantly" list is She's Just Oblivious from silver_moon. Using footage from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, it's a simple character study set to the song "Sharada" by someone named Skye Sweetnam. "Once upon a time, there was a girl / you wouldn't really call her typical" is how the tune starts, and the moment I heard that, I was hooked. It's perfect for Haruhi, and silver_moon does a fine job matching image to lyric, and movement to music. It's not an effects video, so you can't go into it expecting to be blown out of your shoes by the 'pretty lights'. If you've seen Haruhi Suzumiya, though, you'll love this. It's just right, and probably the best AMV to date for that show.

And if it isn't, this next one is. Bakadeshi went the other way with the video Forever, making an effects-laden video. However, they're very appropriate and VERY skilled. Relying on the 'concert footage' from Ep. 12 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and the song "4Ever" by The Veronicas, he turns out an AMV that would be perfectly appropriate on MTV in the days where they showed music videos. In this case, it'd be a video from a movie soundtrack, as the concept skips back and forth between the concert footage (the AMV is humorously labelled as being performed by "ENOZ {featuring SOS Brigade}") and the budding relationship between Haruhi and Kyon. There's no mistaking the look and feel of the two parts, however, as the concert footage has been given a handheld camera's jitter and a 'live' appearance that's quite well done. There's one effect early on that falls into the "pointless" category, and one "look at me!" effect later in the video, but otherwise the whole vid is very well done. Again, a must for Haruhi fans, and a good watch for everybody else. Avenue Q is a Broadway musical... featuring puppets. The music for it, though, is very clever and perfectly suited (like most musicals) for use in AMVs. There Is Life Outside Your Apartment by the legendary AMV creator dokidoki (creator of Right Now Someone Is Reading This Title) uses the tune of the same title and about 35 different anime to create the first AMV in a while to make me laugh out loud. I'm not even going to try and explain all the ways that this thing is awesome, just believe me that it is and watch it. Then watch it again and be amazed at how seamless the editing is. Some NSFW words, though... four, I think it was.

The 'action' category of AMV is the one that's usually easiest to make, and is far and away the easiest to screw up. The usual process seems to be:
1) find a song with a good beat.
2) throw a lot of clips of guns together.
3) ?
4) Profit!
Then there's the ridiculously named LOLOLOLOLBURSTANGELLOLOLOL by Ileia. You want action sync'd to the music (in this case, "Rockstar (Jason Nevins Remix)" by N.E.R.D.)? That's ALL this vid is, but it's about as tightly timed as you'll ever find. No story, really. No plot. Just a rockin' dance beat and pretty pictures. But it's as good an action video as you'll ever find. Mindless? You bet, but there's nothing wrong with that. Five stars and a thumbs up!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 04:07 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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