Forum - View topicAnswerman - Are Anime Music Videos A Dying Art?
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leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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When you're an active member of a niche fandom and you're either a creator or an organizer, your perceptions can definitely make that thing seem a lot bigger than it really is. Or maybe it really is that big, but anyone not in the fandom, for one reason or another, doesn't pay attention to it and might not even realize it exists. While I have never been an AMV person, I used pinball as an example because I've been on both sides ("_____ is dead/dying" for outsiders vs. "_____ is thriving" among insiders), so I understand this dilemma of public perception, and I actually find it quite fascinating to see so many things in common with the fanbases for two kinds of media that are so extremely different from each other.
By the way, if other non-AMV people are like myself, I had never heard of any of those AMV sharing sites except for YouTube. YouTube being by far the most popular video hosting site, I'm certain it must attract the most trash as far as AMVs go, but also being the site I think most people would think of if they had the urge (or the curiosity) to watch an AMV but don't know anything about the AMVs besides those stereotypes. Looking at that video reminds me of the reactions to Anime Expo 2016's AMV Contest, which I attended, and it felt pretty neat to see so many people so excited over it. If it weren't for how the AMV contests at major conventions are always held in a huge room like that with seating packed, I would've thought AMVs were dead or dying myself, as I hear zero talk about them outside of conventions, and until I saw those contest entries I was unaware AMVs had these digital effects or composite images--I hadn't seen an AMVs since the 90's, and every one I saw had no graphical manipulation. (I am doing this on a computer without speakers though, so I can't hear the reactions in that video. I can't say I had the best time at the one I went to, not because of the AMVs--they're wonderful--but because I was sitting behind a tall person who kept moving his head left and right and up and down while talking to his friend. I couldn't watch something for more than 10 seconds before he moved his head in that direction, and it kept getting worse. After he was told to stay still, he and his friend walked out, and I had a better time from there on out.) |
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RadicalYue
Posts: 8 |
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I'd say that it really is just about par for the course, especially for anime fans, to not be fully aware of the niches outside of their own. Even with something as big as cosplay, I personally have no knowledge (nor do I care) about it and have had quite a few conversations with those that attend their own local conventions only to have them ask if cosplay is a big thing at other cons since they've never went. For these people, they see the big cosplayers on Facebook and maybe a couple half decent Kiritos and Sailor Moons at their local hang out but that's about it. I'm sure that's mind boggling to think about for a fair amount of those involved in cosplay or who are fans of it. It can feel the same way for AMV editors and fans "What do you mean you've never seen this video?! How have you not heard of this editor?!"
And I'm totally on board with you there, it is incredibly fascinating. Honestly, due to the spread of editors I encounter new ones every day that aren't aware of quite a few of the "standards" most editors go by and it's incredibly fun to show them old videos, talk about the trends, evolutions, etc. There is an insane amount of history to go over and I adore doing it every time. Honestly, even a fair amount of editors haven't heard of the sites that I mentioned. This is the issue with the spread and one of the contributing factors to many outside the hobby thinking that it's a dead/dying craft. It's incredibly difficult to get people to congregate in a single space. You build one place for them to go but if something easier but less intuitive comes along they may leave. Or you start off on one site but the second you decide you don't like some of the users, you jump ship. It just keeps getting fractured into smaller and smaller groups. But regardless of how small these groups are, there are so, so many of them. It would be phenomenal to one day have a place to point outsiders and editors alike and say "Go there for AMVs." but sadly, I don't foresee that happening any time soon. And yes! AMVs have come a very, very long way. It's one of the reasons it pains me so greatly that this article basically consisted of "Are AMVs dying? My friend says that because there aren't enough comedy videos things are bad. The End." There is such a phenomenal deeper dive to be done into it. I know of one girl who is in the process of making an entire documentary based on it. If you want to see some of the more recent "big" AMVs, I'll toss you a couple that have incredibly obvious effects work. While effects don't make a good AMV (a topic of discussion for another time) it might be interesting for you as someone who hasn't watched in such a long time to see some of the differences. Make sure you can watch with audio, though. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOxMWXom_w8 https://youtu.be/oTQ9VL6sNPY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Qu8-ZGL14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tc7MH5ZXbg (The last one I linked, Ship Happens, is on a channel called BestAMVsofAllTime. It was a collection created by an editor and friend of the community who went by AceD. He's since stopped uploading AMVs to it but it's still got a lot of quality stuff. Same with VermillionAMV https://www.youtube.com/user/VermillionAMV who aims to collect and make good quality video easy to find and view by simply following a single channel.) |
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mbanu
 Posts: 159 |
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I think what makes it hard to track is that certain schools of AMV are dying, and those who are familiar with AMVs aren't aware of the other schools, because they aren't necessarily submitting to the traditional AMV contests. The Weird Al inspired AMV of the VHS days has morphed into Anime Hell / anime meme AMVs, and the Linkin Park AMV circle was completed when Linkin Park started making their own AMVs.
One school I don't see getting much attention that is making some pretty impressive modern AMVs is the "Adult Swim bumper" school, anime fans who grew up watching those Adult Swim bumpers, and who use them as the gold standard of what makes an AMV exciting musically and cinematic-wise. (I think The Boin on YouTube is a good representative of that school.) Also the Synthwave AMV makers, who as far as I can tell never end up submitting to AMV contests, despite the popularity. Neros77 on Youtube is probably the most famous there -- given the number of hits his Riding Bean AMV had (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1NAhlVRaZ4), I wonder if it had an impact on the Blu-Ray kickstarter. One school that I am particularly impressed with is the one that emphasizes making OST AMVs -- I feel like there's an added challenge in making an exciting AMV when you have to use an anime's own soundtrack. I kinda wish more of those makers would consider AMV contests, since the Japanese record companies have a habit of shutting down their videos when they are posted on YouTube. (I saw a particularly impressive Galaxy Express 999 one that now seems to be lost to the ether, sadly.) One thing that I think has probably kept AMVs in a holding pattern is that American anime fans often didn't exactly have the most sophisticated musical tastes.  ;; They knew anime, sure, and maybe even had a good knowledge of Jpop or chiptunes or something, but when it came to music, it was all Weird Al/nerd ghetto or Top 40 stuff; so the experience of watching an AMV may have been one of anime discovery, but not really one of musical discovery. It seems like this has slowly been changing as indie musicians migrate to digital spaces like Bandcamp and Soundcloud. The otaku who would have seemed like Tonkatsu DJ's buds at a house party is getting exposed to those artists through their sites online, which is making it more likely that you get an AMV that is a surprise both animation-wise and musically.
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Knoepfchen
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I'm a huge fan of AMVs. They made me discover some of my favorite things on earth. I edited one myself once, which even won a price. It took ages to put together, and even though I have several ideas for future projects I'd love to work on, it's unlikely to happen - way too time-consuming.
My favorite AMVs are Hall Om Mig (already linked), that insanely old Evangelion one set to Bohemian Rhapsody, and this one. I'm still watching new AMVs, but I find myself immediately losing interest when certain types of music start to play. |
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Panzer Vor
 Posts: 648 |
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Minutes to Midnight, A Thousand Suns, Living Things, The Hunting Party. Linkin Park's discography isn't just Hybrid Theory and Meteora. But I digress. Have some Fort Minor mixed with 5 Centimeters per Second. One of the few dramatic AMVs I actually like. (Given that Fort Minor was Mike Shinoda's side project, does that run afoul of the "anything involving Linkin Park is automatically disqualified" clause?)
In general, though, I prefer action and comedy over drama when it comes to AMVs. If the works of L.W. Kilroy and Honza Moravec haven't already been mentioned, I'll mention them now. |
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RadicalYue
Posts: 8 |
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Hahahahahaha. I'm sending this to him. The bastard who made that video (UnlimitedRice) is someone I've been trying to get back into it for a while now. You are amazing for knowing it, btw <3 |
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Haterater
 Posts: 1727 |
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I agree, still going strong but spread out by various factors. Favorites recently are MAD vids and crossover song anime with pictures of another anime.
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2514 |
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When I and my daughter started with AX and YT in 2008, AMV's were everywhere and now, seemingly they aren't. I think that leads to the misperception that AMVs are dying. However, my daughter says they have been consistently made as the article's writer mentions but offers that YT's software takes down anything with the anime or song name in the title, so many YT'ers have to use obtuse/cryptic titles which makes them hard to find.
I happened to find some thoughtful and funny AMVs back then (lots of Linkin Park...), but since there were so many bad/mediocre offerings, I for one got tired of AMVs and no longer care about them since there are so many good simulcast shows to enjoy these days. Anybody with the same experience would wonder if AMVs still exist and adds to the misperception. If you really like AMVs as a genre, you'll find them. If you don't, you won't. My two cents... |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Huh, is that what happens? That AMV people get incredibly fragmented and don't interact with each other, and as a result there can be no collaborative effort to try to make more anime fans more aware of them? That makes sense, really, considering anime fans have a reputation for behaving militantly about what they like and don't like, and AMVs, by their nature would be one that tries to stay on the cutting edge of technology and so would move rapidly. And yeah, I saw the four of them on my home computer, which DOES have speakers. The difference between the AMVs I used to see in the 90's and today's are like night and day, though I can't say I'm as surprised as I saw AX's 2016 AMV Contest and THAT was where I was blown away. Did not expect to see live acton blended in though. (Also, this sort of graphical manipulation either did not exist or was extremely expensive back in the 90's.) You know, that reminds me: In the 90's, what some people did if they wanted characters from multiple series at the same time was just outright animate their own sequences. Would that still be an AMV if it contains mostly or entirely homemade animation of existing characters?
Well, using popular music can still be a way to bring in people who enjoy those particular songs or artists...though those are the songs most likely to get you in trouble with the record companies. |
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DerekL1963
 Subscriber Posts: 1113 Location: Puget Sound |
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The absolute shedloads of AMV's on YT with anime and song titles says otherwise... |
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0nsen
 Posts: 256 |
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Is there something like http://www.animemusicvideos.org/home/home.php only better? A site to easily discover and stream all those cool AMVs would be awesome.
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LadyKuzunoha
 Posts: 91 Location: United States |
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Years ago, I considered maybe getting into making AMVs, but after asking a friend of mine who's won quite a few awards at conventions how I could get started, I had second thoughts. Our conversation helped me realize how much of a time commitment it was and that I could not make that kind of commitment in addition to those I already had (and in some cases, still have). So it wasn't meant to be.
My AMV consumption nowadays has moved mostly into the realm of various fandom "crack" videos. If I happen to see anything else, it's because of YouTube channels like BestAMVsofAllTime or other collectors, so unfortunately I don't have any examples of recent AMVs I've enjoyed that haven't yet been shared.
I just checked what other clips you made and as it turns out, they're all among my favorites in AMV Hell overall. They still get a good laugh out of me years and several rewatches later. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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The thing is, for every AMV on YouTube that has escaped the Content ID matches and sweeping searches by the record labels and anime companies, how many did not? There may be multitudes of them on YouTube, but I'll bet there were vastly more of them that have been taken down. And if you're a budding AMV maker and you don't know of any site other than YouTube, then you get slammed by the content producers and given a copyright strike on top of that, forcing you to watch that video and take the test, that can get pretty discouraging. "Why bother making AMVs when YouTube is just going to take it down and punish me for it?" |
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Jose Cruz
 Posts: 1773 Location: South America |
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Never though this was a thing actually.
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RadicalYue
Posts: 8 |
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Well, typically it's something along the lines of... Editor A is part of A-M-V.org. They don't like the people there and determine that everyone on the site is terrible because of it. They leave for YouTube. Editor B is on YouTube and feels that A-M-V.org is too elitist because the editors there don't shower them with praise. But they don't like how YouTube takes down their videos all the time so they move to DailyMotion/Vimeo. Editor C is from AMVNews.ru and the don't speak English. They stay there and only create AMVs that are shared there. Editors D and E like C's videos but don't know how to properly interact due to the language barrier so they never get involved whatsoever. A small taste of the many, many examples I've seen.
Most contests/conventions will still consider it to be an AMV if the original animation is styled after popular anime characters or if the video is still edited like an AMV. Examples... Fully hand-drawn, stills of characters from Full Metal Alchemist edited in the style of an AMV. Therefore it's accepted as an AMV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn4O9-04HbM A custom story where characters have been "cut out" from their respective shows to create a new narrative. This style is called a crossover and is a well known type of AMV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9e_WIoJJnI When certain scenes don't exist, the editor has actually drawn them to fill in the gaps. The majority is a rather standard crossover though. Still 100% considered an AMV with just loads of custom work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6IL_YVNBDQ This video is 100% custom 3D animation but the characters created are in the style of your normal anime characters that you'd see. The video, in the way that it is synced and stylized is standard for an AMV so while it is more in the realm of professional work, it can still be considered an AMV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA5lSZVNmQY Where the line is typically drawn in regards to original animation is how the editing is done and whether the music simply acts as a background track that has no effect on the video as a whole. If it's simply a short film in anime style that ignores the music, pace, etc. in favor of narrative then it's more than likely not going to be considered an AMV. Of course there will be some that disagree with me on certain points made, this is what the majority would more than likely echo.
While popular songs are obviously going to be popular in AMVs (hence the name) there is an incredibly wide variety out there with indie music or unknown bands and it's not a recent trend. A very large majority of the music that I currently listen to and purchase (Yes, I enjoy buying CDs) was brought to my attention by AMVs. It's interesting though since the majority of artists seem to enjoy AMVs. It's the labels (who are obviously more concerned with the financial aspects over the artistry) that take issue with AMVs. Bands like The Birthday Massacre regularly talk about how they adore AMVs made with their material. Starset (who is a rather popular radio band) shared this AMV on their official Facebook last year shortly after it came out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN270ApWI3c, praising the artist for their work. Artists have even been known to solicit AMVs to be done with their work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBF-LT1NheQ not for profit on either side, but simply because they're a fan of the editor and want to see their work used in a project. While obviously the arrangement isn't always sunshine and lollipops there are more artists than you think who openly welcome these videos.
This. Honestly, titling your video with just the name of the song is considered rather unoriginal and doesn't help your AMV stand out. A video called "Warriors" is going to get lost in the crowd of the thousands of others with the same title and potentially the same song. It doesn't mean it's not a popular naming scheme but it's incredibly boring and uninspired. Titling your video something original has nothing to do with "hiding from copyright", it's simply yet another way to be creative and stand out.
http://amvnews.ru/ fits your definition with the only issue being that it's in Russian 
But seriously, don't let that stop you from checking it out. They do have an English interface you can activate and google translate does the trick for the most part. The difference between A-M-V.org and AMVNews.ru is that the A-M-V.org was intended to be a catalog for ALL AMVs which can make it incredibly difficult to find videos. Combined with the fact that you have to log in and and have an account in order to stream (a function that is frequently broken) it can be a pain. AMVNews, however, is a website with the goal in mind of collecting only the best AMVs and showing them off almost in a blog-like way. They have easy to stream videos by simply clicking the title or the "More" button it opens the video page, you get some screenshots provided that tease the video and a media player down below, above the comments. http://amvnews.ru/index.php?go=Files&in=view&id=8488 And don't worry, it's virus free. AMVNews is an awesome source for amazing videos and while not everyone would personally agree with me, the community is really fantastic once you get to know them and learn to deal with the language barrier.
If AMVNews feels a bit daunting though, I'd advise looking up VermillionAMV on Youtube and subscribing to her channel. I mentioned her earlier but she basically runs a re-upload channel on Youtube with the goal of sharing videos that she personally sees as great. It leads to a good mix of videos in my personal opinion!
The content ID and the taking down of AMVs is a massive annoyance and is heavily discouraging to new editors. Luckily, this can sometimes push editors who are more determined to seek out larger communities where they can upload their videos, meet new editors, and have a significantly better experience. Of course, it can also push them the other way into obscurity which only furthers the fracturing. I will note though, that it's not typically the song title that sets off alarm bells. When it's the song that sets it off, it's the Content ID system. It doesn't matter if you include the name or not, it will be set off. Most editors find that including the anime in the description can cause more issues but as someone who has been on YouTube for quite a long time, I've never personally had this issue. A lot of editors will simply put normal comments in their descriptions and maybe list the sources used somewhere in their comments section where people post. The more paranoid demand that no one mention the show or audio source in the comments whatsoever, or they'll be banned from commenting on their channel. Again, I personally don't believe it has any effect and it's just a simple computer system ID'ing the audio and images automatically, but everyone has their own theories. |
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