T5W#199-Top 5 Personal AMV’s Ive Worked On

In the past, we’ve talked about how Music in Anime can help shape and even define certain stories.  K-ON, FLCL, Cowboy Bebop and Your Name are just a few examples of Anime that would entirely change if their soundtracks were radically different.  The same notion of musical importance can be applied to AMVs (Anime Music Videos).  Mixing and matching different Anime to different audio tracks either from music or trailer audio is an art and one many can do very well, earning them entries into various competitions are many conventions.  Believe it or not, I used to dabble a lot in the realm of AMV and made a fair amount of my own (most of which weren’t posted cause of fear of copyrighting strikes getting them taken down or muted on YouTube).  So for todays Top 5 Wednesday, sadly I wont be including the actual videos ive done themselves but I will have lengthy descriptions of AMV projects ive done in the past im still very proud of.  Here are my Top 5 Personal AMV’s Ive Worked On.

#5-Ninja Scroll/Samurai X-No Church in the Wild

Video: Ninja Scroll and Rurouni Kenshin-Trust and Betrayal

Audio: No Church in the Wild by Jay-Z and Kanye West

I heard this song hundreds of times at work while listening to the trailer for Safe House.  I liked it more and more and wanted to use it in a video so badly.  I started to think that a warrior themed video would work and slowly veered towards a Samurai themed video.  The dangerous lives of Jubei Kimagami and Kenshin Himura came to mind since they’re the only ones I have.  I strongly considered buying Samurai Champloo and doing a video based on the phenomenal last three episodes, but I like the way this video turned out with the fusion of these Anime classics.  There really is no church for these wayward warriors and the demons they face, both human and monster…or at least that what I thought about while making this vid.  On a side note, I did pick a couple of spots to ease up on the overall seriousness of these separate stories.  Some are dead giveaways, but there is one I got a good laugh setting up.  It’s my favorite shot of the vid and if anyone can spot it besides me, more power to ya.

#4-Kenshin Bond Begins

Video: Rurouni Kenshin-Trust and Betrayal

Audio: Casino Royale Teaser Trailer

This was my first trailer after my return to editing as a hobby following a lengthy hiatus after graduation from college.  It is also the first where I would regularly start keeping track of my editing projects after their completion.  I always felt there were plenty of comparisons between the rise of Mr. Bond and the Hitokiri Batosai a.k.a Kenshin Himura.  From their first kills to their tragic encounters with love, all are highlighted in this trailer.  The second half of the trailer is a bit of a jumble in terms of action and sound synching.  But really, I just wanted to mix Kenshin’s earlier exploits with Judi Dench’s speech to Bond at the beginning of the trailer, which is one of the best in the Bond series.  In that respect, I think this trailer was pretty good at doing that speech justice.

#3-Ghost in the Shell-Desolation Path

Video: Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and Ghost in the Shell 2-Innocence

Audio: Desolation Path by Vangelis

Without Blade Runner there would be no Ghost in the Shell, pure and simple.  Both films draw heavily on each other with their plots and subject matter and could be very distant cousins when you think about it.  So why shouldn’t they meld together at some point.  I wanted to keep this AMV strictly Ghost in the Shell 2, but ended up using certain clips from the original film.  And that turned out to be the best decision I ever made.  With both films I was able to weave together a very sad narrative about two of the films main characters.  What was always essential and never changed was that song to be used.  Desolation Path was heard only in the Workprint preview of Blade Runner but it is my favorite track from any version of the film, so sad but so memorable.  I wouldn’t want to do a Ghost in the Shell video without it.  This is a very beautiful AMV and I am happy I was the one to create it. 

#2-Halo-We Don’t Need Another Hero

Video: Halo Legends

Audio: We Don’t’ Need Another Hero by Tina Turner

I am very VERY happy I didn’t put this video off.  I was tempted to sleep right after I finished a prior AMV, but if I had, this video would not have been nearly as good as I rave it is.  This was the first time I worked on one video immediately following another.  Sure I came THIS close to sacrificing a good nights sleep, but it was worth it.  I love the Halo franchise and the Anime feature it spawned begged a video from me.  It wasn’t until I had just recently listened to Tina Turner’s We Don’t Need Another Hero from the film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, that I found a song that could do the Master Chief and the Spartans justice.  The song is very powerful and one of the best Tina Turner has ever done and I found a whole new respect for it as I went about crafting this video.  Halo-WDNAH also contains what I feel is one of the best bits of editing I have ever done (the spot where the Arbiter takes down two soldiers, takes their weapons and stands ready for combat hit all the right notes at all the right times).  If I can clean up the video quality, I would love to submit this video to an Anime convention for competition, I am THAT happy with this video. 

#1-Haruhi Suzumiya: The Streets of Philadelphia

Video: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

Audio: Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen

Streets of Philadelphia was a song I had been wanting to use for a long time, ever since my Dad first introduced me to it.  The sad and lonely journey of Kyon through the events of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya seemed to fit the lyrics of the song perfectly; and actually there were plenty of scenes that synced up with the lyrics perfectly.  However, what makes this AMV a new personal favorite of mine is the fact that I showed this one to my Dad when I finished it and he gave it very high praise, which is the greatest feeling in the world.  I’m seriously considering touching this one up to prep it for entry into Otakon 2012’s AMV contest.  Not since my Halo-We Don’t Need Another Hero video have I felt THIS good about an AMV I’ve done.  This wasn’t the first time I turned to Haruhi Suzumiya for project inspiration and it wouldn’t be the last (considering all the late 90s/early 2000s tracks I used for the Hare Hare Yukai dance alone).  But this was my all time fav.