Shiki + Shiki Specials AMV

[MOJ]

Hello everyone, i just compiled my very first AMV. It uses the animes "Shiki" and "Shiki Specials" as well as the music "Streets on Fire - Lupe Fiasco". Took me a hell of a long time to make and it is still really noobish. Any feedback or criticism is much appreciated

Shiki AMV Streets on Fire

[Viduus]

Oof. Alright, let's get to work here. I'll start out with some positives, to get it rolling, and then I'll go into some key steps on how you can do better next time.

I think the combination of song and show was a good pick to start off with, so kudos to that. You've also got some good editing techniques, which is fantastic base to jump off of. Your AMV also manages to capture much of the emotion from the series and conveys it adequately.

However, there are numerous things you could do better. The biggest of the big, of course, is subtitles. Having subtitles in your AMV is about as big of a faux pas as you can get. Any time writing appears on the screen your viewers eyes will automatically go there, and especially in AMV's when the clips are mere seconds long it absolutely detracts from the AMV. No matter how good the rest is, if you've got subtitles (or watermarks like the Funimation tag on the bottom right of some of the clips) you've already lost the majority of your viewers.

Next, you've also got videos in different formats. Some are crisp and colorful, while others you have in there are blurry and dark. When selecting the videos you're going to be editing from, you'll want them to be all the same resolution (480, 720, etc), and format (.avi, .mkv, .mp4).

The last big thing I want to touch on is timing. There's many variables that go into this, but the biggest part is doing some sort of syncing with the beat of the song. Take a look at AMV - Galaxy Bounce - By Nostromo - YouTube and [RS] Fluffy Kittens & Rainbows - YouTube

Do you see how many of the cuts between their clips coincide with the beats of the song? While it's not a requirement to have that happen at every beat, of course, doing something like that will certainly enhance the viewing pleasure.

Another part of the timing I'm talking about deals with when you have character's mouths move. Having the characters move their mouths making it look like they're singing part of the lyrics is possibly one of the hardest things to pull off, but it's also the most effective. If you just have flapping lips, or say, a woman talking while a guy is singing, however, it can really detract from the AMV as it's just something that people see as being off.


Anyways, I think you've got a solid base to build on. Getting rid of the subtitles and using the same quality of video should be your first steps as those are glaring mistakes, the timing in your next venture should be something to keep in mind though. Good luck!