anime music videos

AMVs should not be confused with professional and original animated films produced as music videos for such groups as Daft Punk, or with such short music video films as Japanese musical duo Chage and Aska's song "On Your Mark" by Studio Ghibli.

AMV Creation

The creation of an AMV centers on using various video editing techniques to create a feeling of synchronization and unity. Several techniques are available to achieve this:

• Editing - Using different clips from the video source and changing between them at specific times is the most important tool the AMV creator has. Often both the events in the video and the transitions between the clips are synchronized with events in the music.
• Digital effects - Using video editing software (like a non-linear editing system) the video source can be modified in various ways. Some effects are designed to be unnoticeable (such as modifying a scene to stop a character's mouth from moving) whereas others are intended to increase synchronization with the audio, or possibly create a whole unique visual style for the video.
• Lip-sync - the synchronization of the lip movements of a character in the original video source to the lyrics of the audio, to make it appear as if the character were singing the song.
• Some editors use original and manipulated animation, both two-dimensional and three-dimensional, in AMV works. Such additions are often used for visual effect or to convey a story that cannot be done using only the original video source.
• Rubber-bands, Keyframe manipulation or Dissolves - This is another technique, in which the editor makes points in a video source on the timeline, of the non-linear editing program, that they can drag to different positions which makes the video either fade in or fade out. This can be to another video clip, or to a different color, most commonly solid black or solid white.

AMV webcomics

Some webcomics have begun featuring AMVs as source material for satire. For example, Hookie Dookie Panic! (a reference to Fullmetal Panic!) is one of the most outspoken comics to be involved with the AMV community. The comic is produced by Brian Wilson and Shawn Lieske, and, along with AMVs, uses many facets of anime conventions - such as cosplay, AMVs, anime, and games - as comedic material.

AMV competitions, evaluations, and rankings

• Iron Chef competitions - This is a competition in which two or more AMV editors go head to head with their editing skills, in which they edit on the fly against each other. Most commonly these bouts go for the length of one or two hours and they are held either in person, at an Anime Convention, or through the Internet. In both cases there are designated judges who compare the videos, either by the theme, the timing or overall production quality of the videos made during the competition. Judges will declare a winner and most commonly this winner goes on to compete against other editors who have won previous parts of the competition. The other alternative is individual Iron Chef Competitions, in which there is only one part to the competition and most commonly only two editors and one these editors wins the competition.
• AMV Viewer choice competitions - This is another form of an AMV competition. In this competition the editors submit videos to competitions that are held either at Anime Conventions or on Internet Websites. In both cases the winners are decided by the viewers and sometimes the editors themselves are allowed to vote. In conventions AMVs are usually judged by the category they are competing in, for example an action video would compete with other action videos. Viewers watch the videos and they submit votes at the end of the viewing portion of the competition. The other way that this competition is held, is through an Internet website. Some websites have a similar way of judging the AMVs, by the category they are in. While on other websites they videos are put against other videos of the same or different categories and are judged on which is a better AMV overall, not solely on the theme of the video.
• The widely used AMV website AnimeMusicVideos.org is often used to compare AMVs, as the site implements an opinion and rating system where other creators and viewers can comment and rate the AMVs using a 1-10 scaling system for the parts of AMV creation (see below), and for creativity. AMVs that are on the website are ranked in many categories, including a top 10% list (based on opinions), a top rating list (based on "star ratings"), a top favorites list (based on the number of users who consider a music video their favorite), top commented list (based on most comments or opinions received, regardless of rating), and more. Because of the number of AMVs found at the website, and the raw number of visitors to the site, the website is one of the best ways to judge an editor's abilities versus another.

AMV and copyright infringement

The making of AMVs is perfectly legal, provided one own all of the used materials, since such a use falls under fair use doctrines. Distributing them becomes something of a dilemma, and one that's open to debate.

AMVs inherently consist entirely of copyrighted and unlicensed material, like entire songs and substantial portions of anime shows. As such, legal concerns actually vary depending on several factors. As a general rule of thumb, AMVs can be seen as being technically illegal, but keep in mind that legalities concerning copyrights depend entirely on the owners' consent.

The Japanese culture isn't closed minded are about 'stealing' ideas.. Things such as doujinshi, unauthorized works continuing the story of a series, are actually encouraged by many anime makers^[2]. These Doujins take an original copyrighted work and expand upon the story, allowing the characters to continue on after, before, or during the original story. Most anime makers encourage this practice, as it expands their series.. Some see it as a tribute, others see it from a business viewpoint, that it draws in more support for the anime than it would have had otherwise..

Indeed, Doujins are no small thing in Japan either. To quote Lawrence Lessig, "More than 33,000 “circles” of creators.." (make, and even sell, Doujins)

Comiket, a convention that occurs twice a year in Tokyo, manages to pull in a crowd of 350,000 fans and artists, most of whom buy, sell, and trade dojinshi. To quote Lawrence again, "This market exists in parallel to the mainstream commercial manga market." Furthermore, Cosplay conventions persist across Japan in which people will dress up in unauthorized outfits made to match specific characters, a practice which is also not discouraged. Many notable anime and manga authors will attend both of these types of conventions themselves, expressing support in their doings. In a similar sense, several original anime makers have even flown to various places in the U.S. to attend AMV conventions, especially the larger ones such as AtlantaCon. Many of these have also expressed approval of the making of AMVs.

How can such works exist, or such organizations flourish? Quite simply, many of the Japanese authors encourage it - indeed, not a few got their start doing exactly that (such as the famous CLAMP). Many U.S. vendors who have brought anime over have expressed disapproval of AMV works made with "their" anime, and have insisted they be removed. Over the course of the last year or two, some of these companies have begun to demand that AMVs made with their show be removed from sites like YouTube.

On the other hand, however, lie the music artists. Certain music artists, as well as the record labels of those music artists, have been requesting the removal of some music videos from websites in which they can be downloaded. This is not as widespread as some people rumor, however. Several months back, Phade, the founder of AnimeMusicVideos.org was contacted by a major record label. This label expressed an unofficial approval of the AMVs on the site and stated that they did not mind that any of these AMVs were being made, but asked the site to exclude the download of 3 of their groups.^[3] One being Evanescence, this made several people unreasonably angry, and rumors have flied since then claiming they threatened to shut the site down. Phade has stored archives of the true conversation on the site where anyone who wishes can easily confirm this.

Ultimately, the area is still quasi. On the video side, most anime makers approve of them, and many have officially stated approvals of this. On the music side, AMVs aren't a problem, but distributing them is.. Many of the AMV makers out there (Yes, I am one) respect this fully, and I for one don't distribute any of my AMVs without also distributing whatever CD the song is from with it, due to this fact.

References

1. ^ Such video game cutscenes feature in over 10% of current AMVs according to AnimeMusicVideos.org statistics as of September 2005
2. ^ "This is the phenomenon of doujinshi. Doujinshi are also comics, but they are a kind of copycat comic. A rich ethic governs the creation of doujinshi. It is not doujinshi if it is just a copy; the artist must make a contribution to the art he copies, by transforming it either subtly or significantly....These copycat comics are not a tiny part of the manga market. They are huge. More than 33,000 "circles" of creators from across Japan produce these bits of Walt Disney creativity. More than 450,000 Japanese come together twice a year, in the largest public gathering in the country, to exchange and sell them. This market exists in parallel to the mainstream commercial manga market. In some ways, it obviously competes with that market, but there is no sustained effort by those who control the commercial manga market to shut the doujinshi market down. It flourishes, despite the competition and despite the law." From Chapter One of Free Culture[1] by Lawrence Lessig
3. ^ "Evanescence, Seether and Creed videos no longer available" -(thread on the AnimeMusicVideos.org forum, accessed 8 October 2006)

External links

• AMV Wiki, a comprehensive compilation of terms and concepts of videos
• AnimeMusicVideos.org, an AMV catalog. Includes downloads.
• Association Fantasy Movies French association organizing contests and hosting a lot of AMV. Downloads available.
• Creatives face a closed Net FT.com, 17th January
• "Anime Music Videos at the Annenberg Center for Communication