My Life In Fandom: A Word To The Video Fans

A word for you folks aiming to do video and want something to consider as a learning project: fan music videos still exist.

It's exactly what it says. This is a fan--you--making a video to promote a specific song. For many of you regular readers, you are likely familiar with AMVs; these are fan music videos for anime opening, ending, and insert songs. Yes, this tends to run afoul of Japanese corporations sooner or later; that's not the point. The point is that you, Beginner Video Guy, need only find a way to use the footage relevant to that song's series or film to highlight both in a synergistic manner.

And why am I pointing out anison in particular? Because they are routinely cut into two lengths, usually referred to as "TV Size" (i.e. the actual length used to open or close a TV episode, typically 90 seconds) and "Full Length" (averaging 4 minutes, but duration typically varies between 3:30 and 5).

For you, BVG, AMVs of the TV Size are perfect projects; take a look at the existing OP/ED footage and see if you can do the job of that OP/ED video better. That's the goal of a TV Size AMV, and it will be perfect to learn how to not fumble about a video editing suite like a deer in headlights. Once you get your bearings, move up to doing Full Length videos, and allow me to show you how good a well-done video can be in selling a film or series even decades after the fact.

Maybe you never heard of Brain Powerd (sic), or you forgot about it; it's one of Tomino's--yes, "Kill 'Em All" Tomino--non-Gundam works and he was not face-down in depression when he made this series, and he got Yoko Kanno to do the music which is why it's good stuff that holds up (and man, this particular song is as subtle as a brick to the face). I bet you're interested after this video.

That's the power of a well-done video, and now that the tools and the knowledge are readily available--not free, but definitely cheap--it's within the reach of people who formerly had to prostrate themselves before film school professionals or spend long apprenticeships (defacto) in TV studios and thus waste years of one's life (and a small fortune in the case of film school) to learn and hone those skills.

And if you need to know what a good TV Size looks like, allow me to dig up one of the best--and most faithful--remakes of recent years.

The difference between the two is not just the duration. The TV Size is what plays at the start of every TV episode; it's job is to get the viewer to stop what they're doing and focus their attention on the program between it and the first commercial break (typically about 10-12 minutes). You don't need to sell the series in a TV Size video; they're already sold. You need to prod the viewer into the right frame of mind; this is also why OPs (and their intro videos) tend to change over the course of a series' run, at least when done honestly (and not as a cynical ploy to pull Hollywood Accounting tricks). Yes, this means that Ending Themes (and their credit sequences) do the reverse and change for the same reasons.

For you, BVG, these are good places to get started. You have two short, yet very different, projects to use for practicing your skills; you can add commercial break Eye-Catches (the blink-and-you-miss-it clips used to go into and return from commercial breaks) if you need to mix it up.

There's a reason for why I'm suggesting this, of course, and that's because damn near every well-known (if not famous) long-form director started on shorter projects like this. You, BVG, if you persist and master these skills, will become tomorrow's legendary filmmaker- and we who write the tales will be hitting you up in the Direct Messages looking for a collaborator.

Oh, and if you need a specific prompt: the theme song to Super Robot Wars 30, Drei Kruz by JAM Project. Do a TV Size and a Full Length version using only video from the game.