UnsilentMajorty

I give credit where credit is due.

I don't mean to be nasty, but the quality of the majority of the music videos on the net is not really that high in my opinion, and when I come across what I consider stand-out videos, I will let the author(s) know because they deserve it


Thanks for the link.

I downloaded the "New Frontier" video and it was great.



P.S. - SilverSun: CHECK YOUR PM!

UnsilentMajorty

Some new music videos for everyone's enjoyment.

Do not redistribute to sites like YouTube or MySpace.

You will need to download and install the free DIVX codec in order to watch these videos with Windows Media Player.

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Movie: Akria (Japanese Animation)
Song: Angel of the City - Robert Tepper
Download: Aikra

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Movie: Citizen Kane
Song: Everybody Wants to Rule The World - Tears for Fears
Download: Citizen Kane

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Movie: Falling Down
Song: Sniper Theme (Instrumental) - Gary Chang
Download:
Falling Down

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Movie: The Adventures of Ford Fairlane
Song: Shakedown - Bob Seger
Download:
Ford Fairlane

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Movie: Ghost
Song: Silent Lucidity - Queensryche
Download:
Ghost

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Movie: The Killer (John Woo; Chow Yun Fat)
Song: Raw Deal - Cinemascore
Download:
The Killer

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Movie: Medicine Man
Song: Colors of the Wind - Vanessa Williams
Download:
Medicine Man

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Movie: The Secret of My Success
Song: Love Walks In - Van Halen
Download:
Secret of My Success

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Movie: Terminator II: Judgment Day
Song: You Could Be Mine - Guns 'N Roses
Download:
Terminator II

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Movie: Young Guns II
Song: Stand in the Fire - Mickey Thomas
Download:
Young Guns II

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These are the best examples of being able to read a song and then edit the footage to coincides with not only lyrics, but a general sense of movement, rhythm and pacing.

All videos are 640x480 resolution and I cleaned up the image as best I could since most of the source material is degrading beyond repair and is 15-years old in some cases. Look past the quality and focus on the content in some cases.

Enjoy

AutumnColorsღ

Im going to check out the Ghost and Young Gun 2 videos now

S.A.S.H.A.

Off to watch some. T2

Sasha

UnsilentMajorty

Thanks for the support, guys

If you like the ones you downloaded... I urge you to download any others you might be interested in because while you may not initially like the movie or choice of song, it is the video itself which you may end up enjoying and this is a sign of a good editor

Also, I've been inspired to switch to digital format and non-linear editing -- like SilverSu's and most music videos you find on the net today -- And will be doing my first one to "V for Vendetta" so look for that in the near future.

Silversun

UnsilentMajorty - I have a sucky connection, so I only managed to download Akira and Ghost so far, but wanted to let you know my initial impressions.

I'm unfamiliar with the majority of works done on VCRs before non-linear editing, so I didn't know what to expect from your vids. While I had always anticipated the wonderful attention to movement and pace (and wasn't disappointed), I was also pleasantly surprised by the beat-oriented action editing and how much of your aesthetics still resonate with general vidding practice today.

In particular I was surprised at how relevant the Akira vid still is to anime vidding. During our discussion I sort of got the impression that you weren't/aren't really a part of the whole AMV scene, but I noticed you used lip-synching and motion in a way that's very similar to what AMV vidders are doing right now. One thing I wanted to point out was that your cutting tend to match internal motion to the beats, as opposed to cutting on the beat, which seems more of an AMV norm these days, but coming from predominantly live action vidding myself I much prefer it that way. It feels a lot less intrusive, and the vid flows beautifully.

And Oh, how Ghost moves. Goodness. I'm such a sucker for camera movement and it's perfectly captured here.

Do you know anything about vividcon? It's the annual vidders' convention held in Chicago. They only had their last show a couple weeks ago, and there are currently a ton of post-con premiering vids that are flooding the net (mostly livejournal) right now. You may be interested in taking a look at some of them. There's also been some great meta about style shifts going from VCR vidding to digital.

UnsilentMajorty

Thank you. This means a lot to me because in my mind, this means it isn't the equipment which determines whether a video is good or not when its done, but the skill of the editor... AND the fact the things I learned (and employ) in my videos are still being taught/picked up today.

I'm not such a dinosaur after all

I think it really depends on the song, the film (subject matter) and what you are trying to convey. For example, my "Young Guns II" video has a ton of beat editing (cutting on the beat)... But this is because the song is a hard rocking power ballad which demands it in my opinion and I don't think it is intrusive.

On the flip side, I also did "The Fugitive" (Harrison Ford) that uses a ton of beat editing and even I will admit the video is hard to watch now because it is too damn fast. Also, the song I chose is only 3:00 minutes long in its entirety and I wanted to tell the story of "The Fugitive" within those three minutes and if you've seen TF, you know the film is ripe with great visuals you have to show let alone the non-dramatic parts (looks; glances; small actor movements) which can also be used to give a music video substance and resonance.

The film major in me can't help but comment movement on film is an illusion -- as is 3D depth and the passage of time -- Which is why I personally focus on lyrical and beat editing more in my videos which differentiates my style from yours and everyone else's out there and so on and so forth.

I personally don't think there has been any real shift other than non-linear editing being more efficient as far as organizing your source material before it is edited. Yes. You can do special effects like wipes, fades and other things linear editing doesn't allow... But, in my opinion, its not the equipment of the era which defines whether someone is a skilled editor or not. It is talent and whatever training (if any) they have AND most importantly, whether they can execute that natural talent and/or training IN the videos/projects they edit. Some can and some cannot. That is life.

I do, however, believe non-linear and digital editing has unfortunately spawned a new kind of editing paradigm which is (was) synonamous with MTV and that is the "cut-cut-cut" style of editing where there is nothing on screen for more than two seconds. In my opinion, I think this is the negative aspect of non-linear editing and a lot of editors do it simply because they can when they shouldn't and it is not needed... And I am talking about commercial, professional editors and not just amateur music video makers.

Anyway, thank you for the kind words and discussion.

Not to alienate others on this thread...

But the things SilverSun and I discuss -- and demonstrate with our videos -- Is something everyone here can do if they just take the time to observe how music videos they like are done and then try and imitate them. You don't need formal training. Just watch music videos you like over and over again and analyze the style and what you liked and eventually, if you keep at it you will develope your own signature style as a result.

Oh, and before I go, here is another awesome vid I found on You Tube:

VIDEO

It is the film "Unleashed" with Jet Li and the song is "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi. This is another example of the perfect blend of a song that fits the film perfectly (both thematically and visually) and great editing.

Frozen-Tear

Name : We are all..
Fandom: Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, Bring It on Again
Music: : Weezer - We are all on drugs
I made this video when I was bored, it is a fun, fast video vid clips from VM,GG, OTH & Bring it on again.

Yousendit Link
YouTube Link

hitmanyr2k

A very fast-paced video of Unleashed that shows the conflicted progression of Jet Li's character living the life of a savage, oppressed killing machine to that of a normal life.


Unleashed Music video
(Right click "Save Target As")

Song - "Redefine" by Sevendust (edited for time)
Length - 2:35
Size - 42MB
Codec - MPEG4v2

UnsilentMajorty

Frozen-Tear

Pretty good video.

You have beat editing and motion/movement down pat.

The only thing I can suggest is to stick to one subject unless you are doing a tribute to something with a common theme like action movies, martial arts movies, super heroes, etc.

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Hitmanyr2k

Very good video as well.

I was kind of confused when the music cut off, but the visuals were still playing, though.

If you do something like this, I would suggest using voice-overs or the actual audio from the film itself edited in such a way as to give it the emotional impact you want because everything up until that point was spot on... But the ending, which can sometimes be the most important part of the video, isn't really strong and needs to be given the subject matter of the film and the message you are trying to convey.

Remember, if you had not told me what the overall theme of the video was, I could not have figured that out with the current ending.

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Wow.

I seem to have re-sparked interest in this thread and I hope it is for the best as I believe there needs to be a high(er) standard of videos out there simply because if you want the praise for a job well-done then you need to earn it.

Even if you do this as a hobby, it is ultimately up to you as to whether you want to actually earn that praise or just slap together any old video and hope people are polite enough to just say they like it when they really don't AND they know you can do better... Especially if you want to enter videos in various awards around the net, not including FF's own awards as well

shrrshrr

Hey all - I never really thought it through before but vid-making (or whatever the term is) is very much like writing fanfic. It's a great avenue of expression, but it helps to have some guidelines, especially as some of our work can be so very personal.

So, I thought we should post a few reminders, especially as we're having the video awards now, and this is becoming a site-wide phenomenon. Please - don't anyone take these comments personally. These are similar guidelines to the ones discussed eons ago on the FanFic Board, and they apply well here. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to send a PM to one of us (ROCKSTAR, Rainstorm18, or myself) and we'd be happy to address whatever issues you may have. Otherwise, please don't comment on the guidelines here - this thread is for posting of videos. Thanks!

The Guidelines:

• Remember to not use illegal content (meaning pirated movies from films just out, etc.)

• If you can, try to use a service that wouldn't have any competing content (like message boards)

• If you want people to critique your video, please say so in your initial post

• If the poster has NOT asked for her/his video to be critiqued, please do not provide feedback, even if you think it's constructive

• If you do not want your video posted elsewhere, please say so explicitly in your initial post (and everyone else please respect those wishes)

AutumnColorsღ

Thanks for posting this, Shrr

UnsilentMajorty- I really enjoyed your "Ghost" video. I just love that film and you doing a video with a good song was nice to see.

Dling Unleashed video now, that movie was awesome!

UnsilentMajorty

ShrrShrr

Thanks for posting the rules

Rainstorm

Glad you liked the video. I just thought "Silent Lucidity" was screaming "Ghost" every time I would listen to it... So I decided to do the video to it to quite the creative demons.

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SilverSun and Fellow Video Authors:

What is the best method for converting your DVD footage to an editable format (I am using Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0)?

I have the .vob files on my HD and I know you have to convert them to an avi/mpg for FRAME ACCURACY... So what method and programs are the best?

I am probably going to go with the DVD2AVI/AviSynth method because this is the method most guides on the net suggest for doing Digital editing for things like music videos because of the frame accuracy and limitations NLE programs like APP inherently have in them.

Recommendations? Warnings? Suggestions?

Silversun

Thank you for posting the rules Shrr!

UnsilentMajorty - I personally use DGIndex (which I hear is just another name for DVD2AVI) to index the VOBs into .d2v/.avs files, and then I just load the .avs scripts straight into Premiere. While it indexes, it analyses your footage and tells you the framerate, interlacing and all that, so it's helpful when you start up your vid project to make sure all your parameters match the source footage.

Apparently this method is quite sluggish, but I have a fast processor so it's been working fine for me. Although I use Premiere 6.5 and don't know if that option will work for Pro 2.0.

There's a huge and comprehensive guide to all things audio/video. When it gets to the editing stage it's mainly geared toward Premiere, but also has some pointers for Ulead, Vegas and WMM.

UnsilentMajorty

Do you set Adobe to edit at 24 FPS for film? Or for standard 30 FPS for NTSC? (Probably 25 FPS for PAL given you are in Newzeland, correct?)

I will probably do it this way as well since I have an Athalon64-bit processor so it shouldn't be too sluggish -- which is probably subjective to begin with.

This is one of the guides which I am following.

So, since you don't actually convert any of the Vobs to avis.... Do you just match the parameters DVD2Avi gives you in Adobe Premiere and just go from there? The reason I ask is it appears like I may be able to skip some steps -- Like I didn't demux the audio tracks at all because all I need for a video is the visuals.

Basically, I just need to set up my source material because the editing itself is then a piece of cake if you know how to do it -- Which I know how, but have never tried until now.

Thanks for all your help.

I just want to get up and running ASAP and try avoid a lot of rookie mistakes from the start rather than edit an entire video and find out it is at the wrong framerate, or some other beginner mistake which will ruin my initial time and effort.