Anime music video

An anime music video (abbreviated AMV) is a music video consisting of clips from one or more anime series or movies set to songs; the term usually refers to fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of Video Game footage put together with music.

Most AMVs are not official music videos released by the musicians, but are rather amateur fan compositions which synchronize video clips with an audio track. AMVs are most commonly informally released, most often over the Internet. Anime conventions frequently run AMV contests or AMV exhibitions. While AMVs traditionally use footage taken from anime, video game cut-scene footage is also a popular option. [Such video game clips feature in over 10% of current AMVs according to AnimeMusicVideos.org statistics as of February 2007] Music used in AMVs is extremely diverse, using such genres as J-Pop, rock, hip hop, pop, R&B, country, and many others.

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. AMVs should also not be confused with fan-made "general animation" videos using non-Japanese video sources such as western cartoons. "Anime music videos" are a sub-genre of the more general "animated music videos". Parallels can be drawn between AMVs and Songvids, non-animated fan-made videos using footage from movies, television series, or other sources.

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 (commonly a non-linear editing system) the video source can be modified in various ways. Some effects are designed to be imperceptible (such as modifying a scene to stop a character's mouth from moving) whereas others are intended to increase synchronism with the audio, or possibly create a 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, often the purpose is comedic. Lip-syncing is also commonly used in parody AMVs. These songs usually come from musicals, or to the latest on the pop charts.
* 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 is otherwise incommunicable using only the original video source.
* Rubber-bands, Keyframe manipulation or Dissolves: These are techniques 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.

Publicly Available AMVs

* AnimeMusicVideos.org is the largest known online community dedicated exclusively to anime music videos. The site has a community-based approach to the creation and dissemination of AMV materials. It has a more extensive rating, feedback, categorization, and search system than other sites such as YouTube or Google Video. The main advantage regarding the site is that of strict requirements for uploaded videos by limiting uploads to only anime-derived content. As of May 2008, the site had nearly 740,000 members, 125,000 video entries made by 44,000 video creators, and nearly 75,000 locally available video files. The site is run entirely by a staff of volunteers and is primarily funded by member donations. Donators receive some mild site perks such as enhanced search options and access to a general "off topic" forum.

AMV competitions, evaluations, and rankings

* Iron Editor: Two or more editors compete directly with one another, editing videos on the fly in a real-time contest in the style of Iron Chef. 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 over 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 an individual Iron Editor competitions, in which there is only one part to the competition and most commonly only two editors, only one of whom wins.
* AMV Viewer Choice: 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 the videos compete 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 site AnimeMusicVideos.org has the largest known annual AMV contest, the AnimeMusicVideos.org Viewers Choice Awards.
* In March 2008, Tokyopop hosted the I-Manga Music Video Mash Up Contest. The contest called for fans to create a music video, using Tokyopop manga and music. As opposed to most anime music videos, I-Manga Music Video Mash Up Contest required participants to animate and manipulate still images with the use of motion graphics. The contest featured art from Bizenghast and Riding Shotgun with music ("Feel the Disease" by Kissing Violet, "Break Ya Self" by Far East Movement). The winner of the contest was awarded an iPod Video, loaded with Tokyopop music and Tokyopop I-Manga webisodes. As well as featured placement on Tokyopop's YouTube channel. [ [http://www.tokyopop.com/Robofish/contest/1282896.html TOKYOPOP :: Leading the Manga Revolution for 10 Years and Beyond! :: ] ]

AMV and copyright infringement

The Japanese culture is generally permissive with regard to the appropriation of ideas. Works such as doujinshi, unauthorized comics continuing the story of an official comic series, are actually encouraged by many anime makers."This is the phenomenon of doujinshi. Doujinshi are also comics, but they are a kind of copycat comic. The creation of doujinshi is governed by a creators' ethic stating that a work 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 exhibit significant market penetration as well. More than 33,000 "circles" of creators from across Japan produce doujinshi. 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" [http://www.authorama.com/free-culture-4.html] by Lawrence Lessig] These doujinshi 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 while others see it from a business viewpoint that it draws in more support for the anime than it would have had otherwise. Some mangaka create their own doujinshi, such as Maki Murakami's "circle" Crocodile Ave (Gravitation (manga)).

The question has been raised of how such works can continue to exist, or such organizations to flourish, when they do so in legally muddy waters. The answer is that many of the Japanese authors encourage it - several of these authors began their careers with the same kinds of projects they witness anime fans working on today (ex. Clamp).

In recent years there has been an increased demand, primarily on the part of the record industry, for the removal of AMVs from sites like YouTube, Google Video, or the AnimeMusicVideos.org aggregation site, with particular regard to YouTube due to its hyper-popularity as compared to other AMV sources, as well as its for-profit status. Musical performers and their representative record labels have been requesting the removal of some music videos from websites where they are made available for download. Public discussions and perspectives give varying accounts of exactly how widespread these actions have become. In November 2005, the administrator of AnimeMusicVideos.org was contacted by Wind-Up Records, requesting the removal of content featuring the work of the bands Creed, and Seether. [http://www.animemusicvideos.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=60255 "Seether and Creed videos no longer available"] - (Discussion on the AnimeMusicVideos.org forum, thread created November 15, 2005)]

References

ee also

* MAD Movie
* songvid

External links

* [http://www.animemusicvideos.org/ AnimeMusicVideos.org, an AMV community site]
* [http://www.amvhell.com/ AMV Hell, a popular AMV series]
* [http://www.animere-mix.com/ Anime Remix, an AMV Hell spinoff (Mix 1 Complete, Mix 2 Started)]
* [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d55dfe52-77d2-11da-9670-0000779e2340.html Creatives face a closed Net] FT.com, 17 January
* [http://netpublics.annenberg.edu/conference/anime_music_videos "Anime music videos"] at the Annenberg Center for Communication
* [http://editingarchive.com/viewsection.php?section=Anime&topic=AMVs AMVs aggregation site]
* [http://www.amvj-sessions.com/ amvj -remix sessions-]