An
Animation music video (
AMV) is a
music video
consisting of clips from one or more animations set to an audio track
(often songs or movie/show trailer audio); the term usually refers to
fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of
video game
footage put together with music which is known as a GMV. A newer format
of AMVs including or comprising only non-anime or gaming footage called
animashing has also started to gain popularity.
[citation needed]
AMVs are not official music videos released by the musicians, but are
rather amateur fan compositions which synchronize edited video clips
with an audio track. AMVs are most commonly posted and distributed
informally 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.
[1] 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 music videos that employ original,
professionally made animation (such numerous music videos for songs by
Iron Maiden), or with such short music video films (such as Japanese duo
Chage and Aska's song "
On Your Mark" that was produced by the film company
Studio Ghibli). AMVs should also not be confused with fan-made "general animation" videos using non-Japanese animated video sources like
western cartoons, or with the practice of
vidding in Western
media fandom, which
evolved convergently
and has a distinct history and fan culture. "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.
The first anime music video was created in 1982 by 21-year-old Jim Kaposztas.
[2] Kaposztas hooked up two
VCRs to each other and edited the most violent scenes from
Star Blazers to “
All You Need Is Love” by
The Beatles to produce a humorous effect.
One of the first anime music videos that achieved popularity came from the
1996 song "
Daytona 500", from rapper
Ghostface Killah, using clips from the
1960s anime Speed Racer, which was first shown on English
television back in
1968.
[citation needed]
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. This synchronization is divided
into two general types: internal and external. Internal synch involves
synching the audio with actual events taking place in the scene, such as
gunshots and slamming doors. External synch is instances of edited in
cuts made in time with the audio.
- 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.
Popularity
John Oppliger of
AnimeNation
stated that fan-produced AMVs are largely popular with Western fans
however not with Japanese fans. One reason he cited was that Western
fans experience a "more purely" visual experience as most Western fans
cannot understand the Japanese language, the original language of most
anime, and as a result "the visuals make a greater impact" on the senses.
[3]
The second reason he cited was that because Westerners are "encouraged
by social pressure to grow out of cartoons and comics during the onset
of adolescence" whereas Japanese natives grow up with animation "as a
constant companion", English-speaking fans tend to utilize and
reconstruct existing anime to create AMVs whereas Japanese fans "are
more intuitively inclined" to create or expand on existing manga and
anime.
[4]
While an ordinary AMV is just one movie used along with a song,
animashes are a type of AMV where multiple films are used, often mixed
together using maskings and chroma-keying tools. Thanks to these tools,
some animashers create crossover AMVs/animashes. Most Western fans that
make AMVs use Disney movies, or other movies of that nature (for
example, Universal or DreamWorks movies). Some of the most popular
Disney films used in AMVs are the Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Bambi,
Brother Bear, Fox and the Hound, etc. CGI movies, such as Legend of the
Guardians, Happy Feet, Rio, and How to Train your Dragon have also
recently become popular movies used in AMVs. AMVs and animashes have
become a very popular group of people on YouTube, and many animashers
have become very well known for their creative style. Some animashers
work together on an AMV/animash, which is called a collab. Other times,
one animasher hosts something called a "Multi Editor Project" or M.E.P.
for short, in which many different animashers each take a part of a song
and put their parts together to create a diverse AMV/animash.
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.[5]
- There are several public rankings of AMVs available: A-M-V.org StarScale (only for registered users), A-M-V.org Opinions Top10% (only for registered users), AKROSS Rating, AMVNews Overall Ratings
AMV and copyright infringement
The Japanese culture is generally permissive with regard to the appropriation of ideas. Works such as
dōjinshi, unauthorized comics continuing the story of an official comic series, are actually encouraged by many anime makers.
[6]
These dōjinshi 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
manga artists create their own dōjinshi, such as Maki Murakami's "circle" Crocodile Ave (
Gravitation).
The question has been raised of how such works can continue to exist,
or such organizations to flourish, when they do so with questionable
legality. 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).
It seems that American anime distributors hold a similar sort of view
in regards to AMVs. In an interview with site AnimeNewsNetwork,
FUNimation Entertainment copyright specialist Evan Flournay said they
generally see AMVs as a sort of free advertising. "The basic thinking
going into fan videos is thus: if it whets the audience's appetite,
we'll leave it alone. But if it sates the audience's appetite, it needs
to come down. Does that make sense?" he says.
[7][8]
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 relative popularity 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,
though it is primarily the latter who take such action. 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,
Evanescence, and
Seether.
[9] Songs on AMVs uploaded on YouTube are sometimes removed due to copyright infringement of either
TV Tokyo or the
Warner Music Group.
While music labels and corporations generally see AMVs in negative
light, often the actual musical artists in question do not hold the same
views. A number of AMV editors report to having had positive contact
with various artists, including
Trey Gunn and
Mae.
[10] Japanese electronic duo
Boom Boom Satellites even teamed with site
AMVJ Remix Sessions
to sanction an AMV competition to help promote one of their singles,
going so far as to provide the source material for editors to use. The
winner's video would be featured during one of the pair's tours. The
first of this competition took place in January 2008 using the song
"Easy Action" and the anime movie
Vexille.
[11] A second competition took place later that year in November using the song "Shut Up And Explode" and the anime
Xam'd: Lost Memories.
[12]
In his book
Code: Version 2.0 and a subsequent talk in Google's
AtGoogleTalks Author's Series,
[13] Creative Commons founder
Lawrence Lessig specifically mentions AMVs as an example when dealing with the legality and creative nature of digital remix culture.
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