The AMV Files - Van Nuys

I have some video game posts lined up, so let's have an AMV one just to balance things. The SOTC video is going to be delayed by the way since I want to record that video using the glorious remakes said to be coming out in September. Not only will the graphics be better, but hopefully it should make things cleaner without a lot of framerate crap-ups that the PS2 version is known for.

I know I say I'm going to finish things and never do it (see "Hollow") but THIS I'm going to stick through to the end. There are a bunch of AMV Files entries I have saved up but none of them had any initial progress. That's no fun. However, not only does Van Nuys have the initial effort that is currently uploaded, I've done a lot of progress since then. HURRAH!

As a sidenote, if there are any critiques for what's currently up for Van Nuys, tell me and I'll see what I can do. I already fixed a few things like a fade at the beginning of "...I know it's what I'll do" and a few overlays at the second half of the bridge that bugged me.

Title: Van Nuys
Song: "Van Nuys" by Sixx AM
Footage: Digimon Frontier + Digimon Frontier: Island Of Lost Digimon
Focus: Nothing too closely
Progress: Over 50% for the whole song. Roughly 25% of remaining song made after the beta?
Beta: None currently uploaded except for the video made for the contest in 2009.

Van Nuys was made for Blackfang's Frozen Flame Studios' 2nd beta battle tourney (FFS2). It was made for the final round against Possk and even though it lost, it wasn't a bad video (for a bad video that didn't deserve to win, see "Hollow"). Even before the contest started I had plans to use Van Nuys for my newly downloaded Digimon Frontier. I'm aware of the context and meaning of the song itself, so no one get into a huff about how I'm trivializing The Heroin Diaries, Nikki Sixx, or how much of a shitheap Van Nuys apparently is. No one has confronted me about this but I have seen some people talk about that sort of stuff on AMVs and fan-made music videos before (mostly with songs about drug addiction and war, topics that may be personal to many people and fans of the original work/band).

Now then, the video (as I explained before) is a look at the dark nature of this season's incarnation of the Digital World. The world itself isn't the darkest (that award would go to Tamers or even Adventure) though it is up there. Part of it is because nearly the entire season is spent in that Digital World and when it gets dark, oh boy does shit get real. For an example, this is also the closest any season has went to the kids getting killed. Frontier is a very love or hate thing, but even the gimmick of spirit evolution brings up the danger factor to a new level (and I rarely see anyone comment on that, with the majority just holding at "it's stupid"). Being sent and trapped in a strange crumbling world with strange creatures where even their pantheon is out for your blood and YOU are the ones that are supposed to fight them off. Things just got a bit more serious than the literal "picnicking in the Digital World" like 02. Tamers did this job better, but they spent only 15 episodes there. About the video itself, I use this perspective for real life Van Nuys (which is apparently a not-so-nice place, even if they're lacking in giant teddy bears with lazer eyes) with the Digital World. About the childrens' hardships, seeing cut-throat cruelty and having brushes with death.

For the chorus, here are the interpretations I had with the lines for the context of the video:

• Everyone's eyes are blue: Weakness, illness, fatigue. Usually when an eye is pale or clouded it's often a symptom of something hindering eyesight. Like losing that "sparkle of life" in the eyes. A bit of a stretch, but a symptom of Canine Hepatitis is corneal edema, giving the patient an unusually blue-clouded eye (and you were thinking that AMVs and veterinary medicine couldn't meet. Pfft)
• Everyone's mouth is dry: Less of a stretch than the other one. Rather than the more literal meaning, I see it like crying, gaping the mouth in disbelief, screaming, fear, heavy breathing, and running like hell. In that ball-park.
• Nobody wants to die: Focus on the overal life threatening and dire situations the children face. CAPTAIN OBVIOUS AWAAAAAAAAAAY!

As a side-note, I REALLY need to keep notes on AMVs. Anything. I nearly forgot I wanted to go in that direction.

The editing of the video I'm keeping pretty simple (even if the beta doesn't show it very well). Most of it will be the odd overlay, flicker, colour filter, pan, etc without too much excess (for a case that doesn't follow this, see "Hollow"). Van Nuys is a pretty simple song anyways.

Rest of the video shouldn't need much of a brain-dump to explain, soooo keep watch for it. Should be done before the end of summer. Keyword naturally being SHOULD.

PS: I really hate that Hollow video. Someone needs to take it behind a shed and shoot it.