What is an AMV?
An AMV is an Anime Music Video. It is a long standing tradition in the Anime Fandom. Fans of Anime series will take footage and a song to create a music video. The majority of animation companies will allow their shows to be used for an AMV to help promote their shows outside of Japan. The only times they tend to dislike an AMV is when it reveals spoilers on a new released show. The older the Anime, the more likely the companies will be happy for the user to make a video to keep popularity up. These videos vary in style and format and I have been making them since I was 15 years old.
The Full Opening Format.
The typical Anime series has a unique opening track to the show, and will have a full length version of the song which is released as a single for purchase. Fans take a series and using the full length track will create a music video that tends to depict the style and tone of a series.
Using the full version of the opening song I present an AMV dedicated to the popular anime series Highschool of the Dead. Any fan of The Walking Dead may want to check out this series and it is a good 12 episode anime to start you off on if you are new to watching anime.
Using the full version of the opening song I present an AMV dedicated to the popular anime series Highschool of the Dead. Any fan of The Walking Dead may want to check out this series and it is a good 12 episode anime to start you off on if you are new to watching anime.
The Character Profile Format
This style focuses on the song matching the story line or personality of a character. The added bonus to this format is you get videos dedicated to both protagonists and antagonists which can help viewers discover dynamic characters and spark an interest in viewing the series.
Using a tragic heroine character I crafted the following AMV. If I have done my job properly you should get a sense of her character's story and her personality.
Using a tragic heroine character I crafted the following AMV. If I have done my job properly you should get a sense of her character's story and her personality.
The character Cure Moonlight, was a character that met with heartbreak after heartbreak which caused her to close herself off from others. Once she began to open her heart and take time to see what she had still she became the powerful heroine Cure Moonlight once again able to search for her lost father.
The Lip Sync AMV
Perhaps the most tricky of all AMVs to achieve is the lip syncing music video. This is where the characters appear to be singing the song in the AMV. The level of lip syncing can vary, some will have every line of the song synced to the lyrics, where others may focus on parts.
Below is an AMV I made using the first and second series of the anime Symphogear. Using a concert performance at the beginning of the second series I created a music video that was matching lip syncing during the concert footage and footage of the two performers transformation songs, but cutting away to other footage from the anime during other parts of the video. It plays out much like a traditional music video to a movie soundtrack.
Below is an AMV I made using the first and second series of the anime Symphogear. Using a concert performance at the beginning of the second series I created a music video that was matching lip syncing during the concert footage and footage of the two performers transformation songs, but cutting away to other footage from the anime during other parts of the video. It plays out much like a traditional music video to a movie soundtrack.
Story Style AMV
This format sees the creator matching a song to the plot of a movie or series. While they are rarer to find there are some around. The simple reason why there are fewer is because it is difficult to cram and entire plot line into a 3-5 minute video from footage that could be from 60 minutes long to anything mounting in hours.
Below is an AMV of mine using footage from the first Precure All Stars DX film. The film saw the heroines from the first four series of the franchising having to unite to combat an evil unlike any of them have faced before. Using a song with a mood of not giving up and continuing to fight against the darkness was an obvious match. The key thing I wanted to achieve from this video is for it to appear to show the end of the battle, where in fact it does not.
Below is an AMV of mine using footage from the first Precure All Stars DX film. The film saw the heroines from the first four series of the franchising having to unite to combat an evil unlike any of them have faced before. Using a song with a mood of not giving up and continuing to fight against the darkness was an obvious match. The key thing I wanted to achieve from this video is for it to appear to show the end of the battle, where in fact it does not.