MadCool Making Music Videos

• Before you even begin to cut and paste it is important to pick the correct song. This is the downfall of most movies. The editing might be alright but the song maybe be so off from what the clips look like that the movie is a dud.
• Make sure the song you pick has good opportunities to apply on cue punches and powering up sequences.
• Also you must make up your mind well ahead if you want the movie to be action or sentimental. It will help you on your quest to capture clips or find them on the net if need be.
• Make a storyboard in your mind of how you think the clips should be set in particular areas of the song.

• AVOID TALKING AT ALL COSTS!!!! Possibly my biggest annoyance is when the song picks up and a character is talking. Certain people can pull of maneuvers to utilize the subtitles for an added effect, but only in sentimental movies. Talking has no place in action whatsoever.
• If you do use clips from the internet make sure there are no markings of another site like Planet Namek or DBZ Archives. This takes away from the movie and distracts the viewer from your work.
• Resist the temptation to use songs that have already been done. A viewer will enjoy a movie more with a song that hasn't been beaten to death like "Wait and Bleed," and is less likely to download it.
• Keep your screen size in proportion to the clips quality. Don't go larger than necessary if your clips quality is decreased too much.
• Stick with a story until the end. If your movie contains footage from the Frieza Saga don't through in a 10 second clip of Raditz
• Don't let a clip sit for too long. Unless there is extreme action and the angel never changes, a movie can get boring very quickly if you stare at the same image all the time.
• NEVER put in scanned imagesas a form of a clip (I've seen it done).
• Make sure you finish the entire song.

 

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Tips of the Trade

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• Screaming and powering upare most effective when a song shifts from a slow part to a fast part. Also when the vocalist is screaming (duh).
• If your clip is too small to fit in a particular area, but is just short, see if you can cut off a small piece and loop it so that it will fit.
• On drum rolls initiate a hit sequence. Show only 1 second clips of the characters for about 10 seconds.
• Applying filters in areas can enhance the dramatic effect of the movie a lot.
• Have more clips than you think you need. Most of the time a creator will change his mind half way in the movie and the last thing you want to do is go and search for clips.
• Make your punches and fire balls on cue.
• Never settle, always shoot until it is EXACTLY how you want.
• Don't be afraid to experiment, these rules are good solid ground rules, but if you think you can bend them to make the movie work better, don't hesitate in trying.

• This is difficult to explain as a creator might find clips he thinks are great, but every other DBZ fan has seen them so many times, it makes them sick. The only way around this is to see some movies of others and ALWAYS try to avoid the clips they use.

• Your own personal formatting will vary but the target size should be roughly a meg and a half over the song time. Exa: song is 3 minutes the file size should be about 4.5 megs.
• These are the settings I encode at: Sharpest Video Quality, Stereo Video Quality, SINGLE-RATE, Coorperate Lan. This will ensure a good clear movie when you done.

-Majin Mebs-