Opinions on MMVs?
Hi! As a member of the MMV community, I was curious about Basil's general view on maple music videos. Love them? Hate them? I wanted to gather feedback about why you like or dislike them especially since the MSYT, MapleStory YouTube, community is gradually dying in animators and viewers.
I'm aware of the negative connotation and image that has been labeled upon them and how "henehoes make them and abuse effects." The styles of editing have evolved though with the addition of different resources and a wide variety of selections, resulting in a cleaner and simpler visual. If it were to revive, what would you want to change about the style of these things? If you think Flash fighting videos are amazing, tell us why they have more depth than MMVs. Whether they're dumb or beautiful, don't be afraid to voice your honest opinion. If you think they suck, WHY do you think they suck and are these reasons still prevalent in today's community? I just want to use the response to help improve and to initiate creativity in MapleStory editing and animating! Thank you!
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If you're not sure , I guess I'll state my opinions, which are clearly biased for a reason, to give context to those not familiar.
A majority of MMVs made today are done with BannedStory and Sony Vegas; however, the production rate is exponentially decreasing due to the lack of interest and dedication. Many animators have resorted to MMV Collabs, which gives them less work to do. Of course, it makes sense. Effective MMV making is pretty precise and requires a lot of attention and perfection (to the point where it takes 3 hours for one second), but what's the point if all of them look the same? The community has gone through many phases, but there's one thing that doesn't change. There's no originality. Because of the mundane styles showing up prevalently, there is no diversity to keep the viewer interested. The storylines, if there are, are targeted to girls which eliminates the male audience.
I'm not going to deny everything people say about MMVs being dumb and unoriginal and how they suck, but I will say that there are exceptions to the generalization. People who put great effort and skill into their work and result in a unique piece of art actually exist, but why exactly do they waste their many hours of video editing for a video with text and game sprites? Same with Flash animators. It's the same reason why we play MapleStory, in my opinion. We're wasting our time investing in a video game that can be closed down anytime just for the friendships, the satisfaction, the hobby, the experience. I personally believe that MMVs development is the introduction to doing bigger things, like kinetic typography for lyric videos, editing real footage, or animating original characters.
[b]tl;dr tell me what you think about mmvs. why do you think they suck? what do you like about them? why do you think people make them? how could they be better?[/b]
23 Comments • Newest first
What's the MMV with the husky that gets shot? That was actually really sad...
[quote=Repentant]-snip-
I won't go too much into it, but a few examples where I can think of from the top of my head where this is done amazingly is @Ryukara's [url=http://www.basilmarket.com/show/video/28289/1/Welcome_to_the_New_Age.html#comments_list]Imagine Dragons 'Radioactive'[/url] MMV, where he manages to create an interrelationship between image and sound to create an involving experience for the audience.
[/quote]
I missed basil in August... BUT OMG THAT MMV WAS SO GOOD thank you for telling me about it!
I have yet to see a post about omgpockii. I'm surprised.
She was probably my favorite MMV maker in the past. She stopped early, but her quality and storylines were amazing at the time of those Mmvs.
Animations are pretty good too, which was surprising because it was before these huge spriting forums showed up...
I like MMVs, but I haven't kept up looking for any good ones. I
Most of them are too lovey dovey </3
oh idk, i just sometimes wonder what non-maplers think about those. i think they're really cool i like them a lot, and i honestly didnt think about these impacts u mentioned at all cause i dont think thats liek big deal and even if the henehoes start doing stuff itd be smth liek a meaningful revolution imo, like, trends because of the mmvs or something, idk. anyways, (Edit: i mean from a mapler's perspective), i think its always very nice if maplers can find an mmv using a song thats already meaningful to them because once they watched the mmvs, they can relate stuff from their personal past experiences to the mmvs, and mmvs will add more impression to these songs making them more memorable for ppl.
Edit: ps i usually prefer the ones [b]with[/b] ambiguity in storylines so its not too complete and the audiences can interpret certain parts of the mmvs however they want.
I love making MMVs! I know how you feel - my videos on BasilMarket generally get criticized and I constantly get bad comments - saying that it's "henehoe" and what I don't get is that we have the same amount work as spriters and those who do fighting animations. We have to be creative and learn different effects and transitions.
I know there are some people in the community that always make generic MMVs but there are some people that create marvelous MMVs.
What's sad now is that the community is slowly dying...
Here's my youtube if you guys would like to watch some of my videos :-)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Evanstuhh
omfg its u i luv u
only zycrant and mily186 upload videos now
I enjoy watching MMV's but personally, it's hard finding "good" ones. Of course, what I deem as good is completely my opinion. I do understand the difficulty of making MMVs, since I have made some in the past, so I respect those who work hours/weeks/months to complete them. But I still hold a couple standards.
Things I look for in a "good" MMV:
1. Creativity. This could mean a lot of things, such as using specific colors in scenes to help set the mood or adding tiny details/hidden messages. I get bored if I'm here watching a character lip sing while walking in a sidescrolling background for 15 seconds or longer. And, I'm always waiting for something I haven't seen before.
2. Careful/deliberate use of effects and transitions. Effect overdosing can be very painful to watch, even if it's eye-candy. Misuse of effects also bugs me. For example, flashing colors in a MMV with a sad song doesn't make any sense.
3. A decent storyline that has some relation to the song. Most songs follow a theme/themes. If the song is about food and the MMV is about a love story, I will be very confused.
4. Fluid animation. Unless there's a specific reason for it.
5. Emotion. This is a very big thing for me, and in my opinion, a lot of MMVs don't fit this criteria. Most MMVs don't make me feel anything or don't connect to the emotional aspects of the song. If the song is very upbeat, the MMV should be upbeat. If the song has a depressing tune, I'd expect the video to convey ideas that would express sorrow.
A lot of MMVs are made for entertainment and thus, don't always include these things. In my opinion, MMVs are another form of expression, much like art/music/literature/etc, and should incorporate similar elements. In literature, spring usually symbolizes (re)birth / the emergence of a new beginning and white symbolizes purity. I'd love to see those kind of things in MMVs, but it's a very rare occurrence.
I don't know why, but when I watched MMVs I preferred the collabs or even the ones with friends being together and ssing the lyrics if they didn't fraps.
@Lethargy: I saw your MMVs on your YouTube. (You left a comment on my video about my voice -squeeks-) They were great, my sister used to do them, they would take her hours on just short scenes. It's hard work, but you did a great job.
Here's a potato for your reward. I'll use my pink bean magic to make french fries!
I made one once. It went okay, the animations would make your eyes bleed from how basic it was. I literally turned on the "walk" on Bannedstory and dragged the background across the screen to make them walk. My sister was like, "why you no greenscreen... >.<"
tldr answer; A lot of MMVs are about crap pop songs. As if that wasn't boring enough being played on every station every hour for several months.
[quote=Lethargy]Well, what makes them so queer? :o[/quote]
Whats your youtube channel?
[quote=Kazno]MMV's are so queer lol.[/quote]
Well, what makes them so queer? :o
MMV's are so queer lol.
I love the concept of MMVs. I like to think of them as collages--well actually, maybe that's a bad comparison since MMVs take a lot more effort to create, but the thought of taking something already existing and transforming it into something new is really interesting. MMV creators have the power to take pre-existing images, sprites, sounds and music and give it completely new context to make for some interesting storytelling.
I won't go too much into it, but a few examples where I can think of from the top of my head where this is done amazingly is @Ryukara's [url=http://www.basilmarket.com/show/video/28289/1/Welcome_to_the_New_Age.html#comments_list]Imagine Dragons 'Radioactive'[/url] MMV, where he manages to create an interrelationship between image and sound to create an involving experience for the audience.
Another one, while not quite as recent as Ryukara's, is the MMV of [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZKgGKpD64Y]BoA's 'I Did It For Love'[/url], created by Foopic of YouTube. What I like about this one is that the creator uses a mixture of different media to allow for a unique, cohesive storytelling experience. That alone makes it so different from other MMVs and really interesting to watch.
Finally I'd like to bring to attention CurryMedic's (of YouTube) MMV of 'Daughter of Evil', titled [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQDTnDS3hf0]'Curry of Evil'[/url]. What makes this one so interesting is that, unlike most other typical MMVs, his video is directly related to the current happenings and storyline of Maple, giving the audience an easier time to connect to the narrative of the MMV. It's almost like a social commentary, in a way, making it that much more interesting . It's also cool how he changes the lyrics in such a way that it adds more clarity to the storytelling experience.
I guess my point is that as time goes on, there's going to be more MMVs, which in turn leads to a lot of similarity between each other. I still think MMVs are relevant, and are an interesting medium to express emotion and ideas. They are still capable of being a captivating experience as they were years ago, but it's just that creators will need to think [b]outside the box[/b] to come up with something unique from everything else. My suggestion would be experiment with different styles of storytelling, I guess.
EDIT: Corrected some really nonsensical typos. >_>
My girlfriend Tina makes (or used to make) MMV's and she is really good at it.
Examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4yW0fA7UMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zZ42TGvtuo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG-lVyyx0z4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0PmidjgQVk
I find them appealing, its just that since animators are collaborating to make MMV's nowadays, they set the bar really high up.
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiYtcHNcfJA]Example.[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akO0lpF0-WI]Example MMV, which i find pretty cool.[/url]
I dislike them because every single one i've ever seen (and i just checked a few pages in youtube) is about some love/couples/rejection from loved one...etc etc.
As you stated, it seems to be targeting the female audience, but for reasons not quite clear to me.
I respect and admire the work they put into it, i've done some animations myself, and so i would know the effort it takes.
Nevertheless, using the same overall theme (love) just with a different song makes most of the mmv very much like each other.
Then again...the only mmv i've seen that i've liked is the "Major Tom" one (just because of the song).
So, for a change, try using meaningful songs, not just heartbreaks and cotton candy.
I like them alot. I think its pretty cool seeing what people come up with for videos to go along with songs. What is your You Tube channel @Lethargy?
[quote=Noobsicle]Old ones seemed better because we were a lot younger back then
Now it's just meh to some people ..[/quote]
MMV in a nutsell, they were cool when we were kids.
They remind me of the old days, but I used to love them
I feel nostalgic when I watch them, lmao. xD
Mmvs are just so pre big bang for some reason..
Old ones seemed better because we were a lot younger back then
Now it's just meh to some people ..
I liked the Electropop one