What is AMV?

Many anime enthusiasts especially Naruto or Naruto Shippuden over the net create their own AMV’s and raves about them.  What is an AMV?   An AMV stands for “Anime Music Video.  An anime music video is a video made from compiled scenes from a specific or a mixture of various anime with the background music of any song that the user might deem fancy.  They’re rapidly gaining popularity over the internet with millions and millions of people, mostly kids, trying their hand at making their own versions of these videos.  AMV’s are usually displayed in video streaming sites such as youtube, livevideo, and veoh.  What’s so great about these videos is that they allow you to enjoy your favorite music while watching all the best scenes of your favorite anime.

Making Anime Music Videos

Anime Music Videos are rather easy to make.  All you need is a program like the Windows Movie Maker and a bunch of clips from the anime of your choice and of course, the music you’re going to use for the background.

Good AMV’s, however, are a different matter.  You see, there are several AMV’s in the net that are of poor quality because they’re simply very tough to make and it requires a large portion of time.  To create a fully well synchronized AMV along with the music is rather tough because usually the music beats a lot of time is very different in comparison to the timing of various clips or scenes inside the anime.  Creativity is also another area that’s tough as well; it requires a lot of time, patience, a good eye, and a good listening ear to grasp all the essence which it delivers together.  To match the scenes with the music, consider every single beat and even the lyrics are all important parts in order to make a good AMV.  It also helps if you have an advanced program such as Sony Vegas so that you can have more choices in editing, thereby enabling you to make exceptionally awesome AMV’s.  Some of the more advanced AMV makers are even going so far as to cut out the characters of an anime in some scene and impose them upon a different background, enabling them to make their own stories out of the graphics already made available to them through the wonders of the internet.

Once you’re done making your AMV, all you need to do is to save it onto an .avi format and upload it to your favorite video streaming site.  Most people prefer youtube as their primary source of video streaming site, but as you may have heard, there’s an issue surrounding youtube and AMV’s so pick your video stream sites wisely! 

Anime Music Videos and Copyrighting

When you make an anime music video, you’re automatically infringing on the copyright of the true owners of the resources that you are using.  The footage that you’re using isn’t yours; it is the rightful property of the animator who has created the anime.  If you don’t have the permission to use it, then you’re infringing upon their rights.  Same goes with the music that you’re using for your AMV.  The music belongs to the artists, the singers, and not to you.  If you don’t have any permission or if you’re not giving credit, then you don’t have the right to use it.

Recently, youtube has been placed in hot water due to the numerous infringements of the copyright law in their website.  And since they’re based on the US, they really have no choice but to comply and to remove the AMV’s that their costumers made.  This, however, is causing a lot of discontent from their subscribers, thereby putting youtube in a precarious position. 

So, if you’re going to make an AMV, make sure that you’re not violating any copyright laws out of respect.  But if you’re insistent, then hey, who’s there to stop you?