So here I am, the first addition to Visualized Nightmare Studios. My name’s Gina, but I go by Reigna in the AMV community. I was part of the Pokemon generation, so I’ve been into anime for about six years now. My first convention was Katsucon 9 back in 2003, and it happened to be the place where I was first exposed to some solid AMVs by editors such as Kusoyaro and VicBond007. Like many editors, I had downloaded a couple videos from some P2P programs, but the AMV contest at Katsucon showed me quality videos that would end up having a lasting impact on me.

I didn’t actually start editing my own videos until November of 2005, so in other words, I’m still a big n00b. My brother had bought a copy of Premiere Elements that summer, so I toyed around with that, just editing whatever footage I could get my hands on mixed with some random music. Soon I realized that my computer was capable of handling video production, and I got a different version of Premiere and decided to try my hand at making an AMV after being a fan of them for so long. I also decided to have AMV production be the focus of my culminating project, a year long project that involves a lot of research and work, and is used in place of four of my final exams for school. So yeah, I ended up finishing my first AMV (Lost Ones) in early January and submitted it two conventions, then finally released it on the .org in February. Since finishing my first project, I have become a lot more active in the AMV community, and I can regularly be found on IRC and the AMV.org forums. I’ve gotten the chance to meet and talk to a lot of awesome and interesting people, including my favorite studio mates :D

Speaking of the studio, I was recruited to be a part of VNS after going into IRC for my second time. Kristyrat was in IRC, and he asked me if I edited anything, so I told him I had and I showed him my first video. Things moved quickly from there, and a few days later I was asked to join the studio, which I agreed to do without hesitation. Everything has been going well since then, it’s great having studio mates that are very easy to talk to and are just awesome people in general. I seriously love being in VNS, and know that great things will come from our new little studio.

VNS ftw…everyday, every way.

-Reigna

This video was more about testing my capabilities as an editor than anything else. I used a completely different editing method for the first time, and I pushed my quickness as an editor by completing this in five days. Originally, I had started editing this video to another song by the Deftones, "Digital Bath", but decided that I would have to change my original concept to something more mellow if I wanted to continue using that song. Instead I decided to check out the rest of the album, and found a song which was much more fitting to what I wanted to do. Those familiar with the song "Knife Party" will notice that it has been cut down from it's original version, and that I've made a few edits to the audio myself. Just something to end 2006 with. I think this is the video I've had the most enjoyable time editing, because really, I just went at it and had fun.

My goals with this video were fairly straightforward. I wanted to make a video that did my favorite anime series and an amazing band justice, and to do it in a way that would bring out the beauty of both pieces in their purest forms. To achieve this, I tried to keep things simple and clear, and let the elegance of the show and music to speak for itself. Although these goals went along with the actual video, there were other things that I was striving for throughout the process. As a new editor, I took every experience I had making this video as something to learn from. I found that trying to show a relationship based off a dialogue-driven series would prove to be as much as a challenge as working with a song that consisted of solely a vocal and piano track. Being limited in terms of obvious synch points and footage allowed me to move away from the kind of video I last edited and to expand my own knowledge. Those were some of the things I was shooting for, but the viewer can be the judge of whether the video attained these goals or not.

Download!