I have to admit it, when I first heard "Chandelier" it kind of got on my nerves. Then I really listened to the lyrics and I was like, "Ah, nice!" I still didn't see the video until a month or two after it came out and I loved that even more. Of course, I was surrounded by people who "didn't get it" or thought it was weird. To quote Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story: "You uncultured swine!" What people don't get is that this is called interpretive dancing. For those with the question marks hovering over their heads, I'll steal a quote from Wikipedia. "It seeks to translate human emotions, conditions, situations or
fantasies into movement and dramatic expression, or else adapts
traditional ethnic movements into more modern expressions."
The little girl dancing is in a flesh colored leotard. Apparently people freaked out about that. Why? Does it symbolize being naked? Probably. Is that really a bad thing? I don't think so. Why must we always associate nudity in art as something sexual? Feeling naked can have a lot less to do with clothing and a lot more to do with vulnerability.
I don't see a naked child running around acting all crazy. I see a lost soul. The trashy rooms are external conflict. The dance is her own internal conflict. She has to deal somehow. I won't go into deep detail about what this video means to me because what I interpreted (There's that funny word again!) may be completely different than what you took away from it. I will mention that the last twenty seconds or so really hit home for me. The fake smiles and bowing at the door. Everything is fine here. Nothing to see. Sia's newest video for the song "Elastic Heart" has the same little girl and Shia LaBeouf dancing with her. And once again all hell broke loose in the media. "It's pedophilia! He's too old to touch her! He must be a pedophile!" I shake my head at you people. Once again, I won't say what I think the real meaning behind this video is but anyone who has working eyes can see that there is nothing sexual between these two. This video depicts a struggle. If she was being molested, why does she keep going back? How about we think outside the box (Oh no!) and see that he may represent like perhaps, I don't know, two sides of her own personality?
I don't see why this rubbed people so wrong. There is such a thing as physical contact between a man and a child without it being sexual. I promise. The fact that people were so quick to cry out the word pedophile doesn't say anything about this video. It's a statement about our sad, sad society. If you had some horrible experience in your past and this video reminds you of that, I'm sorry for you. But raising hell about a music video is not going to heal you. If I was in a horrible, traumatic car wreck, would I be upset every time I saw a car wreck on TV or the internet? Maybe, but would I raise a stink to the world about it and demand apologies for these scenes? No. I would learn to move on and get the hell over it. I'm actually sad that Sia apologized about "Elastic Heart". I wouldn't have. I don't have to explain my art to anyone. If you don't like it, move on.
I realized last month that's it's been a year since I made an AMV. I didn't lose the desire to make them, just the patience to sit and fiddle with Windows Movie Maker's buggy ass. Incredibly, I have a lot of patience for pouring over the same video and sound files over and over again until it's how I want it. My AMVs don't turn out exactly how I want because of crappy programing but I won't get into that.
Anywho, so what's the big fuss about AMVs and why the obsession with making them? Well, as a huge fan of anime and music, how could I not want to combine two perfect things? I've been watching them for years, in awe of the skills of those who put out videos that really get to me. Whether it's action, comedy, horror or drama, I've been moved by some great pieces of video and minutes of audio.
So back in 2011 I thought to myself, "Hell, I can do that. Why not?" Boy did I suck at first. This was my first real go at serious video editing. Timing with the audio is critical and I have learned a lot over the years. I'm still a silly amateur but what's important is that I really enjoy making them, regardless of how much I might bitch and gripe during the process.
NekoCon is coming fast and the deadline for the AMV contest is next month. Wow, that is very little time to put out a high quality AMV for someone with as crazy a schedule as mine. Because it's so time consuming, I really have to make time for this hobby and late nights are becoming a regular thing. Oh, I won't win any awards or anything. I just like to enter the contests to give my AMVs exposure. It's a form of art really, it's an idea you wanted to get across. True, you are usually using someone else's source material but plenty of "artists" do that exact same thing and no one complains. You're taking it and making it your own. Like doing a song cover.
So, this is one of my many hobbies that I enjoy and put more time into than I probably should. If it's not your thing, that's fine. To each their own. Just don't hate on what makes me happy. I want to post a link to an AMV that to this day really makes my heart clench up. If you've never seen CLANNAD After Story, you may not get it but I think it's pretty powerful by itself. It brought me to tears before I'd ever seen the series. It's been passed around Youtube so I honestly don't know who had the original channel but the director is Perfect-Blue. This was an award winner in 2011 and anyone can see why. It's called "Dare To Love Again."
Hello everyone! I wanted to take this time to promote my friend's, Timothy Ruyevcan, podcast, RANDOMADNESS. The web address is http://www.powerupsnotincluded.com/randomadness/ . He
does live podcasts once a week and sometimes I make a guest
appearance. You'll recognize me, I'm the loud mouthed chick who they like to refer to as ta-tas. The
subjects are just as the title suggests: very random. But we are rather
nerdy gamers so usually discussions involve movies, games, anime and pop
culture. And, of course, that one mysterious thing that all men love to
discuss - females! It
does contain foul language and adult themes but we just shoot the crap
and enjoy each other's company. So check out the website and listen to a
few recordings to see if you find our discussions as amusing as we do.
We love to laugh and if you do too, I hope you'll become a regular
listener!
