How to make a vibes vid, Part 1: Repeat yourself

[vivafringe]

 

In my last post, I claimed that a good vibes video pleases the subconscious. That’s great, but these kinds of galaxy brain ideas are only good to the extent that they provide useful insight. If we assume that good vibes = happy subconscious, does this imply how to make a vibes AMV?

I sure hope so, because that’s what my next few posts are about. This post will focus on a technique used in meditation, hypnosis and yes, AMVs. I’m talking about repetition. I’m talking about repetition. I’m talking about repetition.

Imagine you have a wonderful aunt named Idina, and invite her over for tea. Unfortunately, she brings over her annoying boyfriend, Egor. Egor loves to talk. He’ll take up the entire teatime talking about useless stuff if you let him. You really want to have a normal conversation with Idina, but alas, now the three of you are stuck in a room. (inspired by true events)

This is what it’s like making a vibes vid. The goal is to talk with the subconscious self (the Id), but you’re going to have to go around the conscious self (the Ego). The ego loves to analyze everything. It records, calculates, considers. And it’s a real vibe killer. What should a vibes editor do about this annoying third guest? 

Believe it or not, one of the biggest tools in your toolbox is repetition. Think of the classic swinging pendulum from hypnosis. The repetitive motion of the pendulum gives your conscious self something to focus on, and suddenly you find yourself getting sleepy, very sleepy. Repetition calms the mind because it’s familiar, easy. We live in a world that constantly deluges us in information. A few minutes of sparse info lets our brains unwind, relax, and discover what’s going on in our subconscious.

While Egor is distracted, that’s your chance to talk to Idina. This “repetition” can come in a million different forms, but let’s outline some major ones:

Music: 

All music repeats. A note is nothing more than repetition of a frequency. And a song is a repetition of a few notes. 

But some songs are better at repeating than others. Classical music is dying for a reason; somewhere in the modern era, we figured out that the best way to get someone to vibe was not to throw a million different complex sounds at them. A much better strategy is to repeat simple loops. 

Music selection is vital in any AMV, and vibes videos are no different. The most vibey music is generally the most repetitive. There’s a reason it’s called “trance”.

Lyrics

Have you ever heard someone complain about “repetitive lyrics?” They’ll talk at length about how lazy musicians are. But think about this for a second. If non-repeating lyrics were such a good thing, why are they very rare in modern songs? Why do the songs that rise to the top always seem to repeat lyrics?

The “repetitive lyrics” meme is an egocentric fallacy. Your ego is closely tied to language, so when listening to a song, it wants many unique words to chew on. This keeps the conscious self engaged - large and in charge. But music usually isn’t about pandering to the ego, so instead it repeats lyrics to make the ego fade away. 

Looping video

It’s not just sound that repeats for fun and profit. Video repetition is also being used to great effect. I’m a particular fan of animation loops that give the illusion of never ending motion.

Various editors have also used looping to great effect. Here are two of my favorite “looping” AMVs. One of them is literally called Repeater, so that’s a convenient reinforcement of this article’s theme!

Watch on YouTube

 

Watch on YouTube

 

Kaleidoscopes, fractals, and other repeating images

I haven’t seen these used much in AMVs. Unless you find anime that does this natively, this feels like something that will need a lot of tech wizardry to do well.

That said, it can be every bit as hypnotic as the other forms of repetition when done well. Check out this totally insane Max Cooper music video. It’s called “Repetition,” which is a convenient reinforcement of this article’s theme, and also a convenient reinforcement of the same joke I made in the last section.

Watch on YouTube

 

Motifs

A lot of AMVs get mileage out of a motif, some sort of repeating internal theme. However, “motifs” work especially well in vibey AMVs. They’re another form of repetition. Your conscious self sees the theme, is satisfied that it keeps repeating, and takes a nap. 

In my first year as an editor, I would use very loose themes and kind of just pick whatever clip matched the moment the best. This can actually work okay, but has some serious weaknesses. All of the random details from clip to clip muddy your “message,” and transitioning from one crazy thing to another can be jarring. As a result, motifs have gradually become a central part of my editing style. They keep the “message” of your AMV clear and concise. They flow together extremely well. And they let you make shit that’s vibey af.

Consider this AMV: Moving Forward. I think it gets a lot of mileage out of its loose theme of people… moving forward! I feel themes of togetherness, community and shared human progress when I watch. This is impressive for a lyricless two minute video that just repeats the same motifs for its entire runtime!

Conclusion

That’s all for this post. In my next one, I’ll talk about what *not* to put in a vibes AMV.