Video Information

Information

  • Member: Scott A Melzer
  • Studio: NoN.D.E.
  • Title: Shiny Happy People
  • Premiered: 1997-08-09
  • Categories:
  • Song:
    • REM Shiny Happy People
  • Anime:
  • Participation:
  • Comments: My fourth video. The idea was to use Otakon's AMV contest format, which at the time didn't have any categories. The only thing in the program guide was "Rem: Shiny Happy People. Various." So, no one knew what to expect, since it wasn't in a "Drama" or "Comedy" category. The video starts off completely seriously. There are pretty girls smiling and dancing, flowers, etc. Just long enough for people to think, "What the hell? Are they serious?" Then a blast from space blows everything up and Desslok/Desslar starts laughing. It all goes to hell from there.

    The video was, once again, done on two VCRs. It's a pretty silly line by reinterpretation of the song, but I tried to have recurring themes and form. The beginning instrumental starts the video with a shot of the planet which is all beautiful. When this musical theme comes back, the planet is shown all darkened and destroyed, with lots of clips from that fan-favourite "Fist of the North Star" *shudder* It all builds up to C-Ko getting stabbed to death, little girls getting shot up, etc. It was a lot of fun being in the audience at Otakon, because everyone was groaning (and almost booing) in the beginning, then cheering and applauding at the end.

    The only fun note that I have about the making of the video is that the last 2/3 of it was done at my store. I have a comics/anime rental store. Since the video had a different anime for practically every line, I never knew what tape I'd need. So, taking my equipment to work and scanning through the 1,000 or so tapes I had was the lesser of two evils. Of course, people got REALLY sick of hearing "Shiny Happy" over and over again while I tried to lay down clips. It took about 6 - 8 tries per cut to get the timing just right. And there are a LOT of "Shiny Happy People" in the song. About 47. It took roughly one month for the first 1/3, then about another mont (6 months later) to do the rest. Unfortunately, my collaborator disappeared in that gap, so I had to finish it myself. I guess I was stressed. Poor C-ko...

    I received 2nd place overall that year at Otakon (they didn't have categories that year). What did they give me for making such a sick, twisted mess of evil and destruction? They gave me a tamagotchi. A cute little electronic life to nurture and care for. It was so ironic.

Opinions (3)

  • Orig
  • Visual
  • Sound
  • Synch
  • Lip
  • Effects
  • Effort
  • Re-View
  • Overall
  • 9.00
  • 7.67
  • 8.00
  • 9.00
  • 6.00
  • 8.67
  • 7.33
  • 9.00