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Information

• Member: VegettoEX
• Title: What it is to Burn
• Premiered: 2003-08-09
• Categories:
  • Drama
  • Serious
• Song:
  • Finch What it is to Burn (Trombino Version)
• Anime:
  • Grave of the Fireflies
• Participation:
  • Otakon 2003 (10 year Anniversary), Otakon 2003 (10 year Anniversary) (2003-08-08)
  • Anime Weekend Atlanta 9 (Expo), Anime Weekend Atlanta 9 (Expo) (2003-09-26)
• Comments: I had the idea for this video for quite a long period of time, especially before the actual music video for the song came out. "What it is to Burn" has been their defining song ever since it first appeared, in a raw demo form, on Drive-Thru's "Welcome to the Family" compilation CD.
  
  When their CD was released, the same non-Mark Trombino-mastered version of the song was included as a "bonus track." Mark Trombino, many fans will know, has produced some of the most well known bands in recent punk history (Jimmy Eat World, Blink-182, The Starting Line, etc.). The band later went back and re-recorded the song, this time produced by Trombino, and included it as an extra bonus track on the UK release of their album (by the same title, "What it is to Burn").
  
  Even before the new version of the song was released, I knew I had to make a video to it.
  
  "Grave of the Fireflies" was the first thing that popped into my head, because it's such an obvious choice for the kind of loss the song describes. Luckily, the remastered 2-disc R1 set was coming out, which gave me a great opportunity to make the video, and make it without using the crappy original release!
  
  The first shot of the video I did was the climax to the video; he hits the match three times, fade down, shoot back up with the flames. I exported these few seconds and watched it as a chill ran right up my spine (I didn't even have the "insanity," as I like to call it, overlaid yet). It moved me that much. I was determined to make the video, finish the video, and let it be awesome.
  
  The deadline for Otakon's music video contest was May 31st. I began the video sometime in April (after putting it off for so long, working on mini-videos in order to procrastinate a long video). I hadn't done a full-length video since "Smoke," and I hadn't done a full-length video on my own since... well... 2000. I knew I was capable of it, but it's always so nice to relax and let someone else (being Meri) edit for a while :P. This one was going to be all on me.
  
  The video pretty much ended up making itself. In around two weeks of actual editing, it was done. And I was happy. Took a little bit of work-arounds to get the exports the way I wanted them (working on a Win98 computer, so the 4 gig limit came into play), but it all worked out in the end. The visual quality ended up being phenomenal with the new transfer. The audio quality was equally fantastic, as Trombino had done a wonderful job producing the new version of the song.
  
  THE VIDEO:
  
  I tried out a substantial number of things in the beginning of the song; I ended up just going with simple black & white. I tried slowing down, ghosting, and a few other filters, but the simple blank & white just seemed the most effective to me, especially with that fade up to color.
  
  The beginning segment before the lyrics is a pretty intense musical piece, but I kept the editing relatively simple. I think it works rather well. I tried not to be overly literal in going with the lyrics, but there's definitely lots of matching going on. "The sky is bleeding above" hits me as a really effective visual to go with the line in the song.
  
  Right around the one minute mark we're introduced to the "red" versions of the characters, and the black & white visuals, again. Similar to the movie, the "red" versions of the characters look over themselves, but I tried to make it more explicitly clear that when they're there, they're there to tell you something... and that something is that you don't have much longer. I use the black & white quick drum rolls to show differences in time. The events in black & white take place before the video even begins, to show you what has happened to lead up to this point. This technique will be used a few more times throughout the video.
  
  Right at the 1:18 mark, you'll notice the mother's head nod on the cymbal. This will be paralleled later in the video ^^.
  
  In the "I feel diseased..." line (which I found to be another very effective visual), you'll notice the screen "blip" a little. I looped his arm, but the blip isn't due to the looping! That's actually IN the original footage, and there was nothing I could do to get rid of it. Ah, well. Very tiny issue.
  
  The visuals in this verse get a little less literal and a little more metaphorical than they had before, helping to add to the very confused and emotional hurting going on with the characters.
  
  The 2:35 breakdown was incredibly difficult, and is probably the only section I wish I had experimented a little more on. I had originally wanted the last fade out to be longer, but that ended up not happening. I also wanted the crystallizing, blurring, etc. to gradually grow larger (which it does), but it didn't grow as much as it could. All in all, I think it's still very effective, but I had envisioned a little bit more to it.
  
  Around 3:07 when the "insanity" begins... it's actually the majority of the movie, straight-up, at 10,000 times its normal speed. It's also zoomed in to 150% and shaking slightly. I may have wanted it to shake a little more, but all in all it works out fine.
  
  Nate's vocals and screams REALLY hit me EVERY time I listen to this part of the song, and I had to absolutely do justice to it. I think I did a decent job.
  
  The 3:30 zoom "back in" is one of my favorite moments in "VegettoEX AMV History." THAT'S the scene that does it for me in this video. THAT clinches the emotion I was going for. VERY happy with how it looks.
  
  I obviously go back to the time differences idea with the black & white, showing that the sister is gone, he's thinking of her... but his "red" self has arrived, and now it's finally his time to depart. Each shot of him zooms in slightly (105%, I believe) to add just a little more "umph" to it.
  
  The ending to the video also really hits home for me. The filters used are a little crystallizing, slowing down, ghosting, a little... uhh... well, some other things I don't quite remember. I do remember that it took forever to render!
  
  I'm very happy with the video, and I hope I'm able to hit some emotions in other people as much as it does for me.