"First Post of the Year"... in the Middle of August... Oops
So at the end of last year (2023), I made it a goal to spend this year understanding the "shape of my voice" by becoming more active in online communities and writing about some life experiences I've never found an opportunity to share. The joke is on me though, it's already August and I haven't posted anything. I did a lot of brainstorming in January, but the months since then have been taken up with "life" and smaller creative projects filling in the gaps.
Usually my projects are tiny in scope and maybe shared with a couple friends since I have limited free time, but the past few months have brought me into places where I've actually had to *talk* to my fellow creative types. I haven't just lurked as an observer. And it's been a lot of fun.
Early this year I learned that "AMV Hell", an anime comedy project, was accepting videos for their latest entry. I edited a couple clips and sent them in, then went back to the regular stresses of life. A couple months later -just before the deadline- I found their Discord server, joined it, and discovered a small group of anime fans who also love making silly things. It was refreshing and delightful, and inspired me to start video editing the way I've wanted to for almost 20 years.
"AMV Hell 8" is currently being shown at anime conventions around the world, and will be released online later this year. I'm super excited to see it when it's finally available to the general public. In the meantime, I've started making other videos. I've dusted off my YouTube and animemusicvideos.org accounts -almost entirely unused since I created them in the mid 'aughts- and have started posting to them. It's strange to shift my mindset from "lurk and silently observe" to "speak and be active", but I'm enjoying the adventure.
Anyway, I'm using this as an excuse to advertise my first "official" AMV- and using that as an excuse to actually start posting here and on other social media accounts. I hope you enjoy, and I'll see what more I create and write about in the weeks and months to come!