Anime – Kanon (2006)
Song – Trans-Siberian Orchestra – The Lost Christmas Eve
Completed June 2007
Premiered August 17, 2007
AnimeMusicVideos.org Link
YouTube Link

Kanon has been in my mind for this song for several years, and I was planning on making an all-girls video using the 2002 version of the series for quite a while. I was looking for a copy of the DVDs for the series for less money than I was finding when the first episode of the 2006 remake broadcast. My plans for this video were immediately put on the shelf until I could get the new version.

The first step was shortening the song; I’ve always hated the middle section with the “Christmas…” chant, so I wanted to take that out, along with the final section after the faded chord, since it seemed superfluous to the song. I ended up also cutting the second verse and chorus, since I was having a great deal of difficulty finding scenes that would fit that section of the song once I decided to focus on Ayu rather than have the video skip among the various girls for different parts of the song (Ayu was always intended for the final section before the instrumental finale, though, which I think is the best segment).

The video on the R2 DVDs was insanely high quality; it’s no surprise that they retail for 6000 yen each. They were progressive and anamorphic with almost no video issues coming off the disk, so I didn’t need to filter a thing, and it allowed me to release an 848×480 distro copy. Whatever KyoAni paid their encoders for these disks, it wasn’t enough.

Editing was pretty straightforward, without much in the way of effects other than a few white flashes/fade to white moments. I’m still a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) editor, and prefer to have the footage tell the story, rather than have the video taken over by effects. Editing this way does make the user have a passing knowledge of the series you use, but it’s the way I feel more comfortable.

Convention History:
AnimeEvolution 2007 – Finalist
Anime Weekend Atlanta (Pro Competition) 2007 – Finalist, Best Sentimental
Bakuretsucon 2007 – Finalist
Another Anime Con 2007 – Winner, Best Drama

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *