Anime+Music+Videos

Anime music videos--or "AMVs" for short--are a popular DIY media practice among a wide range of people. AMVs comprise a distinct branch of fan music video clips. At its most basic level, creating AMVs involves taking segments of [|anime]—animated Japanese cartoons—splicing them together in new sequences, and setting the results to a soundtrack, such as a favorite or popular song.

Affinity spaces and insider know-how
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 * [|Anime Music Videos]
 * Phade (2002). [|Phade’s Guide to Good Anime Music Videos].
 * Kalium (2006). [|Kalium’s AMV Theory Primer].

How-to resources
This is a chapter on anime music video remixing--including a short history, a guide to creating your own, and discussion of the implications of AMV remixing for classroom contexts. The citation details for this chapter are: Knobel, M., Lankshear, C., and Lewis, M. (2010). AMV Remix: Do-it-yourself anime music videos. In M. Knobel and C. Lankshear (eds.) [|DIY Media: Creating, Sharing and Learning with New Technologies]. New York: Peter Lang. 205-230.

**Digital movie-making software**

 * [|Windows Movie Maker 2.1] (ships free with Windows PCs)
 * [|iMovie] (ships free with Apple Macs)

**Music and sound effects**
For free music that doesn't run up against restrictive copyright laws for personal and eductaionl use, try the following sites. The music archived here falls into different Creative Commons licences that have a wider range of not-for-profit uses than does commerical music.
 * Freeplay Music: [|http://www.freeplaymusic.com]
 * ccMixter: [|http://ccmixter.org]
 * Freesound: []
 * Opsound: http://[|www.opsound.org]

File conversion services
If you find you need to convert an image or sound file, we recommend Zamzar: [|http://www.zamzar.com/] Zamzar is a free online file conversion program. Type in a URL or upload a file and Zamzar will convert the file to another format. Zamzar will then send you an e-mail with the URL to download the converted file.

Other resources
Springall, D. (2004). “[|Popular Music Meets Japanese Cartoons: A History on the Evolution of Anime Music Videos].” Unpublished undergraduate Honors Thesis. Birmingham, Alabama: Samford University, 2004.