My SMAP Tribute VDO
I haven't posted much in this livejournal....in fact, I haven't posted anything at all ^^"
Maybe because I always feel it's too hard to convey my thought in English in a full-length entry since English is not my native language though I'm living in the States right now.
Anyway, I think I'll try to use this lj more to post my thoughts on my current and eternal obsession, SMAP. What else is better than to post my very first fanvid to SMAP for their 19th debut anniversary on 09/09/2010 and talk about it just a little bit.
1. I spent about a month in making this video. Most of the time was trying to make peace with my iMovie. It's a pain that for some videos, I had to convert the avi files to mov files first because iMovie (and sometime Quicktime) just refused to read those clips. Though iMovie is very easy to use, I hope Steve Job & co. can come up with a solution to make it less painful.
2. Searching for clips to include in this video is too tedious. When I first listened to this song, I had certain images of SMAP for specific parts/lyrics. The problem was I'm not that organized in saving all those SMAP clips I have. So I have to search through all those clips to get what I wanted. Sometime I spent hours just to get a 5-seconds clip. The good things that came out of this were I'm now more organized with my files and I've rediscovered several gems that I previously forgot.
3. I leave the intro part of Music Station performance in the vid just because they were so gorgeous and I like that I can have the song title and names of composer/lyricist included.
4. Shingo's solo was from "Together Forever" PV. It's such a coincidence (or may be it's a faith) that Mori-kun was absent from this PV because he had other commitment on the filming day. With this, I can have "chiisana 5-nin no kodomo" on their "bouken" together, match perfectly with the lyrics.
5. The hardest parts were Goro's and Kimura's solo. I couldn't come up with any image of SMAP in my mind that match with the lyrics. So I decided to go with SMAP's handholding/grouping/working together images for these parts. My intention was to convey the facts that they've always been together and regrouping especially after Mori-kun left the group.
6. I love the "arukou ka" part very much. When I first heard this part, the image of SMAP holding hands and walking together to the thunderous applause from the audiences on Johnny's Sports Day was the very first thing that popped up in my mind. The "ano hi iketa bashou" part was also very easy. Those Batsu games were the only things that I think are appropriate for this part.
7. The instrumental part after that was also very straightforward. I even suspect that Hisaishi Joe-san himself imagined these awful times of SMAP when he composed this part. And it's definitely fitting in my mind to have the footage from Drink SMAP and Tsuyoshi's Return SP to go along with Tsuyoshi's solo. The one thing that bugs me is the fact that I couldn't find a good quality footage of Tsuyoshi's press conference. At that time, I was too depressed to download it from youtube.
8. After showing those horrible moments of SMAP, I want to show them being happy/silly together after the storm/crisis have passed, hence those footage. For the ending verses, I want to show the bonds and the power they gave to the fans so I included the concert footage. MIJ was the best one in my opinion. Maybe because the Nissan Stadium is so huge (the biggest venue in Japan) but, IMO, there were somethings in the atmosphere that make MIJ more special than others. I think it's the best SMAP Concert DVD. The extra were very nice, they included all MCs, and the camera shots were spectacular and epic. Susume was awesome.
9. I want to end the song with Kouhaku 2003 footage. IMO, that's the highest moment of their career and that performance forever secured their place as a legend in J-Music scene. I love how everyone looked so happy and proud of themselves after they finished singing. Especially, I love how our dear leader Nakai turned to his fellow members to check on their reactions at the end.
10. I also like the globe scene from Love & Peace Inside? I put it there to signify how time passes and how SMAP has grown up to become the gorgeous and shining superstars.
11. The encore. That's my favorite SMAP clip of all time. I love Original Smile. I had tears in my eyes when I saw them sing in live in Tokyo Dome. I love that they sang this song with the fans in this clip, without music, without any lights or special effects on stage. But the clip was somehow magical. I think it's the best clip to show how magical and special SMAP really is.
There were parts in the vid that I want to tweak or clean up a little bit. But overall, I'm very happy and satisfied with what I did.
Maybe because I always feel it's too hard to convey my thought in English in a full-length entry since English is not my native language though I'm living in the States right now.
Anyway, I think I'll try to use this lj more to post my thoughts on my current and eternal obsession, SMAP. What else is better than to post my very first fanvid to SMAP for their 19th debut anniversary on 09/09/2010 and talk about it just a little bit.
Click to view1. I spent about a month in making this video. Most of the time was trying to make peace with my iMovie. It's a pain that for some videos, I had to convert the avi files to mov files first because iMovie (and sometime Quicktime) just refused to read those clips. Though iMovie is very easy to use, I hope Steve Job & co. can come up with a solution to make it less painful.
2. Searching for clips to include in this video is too tedious. When I first listened to this song, I had certain images of SMAP for specific parts/lyrics. The problem was I'm not that organized in saving all those SMAP clips I have. So I have to search through all those clips to get what I wanted. Sometime I spent hours just to get a 5-seconds clip. The good things that came out of this were I'm now more organized with my files and I've rediscovered several gems that I previously forgot.
3. I leave the intro part of Music Station performance in the vid just because they were so gorgeous and I like that I can have the song title and names of composer/lyricist included.
4. Shingo's solo was from "Together Forever" PV. It's such a coincidence (or may be it's a faith) that Mori-kun was absent from this PV because he had other commitment on the filming day. With this, I can have "chiisana 5-nin no kodomo" on their "bouken" together, match perfectly with the lyrics.
5. The hardest parts were Goro's and Kimura's solo. I couldn't come up with any image of SMAP in my mind that match with the lyrics. So I decided to go with SMAP's handholding/grouping/working together images for these parts. My intention was to convey the facts that they've always been together and regrouping especially after Mori-kun left the group.
6. I love the "arukou ka" part very much. When I first heard this part, the image of SMAP holding hands and walking together to the thunderous applause from the audiences on Johnny's Sports Day was the very first thing that popped up in my mind. The "ano hi iketa bashou" part was also very easy. Those Batsu games were the only things that I think are appropriate for this part.
7. The instrumental part after that was also very straightforward. I even suspect that Hisaishi Joe-san himself imagined these awful times of SMAP when he composed this part. And it's definitely fitting in my mind to have the footage from Drink SMAP and Tsuyoshi's Return SP to go along with Tsuyoshi's solo. The one thing that bugs me is the fact that I couldn't find a good quality footage of Tsuyoshi's press conference. At that time, I was too depressed to download it from youtube.
8. After showing those horrible moments of SMAP, I want to show them being happy/silly together after the storm/crisis have passed, hence those footage. For the ending verses, I want to show the bonds and the power they gave to the fans so I included the concert footage. MIJ was the best one in my opinion. Maybe because the Nissan Stadium is so huge (the biggest venue in Japan) but, IMO, there were somethings in the atmosphere that make MIJ more special than others. I think it's the best SMAP Concert DVD. The extra were very nice, they included all MCs, and the camera shots were spectacular and epic. Susume was awesome.
9. I want to end the song with Kouhaku 2003 footage. IMO, that's the highest moment of their career and that performance forever secured their place as a legend in J-Music scene. I love how everyone looked so happy and proud of themselves after they finished singing. Especially, I love how our dear leader Nakai turned to his fellow members to check on their reactions at the end.
10. I also like the globe scene from Love & Peace Inside? I put it there to signify how time passes and how SMAP has grown up to become the gorgeous and shining superstars.
11. The encore. That's my favorite SMAP clip of all time. I love Original Smile. I had tears in my eyes when I saw them sing in live in Tokyo Dome. I love that they sang this song with the fans in this clip, without music, without any lights or special effects on stage. But the clip was somehow magical. I think it's the best clip to show how magical and special SMAP really is.
There were parts in the vid that I want to tweak or clean up a little bit. But overall, I'm very happy and satisfied with what I did.