Anime Music Video

An anime music video (AMV) typically is a fan-made music video consisting of clips from one or more animated shows or movies set to an audio track, often songs or promotional trailer audio. Originally a term that was specific to Japanese anime, it has since grown in usage to also refer to any fan-made music video that primarily features any kind of animation, such as American animation or even video game cut-scene footage. AMVs are usually not official music videos released by the musicians, but are rather fan compositions which synchronize edited video clips with an audio track. AMVs are most commonly posted and distributed over the Internet through AnimeMusicVideos.org or YouTube. Anime conventions frequently run AMV contests or exhibitions consisting of blocks of videos.

AMVs should not be confused with music videos that employ original, professionally made animation (such as numerous music videos for songs by Iron Maiden), or with such short music video films (such as Japanese duo Chage and Aska's song "On Your Mark" that was produced by the film company Studio Ghibli). AMVs should also not be confused with fan-made "general animation" videos using non-Japanese animated video sources like western cartoons, or with the practice of vidding in Western media fandom, which evolved convergently and has a distinct history and fan culture. Parallels can be drawn between AMVs and songvids, non-animated fan-made videos using footage from movies, television series, or other sources.

The first anime music video was created in 1982 by 21-year-old Jim Kaposztas. Kaposztas hooked up two VCRs to each other and edited the most violent scenes from Star Blazers to "All You Need Is Love" by The Beatles to produce a humorous effect.

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