Anime music video
An anime music video (AMV) is a music video consisting of clips from one or more anime series or movies set to songs; the term usually refers to fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of video game footage put together with music.
AMVs are not official music videos released by the musicians, but are rather amateur fan compositions which synchronize video clips with an audio track. AMVs are most commonly informally released, most often over the Internet. Anime conventions frequently run AMV contests or AMV exhibitions. While AMVs traditionally use footage taken from anime, video game cut-scene footage is also a popular option. Music used in AMVs is extremely diverse, using such genres as J-Pop, rock, hip hop, pop, R&B, country, and many others.
AMVs should not be confused with professional and original animated films produced as music videos by such groups as Iron Maiden, or with such short music video films as Japanese musical duo Chage and Aska's song "On Your Mark" by 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. "Anime music videos" are a sub-genre of the more general "animated music videos". 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 the soundtrack of “All You Need Is Love” by The Beatles to produce a humorous effect.
One of the first anime music videos that achieved popularity came from the 1996 song "Daytona 500", from rapper Ghostface Killah, using clips from the 1960s anime Speed Racer, which was first shown on English television back in 1968. In fact, it is one of the most popular anime music videos ever made, and the Speed Racer clips used on that video made it his official music video. It was also the first AMV to be shown on a TV channel.