Here's the analytical breakdown for the AMV "YOKO ~ remaining deep in the ocean ~", where there's a scene-by-scene explanation and some more information about the techniques used. Please read it, as it might give you more insight in what I was thinking while editing and what the main thought and story is behind the AMV. Note that the explanations of the scenes are of the more complicated storyline I thought of, as I've created this AMV to be interpret in two ways, but more in terms of the complicated way (see below for more information).


When Xenosaga Episode III was released in Japan, so was the soundtrack, which was composed by one of my favorite composers Yuki Kajuira (known for her work in Noir, MADLAX, Aquarian Age, .hack//sign). While I'm not fan of her techno/dance compositions, most of her other works quite impress me. The Xenosaga OSTs (she also did Xenosaga Episode II) however, are somewhat devided in the awesoneness of the tracks.
But upon listening the Xenosaga Episode III OST, one track really stood out and that was "Mother, I Miss You". When I first heard it, the second part of the song gave me this image of a guy opening his eyes and slowly coming into reality. That's the part I knew I had to do something with this song. A few days later I got the anime Pale Cocoon, which a friend really recommended and just by seeing the cover I already knew I had to make an AMV out of it. So I ripped it first and saw it after I ripped it.
It wasn't until later in the editing proces that I decided to make an extra intro, to make things clear. I really needed a narrator to tell the audience about the love he had lost, So I just went through my DVD-collection of Japanese movies and saw "Toni Takitani". Immediatly scenes of the movie popped inside my head, so I watched the movie waiting for the right lines to come by. Unfortunately, it was really a narrator - I rather had it told in first-person, but you can't have everything, can you?


Pale Cocoon kind of disappointed me when I wanted to make an AMV out of it, because I wanted to make a romance/drama and this wasn't a romance at all (more of a science fiction drama). But looking at it the second time, I saw that were just enough scenes to make a sentimental romance drama out of it. Especially the scenes where she gets mad at the main character really brought the idea of the story of a break-up between two persons in one way or another.

multiple interpretations
I made the story to be interpreted in two ways: the easy and the complicated way - this is mostly possible because of the fact the the beginning doesn't have a clear shot of how the girl looks like. The easy interpretation is actually the story of how the main character lost somebody and then flashbacks into how it all happened. I think this might be clear for most people - and this probably how most people will interpret the story.
The complicated storyline is about a guy who can't forget a girl he once lost. He then meets this girl at work - which he is more than friends with, but less than lovers. He never went further than that with the reason that she reminds him of his old love - in one way or another. This eventually becomes fatal in the relationship with the girl.


The title might sound interesting for some people, mostly because they have no clue why it is called like this. Well, the name Yoko was one of the character of Pale Cocoon. After some searching it saw that the meaning of it is "Ocean Child", which now explains something in the story of the Pale Cocoon. I immediatly thought how interesting this name actually is, having the word "ocean" in it. The thought behind "remaining deep in the ocean" is the fact how a dead person suddenly can float up to the surface of the water - meaning that person wasn't completely gone to begin with. Like with the main person in this little story, his lost love floats around in his mind and pops up from time to time.
And how about the "tilde"s? The "~"? It's used to note a subtitle in Japanese, but interesting enought it also has the shape of a wave!


Wheras most of the people will use the split screen as a gimmick only to be cool, the split screen has plays a big role in this AMV. The action to do that was probably mostly inspired by the movie "Requiem for a Dream", where there a lot of split screens were used (also functional ones). But it was actually an idea of mine long before I saw that movie: I always thought how the split screen would be nice to function as "a wall" between two persons. That's why there a lot of shots where the characters are next to each other, in the same room, but actually sharing no connection or having something that holds them apart (which also explains the black line, which is black because of the black video in the beginning).
What this AMV also made use of is how one screen shows what he feels or what he sees, while the other one shows "the reality".


Using splitscreens as an editor has some advantages and disadvantages. First of all, you have to edit twice as much and as there's no special program/filter for splitscreen effects you have to use motion and cropping a lot, which can create some trouble (especially when you don't use full brightness and cannot notice the mistakes you have make. The advantage of editing in spit screen is the fact that you can play a lot with compositions, move it left right.
It was quite hard to find some images to match, sometimes totally different moments are taken to match using some reversing/image flipping.
One interesting note is that the viewer always changes his focus on where the action or the screen changes, so where I take advantage of.


I know many people will ask themselves about the "36" (count that part, then you know why I've named it like that), why I did it and what purpose it has. I don't know whather you've seen the movie 2001: Space Odessey. It's something like that beginning, but I didn't lay the connection between the two until after I've finished it the AMV. So please do not think this is a useless part and I did it because I was lazy or ran out of footage or something like that.
There are several reasons I put the "36" in: not only does it sets the mood, but it also has the whole story behind the break-up of his previous love in it. Which is of course the task of your imagination to fill in. This is actually the part where either it happens or where he thinks about it: either way, it's still there inside his head. The black screen means how he actually blacks it out of his memory, but the music is actually the remaining part of his memories - the feeling and the thoughts he still has.
Now if you listen good to the music, youwill hear how the first and the last part of the song are more or less the same. When the last part of the song comes up, it means that feeling and the thoughts of the main character he used to have comes up again at this point, when they're alone together. And that's where the trouble is, because here's where the girl probably realizes that she can't be the subsitute of his lost love and leaves him because of that.

The part with the speech is acompanied with glimpses of the girl. I thought it would be a nice idea to show the words on screen, highlighting the most important word in each sentence. It's not only to stylize things, but also to show some quick keywords what this AMV is about. It kinda works psychological, because it already gives the viewer/audience an impression what the AMV is about. This works especially good if you have badly edited your AMV.
The black and white (it's more blueish here) is to show that this footage is from the past, the grain, the shake and the wipe-effect is to show how he tries to forget it, tries to shake it away, but the best he can get is to noise it all away.
This is the part where I envisioned opening his eyes while slowly getting back at reality. The problem here was that I didn't have an animation where he opens his eyes. So to create the effect I didn't use a fade - as if he suddenly enters reality. The black-and-white though shows that he isn't really into it yet, but the colors slowly enter, as if he mind also does that.
The introduction of the girl through a work ID. It stays on screen for a longer amount of time than most shot do, so it'll create the question who the girl actually is. You only know the girl from the beginning, so this way questions are raised.
To create more suspense a two shots are shown of the girl, but without showing her face. This'll make you wonder some more, until her face is finally shown, when it goes from one screen to another and she turn her face around to him. This also shows that either she knows him or has interest in him in one way or another.
The 2 work IDs are shown more clearly, now to show the fact that they work together and are: either going in at the same time or out at the same time.
Not many people realise this, but the main character is to be seen twice here, both in background and fore ground. It's a bit of a shame it's a little too quick, but how he appears next to her is actually a sign how he tries to be close with her. Slowly she goes away, as with the background and it changes into an empty space to show how he actually feels at the moment - when he's with her.
Probably one of the more important aspacts of the story, these two moments are the moments where she reminds him of his lost love. The background changes twice into a scene from the beginning (the colors), which is of course the reference to his past/lost love. When she looks at him it seems like he's elsewhere in his mind.
The parting: they both go different ways to show that they might work in difference sections, but also as an introduction to the fact that they don't end up together. Watch how the light of the stairs sync with the piano (not much of a use though).
It seems that's she's going outside and he's working. The interesting part here is the use of two different ways to show that time passes. The left side uses just scenery and snow, while the right side shows jump cuts to show he's busy with work.
This part starts off with only the girl while she's outside. You can see her from different camera angles, as if she's being observed/watched from different side by the guy, as if he's doubting to approach her. As you can hear, the music in this part is the same as the beginning, creating the same feeling as the beginning (see the section about the "36").
You probably already have the feeling the guy is approaching her, but it's not confirmed yet. This part is made to be somewhat suspenseful: on the right side you see somebody approaching her (too bad it's a bit short) and when it zooms out you still don't see who it is, only the shoes.
You finally see who it is and it's the guy from before. The camera pans of each side are now moving away from each other when they're both on each screen, as if they're more and more seperated from each other. You see that they're talking to each other.
The seperation is even being more confirmed as it gets full screen, because when it zooms out, the line comes inbetween them, as if they're not connecting. Eventually she climbs on top of him - more like she's attacking him.
And it clear becomes she's mad at him. I really like this shot, how they're supposed to be each other halves, but aren't.
When she gets mad, the same filters are applied as in the intro, with the camera shaking more and more each second. This is of course the part where she reminds him of his lost love. Most importantly, this is the clue how his relationship ended: they got into a fight like now and she got very angry/upset.
The start of the ending: it first shows how it does not end happy (see his facial expression) and how she probably cries. Then it fades into how he's left alone.
The end is how the girl goes to his workplace and searches for clues/explanations and shows that she actually knows about his previous love and also shows how much the two girls look a like. This is the final hint of the argument they were just having.