get busy living or get busy Daioh-ing ~ [Azumanga Daioh / The Dear Hunter AMV]

AMV for Azumanga Daioh, set to Shake Me (Awake) by The Dear Hunter. Azumanga Daioh gave me something I didn't know I needed. The joy I got from watching it for the first time was immeasurable, and this video's goal was to capture that joy and celebrate it - all of its awkward charm, its absurdity and irreverence, and the way it made life feel worth living just a little bit more than before. It made me smile so much, and I hope this video can make you smile in a similar way. While this song is edited to the characters of the show, I am just as much a subject of the lyrics as them (an unintended thing that happened in the editing process lol). When I wanted to be pulled away from the endless circles of adulthood, I looked to Azumanga Daioh, and it made me feel content and whole again for half an hour at a time. When editing the last portion of this video, I genuinely got emotional. The show is just really something special. I love it so much. The character focus in this ended up being largely on Chiyo, Osaka, and Sakaki. I didn't start the video with those characters in mind, but I ended up using a lot of footage of them (because they tend to be my favorites), so at a point it became cleanest to just use their material as the main thrust of the video. Oh, and Tomo tended to butt in a lot too, as she does. I also wanted to preserve the sense of "stillness" the show uses, as I think it's crucial to its style and humor, so a lot of shots I considered adding motion to I ended up keeping as still shots. That shot of Osaka staring out the window at the sky just doesn't hit as hard if the camera's zooming out, does it? Its inherent humor is in that stationary stare. That beautiful, beautiful stare. I think that's all I wanted to say. Making this video was super rewarding for me and I'm excited to finally share it. I hope you enjoy! (Visual warning: has flashing) #azumangadaioh #amv #thedearhunter #animemusicvideo