The Meltdown Project.....? Talk??????

"rar didn't you, like, rar the meltdown project is four years old, you already talked about it, you, why are, why is?????? huh?????"

I,,, LISTEN,,,, I was rewatching the Meltdown Project (along with a lot of my old amvs) and I went to check out the page I'd made for it because I wanted some cool insight on the video (it has been four years) and discovered for the most part the commentary just consisted of "lol I forget"

So here I am salvaging everything I remember from four/five years ago and just plain Thoughts I Have Now about the Meltdown Project.

Cool.



"I'm new / I forgot, what even IS the Meltdown Project?"

The Meltdown Project is a video that, um, puts a visual representation to Namine's memory meltdowns. When I was writing part 1 of Dead Inside (2012 ish) I was realllyyyyy into making AMVs and uh, decided I wanted to do this thing.

It ended up being a lot more work than I anticipated but I think it turned out alright, overall!! I mean there are some parts I think I shouldn't have done in hindsight, but, redoing this thing is Not Gonna Happen so what we've got is what we've got.

If you forgot what Namine's memory meltdowns are, or need a refresher as context to frame this video in (it, has been a long time since there's been a memory meltdown, after all) -- memory meltdowns are something Namine suffers with in Dead Inside. A whole bunch of Riku's memories play back in her head on overload, in high quality hd, on top of one another, and it hurts a lot.

Here's the video for you to rewatch (if you want??) (epilepsy warning, probably)



Here's the uh, initial page on it, so, you have it. For record. I'm not deleting it or anything lol it's in the same spot it will stay forever. Until the internet collapses or something anyway.

The video can be broken into three parts!

Actually I guess it's, five parts???? More, like, three parts separated by two distinctive markers, I guess.

Anyway Part 1, the "Teaser" section (beginning to, I guess 1:30 lol) (it's longer than I remembered)

Separator: "This Hurts So Much" (1:30-1:47)

Part 2, "Middle", it doesn't have a better name (1:47-2:15)

Separator: "Life Left To Go" (2:15-2:56)

Part 3, "This is so lazy and you don't even know it" (2:56 - end)


We'll talk about them in parts. Obviously. That's why I separated them.


Part 1 - "Teaser" / Beginning / Intro

I call it "Teaser" because it includes the 20 or so seconds I used as the teaser for the project, which was also a test to see if I could actually do the thing.

I mean I guess this is more like intro / teaser / some good stuff (the good stuff starting at 0:45) but Whatever.

The intro is framed as a nightmare because idk. Idk. The song used is called "Prelude to a Nightmare" and that may have been part of it, but mainly I think it was just, something I ran with despite not thinking through (there's a lot of stuff like that that I did in the Dead Inside era.)

There's some clever use of Marluxia referring to Riku, not Sora, which is obvious. We frame the video with the "I'll protect you" thing, and. Ok I guess the transition from "whatever's hurting you I'll make it go away" into "omf but you're hurting too" is pretty good.

Then we get into the teaser which is a lot of just, the pre-glitchy memories from KH2?? Idk why I did the..... those are.... those are Real Thing's memories. Please. I know Riku has a few of those buried within him but please why didn't I think this through.

Also, to get it out there: the music for this is actually Hellraiser Brigade (the drums) laid over Prelude to a Nightmare. Both songs are by Two Steps From Hell because of course they are, TSFH makes trailer music, epic orchestral music was my jam in 2012, I used TSFH constantly for amvs,,,, etc,,,,,

The mix isn't that bad though it's definitely Something An Amateur did. Whatever.


Anyway, we have ill-used Real Thing memories (which is also,,,, lazy,,, I tossed them down and didn't really try and line them up with the music) and then about 0:45 we have a few images of the CoM mang and this is where it gets good!

Now we actually have Repliku memories (interspersed by the glitchy effects just ripped from KH2, I used KH2 clips to transition between other clips, Windows Movie Maker also has some basic film grain filters you can slap on, I added static fuzz sounds from somewhere...)

And then I guess it's just CoM manga things for a bit....

And then "Namine" screams and, there's some juicy stuff, BUT FIRST.

Obviously that's Not Namine, it's images from what might look like anime. It's not anime. It's a Vocaloid MV. I used Kagamine Rin as a face claim for Namine at a few points. (I regret it kinda.) (There were just no images of Namine in pain that I could find---and I looked---and Vocaloid PVs were the only places I could think of w/ Blonde Girl In Pain so. yup.)

The image here is from Paradise of Light and Shadow (one of my fave vocaloid songs / pvs actually!!), and the scream is also Rin from, er, one of the First Virus Resistance videos. There's three. Plus a Len prequel that was released years after the original three.

Some basic CoM Moments with editing to fit the drumbeat in here, I use a geostigma glitch effect (from FF7 Advent Children) as the transition this time. I probably shouldn't lay out the whole video but I, well, I should mention the geostigma effect. This is me mentioning the geostigma effect. It was a thing I used.

((It's obvious the video plays back in reverse for a few seconds but I'll point out I had to borrow my dad's video editing software to even put it in reverse and so that was fun!!! not!!!))

Also something I should get out of the way: I kept voices in a lot of clips because that's, what, a meltdown is??? I didn't leave the audio on for every clip I used, and there's some creative stuff here and later which means the audio clip keeps playing even though the matching video has moved onto something else. (That required getting the images together, porting them to a separate WMM project, lay the audio clip over them, publish, put back in the main project file as One Video....)

The reason for the voices staying in so many places, often without rhyme or reason is, I mean, a meltdown is memories and memories are images + voices / sounds / etc and so whenever possible I just left the audio in. Or laid my own audio down.

Despite this sort of "rule" I went into it with (more "concept", less "rule") there are, clearly, a lot of times I didn't do it. I'm not sure if it was just too much effort to get the audio to play out like I wanted it to (porting everything to a separate project and then back was a hassle) or if having not-even-a-second long voice clips playing was too distracting. It was probably the second one, honestly.

At about 1:05 we have this nifty voice thing I did w/ Larxene, where "remake your heart" plays over itself in a kind of echo. I actually downloaded an audio editing software to like, distort voices??? I only did two clips with it (both of Larxene, because obviously) and both of those were tests before I decided it was too much work to edit a frikity ton of audio clips.

But, I mean. I might as well use what I did make, right? So here we are.


Separator: "This Hurts So Much"

Though I said this starts at 1:30 I'll talk about something that happens right before that.

Riku screams, and then, someone else screams??? That audio clip is Xion's, from Days (the Japanese version I think, if we're extra specific)  and it's supposed to be Namine. Any girl screaming in this video isn't actually Namine (she doesn't scream in KH??? which I'm, a little surprised about but also not entirely because Abuse Conditioning) but you have to pretend it's Namine ok lol.

Then at 1:30 finally we have this picture, which I'm not inserting, but. It's a picture of Namine curled up and crying (THE ONLY ACTUAL PIC OF NAMINE I COULD FIND WHERE SHE WAS IN PAIN)

It's source is here: http://darkemmachan.deviantart.com/art/Namine-s-Tears-40702813?

And I edited the text over it, it's a thing,,

Oh I guess there's one image in the manga of her crying but it's just that one image.

Then we have more Rin from Paradise of Light and Shadow, overlayed with screams which I hate listening too and also happen to be Zelda's from Skyward Sword. Yup.


PART 2: MIDDLE!!

Maybe I can split this up but, actually, the middle section is short??

I guess the full middle section should include both of the separators, but, whatever.

We're starting at 1:52 ish and,,,

Oh this memory spew is kind of cool, it's the part of the music which is?? I know drum speak does not translate to a text but it's the duuuuun CHA, dun CHA dun CHA part. Lmao. I had to.

My fave part is the quick burst of CoM manga images at 1:55 (~EPILEPSY WARNING~) (THIS WHOLE VIDEO IS A BIG FAT EPILEPSY WARNING), and, anyway, I like how that??? I like that burst of images. Also the geostigma in there B))

Minor thing which, maybe you can see well enough: we go from Namine being shoved aside in the manga to her being shoved aside in Real Video Format. Cool.

There's some nice uses of static/geostigma in here, in general?? cool.

OH AND ANOTHER IMAGE BURST!! NICE!!

Oh, some Rin screaming images that are from First Virus Resistance

Some Larxene, some Better Done clips-to-the-music work in general, this is a pretty solid part actually.

ALSO IT'S ONLY LIKE 20 SECONDS BUT MAN!!! so much work went into that 20 seconds?? you have to understand how much work goes into those fast paced drum sections. It's so much.

You have to find the clip you want (in the midst of ten minute long videos), then you had to trim it down to fractions of a second, line it up with the music, fiddle with the order so it did line up with the music, mute the clip, find the manga image you want, trim it to fractions of a second, put it in. Lay the geostigma static in there, trim it so it's only fractions of a second, drag the videos around so they fade over each other. HOO. It's a lot of work.

I honestly had three separate project files for each of the drum sections, along with the main project file. A lot of this is because WMM is laggy as hell the more stuff w/ more effects you have in it, so working on twenty seconds at a time in separate project files then publishing them and dropping the full section into the main project file was the easiest (and reduced lag in the main project file).

I mean I didn't do every 20 seconds in a separate file, I really did just have the four. Plus I mean, whenever I wanted a voiceover that wasn't pre-attached to the clip used. But I didn't save those project files!! Each clip I made in them was 5 seconds and so I just published the clip and didn't save the file that made it.

Extra extra thing I did: I had to go through all the CoM manga images (or, a lot of them) and manually invert the colors in MS paint, probably. There wasn't an invert colors option in??? Well ok there was one in WMM but effects made WMM extra laggy and for images it was easier to just, manually,,,,


ANYHOO


Separator: Life Left to Go

This is the part from 2:15-2:56!! It features a completely different song (Life left to go, Safetysuit) and a mood shift??

I made this clip itself randomly, one time, apparently (like the only exciting info that was on the original page for the meltdown project lol). No reason, just messing around because I liked that song and I wanted Riku to "sing" it??? I mean I probably intended it to be like, too Namine,,,,

Heck actually my memories are telling me that I did make it quite specifically with the "Riku to Namine during meltdowns" in mind, so, how did I not make this for the Meltdown Project??? hmm.

Well, whatever. Whatever.

It was a thing I made and decided to use in here.

There's not much to say about it, it's just supposed to be a moment when Riku like, breaks through the memories to Namine, the air clears a moment, she can breathe, etc...

((Rewatching it today made me remember how bad I had it for Namiku in 2012 and I had a feel.))

IT'S NOTHING SPECIAL, but I am pretty proud of how it transitions back into the meltdown?

The static, the interspersed Riku image,,, ah.

(That is one of the ones I don't have a source for, but, I think it's from the manga but with some filter over it??? So????)


Part 3: this was so lazy and you don't even know (well you will now)

THIS IS,,, there are two distinct parts to this, actually

There's the no-drums section and then the drums section. And by that I mean the part I hate and the part I really love.

The no-drums is kind of, whatever, it's. well. We're back in Meltdown Hell.

There's nothing special. It's CoM clips interspersed w/ manga images or whatever.

And we have a fanart, which is, this: http://reiwonderland.deviantart.com/art/Kingdom-Hearts-Forever-Shadow-195637802?

going with Larxene's "nothing but a fake"

I.... I was grasping for straws and inspiration and clips to fill these like thirty seconds until we got to drums.

We have Japanese Larxene cackling, Vanitas cackling,

A fanart which is, uh, Dead Inside's "cover" art???? this thing: http://ssceles.deviantart.com/art/Repliku-Science-Experiment-137813496?

SOME, UH, OF MY OWN

THINGS,,,,,,

THAT I DREW

THEY SUCK THEY'RE..... THEY'RE STILLS OF VOCALOID PVS THAT I TRACED OVER AND THEN I COLORED THE NAMINE ONES IN GIMP AND THEY CAME OUT LIKE CRAP BUT I USED THEM ANYWAY AND HHHHHHHHHHHHHH THEY LOOK BAD

THIS PART,,,, I DONT' LIKE THIS PART BUT IT'S FINE

OH!! and then we have a much bettter Namine art I drew, which is a companion to this Repliku art:

http://fennecriku.deviantart.com/art/I-Dont-wanna-feel-like-This-159328871?

The, uh, connection between the two images is On Purpose. It's like one part "Namine kind of loses her sense of self during a meltdown but Who Wouldn't" and one part "they're both heckin in pain" so. Yeah. Yup. Yeah.

OH AND THEN WE GET TO!!! A GOOD!!!

THERE IS AGOOD!!!

It starts at 3:17, and, this is,,,

I went and isolated the section as it's own video for you, and for, just in general because I Like It.

When I first made the page for the Meltdown Project I labeled this as spoilers and, yeah, if you haven't gotten to like almost ch170 of Dead Inside, I guess it still is??? But, um, that's been up for three years and I'm going to talk about it.

This is a "reenactment" of a certain memory of Riku's. I forget which chapter it shows up in specifically, I just know it's a chapter in the shipping Riku to HB arc (which is like ch160 something to 176 or 177). It's a nightmare Riku has.

I could line the whole thing out but in short it is the "I LOVE YOU" "actually no, haha, i, i messed with your memories sorry" "HUH??" and then Larxene shows up.

Namine tries to explain why she just told Riku this despite the fact she shouldn't have, Riku tells Larxene to leave her the heck alone, and then he takes the blame / punsihment himself becuase y'know that's what he does

hhOOOO AND IN THE MELTDOWN PROJECT I EVEN, HECK!!! I EVEN!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAA I GO THRU AND WHEN THE DRUM SECTION STARTS IT'S, IT'SFHEHRF, IT'S!!!

WE GO  INTO LARXENE ATTACKING RIKU AND NAMINE SITTING THERE LIKE AAAGHHH I HATE THIS WATCHING IT THAT'S, I EVEN DEPICTED THAT HOOO!!! HOOO!!!!

I LOVET HAT SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAA


ok anyway now

now we're into the lazy stuff (and it's also 1am so my typing is getting,,, lazy,,, lmao)

So basically I just?? There's not a lot of new footage after that. I cannibalized every other section of the video, actually. I took sections, I speed them up  a bunch, sometimes slowed down for like, musical emphasis, but otherwise it's just other sections of the vid played back.

Oh I guess!! There was a Riku/Sora fight in there?? I'm not sure, why (if that was meant to be Riku's memory or part of the next section) but, like. I guess that was a thing that happened in Falling to Pieces. And also in Chain of Memories. So.

We do have a section (like, five seconds) dedicated to Namine Seeing Memories That Aren't Riku's -- featuring Sora's memories, a brief glimpse of Aerith's memories. (You'll see Aerith, but not Zack unless you pause at the right time.)

ANYWAY BUT LIKE, after Aerith (and even between the Sora and Aerith sections) we just have the, cannibalized,,,, stuff. Also some other fanart that I snuck in there??? Alright.

I don't have a source for the SoKai one

But I do have the source for the RepliNami one which you probably didn't even, realize, was there??? I totally forgot about it lol. It's got a split second on screen and then it's gone.

http://rah-bop.deviantart.com/art/Falling-with-your-name-42364032

Also there's this fanart which I didn't catch the bit where it was used, but, here it is now. cool.

http://ssceles.deviantart.com/art/drowning-in-imperfection-92173654?


So yeah that's the end of the video, it's lazy, but it gets the point across.

And that's the Meltdown Project.

There are parts I'm embarrassed about (the THIS HURTS SO MUCH bit, or the bit w/ Zelda's screams anyhoo, and then the bit with My Ugly Fanart) but overall it's pretty solid??

I like it.

And I'm yelling about the memory I really really snuck in there. I'm so cool.