2017 HOF Inductee #1: Project [Weezer]
Nov 11, 2017 12:25:31 GMT -5
durty530, Reed, and 2 more like this
Post by [beej] on Nov 11, 2017 12:25:31 GMT -5
Project Weezer
Induction by beej
It's difficult to imagine a time where multi-editor projects (lovingly now known as MEPs) were not a thing. In the current MVZ landscape, multiple MEPs take place by a growing number of creators, and serve as a fun and effective way to pass time between competitions, and to keep editing skills sharp between feature length videos. MEPs have also been a catalyst for some talent new editors to dip their toes in the MVZ waters before taking the plunge into competitions. It is safe to say that MEPs have become an integral part of the community, and a major pillar to our yearly activities here at The MV Zone.
However, I would like to take you back to a time when these did not exist. 2009 to be exact.
Former friend, editor, and Gen Next Champion Harry Aaron (HJASkater) had this idea to make a tag video with many editors instead of the traditional two-person team. At this time, Austin Aries had begun his second ROH Title run, and was declaring himself "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived." He would come out to the ring to this odd little number by the band Weezer. Due to the nature of this song using so many musical breaks and influences, it naturally lended itself well to the project that Harry had in mind.
The idea of doing a video like this was not original. The execution, however, was. One of the prevailing thoughts was that it would be too difficult to organize - wrangling together so many talent editors (who all work on their own time frame) and piece together a coherent work of art. Who would be the point man? What would we edit? How would it flow together with so many different perspectives, editing styles, effects, etc in the mix? These all seem like ridiculous concerns in retrospect, but at that time they were pretty valid. The brilliance of Harry's project would be to embrace all of that potential chaos.
The project drew a lot of attention from some (now) legendary names in MVZ history. Making the best decision for the betterment of the project, Harry entrusted ltownbob to piece together the video. ltownbob is the unsung hero of this video. It was widely known that it was Harry's baby, but few recognized that ltownbob was the caretaker.
The topic was set as broad as it comes - who do you feel is the greatest wrestler? This video serves better than all others as an intricate tapestry of taste, opinion, and point of view. No one is bound to agree with every subject choice covered, but cohesively it is beautiful. An editing quilt, if you will.
For being the critical success that it was, and for the legacy this video created alone, Project Weezer is a no-brainer for the MV Zone Hall of Fame. I don't have much else to say that isn't readily obvious to any viewer. I would like to close this induction with a few random personal remembrances though.
-PureOxygen kicked off the video with a section that was super well received. In fact, many considered this his finest work to date. He sadly didn't stick around the site long, but he had a lot of talent and would have easily been a major player in the years to come if he had the longevity. The siren effect was a thing of simple genius.
-The ltown[beej] section came after Bob and I won the tag titles. The team was short lived, with this being the second and final piece we edited together. I remember editors not being able to tell which of us edited which part of it, and that was about as large of a compliment anyone could have given me at that point. Editing with Bob provides some of my fondest MVZ memories.
-Harry would go on record many times proclaiming the Tigerkid section his favorite in the entire video. He loved the old fashioned look of it, with the intense blown out sepia effect. As most know by now, Tigerkid is current WWE UK Champion Pete Dunne. Just another neat fact that makes this video so special.
-Perhaps the most widely praised section was ltownbob's RVD section. The transitions in this are among the best I've ever seen, even to this day. While most were drawn to the pool dive / frog splash transition, my favorite was always the multiple clip transition of RVD hopping to the top rope. There's about 4-5 clips comprising that 2 seconds of footage, and it's marvelous!
-xSynyster came in to the site, did this section, and was never heard from again. While it is at a dramatically different pace from most of the other video, it was a personal favorite of former MVZ World Champion and Hall of Famer Her69Eyes.
-Alias' videos were always so aesthetically pleasing. He had a way of creating a beautiful cinematography to his editing, and this is a prime example of that.
-I originally was penciled in to cover the spot that Rev ended up doing with Mick Foley. Do to a drop out or something, things got shuffled around a bit. I'm happy things ended up the way they did though, as Rev turned out a wonderful section with some awesome long cross fades. I originally edited this section with Roddy Piper - and it wasn't as good as this Foley section.
-AD's section was by far the most underrated of this whole video. Those heavy beats leading into my Ric Flair section not only set me up perfectly to cap things off, but remain some of my favorite editing to this day. Just pure, simple, flawless editing leading to the buildup of the song. Really fantastic work here!
-I don't have any great revelations about my Flair section ending everything. I was pleasantly overwhelmed by the response it got, and I was just happy to have contributed to something that so many people enjoyed. The one thing I always think of when watching it though was how much Bob hated "the greatest" text that I tacked on the end of my section. In retrospect, he was right.
It is my absolute pleasure to induct Project Weezer as the second ever MV honored into The MV Zone Hall of Fame! Special thanks to PureOxygen, ltown[beej], HJASkater, Tinof23, Tigerkid, ltownbob, xSynyster, SSPress, Alias, Revolution, Awesome Dude, and myself for coming together to create something truly unique - a video that has stood the test of time, and has spawned so many others that came after. This video is a beautiful summation of what The MV Zone is all about!