Скачать или смотреть PMV | Duel (2nd Place In "Drama" at The 2023 HarmonyCon PMV Contest)

This newest PMV of mine, which is my entry for the Drama category at the 2023 HarmonyCon PMV contest is also a milestone for me as it's my 20th one!
This PMV, using the title track of a 2018 album by a unique band from Finland named Onségen Ensemble, was my attempt to produce a dramatic audiovisual story from a rich graphically cinematical and conceptual point of view.
Even though this isn't perfect, as this could have benefited from more time to uplift the production and polish some of the more sloppier parts of this...
I think that this PMV was able to still shine as a great one for this contest;
My editing, production values and attention to details stand strong in order to give life to this dramatic story.

Talking about the story featured in this PMV, it is about a dramatic progression of the history of Equestria, which almost ends where it begins.
The video is book-ended by these two contrasted "deserts", one representing the dawn of the lore and the latter picturing the eternal night of the end of times in Equestria,
all setting the tone for the middle and main part of the PMV;
All of this evolves with the help of some contrasted editing and production, thus also reflecting a theme of duality...
Progressively and dramatically, this mid part features the evolving lore of the show from many sources, viewed from specific angles that fitted well the moods of the song
with scenes ranging from the various discoveries and the evolving nature of the light and the dark from moments of voyages through various landscapes and key places.
Eventually, all of this intensely climaxes, at two key points of this video, for the choruses sections;
Clearly featuring these duels in question, this is where light and dark fights...
fights that may lead Equestria down to the depths of desolation, as if friendship wasn't able to stop whatever caused it or as if it was never there in the first place...
(I know that this video but mainly the dark ending could lead to a lot of interpretations... Feel free to comment yours down below...)

All of this video would not have come into fruition without this unique and wonderful cinematic song by the talented act that created it.
Onségen Ensemble is a Prog. band that I discovered by chance while searching for Zeuhl bands on Wikipedia (For those who are unaware, Zeuhl is my favorite music genre with Prog. Rock these days).
IMHO, they're like a blend of many kinds of music including some influences from Prog. bands like Magma (Inventors of the Zeuhl genre and since a few years, my fav. band of all time), King Crimson and Tool but their huge cinematic sound is mostly influenced by the works of Ennio Morricone which also gives them a distinct "Spaghetti Western" flair.
This song should have been used for my EFNW 2022 entry, but in the end I opted to do the Yes song instead...

P.S.: If you want to see the original promo video right from the band (Along with the actual lyrics! I did not have time nor the intent to add typography to my video...) then you can watch it there!:
   • Onségen Ensemble - DUEL (single)  

Finally,
this PMV had to be one of if not the most cursed and stressful one I had to make.
This was mainly made in less than a month and I had a lot of work that needed to be done for this a few days before the deadline and along with this, cursed technical problems also showed up at deadline day almost making me unable to participate in this contest in the first place!
This is when a miracle happened...
Thanks to his generosity, Soniccrew gave a window for late submissions and I had a bonus day to work on this to add the finishing touches and the most needed color grading to this video, all to help me to send my entry in time!
But this all goes to say that I never want to live such a stressful end to a project again!

For my upcoming PMV's, such as the next one that will be most likely released in April or May,
I want to obviously take more time on it to avoid feeling all of this stress and anxiety again...
Moreover, it will be my third lengthiest one and will feature the title track of a legendary album, album that was also highlighted last year (in 2022) for it's major anniversary...
I have already done at least a PMV with this band's music.
If you think that you have guessed the artist and song, then feel free to drop an answer down below!

Thanks for watching,
I hope that you've enjoyed this PMV...
and thanks for being a part of #APMVOdyssey

End of Transmissions.

SONG USED IN THIS PMV:
-"Duel" by Onségen Ensemble off the album Duel (2018)

I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, it is a property of Hasbro Studios
and i also don't own the song by the band Onségen Ensemble

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