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Vividcon 2012 Panel Notes Part 1
Here are my panel notes for Vividcon 2012. I did miss the last 15 minutes of the Typography panel due to needing to watch an amazing Game of Thrones vid (sorry). Also I did my best at hearing and typing as accurately as I could but sometimes people had quiet voices or I couldn't type fast enough so these are not perfect transcriptions. If you see something and want it corrected (or credit), feel free to let me know as I'd love for it to be more accurate.
This is part 1 as there was too much great discussion for one post of LJ to handle.
Structure of a Vidshow
-ex. opening clip
-vidshow at its most basic is a mixtape of pictures, theres a flow to it
-Look for vids: vidding community, fanlore with vcr vids, vvc convention database, vvc lj and look through membership list, Youtube
-Narrow down based on theme, can you find better vids that more closely reflect theme, think outside of the box for more specific themes, usually that doesn't happen as they spiral out of control, look for different kinds of vids, diversity of subjects (gene, pairing, character, meta, etc), different kinds of energy, different kinds of songs
-start as obvious as you possibly can, hit audience over the head with the theme, this is what my vidshow is about,
-2nd vid should also be obvious to support the premise, most familiar vids up top, then start going out from there
-start out big, start out strong, high energy at first (as john cusak reminds us), drop the energy after 2-3 vids
-some people like high and low energy vids next to each other, greensilver prefers to ease into and ease out of them, get to a place and then get back to it and the surrounding vids can help with that
-example: Big Emotion show-key was Dante's Prayer, needed to build up to it and then after needed to move on, when people are sobbing in the back row you kind of just need to just go on, then put higher energy vids right after that
-if you have high emotional vids, put them last because theres nowhere else to go example: Dreams (killing a dog) so after that she knew people would need tissues and would try to kill her so had to leave right after
-(big emotion vidshow) started out angry, then downward to dantes prayer, then went through different stages of age with running away, give it up, Polaroid
-make sure the last vid is just as on point with theme
-example: last years challenge: should we close with our own vid? nothing else can top i swear so they were right to end it
-can only use what people give you but its all going to be somewhat similar
-started with vid about vidshow, then went into 80s for awhile
-this shows challenge is transformation…it turns out people have a very deep study of what transformation is, you need to take heavy vids and try out how to show them
-example: Premieres show
-its a submitted show, no theme, need to show everything, we get 30-35, we get a spreadsheet and files, divide up by fantoms (spn), same song used twice: use one in each half, we have two women who kick ass vids, get them away from each other, its a premieres show (not VJ), people haven't seen vids before so want to give each vid a chance to shine
-start our structure with, is there anything thats definitely going to end the show, we usually will agree on last, great vid, a great way to end the show, fit the zeitgeist of the year, nothing can follow that vid
-no super obscure fantoms this year, no one else has seen, we want to spread those out from each other because the whole premise of vidding is we see shows that we know and love, we start strong and big, start lighter, ex. muppet show, next vid is strong and upbeat (usually great if not), after that is alchemy and experience, balance for fandom (comedy) and song, there is a flow to these things, aren't too jarring, sometimes impossible to avoid that
-will defend may i suggest for being last before intermission last year
-any vid over 5 minutes goes in the first half, take in consideration peoples mood, we take it into consideration, more serious vids in first half
-for second half, we start light, we want to grab their attention straight away, third to last we want to get people back into a happy mood with happy sherlock vid with popular fandom, last vid was particularly relevant
-example: Club Vivid
-cvv is totally different, i want to keep people on the dance floor, people stay on for song or fandom, they want more of the same, i put things together
-overall structure: disc three is mostly cheesy vids, best appreciated under the influence, sober stage might not sing along, often 80s or 70s, cheesy 90s, slower is good with tiredness
-disc 1 is the song for now, cant have a whole disc of britney (can you?), disc 2 is real dance music, real rock music, 80s new wave goes towards the end of disc 2, energetic stuff is disc1, disc 2 is coming and going with own personal taste, put the vids of people who are friends next to each other as they dance together
-i vet to a small degree the songs, not square dance, really long, etc, really hard to put together all the songs are the same or different (???), a problem if we get a lot of vids (about 60 vids usually)
-i need to support the premiering vids while making time for old favorites (usually most on disc 3), use old vids to properly segue, need to show the vid at some point so need to build up for followup
-i like to start a vid thats in the spirit of club vivid, high energy, well known, vids that wouldn't work in the middle of a vidshow ex. i got a feeling it needs to open as it has a beginning without much of a beat, didn't want to interrupt the dance flow too much
-i will put two smallville vids together, not doing comparisons, want to see all smallville vids together, i do small themes
-i cut off beginnings/endings to make sure theres always music, i opened up with let's go crazy so didn't cut off beginning
-use a mix of fandoms but sometimes leave them out (legend of the seeker)
-like songs with music that has two different kinds of genres ex. Good with Hairspray has both rock and pop so gets used a lot for segues
-try to put suggestions in as much as i can unless they really wouldn't work
-openers for disc 2/3, i try to do familiar vid to get people back into the room, lot of modern pop this year…acapella opening, then the beat comes in, all the structure is the same, it worked out fine because i put them all in the right place, can be a challenge though with the slow build, we like builds because we like to vid it
-not usually criticisms but once i did 1 rap vid and someone said there was too much rap music in the vid show…
-generally an audience for most stuff, theres 30 vids i need to fill in the gaps as its tough but its fun to play around with
-big builds at the end, 3 or 4 vids at the end with popular vids and songs, end strong, sometimes repetition but it can be fine, but people still love it
-CVV vids is great for vidshows because they haven't really been watched, good openers and closers
-Festivids is a good source with a lot of new fandoms and new videos and theres not too many people who've watched EVERYTHING, also many are short, themed shows draw heavily from them, we have a lot more vidshows that are close to 45 minute mark because of short videos
-try to use vidders who haven't shown vids or vids that have not been shown that much
-i made a vidshow with peaks and valleys but i try to connect them next to each other, did a Shakespeare vid and next vid was working behind the scenes of a shakespeare vid
-also a good source is amv.org with good quality and newer vids
-try to put in some older stuff, sometimes vcr or early 2000s so its not all from last year, a lot of people haven't seen them
-got a vcr vid rec and just heard song and used it then, asked Gwyn, greensilver, melina for help with getting/finding older vids
-how much do you watch a vidshow? many many many times, watch for structure, watch it on tv, crap this sucks, then have to restructure, rearranging for flow, middle goes through money revisions
-at first we didn't get to see the vids for premieres, only the song/fandom, we don't have a lot of time, no time to second guess for premieres, cant watch whole show
-for cvv, put all vids in timeline in video editing program, sometimes put the same vid in both discs
-nearly new: unlike premieres, people have seen them all before, we get multiple submissions, use order of preference, sometimes use #2 choice if theres not enough time or widely vidded vid or high energy vid, put overall good of show first, i tend to backload, after being there an hour and half so i put it the amazing long vid towards the end and i try to end with high energy, more high energy vids please!
-premieres: 2nd choice comes into play, we may come and ask if we can show the other instead because of shorter, fandom fits better
-i love getting premiering vids for themed show but sometimes have to say no, its fun to work with the vidder
-this year the deadline for themed shows was longer to get more premiering vids in themed shows, make sure you have solid backups for premieres so can still put them somewhere else, please submit vidshows
WIP It Good
-What is a WIP? (kuwdora slide): Pre-vidding, outline/storyboarding, grubwork, timeline, distribution
Types of Wips
-active vid projects for self
-vids made for others (feasts, auction, gifts)
-hopeful WIPs-once abandoned, may finish
-amnesty WIPS-abandoned once and for all
Outlining/Storyboarding:
-if they do it, people do their own particular way (picture of im so heavy by kick)
-some people keep notebooks, obsessive24 has a notebook she works in, pastes it up on a wall, heresluck did a scan of her superstar notes, very much lyric oriented
-ex for thingswithwings, eruthos for yuletide vid3: lists of things to look for (doors, artsy sex scene, long and involved process for multisource vid
-people who use tables from microsoft word or excel, time, music/lyrics, themes/mood, clips column to know what to pull from
-found freemind from vidpub forums, need enough structure before get clips into timeline
-people like lim who post after effects shortcuts that remind them of what she wanted to do with rising sun
-some people don't do it all
Gruntwork
-varied levels of engagement with source
-rewatching vs. fast forwarding
-clipping vs. pulling directly from source to timeline
-clipping methodologies
-clip database: write down every thing you will need with timestamps, description, character, scene, movement, spend less time searching for it
-clipping semantics: wouldn't be able to find anything with random names, needed better names, with episode name, character name and action works for me
-clip markers: can mark music change, or mark where you want to put something dramatic
How/Why We get Stuck:
-loss of squee and motivation, jossed, fail causes disinterest or it gets cancelled
-technical hurdles, software mucks up, cant export, hard drive failure
-narrative hurdles, trying to figure out what its going
-emotional blockage (I suck syndrome), why we decide to spend 6 months on 3 minutes
-having to wait for source: cam rips, wait for new season
-deadlines: lot of pressure, panic, brain shuts down
-lack of support
How to Move Forward
-evolve into a new process: navelgaze, can we change something so we can move forward, unblock
-seek out support: easier said, don't want to show wips around, they're embarrassing, they don't make sense, it can help to have someone who understands vidding, acknowledge pain and encourage, get beta or cheerleader
-posted one of my wips: someones like, i cant wait to concrit this , people able to reach out and contact someone, i hear you like this obscure movie, im going to vid this, having one person who acknowledges this is an awesome idea can be difference between never finishing a vid and posting it
-put aside for a resting period, then revisit: can build up so you have a lot of vids
-deadlines can light fires, can make sure that person gets that vid, not wanting to be that person, depends on how youre feeling with the vid, other personal things or work can get in the way
-start a new project
-overhaul vid concept: change song, concept, remove all the clips, agonizing to lose the clips, hard to tear away but may provide an answer and make it better
-showing of WIP, absolutedestiny Xena vid: maybe needs to find someone who loves Xena, wants to do rewatch, take it piece by piece to reapproach it again
-cut stuff out of songs to make it easier to finish
-showing of WIP: kiki_miserychic -teenwolf: waiting for s2 to finish, it was eating away and her and driving her crazy so needed to get it out of her head, she has to work out some tech issues
-greensilver Highlander WIP: lost hard drive with clip database so not happening, funny text standing in for clips for what we will have
-beccatoria couldnt find anyone who liked Mass Effect, audience of 1 was biggest problem, video game source made it hard for tech to create a narrative, isolating experience, made me frustrated on her behalf: Machine, how'd anyone who hasn’t seen it be able to understand it
-kuwdora's Wip: step up, havent rewatched stargate universe while I know sg-1 well, not sure how to fit theme to parallel High Voltage vid, need to spend time rewatching and dont have the energy to rewatch over and over, know im going to finish because its in my heart
Do You Vid Your Myers-Brigg?
-vidders/fandom tend to be INTJ, IN especially
-showing: Circles by Laura Shapiro
-extrovert: favorite point when music first kicks in, it energizes me, people leave and im like where the hell youre going, I notice the shift in energy
-focus shifting between composition between narrative and composition, very circular, change in the middle focusing on content, I want to see more choreography (between E/I NTP)
-as a T, the patterns are really really attractive to me
-as an ENFP, its difficult to connect with, trying to make connections and trying to follow whats going on, once it was explained I was like ahh, I like to know my connections
-the turning the backs, both E and F are strongly people oriented closed jarrow off but also confuses the F's
-as a fairly strong F, it opens with Leo's face, see the gravity of Leo's face, hooks me right in, dont have to know the details to get, thats the moment I come into it
-ISTP, I love this vid, I love the patterns, the small concrete elements appeals, the music changes
-INTP/J: I know the source, I love the patterns, I love the different voices, the way the music for each of these gives me source and temperament, makes me think of peter and the wolf, one of the more interesting things is (after betaing), when I beta, I look at a vid differently vs looking at as a viewer, I get so caught up in the minutiae as a beta, that things that look at problems as a viewer, theyre gone
-strongly N, loved it, reason why I can come up with the big idea of what its about, I had a sentence of what its about, it helped make me really love it
-analyze, analyze, analyze all the way through, saw everything that was going on with the circles and metaphorical circles and saw that it was extremely well done so the first part of me goes “that was very well done)
-FJ: everytime I go through, I dont know whats going on, and now I think wow
-FJ: it leaves so much left early, im not exactly sure what its saying
-INTJ: not the kind of vid I normally watch, 10 seconds in, didn’t want to require to figure out whats going on, see hes frustrated, shes pissed off, etc, casting them in emotional roles but I didn’t know what was going on, I distanced myself off
-INTJ, no idea whether I vid it, I find it interesting that some INTJ's didn’t respond to it (not true-some did like)
-INFJ: choreography is so cool, then john spencer came up and was sad, now back to choreography
-S most of the time: working from bottom, that clip did this, then that clip did this so I have to pull up to find what the vids saying as a whole, beta vs. watcher, in life I approach as IT vs. EF for fandom for characters
-strongly I and T, talking generally, one of the things I like about vidding is that it lets me do more F stuff, I love the thinky but vids let me do other stuff
-ENTP/ENFP: I miss the trees for the forest, see a lot of big pictures, minutia that supports
-Strong NF: I find it interesting for the one sentence thesis statement, I care less about what its trying to say versus what it feels
-NF: I vid more analytically, it allows me to go to a more thinky place, I dont vid from an emotional place most of the time, whats this line doing, clipping feels more technical than emotional, I make less “this character and your face!”
-get frustrated because I cant recognize the details and patterns
-I was the N person who liked to think about the big picture
-ENFJ: I have no WIPs because im hardcore J, I need to finish it, more scared to start something
-very analytical, invested in theme, by far the best reactions when I trust intuition, when I just go with emotion
-ENTP: inventors and the weirdo, okay that works, invent something that hasn’t been done before, a lot of people work with the F but my vids are vids that dont make people feel but more the concept, more of the technical appreciation for it
-Very strong J, make the clips and then make the vid, clipped almost the entire thing, then I realized I could import everything in
-my T: some of my vids are only a thought process and some are a very deeply emotional place, I have to be really brainy when im really in the process, I need to say something, sometimes I accidentally get emo about the process, ill put clips together and have a feeling and need to go away
-J's tend to be linear or strong plan for one way
-strong J: I get terrified at the clipping, too much to handle it
-very strong T's: I find emotionally, the most important thing that has to be right is timing
-very strong J: I will get 10x the clips that I need, I had about half of the entire season and had to go through linear timeline to put down one by one
-INTJ: going to express this badly, I do best work when I tap into my Fness, it is a hard thing because you want to have emotional reaction, I made logical narratives and theyve gotten a more emotional reaction
-dont have to make a vid for anyone else, dont need to look at this as how will other people will look at it and react, if you are a strong T, you dont have to access the F, a strong emotional vid is not a bad vid nor a strong intellectual one, its how you look at the world
-if you get stuck, find a vid partner that complements you, its reassuring to have someone who vids like you, being an S, I get caught in little sections versus the big picture
-consider how people react to their vids in terms of their myers-briggs, they approached it a different way
-intp: how do I make a vid thats exactly me and make sure everyone else adores it?
Vid Your Id
-Id: The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primal processes can manifest
-the Superego is the enemy of vidding...
-the ego is your personality structure, your defenses
-Free your mind and the rest will follow...great philosophers said this
-make the vid that you freaking want, gut vidding, spew it forth, birth is never a nice clean process, sometimes it gets messy and you can fix them later, get it out there
-its so important because we were discussing our process because I connect really emotionally to what im putting whats on the timeline and if I dont connect, I just go away, I find an audience because if it gets to me pure and true then it will get to others
-i need channing tatum crying on the beach and then I need to him be electrocuted then others will be right there with me
-its okay to make 30 stargate vids before you branch out
-was there shame in making on the prowl? There was no shame
-there was going to be a religious section but its was so bad id be excommunicated from my church and we dont do excommunication...people had to pull us back
-you have shame for a song but then I say fuck it and do it, LKBV helped make it acceptable
-this song would be so perfect...but im too ashamed to vid, I cant vid this song again
-after I swear, I will never have shame again, it took the bar down so low
-its the ultimate id vid, you know that part of the vid is dualbunny's vid because dualbunny doesnt give birth to a baby but a catbaby, if he just gave birth to a baby it wouldn’t be so sad..if dualbunny could give birth to cats she would
-acting classes: you have to do a lot of exercises to get rid of your self-consciousness, free yourself so can inhabit roles more fully
-I Swear, LKBV: was there no point where you knew everyone was going laugh and not get emo?
-Dualbunny: Lex needs to get Clark pregnant and then it’ll be a kitten but she had never watched Smallville
-Greensilver had to vid her id (only one to see SV), they had to get married first
-Vid premiere: Nice and Slow-XMFC
-how many phallic symbols were there in there?
-XMFC is a source that really gives...
-being serious about something versus being funny about it, you can sincerely want to wallow in it and yet you still know its funny, its part of the joy of what you want, joyfully indulge in this with...
-theyre certainly feeling something (Greensilver)
-Greensilver vids a lot to get over that, she vids it again and again because she loves them and they love each other in many different ways
-i read that vid as meta about greensilver's vids
-I can't vid without emotion, it felts stilted if im not connecting with it, its great with festivids when you connect with someone who also wants that but afraid to not connect with what they want
-24 hour Haven challenge, we didn’t have time to be critical, you free it, I have an excuse, allow you to vid manpain (nathan had to cry on the beach), silly challenge with limited time frame takes off the change
-Id vids tend to show up in LKBV, little challenges...CVV is another place thats id centric, premieres is less id, I want to look very smart, premieres is our oscars
-who else has said, its going in CVV, it doesnt need to make sense from here to here
-historically with vcr vids, there were unwritten rules, people tended to react negativity to songs that were not a typical vidsong or very tech proficient, feelings were what most people did, tapes were going out to other people so you wanted to connect with them, dichotomy between living room vid and con vid, more like club vivid, shiny, everyone can enjoy and react to
-We've seen a progression from This Is My Vid for this year, people will judge me for this and people will judge me from this forever
-you feel naked sometimes, youre okay if its funny, I can look at myself and indulge myself, some things are so real, other people watching can make you feel uncomfortable especially if there are other people watching it with you and other people are going to say things about your vid but theyre also talking about You.
-Gloria, lesbian robots typically id vids..people approached it on both levels of id and intellectual
-vids that do well are id vids ex. Alone, I approached that vid from conversation with friends, arthur has hidden depths and he knows about merlin's magical powers, I got a huge response and im very proud of that vid
-relationship between id vidding and drama, mostly ship vids are id (or Angel character vid)
-i think theres a pelvic connection to many id vids
-eye candy id vids, I made a Duncan vid to Steam and it was “he's hot when hes wet”
-I vidded psychedelic because that was what I was going through so I vidded it even if no one got it (Lum)
-I made a vid tonight for CVV, you guys I love space vids so much thats an id vid
-the math vid, narrow escape (examples of non ship id vids)
-by the end of bitchin party fic id panel, people talked about how every fic you write that you connect to in any way, theres not always obvious, interesting way to look at vidding vs. fic, some vids are clearly not about other stuff because its lacking the intellectual, I can explain this this and this, that every vid has some kind of id connection, looking back at why you did can show what your id is doing even if you say this what I was academically doing
-it is difficult to put yourself out there
-2/3 of the vids ive released are for other people, it was much easier to step into someone elses fandom, I vidded this elton song to rocky and it was easy, instinctual, are you going to kill him? Well yes, ian pushed back and I knew I had to do it, its easier for other people to let go
-i dont always vid my id, every vid that wasnt from my id was made for someone else, yes if its something only for me
-to the degree I express myself, its about expressing something about a character that I relate to, if im directing a play, I have to love all the characters, villains, broken, etc, I need to understand what makes them tick, its not this is me, its what is it connecting me to this person except for my premiere vid tomorrow
-my vids are nothing but my id and then made a vid making fun of a fandom with my heart will go on and it was popular...
- think the channeling metaphor is very important, need the thing of least resistance, if you have any amount of shame, you will feel pain in the vidding process, you will relive that shame, either this will not work at all or you have to be completely free or you will relive that
-how do we get rid of the shame? ...drugs
-i vidded will wheaton, I put it away, I wanted to do a hilarious song about him, I did just another draft, I was so ashamed, 3 months later I went back and with distance, thats actually really good and you cant quite see my intestines all over the place
-as that premiere deadline gets closer, the vid looks better and better
-i offered 80 fandoms and ian said only pick fandoms you KNOW you can do and have a connection to it, when I did my assignment, I was so excited
-if I cant do every character in there, im not doing that festivids
-ill vid my id for festivids and then maybe make another one for them
-now I dont offer everything for auctions, helps the other person, this is what I want, can you make this happen?
-if you ever want to vid Journey...practice, practice practice, not every vid has to be a premieres vid, show it to sisabet if you need it, I actually love vids to Spike set to Evanescence
Typography in Vids
Why use typography?
-give context
-unclear lyrics
-translation
-design element
-point out characters in song, pov
-titles in good vids
-signposts
-dealing with existing type
-funny
-suggesting a theme
-add layers
-author's voice
-kinetic typography
-constructed reality
-re-contextualize
-ex. Sherlock font: Gill Sans (close)
-more casual
-sans serif: letters are actually straight with no lines on it
-serif is used more often (tails), it makes it easier to read to follow baseline
-sans serif is more modern which is why it looks more casual
-it looks mid-century because thats when the font was used
-Example font: Trajan (Clash of the Titans)
-classic, roman
-ex. Rosewood
-western, circus, wild west
-ex. Garamond
-serif, 18th century, used on labels
-ex. Helvetica
-lack of association
-ex. Akoom
-sci-fi, action, suspense, urban, graffitish
-ex.Sparkly (font diner)
-romantic
-when I look at this font, what kind of feeling do I get, what associations
-kerning: adjusting the space between letters, there can be awkward space in downloaded fonts, eye doesnt like and will distract you
-tracking: spacing of the whole word in text
ex. Universe: condensed
-leading: the space between lines, more or less depending on how much time it takes to read (closer is easier to read)
-ex. Sherlock text: use curly apostrophe!! web tends to use web safe fonts so its usually straight but we have control over it, typographers use curly because its easier on the eye
-ex. “The answer is yes.” -italics, curly apostrophe
-ex. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: industrial, mash
-ex. “” different: tracking makes feel modern (font?)
-varied font sizes seem more fun
-ex. Comedy- welcome to bitchin party 2012
-anti-aliasing, please leave it on or otherwise it looks jagged pixely on screens (smooths edges of font to slightly blur it), also use a .2 gaussian blur
-doesnt seem like the vidder gave much though, we dont care because its a comedy, could have been funnier with a funnier font
-title safe: those are the boxes, turn it on as a preference, dont want anything close to the edge because it can be cut off
-ex. Disarm by obsessive24
-Harry Potter font, know immediately, iconic to the source
-ex. Supernatural vid: roses with text
-typography sells idea better than the actual source does
-the care that was taken to flow so seamlessly with the concept than anything you could do with the clips
-ex. Kinetic Type, weird al song
-new typeface is when we laughed, none of them yet match up to this one (in fandom), “stop forwarding”: fwd are in a different color
-ex. Sherlock vid with dialogue text
-newspaper reinforces, compare those two typography vids, less perfect because the proportion of the typefaces is compositionally weak
(missed last 15 minutes of panel)
This is part 1 as there was too much great discussion for one post of LJ to handle.
Structure of a Vidshow
-ex. opening clip
-vidshow at its most basic is a mixtape of pictures, theres a flow to it
-Look for vids: vidding community, fanlore with vcr vids, vvc convention database, vvc lj and look through membership list, Youtube
-Narrow down based on theme, can you find better vids that more closely reflect theme, think outside of the box for more specific themes, usually that doesn't happen as they spiral out of control, look for different kinds of vids, diversity of subjects (gene, pairing, character, meta, etc), different kinds of energy, different kinds of songs
-start as obvious as you possibly can, hit audience over the head with the theme, this is what my vidshow is about,
-2nd vid should also be obvious to support the premise, most familiar vids up top, then start going out from there
-start out big, start out strong, high energy at first (as john cusak reminds us), drop the energy after 2-3 vids
-some people like high and low energy vids next to each other, greensilver prefers to ease into and ease out of them, get to a place and then get back to it and the surrounding vids can help with that
-example: Big Emotion show-key was Dante's Prayer, needed to build up to it and then after needed to move on, when people are sobbing in the back row you kind of just need to just go on, then put higher energy vids right after that
-if you have high emotional vids, put them last because theres nowhere else to go example: Dreams (killing a dog) so after that she knew people would need tissues and would try to kill her so had to leave right after
-(big emotion vidshow) started out angry, then downward to dantes prayer, then went through different stages of age with running away, give it up, Polaroid
-make sure the last vid is just as on point with theme
-example: last years challenge: should we close with our own vid? nothing else can top i swear so they were right to end it
-can only use what people give you but its all going to be somewhat similar
-started with vid about vidshow, then went into 80s for awhile
-this shows challenge is transformation…it turns out people have a very deep study of what transformation is, you need to take heavy vids and try out how to show them
-example: Premieres show
-its a submitted show, no theme, need to show everything, we get 30-35, we get a spreadsheet and files, divide up by fantoms (spn), same song used twice: use one in each half, we have two women who kick ass vids, get them away from each other, its a premieres show (not VJ), people haven't seen vids before so want to give each vid a chance to shine
-start our structure with, is there anything thats definitely going to end the show, we usually will agree on last, great vid, a great way to end the show, fit the zeitgeist of the year, nothing can follow that vid
-no super obscure fantoms this year, no one else has seen, we want to spread those out from each other because the whole premise of vidding is we see shows that we know and love, we start strong and big, start lighter, ex. muppet show, next vid is strong and upbeat (usually great if not), after that is alchemy and experience, balance for fandom (comedy) and song, there is a flow to these things, aren't too jarring, sometimes impossible to avoid that
-will defend may i suggest for being last before intermission last year
-any vid over 5 minutes goes in the first half, take in consideration peoples mood, we take it into consideration, more serious vids in first half
-for second half, we start light, we want to grab their attention straight away, third to last we want to get people back into a happy mood with happy sherlock vid with popular fandom, last vid was particularly relevant
-example: Club Vivid
-cvv is totally different, i want to keep people on the dance floor, people stay on for song or fandom, they want more of the same, i put things together
-overall structure: disc three is mostly cheesy vids, best appreciated under the influence, sober stage might not sing along, often 80s or 70s, cheesy 90s, slower is good with tiredness
-disc 1 is the song for now, cant have a whole disc of britney (can you?), disc 2 is real dance music, real rock music, 80s new wave goes towards the end of disc 2, energetic stuff is disc1, disc 2 is coming and going with own personal taste, put the vids of people who are friends next to each other as they dance together
-i vet to a small degree the songs, not square dance, really long, etc, really hard to put together all the songs are the same or different (???), a problem if we get a lot of vids (about 60 vids usually)
-i need to support the premiering vids while making time for old favorites (usually most on disc 3), use old vids to properly segue, need to show the vid at some point so need to build up for followup
-i like to start a vid thats in the spirit of club vivid, high energy, well known, vids that wouldn't work in the middle of a vidshow ex. i got a feeling it needs to open as it has a beginning without much of a beat, didn't want to interrupt the dance flow too much
-i will put two smallville vids together, not doing comparisons, want to see all smallville vids together, i do small themes
-i cut off beginnings/endings to make sure theres always music, i opened up with let's go crazy so didn't cut off beginning
-use a mix of fandoms but sometimes leave them out (legend of the seeker)
-like songs with music that has two different kinds of genres ex. Good with Hairspray has both rock and pop so gets used a lot for segues
-try to put suggestions in as much as i can unless they really wouldn't work
-openers for disc 2/3, i try to do familiar vid to get people back into the room, lot of modern pop this year…acapella opening, then the beat comes in, all the structure is the same, it worked out fine because i put them all in the right place, can be a challenge though with the slow build, we like builds because we like to vid it
-not usually criticisms but once i did 1 rap vid and someone said there was too much rap music in the vid show…
-generally an audience for most stuff, theres 30 vids i need to fill in the gaps as its tough but its fun to play around with
-big builds at the end, 3 or 4 vids at the end with popular vids and songs, end strong, sometimes repetition but it can be fine, but people still love it
-CVV vids is great for vidshows because they haven't really been watched, good openers and closers
-Festivids is a good source with a lot of new fandoms and new videos and theres not too many people who've watched EVERYTHING, also many are short, themed shows draw heavily from them, we have a lot more vidshows that are close to 45 minute mark because of short videos
-try to use vidders who haven't shown vids or vids that have not been shown that much
-i made a vidshow with peaks and valleys but i try to connect them next to each other, did a Shakespeare vid and next vid was working behind the scenes of a shakespeare vid
-also a good source is amv.org with good quality and newer vids
-try to put in some older stuff, sometimes vcr or early 2000s so its not all from last year, a lot of people haven't seen them
-got a vcr vid rec and just heard song and used it then, asked Gwyn, greensilver, melina for help with getting/finding older vids
-how much do you watch a vidshow? many many many times, watch for structure, watch it on tv, crap this sucks, then have to restructure, rearranging for flow, middle goes through money revisions
-at first we didn't get to see the vids for premieres, only the song/fandom, we don't have a lot of time, no time to second guess for premieres, cant watch whole show
-for cvv, put all vids in timeline in video editing program, sometimes put the same vid in both discs
-nearly new: unlike premieres, people have seen them all before, we get multiple submissions, use order of preference, sometimes use #2 choice if theres not enough time or widely vidded vid or high energy vid, put overall good of show first, i tend to backload, after being there an hour and half so i put it the amazing long vid towards the end and i try to end with high energy, more high energy vids please!
-premieres: 2nd choice comes into play, we may come and ask if we can show the other instead because of shorter, fandom fits better
-i love getting premiering vids for themed show but sometimes have to say no, its fun to work with the vidder
-this year the deadline for themed shows was longer to get more premiering vids in themed shows, make sure you have solid backups for premieres so can still put them somewhere else, please submit vidshows
WIP It Good
-What is a WIP? (kuwdora slide): Pre-vidding, outline/storyboarding, grubwork, timeline, distribution
Types of Wips
-active vid projects for self
-vids made for others (feasts, auction, gifts)
-hopeful WIPs-once abandoned, may finish
-amnesty WIPS-abandoned once and for all
Outlining/Storyboarding:
-if they do it, people do their own particular way (picture of im so heavy by kick)
-some people keep notebooks, obsessive24 has a notebook she works in, pastes it up on a wall, heresluck did a scan of her superstar notes, very much lyric oriented
-ex for thingswithwings, eruthos for yuletide vid3: lists of things to look for (doors, artsy sex scene, long and involved process for multisource vid
-people who use tables from microsoft word or excel, time, music/lyrics, themes/mood, clips column to know what to pull from
-found freemind from vidpub forums, need enough structure before get clips into timeline
-people like lim who post after effects shortcuts that remind them of what she wanted to do with rising sun
-some people don't do it all
Gruntwork
-varied levels of engagement with source
-rewatching vs. fast forwarding
-clipping vs. pulling directly from source to timeline
-clipping methodologies
-clip database: write down every thing you will need with timestamps, description, character, scene, movement, spend less time searching for it
-clipping semantics: wouldn't be able to find anything with random names, needed better names, with episode name, character name and action works for me
-clip markers: can mark music change, or mark where you want to put something dramatic
How/Why We get Stuck:
-loss of squee and motivation, jossed, fail causes disinterest or it gets cancelled
-technical hurdles, software mucks up, cant export, hard drive failure
-narrative hurdles, trying to figure out what its going
-emotional blockage (I suck syndrome), why we decide to spend 6 months on 3 minutes
-having to wait for source: cam rips, wait for new season
-deadlines: lot of pressure, panic, brain shuts down
-lack of support
How to Move Forward
-evolve into a new process: navelgaze, can we change something so we can move forward, unblock
-seek out support: easier said, don't want to show wips around, they're embarrassing, they don't make sense, it can help to have someone who understands vidding, acknowledge pain and encourage, get beta or cheerleader
-posted one of my wips: someones like, i cant wait to concrit this , people able to reach out and contact someone, i hear you like this obscure movie, im going to vid this, having one person who acknowledges this is an awesome idea can be difference between never finishing a vid and posting it
-put aside for a resting period, then revisit: can build up so you have a lot of vids
-deadlines can light fires, can make sure that person gets that vid, not wanting to be that person, depends on how youre feeling with the vid, other personal things or work can get in the way
-start a new project
-overhaul vid concept: change song, concept, remove all the clips, agonizing to lose the clips, hard to tear away but may provide an answer and make it better
-showing of WIP, absolutedestiny Xena vid: maybe needs to find someone who loves Xena, wants to do rewatch, take it piece by piece to reapproach it again
-cut stuff out of songs to make it easier to finish
-showing of WIP: kiki_miserychic -teenwolf: waiting for s2 to finish, it was eating away and her and driving her crazy so needed to get it out of her head, she has to work out some tech issues
-greensilver Highlander WIP: lost hard drive with clip database so not happening, funny text standing in for clips for what we will have
-beccatoria couldnt find anyone who liked Mass Effect, audience of 1 was biggest problem, video game source made it hard for tech to create a narrative, isolating experience, made me frustrated on her behalf: Machine, how'd anyone who hasn’t seen it be able to understand it
-kuwdora's Wip: step up, havent rewatched stargate universe while I know sg-1 well, not sure how to fit theme to parallel High Voltage vid, need to spend time rewatching and dont have the energy to rewatch over and over, know im going to finish because its in my heart
Do You Vid Your Myers-Brigg?
-vidders/fandom tend to be INTJ, IN especially
-showing: Circles by Laura Shapiro
-extrovert: favorite point when music first kicks in, it energizes me, people leave and im like where the hell youre going, I notice the shift in energy
-focus shifting between composition between narrative and composition, very circular, change in the middle focusing on content, I want to see more choreography (between E/I NTP)
-as a T, the patterns are really really attractive to me
-as an ENFP, its difficult to connect with, trying to make connections and trying to follow whats going on, once it was explained I was like ahh, I like to know my connections
-the turning the backs, both E and F are strongly people oriented closed jarrow off but also confuses the F's
-as a fairly strong F, it opens with Leo's face, see the gravity of Leo's face, hooks me right in, dont have to know the details to get, thats the moment I come into it
-ISTP, I love this vid, I love the patterns, the small concrete elements appeals, the music changes
-INTP/J: I know the source, I love the patterns, I love the different voices, the way the music for each of these gives me source and temperament, makes me think of peter and the wolf, one of the more interesting things is (after betaing), when I beta, I look at a vid differently vs looking at as a viewer, I get so caught up in the minutiae as a beta, that things that look at problems as a viewer, theyre gone
-strongly N, loved it, reason why I can come up with the big idea of what its about, I had a sentence of what its about, it helped make me really love it
-analyze, analyze, analyze all the way through, saw everything that was going on with the circles and metaphorical circles and saw that it was extremely well done so the first part of me goes “that was very well done)
-FJ: everytime I go through, I dont know whats going on, and now I think wow
-FJ: it leaves so much left early, im not exactly sure what its saying
-INTJ: not the kind of vid I normally watch, 10 seconds in, didn’t want to require to figure out whats going on, see hes frustrated, shes pissed off, etc, casting them in emotional roles but I didn’t know what was going on, I distanced myself off
-INTJ, no idea whether I vid it, I find it interesting that some INTJ's didn’t respond to it (not true-some did like)
-INFJ: choreography is so cool, then john spencer came up and was sad, now back to choreography
-S most of the time: working from bottom, that clip did this, then that clip did this so I have to pull up to find what the vids saying as a whole, beta vs. watcher, in life I approach as IT vs. EF for fandom for characters
-strongly I and T, talking generally, one of the things I like about vidding is that it lets me do more F stuff, I love the thinky but vids let me do other stuff
-ENTP/ENFP: I miss the trees for the forest, see a lot of big pictures, minutia that supports
-Strong NF: I find it interesting for the one sentence thesis statement, I care less about what its trying to say versus what it feels
-NF: I vid more analytically, it allows me to go to a more thinky place, I dont vid from an emotional place most of the time, whats this line doing, clipping feels more technical than emotional, I make less “this character and your face!”
-get frustrated because I cant recognize the details and patterns
-I was the N person who liked to think about the big picture
-ENFJ: I have no WIPs because im hardcore J, I need to finish it, more scared to start something
-very analytical, invested in theme, by far the best reactions when I trust intuition, when I just go with emotion
-ENTP: inventors and the weirdo, okay that works, invent something that hasn’t been done before, a lot of people work with the F but my vids are vids that dont make people feel but more the concept, more of the technical appreciation for it
-Very strong J, make the clips and then make the vid, clipped almost the entire thing, then I realized I could import everything in
-my T: some of my vids are only a thought process and some are a very deeply emotional place, I have to be really brainy when im really in the process, I need to say something, sometimes I accidentally get emo about the process, ill put clips together and have a feeling and need to go away
-J's tend to be linear or strong plan for one way
-strong J: I get terrified at the clipping, too much to handle it
-very strong T's: I find emotionally, the most important thing that has to be right is timing
-very strong J: I will get 10x the clips that I need, I had about half of the entire season and had to go through linear timeline to put down one by one
-INTJ: going to express this badly, I do best work when I tap into my Fness, it is a hard thing because you want to have emotional reaction, I made logical narratives and theyve gotten a more emotional reaction
-dont have to make a vid for anyone else, dont need to look at this as how will other people will look at it and react, if you are a strong T, you dont have to access the F, a strong emotional vid is not a bad vid nor a strong intellectual one, its how you look at the world
-if you get stuck, find a vid partner that complements you, its reassuring to have someone who vids like you, being an S, I get caught in little sections versus the big picture
-consider how people react to their vids in terms of their myers-briggs, they approached it a different way
-intp: how do I make a vid thats exactly me and make sure everyone else adores it?
Vid Your Id
-Id: The part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primal processes can manifest
-the Superego is the enemy of vidding...
-the ego is your personality structure, your defenses
-Free your mind and the rest will follow...great philosophers said this
-make the vid that you freaking want, gut vidding, spew it forth, birth is never a nice clean process, sometimes it gets messy and you can fix them later, get it out there
-its so important because we were discussing our process because I connect really emotionally to what im putting whats on the timeline and if I dont connect, I just go away, I find an audience because if it gets to me pure and true then it will get to others
-i need channing tatum crying on the beach and then I need to him be electrocuted then others will be right there with me
-its okay to make 30 stargate vids before you branch out
-was there shame in making on the prowl? There was no shame
-there was going to be a religious section but its was so bad id be excommunicated from my church and we dont do excommunication...people had to pull us back
-you have shame for a song but then I say fuck it and do it, LKBV helped make it acceptable
-this song would be so perfect...but im too ashamed to vid, I cant vid this song again
-after I swear, I will never have shame again, it took the bar down so low
-its the ultimate id vid, you know that part of the vid is dualbunny's vid because dualbunny doesnt give birth to a baby but a catbaby, if he just gave birth to a baby it wouldn’t be so sad..if dualbunny could give birth to cats she would
-acting classes: you have to do a lot of exercises to get rid of your self-consciousness, free yourself so can inhabit roles more fully
-I Swear, LKBV: was there no point where you knew everyone was going laugh and not get emo?
-Dualbunny: Lex needs to get Clark pregnant and then it’ll be a kitten but she had never watched Smallville
-Greensilver had to vid her id (only one to see SV), they had to get married first
-Vid premiere: Nice and Slow-XMFC
-how many phallic symbols were there in there?
-XMFC is a source that really gives...
-being serious about something versus being funny about it, you can sincerely want to wallow in it and yet you still know its funny, its part of the joy of what you want, joyfully indulge in this with...
-theyre certainly feeling something (Greensilver)
-Greensilver vids a lot to get over that, she vids it again and again because she loves them and they love each other in many different ways
-i read that vid as meta about greensilver's vids
-I can't vid without emotion, it felts stilted if im not connecting with it, its great with festivids when you connect with someone who also wants that but afraid to not connect with what they want
-24 hour Haven challenge, we didn’t have time to be critical, you free it, I have an excuse, allow you to vid manpain (nathan had to cry on the beach), silly challenge with limited time frame takes off the change
-Id vids tend to show up in LKBV, little challenges...CVV is another place thats id centric, premieres is less id, I want to look very smart, premieres is our oscars
-who else has said, its going in CVV, it doesnt need to make sense from here to here
-historically with vcr vids, there were unwritten rules, people tended to react negativity to songs that were not a typical vidsong or very tech proficient, feelings were what most people did, tapes were going out to other people so you wanted to connect with them, dichotomy between living room vid and con vid, more like club vivid, shiny, everyone can enjoy and react to
-We've seen a progression from This Is My Vid for this year, people will judge me for this and people will judge me from this forever
-you feel naked sometimes, youre okay if its funny, I can look at myself and indulge myself, some things are so real, other people watching can make you feel uncomfortable especially if there are other people watching it with you and other people are going to say things about your vid but theyre also talking about You.
-Gloria, lesbian robots typically id vids..people approached it on both levels of id and intellectual
-vids that do well are id vids ex. Alone, I approached that vid from conversation with friends, arthur has hidden depths and he knows about merlin's magical powers, I got a huge response and im very proud of that vid
-relationship between id vidding and drama, mostly ship vids are id (or Angel character vid)
-i think theres a pelvic connection to many id vids
-eye candy id vids, I made a Duncan vid to Steam and it was “he's hot when hes wet”
-I vidded psychedelic because that was what I was going through so I vidded it even if no one got it (Lum)
-I made a vid tonight for CVV, you guys I love space vids so much thats an id vid
-the math vid, narrow escape (examples of non ship id vids)
-by the end of bitchin party fic id panel, people talked about how every fic you write that you connect to in any way, theres not always obvious, interesting way to look at vidding vs. fic, some vids are clearly not about other stuff because its lacking the intellectual, I can explain this this and this, that every vid has some kind of id connection, looking back at why you did can show what your id is doing even if you say this what I was academically doing
-it is difficult to put yourself out there
-2/3 of the vids ive released are for other people, it was much easier to step into someone elses fandom, I vidded this elton song to rocky and it was easy, instinctual, are you going to kill him? Well yes, ian pushed back and I knew I had to do it, its easier for other people to let go
-i dont always vid my id, every vid that wasnt from my id was made for someone else, yes if its something only for me
-to the degree I express myself, its about expressing something about a character that I relate to, if im directing a play, I have to love all the characters, villains, broken, etc, I need to understand what makes them tick, its not this is me, its what is it connecting me to this person except for my premiere vid tomorrow
-my vids are nothing but my id and then made a vid making fun of a fandom with my heart will go on and it was popular...
- think the channeling metaphor is very important, need the thing of least resistance, if you have any amount of shame, you will feel pain in the vidding process, you will relive that shame, either this will not work at all or you have to be completely free or you will relive that
-how do we get rid of the shame? ...drugs
-i vidded will wheaton, I put it away, I wanted to do a hilarious song about him, I did just another draft, I was so ashamed, 3 months later I went back and with distance, thats actually really good and you cant quite see my intestines all over the place
-as that premiere deadline gets closer, the vid looks better and better
-i offered 80 fandoms and ian said only pick fandoms you KNOW you can do and have a connection to it, when I did my assignment, I was so excited
-if I cant do every character in there, im not doing that festivids
-ill vid my id for festivids and then maybe make another one for them
-now I dont offer everything for auctions, helps the other person, this is what I want, can you make this happen?
-if you ever want to vid Journey...practice, practice practice, not every vid has to be a premieres vid, show it to sisabet if you need it, I actually love vids to Spike set to Evanescence
Typography in Vids
Why use typography?
-give context
-unclear lyrics
-translation
-design element
-point out characters in song, pov
-titles in good vids
-signposts
-dealing with existing type
-funny
-suggesting a theme
-add layers
-author's voice
-kinetic typography
-constructed reality
-re-contextualize
-ex. Sherlock font: Gill Sans (close)
-more casual
-sans serif: letters are actually straight with no lines on it
-serif is used more often (tails), it makes it easier to read to follow baseline
-sans serif is more modern which is why it looks more casual
-it looks mid-century because thats when the font was used
-Example font: Trajan (Clash of the Titans)
-classic, roman
-ex. Rosewood
-western, circus, wild west
-ex. Garamond
-serif, 18th century, used on labels
-ex. Helvetica
-lack of association
-ex. Akoom
-sci-fi, action, suspense, urban, graffitish
-ex.Sparkly (font diner)
-romantic
-when I look at this font, what kind of feeling do I get, what associations
-kerning: adjusting the space between letters, there can be awkward space in downloaded fonts, eye doesnt like and will distract you
-tracking: spacing of the whole word in text
ex. Universe: condensed
-leading: the space between lines, more or less depending on how much time it takes to read (closer is easier to read)
-ex. Sherlock text: use curly apostrophe!! web tends to use web safe fonts so its usually straight but we have control over it, typographers use curly because its easier on the eye
-ex. “The answer is yes.” -italics, curly apostrophe
-ex. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: industrial, mash
-ex. “” different: tracking makes feel modern (font?)
-varied font sizes seem more fun
-ex. Comedy- welcome to bitchin party 2012
-anti-aliasing, please leave it on or otherwise it looks jagged pixely on screens (smooths edges of font to slightly blur it), also use a .2 gaussian blur
-doesnt seem like the vidder gave much though, we dont care because its a comedy, could have been funnier with a funnier font
-title safe: those are the boxes, turn it on as a preference, dont want anything close to the edge because it can be cut off
-ex. Disarm by obsessive24
-Harry Potter font, know immediately, iconic to the source
-ex. Supernatural vid: roses with text
-typography sells idea better than the actual source does
-the care that was taken to flow so seamlessly with the concept than anything you could do with the clips
-ex. Kinetic Type, weird al song
-new typeface is when we laughed, none of them yet match up to this one (in fandom), “stop forwarding”: fwd are in a different color
-ex. Sherlock vid with dialogue text
-newspaper reinforces, compare those two typography vids, less perfect because the proportion of the typefaces is compositionally weak
(missed last 15 minutes of panel)