More VVC recs + vidding questions

[bop_radar]

I am hopelessly sniffly at the moment, thanks to a pesky cold that descended on me on the last day of a long weekend. It's been hard to take time off work (I've got some really high maintenance authors at the moment) but today I couldn't string long enough between sneezing fits to actually drive to work, so I've been at home watching 30 Rock, which, may I say, is perfect sick-person TV.

In my efforts to catch up on Vividcon vids I've been kind of OD-ing on great vids to add to the backlog of recs I already had to make. But a few standout favourites I must rec straight up are:

- mranderson71's This Is Matrix Life, a total must-see. It has comedy, slick moves (from vidder as well as in source!) and the perfect marriage of source + song.

- laurashapiro's Shut Up and Drive--the best Martha (of Doctor Who) vid I've seen, and that girl definitely deserves kickass vidding!

- keewick's Sorry is a sequel to last year's 'Sugar', the Lana vid that I loved so much. And I'm delighted she revisited Lana here to explore the later season material. (There's also a snazzy Gossip Girl vid and some SGA goodies I haven't checked out in that post.)

- Not strictly a Vividcon vid, I think, but if you missed it in July's International Day of Femslash, charmax's I'm Your Man showcases an exceptional number of sources, in a documentary of femslash set to music (it really reminded me of 'Celluloid Closet').

All the great vids mean I've got vidding on the brain at the moment (what brain is left behind the cold) so I have a couple of questions for other vidders :
1. Do you find that you vid better when you are unwell or otherwise impaired? It seems to remove my inner critic to some degree and I get way more decisive. Admittedly sometimes the results are a bit sloppy but they can be tidied up later. I have found that I often have 'breakthroughs' when under the weather and 'just vidding' (rather than putting pressure on myself as I normally do for results).
2. Do you ever find songs that you feel would be perfect for your source... but not quite yet. Like a song that you think would be great for a show once it had finished--but it depends on the exact way the show ends up, and you don't know for sure yet whether it will produce the source material you need for the vid? This seems to happen to me A LOT. And it's a weird feeling to (for instance) start hoping some characters get nuked before a finale just so your vid will be awesomesauce. ;)
3. Do you find that the more fannish you are about a show, the better your vids are? I feel like this is true for me but I wonder if other vidders value emotional distance from their source more.

Comments

[brokenmnemonic.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry to hear that you're ill :( Are you trying the patented cold cure, or are you short of ginger and honey?

I'm going to download those vids when I get home, and have a poke around. I wanted to download the Matrix vid when I first heard about it, but I was at work and couldn't find the entry when I got home :P

1. Do you find that you vid better when you are unwell or otherwise impaired?
Hmm. Tough to answer, because I've never really been ill while vidding. I've been drunk while vidding before, and that had some advantages - I cared less about which clips I was putting where so long as I had a clip in place, and when I then went back later, it was easy to tweak or replace clips than stare at gaps in the timeline.

Mood plays a big part in vidding - if I'm feeling upbeat, working on something bouncy is easy. Equally, a certain cynicism or bitterness can work well when dealing with difficult concepts.

2. Do you ever find songs that you feel would be perfect for your source... but not quite yet. Like a song that you think would be great for a show once it had finished--but it depends on the exact way the show ends up, and you don't know for sure yet whether it will produce the source material you need for the vid?
Yes... although it's usually more common for me to find a song that would've been great for a certain source earlier in the show cycle. Songs that would've been good for S1/S2 of BSG for example, but which are now moot because the meta has changed or the character(s) have changed, sometimes in unrecogniseable ways. As an extreme example of that, my very first vid is a vid I couldn't make now because of the way things have changed so much in my own internal headspace as a result of what's gone in canon.

3. Do you find that the more fannish you are about a show, the better your vids are? I feel like this is true for me but I wonder if other vidders value emotional distance from their source more.
Absolutely. That investment works in two ways; it keeps me motivated to vid, and it makes sure that I'm familiar with the source I'm working with. I was more than a little surprised at how difficult I found it vidding Firefly, a show that I'm not that invested in. It made the show feel unfamiliar when I started working at the level of granularity vidding demands.

That said... I think there's a dark side to this, in that the more fannish someone is about a show, the greater the temptation is to make vids that don't quite ring true - not just the kind of vids that involve hammering whatever clips fit in place to a favoured song because the vidder likes both the song and the show, but because one of the aspects of investment is a desire to mentally rearrange, alter or interpret canon in ways that feel less "true" to a viewer who could be considered more objective. Does that make any kind of sense?

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Mmm, I have the ginger and honey (and lemon) but I've been banned from the whisky since I got addled last time. ;)

1. I know what you mean about mood. I'm glad I'm not vidding anything too depressy at the moment as being sick is bad enough. That said, I do rather like the stripped-back feeling being ill gives me when I vid. It makes me realise how inhibited I am as a vidder normally!

2. That's interesting about having the reverse phenomenon... I don't really have that myself, though it totally makes sense. But I think there's often room for some good old-fashioned nostalgia, if you can succeed in mentally blocking out the canon that comes after--I think you've captured the major obstacle to that, which is the vidder's own perceptions having shifted irrevocably because of what came later.

3. Yeah, I feel seriously daunted vidding anything I'm not intimately familiar with. Even FNL, while I love it, I haven't poured over the way I have BSG or SV. And I feel like it shows in my FNL vids--they are ok, but they lack that extra something.

the more fannish someone is about a show, the greater the temptation is to make vids that don't quite ring true
Maybe... I think it depends on the type of fannishness, because I think the vids I've seen that best capture their sources have been made by people that are big fans of the show. Like knowing it and loving it that much allowed them to capture that essence perfectly. But of course there are also the more AU-type vidders who set out intentionally to bend the source because that's the form their fannishness takes. I think either is fine as long as it's intentional. And I'm not sure i'd agree that fannishness automatically means we're more inclined to shape the source our own way. But Ill be interested to see what other vidders think--I suspect many people would agree with you, but I find myself thinking more and more that the opposite is true as long as the vidder is a true fan of the whole show (not just one character or a pairing), if it's ensemble vidding we're talking about.

[isilweth.livejournal.com]

So sorry you're not feeling well. *hands you box of tissues*

Thanks for the vid recs! *runs off to watch Sorry*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And it's a goodie.

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

1. I made a vid while incredibly sick one time, and I tried something... funky. With mixed results. But generally I seem to vid better when unimpaired.

2. I mostly vid for shows/movies that have already finished their run, so not really.

3. The more fannish I am about a show, the more I enjoy my own vid... but the less fannish I am, the better the vid seems to go over among people who are not me.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

the less fannish I am, the better the vid seems to go over among people who are not me
That's interesting because I've sort of started to notice that that's the case for a bunch of big vidders--not always, of course--but it surprises me that it happens at all. But looking at some vids that rack up heaps of comments and recs and stuff, sometimes they're not of shows that are the vidder's principal fandom. This intrigues me! I think I'm different because I often seem to like best the vids that people make of shows they really love. Does this mean I have low brow taste?!!! *fake panics* I just really like it when I can feel the vidders love and intimate knowledge of the fandom coming through the vid... without that, it can be technically brilliant but kinda ... cold? (Again, vast generalisation obviously, but I'm trying to find the words for a pattern I see.)

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

Does this mean I have low brow taste?!!!
Bwahahaha!

Personally, I think it's that when a vidder is (somewhat) emotionally detached from the source, it's easier to see it objectively and make a statement about it. A statement that people who are *in love* with the fandom might not have seen because they're so close to the subject matter. The "can't see the forest because of all the trees" syndrome. That's not *always* the case, but I do think it happens.

It's a completely different type of connection when you vid a show you love *for* other people who love the show. You're invested in it, they're invested in it, and there's a lot of deep reading and context going on. But someone who doesn't know the show may not get much, if anything, out of it.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Mmm, good points. I think I wasn't factoring in intended audience enough when thinking about it. I still think I tend to prefer vids made by people who are genuinely invested in their source, but perhaps it comes back to the degree of that emotional detachment you mentioned. Because I think some emotional detachment from source is necessary even for vidders vidding their show for other fans of the show. And that can be a hard line to tread when you love the show--it's hard to find that unflinching eye you need to portray it accurately.

[bloodygoodgirl.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you can kick that cold and start feeling 100% again.

I don't do vids but when I'm doing after effects video for freelance or school I get the best ideas when I'm distracted with something else. Maybe messing around with the program and watching tv when I find what I like most.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

That's interesting about your inspiration strikes... I think it's similar to finding it strike when you're sick. Your brain is otherwise engaged but you get helpful flashes. :)

[hazyshade.livejournal.com]

Ooh vidder questions (although whether i can still be classed a vidder these days is questionable ;))

1). I can't say I do. But I can definitely see how having that sort of time without work or pressure could be beneficial.
2). Yes, all the time. But if I have a really good idea I'll tend to just forge ahead anyway, regardless of the threat of being jossed in the future. Then there's always the worry that someone else will use that song before you..
3). Hmm, I can really only vid if I'm fannishly obsessed. It gives me the drive and inspiration to get off my arse and do it. There's been a good few TV shows I watch,that I've had some ideas for, but it never seems to lead anywhere. It could be sheer laziness, but I guess I've learnt to just go with the flow where vidding is concerned: I can produce 3 or 4 vids in quick succession when enthused with fannishness and then nothing for a year. *glares pointedly at muse* My brother on the other hand seems to have plans to vid practically every tv show or movie he's ever watched! And I have to say he gets somewhat less...involved...in fandom than I do, so I'm sure the distance helps in his case.

In conclusion: inspiration is a funny thing.

I hope you feel better soon!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

once a vidder always a vidder! *hugs*

f I have a really good idea I'll tend to just forge ahead anyway, regardless of the threat of being jossed in the future. Then there's always the worry that someone else will use that song before you..
Ahhh good! Someone else has had this! And I agree: I had this experience with 'Paranoid Android', when I started it before Season 7 Smallville had finished, and in the end S7 produced the perfect footage I needed. But my god, I was so scared someone would vid that song before me! Except then I would remind myself that it was six minutes long and I was the only person mad enough to do so. ;)

In conclusion: inspiration is a funny thing.
This is true!

I started out like you definitely--dependent on extreme fannishness for inspiration to strike. But I think my addiction to vidding itself has meant it's spread so that now I am vidding other stuff that I'm not so invested in. But I'm not sure that's good! My best vids are still for things I am obsessed with. ;) But I guess practice on the other vids can't be a bad thing.

Now... was it not your birthday recently? Happy birthday!

[hazyshade.livejournal.com]

Now... was it not your birthday recently? Happy birthday!
Haha, yes it was. Thank you! :) *hugs*

I was thinking more about the vidding thing, and of course extreme fannishness means that it's easier in the sense that you know the show or movie better. Trying to vid something you're less invested in takes more time - for me anyway - and that often seems like a big barrier to overcome.
But I have to say that this has all got me thinking that maybe the way to break my vidder's block is to try and vid something less 'close' to me. *ponders*

Did you ever do the 'Paranoid Android' vid? If so, I would love to see it! That's certainly an ambitious song to tackle!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I agree--I think vidding something you don't (already) know as well can take longer. But it's an interesting process. And I think there's definitely a place for both styles of vidding. Not to mention that anything that results in more vids from you is a win in my book! :)

I did finish Paranoid Android, it's here (http://bop-radar.livejournal.com/157518.html). And ambitious is the right adjective. I still can't believe I finished it!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hey, did you know there was going to be a UK Vid Convention (http://www.vidukon.co.uk/) in October? You probably already know about it, but I just thought I'd mention it since you mentioned vidding inspiration (or lack of!). :) I wish I could go.

[hazyshade.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the heads-up! :) Yes I saw that a while back - I actually really wanted to go (even if it is in Milton Keynes, ugh) exactly for that purpose, because I do find talking about the ins and outs gets my brain working. Alas, I already have a convention the weekend before and a concert in London that week too and I can't justify more time off and money spent. :( I definitely hope they do one next year!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Awww, what a pity! I know a few people who can't go because of other cons. And yes I hope they can keep it going too, though I gather it's not looking good. If it was on next year I might even go, as I could combine it with visiting relatives (unlike the US, where i have none!).

I gather Milton Keynes is a kind of artificial hell hole that exists only to cater for conventions? I only ever hear of it as a convention location!