End of Year Vidding Meme: 2011
It's that time of year again! All the vids from 2011:
Previously, for reference:
2010 | NaViMaMo 2010 | 2009 | 2008
THE VIDS
January
None
February
None really, but tangentially:
Vidding on Linux: Tutorials!
March
Mad World [Fringe] [Ensemble]
April
Small Blue Thing [Fringe] [Olivia]
When I Was A Boy [Doctor Who] [Amy, Amy/Rory]
May
1969 [Doctor Who] [Episodic - 6x01 & 6x02]
Hands Away [TSCC/Fringe] [Sarah Connor/Olivia Dunham] [collaboration with chaila43]
June
None
July
I Need A Hero [DC Animated] [Wonder Woman]
August
None
September
None
October
blood, blood to the bruise [Damages] [Patty & Ellen]
November
PSA: Destination Earth [Battlestar Galactica] [Meta] [collaboration with cyborganize]
December
Here We Come, On The Run! [Star Wars] [Princess Leia]
Marchin On [DC Animated - Young Justice] [Ensemble]
THE QUESTIONS
Favourite
Hands down, Hands Away. Which might be cheating slightly since chaila43 did most of the heavy lifting editing-wise while I mostly helped storyboard and with the trickier composited shots, but I can't help it and I refuse to apologise. It's the vid of my hearrrrt, right down to the editing style that isn't quite mine. It's like the best parts of making a vid and having a vid made for you by your favourite vidder rolled into one. It does everything I want it to - I feel the world it creates is real and vivid and compelling - watching it is like a fever dream of parallel lines and interconnected possibilities and every time it makes me wonder how come it isn't real. So yes, both in terms of watching it and emotional satisfaction in the finished product, this is my favourite vid I have been involved in making this year.
Least Favourite
Ugh, I hate this and always consider skipping it because it feels mean. Like I don't wanna name one and then have someone read this and be like, "that one was my favourite!" So, okay, being brutal though, probably 1969 for various complicated reasons that aren't entirely its own fault. I mean, firstly, I really, really love the music and did have a good time trying to vid along to it and I still really like the concept and part of the execution. But there are a few places where I think that the timing is off and it really bothers me. Plus on a level that is not the fault of the vid, I really, really thought the season opener was clever and scary, plotwise and built up a fantastic mystery, but the rest of the season was kind of a let down and I wasn't that enamored with the execution of River's identity (even though I kind of reached a place where I was accepting of what her identity was) and given how utterly and completely I loved season five, it was just...kind of disappointing and now rewatching this vid kind of reminds me that it wasn't as awesome as I thought it was going to be. But oh well. Like I said, a slightly unfair piece of reasoning but there you have it. (Hah! Looking back at last year I picked a vid for similar reasons; not enough in the technical execution there to save it from being disliked because of the connotations of the show it was made from and my disappointment in it. I has a pattern, clearly.)
Most Successful
As I am every year, I am confused as to whether this means successful in terms of execution or reception. So;
In terms of execution, undoubtedly Hands Away.
In terms of popularity, When I Was A Boy for sure. Which was unexpected, because it was just...one of those songs that hits you when you don't expect it. I wasn't trying to do anything fancy with it, just...tell a story, point out something special about Amy Pond, and probably that's why it works so well - it just is what it is. Also being in Doctor Who fandom probably doesn't hurt! Definitely one of the largest fandoms I've vidded in. It also managed to survive the disappointment in Doctor Who S6 fairly well since it's entirely set in S5. So, bonus?
With regards to this topic though, I feel I should give an honourable mention to Mad World, which was probably my second most popular vid and also the vid that I made solo that is probably most "successful" in doing what I set out to do - which was to really work with the visual repetitions and motifs in Fringe, which isn't something I really consider to be a strength of mine, so I was really pleased when I actually managed to do what I think is a reasonable job. It's not one of my absolute favourites (though I am very fond of it!) but I do think it's one of the times this year when I've been most, well, successful at laying out a goal and achieving it in the final product in the way I imagined.
Most Underappreciated by the Universe
I've actually been really lucky in terms of feedback this year being in line with, or exceeding, my expectations. Possibly because in the latter half of the year I basically exclusively vidded tiiinnnnyyyyy fandoms so pretty much every piece of feedback was a wonderful surprise! And in the first half of the year I was vidding, well, Doctor Who and Fringe right at the point everyone else began realising it was pretty nifty. So yeah, I don't really have a vid specifically of my own that I feel got really shafted.
But I will say that both my collaborations could always do with more love. Firstly, PSA: Destination Earth, which I get why it's not been that popular - it's a sequel to a joke from a few years ago, and it was something cyborganize and I both wanted to complete largely for our own entertainment and piece of mind. But honestly, I think it's pretty hilarious and it has cave men. So if you're not done with mocking (or fed up with other people mocking) the BSG finale yet, check it out!
And were I playing this meme honestly I'd leave it there, but I'm gonna sneak in another mention of Hands Away, basically because it could be the most popular vid I'd ever made and I'd STILL think not enough people had seen it because I honestly believe it's one of the best things I've ever had a hand in making.
Most Fun Video
Oh, dudes, no contest: I Need A Hero
Vid with the Single Sexiest Moment
Physically sexy? Okay, I know, I know, but I finally don't feel like I'm quasi cheating to say Hands Away again because I made all the snogging by my lonesome! :p So yes, all the outmaking in that vid.
The sexiest moment in terms of editing? Again with the Olivia but this time,
Small Blue Thing. The moment when the vial of liquid turns colour over the credits. It's actually the second time that it happens in the vid, but the first time it's unmistakable, front and centre. Like, hoshit, it's actually changing colour. I feel slightly arrogant saying so, but I think that's a very sexy editing moment.
Biggest Vid Fail
I copy bop_radar in denying failure! Fuck failure! Everything is awesome because this is a fun hobby! ;)
(But okay in a totally not-really-a-fail way, putting off finishing Here We Come, On The Run! for ELEVEN MONTHS is at least funny and uncharacteristic of me, and I'm glad I finally got it done).
Hardest Video to Make
Toss-up for two very different reasons. Technically, Small Blue Thing, because even though the individual colour masks, etc., weren't always as difficult as some of the stuff I did in terms of masking people together so they were snogging for Hands Away, it was more sustained, it needed to look similar each time, I had to find clips that could support it, and the sometimes crop and mask other sections of the clip in addition to the chroma key to blank out the part I needed to colour-shift. And stuff.
But I think also worth mentioning is blood, blood to the bruise because Damages is actually really hard to vid. Everyone's TALKING all the time, and I wasn't quite so used to working with the source, so it was a real struggle to work out how to tell the story I wanted to tell with the song I wanted to use. Ultimately I think it was totally worth it - it started out as the main motivation being to make chaila43 a kickass birthday present, but ended up being one of my favourites of the year - I love its sense of movement and inevitability. But I'm definitely aware that it took me far longer to make that vid than it would have to make almost any other vid of similar length, even if I was equally unfamiliar with a lot of the source material to start with.
Most Unintentionally Telling Video
Per usual, I'm never sure what this means. Possibly because I usually know exactly what I want my vid to say so rarely end up looking at it at the end and going, "Shit, I didn't realise I was really saying THAT!" Even if sometimes as I'm making it I go, "Shit, I can't believe I'm letting everyone know this about me! *facepalm*"
So, in that latter category, probably Marchin On. That's right guys! I'm going to run away to tumblr and make big, shiny videos with motion overlays to overvidded pop music that are all about BIG, SHINY FEELLLLINGGSSSSS foreverrrrrr. AND I'M TAKING YOU ALL WITH ME. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA.
Ahem.
Things I've Learned & Things to Work On
I'm combining these two topics since after typing out the first one, I realised I'd also pretty much answered the second.
I learned I get increasingly technical. I'm actually, genuinely, not sure how I feel about that. That I tend more and more to do things like throw in masks or effects. I do think/hope that generally I have a reason to do so. For instance, the legitimate need to fuse two sources in Hands Away, or the very specific goals of the colour changes in Small Blue Thing. Even in Here We Come, On The Run! I felt like while it could have been done with intercutting, the limited nature of the source made more clearly demonstrating Leia's viewing of the battle and placing her in opposition to the enemy commander a valuable reason to mask things as I did. Then again, Marchin On has its various masks at the start and in the bridge and the overlays, etc., purely because I thought they looked cool and I guess I'm fine with that because it's a specific style of vid I'm going for. And, honestly, I had a great time making it, and have absolutely no stylistic regrets, but I'm glad that it's a stylistic choice, not my only one.
And I think I might want to try and get back to basics a little in future. Something I really loved about making blood, blood to the bruise, once it was done, obviously, I just described how tricky to was to get it done! But something I love about its sense of motion and movement is that it's naturalistic, it's just cut and shuffle for the most part. It's raw - which fits with the show and the music. But I...want more vid ideas that are more minimalistic.
More than that, I want a show I can really vid with a closer understanding of the source again. Sometimes I think I find myself more drawn to visual complexity when I feel there's a lack of complexity in the message. Or maybe a lack of complexity in my reading of the show to surround whatever fragment of a message I'm conveying. That might be a more honest way to put it.
I miss that. I'm still...looking for my fandom. I think that when it comes back Fringe may again steal my vidding heart. It didn't quite during the autumn, but there weren't many episodes and it was so new-universe I wanted to wait a bit and see where they were going with it before I started incorporating it into my vidding plans. And it just started getting good when it went on hiatus. OLIVIA/LINCOLN FOREVER. :p
I also think that Once Upon A Time has potential, though I'm wary of saying that only seven episodes in.
So, yes. There we go. 2011 Vidding Complete.
Previously, for reference:
2010 | NaViMaMo 2010 | 2009 | 2008
THE VIDS
January
None
February
None really, but tangentially:
Vidding on Linux: Tutorials!
March
Mad World [Fringe] [Ensemble]
April
Small Blue Thing [Fringe] [Olivia]
When I Was A Boy [Doctor Who] [Amy, Amy/Rory]
May
1969 [Doctor Who] [Episodic - 6x01 & 6x02]
Hands Away [TSCC/Fringe] [Sarah Connor/Olivia Dunham] [collaboration with chaila43]
June
None
July
I Need A Hero [DC Animated] [Wonder Woman]
August
None
September
None
October
blood, blood to the bruise [Damages] [Patty & Ellen]
November
PSA: Destination Earth [Battlestar Galactica] [Meta] [collaboration with cyborganize]
December
Here We Come, On The Run! [Star Wars] [Princess Leia]
Marchin On [DC Animated - Young Justice] [Ensemble]
THE QUESTIONS
Favourite
Hands down, Hands Away. Which might be cheating slightly since chaila43 did most of the heavy lifting editing-wise while I mostly helped storyboard and with the trickier composited shots, but I can't help it and I refuse to apologise. It's the vid of my hearrrrt, right down to the editing style that isn't quite mine. It's like the best parts of making a vid and having a vid made for you by your favourite vidder rolled into one. It does everything I want it to - I feel the world it creates is real and vivid and compelling - watching it is like a fever dream of parallel lines and interconnected possibilities and every time it makes me wonder how come it isn't real. So yes, both in terms of watching it and emotional satisfaction in the finished product, this is my favourite vid I have been involved in making this year.
Least Favourite
Ugh, I hate this and always consider skipping it because it feels mean. Like I don't wanna name one and then have someone read this and be like, "that one was my favourite!" So, okay, being brutal though, probably 1969 for various complicated reasons that aren't entirely its own fault. I mean, firstly, I really, really love the music and did have a good time trying to vid along to it and I still really like the concept and part of the execution. But there are a few places where I think that the timing is off and it really bothers me. Plus on a level that is not the fault of the vid, I really, really thought the season opener was clever and scary, plotwise and built up a fantastic mystery, but the rest of the season was kind of a let down and I wasn't that enamored with the execution of River's identity (even though I kind of reached a place where I was accepting of what her identity was) and given how utterly and completely I loved season five, it was just...kind of disappointing and now rewatching this vid kind of reminds me that it wasn't as awesome as I thought it was going to be. But oh well. Like I said, a slightly unfair piece of reasoning but there you have it. (Hah! Looking back at last year I picked a vid for similar reasons; not enough in the technical execution there to save it from being disliked because of the connotations of the show it was made from and my disappointment in it. I has a pattern, clearly.)
Most Successful
As I am every year, I am confused as to whether this means successful in terms of execution or reception. So;
In terms of execution, undoubtedly Hands Away.
In terms of popularity, When I Was A Boy for sure. Which was unexpected, because it was just...one of those songs that hits you when you don't expect it. I wasn't trying to do anything fancy with it, just...tell a story, point out something special about Amy Pond, and probably that's why it works so well - it just is what it is. Also being in Doctor Who fandom probably doesn't hurt! Definitely one of the largest fandoms I've vidded in. It also managed to survive the disappointment in Doctor Who S6 fairly well since it's entirely set in S5. So, bonus?
With regards to this topic though, I feel I should give an honourable mention to Mad World, which was probably my second most popular vid and also the vid that I made solo that is probably most "successful" in doing what I set out to do - which was to really work with the visual repetitions and motifs in Fringe, which isn't something I really consider to be a strength of mine, so I was really pleased when I actually managed to do what I think is a reasonable job. It's not one of my absolute favourites (though I am very fond of it!) but I do think it's one of the times this year when I've been most, well, successful at laying out a goal and achieving it in the final product in the way I imagined.
Most Underappreciated by the Universe
I've actually been really lucky in terms of feedback this year being in line with, or exceeding, my expectations. Possibly because in the latter half of the year I basically exclusively vidded tiiinnnnyyyyy fandoms so pretty much every piece of feedback was a wonderful surprise! And in the first half of the year I was vidding, well, Doctor Who and Fringe right at the point everyone else began realising it was pretty nifty. So yeah, I don't really have a vid specifically of my own that I feel got really shafted.
But I will say that both my collaborations could always do with more love. Firstly, PSA: Destination Earth, which I get why it's not been that popular - it's a sequel to a joke from a few years ago, and it was something cyborganize and I both wanted to complete largely for our own entertainment and piece of mind. But honestly, I think it's pretty hilarious and it has cave men. So if you're not done with mocking (or fed up with other people mocking) the BSG finale yet, check it out!
And were I playing this meme honestly I'd leave it there, but I'm gonna sneak in another mention of Hands Away, basically because it could be the most popular vid I'd ever made and I'd STILL think not enough people had seen it because I honestly believe it's one of the best things I've ever had a hand in making.
Most Fun Video
Oh, dudes, no contest: I Need A Hero
Vid with the Single Sexiest Moment
Physically sexy? Okay, I know, I know, but I finally don't feel like I'm quasi cheating to say Hands Away again because I made all the snogging by my lonesome! :p So yes, all the outmaking in that vid.
The sexiest moment in terms of editing? Again with the Olivia but this time,
Small Blue Thing. The moment when the vial of liquid turns colour over the credits. It's actually the second time that it happens in the vid, but the first time it's unmistakable, front and centre. Like, hoshit, it's actually changing colour. I feel slightly arrogant saying so, but I think that's a very sexy editing moment.
Biggest Vid Fail
I copy bop_radar in denying failure! Fuck failure! Everything is awesome because this is a fun hobby! ;)
(But okay in a totally not-really-a-fail way, putting off finishing Here We Come, On The Run! for ELEVEN MONTHS is at least funny and uncharacteristic of me, and I'm glad I finally got it done).
Hardest Video to Make
Toss-up for two very different reasons. Technically, Small Blue Thing, because even though the individual colour masks, etc., weren't always as difficult as some of the stuff I did in terms of masking people together so they were snogging for Hands Away, it was more sustained, it needed to look similar each time, I had to find clips that could support it, and the sometimes crop and mask other sections of the clip in addition to the chroma key to blank out the part I needed to colour-shift. And stuff.
But I think also worth mentioning is blood, blood to the bruise because Damages is actually really hard to vid. Everyone's TALKING all the time, and I wasn't quite so used to working with the source, so it was a real struggle to work out how to tell the story I wanted to tell with the song I wanted to use. Ultimately I think it was totally worth it - it started out as the main motivation being to make chaila43 a kickass birthday present, but ended up being one of my favourites of the year - I love its sense of movement and inevitability. But I'm definitely aware that it took me far longer to make that vid than it would have to make almost any other vid of similar length, even if I was equally unfamiliar with a lot of the source material to start with.
Most Unintentionally Telling Video
Per usual, I'm never sure what this means. Possibly because I usually know exactly what I want my vid to say so rarely end up looking at it at the end and going, "Shit, I didn't realise I was really saying THAT!" Even if sometimes as I'm making it I go, "Shit, I can't believe I'm letting everyone know this about me! *facepalm*"
So, in that latter category, probably Marchin On. That's right guys! I'm going to run away to tumblr and make big, shiny videos with motion overlays to overvidded pop music that are all about BIG, SHINY FEELLLLINGGSSSSS foreverrrrrr. AND I'M TAKING YOU ALL WITH ME. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA.
Ahem.
Things I've Learned & Things to Work On
I'm combining these two topics since after typing out the first one, I realised I'd also pretty much answered the second.
I learned I get increasingly technical. I'm actually, genuinely, not sure how I feel about that. That I tend more and more to do things like throw in masks or effects. I do think/hope that generally I have a reason to do so. For instance, the legitimate need to fuse two sources in Hands Away, or the very specific goals of the colour changes in Small Blue Thing. Even in Here We Come, On The Run! I felt like while it could have been done with intercutting, the limited nature of the source made more clearly demonstrating Leia's viewing of the battle and placing her in opposition to the enemy commander a valuable reason to mask things as I did. Then again, Marchin On has its various masks at the start and in the bridge and the overlays, etc., purely because I thought they looked cool and I guess I'm fine with that because it's a specific style of vid I'm going for. And, honestly, I had a great time making it, and have absolutely no stylistic regrets, but I'm glad that it's a stylistic choice, not my only one.
And I think I might want to try and get back to basics a little in future. Something I really loved about making blood, blood to the bruise, once it was done, obviously, I just described how tricky to was to get it done! But something I love about its sense of motion and movement is that it's naturalistic, it's just cut and shuffle for the most part. It's raw - which fits with the show and the music. But I...want more vid ideas that are more minimalistic.
More than that, I want a show I can really vid with a closer understanding of the source again. Sometimes I think I find myself more drawn to visual complexity when I feel there's a lack of complexity in the message. Or maybe a lack of complexity in my reading of the show to surround whatever fragment of a message I'm conveying. That might be a more honest way to put it.
I miss that. I'm still...looking for my fandom. I think that when it comes back Fringe may again steal my vidding heart. It didn't quite during the autumn, but there weren't many episodes and it was so new-universe I wanted to wait a bit and see where they were going with it before I started incorporating it into my vidding plans. And it just started getting good when it went on hiatus. OLIVIA/LINCOLN FOREVER. :p
I also think that Once Upon A Time has potential, though I'm wary of saying that only seven episodes in.
So, yes. There we go. 2011 Vidding Complete.