Took me a while to get around to articulating decent feedback for this vid, so the rec is a bit belated. Degausser by saltwatergirl, Mysterious Skin
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I'd wanted to say this piece for a while now, so I suppose this is as good as an avenue as any. I get why it happens - if you love the source (characters) and loving the vid, and you're staring at the timeline too closely to see the forest for the trees, it's hard to wrestle yourself out of your specific headspace to think about whether it's actually gonna come across even remotely the same way to your audience. But for me that's only a corner of the much larger Ultimate Problem of Vidding - how to make the audience see the vid exactly how you see it, how to make them understand exactly what you mean. Well, it's my Ultimate Problem, anyway. :D
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I stopped watching Smallville because all the constant closeups bothered my eye, and wore me out visually. Weird, but true. I have no idea if they kept doing that after the first season, but in season 1 I called it "Giant Lex head meets Giant Clark head." With some giant Lana head for variety.
ETA: Incidentally, I watched a new vid by talitha78 last night (her Escapade premiere) which was such an awesome example of how to make a vid that's a terrific character study, action vid, and 'shipper vid all in one. I LOVE when vids do that. It was really refreshing to see a vid that had such satisfying relationship moments, yet used face shots super-sparingly.
LOL, I tend to not have as much of a problem with it in shows as opposed to vids, but I do tend to watch TV on my 11 inch laptop, so it's never so much a GIANT HEAD problem I suppose.
(Incidentally, M doesn't think of SV as giant heads, but he does refer it to "primary colour face show".)
Stop taunting us with all these lovely Escapade premieres that we're not gonna be able to see for another month! :P
Ha! And I actually thought I used quite a lot of face shots in that vid. I'm thrilled to know that it doesn't come off that way. \o/
I do think that I have an over-reliance on face shots--I try to mix it up, but it's tough with some sources to pull off the slash unless you bring in the eyefucking.
I do think that I have an over-reliance on face shots TBH I thought you used to, like a few years ago. But I don't find to be the case generally nowadays. :)
I was so concerned with this issue that for a while I feel I swung too much in the other direction - not enough face shots and too much atmosphere/symbolism, which also doesn't tend to work emotionally without a human face to pin it down.
I often do this too, and it usually doesn't click until I actually play back the section and see that it feels "empty," in spite of all the pretty. I'm hoping my instincts in this respect are getting better but like you I think I might sometimes err on the side of too few face shots.
Still annoys the crap outta me when there are too many in other vids though. :P Could be partially a generational thing, as I've noticed old-school vids were much more about lingering on facial expressions and the like. I also think I'm more forgiving when I have an pre-existing emotional connection to the subject matter (say, one of my under-vidded OTPs). Of course, at that point, it's less about any kind of impartial assessment of the vid's quality and more "OMGGGG THEIR FAAAAAAAACES I LOVE THEM SO."
Could be partially a generational thing, as I've noticed old-school vids were much more about lingering on facial expressions and the like. Hmm, it actually annoys me less when I see old-school vids with lots of face shots, I feel like I must mentally adjust for it. For me the annoyance mostly comes from seeing non-old-school vids with an eye for movement, so the eyes and faces and heads are constantly moving and turning, but all with the same range of mid to close-up shot.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any OTP that I haven't vidded and gotten it out of my system. :D If I do have one (Mike and Harvey, maybe?) it'd be interesting to see whether a face-filled vid would hold my attention. Trying to picture it in the abstract, I'm feeling lke a "no"...
I've been feeling this, too, fwiw.
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ETA: Incidentally, I watched a new vid by talitha78 last night (her Escapade premiere) which was such an awesome example of how to make a vid that's a terrific character study, action vid, and 'shipper vid all in one. I LOVE when vids do that. It was really refreshing to see a vid that had such satisfying relationship moments, yet used face shots super-sparingly.
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(Incidentally, M doesn't think of SV as giant heads, but he does refer it to "primary colour face show".)
Stop taunting us with all these lovely Escapade premieres that we're not gonna be able to see for another month! :P
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Ahaha, yes, perfect.
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I do think that I have an over-reliance on face shots--I try to mix it up, but it's tough with some sources to pull off the slash unless you bring in the eyefucking.
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I do think that I have an over-reliance on face shots
I disagree with that part. :)
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Oh. Well, then, I am very happy for the disagreement! :D :D
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TBH I thought you used to, like a few years ago. But I don't find to be the case generally nowadays. :)
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I often do this too, and it usually doesn't click until I actually play back the section and see that it feels "empty," in spite of all the pretty. I'm hoping my instincts in this respect are getting better but like you I think I might sometimes err on the side of too few face shots.
Still annoys the crap outta me when there are too many in other vids though. :P Could be partially a generational thing, as I've noticed old-school vids were much more about lingering on facial expressions and the like. I also think I'm more forgiving when I have an pre-existing emotional connection to the subject matter (say, one of my under-vidded OTPs). Of course, at that point, it's less about any kind of impartial assessment of the vid's quality and more "OMGGGG THEIR FAAAAAAAACES I LOVE THEM SO."
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Hmm, it actually annoys me less when I see old-school vids with lots of face shots, I feel like I must mentally adjust for it. For me the annoyance mostly comes from seeing non-old-school vids with an eye for movement, so the eyes and faces and heads are constantly moving and turning, but all with the same range of mid to close-up shot.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any OTP that I haven't vidded and gotten it out of my system. :D If I do have one (Mike and Harvey, maybe?) it'd be interesting to see whether a face-filled vid would hold my attention. Trying to picture it in the abstract, I'm feeling lke a "no"...
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