Random vid and fic meta
The interesting thing about coming to a fandom through vids is that you learn about the source in fractured pieces. You see glimpses of scenes both important and mundane, but you can't always intuit their meaning just from the vids. It's like looking at individual puzzle pieces: you can get the gist of the picture, without really knowing the full context and structure of the whole picture. You still have to watch the source to really understand the significance of the clips. So even if you are spoiled by seeing an action in a vid, you still have the pleasure of watching the source and gaining a full understanding of that moment in its proper context.
I'm thinking of Firefly in particular. I watched quite a few vids before I ever saw the show. All the shots of River fighting, the scenes with the needle in the forehead, her popping up from the box, none of it made sense until I watched the show. The vids were intriguing enough to hook my attention, but not enough to really spoil my discovery of the show while watching it.
It's a different experience from fic. You can gather a lot about the source from fic. A surprising amount. I'm thinking of Stargate Atlantis here. I read a huge amount of fic for SGA before ever watching the show. While there were still plot points that either no one had mentioned, or I just hadn't remembered, I knew these characters. It was like revisiting old friends, even though I hadn't seen the show yet. (Though I had seen a few vids) I knew their backstory, knew their personalities, knew their quirks of habit. It was like a revelation seeing it unfold onscreen, just like I had imagined it in my head. Some things were made clearer by watching the show, like John's hair and his laconic smirk, and Rodney's slanting mouth and look of vulnerability. But for the most part it was just like the writers had described. Or at least, there was enough of what the writers had described so that I could see what I wanted.
In my experience, most vids reward a strong understanding of the source with a very rich and layered experience while viewing. Most fic includes enough dialogue and internal thoughts that someone new to the fandom can follow along fairly well. The two firefly vids that got me thinking about this are Must Be Dreaming by corn_child (I’ve lost the link now, but it's an amazing vid. PM me if you want a copy. Or tell me if you have a link :) and Serenity by luminosity .
I'm thinking of Firefly in particular. I watched quite a few vids before I ever saw the show. All the shots of River fighting, the scenes with the needle in the forehead, her popping up from the box, none of it made sense until I watched the show. The vids were intriguing enough to hook my attention, but not enough to really spoil my discovery of the show while watching it.
It's a different experience from fic. You can gather a lot about the source from fic. A surprising amount. I'm thinking of Stargate Atlantis here. I read a huge amount of fic for SGA before ever watching the show. While there were still plot points that either no one had mentioned, or I just hadn't remembered, I knew these characters. It was like revisiting old friends, even though I hadn't seen the show yet. (Though I had seen a few vids) I knew their backstory, knew their personalities, knew their quirks of habit. It was like a revelation seeing it unfold onscreen, just like I had imagined it in my head. Some things were made clearer by watching the show, like John's hair and his laconic smirk, and Rodney's slanting mouth and look of vulnerability. But for the most part it was just like the writers had described. Or at least, there was enough of what the writers had described so that I could see what I wanted.
In my experience, most vids reward a strong understanding of the source with a very rich and layered experience while viewing. Most fic includes enough dialogue and internal thoughts that someone new to the fandom can follow along fairly well. The two firefly vids that got me thinking about this are Must Be Dreaming by corn_child (I’ve lost the link now, but it's an amazing vid. PM me if you want a copy. Or tell me if you have a link :) and Serenity by luminosity .