Looking for a Beta

[stacialy]

I've finished the first draft of my first vid since Vividcon, and would love to work with a Beta. I'm familiar with the critique process, but I don't know how it usually works with vidders. So I'm hoping to get responses from someone who's done this before. This is only my 4th vid, so I'm a little green.
It's a meta-vid.
Fandom: Buffy
Song: 40 Hours

Comments

[stacialy]

Basically, I'm looking to get a sense of how the vid reads to other people, whether I'm communicating my intended message with my clip choice/song choice and whether or not it is too slow.

At Vividcon, the critique I heard about my premiere vid was that it was interesting and clever, but slow. That was initially surprising, because I thought I was building in time for the viewer to think about my message. I'm coming out of a video art tradition, where things are usually 300X slower than vids. (I'm comfortable watching 30 minutes of a guy standing on one leg and thinking about why he's doing it!) It never occurred to me that the audience was used to a much faster pace. I'll probably never make extremely fast-paced vids, but I want to get a better sense of how short a clip I can get away with and still communicate what I want.

The way I'm used to doing critique (my experience with creative writing and visual art) is this: I present my piece and get a cold read from the viewer. What is the piece trying to say and does it succeed? What doesn't make sense to the viewer? What does the viewer like? Does something seem jarring or problematic?
Then I would say what I was trying to do, even if I didn't accomplish it, and try to figure out why that isn't coming across.

I can handle honest feedback, even negative responses, as long as it is constructive. I'm not that interested in whether it is "good," because that is so relative, but I do want to know whether the viewer is interested enough to keep watching and whether I communicate my point.

How does the Beta process differ from this?

[laurashapiro]

In my experience, the beta process doesn't differ from that at all; in fact, that's what I ask my betas for: an initial cold read, followed by a conversation where I tell them what I'm trying to achieve with the vid and they help me make sure the vid is getting it done.

As a beta, I tend to provide multiple kinds of responses: personal/emotional, narrative/contextual, and technical. Sometimes these are all mushed up together. (: And I try always to be constructive and not to direct the vidder to make the vid *I* would make, but to help her make the vid she wants to make. Though I have been told my beta style can be "bracing" -- fair warning!

Anyway, it sounds to me like we're on the same page. So if you want to send me a link to your vid (laurasha at laurasha dot com), I'll check it out sometime in March.

[stacialy]

Sounds good to me. I'm guessing the hardest part for me will be critiquing through text, instead of being in the same room with my viewer. I am aware of how things can sound harsher in text then they would sound actually coming out of someone's mouth. No need to coddle me, but thanks for the warning. I'm putting on my thick skin, but I already like your straight-forwardness, so I'm looking forward to working with you.
I'll send you a link when I get the vid up on my server in the next few days.

[laurashapiro]

It's true that these things can come across more harshly in text, but I tend to dress up my emails with emoticons and parentheticals to make sure I'm coming through both clearly and gently. You should be safe! (: