Comments | talitha78: Why Do We Like Vids?

talitha78

Why Do We Like Vids?

Jun 26, 2006 11:15

I'm putting together an essay on my experience with vids, at betrue's request. She asked me flat-out why I like vids, and what I get out of them, because she was not feeling it so much. Yes, Virginia, there are people out there who do not "get" vids. This is something I needed to learn. So in order to help betrue to understand the attraction of vids, I need to ( Read more... )

vidding

Comments 70

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talitha78 June 26 2006, 18:43:19 UTC

Whoops! Oh, man, I didn't mean for it to sound like that at all. I meant that it is a very legitimate question that merits a serious response. I should not assume that everybody automatically likes the same things I like.

bigmamag June 26 2006, 17:02:02 UTC

There are two reasons why I like vids: the music and the stories. Music is all about rhythm, flow, and your feelings on a subject. Like in the season 3 finale when they used Mozart's requiem instead of some alt crap rock number in the end sequence. Music really makes a scene work, and in the case of vids, makes a group of scenes work together to create a story. Vids, to me, are like visual fanfics. If it is a good vid, the three and a half minutes you spend watching it take you into another world or at least evoke feelings you had whilst watching the source material ( ... )

talitha78 June 26 2006, 18:47:47 UTC

Vids, to me, are like visual fanfics.

I agree with that, to some extent. Some vids are very narrative, or have a very strong "agenda." But some vids are not: they are more atmospheric or just purely visual. While my vids fall mostly into the narrative camp, and those tend to be the vids I like best, I do sometimes enjoy a vid that is purely a feast for the eyes and ears--one that is not trying to tell me a story. When I write my essay, I'll try to come up with an example of that type of vid.

talitha78 June 26 2006, 18:56:49 UTC

Oh, and to address your theory about whether the age of the viewer plays a part: maybe? I don't want to say that definitively because, as you mentioned, some young people don't like vids. Also, I think that people were making vids even before MTV came on the scene, so it's not simply a generational thing.

laurashapiro June 29 2006, 17:43:10 UTC

Actually, vidding's been around for over 30 years, so while fan vids don't predate music videos, many of their creators do.

Thread 5

stir_of_echoes June 26 2006, 17:12:55 UTC

EEK! That's a toughie, for me I think it has the same pull as fic writing, editing several clips and watching them play back in occasional perfect motion is like writing the perfectly formed sentence. Something that describes what's in your head just as you see it ( ... )

talitha78 June 26 2006, 18:54:18 UTC

Only now, when I hear a certain song a movie kick starts in my head.

For me, that moment happened very suddenly. Up until that moment, I had been perfectly content to read fic and enjoy other people's art, but one particular song set off a reaction, and I suddenly started seeing Smallville scenes superimposed over the music. That's when I knew I had to learn how to vid. Now I can't turn it off! Every song I hear, I try to figure out how I could make a Smallville vid out of it. :)

Writing fic is all about making up the story as we go along, vidding is taking a story you hear in the music and making it come alive before your eyes

This is actually a point I want to focus on in my essay. I like the fact that the song and the music give us so much structure when it comes to vidding. They are the foundation that we build on. We can be as creative as we want, but we are also limited by that structure. It makes the whole thing seem less overwhelming to me.

bop_radar June 27 2006, 04:42:05 UTC

I love your answer!

a movie kick starts in my head
That's such a great way of describing it.

vidding is taking a story you hear in the music and making it come alive before your eyes
Yes! Yes!

Oh, I have so much to say on this topic I'm practically bursting, but I'll bite my tongue and just nod vigorously for now.

missu June 26 2006, 17:50:56 UTC

I love the rhythm of a perfectly constructed fan vid. When the music and editing just click. And I'm one of those people, who *must* like the song to like the vid. I can appreciate the technical skill but I just can't get into a vid if I don't like the song.

At best, a fanvid can show something totally new about a show, something I've never thought of. (subtext, even plot points) And of course, a good clex vid is just balm to the soul.

talitha78 June 26 2006, 19:09:54 UTC

And I'm one of those people, who *must* like the song to like the vid.

I agree. I have to like the song. Or--the vid has to make me like the song. Many times I'll watch a vid having never heard the song before, and afterwards I'll run and buy the entire album, simply because the vid "sold" the song so well.

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talitha78 June 26 2006, 20:12:24 UTC

It describes a certain aspect of their relationship or something that they've gone through or something that I want them to go through

That is so me. And I always seem to want them to go through angst! :P

It's taking the substance of Smallville and fitting it into the shape that I want it to be.

Yes, yes. That's a great part of what's behind my impulse to vid. Since I'm not a writer, this is the way that I can interact with the show in a creative way.