A Year in Vidding
In an effort to stave off boredom at work, I'm going to do the year-end vidding meme, seen most recently at kiki_miserychic's journal.
Here's what 2007 looked like for me:
February: This House
April: Faster Kill Pussycat
June: Star Child
July: Short Skirt/Long Jacket
August: Baby, It's a Fact
November: Cobrastyle
December: James Bonde and Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Hmm. Only 8 vids total. I'm slow. And only getting slower, I fear. I keep wanting to vid to up-tempo songs that require fast cutting. Fast cutting means that I have to have A LOT of clips at my disposal. It isn't always possible, but I try really hard to not re-use clips I've used in previous vids. Therefore, getting the volume of clips I need for each vid means scouring through 7 seasons of show for fresh material (at least as far as Smallville is concerned). All of that brings us back to slooooow.
2007 was the first year that I saw one of my own vids at a con: both "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "Faster Kill Pussycat" played at Vividcon. This is the second year I had a vid play at Bascon: morgandawn put "This House" in the vid show this year, and "Don't Cha" last year. 2007 was also the year where I broke my monofandom cherry. I made my first vid in another fandom, "Baby, It's a Fact" for Kyle XY.
My favorite video this year (of my own): It's hard to choose a favorite vid, since I like different vids for different reasons, but I'll go with the vid I feel least nitpicky about, which would be "Short Skirt/Long Jacket". I am almost 100% satisfied with this vid--meaning, there is very little I would change about it (if I were the type of person who went back and re-edited stuff, which I sooo am not). I like the cuts, I like the movement, I like the color, and I like what it said about Lois. I like the fact that it made me like Lois, and that it maybe did the same thing for other people as well.
My best video this year: I'll go with "Cobrastyle" for this one, even though the vid almost killed my squee because of all the technical problems I had with it. It's not as perfect as I wanted it to be, but it feels like my thesis statement on what vidding means to me, and what Smallville means to me. Everything that I love about movement, color, and light is in there. Smallville is so, so generous in giving me lush, rich colors, pretty sets, quirky lighting, flashy explosions, and shiny shiny characters to work with, and I distilled all of my appreciation for that in this vid. I used the music and the beat in my own idiosyncratic way, in the way that makes sense to me, which means that sometimes I did not cut to the beat, or sometimes I cut to a beat that I only hear in my own head. I ditched the traditional use of lyrics to convey meaning, and instead used the singer's voice and inflection patterns to convey attitude. I let the visuals do the actual "talking".
Video most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Hmmm. I actually don't think any of my vids go unappreciated. If nothing else, I always like them. I probably get more comments than I deserve, actually. :)
Most fun video: Most fun to watch for me is "James Bonde." Kara is so cute, and I enjoy the fast cutting and the action footage. Plus, now that voldything told me what the lyrics actually mean, I find my clip choices even more amusing. The funnest to make was "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" because it came together so quickly and painlessly.
Video with single sexiest moment: I surprised myself by finding "Faster Kill Pussycat" incredibly hot after the fact. While I was making it, I was very focused on the music and the movement, but after it was finished, I looked it over and thought, "Damn, those women are hot!" My favorite bit is the sequence where Lana is pushing back her hair flirtatiously, and the next clip shows Chloe walking toward the camera and off the screen with a hungry look in her eye. Whew!
Oh, I have to mention another one: In "Star Child" there are two clips where I made it seem like Clark was looming over Lex in a very dominant manner, and Lex is in a kneeling position looking up at him in fear (or awe). That's incredibly sexy to me.
Hardest video to make: The AU or constructed reality vids are definitely the hardest to make, so "Star Child" takes the prize here. That one had the added challenge of being set to a historical slash fic. It was extremely laborious to find the Smallville clips that would make that one work.
Most unintentionally *telling* video: I blush at both "This House" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" because they blatantly expose my kink for having either Clark or Lex injured or dead, and then having the other half of the pairing lamenting and grieving. I'm such a melodrama whore.
Coming Soon: Clex vid of DOOM. Actually, I'm hoping it will be quite a fun, sexy vid, but the amount of work ahead of me is a little daunting. :)
And in addition:
If there is any question you would like to ask me about any one of my vids, then go ahead! What I meant by a particular clip or sequence, why I chose to highlight that characterization, why I chose that song, what crack I was taking and where you can get some...anything. Anything you might like to know about how I made a vid, I shall do my best to answer.
Here's what 2007 looked like for me:
February: This House
April: Faster Kill Pussycat
June: Star Child
July: Short Skirt/Long Jacket
August: Baby, It's a Fact
November: Cobrastyle
December: James Bonde and Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Hmm. Only 8 vids total. I'm slow. And only getting slower, I fear. I keep wanting to vid to up-tempo songs that require fast cutting. Fast cutting means that I have to have A LOT of clips at my disposal. It isn't always possible, but I try really hard to not re-use clips I've used in previous vids. Therefore, getting the volume of clips I need for each vid means scouring through 7 seasons of show for fresh material (at least as far as Smallville is concerned). All of that brings us back to slooooow.
2007 was the first year that I saw one of my own vids at a con: both "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "Faster Kill Pussycat" played at Vividcon. This is the second year I had a vid play at Bascon: morgandawn put "This House" in the vid show this year, and "Don't Cha" last year. 2007 was also the year where I broke my monofandom cherry. I made my first vid in another fandom, "Baby, It's a Fact" for Kyle XY.
My favorite video this year (of my own): It's hard to choose a favorite vid, since I like different vids for different reasons, but I'll go with the vid I feel least nitpicky about, which would be "Short Skirt/Long Jacket". I am almost 100% satisfied with this vid--meaning, there is very little I would change about it (if I were the type of person who went back and re-edited stuff, which I sooo am not). I like the cuts, I like the movement, I like the color, and I like what it said about Lois. I like the fact that it made me like Lois, and that it maybe did the same thing for other people as well.
My best video this year: I'll go with "Cobrastyle" for this one, even though the vid almost killed my squee because of all the technical problems I had with it. It's not as perfect as I wanted it to be, but it feels like my thesis statement on what vidding means to me, and what Smallville means to me. Everything that I love about movement, color, and light is in there. Smallville is so, so generous in giving me lush, rich colors, pretty sets, quirky lighting, flashy explosions, and shiny shiny characters to work with, and I distilled all of my appreciation for that in this vid. I used the music and the beat in my own idiosyncratic way, in the way that makes sense to me, which means that sometimes I did not cut to the beat, or sometimes I cut to a beat that I only hear in my own head. I ditched the traditional use of lyrics to convey meaning, and instead used the singer's voice and inflection patterns to convey attitude. I let the visuals do the actual "talking".
Video most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Hmmm. I actually don't think any of my vids go unappreciated. If nothing else, I always like them. I probably get more comments than I deserve, actually. :)
Most fun video: Most fun to watch for me is "James Bonde." Kara is so cute, and I enjoy the fast cutting and the action footage. Plus, now that voldything told me what the lyrics actually mean, I find my clip choices even more amusing. The funnest to make was "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" because it came together so quickly and painlessly.
Video with single sexiest moment: I surprised myself by finding "Faster Kill Pussycat" incredibly hot after the fact. While I was making it, I was very focused on the music and the movement, but after it was finished, I looked it over and thought, "Damn, those women are hot!" My favorite bit is the sequence where Lana is pushing back her hair flirtatiously, and the next clip shows Chloe walking toward the camera and off the screen with a hungry look in her eye. Whew!
Oh, I have to mention another one: In "Star Child" there are two clips where I made it seem like Clark was looming over Lex in a very dominant manner, and Lex is in a kneeling position looking up at him in fear (or awe). That's incredibly sexy to me.
Hardest video to make: The AU or constructed reality vids are definitely the hardest to make, so "Star Child" takes the prize here. That one had the added challenge of being set to a historical slash fic. It was extremely laborious to find the Smallville clips that would make that one work.
Most unintentionally *telling* video: I blush at both "This House" and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" because they blatantly expose my kink for having either Clark or Lex injured or dead, and then having the other half of the pairing lamenting and grieving. I'm such a melodrama whore.
Coming Soon: Clex vid of DOOM. Actually, I'm hoping it will be quite a fun, sexy vid, but the amount of work ahead of me is a little daunting. :)
And in addition:
If there is any question you would like to ask me about any one of my vids, then go ahead! What I meant by a particular clip or sequence, why I chose to highlight that characterization, why I chose that song, what crack I was taking and where you can get some...anything. Anything you might like to know about how I made a vid, I shall do my best to answer.