VVC09 Panel: Vid Review
Vid links are here.
Preface
jarrow and gwyn_r did a terrific job running vid review. I was amazed when they said they planned to cover every vid in Premieres and delighted when they did. I especially appreciated Jarrow's efforts to focus on people who hadn't spoken before, instead of those of us who can't shut up.
I am pretty sure the people who ran Vid Review last year also did a terrific job, because people generally do. It amazes me. It is a daunting and intimidating task.
Also, I loved the wireless mikes.
Comments that do not belong in Vid Review
Here are my cranky opinions about comments that I do not feel belong in Vid Review:
Vid Review
These are just my notes on what was covered during the panel; I'll be posting my personal reactions later. I definitely didn't capture everything that was said and may have misunderstood some of it.
cesperanza and flummery, Metaphor (Multi)
"Detachable Penis" for the 21st century.
heresluck, Sea Fever (Slings & Arrows)
It's appropriate that this follows the vid on metaphor because it sets up its metaphor beautifully: the opening tells you that the theater/performance is the sea and the players are the crew of the ship. You know enough about the show from what the vidder tells you even if you haven't seen it. The pacing carries you like rolling waves on the sea; it is slow and deliberate, lets the vid take its time, gives the viewer time to react. Everything carried to its conclusion: the folding chair at the end. You are clearly in the hands of a vidder who knows what she's doing.
deejay, Fight the Power (Tropic Thunder/Robert Downey Jr.)
Like Meryl Streep, Deejay is clearly at the point in her career where she's just having fun. An audience member liked it because no one seemed to understand that Tropic Thunder was meta. "It gives me no desire to watch Tropic Thunder, but it makes me love vidding." The rickrolling was too long. The vid is paced for an audience - it gives people time to react, the laughter time to quiet down. "How many people have been pimped into the nonexistent Satan's Alley fandom?" It knows its audience: it uses RDJ's white roles to pimp out his role as a black man, whom otherwise the white fannish audience would disregard.
caphricacorn, All Apologies (Twilight)
Is this serious or funny? Some people argued that the blurb in the program clearly set it up as funny. The song choice is effective because the book, the teenage years, and the song are so serious and so ridiculous that the vid could only be made to the earnest 90s emoness of acoustic Nirvana.
acridnym, Grow So Ugly (BtVS/Angel)
Could have used a little less black. Timing depends on an awareness of fandom/previous vids - the vidder zooms through the preliminary setup of all the clips we've seen before, yeah, okay, Angel's life sucks. Fascinating because it's clearly a response to/aware of previous Angel vids, but it's making a new argument about parallels between Angel/Angelus's treatment of women and focus on his own desire.
bananainpyjamas, We Are (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Not enough vids show what a violent show this is. Who's the "we" of the vid? A viewer commented on understanding the mythos without being familiar with the canon. The trio of terminators-Cameron, Weaver, John Henry/Cromartie-work together to manipulate humans, knowingly or not. This is a visual feast. The use of the lines on the highway as a framing device.
hellpenguin, Cassandra (Dream Awake) (Merlin)
A lot of layering visually, a lot of information being conveyed - so detailed it's impossible to comprehend. It makes much more sense if you know the title, thus could have benefited immensely from a title card in the intro.
bradcpu and
laurashapiro, Hard Sun (Firefly fandom)
A Firefly vid that looks new. Visually amazing. This and "Location, Location, Location" are about personal experiences of fandom. It needed more footage of fans to work. It works really well as a Firefly vid because FF fandom is about self-insertion: Browncoats, "Don't Stop the Signal," fan campaigns. Demonstration of how far the technology's come - the hand-held footage is beautifully composed.
lapillus, See the USA in Your Chevrolet (Supernatural)
"Don't we miss product placement?"
Reaching effectively for a style and a look - could have used a little more effects/leveling to emphasize the style. Thematically suits the show because of the emphasis on Americana/urban legends. The little closing circle is perfect. "I always love a Supernatural vid that doesn't take the show too seriously and in this case I loved the 'Americana' of representing every small town in America by using the same road in Vancouver with a different sign slapped on it."
diannelamerc, Pretty When You Cry (Dollhouse)
This had borders which were cut off in Premieres. The black strobing was too much for some people, but created the effect of a doll's shattered mind for others. Effectively signaled that the vid was going to hurt. The vid focuses a lot on the implicit violation of sex and on explicit sexual assault, but "I really wanna fuck you" clips are all violence, no sex.
gwyn_r, Mad About You (Mad Men)
Covers subtle forms of abuse, blatant forms of abuse, female sexuality. The strictures of women's lives, circumscribed by their undergarments. The turning points: It looks sexy and romantic and then the wives show up. "Speaking as a man, I felt really ashamed." "I hadn't expected the women to be as important to the story of Mad Men as they turned out to be" and the vid emphasizes this. The complications of sexuality: "I want Don Draper, but I don't want Don Draper." Love the title card - the wisp of smoke fading away. The women girding themselves with their femininity - with such different stories. At the end, entirely vulnerable, naked, brutalized by their love for these men who don't see them.
jarrow, Learning to Crawl (Battlestar Galactica)
A classic-style slash vid for Kat/Starbuck. Amazing use of color-brilliant blues and pinks during the happy parts, then the explosion of yellow when Kat is falling apart. Reminded heresluck of "Wonder of Birds" in clip choice: close-ups varied with long shots, objects.
butterfly, Sleeping with Ghosts (Star Trek)
Works as both a meta vid and a ship vid. Visual representation of fanfic about the impact of the mindmeld with oldSpock on nuKirk. Good use of The Search for Spock footage. A "passing of the torch" vid. The title immediately brought up the idea of the new having to reconcile itself with the old. Might have worked better if it had been book-ended by the mindmeld instead of having the mindmeld in the middle.
feochadn and mlyn, It Comes and Goes in Waves (Varg Veum)
Visually gorgeous, effective at explaining source to people unfamiliar with it. Worked better unspoiled for [one | some?] people; would have preferred not to be warned in blurb.
lizbetann, Turn Around (Bones)
Grisly humor of the show. Didn't move on from initial premise. Disagreement: It did a great job of building at the end, but took a little too long in the middle to get there. The lack of a consistent POV was distracting.
dualbunny, Video Killed the Radio Star (The Wizard of Oz)
From the song, expected a vid about film technology; disoriented people. Really a Wicked vid rather than The Wizard of Oz. Good use of color.
greensilver, American Tune (West Wing)
Makes these powerful people seem like the everyman. Big emotion. Reusing a song that's been used before. Very literal play to the emotions talked about it in the opening. Use of the live version right for this story. Real-world resonance with the Obama election. An ensemble vid to a song in the first-person.
barkley, Make Your Own Kind of Music (Multi)
Meta about fandom. Feel-good.
fan_eunice, Then the Morning Comes (Galaxy Quest)
A vid that makes you go "Awww." Bit with the salute made people tear up.
Stacia Yeapanis, Location, Location, Location (Two Lovers) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Beverly Hills 90210)
"That [warning] scared the shit out of me." Good title - prevents you from tuning into the characters. Way too long. Resonates with Brad & Laura's vid and with DJ's vid, all focusing on personal experiences of fandom. Might have benefited from character study in parallel with the location.
keerawa, Every State Line (Supernatural)
The spoken part of the vid set up misleading expectations for some people, but for others created the idea of a campfire tale. The execution is weaker than the concept.
kass, That Was Another Country (Lost)
The song really works. Notable for placing a type of body front and center that we don't often see. "Seeing this guy happy and powerful, then alone/lonely, I connect powerfully with this guy even though I don't know the show."
sisabet, Comfortably Numb (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
The grid pattern-all the different things going on, but also a separation between things. Jarrow: "She's broken and she's trying to fix herself." The song has two voices not quite in harmony, like the voice of Alison Young's story in Cameron's head. The grid made it hard to tell where to look for some people. Opening with the flashlight-in-the-eyes shot reminiscent of The Wall (the original of the song). Loligo: "The cover turns this rock opera into an intimate female ballad, mirroring what the show does to the movie(s)--an action adventure franchise becomes the story of the intimate connections between women."
jescaflowne, Go Baby (Cherry Lips) (Charlie's Angels movies)
How empowered were the women when Charlie was their boss? The shot of the blonde pressing a button and causing an explosion reassures audience that she's in control. The use of the modeling moves to fight. Color, power, movement among women. Clear, vibrant, beautiful style.
Song distracting because it's about a boy.
astolat and merryish, beautiful dirty rich (American Idol)
Reminiscent of early bandom vids (Led Zeppelin RPF in "Envelope Pushers of the Past." Self-aware and self-referential.
valoise, When Your Mind's Made Up (Highlander)
[Didn't take notes.]
cherryice, Dark Room (Merlin)
Successful in using Merlin's source to represent Arthurian mythos.
rhoboat, Heaven Is A Place on Earth (Supernatural)
Some people expected it to be a jokier, funnier vid. An in-joke vid about SPN fandom. Triggered embarrassment squick for some people.
millylicious, In My Veins (Car Crash) (Heroes)
So much going on with colors-dulled out, lots of blues, then a lot of red, a lot of color. Effects distracting, made it lose impact-some moments washed out, some sharper. Fascinated by the relationship info in this vid-Claire's relationships with the other men in her life are so creepy, by the time Sylar shows up, it's like, "Oh, cut my head off, I don't care."
traykor, Boy on a String (Slings and Arrows)
[Didn't take notes.]
sweetestdrain, Keeper of the Fire (Multi)
Use of multiple sources that wouldn't seem to fit together; the Supernatural footage distracted some people because Sam's power is canonically demonic rather than godly. In the sources, when God talks to women it's about little things, domestic affairs, and when God talks to men it's about apocalypse. The vid successfully elevates the women.
nightchik, How the West Was Won (Serenity)
If you know the song, you know where the vid is going. The bubbly tone of the song doesn't work for the darkness of the content.
jetpack_monkey, Don't Stop Me Now (Hammer's Frankenstein movies)
[Didn't take notes.]
laurashapiro, They Don't Know (Dr. Who)
Fun, playful. The cartoon version of Doctor/Rose. A nostalgic POV emphasized by the cartoonization and the sound of the song, the fluffy shippy ridiculous version of Doctor/Rose. The effect innately kind of creepy, which also worked.
sherrold and
wickedwords, Bromance? Birdhouse in Your Soul (Multi)
The rare high-concept comedy that could have been longer. The SGA frame went on too long to actually work as a frame. Some of the audience saw the vid as Rodney explaining their relationship to John.
jmtorres, The Long Spear (The Boxer) (Star Trek)
People disoriented by the arc and the audio changes. "Okay, Barack Obama is in a Star Trek vid." Some people offended by "Hear what these women have to say, too." For others, the vid doesn't work until the lai, lai, lai/ships exploding works in. The audio layering expands the Star Trek universe to bring in fanworks (songs from famous ST vids). A messy kitchen-sink vid, which suits its topic. Extremely effective emotionally but technical issues. The emotion is there but the mental work isn't. Sandy Herrold: They made me cry, but it felt cheap.
Preface
jarrow and gwyn_r did a terrific job running vid review. I was amazed when they said they planned to cover every vid in Premieres and delighted when they did. I especially appreciated Jarrow's efforts to focus on people who hadn't spoken before, instead of those of us who can't shut up.
I am pretty sure the people who ran Vid Review last year also did a terrific job, because people generally do. It amazes me. It is a daunting and intimidating task.
Also, I loved the wireless mikes.
Comments that do not belong in Vid Review
Here are my cranky opinions about comments that I do not feel belong in Vid Review:
- My first cranky opinion is from last year, not this year, so maybe it is a dead issue that I am resurrecting for no reason. Here goes: It is pretty much an established custom that vidders do not comment on their own vids in vid review, with occasional exceptions. This is a habit I first learned in writing workshops, and I think it serves everyone well: It means that the artist gets valuable, unmediated feedback about what works and doesn't work; it gives the artist time to absorb the feedback instead of responding defensively; and it allows the audience to talk about what works and doesn't work instead of what the artist meant or didn't mean. I both love reading artists on their work and am a stronger believer that the work must stand on its own without the artists' meta-textual justifications or explanations. This means that I generally want to defer notes until after I've had time to evaluate the text on my own.
I would strongly prefer if betas and/or other watchers who have seen vids multiple times before the premiere refrained from extensive discussion in VVC vid reviews. I don't think this should be a hard-and-fast rule, and I don't think it applies to the discussion leaders. But last year I frequently felt like betas were speaking up in vid review as vidder surrogates, and I don't think the vidder's voice is one that should usually be heard in a vid review devoted to the aftermath of the audience reactions to a first viewing of a vid.
- Guys, please, please, please stop comparing vids to previous vids done to the same song. I realize this is something that often colors our personal responses to vids, but I don't feel it's a constructive reaction to share in a vid review which takes place in front of the vidder and which ostensibly is about improving vidding-whether a particular vidder's vidding or the level of vidding in general. I wouldn't mind seeing that reaction in your LJ, because your LJ is about you. But I don't think Vid Review is the right place for it.
And this reaction depends on a particular context that our subculture no longer operates in. It isn't possible for someone to have seen every vid created. Vidders are spread out on LJ, DW, YouTube, bulletin boards for individual shows, torrent downloads, anime conventions. Some have dual citizenship in anime fandom, where nobody thinks twice about re-using a song that's been done before-and even people who stick to live-action vidding don't necessarily share the assumption that it's a bad idea to re-use songs. We are part of remix culture and we are pretty damn fond of covers, mash-ups, repetition, and repetition with a difference. We don't need to think of new vids to previously used songs as new actors replacing old in a soap opera; we could think of them as another production of Hamlet, or Hamlet gone Rosencrantz Are Guildenstern Are Dead.
- We spend THREE DAYS STRAIGHT at a con to watch and talk about vids. There is no such thing as "overthinking" vids. It is specifically and especially unhelpful for people to try to suppress discussion of politically problematic aspects of either the source or the fan works, such as sexism, racism, and homophobia, by asserting that the problem is a given in the source and does not need to be questioned. Since when is fandom about accepting the givens of the source?
The phrase "overthinking" also is dangerously close to "oversensitive" and "oversensitive" leads nowhere good.
Vid Review
These are just my notes on what was covered during the panel; I'll be posting my personal reactions later. I definitely didn't capture everything that was said and may have misunderstood some of it.
cesperanza and flummery, Metaphor (Multi)
"Detachable Penis" for the 21st century.
heresluck, Sea Fever (Slings & Arrows)
It's appropriate that this follows the vid on metaphor because it sets up its metaphor beautifully: the opening tells you that the theater/performance is the sea and the players are the crew of the ship. You know enough about the show from what the vidder tells you even if you haven't seen it. The pacing carries you like rolling waves on the sea; it is slow and deliberate, lets the vid take its time, gives the viewer time to react. Everything carried to its conclusion: the folding chair at the end. You are clearly in the hands of a vidder who knows what she's doing.
deejay, Fight the Power (Tropic Thunder/Robert Downey Jr.)
Like Meryl Streep, Deejay is clearly at the point in her career where she's just having fun. An audience member liked it because no one seemed to understand that Tropic Thunder was meta. "It gives me no desire to watch Tropic Thunder, but it makes me love vidding." The rickrolling was too long. The vid is paced for an audience - it gives people time to react, the laughter time to quiet down. "How many people have been pimped into the nonexistent Satan's Alley fandom?" It knows its audience: it uses RDJ's white roles to pimp out his role as a black man, whom otherwise the white fannish audience would disregard.
caphricacorn, All Apologies (Twilight)
Is this serious or funny? Some people argued that the blurb in the program clearly set it up as funny. The song choice is effective because the book, the teenage years, and the song are so serious and so ridiculous that the vid could only be made to the earnest 90s emoness of acoustic Nirvana.
acridnym, Grow So Ugly (BtVS/Angel)
Could have used a little less black. Timing depends on an awareness of fandom/previous vids - the vidder zooms through the preliminary setup of all the clips we've seen before, yeah, okay, Angel's life sucks. Fascinating because it's clearly a response to/aware of previous Angel vids, but it's making a new argument about parallels between Angel/Angelus's treatment of women and focus on his own desire.
bananainpyjamas, We Are (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
Not enough vids show what a violent show this is. Who's the "we" of the vid? A viewer commented on understanding the mythos without being familiar with the canon. The trio of terminators-Cameron, Weaver, John Henry/Cromartie-work together to manipulate humans, knowingly or not. This is a visual feast. The use of the lines on the highway as a framing device.
hellpenguin, Cassandra (Dream Awake) (Merlin)
A lot of layering visually, a lot of information being conveyed - so detailed it's impossible to comprehend. It makes much more sense if you know the title, thus could have benefited immensely from a title card in the intro.
bradcpu and
laurashapiro, Hard Sun (Firefly fandom)
A Firefly vid that looks new. Visually amazing. This and "Location, Location, Location" are about personal experiences of fandom. It needed more footage of fans to work. It works really well as a Firefly vid because FF fandom is about self-insertion: Browncoats, "Don't Stop the Signal," fan campaigns. Demonstration of how far the technology's come - the hand-held footage is beautifully composed.
lapillus, See the USA in Your Chevrolet (Supernatural)
"Don't we miss product placement?"
Reaching effectively for a style and a look - could have used a little more effects/leveling to emphasize the style. Thematically suits the show because of the emphasis on Americana/urban legends. The little closing circle is perfect. "I always love a Supernatural vid that doesn't take the show too seriously and in this case I loved the 'Americana' of representing every small town in America by using the same road in Vancouver with a different sign slapped on it."
diannelamerc, Pretty When You Cry (Dollhouse)
This had borders which were cut off in Premieres. The black strobing was too much for some people, but created the effect of a doll's shattered mind for others. Effectively signaled that the vid was going to hurt. The vid focuses a lot on the implicit violation of sex and on explicit sexual assault, but "I really wanna fuck you" clips are all violence, no sex.
gwyn_r, Mad About You (Mad Men)
Covers subtle forms of abuse, blatant forms of abuse, female sexuality. The strictures of women's lives, circumscribed by their undergarments. The turning points: It looks sexy and romantic and then the wives show up. "Speaking as a man, I felt really ashamed." "I hadn't expected the women to be as important to the story of Mad Men as they turned out to be" and the vid emphasizes this. The complications of sexuality: "I want Don Draper, but I don't want Don Draper." Love the title card - the wisp of smoke fading away. The women girding themselves with their femininity - with such different stories. At the end, entirely vulnerable, naked, brutalized by their love for these men who don't see them.
jarrow, Learning to Crawl (Battlestar Galactica)
A classic-style slash vid for Kat/Starbuck. Amazing use of color-brilliant blues and pinks during the happy parts, then the explosion of yellow when Kat is falling apart. Reminded heresluck of "Wonder of Birds" in clip choice: close-ups varied with long shots, objects.
butterfly, Sleeping with Ghosts (Star Trek)
Works as both a meta vid and a ship vid. Visual representation of fanfic about the impact of the mindmeld with oldSpock on nuKirk. Good use of The Search for Spock footage. A "passing of the torch" vid. The title immediately brought up the idea of the new having to reconcile itself with the old. Might have worked better if it had been book-ended by the mindmeld instead of having the mindmeld in the middle.
feochadn and mlyn, It Comes and Goes in Waves (Varg Veum)
Visually gorgeous, effective at explaining source to people unfamiliar with it. Worked better unspoiled for [one | some?] people; would have preferred not to be warned in blurb.
lizbetann, Turn Around (Bones)
Grisly humor of the show. Didn't move on from initial premise. Disagreement: It did a great job of building at the end, but took a little too long in the middle to get there. The lack of a consistent POV was distracting.
dualbunny, Video Killed the Radio Star (The Wizard of Oz)
From the song, expected a vid about film technology; disoriented people. Really a Wicked vid rather than The Wizard of Oz. Good use of color.
greensilver, American Tune (West Wing)
Makes these powerful people seem like the everyman. Big emotion. Reusing a song that's been used before. Very literal play to the emotions talked about it in the opening. Use of the live version right for this story. Real-world resonance with the Obama election. An ensemble vid to a song in the first-person.
barkley, Make Your Own Kind of Music (Multi)
Meta about fandom. Feel-good.
fan_eunice, Then the Morning Comes (Galaxy Quest)
A vid that makes you go "Awww." Bit with the salute made people tear up.
Stacia Yeapanis, Location, Location, Location (Two Lovers) (Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Beverly Hills 90210)
"That [warning] scared the shit out of me." Good title - prevents you from tuning into the characters. Way too long. Resonates with Brad & Laura's vid and with DJ's vid, all focusing on personal experiences of fandom. Might have benefited from character study in parallel with the location.
keerawa, Every State Line (Supernatural)
The spoken part of the vid set up misleading expectations for some people, but for others created the idea of a campfire tale. The execution is weaker than the concept.
kass, That Was Another Country (Lost)
The song really works. Notable for placing a type of body front and center that we don't often see. "Seeing this guy happy and powerful, then alone/lonely, I connect powerfully with this guy even though I don't know the show."
sisabet, Comfortably Numb (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)
The grid pattern-all the different things going on, but also a separation between things. Jarrow: "She's broken and she's trying to fix herself." The song has two voices not quite in harmony, like the voice of Alison Young's story in Cameron's head. The grid made it hard to tell where to look for some people. Opening with the flashlight-in-the-eyes shot reminiscent of The Wall (the original of the song). Loligo: "The cover turns this rock opera into an intimate female ballad, mirroring what the show does to the movie(s)--an action adventure franchise becomes the story of the intimate connections between women."
jescaflowne, Go Baby (Cherry Lips) (Charlie's Angels movies)
How empowered were the women when Charlie was their boss? The shot of the blonde pressing a button and causing an explosion reassures audience that she's in control. The use of the modeling moves to fight. Color, power, movement among women. Clear, vibrant, beautiful style.
Song distracting because it's about a boy.
astolat and merryish, beautiful dirty rich (American Idol)
Reminiscent of early bandom vids (Led Zeppelin RPF in "Envelope Pushers of the Past." Self-aware and self-referential.
valoise, When Your Mind's Made Up (Highlander)
[Didn't take notes.]
cherryice, Dark Room (Merlin)
Successful in using Merlin's source to represent Arthurian mythos.
rhoboat, Heaven Is A Place on Earth (Supernatural)
Some people expected it to be a jokier, funnier vid. An in-joke vid about SPN fandom. Triggered embarrassment squick for some people.
millylicious, In My Veins (Car Crash) (Heroes)
So much going on with colors-dulled out, lots of blues, then a lot of red, a lot of color. Effects distracting, made it lose impact-some moments washed out, some sharper. Fascinated by the relationship info in this vid-Claire's relationships with the other men in her life are so creepy, by the time Sylar shows up, it's like, "Oh, cut my head off, I don't care."
traykor, Boy on a String (Slings and Arrows)
[Didn't take notes.]
sweetestdrain, Keeper of the Fire (Multi)
Use of multiple sources that wouldn't seem to fit together; the Supernatural footage distracted some people because Sam's power is canonically demonic rather than godly. In the sources, when God talks to women it's about little things, domestic affairs, and when God talks to men it's about apocalypse. The vid successfully elevates the women.
nightchik, How the West Was Won (Serenity)
If you know the song, you know where the vid is going. The bubbly tone of the song doesn't work for the darkness of the content.
jetpack_monkey, Don't Stop Me Now (Hammer's Frankenstein movies)
[Didn't take notes.]
laurashapiro, They Don't Know (Dr. Who)
Fun, playful. The cartoon version of Doctor/Rose. A nostalgic POV emphasized by the cartoonization and the sound of the song, the fluffy shippy ridiculous version of Doctor/Rose. The effect innately kind of creepy, which also worked.
sherrold and
wickedwords, Bromance? Birdhouse in Your Soul (Multi)
The rare high-concept comedy that could have been longer. The SGA frame went on too long to actually work as a frame. Some of the audience saw the vid as Rodney explaining their relationship to John.
jmtorres, The Long Spear (The Boxer) (Star Trek)
People disoriented by the arc and the audio changes. "Okay, Barack Obama is in a Star Trek vid." Some people offended by "Hear what these women have to say, too." For others, the vid doesn't work until the lai, lai, lai/ships exploding works in. The audio layering expands the Star Trek universe to bring in fanworks (songs from famous ST vids). A messy kitchen-sink vid, which suits its topic. Extremely effective emotionally but technical issues. The emotion is there but the mental work isn't. Sandy Herrold: They made me cry, but it felt cheap.