Comments | bop_radar: Vid chat: effects and personal blocks

bop_radar

Vid chat: effects and personal blocks

Jan 18, 2009 21:53

This is a speculative vid chat. Or a pre-vid-chat post. I feel a bit sheepish calling it a proper vid chat because it's a very personal post, but at the same time, I'd love other vidders to feel they could share their own experiences with these issues, and since I want to start vid chats up again this year, I thought I may as well just leap in.

( I have a confession to make: I have a creative block when it comes to effects. )

vidding_chats, vidding

Comments 35

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bop_radar January 18 2009, 23:47:32 UTC

I will reiterate that "Middleman" is my favorite vid for anything ever. I don't know how many times I've watched it, because it's PERFECT :D
Aww, thank you so much! *trying really hard not to feel sad that the love that created it has died*

you have to work through stuff, because if you feel the need to say something, then you should, no matter what others have done
I agree with this absolutely in principle!! It's amazing though how difficult it is to remember it in practice. ;) But if I hadn't, 'Middleman' would never have got made, so it bears reiterating: thank you!

butterfly January 18 2009, 16:47:52 UTC

- how did you learn about effects? did you learn by doing? by reading/watching tutorials? by studying other vids?

Mostly, by screwing around with options in the editor and seeing if anything works. I will watch other vids and go 'ooo!' that's neat, but watching other people's vids that way more often ends up being an exercise in what not to do (because I don't want to steal someone else's style) than anything else.

- how do you know when to apply effects? do you see them in your mind's eye when you are imagining your vid? or do you find out where to use them only once you get into the editing? has your awareness of where to use them improved over time?

I'd say that the first vid where I did an effect was on my Moulin Rouge vid and that was driven by practicality. The movie starts in B&W and fades into color and that really didn't work for the mood of my vid, so I introduced a red-stained middle state ( ... )

bop_radar January 18 2009, 23:51:04 UTC

watching other people's vids that way more often ends up being an exercise in what not to do (because I don't want to steal someone else's style) than anything else.
That's a fear of mine too, definitely! I would absolutely die if someone thought I was copying their style and I'm terrified of doing so inadvertedly. I avoid thinking closely about how other vidders use effects for that very reason. But I'm now wondering if that's not a little self-defeating. However, I do think messing around in the editor is useful--I just find it really hard to stick at because it seems so pointless.

If the music says that something needs to be happening and the clip itself is right for the mood but not quite right for the sound, effects can make it fit better.
Interesting! I think I just look for another clip. *lol* But I can definitely see what you're saying. I have avoided whole tracks because I thought they would demand too 'effects-y' an approach for me.

-- the color splashes for 'Prayer' were part of the first conception of the vid.Wow! * ( ... )

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bop_radar January 18 2009, 23:53:22 UTC

In my opinion, effects should only be used to enhance the story or the mood of the vid. If they don't do that then they shouldn't be used
Oh absolutely! That's one of the things that strikes fear into my heart about being so clueless about where to use them--I fear breaking that rule.

, I once did a vid that used a ton of effects in all sorts of ways just to see what I could do with them. It was interesting but by far not my best work.
Sounds like what my vidding project is going to be like! ;) I'm deliberately giving myself space to 'play' and NOT have to achieve any particular 'standard'. Did you feel you learnt from that vid?

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bop_radar January 19 2009, 02:30:34 UTC

Undo is a fabulous tool for this:)
Hee hee! That's so funny. I know that it is but sometimes I've had to remind myself it's there. Like if I try something and it looks terrible, my vision will be eternally ruined and irredeemable. (I'm such a hystrionic prima donna sometimes! *g*)

It made me more comfortable with what the effects looked like so that I had some sort of basis for evaluating
Cool! That's kind of what I'm after. I just need to get in there and check them out. And ok, they may look terrible, but at least i'll know how far away from the mark I am then. I should trust my own judgment in this.

I too enjoy limited effects vids very much. There are some highly effects-laden vids that I've really loved, but often the purity of the simple ones speaks more to me.

kiki_miserychic January 18 2009, 19:22:17 UTC

I am dreadful with tech. I've somehow managed to mess up submitting files for VVC every year. My lack of skill with tech creates new problems with every VVC year. I can't work an FTP to save my life. I just started using AutoGK with my last vid. I pretty much source by hitting a DVD with a big stick.

In reading about your 'Insane February Vidding Project', I'm looking forward to the results. I'm a firm believer that vidlets are an excellent method for vidding growth. Try it. One way to know if it looks and feels right is to experiment with it. I use effects pretty liberally in my vids. I like them. They're fun to play with, but I won't go as far as to say that I know when a vid demands effects. I'm a "throw it on and if it sticks, go with it" kinda vidder.

I don't see looking at the work of other vidders as cheating. As a matter of fact, I was e-mailing back and forth with millylicious the other day about effects. She was explaining a new effect she was working on so that I might be able to use it in my own vid. I think there's a general mood ( ... )

bop_radar January 19 2009, 01:35:22 UTC

My first reply to you got lost in the ether. :( Alas!

I would never have guessed that you were bad with tech!

I am hopeful that my IFVP will eventaully result in something viewable by others--I'm going to use my four WIPs as practice ground for the effects, so I'll probably be posting snippets of them--not very interesting to anyone else. ;)

I think there's a general mood in vidding fandom of "Rip me off. I'll tell you how!"That's cool! I've never got that sense but I suspect that's due to my own fears and shyness. I wouldn't dare ask another vidder about their effects because I've had this sense that it's an invisible line you don't cross and that people would get pissed off at newbies not doing the 'hard yards' the way they did. It's good to hear that that's an illusion on my part, at least in some parts of vidding fandom ( ... )

kiki_miserychic January 19 2009, 02:02:14 UTC

I'm am so bad with tech. It's sad.

There are very few vidders I know of that would be annoyed by someone, even a newbie, asking about how something is done. In the circle of people on my flist, I can't think of many who wouldn't write an explaination, put up screenshots, or something. Of the ones I'm good friends with, all of them would take the time for it.

I was extremely anti-social when I first started vidding. I had no idea how much of a help it is to talk to others about vidding.

bop_radar January 19 2009, 02:27:46 UTC

That's so lovely about your vidding friends! :) If/when I do work something out, I'd definitely be willing to do that for others. It seems that sharing information can only benefit us all since more vids = more awesome! :)

I think an awful lot of people start out quietly as vidders. My own way of reaching out to others is with the vid chat posts.

some_stars January 18 2009, 21:09:49 UTC

oh, the tech, the tech /o\ I know I should feel good about being able to master as much of it as I have, but every single time I want to do something new or adjust for a different kind of source I have to learn all over again from scratch. And I'm pretty sure I'm not getting a fraction of my money's worth out of my fancy schmancy Premiere Pro, since I'm afraid of the manual. *g ( ... )

bop_radar January 19 2009, 02:15:29 UTC

since I'm afraid of the manual. *g*
Haha, yes, I'm afraid of the manual of Final Cut Pro! ;)

but I feel better that I DID try, you know?
That's awesome. I like your idea of 'hurling'. I think I need to embrace it! So far I've used it with vidding generally, but not effects.

I picked up my ideas about when to use effects, where, what kind, from watching other vids and to some extent from watching movies and TV.
That's cool to hear! A friend of mine used an analogy with writing as well, and I think that's helping me to look at it less as copying and more as using skilled examples as inspiration to experiment myself.

I love jump cuts too! I have used them occasionally and adore them. I want to get better at them too.

Then basic stuff like heightening contrast/highlighting particular colors/increasing saturation, that kind of thing--often keyframed so it changes over time.Ok, that doesn't seem basic to me at all! And I don't understand key frames. *hangs head* I can do one colour correction thingy which basically improves the ( ... )