h.l's 2006 feedback awards
I've been thinking about vid feedback lately, largely because my backlog of vids to comment on is even more out of control than usual - all my vid-related time has been going to my own vidding! - and then I got started thinking about how much I love getting feedback, and how vidders (including myself) are frequently inclined to whine about not getting feedback, but we're not always quick to give props to those folks who do send feedback.
I was actually kind of overwhelmed by how much feedback I got on " New Frontier" and "Out Here"; it was an incredible rush to experience. So this is my heartfelt THANK YOU to everybody who sent me feedback in 2006, whether via LJ or e-mail or chat or phone or in person at VVC. I would vid without feedback, because I'm stubborn like that, but feedback - well, it makes me really happy. So thanks to everybody who brought joy into my life in this way.
And then there are a few people I want to single out, because while I love all feedback, some folks' comments go so far above and beyond "wow, neat, liked it!" that I am pretty much bowled over. When people get my vids, when they take the time to walk me through what they felt and thought as they watched, when they let me know that the meanings I tried to pack in there are in fact being seen and processed and appreciated... that is just a whole new level of happiness and glee for me.
So here is a shout-out to some of the people who especially delighted me with their thoughtfulness and generosity, with the depth of their emotional and intellectual responses to my vids. Think of it as a belated valentine.
Sam Wurz, lead singer for Benefits of Being Paranoid, emailed me to say he'd found New Frontier and liked it. Which kind of freaked me out, but also filled me with glee. The band actually put up a link to it from the news page of their website and referred to it as "pretty cool," which is very high praise when translated from the guyspeak.
In conclusion: Yay feedback!
I was actually kind of overwhelmed by how much feedback I got on " New Frontier" and "Out Here"; it was an incredible rush to experience. So this is my heartfelt THANK YOU to everybody who sent me feedback in 2006, whether via LJ or e-mail or chat or phone or in person at VVC. I would vid without feedback, because I'm stubborn like that, but feedback - well, it makes me really happy. So thanks to everybody who brought joy into my life in this way.
And then there are a few people I want to single out, because while I love all feedback, some folks' comments go so far above and beyond "wow, neat, liked it!" that I am pretty much bowled over. When people get my vids, when they take the time to walk me through what they felt and thought as they watched, when they let me know that the meanings I tried to pack in there are in fact being seen and processed and appreciated... that is just a whole new level of happiness and glee for me.
So here is a shout-out to some of the people who especially delighted me with their thoughtfulness and generosity, with the depth of their emotional and intellectual responses to my vids. Think of it as a belated valentine.
- butterfly left an absolutely lovely comment on Out Here.
- Okay, this one's cheating because it's really a rec or, wow, an essay rather than feedback, but coffeeandink wrote this thing about New Frontier that kind of short-circuited my brain with happiness.
- destina sent me a lovely long email about vids in general and Superstar in particular, which pretty much made my summer.
- dualbunny gave me wonderfully thoughtful and detailed notes on New Frontier.
- Possibly cheating again, because f1renze's responses to Out Here and her emotional support of me when I was making the vid went light years beyond feedback, but - god, she just nailed what this vid was going for and what it needed, and was both generous with her praise when I was getting it and relentless with her pushing when I wasn't.
- katallison, too, provided far more than feedback, and far more than beta reactions, to Out Here; her emails to me, her readings of the even the earliest versions of the vid were both gratifying and inspiring, because I wanted so much for the vid to live up to the potential she found in it.
- pipsqueaky's flailing about Out Here was hilarious and adorable and utterly moving at the same time.
- sdwolfpup had so much to say about New Frontier that she actually broke LJ's comment feature and had to send me an email instead. I still re-read that email to help me through the oh god I suck I will never make a good vid again phases that every vidder I know goes through with terrifying regularity.
- shati sent me a series of emails about New Frontier that went beyond insightful to poetic. This woman's feedback is worth its weight in gold, people. Pray to find feedback from her in your inbox. Seriously.
- sweetestdrain posted a response to Out Here that... oh, hell, I love it so much I'm pasting it in here: ...watching it for the first time is like being walloped with a two by four. Symptoms can include shaking, crying, uncomfortable bruising (usually from flailing and falling off my chair, not from the vid directly), and usually the reaction of "WHY DID YOU WALLOP ME WITH A TWO BY FOUR!! (And why did I like it?)" while still left busily bleeding and picking splinters out of my arm. I aspire to leave feedback that awesome.
Sam Wurz, lead singer for Benefits of Being Paranoid, emailed me to say he'd found New Frontier and liked it. Which kind of freaked me out, but also filled me with glee. The band actually put up a link to it from the news page of their website and referred to it as "pretty cool," which is very high praise when translated from the guyspeak.
In conclusion: Yay feedback!