IJVP 2007 - The Big Round-Up and Conclusion Post!
Last year, following f1renze's lead, I did one of these, and it was fun for me and nice to have a single place with links to all the vids. Here's this year's.
First, here are direct links to each vidlet, as well as links to the original posts. All of the vids are DivX AVIs.
Day 1: B.O.B. (15 MB) - Battlestar Galactica (gen) - for annavtree - direct link - original post
Day 2: Brighter Than Sunshine (18 MB) - Firefly/Serenity (River/Jayne) - for effulgent_girl - direct link - original post
Day 3: When The War Came (18 MB) - Buffy/Angel (gen) - for ficbyzee - direct link - original post
Day 4: Everlong (19 MB) - Due South (Fraser/Victoria) - for mlyn - direct link - original post
Day 5: Harvey the Wonder Hamster (6 MB) - Farscape (Harvey & John) - for lizamanynames - direct link - original post
Day 6: Restless (19 MB) - Battlestar Galactica ("33") - for suenix - direct link - original post
Day 7: Lunatic Fringe (18 MB) - Supernatural (Winchesters vs. Yellow-Eyed Demon) - for cindermom - direct link - original post
Day 8: Don't Give Up (20 MB) - Farscape (John, John/Aeryn) - for raislak - direct link - original post
Day 9: Angels Love Bad Men (11 MB) - Deadwood (Seth/Martha) - for sisabet - direct link - original post
Day 10: Stationary Stationary (20 MB) - Due South (Fraser/Vecchio) - for sansets - direct link - original post
Day 11: People Are Strange (20 MB) - Buffy (Andrew) - for dualbunny - direct link - original post
Day 12: A Good Man Is Hard To Find (18 MB) - Stargate: Atlantis (Rodney) - for aurora_84 - direct link - original post
Day 13: Mercy Now (28 MB) - Battlestar Galactica (Kara Thrace) - for thefourthvine - direct link - original post
Day 14: Next Contestant (17 MB) - Buffy/Angel (Faith) - for voleuse - direct link - original post
Day 15: You've Got A Friend In Me (39 MB) - Due South (Fraser & Dief) - for isiscolo - direct link - original post
If you have any comments, questions, or critiques, please feel free to leave them here or on the original posts. IJVP is an opportunity for me to learn and grow a little as a vidder, and your comments help that.
Summary
This year's project was the hardest ever, but also the best quality overall, IMO. There were a couple of factors that made it difficult: my own life has been busier and more full of stress this year both during the preparation period and the vidding period. I've been more easily distracted by other things *cough*DueSouth*cough* this year, and my creative energy was very distracted during the prep period with writing fic. I also think I didn't have any specific goals this year, and so each vid was not only an exercise in vidding but discovering what I wanted to learn. Most of the time while I made each vid I didn't have any idea what I was going to get out of it until halfway through. And while that allowed me to learn things that I didn't expect, and also learn much broader concepts than I have previously, it made for a bit of a hellish time. My whole rationale for IJVP is that it's somehow benefitting me as a vidder, so it's important to me that I feel I'm getting something positive out of it, because it requires a lot of time and energy that I could be applying to the ever-increasing list of vid ideas I want to make.
As with the previous two projects, this year's vid ideas were excellent. I got another nice mix of fandoms and focus, from gen to slash to character studies. And there were enough fast songs to liven up the mix and push my speed-cutting skills to their limit. *g* I'm actually really happy with how much I got to play with cutting speed this year, figure out what works and what doesn't. For instance, from "Stationary Stationary," I learned that a section of quickly cut scenes can have an internal rhythm, and that just a couple of frames more on a clip in the middle gives the whole thing a moment to breathe. From "B.O.B." I learned that I should probably cut faster than I initially feel comfortable with. And fron "Next Contestant" I learned that I actually can get the energy levels right if I work enough at it.
Beyond cutting, I think each post this year does a pretty good job of summarizing the other general elements I learned, like ensuring that a narrative carries across a whole vid, even as the vid interacts with different characters. I realize now that my BSG vid "Cold Cold Water" did that subconciously, never losing the thread of Kara even when it hit the section all about Lee. Now I can recognize that and actually apply it with purpose, thanks to "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." And I also learned to trust my visual instincts, that I can make stuff look awesome (I have long doubted my visual abilities), like the beginning of "Lunatic Fringe" which might still be my favorite 10 seconds of the whole project. "Everlong" taught me more about really working with a symbol and a metaphor, and the ways that you have to define that metaphor to give it resonance through the whole vid. I'd venture to say you should always define it at the beginning of the vid, but sometimes a later reveal works in your favor. "Brighter Than Sunshine" let me focus on color and light. "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Now" let me focus on hitting the deep emotional buttons through tricksy visuals (the claustrophobic edges of DGU; the prayer bookending of MN). "When The War Came" gave me a chance to play with motion (the technique, not the program - heh) and really - FINALLY - understand it and how to use it. Motion is hard, but when it works, it's breathtaking. I think bits of what I learned from WTWC filtered out to many of the other vids, like YGAFIM and even "People Are Strange." "Restless" was all about mood and tension and I'm still really happy with that one. I actually got some nice benefits out of making footage black & white this year, and I think it's something that bears looking at further. Black & white footage can be really effective in the right situation.
Expanding outside of FCP, I learned to love LiveType. I look forward to working more with LT and being able to bend it more firmly to my will. It's still resisting me, but we'll work on it. *g* I think next year I might focus on Motion, since I want to learn it but I keep talking myself out of the necessity of knowing it.
And things I learned (or re-learned) about my own vidding style? I still loooove bookends. I love juxtaposing two scenes to show the similarities. I love stuff happening on the beat. I love long shots. I love object shots. I still really enjoy vidding. :)
Even with all of the difficulties this year, and my own lacksadaisacal approach to getting one vidlet a day done (mea culpa!), I'm happier with this batch of vids than I was the previous two years. I think there's some really excellent stuff scattered throughout these vids, and that overall they hold up pretty well. I think part of that is because I didn't feel the need to force special effects on everything, and a special effect badly placed can make the best vid look cheesy.
Next year, should I be able to do this again, I will definitely change the format. I liked giving myself the freedom to go shorter or longer (or even much longer) as I felt comfortable within the confines of the song and my ability to cut it, and the vid idea itself. Not holding myself hostage to one minute only was for the best, but it made finishing difficult because it's hard for me to vid over a minute in one evening. I think I'm going to go to 7 vidlets of one minute or more and give myself two days for each one. I might also ask for different criteria, a song and a fandom and a theme (color, motion, etc) instead of a subject. But we'll see. :)
And, of course, the audience participation poll! You don't have to select your vidlet for any of these, and if you didn't watch them all, you're still free to vote. :)
Poll The IJVP 07 Round-up Poll!
And finally, here are SDW's IJVP 2007 Awards! First up are awards presented to vids because of the process of creating them, not because of the vid itself.
The vidlet that...
Made me dance in my chair with glee: "You've Got A Friend In Me"
Made me want to stab the computer: "When The War Came" (stupid pixelated source! grrrr)
Made me want to stab myself: "Stationary Stationary" (for the number of times I waffled on POV)
Made me revise an idea about a character or storyline: "Brighter Than Sunshine"
Made me squeal like a teenage girl : "Lunatic Fringe"
Challenged my aesthetics - narrative: "Everlong"
Challenged my aesthetics - cutting style: "B.O.B." did it first; also "Harvey" and "Next Contestant"
Benefitted most from "what does this do?" syndrome: "Don't Give Up"
And now, awards for the final product!
Best use of black & white for Dramatic Weight: "Restless"
Best use of black & white to highlight Hotness: "Lunatic Fringe"
Best use of flippy ships: "B.O.B."
Best use of matting to put someone's head in a fire: "Angels Love Bad Men"
Best use of animals in the line of duty: "You've Got A Friend In Me"
Best use of bookending, even though SDW uses bookends all the time in her vids (Tie!): "Mercy Now" and "People Are Strange"
Best use of stationary: "Stationary Stationary"
Best use of characters dying in the service of angst (another tie!): "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" and "When the War Came"
Best use of dancing: "Next Contestant"
Best use of fighting as dancing: "Brighter Than Sunshine"
Best use of revolving doors: "Everlong"
Best use of dumpsters: "Harvey the Wonder Hamster"
Best use of Aeryn being awesome: "Don't Give Up"
Thank you all again for your patience, your support, your enthusiasm, your willingness to point out when things didn't work, your willingness to point out when things did work, and your day-to-day awesomeness in general. I did enjoy IJVP (especially now that's it done!), and I'm so glad I was able to share it again with all of you.
First, here are direct links to each vidlet, as well as links to the original posts. All of the vids are DivX AVIs.
Day 1: B.O.B. (15 MB) - Battlestar Galactica (gen) - for annavtree - direct link - original post
Day 2: Brighter Than Sunshine (18 MB) - Firefly/Serenity (River/Jayne) - for effulgent_girl - direct link - original post
Day 3: When The War Came (18 MB) - Buffy/Angel (gen) - for ficbyzee - direct link - original post
Day 4: Everlong (19 MB) - Due South (Fraser/Victoria) - for mlyn - direct link - original post
Day 5: Harvey the Wonder Hamster (6 MB) - Farscape (Harvey & John) - for lizamanynames - direct link - original post
Day 6: Restless (19 MB) - Battlestar Galactica ("33") - for suenix - direct link - original post
Day 7: Lunatic Fringe (18 MB) - Supernatural (Winchesters vs. Yellow-Eyed Demon) - for cindermom - direct link - original post
Day 8: Don't Give Up (20 MB) - Farscape (John, John/Aeryn) - for raislak - direct link - original post
Day 9: Angels Love Bad Men (11 MB) - Deadwood (Seth/Martha) - for sisabet - direct link - original post
Day 10: Stationary Stationary (20 MB) - Due South (Fraser/Vecchio) - for sansets - direct link - original post
Day 11: People Are Strange (20 MB) - Buffy (Andrew) - for dualbunny - direct link - original post
Day 12: A Good Man Is Hard To Find (18 MB) - Stargate: Atlantis (Rodney) - for aurora_84 - direct link - original post
Day 13: Mercy Now (28 MB) - Battlestar Galactica (Kara Thrace) - for thefourthvine - direct link - original post
Day 14: Next Contestant (17 MB) - Buffy/Angel (Faith) - for voleuse - direct link - original post
Day 15: You've Got A Friend In Me (39 MB) - Due South (Fraser & Dief) - for isiscolo - direct link - original post
If you have any comments, questions, or critiques, please feel free to leave them here or on the original posts. IJVP is an opportunity for me to learn and grow a little as a vidder, and your comments help that.
Summary
This year's project was the hardest ever, but also the best quality overall, IMO. There were a couple of factors that made it difficult: my own life has been busier and more full of stress this year both during the preparation period and the vidding period. I've been more easily distracted by other things *cough*DueSouth*cough* this year, and my creative energy was very distracted during the prep period with writing fic. I also think I didn't have any specific goals this year, and so each vid was not only an exercise in vidding but discovering what I wanted to learn. Most of the time while I made each vid I didn't have any idea what I was going to get out of it until halfway through. And while that allowed me to learn things that I didn't expect, and also learn much broader concepts than I have previously, it made for a bit of a hellish time. My whole rationale for IJVP is that it's somehow benefitting me as a vidder, so it's important to me that I feel I'm getting something positive out of it, because it requires a lot of time and energy that I could be applying to the ever-increasing list of vid ideas I want to make.
As with the previous two projects, this year's vid ideas were excellent. I got another nice mix of fandoms and focus, from gen to slash to character studies. And there were enough fast songs to liven up the mix and push my speed-cutting skills to their limit. *g* I'm actually really happy with how much I got to play with cutting speed this year, figure out what works and what doesn't. For instance, from "Stationary Stationary," I learned that a section of quickly cut scenes can have an internal rhythm, and that just a couple of frames more on a clip in the middle gives the whole thing a moment to breathe. From "B.O.B." I learned that I should probably cut faster than I initially feel comfortable with. And fron "Next Contestant" I learned that I actually can get the energy levels right if I work enough at it.
Beyond cutting, I think each post this year does a pretty good job of summarizing the other general elements I learned, like ensuring that a narrative carries across a whole vid, even as the vid interacts with different characters. I realize now that my BSG vid "Cold Cold Water" did that subconciously, never losing the thread of Kara even when it hit the section all about Lee. Now I can recognize that and actually apply it with purpose, thanks to "A Good Man Is Hard To Find." And I also learned to trust my visual instincts, that I can make stuff look awesome (I have long doubted my visual abilities), like the beginning of "Lunatic Fringe" which might still be my favorite 10 seconds of the whole project. "Everlong" taught me more about really working with a symbol and a metaphor, and the ways that you have to define that metaphor to give it resonance through the whole vid. I'd venture to say you should always define it at the beginning of the vid, but sometimes a later reveal works in your favor. "Brighter Than Sunshine" let me focus on color and light. "Don't Give Up" and "Mercy Now" let me focus on hitting the deep emotional buttons through tricksy visuals (the claustrophobic edges of DGU; the prayer bookending of MN). "When The War Came" gave me a chance to play with motion (the technique, not the program - heh) and really - FINALLY - understand it and how to use it. Motion is hard, but when it works, it's breathtaking. I think bits of what I learned from WTWC filtered out to many of the other vids, like YGAFIM and even "People Are Strange." "Restless" was all about mood and tension and I'm still really happy with that one. I actually got some nice benefits out of making footage black & white this year, and I think it's something that bears looking at further. Black & white footage can be really effective in the right situation.
Expanding outside of FCP, I learned to love LiveType. I look forward to working more with LT and being able to bend it more firmly to my will. It's still resisting me, but we'll work on it. *g* I think next year I might focus on Motion, since I want to learn it but I keep talking myself out of the necessity of knowing it.
And things I learned (or re-learned) about my own vidding style? I still loooove bookends. I love juxtaposing two scenes to show the similarities. I love stuff happening on the beat. I love long shots. I love object shots. I still really enjoy vidding. :)
Even with all of the difficulties this year, and my own lacksadaisacal approach to getting one vidlet a day done (mea culpa!), I'm happier with this batch of vids than I was the previous two years. I think there's some really excellent stuff scattered throughout these vids, and that overall they hold up pretty well. I think part of that is because I didn't feel the need to force special effects on everything, and a special effect badly placed can make the best vid look cheesy.
Next year, should I be able to do this again, I will definitely change the format. I liked giving myself the freedom to go shorter or longer (or even much longer) as I felt comfortable within the confines of the song and my ability to cut it, and the vid idea itself. Not holding myself hostage to one minute only was for the best, but it made finishing difficult because it's hard for me to vid over a minute in one evening. I think I'm going to go to 7 vidlets of one minute or more and give myself two days for each one. I might also ask for different criteria, a song and a fandom and a theme (color, motion, etc) instead of a subject. But we'll see. :)
And, of course, the audience participation poll! You don't have to select your vidlet for any of these, and if you didn't watch them all, you're still free to vote. :)
Poll The IJVP 07 Round-up Poll!
And finally, here are SDW's IJVP 2007 Awards! First up are awards presented to vids because of the process of creating them, not because of the vid itself.
The vidlet that...
Made me dance in my chair with glee: "You've Got A Friend In Me"
Made me want to stab the computer: "When The War Came" (stupid pixelated source! grrrr)
Made me want to stab myself: "Stationary Stationary" (for the number of times I waffled on POV)
Made me revise an idea about a character or storyline: "Brighter Than Sunshine"
Made me squeal like a teenage girl : "Lunatic Fringe"
Challenged my aesthetics - narrative: "Everlong"
Challenged my aesthetics - cutting style: "B.O.B." did it first; also "Harvey" and "Next Contestant"
Benefitted most from "what does this do?" syndrome: "Don't Give Up"
And now, awards for the final product!
Best use of black & white for Dramatic Weight: "Restless"
Best use of black & white to highlight Hotness: "Lunatic Fringe"
Best use of flippy ships: "B.O.B."
Best use of matting to put someone's head in a fire: "Angels Love Bad Men"
Best use of animals in the line of duty: "You've Got A Friend In Me"
Best use of bookending, even though SDW uses bookends all the time in her vids (Tie!): "Mercy Now" and "People Are Strange"
Best use of stationary: "Stationary Stationary"
Best use of characters dying in the service of angst (another tie!): "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" and "When the War Came"
Best use of dancing: "Next Contestant"
Best use of fighting as dancing: "Brighter Than Sunshine"
Best use of revolving doors: "Everlong"
Best use of dumpsters: "Harvey the Wonder Hamster"
Best use of Aeryn being awesome: "Don't Give Up"
Thank you all again for your patience, your support, your enthusiasm, your willingness to point out when things didn't work, your willingness to point out when things did work, and your day-to-day awesomeness in general. I did enjoy IJVP (especially now that's it done!), and I'm so glad I was able to share it again with all of you.