sarkastic kicked off my new year in the best way possible by providing us with this
Michael/Mahone 3x01-3x04 picspam of intense hotassery. BOYS.
I start you off with that because my year-in-review meme is weirdly depressing this year. I apologize in advance!
2006 |
2007 The Vids
I Don't Care As Long As You Sing (Due South) - So instead of starting the year with an Insane Vidding Project (IVP), as I have done the last couple of years, I started with a full-length vid that was like pulling teeth to get finished. I hated this vid when I was done with it, and it's taken me a long time to get to a place where I sort of like it again. I still like
greensilver's mash-up of it better than the original. I feel like what I wanted and what it was never entirely came together.
Six Angels (Multifandom) - I made this for
brynnmck for her birthday and it is one of the few vids I produced that I genuinely still love. It also helped that I was making this for an audience of one, an audience I know well. I'm still really pleased with how the sections transitioned, and the way that they all managed to adhere to the overall theme of the vid.
Mountie Maguire & Mountchanted (Due South) - These were made for
ds_flashfiction's DS Match challenge again this year. They were fairly quick and easy to make and I actually think they came out pretty well. They're just not Serious Vids, vids that have themes and structure and intense technicality, so I'm struggling with them, with the sense that they're somehow a waste of time (it's not rational!). Ray's "don't sing, just walk" is one of my favorite moments in my own vids this year, though.
Like A Stone (Prison Break) - This is the other vid I am still really proud of this year. Not only did it lead me to find my PB friends of awesome, but it was the first vid I'd made in awhile where I spent a lot of time storyboarding again, structuring everything really carefully, having an emotional build and selecting clips with extra care. It was fun to work with a new fandom, too, and introduce people to something I was fannishly obsessed with at the same time.
Bad Boy (Dante's Cove) - Another vid where the idea I had and the vid that happened never entirely crossed paths. This vid could've been better, and that's the hardest thing to accept about it. There are still parts of it that make me laugh, though, and it's the continuing sign of me trying to increase and vary my cutting to match the song. It's not entirely successful here, but I think it was good practice for the next vid.
Paralyzer (Prison Break) - Ok, I do still really love this vid a lot. It's EXACTLY what I wanted it to be when I had the idea. I giggled to myself the whole time I was putting it together, the stuff I did to the coloring worked great, the song is cut down to within an inch of its life, but I think the cuts are done well if you don't know the song, and it ended up having an overall theme, too, of Alex trying to get Michael to 'move.' But it still somehow feels like it's not a Serious Vid; possibly because of the length, and because I didn't spend a lot of hands-on time with the vid, though I storyboarded it intensely in my head.
Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas (The OC) - A very quickly tossed off Christmas vidlet that is cute but if I'd waited and watched later OC Chrismukkah episodes, may have been better. I need to re-learn patience while vidding. Maybe that's what IVP actually does for me: lets me get out all of these quick vidlets so I can feel like it's ok to spend the time on the longer vids.
Christmas Is Going To The Dogs (Due South) - Made for
the-antichris for Due South Sekrit Santa. Another vid made with a particular person in mind. I'm grateful to the couple of people I showed it to, friends of hers, who said she'd like it because I was really nervous about it until then. Making something for someone you don't know very well is a whole new kind of terrifying! Heh. This vid was actually pretty fun to make, what with the focus being on Dief and all. I thought for sure people would know it was me because it also used an Eels song (like the OC Chrismukkah vid) and from the hat on Dief's head at the end. I specifically zipped the file on my PC to avoid the Mac folder that happens when you unzip Mac files. /dork
Overall Thoughts - So much of this year for me seems to have been about my own expectations consistently not being met, and me being really swamped by my own vidding insecurities. Which I didn't even recognize until I was writing out my thoughts up there. It feels like a year composed of short vids that didn't require a lot of forethought with a couple of good, long vids thrown in, and that somehow that makes the year mostly a waste, vidding-wise. I feel like I tread water for most of the year, but I never had the urge to NOT tread water until the end of the year, and then I ran out of time to vid. On the other hand, some of those short vids are good, and there's no law that a vidder has to make only longer, serious vids to somehow still be a vidder. Clearly I am struggling here with elements that have nothing to do with the technicalities of vidding but with the emotion and meaning of it. Which is especially interesting to me given what I said here about my vids last year: "I'm really really happy with some things and disappointed with other things and kind of in limbo about where I'm going to go next and what I'm going to do." I never got out of that limbo and instead spent the whole year there, with a few flashes of intent. I'm going to have to think about this some more! I feel like there's something in all this that I haven't quite extrapolated yet, something important that will make it clear.
And it's also interesting to note that this has been my least productive year as a vidder.
My favorite of my own vids this year:
Honestly? Paralyzer. I never get tired of watching that.
My best vid this year:
Like A Stone.
Vid of mine most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I don't know, not really any of these. I have a low opinion of most of my fannish output this year and the ones I liked got good response. Maybe Paralyzer.
Most fun video:
The two Christmas videos were fun to make and to watch, I think.
Video with single sexiest moment:
Like A Stone, when Alex goes crazy and slams the shiv into the wall and gets up in Michael's personal space. Although Michael's full-body eye-sexing of Alex in Paralyzer is good, too.
Hardest video to make:
Whew...has to be I Don't Care As Long As You Sing. I think the process of making that vid ruined it for me as much as the expectations thing.
Most unintentionally *telling* video:
Six Angels. It's at least as much about how much I adore
brynnmck as it is about how much she adores those shows.
Do you have any goals for the New Year?
See above, about the very vague thinky things. In terms of more ephemeral goals, I need to come to terms with vidding. In terms of concrete vidding goals, I HAVE to finish the
ds-recsredux vidlet for
thady and
greensilver's Sweet Charity vidlet that was due in December 2007. Yes, I am made of exactly that much fail.
The Fic
The Spirit of Giving (Due South; Vecchio/Kowalski; rated R) - Written for
brynnmck for Christmas. I'd been sitting on this idea for a couple of months and wrote it fairly quickly. I love schmoopy, domestic Ray/Ray, you guys!
Tale As Old As Time (Due South; Fraser/Vecchio; rated PG) - Written for
snoopypez for
fraser-vecchio. I cannot say enough good things about the beta work
china-shop did on this. She found all the places where my writing always falls and pointed them out, and that's been filtering to other stuff I've worked on since then. I still like this fic, too, though.
Small Gifts (Due South; Fraser & Vecchio; rated PG - Written for
belmanoir for her birthday, and also for the Ray's Fingerprints Challenge. Sensing a theme with the fic writing this year? Heh. I realized while writing this fic that early season 1 Ray & Fraser UST fic is an area I have not explored much but that I'd be interested in going back to. There's a lot of potential there.
Contact (Prison Break; Michael & Mahone; rated PG-13) - The only fic I didn't write for someone else this year, and the one I, by far, like the least. It was written based on a screencap from the PB 4x01 preview and already I'm working in hat-mocking jokes. *shakes head*
Blow Me Down (Due South ficlet; Vecchio/Kowalski; rated PG) - Written as a response to a donation made to the Obama campaign. A quick little one-off that was a kick to write.
Weight (Due South ficlet; Fraser/Vecchio; rated PG) - Also written as a donation response, this was based on a fic idea I've had on my 'To Write' list since I saw "The Deal" for the first time. I'm really pleased with how it came out, given how short it is and how quickly I wrote it.
The Justice League, Seattle Chapter (Due South/OC/Supernatural crossover; implied Fraser/Vecchio/Kowalski; rated PG) - Written for
brynnmck to save her from boredom. This was written entirely via email, then cleaned up a bit and posted, and I'm still really happy with it. It's funny, I think, which is hard to do sometimes, so I'm proud of that. Plus, bonus surprise guest!
Overall Thoughts - While I'm overall content with the writing I did this year, I actually think I did a lot better as a beta than as a writer. The beta'ing work has been really good for me, let me identify some things I do myself, given me a chance to hone some of the skills I'm not as good at with writing, and I think it's been a real boon to the fic that I've been working on since about mid-summer. I don't identify as a writer anymore, so I don't put the same pressure on myself in the things I produce, and I was able to re-read each of these stories for this meme and not cringe or hate them! I call that a win!
My favorite of my own stories this year:
Hmmm. "The Justice League, Seattle Chapter," I think.
My best story this year:
Actually, "Weight," I think. Maybe "Tale As Old As Time," but I really liked "Weight."
Story of mine most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
I don't know. I guess "Contact." Though upon re-reading, it's not that good, so. Heh.
Most fun story:
"The Spirit of Giving" was really fun to write. And probably "Justice League" for reading.
Story with single sexiest moment:
Possibly "Spirit of Giving," when Kowalski gives Vecchio the BJ while Vecchio's on the phone with Fraser.
Hardest story to write:
"Small Gifts." I had trouble punching that one into shape, and again with the feeling that I never quite achieved what I had intended.
Most unintentionally *telling* story:
Um. I honestly can't say.
Do you have any goals for the New Year?
Finish the Michael/Alex Epic Fic of Doom. Other than that, not really!
Total number of words written:
17,410. More than I thought, actually. Nifty.
If you have any specific questions about any of these vids or fic, feel free to ask! As always, all of my thanks and gratitude to my betas and also to every single person who commented on any of these. My betas always made my vids and fic better, every single time, and I cannot thank you enough for how important it is to whip my lazy ass into shape. *g* Any remaining unhappiness I have with these things is my own fault, never yours. Also, I said it last year and I'll say it again this year: for the people who say they "only" comment and don't produce much or anything - you all are doing a huge service for fandom. Thank you.