The AMV Feedback Project: Reaching New Heights of Obsession!

[thefourthvine]

My annual bout of vid-meta came on early this year. Also, it's another feedback project. And, further, it's on a topic that's not going to be of great interest to many of you.

There is a specific person to blame for this, and that person is not me. I'm a totally innocent party, here. (As you will see, I fought this whole thing like - well, kind

Comments

[dwchang]

I feel almost compelled to reply since scintilla72 informed me of you and your project a bit beforehand.

As you've stated, the grades are GROSSLY inflated and thus folks get "mad" when their scores are lowered, but then again, this is the internet and one giant epeen measuring contest -_-;;. Don't let that change things for ya though. Honest feedback is just that and frankly most of the folks on the org are just retards and just want high scores and "fame." I imagine it MIGHT be the same in other vidding communities.

Also reviewing older videos is not "bad" or anything. I personally like receiving feedback on just about anything even if I've gotten better. It shows me what that person got out of it ya know? Same with even my vids that have 100+ Ops. SOMETIMES someone DOES tell me something I've never heard. Everyone is different :P. Then again, to be honest, hearing "OMG THIS IS AWESOME" 10 million times DOES get a bit old, but again, SOMETIMES you hear something new and more genuine.

Oh and if I haven't said it, thanks!

[thefourthvine]

As you've stated, the grades are GROSSLY inflated and thus folks get "mad" when their scores are lowered

You know, I agree with the first part. The other opinions I've checked out, the averages I've seen - well, I wasn't kidding when I said that either I'm confused about the numbers or the other scorers are.

But thus far, no one has gotten mad at me (although a couple people disagreed, or were unhappy, but not in a pissy way), and I was honestly expecting it; assigning numerical scores to other people's work is just about the most inflammatory thing you can do without bringing up evolution or Nazis. I still do expect it to happen in the future, but - well, in my admittedly small sample, it didn't happen, and I gave some (justified and explained, but still) very low scores. If I'd gotten much in the way of bitchiness or outright flaming, I wouldn't have advised people from media fandom to give opinions at all (we can get our bitchiness and flaming in-house, after all), but it looks like the odds of pissing someone off with concrit

[lipsum]

Leaving star ratings is hard! And that is the trouble I've been having with AMV.org; it won't let me download any more because I've already downloaded X many amvs without rating them. But hey! Scintilla's comment up there contains the answer to my troubles!

[scintilla72]

I suppose I should also mention that the star scores and associated Quick Comments are completely anonymous, if that makes it easier.

[lipsum]

Thanks, but no, it doesn't help. I just angst about trying to quantify my enjoyment of an amv.

[thefourthvine]

Well, the problem with that solution is that a lot of vids are only available as local downloads.

I went through that, too - for a long time, I tried to download only direct and indirect links, because I was geechy about dling directly from the org. And the star rankings were just weird; they go entirely against my general way of approaching fanworks.

But eventually I worked out a system that allowed me to eliminate all the dithering. (You know, the - "It was so brilliant, but...but...okay, it just freaked me out, to the point where I may never sleep again, and I cannot face ever watching it again, even though it was incredible" dithering.) (If you're wondering what vid inspired that reaction, it was Closer, by Aluminum Studios, which I personally think should be titled "Closer to Hell," but that's just me. I recall it as being technically impressive, but mostly my reaction can best be summed up as one long horrified mental scream

This is tl;dr, sorry!

[sarahtheboring]

Via metafandom, but indirectly from the org as well. Preface: I'm not a very good AMV maker, and so not at all representative, but I am a part-time lurker in media fandom, read metafandom and love cross-fandom meta with an unholy passion.

That said, a couple of thoughts:

Lack of meta - Two factors come to mind at once. One, I think meta comments tend to be in video form because that's how people are used to communicating in AMV fandom. Not exclusively - there are message boards and a very active chat room, and people socialize a lot on Skype - but since people aren't in the habit of writing screeds, maybe it just seems more natural to "show" rather than "tell." Two, there's some social pressure / geek shame here and there. When people start up meta discussions on the message board, there tends to be lively discussion mixed with "go outside, nerd" comments - from other editors. There's a conflict: "take pride in your craft, do exacting work and accept only the best from others" versus "you're basement-dwelling mouthbreathing otaku cutting up other

Re: This is tl;dr, sorry!

[thefourthvine]

I found it fascinating, so I wouldn't have considered it tl;dr even if it had broken the comment limit. Several times. Which I, for one, am totally prone to doing.

(Oh, and you mentioned you were on the fringes of fandom here, too. What fandoms, if I may ask?)

One, I think meta comments tend to be in video form because that's how people are used to communicating in AMV fandom.

I agree. I think that because live-action vidding sprung from fan fiction, there was a sort of precedent of writing not just fiction, but essays and posts and screeds and rants, and that persisted even though now a lot of live-action vidders are vidders first and only. Whereas AMV making - hmmm. I'm not sure where it came from, but I'm pretty sure the founders weren't writing Gundam Wing slash before they decided it was time to go audiovisual.

Two, there's some social pressure / geek shame here and there. When people start up meta discussions on the message board, there tends to be lively discussion mixed with "go outside, nerd" comments - from other

Re: This is tl;dr, sorry!

[sarahtheboring]

I had to cut most of the quotes short because of the comment limit, sorry!

(Oh, and you mentioned you were on the fringes of fandom here, too. What fandoms, if I may ask?)

I'm not in them; I just lurk, or read some fic but don't write it, etc. For some reason media fandom is scary to me, because everyone is so fiercely affectionate and unfailingly brilliant. I'm a fan-not-fandom of HP, Buffy, and Heroes, among a smattering of others.

Whereas AMV making - hmmm. I'm not sure where it came from, but I'm pretty sure the founders weren't writing Gundam Wing slash before they decided it was time to go audiovisual.

Some were! But as a whole, it seems to have been a semi-random "hey, I can do video editing; why don't I overlay this song for darkly comic effect like they did at the end of [movie]" somewhere in the late '70s/early '80s. At least that's the theory from a panel I went to a while back...

Awww, that's just sad. I mean, we're all fans, yes? That means we all spend way more time than most folks would consider normal on stuff

[china_shop]

Oops. Let me try that again. Once more, with competent cutting and pasting.

"You know, I had a really hard time following this because of the visual quality, and also I think your decision to use only clips entirely composed of noses in profile kind of undermined your overall theme of the angst of losing your true love to a man-eating space troll."

*HEARTS x one million*

[thefourthvine]

*beams*

Thank you! (And noses as a symbol of the angst of man-eating space trolls - this is way underexplored in the literature. Someone needs to do something about that.)