I've been vidding since 2002 -- and also, coincidentally, attending WisCon since 2002, though I haven't been able to attend in the last few years; in fact, the last time I was there was the year before the WisCon Vid Party began. *facepalm* (A couple of my vids have shown there in years past, though, thanks to other people's playlists.)
I've vidded more than a dozen fandoms: big fandoms and tiny-to-nonexistent fandoms, TV and movies, SFF and not. (Masterlist and streaming versions available at the AO3.) I first tried my hand at vidding because I was deeply in love with the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and (like chaila) I was pretty sure no one else was going to make the vids I wanted to see or make them to the music I wanted to hear. So for a year or so my vidding was tied very tightly to Buffy. After that I began to branch out, and for a long time now vidding itself has been my primary fandom.
What I love about vidding is that it's meta + music. When I fell for Buffy and went online looking for other people to talk to, I was delighted to discover that there were so many people saying smart things about the show -- I really got into fandom for the meta, and Buffy was such a smart show that there was a lot of meta, really good meta, because there was so much to think about. And then I found vids, and I realized that people were using vids to express their reactions to and insights about the show. Like meta, but with music! I couldn't resist. And I still feel that way. :) Vids are a terrific way to say some things more elegantly or persuasively or quickly than I could in written meta. And they allow me to invite an audience to collaborate in making meaning with me, which I think is pretty cool.
But it's not just the end results of vidding that I love (I am often dissatisfied with my vids, even now); it's the process. I mean, sometimes the process makes me want to punch myself in the face, but it can be fun. Finding the right song is an amazing rush; it's where the rest of the fun begins. Seeing something on the screen that I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Coming up with something that's better than what I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Getting to engage with my show on a deeper level is fun; celebrating the shiny surface is also fun. Learning new stuff is fun, and I'm always learning as I vid. Just making something is fun; a lot of my day job involves sending a lot of not terribly meaningful email, which means that at the end of the average day I very seldom have something I can point to and say "I made this." Whereas with a vid I can do that, even if it's just "Today I laid two clips" -- those are two clips that weren't on the timeline yesterday. That's progress.
I've been vidding for long enough that my process has changed significantly: I used to plan everything out -- every line -- and make clips in advance, and now I'm much more likely to settle on a few specific clip ideas and a general sense of the effect I'm going for, scrub through the source to see what resonates with me, and start throwing stuff on the timeline. These changes have been partly the result of technological change -- I have hardware and software that can handle that sort of open-ended vidding! -- and partly the result of being less obsessively mono-fannish: When I was vidding Buffy, I knew pretty much every frame of every scene, whereas with the shows I'm currently vidding I don't have anywhere near that kind of detailed familiarity with the source.
I can say more about this in the Tech and the Editing/Workflow threads, but: I vid on a PC, using Adobe Premiere CS4; I edit audio using Adobe Audition; and I have used Adobe AfterEffects in a few vids. I generally vid with DVD source imported into Premiere as AviSynth files, using the process outlined in A&E's Technical Guide. I started vidding when I didn't know much about computers beyond how to use word processors and send email, and now I build my own computers, so I guess I picked up some stuff about tech along the way, and I'm happy to help with tech issues if I can.
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Meet the Vidder: here's luck
Date: 2014-03-01 03:21 pm (UTC)I've vidded more than a dozen fandoms: big fandoms and tiny-to-nonexistent fandoms, TV and movies, SFF and not. (Masterlist and streaming versions available at the AO3.) I first tried my hand at vidding because I was deeply in love with the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and (like
What I love about vidding is that it's meta + music. When I fell for Buffy and went online looking for other people to talk to, I was delighted to discover that there were so many people saying smart things about the show -- I really got into fandom for the meta, and Buffy was such a smart show that there was a lot of meta, really good meta, because there was so much to think about. And then I found vids, and I realized that people were using vids to express their reactions to and insights about the show. Like meta, but with music! I couldn't resist. And I still feel that way. :) Vids are a terrific way to say some things more elegantly or persuasively or quickly than I could in written meta. And they allow me to invite an audience to collaborate in making meaning with me, which I think is pretty cool.
But it's not just the end results of vidding that I love (I am often dissatisfied with my vids, even now); it's the process. I mean, sometimes the process makes me want to punch myself in the face, but it can be fun. Finding the right song is an amazing rush; it's where the rest of the fun begins. Seeing something on the screen that I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Coming up with something that's better than what I saw in my mind's eye is fun. Getting to engage with my show on a deeper level is fun; celebrating the shiny surface is also fun. Learning new stuff is fun, and I'm always learning as I vid. Just making something is fun; a lot of my day job involves sending a lot of not terribly meaningful email, which means that at the end of the average day I very seldom have something I can point to and say "I made this." Whereas with a vid I can do that, even if it's just "Today I laid two clips" -- those are two clips that weren't on the timeline yesterday. That's progress.
I've been vidding for long enough that my process has changed significantly: I used to plan everything out -- every line -- and make clips in advance, and now I'm much more likely to settle on a few specific clip ideas and a general sense of the effect I'm going for, scrub through the source to see what resonates with me, and start throwing stuff on the timeline. These changes have been partly the result of technological change -- I have hardware and software that can handle that sort of open-ended vidding! -- and partly the result of being less obsessively mono-fannish: When I was vidding Buffy, I knew pretty much every frame of every scene, whereas with the shows I'm currently vidding I don't have anywhere near that kind of detailed familiarity with the source.
I can say more about this in the Tech and the Editing/Workflow threads, but: I vid on a PC, using Adobe Premiere CS4; I edit audio using Adobe Audition; and I have used Adobe AfterEffects in a few vids. I generally vid with DVD source imported into Premiere as AviSynth files, using the process outlined in A&E's Technical Guide. I started vidding when I didn't know much about computers beyond how to use word processors and send email, and now I build my own computers, so I guess I picked up some stuff about tech along the way, and I'm happy to help with tech issues if I can.