Vid - Addicted (Battlestar Galactica 2003)

[vash137.livejournal.com]

This is my first vid. I've wanted to a music vid for a while though. It took me about a week painstakingly of working through ErMaC and AbsoluteDestiny's guides to all things audio and video to put this together.

Title: Addicted
Song: Addicted by Kelly Clarkson. (Also, initial bumper uses a snatch of the Colonial Anthem Theme from BSG Season 2 CD)
Characters: Baltar/Six
Spoilers: Miniseries/Season 1 (none really)
Software: Windows Movie Maker, AVIsynth and Virtualdubmod to work with the footage. DVD source.
Rating: R for sexual content.
File Size: 50.2MG (but it's a relatively fast dl, as it's hosted through Science Fiction Buzz)
Encoding/Playback: Encoded using Xvid, but will play back fine with DivX. As a note, at least with my computer, playing vids full screen using the newest Windows Media Player (WMP 10) makes the footage blocky and off center. I know this is true with my vid, as well as the majority of vids I've downloaded here. After much hair tearing out, I finally resigned myself to the fact that the blockiness is an issue within WMP-10 and not my encoding/post processing. At least with my vid, the blockiness is easily avoided by watching with Movie Player Classic, DivX Player, or VLC (my personal favorite video player), or not opening it full screen in WMV-10. If anyone has a better solution to this problem (I missed a step, etc) please let me know.
Link: http://www.worlds-of-wonder.com/Addictedvid_HIGHEST_QUALITY.zip Right Click: Save As.

If that doesn't work, you can access the link directly from this page: http://www.sciencefictionbuzz.com/battlestar-galactica-news.html

Comments are appreciated, especially on thoughts for improving my editing skills.

Comments

[morelight.livejournal.com]

Howdy,

Nice first vid and excellent quality on the clips. I do have a few comments.

I really liked the last minute or so of the vid as I think the crossfades and the slow motion effects were very in line with the song. The overall group of clips seemed to follow the madness/addiction of Gaius to Six/Gina. I didn't like the sped up clips as they didn't seem to follow the flow of the song. Whenever I see a faster than normal clip it makes the subject(s) seem almost comical and that is fine in a comedy vid but not for the serious vid you want here. The harsh cuts in the beginning half of the vid I think could have worked better with the softer crossfades as you had done in the last part of your vid.

Overall a very very nice first vid but could be improved. I am not an expert vid maker but I have been viewing fan vids for about 7 years.

Thank You!

[vash137.livejournal.com]

I really appreciate your detailed comments. I hadn't thought of the crossfade thing, but I agree with you that the end did work better than the beginning because of them. Softer effect.

I'm not quite sure how the footage towards the end (with Baltar tearing apart the computer) got sped up actually. It was just something I noticed when I watched the whole video. I found that I liked the effect (It reminded me exactly of drug addicts when they are jonesing), at the same time, I can see how a slower clip speed could also work well (I wasn't trying for a comedic effect at all). That's something I'll definitely bear in mind for my next serious vid.

Thank you again for taking the time to go through my vid and give such detailed feedback.

Sometimes you get so close to a project, you can't really see it, you know.

Hugs,
Vash

Re: Thank You!

[morelight.livejournal.com]

I think as you experiment with the software and play around with clips and clip speeds you will find results that create just the effect you were looking for. As the tearing up of the computer section reminded me of the panic state Gaius was in. Perhaps even mixing up the effects like speeding up 70% of the clip then for the last 30% (or even make it 80/20) slow it down with a ghost overlay to emphasize the *craziness* of the moments.

While I don't want to confuse you by giving you the amateur golfer's nightmare of 100 people telling you 100 ways to swing the club properly I do think that becoming involved in a forum that critiques vids can be a great learning experience. I don't know of a BSG centered video forum but one of the forums based on LOST for some of my own vid works is at Lost Video Island (http://lostvideo.net/phpBB/index.php) and I think they are very helpful. There is a very good video section (http://www.lostvideo.net/beginners.php) that demonstrates what makes a fan music video one that qualifies for their award *LVI Council Pick* (the videos are at the bottom).

I think it is great you take feedback so well and are open to constructive criticism you will become a great vidder.

Thanks for the info

[vash137.livejournal.com]

I'm going to definitely check out those links. As to constructive feedback, well is the only good way to take it. I also write, and participate in a number of writing groups, so I guess I'm kind of used to having my work assessed.

Hugs,
Vash

[illiriahrising.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed your vid. I thought the song choice was excellent and really conveyed the unhealthy aspect of the relationship between Gaius and Six. The clips you chose also did a very good job of illustrating how desperate and sad their relationship is. I did find the sped up clips a bit distracting but at the same time the faster motion did convey the frantic feel which that section of the song had. Overall I thought this was a wonderfully crafted first effort and I wish that all first time vidders put so much effort into thier work!

Thank You!

[vash137.livejournal.com]

It was a labor of love. I'm actually excitedly grabbing clips for my next vid. (But I have to burn some of Battlestar Season 2.5 onto DVD from my TIVO, so it will probably be a next weekend project to finish) I didn't realize how distracting sped up clips are, and I'll make sure to not make that mistake again (unless I really need to).

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my vid, and I'm thrilled the effort came through in the results.

Hugs,
Vash