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vidding_livejournal_ark22006-08-27 08:10 pm
lapillus) wrote in vidding_livejournal_ark22006-08-27 08:10 pm
How to build a vidshow
After commenting that ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melina123 and I had had an unusually smooth time of putting the VVC Premieres show together this year several folks made inquiring noises about what all goes into our planning. It was an interesting question and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to share the accumulated fannish wisdom that we've acquired on the topic. I didn't include some VVC specific stuff (mostly membership level issues) and this is more for shows where you deal with submissions than one which you get to pick everything, but this is pretty much all the stuff we are trying to keep in mind when putting together a show. I have to say it's a heck of a lot easier now that we actually get to see the vids first.
First, if at all possible, see the vids before making the playlist. If that's not possible, and it's not always, do your best to find the music or at the very least get someone who knows it to tell you the relative tempo, genre, mood and duration of the music and what the video source is.
Now that you know what you've got to work with see if you have obvious beginning and ending vids. You will need both beginnings and endings for the show as a whole and for the individual parts if you have an intermission or two. Save the strongest stuff to bookend the show and use the others to build in between.
What a beginning vid needs to do:
What an ending vid need to do:
The rest of it is about balance and variety:
And if all that isn't enough to keep you entertained, you can have fun building little themed groups of 2-4 vids on things like strong women, or war is hell, pirates, the wild west or whatever cross-genre, cross-fandom ideas you can come up with.
Oh, and however tempting it may be, avoid putting vids with the same actor in two different roles next to each other unless there is a damn good reason to do so (it tends to be confusing and unintentionally funny.) The same goes for two vids to the same song (again, unless that's the intent of the show).
It's also a good idea to put relatively disturbing vids late in show or part of a show so it doesn't color too much of the rest of the show for the sensitive or cause them to miss too much if they are distressed enough to leave.
If it's a show where con membership status is an issue, it's often best to sort out which vids you can/you want to use first, before working out the rest of it. If it's a show that isn't all new vids, trying to mix in older ones makes for very interesting viewing.
Most of all, remember to have fun and enjoy what you've created!
melina123 and I had had an unusually smooth time of putting the VVC Premieres show together this year several folks made inquiring noises about what all goes into our planning. It was an interesting question and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to share the accumulated fannish wisdom that we've acquired on the topic. I didn't include some VVC specific stuff (mostly membership level issues) and this is more for shows where you deal with submissions than one which you get to pick everything, but this is pretty much all the stuff we are trying to keep in mind when putting together a show. I have to say it's a heck of a lot easier now that we actually get to see the vids first.First, if at all possible, see the vids before making the playlist. If that's not possible, and it's not always, do your best to find the music or at the very least get someone who knows it to tell you the relative tempo, genre, mood and duration of the music and what the video source is.
Now that you know what you've got to work with see if you have obvious beginning and ending vids. You will need both beginnings and endings for the show as a whole and for the individual parts if you have an intermission or two. Save the strongest stuff to bookend the show and use the others to build in between.
What a beginning vid needs to do:
- get their attention - it usually takes people a moment to settle into a show, so you want something, usually upbeat and uptempo, to get them focused on what they are watching. This is doubly true if you aren't lucky enough to have fun and entertaining intro vids like what tzikeh has provided for Escapade and Vividcon premiere shows.
- set the mood - you want folks enjoying themselves.
- bring the audience in - multi-fandom vids are great for this, if you aren't blessed with that as an option well known fandoms are good. If that's not an option, or, in the case of single-fandom cons, a concern, go for a something that is easy but entertaining to follow.
What an ending vid need to do:
- get their attention - you want everyone with you at the end of the show.
- set the mood: you - it's good to go out on a strong note emotionally. This is the perfect place for a vid that engenders such strong emotion that it's hard to find something to follow.
- make a statement - related to the above, this is a good place for things like highly meta-vids, something that folks will want to talk about immediately.
The rest of it is about balance and variety:
- fandom - avoid putting the same fandom together. If it's a single fandom show, avoid putting vids which use a lot of the same clips together. Avoid putting the same romantic pairing or show concept next to each other.
- fandom genre - mix up science fiction, cop shows, and westerns. Too long a run of any of them will make folks who don't like a given genre tune out.
- length - mix up short and long vids.
- depth - mix up mentally more an and less taxing vids. Try to get the complicated ones in early before folks' brains start to overload, or save them for the very end.
- strength - mix up stronger and weaker vids. Make sure to save at least half of the stronger ones for second half.
- mood - mix up lighter and heavier vids however, don't give the viewers whiplash by alternating very funny and very grim vids. Doing that once or twice during a show is fine and may even be useful, especially if you have a very serious that will otherwise be a hard act to follow, but doing it regularly will give leave folks wanting to tune out emotionally. In stead, do short grouping of 2-4 vids (8-10 min) of similar mood before changing it.
- music - mix up tempo and genre, but once again not so rapidly as to cause whiplash. If you have the chance listen to the playlist in order just to make sure nothing sounds utterly horrid next to each other, this is especially important in shows where there is no pause between the vids (as with this year's Club Vivid) and much less important with shows where there are long pauses (the way Escapade used to do it to permit comments).
- color - as with mood and music, mix things up, but with gentle transitions between palettes when possible.
- motion- avoid putting lots of spinny vids together as it tends to make folks ill and avoid putting lots of static vids together as it tends to put folks to sleep.
And if all that isn't enough to keep you entertained, you can have fun building little themed groups of 2-4 vids on things like strong women, or war is hell, pirates, the wild west or whatever cross-genre, cross-fandom ideas you can come up with.
Oh, and however tempting it may be, avoid putting vids with the same actor in two different roles next to each other unless there is a damn good reason to do so (it tends to be confusing and unintentionally funny.) The same goes for two vids to the same song (again, unless that's the intent of the show).
It's also a good idea to put relatively disturbing vids late in show or part of a show so it doesn't color too much of the rest of the show for the sensitive or cause them to miss too much if they are distressed enough to leave.
If it's a show where con membership status is an issue, it's often best to sort out which vids you can/you want to use first, before working out the rest of it. If it's a show that isn't all new vids, trying to mix in older ones makes for very interesting viewing.
Most of all, remember to have fun and enjoy what you've created!