Yay!

[aislynn]

I've actually managed to do something that I've struggled with for a long while: still love one of my own vids when it kinda goes over like a lead balloon. ;) Now, granted, I went into this one ("Moondust" Ben/Maggie, Falling Skies, if you're curious but no worries if you're not, this really isn't a plea for views/comments, I promise! ;) ) knowing it had a potential audience of, like, 2 people. ;) I don't know a ton of people who watch Falling Skies and most of them haaaaaate Ben/Maggie. So, this vid has a lot of fail built right into it if what I'm hoping to get from it are dozens of heartfelt declarations of love, lol! ;)

Now, I can admit it: I've been known to not make a vid despite having an idea for it if I know ahead of time it's not very likely to get watched, if it's for an unpopular/largely ignored character, ship or fandom or whatever. *blush* However, I made this vid because I had to, honestly. The song lyrics are SO very Ben, IMO, and I just NEEDED to vid my interpretation of his feelings for Maggie.

Is it my bestest, most technically profound work ever? No. My clips weren't great quality (I actually just picked up the first 3 seasons on DVD for really cheap \o/ and ripped them and got them all ready for prime time vidding annnnnnd immediately wanted to vid s4 which won't be available for ages *epic eye roll* ;) ) and though I did the best I could to make them viewable, it still was far from perfect. And I realized that I was falling into the habit of relying on jump cuts as beat use so I actually went back and revidded everything I'd done up to the point of that realization to reinterpret my editing.

It made me a little nervous that it was going to make things look boring if I didn't compulsively "show" every note in the music O_O ;) but then I realized... I'm making this vid for me. I'm TRULY making this vid for me this time. If I could find a way to edit it that I was happy with, then it doesn't matter what anybody else is going to think, right? I'm not going to angst over editing choices that "someone" might think I should've made differently when I'm going to be lucky to get anybody to even watch this one at all.

I broke several of my usual vidding "rules" with this one. I don't know if it's obvious or not, but I tend to be VERY regimented in how I place sections in my vids. If I'm showing you the Starship Enterprise soaring majestically through space for line 1 of verse 1, I'm not going to show you Gypsy Danger beating up a Kaiju until we reach line 2 of verse 1. I have this sort of compulsive need to keep things tidy in my vids, *blush* I dunno.

I tossed that "rule" with this vid. (Not that there's a crossover of Star Trek and Pacific Rim in the middle of my Falling Skies vid, I should note. But that would be kinda awesome if there was, wouldn't it? :P ;) ) I let scenes "migrate" between one lyric and the next. Location changes might start at the end of one lyric and carry on into the next. It kinda made my Inner Vid Editor CRAY-CRAY for a while but it felt like the right choice all the same. Plus, it made me feel like I sort of shook things up a little, even if it's not in an obvious way. *pats obsessive compulsive self on the back just a bit* ;)

Anyway, I think I got up the gumption to do this vid because I looking through some of my older vids and watched one of my first Ten/Donna vids... "Recessional" is one that my Inner Vid Editor is actually a little ashamed of, I hate to admit. What? Was I completely BLIND to all of the talky face going on? I mean, DUDE. @_@ If there was a talky face Olympics, I'd put money on this one to be in it to win it, lol! ;) And on a purely technical level, it looks like I was veering all over the road, laughing maniacally without a single clue as to all of the things I was doing wrong, lol! ;)

But.

When I watched this 2008 vid again here in 2014, do you know what I got from it most of all, after I stopped being shocked by the lack of technical stuff? It made me feel. It made me hurt for them again. Heck, it made me feel inspired to vid them again, which I definitely wasn't expecting. O_O All of the flaws (and there are more than I'd like to even think about) didn't really matter to me once the flood of feels started washing over me. Do I wish I'd done a better job with the technical stuff? Definitely. But there was a level of emotion in this vid that I think I've regimented OUT a bit with all of the rules I've assigned myself over the year. :S I hope I don't just made soulless vids, of course, but I don't think I'm doing myself any favors by putting rules over emotion. :S

So, "Moondust" isn't perfect. It isn't even in the same building as perfect. But when I watch it back, it makes me FEEL. And I think that means it was at least a little bit of a success, no matter how many people end up watching or commenting on it, right?

I don't get to this sort of headspace a lot (Hi, I'm Really Neurotic About Things I Make Being Liked Or Disliked. *shakes your hand* ;) ) so it feels good to be here and I want to enjoy it while it lasts! ;)

This post is brought to you by the I Hate Being Really Neurotic About Things I Make Being Liked Or Disliked Foundation, motto, "I just want to get back to putting my feels in my work again and not worrying about what other people think quite so much." ;) (I mean, it's not that I'm saying, "I'ma throwing out all vidding sense and going back to giant blocks of talky face, YEAHHHHHH!!!" ;) I just want to at least make sure that I'm not making cold, hard technical aspects the end-all, be-all. I want there to be more room for the emotional aspect in there again. Does that make sense? :S ;) )

Anyway, guess I just needed to talk about this a bit. Thank you so much for reading and you most certainly deserve a plate of freshly baked cookies if you're still with me at this point, lol! ;) Please, help yourself! ;)



*hugs to everybody* ♥♥♥

PS - And if you get the feeling that talky face is something that bugs me in my vids, you'd be right! ;) However, I don't think I've successfully managed to make a vid that didn't have at least SOME talky face in it. Sometimes, it's just unavoidable if you want a certain shot and there's no getting around the fact that somebody's lips are moving while this Awesome Moment is occurring. :S But I try to avoid Giant Talking Head Syndrome and, if there's some pretty blatant talky face in a clip I'm determined to use, I do my best to edit around it and minimize it as much as I can. And you can know that I made the choice to use the scene anyway deliberately and whilst cringing. ;) (Or see "Second To None" :49 - :58 for when I just throw up my hands and embrace talky face like it's a long-lost friend, lol! ;) )

If you're a vidder or vid watcher, how much does talky face bother you? Is there some other technical thing that drives you bonkers or can you forgive pretty much anything if the vid works for you otherwise? Inquiring minds would love to know! ;) ♥♥♥

Comments

[dtstrainers.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about talky face, but depending on the context of the video, it can sometimes be a blessing or a curse. I've never seen an instance of an otherwise perfectly emotional vid where TF has destroyed it, perhaps because in the few instances I'm thinking of, the inability of the characters to effectively communicate has been the point around which the drama builds. (I'm looking at you, Ten/Rose on Bad Wolf Bay.)
However, when the video is of lesser quality, it can distract quite a bit. It makes it seem that the creator wasn't invested in his or her own idea enough to go out and find suitable footage and just made do with whatever was at hand.
I blame the creators of the original source material. Surely it wouldn't kill them to film a silent, soul-searching version of those climactic scenes and put them on as DVD extras? You can't tell me they haven't seen what the fandom does on YouTube...
;-)

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

I blame the creators of the original source material. Surely it wouldn't kill them to film a silent, soul-searching version of those climactic scenes and put them on as DVD extras? You can't tell me they haven't seen what the fandom does on YouTube...
;-)

LOL!
Well, we had it once in Stargate, that there was meaningful (something along the lines of "I am not leaving here without you even if it means we both die") text in the script but the actors simply refused to say the lines and just stared at each other for several minutes and let their faces talk. One of the shippiest moments in the series and of course often seen in videos.

So, you need actors that are confident enough to do that ;)

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

However, when the video is of lesser quality, it can distract quite a bit. It makes it seem that the creator wasn't invested in his or her own idea enough to go out and find suitable footage and just made do with whatever was at hand.

Ooo, that's really hit the nail on the head for me. That's definitely what bothers me about talky face, the worry that it's making my vids look like I just did a big ol' clip dump onto the timeline without hardly even looking to see what was there! o_O

I've actually read intros to vids where the vidder straight-up said, "Hope this looks okay. I didn't watch it after I rendered it because I was so eager to post it!" and my reaction was a huge o_@ face. I mean, to not even WATCH your vid once before you post it sounds so uncaring that I can't even fathom feeling that way! And excessive talky face triggers that same reaction in me, that I'm afraid it looks like I didn't even watch my own vid before I put it up. *blush*

I blame the creators of the original source material. Surely it wouldn't kill them to film a silent, soul-searching version of those climactic scenes and put them on as DVD extras? You can't tell me they haven't seen what the fandom does on YouTube...
;-)

Oh man, I would SOOOOO support that idea! The same with versions of "important" scenes that had only dialogue in it, no background music. Sudden blares of background music are another one of my banes of vidding existence, lol! ;) Nothing makes me sadder than to have an idea for an audio clip that seems SO perfect and then you listen to it and there's some HUGE ORCHESTRAL THING going on underneath the words. :S *sigh* So some "vidding friendly" extras would certainly be very welcome! ;)

Anyway, thanks so much! I always love hearing what other people think about vidding issues like that. :D ♥♥♥

[time-converges.livejournal.com]

I think "Recessional" was the first D/D vid I saw, and it gave me hope that there were more shippers out there. :D I just rewatched it - any excuse! - and it's still so gorgeous, and gives me all the D/D feelings. <3
(And talky face doesn't really bother me in vids - usually I don't think I even notice it!)
Also - I'm the same on stories I write - I try not to worry whether someone will like it or not, but it's very hard!
*squishes you*

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

Awwwww! *smishes you* Thank you so much for saying all that, hon! :D It really means a lot to me that you think so kindly on "Recessional" and that it still can give you D/D feels! \o/ And eee, yay that it was one of the first D/D vids you saw and let you know there were more of we shippers out here, lol! *twirls you*

I'm glad to know that talky face doesn't bother you (or "Recessional" would've done you in, lol! ;) ). I'm much more understanding of it in other people's vids than I am in my own (always hardest on ourselves, I think ;) ). Sometimes there's just no way around it! ;)

It really is difficult to take something you've made and absolutely, truly not care about anybody liking it. I think it's basically human nature, isn't it? But I hate when I get to the point where it really hurts or can almost paralyze me if I get too many "non-reactions." *frustrated sigh*

So that's why this was such a lovely surprise, lol! ;) "Moondust" isn't the best vid ever but I'm happy with it, it says what I wanted it to say to the best of my abilities at the moment, so I'm okay with it. ;) (However, I still REALLY appreciate you taking time to watch and comment on it! *extra smishes and a basket of freshly baked cookies* ;) Thanks again for that! :D )

*more smishes for the road* ;) ♥♥♥

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

I've seen a few very rare videos where they managed to edit the talking in a way that it fit with the lyrics and you got the impression the people were saying whatever line there was at the moment. I think that is incredibly difficult to do though.

Making something for yourself should actually the default. We all crave feedback, I do as well, as soon as I have put up a new story or action figure pictures I look for feedbacks, but you should always do what YOU enjoy and not what you think others might enjoy. This never works well.

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

I tried that with my "Second To None" vid in that section I mentioned in my post: I couldn't get the clip of the Ninth Doctor with the TARDIS the way I wanted it because he's so obviously talking, so I tried to time his mouth movements with the lyrics in the song, lol! I had a couple of people mention that they liked the part where "Nine rapped," lol! ;)

I had another vid where I attempted the same sort of thing and I entered it into a contest... and it was rejected as being too amateur to even be allowed to compete! O_O So I guess it all depends on the viewer and how they feel about things like that, lol! ;)

Making something for yourself should actually the default. We all crave feedback, I do as well, as soon as I have put up a new story or action figure pictures I look for feedbacks, but you should always do what YOU enjoy and not what you think others might enjoy. This never works well.

Oh, I definitely agree. Every time I've made a vid where the emphasis was more on whether or not people would like it, it never ends up being a satisfying thing for me, especially if it isn't very liked at all! Then it's like there was no point to it: nobody cared about it, not even me! O_O :( ;)

Thanks so much! I'm always glad to hear your opinion on things! :D *hugs* ♥♥♥

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

I'd like to watch the video but apparently I need a password?

I guess for Americans it is more difficult to accept when the lip movements are not perfect, as you are not used to dubbed movies. In Germany, everything in cinema and TV is dubbed - well, we get some original language movies as well, but in general. So I don't even notice anymore that something is wrong. Therefore, I enjoy the efford and who cares if it's not perfect! I can suspend my believe.

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Vimeo is known for deleting vidders' work if they stumble across it, so putting a password on it helped for a little while to keep from being deleted (now they're using software to detect copyright infringement when you upload, whether with a password or not, so they're no longer a good hosting place, sad to say :( ).

Anyway, the password should be there on the page with the link and right under the embed, whichever way you'd like to watch it. :D It's tardis (all lowercaps). :D Hope you enjoy if you get the chance to watch! :D

Ooo, that's an excellent point about dubbing! We're lucky to not end up with too many dubbed movies but it does keep us from being able to overlook it as easily. That's really great it doesn't take you out of the moment and you can still appreciate what the intention was! :D ♥♥♥

[dieastra.livejournal.com]

I feel so stupid for not noticing that you put the password right next to the link *facepalm*

Anyway, I watched it now, and while it is not my kind of music at all and I didn't get any of the lyrics, I like the Doctor rapping LOL That looks actually quite good!

And it is one of my favourite episodes (any with Jack is great but I really love this one) I like when they all open the door with a bang! The effect where they all vanish, have you done that? I don't remember this?

Am I the only one that keeps rewinding the scene of Jack jumping over that trolley, even though I know it is not him, the way it is cut, it is most definitely a stunt man, although I am pretty sure he could have done it. Anyway, that is such a cool move!

In May I am in Cardiff again, for the JB concert, I'll make sure to go to that restaurant on the bay this time. I have been in Cardiff twice but nobody ever wanted to come to that restaurant with me. I want to sit where Jack and the Doctor sat. I sooo love that scene! Them just having a chat, having fun and all the laughter. Miss the good old times *sigh*

The only problem I have with dubbing is when they use the same voice for different actors... Like, when I started to watch "Boston Legal", Alan was talking with the voice of Fox Mulder from "X-Files". That was a bit distracting at first ;) But the more I watched of it, the more it became Alan's voice, and now I probably would wonder why Fox talks with Alan's voice.

The voice actor for Robert Redford has a very distinguish voice also. He does a lot of commentaries for documentaries. The voice actor who did ALF has such a well-known voice that he never could do anything else after that, as everyone would have immediately thought of ALF.

I do have a CD where all those voice actors read poems, so you have Robert Redford, George Clooney and many more famous people read poems to you ;)

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

I feel so stupid for not noticing that you put the password right next to the link *facepalm*

Oh, that's nothing to feel bad about! ;) I didn't know to look for the password at first, either, until I realized vidders were using that particular "trick" to try to avoid detection and that the password wasn't actually to keep interested vid watchers from being able to see it. ;)

Anyway, I watched it now, and while it is not my kind of music at all and I didn't get any of the lyrics, I like the Doctor rapping LOL That looks actually quite good!

Aw, thank you! It's not my usual style of music, either, but it just seemed to go with this idea for some weird reason, lol! ;) I'm glad you liked the "rapping" part, it makes me giggle every time I see it so I'm glad it was enjoyable. ;)

That would be so cool to sit at the same place in the restaurant in Cardiff! I love that scene so much, I really would've like to have had a lot more episodes of the 4 of them just having adventures and a good time together. Hope you get to check it out when you get there! :D

That would definitely be a strange feeling to adapt to the same voice for such different characters on different shows. O_O It would be good once you got used to it, though, so that it wouldn't keep throwing you out of the story.

I have a cassette tape where Ron Perlman reads poetry as Vincent from the 1980's Beauty and the Beast TV series, which I used to love to listen to. It's a wonder I didn't wear it out, lol! ;) At least I think I can get it in CD form if the urge to listen to it should overcome me one of these days. ;) ♥♥♥

[sykira]

(Not that there's a crossover of Star Trek and Pacific Rim in the middle of my Falling Skies vid, I should note. But that would be kinda awesome if there was, wouldn't it? :P ;)

BRBLOLing4EVR! Yes, yes it would!

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

Annnnnnd now I kinda want to do a Star Trek/Pacific Rim/Falling Skies crossover vid, lol! ;) :D *hugs* ♥♥♥

[raktajinos.livejournal.com]

I liked Ben/Maggie when I watched Falling Skies. Mostly I liked Maggie. But I had to stop watching for like so many reasons.

but that's awesome to hear you liked your own work! I like when that happens. I'll read back a story I wrote ages ago (or like last week whatever) and be all "ya, that's pretty decent"...and then sometimes its "holy shit that is awful take it down! take it down!"

thank you *noms on cookie*

im not a vidder (cause I can't do it at all), but as a watcher I hate when its all talky face too

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

Sooooooo sorry to not have replied before now. I, um, actually thought I had and just now realized I hadn't. *blush*

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you did like Maggie during your time when you watched Falling Skies. :D I think one thing that really has bugged me in the argument against Ben/Maggie has been the fact that she's 13 years older than him. :S

I mean, it's fine if you don't like a pairing or a character but to just be against it because the woman is older? Ugh! >:[ How common is a older man/younger woman pairing and most people shrug it off like they don't even see it. I just realized one of the main pairings in Terra Nova (just finished a rewatch so it's fresh in my head, lol ;) ) is Wash/Taylor and he's 23 years older than she is and I haven't seen ONE person mention their age difference! :S [/wow, apparently I'm easily miffed at the ol' double standard thing today, lol] ;)

Anyway! It's really so very rare for me to look back at something I've made/written/whatever and not be just mortified by it, so this was a nice change of pace! ;)

Thanks so much, hon! I always look forward to hearing what you have to say about whatever the subject is! :D And so sorry again for the huge delay in replying. *more blushing* *offers more cookies and hugs to make up for it* ;) ♥♥♥

[mustangcandi.livejournal.com]

I read the whole thing... but to me, the take away point is this: It made me feel.

That's all you ever need to know when you're making videos. I used to get annoyed with perfection in my own vids, and the talky faces, and all that... but I realized when I was really engrossed in a video, when it made me feel... I didn't notice all that BS.

I don't know who Ben/Maggie is since I don't watch Falling Skies. The best friend tries to keep me informed but... yeah. No idea. But kudos for making the video!! :)

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

D'oh, I didn't realize that I never responded to this, I'm so very sorry, hon! *shameface* :(

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that talky face doesn't necessarily wreck a vid for you. It's funny, it doesn't bother me so much in other people's vids (unless it's just like, 20 unedited seconds of mouths silently flapping, lol ;) ) but it drives me BONKERS in my own! o_O I guess we're always harder on our own work than others, I dunno! ;)

Ooo, I'll resist the urge to give you a recap of who Ben and Maggie are, separately and together, as well as a primer on Falling Skies with, you know, pictures, GIFs, anecdotes, vid recs, ummmm, you know, the normal stuff... Other than, of course, to say that I do recommend it if you like post-apocalyptic shows. ;) It has a nice mix, IMO, of character and family interaction/drama and action. :D And of course, there's this (which might not mean much to you if you're not, like, a fan of the scruff ;) )...

(http://imgur.com/BPKVl0U)

Lol! ;)

Anyway, so sorry again for the long delay in answering! *offers freshly baked cookies and many hugs* ;) ♥♥♥

[develish1]

It made me feel. It made me hurt for them again. Heck, it made me feel inspired to vid them again

by all means do love, you know there's still some of us lurking around who would love to see them :)

as for the whole talky face thing, I guess it depends on the overall quality of the vid, if it's the perfect song, if it's a pairing I love etc. If everything else works, then as you said, it makes you feel, and when that happens I rarely even notice the talky face

[ageless-aislynn.livejournal.com]

Soooo very sorry I didn't respond before now! I actually thought I had and didn't realize until just now that, nope, I had a couple of comments here on this post that I failed to respond to. :( :( :(

by all means do love, you know there's still some of us lurking around who would love to see them :)

I haven't completely settled on a song yet, I have one that doesn't quite fit but that I keep coming back to anyway, so hopefully there definitely will be another Ten/Donna vid in my future! *fingers crossed* I don't want them to ever completely fall out of my fannish pursuits if I can help it. They've just been too important for me for that! :D

Thanks so much, hon, and sorry again for the long response time! *sends a basket of freshly baked cookies and lots of hugs* ;) ♥♥♥