Woah Vid Overload!

[f1renze]

Before I start sharing, I'd like to give mad props to the organizers of VividCon 2004. Seriously, folks. These people really know what they're doing. I was amazed at how well everything was *creatively* put together even before the con, and during the con I thought it couldn't have run any more smoothly. So thank you very much for one hell of an experience. You are all wonderful.

My (incomplete and subjective) VividCon experience.

ETA: I didn't expect this piece of incoherence to be saved in memories of con reports. Had I known, I wouldn't have written so much social and personal stuff. :)

Friday

After a quick stop at Krispy Kremes, kitkatbyte and I headed to Springhill Suites Marriott and got there before 10 am. As I was looking for parking, kitkatbyte saw people by the entrance, as in VVC people. But I refused to look because I did not want to get distracted. Besides, must prepare self. We walked over after we parked. Turns out it was sisabet and heres_luck! They were so sweet and enthusiastic and they gave me such warm, big hugs and I couldn't believe I was meeting some of the people I most wanted to meet so soon. People were really feeling the con high. Then we went inside to register and sockkpuppett was there! elynross took care of our registration and we got badges! I thought Lum seemed like a very wise, zen person. I wanted a Lum by my side at all times. Then we just hung around, got to meet other people, including a very tired sdwolfpup. We went to the con suite as it opens, got a East By Northeast (a group of vidders) DVD, ordered the con DVD, met just_eunice, boniblithe, and pipsqueaky, and just hung out while sisabet told stories. We walked around some more and Lum called us over to give us our stickers. I picked Multi-Fandom Elitist Bitch Vidder because there were no Dual-Fandom stickers (but Lum said once you go dual, you are Multi--thank you Nate) and Little Miss Pretentious Believes in Learning.

My beat-up con badge:


At noon we went to the Wayback Machine vidshow, which was the first vid show I'd ever seen, ever. I was all, Ohhh that's how these things go! Anyway, tzikeh's knowledge on Media History is amazing. In it we saw really old vids done with very limited technology. I was so impressed. Then we went to the Language of Vidding panel moderated by cereta, which was a very useful intro to talking about vids. I learned some common language for communicating about vids, concepts like subtleties of camerawork, etc. Then I went to Jo's Master Class panel. Among the things Jo talked about was how people used to physically cut film to edit. While sdwolfpup and I were all, We're so spoiled ::facepalm::, all of a sudden sisabet blurted "THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR!!" Ha! An epiphany before our eyes.

Many of us pretty much didn't have lunch that day. It's because the con totally spoiled us with constant snacks and baked goods at the con suite. After Master Class I went to the Nearly New vid show. sockkpuppett and sisabet's "My West Hollywood Lifestyle, Whatever" (Angel) totally rocked the room, it was TOO FUNNY. The Faith/Buffy aspect of mpoetess's "Ghost" was a new, moving story for me. (Can someone direct me to other, preferably angsty Faith/Buffy vids, please?). heres_luck's "Window of Opportunity" (Wonderfalls) was a hit. It's quirky and funny and perfectly timed and just... eee! As someone who's unfamiliar with practically 90% of the shows featured in the con, I'd get so excited when I could really understand and enjoy a vid without needing source knowledge. After a failed attempt at feedback wherein I tried to say that her way of illustrating the situations was just delightful and to point out that a clip that happens to contain text (Woman saves baby!) can be really helpful to viewers, it was dinner time! OMG we were so hungry.

kitkatbyte and I drove over in my little car with sdwolfpup and pipsqueaky and we talked about vids on the way. I have to admit that when I first arrived at the con, I wasn't sure if I fit in, but I gradually felt more at ease throughout the day and this car ride to dinner might have been the first time I was able to completely relax and be comfortable. So then 23 hungry wolves attacked Giordano's. It was fun to hear people I'd been admiring from a distance chat about vids up close. Btw, sockkpuppett's 15-year-old daughter also vids now. That's so cool. Oh, and also? heres_luck said if kitkatbyte and I were ever to visit we'd get to try her cooking. Whee! On the ride back we talked about er..vids. We saw some roadkill and thought we should vid clips of dead animals like in American Beauty. Can you see it? "Wake me up! I can't wake up!"? Vid would rule all.

Then we got ready for Club Vivid, which took longer than we wanted but OMG so much fun. We dyed our hair pink with pipsqueaky's spray, put on glitter, and kitkatbyte and I wore our boas from Pride. We then went down and saw tzikeh who wanted some glitter so we went back up and put on even more glitter and now it's Fabulousness everywhere. Before Club Vivid opened, I practiced the Joxer dance with kitkatbyte, sdwolfpup, and pipsqueaky. It was so great but I think sisabet had more fun laughing at watching us.

The party kicked off with the Joxer dance, "Dancing in the Moonlight". Um. I remember something about dancing to it, but I will leave this to other reports. CLUB VIVID WAS SO MUCH FUN. People seriously went all out with the outfits. And we danced to vids playing on the screen, many of which were really good. It was fun to see people do the Superstar dance!

After what felt like forever, "66" finally came on, and I remember something about dancing to it but I will also leave this to other reports. The rest of it was just wonderful. One time kitkatbyte pulled Margie to me so I got a chance to tell her that my favorite visual trick in Haunted was when the boy blows the candle and it's the same position as the engine fire of the space ship in the following clip. I got a little too excited when I noticed it and kitkatbyte made me tell Margie. Other happenings in Club Vivid involved watching people go crazy with disco lights and laughing at tzikeh. I also got to meet renenet! And kitkatbyte and her 2-year-old voice was the scariest club bouncer eva!

Club Vivid over, time for clean up duty. My job was really nothing since I only had to take down Christmas lights which I did with just_eunice. Then I caught up with people at sisabet's room, where we watched The Gayest Gay Thing That Ever Did Gay, which was a sacred thing captured by tzikeh's TiVo. And I was enlightened. We all were. Folks, ice-skating cowboys doing things gayer than Queer As Folk are a thing of beauty. Then we watched some vids, including kitkatbyte's and my SVCD. I was delighted to see sisabet's inner B/J heart resurfaced a little bit when watching kitkatbyte's "Blank". ::SQUEE!:: It was also her first time watching my vid "Given To Fly" and I was glad to see her positive reaction. We spent the rest of the night watching and talking about vids, including the WOAD Society's limited release DVD. (We *will* get a copy, Wendy!). We also watched and got copies of sisabet's SVCD (yay!). kitkatbyte and I went back to my place around 2 and I collapsed immediately.

Saturday

The panel on Giving Good Beta/Feedback by cesperanza and the_shoshanna was wonderful. I think a lot of these panels might have taught me about vid appreciation more than anything. Then I went to Unexpected Levels, which was my *favorite* vidshow. It started with a vid on the angsts experienced by people who vid with VCRs and ended with the angsts experienced by people who vid with the latest technology. And it's all the same. This last vid, Big Big Truck's "Failed Experiments in Video Editing", was the best.thing.ever. I must get a copy very very soon.

Ohmygod, kitkatbyte had such intense reactions resembling a *breakdown* while watching T. Jonesy and killabeez's Closer (Star Trek). She first thought it was funny (she thinks a lot of slash is funny), but as this mind-blowing vid went on she started shaking because it got too overwhelming. You see, at home she often has to pause a show or a vid when it gets too much to handle, but this time she couldn't, and she didn't want to close her eyes and miss stuff either. So she was stuck. And shaking. And crying. Oh, Wendy. After the show we talked to killabeez about it and she was all, Um, sorry? LOL.

Then it was lunch time. I ate leftover pizza with kitkatbyte, pipsqueaky, and sdwolfpup, and we mostly talked about QaF. Then it was sockkpuppett's panel on Movement, which was a lot of fun. It was intimate and eye-opening, and it made me think about perceptual aspects of vids which I could easily relate to psychology of perception (among other things), like how the thing about our eyes jumping from frame to frame reminded me of saccades in reading.

The vidshow on Literalism and Metaphor was fun, and my favorites were probably "Detachable Penis" by Media Cannibals and "It's All Been Done" by Alex. Breaking the Rules was so funny, and my favorite was probably Big Big Truck's 3-2-1-0 (the CAR BOMB vid!). It's funny because these vids actually worked, so I often didn't catch what "rules" they were supposed to be breaking and getting away with. Which goes to show that a great concept can always overpower rules.

Then I went to Movie Vids which made me really happy to be able to watch "Cat Scan Hist'ry", "Art of Dying", and "The Fragile" on the big screen. I also really liked morgandawn and Justine Bennett's "Dante's Prayer" (Titanic). I didn't expect to like a Titanic vid but it was beautiful and moving.

Dinner was at Outback where kitkatbyte, sdwolfpup, pipsqueaky, and I shared vidding experiences and styles. Looks like sdwolfpup and I think and vid a lot alike while kitkatbyte has a similar style to pipsqueaky. ::waits for roadkill vid to commence as a four-way collab::

Then OMG PREMIERES. We stood outside the room almost half an hour before, rescued only for a little bit by boniblithe who showed us her auction vid made by sockkpuppett, a Smallville vid set to "O Come O Come Emmanuel". SO BEAUTIFUL ::chills::. Boni also spoiled us with valarltd's "I Will Always Love You" (Angel) vid which was funny even for someone who doesn't know Angel. We then hurried into the Premieres room and sat close to the front because we were enthusiastic dorks who did not want heads to obscure our view of these masterpieces.

Our vid "Elevation" was 9th.


Before the vids played, the show kicked off with whatssnoo and tzikeh's Llama opening which was the cutest thing ever. Thank goodness for the awesome vids playing before us that I could forget about my nervousness a little bit and enjoy. merryish's "I Just Wanna Take You Home" (Smallville) was really funny. flummery's "What It's Really About" was a very interesting, unusual take on Joan of Arcadia, which I loved. People often say things like how it's good if the vid "resembles" the show because it's not easy to capture a show's personality well, but I also really like it when a vid gives a completely different angle of the show. Vidders' unique ways of seeing things amaze me.

The wonderful "Serenity" (Firefly) came on just before "Elevation", and thank goodness I had watched the vid so many times that in my nervousness I wasn't really missing something I had never seen before. I think I was shaking a little, mostly because I was worried about the possibility of tech problems, particularly with the music. I kept having bad thoughts like, What if one of the guitar sounds was missing?! ::deep breath:: Thank goodness, other than looking darker than we were used to, "Elevation" played just fine, and Justin did everything we asked him to. I heard people giggling during Justin's funny faces at the end, and it got a warm response when it was over. The really sweet boniblithe patted my back as soon as it ended so I was pretty sure she saw me shaking slightly.

After that I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the vids that followed. melina123 and astolat's "The Mountain" (LoTR) was really breathtakingly beautiful. And omg sisabet's "Two Words" *SQUEE*!! It was so freaking good and I felt like I was in the Angel fandom about to scream "MY SHOW!!!"

During intermission people were just being very happy and chatty. heres_luck immediately came to us and gave us feedback on "Elevation" including how she liked the pacing and build up and that we used the song so well. That was such a compliment, knowing how well she knows music. laurashapiro also told us she really liked it and that the editing was really tight, and that she remembered being younger and having all those hormones. ::giggle:: sockkpuppett convinced us that the darkness didn't matter as she was able to see all 4 licks that Justin and Brian did. She also said Gale Harold is the most beautiful man alive. Other people said stuff like, Screw coherent feedback, OMG TEH HOT!! which was just so fun to hear.

The next batch of premieres was mostly angsty, sad vids that felt very cathartic. I was delighted to see a Six Feet Under ensemble vid by wolfling. whatssnoo and tzikeh's "Blue Skies for Everyone" (DLM) was SO FUN. It's quirky and ironic and cute and all kinds of wonderful. Once again I don't know the fandom, but heres_luck's "Thistledown Tears" (Firefly) made me go, OMG the external movement continuation! I felt really guided by the movements that it was like I was the camera. Coolness. mpoetess's "Forget Me Not" (The Others) was a really beautiful vid with a deep focus on Nicole Kidman's character. OMG pipsqueaky's "Ordinary" (Buffy) was so lovely and beautiful and heart-breaking. There was a clear, collective "AWWW!" proceeding the whistle-ful applause at the end. ::tingle:: laurashapiro and killabeez's "Not Only Human" (X-Files) was a hit. I don't know the show but I was *really* moved. The show closed with flummery's delightfully brilliant "Big Red Boat" (Joan of Arcadia) which I thought was really fun and made me regret missing Joan of Arcadia for some other show. This vid picked up the somewhat brooding mood from the previous vids and closed the show wonderfully.

We then went to room parties where we ate munchies and rubbed each other's backs and watched gay things. We also watched anime vids where obsessed teenagers manipulated every frame of the vid *in photoshop* to get it to look like what they wanted. I can't decide if that is working hard for a vid or pure crazy.


Sunday

People were eating breakfast when we arrived at the hotel, and the first thing we heard was, "Here are the pornographers!", hee! (I think someone else called us "smut-packers" - hee!) The first event of the day was Vid Review. I wasn't really expecting "Elevation" to be discussed considering last year they were only able to discuss around 6 out of the 30-something vids that were played during Premieres. But this time they had set up some criteria (song choice, illustrating relationships, pov, effects, movement, etc) that made discussion more structured and made it easier to include more vids.

I was surprised to hear our vid mentioned during Song Choice (although melina123, one of the moderators, mentioned that it also fit under Illustrating Relationships and Movement) because they said it works well for the show. For someone who's been vidding the QaF fandom to death, I didn't feel like the song was a particularly QaF-appropriate song. So it might have been our use of the song to produce a high-energy vid that resembles the show that made the vid discussed under Song Choice. Also, as people who are deep in the fandom, kitkatbyte and I have strong attachment to our OTP and favorite characters and The Love and yadda yadda. We see deeper things about the show that people who aren't in the fandom just wouldn't think of when they think of QaF. Because let's face it, when people outside the fandom think about QaF, they think sex. And our vid is pretty much about that. In this vid we surgically removed these strong attachments and showed people what they can readily perceive. This is probably a reason for the generally warm reception. Anyway, "Elevation" was discussed for quite some time. Someone said that an "Elevation" Smallville vid was shown at Escapade (which kitkatbyte saw after ours was done but I still haven't seen) had similar kinds of movements at similar points in the song. sisabet then pointed out that that's what the song looks like, which I thought was an interesting intermodal remark. I think it was the_shoshanna who mentioned some literal things in the vid that she thought worked, like matching the whoo!whoo! to Justin's orgasmic faces and the lyrics saying going down while the vid shows the boys um, going down. ::giggle:: Someone else pointed out the lack of narrative in the vid, and I wasn't surprised at all considering it wasn't what we intended the vid to do.

Then wow, so many other vids were discussed. "Thistledown Tears" was mentioned for song choice and accurate portrayal of the Firefly universe. "Serenity" was discussed for brilliant blending of literal and metaphorical interpretation. "Ordinary" was adored for the heart-wrenching emotion. I had loved the vid since it was first posted not long ago, and as someone who doesn't know BtVS, I completely understood the vid and felt the knife-twist that the lovely (and actually harmless!) pipsqueaky did (not to mention my love for the dramatic slow-downs and the punchy b/w effect at 3:52), but I didn't expect people's response to be "it captures the Willow in us" and "I want to kill Xander". So yay, I am so very happy for you, pipsqueaky! We then got lunch from a nearby sandwich/burger/pizza place, where sweet renenet took the time to tell me personally that she loved "Elevation" and killabeez thanked me because it made her continue exercising for a few minutes longer that morning.

After lunch it was sisabet's "How Do You Do That?" panel, where we discussed the idea and effects in "Without You I'm Nothing" (Smallville) in detail and *how they came together*. The handout was my favorite thing. It's a color copy of sisabet's project capture. (I think I have a thing for looking at behind-the-scenes stuff like raw storyboards and timelines...) Anyway, the panel itself made effects seem accessible, but we also learned that they can only do so much; concept and execution must be good in the first place. And wow, this panel made me see the Clex love. It is so strong OMG. I hadn't started vidding when I was still into the show, and while I totally noticed the subtext, I was wary about indulging in it because it was like this weird tingling feeling I didn't expect to attack me. It was like puberty. But now that I know it's normal...

Then it was Challenge Vids. Holy shit permetaform's "Lucky You" (The Ring) killed me dead. I caught her style 2 seconds into the vid so I knew it was hers but the brilliance still blew me away. She massages the song until she can't massage no more and edits the clips so appropriately, with creative things like parallels and blending and movement that made the vid seem so tight. In the movie, like most horror movies, you are often made to feel lost over at least the first half of the movie. This might or might not work for a vid to the movie. But this vid ties everything together and provides both a "map" for people who are not familiar with the movie and reminders for those who are. The other vids looked really good, but my mind seemed to be working really slowly at the time so I probably shouldn't comment.

The Auction Vids were lovely. sockkpuppett's "O Come O Come Emmanuel" (Smallville) for boniblithe was juuuust beautiful, and sisabet's "Caravan" (Buffy and Angel) for missmurchison was... Caravan. I love so much. When I watched it the first time I had a feel for what sisabet was trying to say with the color manipulations, but her explanations on the motivations behind them helped me appreciate it even more.

As people were gathering for Calls from the Public and Dead Dog, kitkatbyte and I had to say goodbye. First was boniblithe, whom I'm just really glad to have met, then coffeeandink, whom I wish to have spent more time with, then our new buddies pipsqueaky and sdwolfpup, whom I miss already, then sockkpuppett, who said very supportive things and made me feel glad I came, then sisabet, who just gave us a really big hug with a sad face, then the rest of the room waved a lovely goodbye, and the last thing we heard was tzikeh yelling "Thanks for the Joxer dance!"

And with that, your Joxer-dancing, boa-wearing pornographers went home.

Comments

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

*sniff* I miss you guys! Great con report - I will definitely comment on your dancing in mine. Hee! You guys rocked Club Vivid with the Joxer dance, and did you see the boa that Tzikeh made for her llama from the feathers that had fallen off of yours??!?! It was a thing of beauty.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

did you see the boa that Tzikeh made for her llama from the feathers that had fallen off of yours??!?!

No! I hope someone took a picture of it? And the miniature boa should be glued to the llama as permanent accessory. :)))

[sweetestdrain]

Oh wow. Now I really want to go to VividCon someday, if only to lurk in the background. It sounds like you guys had an amazing time.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

You should. And it wouldn't matter if you only observed. Cause seriously? I think this is a con more for vid-lovers than for vidders. Most vidders love vids, but sometimes vidders don't love vids as much as doing their own stuff, you know? And in this con a great deal of people don't even vid themselves but are very, very experienced and critical vid watchers.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a picture but I don't know about anyone else. You should ask tzikeh. :)

[permetaform]

eee! ::bounces:: DETAILS!! ::glomps you:: I love reading these con-reports, I must live through it through you. =D

Heh, gotta ask tho, what tipped you off that the vid was mine? Was it the jump cuts? (::covers eyes:: god I can't seem to leave them, they're so very very addicting)

And YAY! you realize your report has just become a recs list of vids I must hunt down? ::jumps up and down and hugs you and goes on a hunt::

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

eee! ::bounces:: DETAILS!! ::glomps you::

LOL! Yes, I try to be fast, so excuse the incoherence, and I will probably have to wait for the DVDs to comment on a lot of these and other vids.

what tipped you off that the vid was mine? Was it the jump cuts?

I think so, yes. The beginning style reminded me a lot of The Fragile. BUT DO NOT LEAVE THEM. I love so very much.

you realize your report has just become a recs list of vids I must hunt down?

YAY! Glad to help, and have fun!

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Hi. Hope you don't mind that I friended you.

Thanks for the detailed report.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Added you back. :) And LOL on the Auction vid!

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Hey there, sparkly!

Just fyi - Jo is feochadn, Seah and Margie are flummery, and Merry is merryish. Just in case you want to stalk friend them.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Whee! Thank you. ::puts on stalker cap::

[heresluck]

I was so pleased to meet you!

In this vid we surgically removed these strong attachments and showed people what they can readily perceive. This is probably a reason for the generally warm reception.

I think you're exactly right: you made a con vid that could appeal even to folks who don't know about the emotional complexity that you and Wendy see in the show. There were a lot of vids in the Premieres show that I thought were lovely but that I think required more detailed knowledge of the source than I had; yours was shiny *and* wonderfully accessible. Thank you!

(Can someone direct me to other, preferably angsty Faith/Buffy vids, please?)

Morgaine's "Gangster's Paradise" is more of a Faith character study than a Faith/Buffy vid, but I think it's still worth watching. dualbunny's "Volcano Girls" isn't exactly angsty, but it's really good. (And it showed in Club Vivid!) And I made a couple of pretty angsty Faith vids; "Come On" is Faith/Buffy, and "Superstar" is more Faith-focused but also has a lot of stuff about their relationship.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

There were a lot of vids in the Premieres show that I thought were lovely but that I think required more detailed knowledge of the source than I had

Somewhat relieved here. I was starting to worry about my inability to impose narrative on these vids. But I will learn!

And yay! Thanks for the recs. I will get to them asap. And of course I know about your vids. My obsession with Superstar tells me that I am developing a crush on Faith. I wonder how much Faith-related source I would have to study?

[heresluck]

Honestly? There's not all that much Faith source. She's a huge *thematic* presence on the show, but her screen time is relatively limited in S3, and she's only in two eps of S4 and a few eps of S7 (and then some Angel eps).

As for a crush on Faith: dude, join the club.

[sarismchee.livejournal.com]

*is totally jealous* I'm glad you had a good time and I really wish I could have been there!

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Ohmygod SQUEE. Wendy just told me she has all S1-5 DVDs and she can rip all the Faith for me and..and she also has vcd-quality S7! ::cries with joy::

It's 100% your fault.

[heresluck]

I am 100% unrepentant. *g*

[piper47.livejournal.com]

Gah I am so jealous right now I don't even know what to say.

I want to go to VVC so badly. You have no idea. I wanted to go this year, but with my trip to SF and moving it just wasn't going to happen. God I'm jealous though.

That's so cool that Elevation went well for you. I *heart* that vid. I can't imagine what it would be like to see your own vid on a big screen like that. I just... I really *really* can't imagine what that's like. Guess I'll know next year.

Will you hold my hand when I premiere a vid? Everyone'll know which vid is mine. It'll come on and I'll be the one in the corner crying and hyperventalating, repeating over and over again "Please don't let it suck. Please don't let it suck." LOL.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Awww {{{{hugs}}}}

First of all, I'm sorry my report made you jealous. But having read others' reports before going there myself really helped me picture what it was going to be like. (That's why I like the personal approach to them, cause the con means different things to different people.) So hopefully it's also useful to you.

Second, thanks so much for the support. I really couldn't imagine seeing the vid on the big screen, either.

Guess I'll know next year.

YAY! Btw, did you know that starting next year, vids in the Premieres show will have to be vids that haven't been released publicly anywhere else? Cause wow, it makes a whole lot of difference to Wendy and me.

Will you hold my hand when I premiere a vid?

I will not only hold your hand, I will wrap my hand around you and calm your jitters and hug you afterwards and I will stop now before sounding even creepier.

If you have questions about what to expect from the con, don't hesitate to ask.

[destina.livejournal.com]

Elevation was my fave vid of the Premieres show. If I had known you were there, I would have fangirled you on the spot. *g*

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much! Reading it in your review made me very giddy. I had seen you around and was wondering which one *you* were, but I guess we missed each other. :(

[kitkatbyte.livejournal.com]

Wow thanks! Yes, both of us were there. We were the 2 silly fangirls who shed feathers all over Club Vivid. LOL.