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charmax and I’ll be your I started vidding in May 2003 which makes *counts fingers* 5 years. I started off just vidding Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. I vidded those exclusively for the first couple of years and made a ton of vids (most of which are no longer available because I can’t bear to look at them myself anymore never mind foist them on an unsuspecting public.) When those shows finished I began to branch out into other fandoms to such an extent that I now consider myself a Multi-Fandom vidder with fingers in every pie going. I’ve never really rediscovered the all consuming passion I had for my first show and so I’ve never done more than four vids in any other single fandom. Supernatural is one of several shows that I am drawn to but it hasn’t devoured my soul the way it has some other vidders. There’s so much talent at work in this fandom that I feel hugely intimidated by it all.
To date I have only made 3 SPN Videos:
The Way We Get By. A short fun vid made as a gift for
astartexx.Protégé Moi. Another short one again made for
astartexx definitely not a fun vid this time though. It was a deliberate attempt at a noir style to go with a dark theme.Deus Ibi Est. A John Winchester character study with particular emphasis on his relationship with Dean. This premiered at
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winchestercon 07. It has been some time since I made a Supernatural vid because other shows have eaten my brain but I haven’t ruled out doing any in the future. I do have a couple of vid ideas for SPN but I also have a number of projects in other fandoms that are calling to me. Hopefully I’ll complete something before the next season of shows starts and something new and shiny will distract me from my plans.
For anyone who is interested; you can download my vids from:
http://charmax.livejournal.com/tag/vide
http://bronze-ambition.net (my website)
And these are the streaming options:
http://www.imeem.com/charmax/ (Charmax @ Imeem)
http://www.youtube.com/user/Charmax
I vid on a PC using Premiere Pro and After Effects with more than a little help from Photoshop. My early vids were made using windows movie maker and I still believe that you don’t need expensive software to make great vids (it can make life a bit less painful though.) All my recent projects were made using Premiere pro 1.5, After Effects 7 and Photoshop CS2. I’ve recently moved to Windows Vista and with that the CS3 suite, both are new experiences for me and I don’t claim to have any huge insights to share. I’m pretty sure the vidding differences will only be minor though . I wholeheartedly think a vidder should have a machine with as much poke as they can afford *pats hulking great new computer.*
So, if you have any questions for me, fire away.
May 29 2008, 08:41:48 UTC 4 years ago
How long did it take you to vid Deus Ibi Est? Do you first hear a song and think you could make that into a vid or do you have an idea for a vid and then go looking for a song?
May 29 2008, 17:44:16 UTC 4 years ago
If memory serves "Deus" took about a month to do. I only usually work at the rate of two to three hours per day for editing, I very rarely sit down and vid for 6+ hours at a time unless there's a deadline looming and I've fallen seriously behind.
90% of the time I hear the song and see at least some key scenes of the vid in my head. Occassionally I know what I want to do and then have to find the song. Also sometimes I'm given the song and a brief idea as part of a challenge or for Sweet Charity and then I have to find a way into the vid so that I can really understand it.
May 30 2008, 07:26:06 UTC 4 years ago
May 29 2008, 08:42:04 UTC 4 years ago
Usually watching vids leaves me with this sense of wonder about what you vidders can do. So my questions is going to be very broad. Could you please describe your vidding process? From the moment an idea is born, to the choice of the clips and the song, and the way you edit and mix it all together? I know it's a lot, but I'm really interested in how you transform inspiration into this kind of visual medium.
Thank you :)
May 29 2008, 18:32:03 UTC 4 years ago
My vidding process is different for each vid. I'll use my SPN vids as examples.
"The way We get By" started with the idea (provided by
"Protege Moi" started with the song, then the idea including the idea of isolating the red. Clip choice was based largely on what looked creepy but visible in B&W. I tried to go with interesting camera angles and looking through things. Also obviously some aspect in red was handy. Then I had to figure out how to isolate the colour which was the main problem in editing. I developed a storyboard and stayed more or less true to that. So the workflow was song-idea and storyboard-effects and prettify or should that be uglyfy-clip choice.
"Deus Ibi Est" was born the first time I heard the song, no storyboard this time and most of the effects were put in after the bulk of the vid was done substituting in for placeholder clips. This one had 2 drafts and beta'ing. So that's song-idea-clip choice-rework-beta-rework-effects-beta.
So hopefully you get an idea from that. I just don't have a set method, I do try to make the song choice, editing style and show/theme consistent. I don't think I would do funky time-toggling, push zooms and camera shake for a period piece but you never know.
May 30 2008, 10:57:03 UTC 4 years ago
Oh, and because I didn't say it earlier, your videos are wonderful, I can't even decide which I like best. Both 'Protege Moi' - beautiful, beautiful song and one of my Placebo favs - and 'Deus Ibi Est' are outstanding, though. Really, wow!
May 29 2008, 09:04:41 UTC 4 years ago
May 29 2008, 18:55:03 UTC 4 years ago
Thank you that is such a huge compliment!
Figuring out how to isolate the colour was the hardest part of the vid and I ended up using different methods for different clips. A number of them were done using the After Effects "Leave Colour" tool. I did try Premiere's "colour pass" tool but the results were just not even close to good enough for what I wanted.
The bed, hat and hotel sign were done by exporting them as a sequence of stills, imported them into Photoshop then with each frame, using the pen tool, drew round the sections I wanted to be red, made them into an alpha channel and exported each frame with it's alpha channel as a targa file. Then I imported the targas into Premiere and lined them up above the footage. This is ridiculously complicated and now I think I would just do the masking in After Effects. The woman with the cross was done by changing the colour, then colour passing, then keyframing a light on it. I made sure that my black and white footage was quite high contrast to add to the effect.
Sorry if this doesn't make a huge amount of sense I made the vid quite a while ago and to be honest I've forgotten some of the exact steps I took.
May 29 2008, 23:34:56 UTC 4 years ago
Thank you so much for your detailed response. I'm actually pretty impressed that I know what you're talking about here! (About 4 months ago I would have had know idea!). I use Final Cut Express and even though the terminology is different I'm sure there are similar tools in my program. Not sure about "colour pass" though. I'll have to check it out.
I suspected photoshop might have been involved - a program I have very little experience in unfortunately. Sounded time consuming (totally worth it though!)
I just watched Deus Ibi Est. Wonderful. I love that it's all about the editing and the way the clips and footage flow with the music. (hope that
makes sense - as opposed to special effects). Amazing song for John too.
Many thanks again. :)
May 30 2008, 07:45:21 UTC 4 years ago
I'm glad you liked Deus Ibi Est. It is the perfect John song and the effects in that vid are less obvious, there are quite a few though. They're just not of the crash, bang, wallop variety. :D
4 years ago
May 29 2008, 13:25:16 UTC 4 years ago
So, after that long preamble, my question is this: what's your process for figuring out when to use effects in your vids, and for choosing which effects to use?
May 30 2008, 04:25:37 UTC 4 years ago
I think my effects have worked best when I've known what I wanted and then gone about figuring out how to do it. There have been times when I've had a cool effect and then tried to fit it into a vid, those have usually been less successful.
Quite often there will be a sound or change in the audio that I want to link to with an effect. Sometimes the show itself will suggest something, like the crazy transitions in Pushing Daisies or the way that Inara is always just out of Mal's reach in Firefly.
There are several vidders who can virtually reinvent the source using effects, bending it to there will and making it do their bidding. I'm always in awe of that because I just wouldn't even know where to begin.
May 29 2008, 16:19:49 UTC 4 years ago
i can has lots o'questions
When you remastered The Way We Get By what was your process? Meaning, did you change things knowing the things you know now or did you go through and match the clips to replace the lower quality footage. I'm curious about remastering vids. Why did you choose to remaster TWWGB as opposed to another vid?It's not Supernatural specific, but what the musical tracks you've always wanted to vid, but haven't?
What kinds of vids do you enjoy from the vidder's perspective? From a general vid watcher's POV? Are they different?
Also, can I soak up some of your awesomeness?
May 30 2008, 05:40:09 UTC 4 years ago Edited: May 30 2008, 08:01:02 UTC
Re: i can has lots o'questions
Hiya,Remastering The Way We Get By was mostly just about substituting in DVD source. I'd just made Deus so I thought I'd take advantage of having the source all ready to use, plus making Deus was quite depressing and I wanted to remind myself that there was fun to be had in vidding. So mostly it was clip matching with one or two aesthetic changes. I found vidding like this kind of soulless and I don't know if I'd ever remaster a vid again unless I was going to make significant changes.
I have an absolute ton of songs I have vid ideas for that I haven't got around to. I always wanted to vid "All That I Am" for Ioan Gruffudd's Lancelot in King Arthur but Fabella, Nicky and Lithium Doll have already worked their different (but equally awesome) magic on that song so that's one I'm just going to stick to vidding in my head. I've also got an insane desire to vid BtVS's Once More with Feeling to The Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity.
Watching from a vidder's perspective my interest is always piqued by vids with a unique concept and execution but for the most part I think I am more inclined to watch vids first and foremost from a more "ooh, shiny" perspective then rewatch for the hidden depths.
Unfortunately any awesomeness I had has been sucked into a great black hole of vidding block. If you happen to come across it just laying there, like Peter Pan's shadow, let me know.
May 30 2008, 23:59:15 UTC 4 years ago
Re: i can has lots o'questions
Thank you."All That I Am" is one of those tracks that can be used for every fandom and I'd love it. While Fabella, Nicky and Lithium Doll have their vid for it, I would love to see other vidders, including you, use it.
I watched Peter Pan two days ago with my neighbor, so that's totally fitting.
Are there tv shows you enjoy, but have never vidded for some reason?
4 years ago
4 years ago
4 years ago
May 29 2008, 19:03:47 UTC 4 years ago
May 30 2008, 06:32:34 UTC 4 years ago
Wrigley Video has some interesting tutorials for doing specific things in Premiere. It also has a forum and you can often find that solutions to problems you can encounter have already been posted there.
Youtube also has a number of video tutorials for Premiere, some more useful than others but definitely worth checking out.
I hope this helps good luck.
May 30 2008, 04:31:48 UTC 4 years ago
-How do you make sure the video is in time with the music?
-How do you get the footage? Is this part of that downloading whole eps thing?
May 30 2008, 07:26:38 UTC 4 years ago
All three of the links below can be very helpful to newbie vidders. The first one is an extensive guide covering everything from the technical know-how to the more meta and fannish etiquette of vidding. Like I said, it is in depth but well worth reading. The second link leads you to A&E's Technical Guide which as the title says is about the technicalities from ripping your source and audio onto your computer and then turning them into workable material. The final link is a very easy, plug and play type guide.
Vidding for Newbies.
A&E's Technical Guides to All Things Audio and Video
Katie's Vidding Process
May 30 2008, 07:28:33 UTC 4 years ago
May 30 2008, 07:31:16 UTC 4 years ago
June 1 2008, 09:06:26 UTC 4 years ago
First about voice overs, some say never, some say ok if it fits, I wonder how you as a vidder appoach things and whether as a viewer that changes?
Second trimming songs. I admit when I started and looking back on some of my vids, I should have either not done the track at all or tried to edit it, can you give me any pointers on your own opinion of that? Is a badly trimmed song, or just fading out, worse than not trimming at all?
What is the most common mistake that new/inexperienced vidders make that could be easily fixed?
I have to admit I get very confused, I'm a rule breaker by nature and I can get in the mind set of making only what I want, but I do hope to do better with each one and constantly strive to make vids that not only I enjoy making but that viewers will like to watch and knowing where I could improve with that would be wonderful.
Thanks. :)
June 1 2008, 10:50:44 UTC 4 years ago
I wouldn't say there were that many hard and fast rules in vidding. There is a fair amount of received wisdom which it can be handy to know even if you eventually decide to take a different view.
I've only used voice-overs once in a vid but I would do it again if the vid called for it. Sometimes the voice-overs are what gives a vid it's emotional impact. Personally, I think that they work best on an instrumental section so they aren't competing with the lyrics.
I was vidding for quite a while before I felt confident enough to edit audio tracks. I would definitely say that a badly trimmed song is worse than a slightly overlong vid. Even fading out at the end can be quite noticeable. I keep the natural end and edit for repetition somewhere in the body of the song.
There are a few common mistakes but sometimes you have to make them in order to learn from them. The most important thing is to either get the opinion of at least one other person, someone you trust to be honest, before posting a vid. At the very least leave it for 48 hours before coming back to it and looking it over with fresh eyes so that you might pick up on things you didn't see when you were "in the moment."
Aspect ratio can be a slippery beast to master. It took me quite a while to get it right. I would sooner see black bars on a vid than stretched people. Really, the women on US Tv are quite thin enough.
A lot of newbie vidders pick generic pop/rock songs to vid to. They get used for every show and every character and just cease to carry any meaning. It doesn't mean something new can't be brought to these songs but if you're a newbie why make life harder for yourself.
A lot of inexperienced vidders use clips of people talking but because you can't hear what they are saying it's just distracting. When I first came across the "talky face" guideline I didn't really get it. After all even in an action packed show dialogue takes up a lot of the running time. It was only when I tried it out that I realised just how much more smooth everything seemed. I'm not hardcore about it sometimes it's unavoidable and a big show of emotion can be a good thing.
When using song lyrics it is always a balancing act between literalism and metaphor. Too literal and the vid can become unintentionally comedic, too metaphoric and the viewer can be left floundering. Generally I think inexperienced vidders tend to be too literal but again I think it's one of those things you have to come to for yourself rather than being told it.
Some inexperienced vidders make vids with what I would call overenthusiastic effects. Effects need to be consistent to work well just throwing everything in the effect palette at a vid won't make it visually exciting it will just make it confusing.
I hope that's answered your questions?
June 1 2008, 11:12:23 UTC 4 years ago
Guilty on all counts I think! *G* I think though that most of them I've also come to realise with help from feedback were mistakes and they are things I'll try not to do again.
I still have to pluck up the courage to approach the hunt for a beta and build up the confidence and trust to accept the good advice and perspective that will bring, I think that reluctance has had a lot to do with my conviction that I wouldn't have the skills required to make the changes advised, that I'm still too inexperienced to understand, but reading your answers will probably enable me to take a deep breath and make that final push in asking for help.
Thanks very much.
June 1 2008, 11:31:24 UTC 4 years ago
It is nervewracking having your baby prodded and poked by somebody else but remember that the beta wants your vid to be the best it can be and if you really don't agree with their opinion you don't have to go with it. A good beta will know to tell you what works as well as pointing out what doesn't and that can make the process less painful.
4 years ago