[viddish] Gattaca WIP, Connecting with audiences, and Other thinkyness

[permetaform]

lierdumoa and I knew that we shared scary scary vidding brain wherein we knew roughly 80% of what the other was thinking in regard to vid-like things and to test this out we vidded for a weekend with the same fandom and the same song.

It is of great amusement to both of us that we came up with entirely different vids; granted, part of the reason is because I was experimenting with a totally different style.

How Soon | 640x480 (.wmv, 30 Mb)
_{Source: 'Gattaca', owned by Columbia
Song: 'How Soon Is Now' by Love Spit Love
Summary: unabashed WIP}
Extras: Vidder process notes.

I don't think I ever would have the urge to rework this into something tighter, so I present the following to ya'll as a WIP (or is that a VIP? Vid In Progress?). It's a lot more loosely beatwhorish than my other vids, although it still makes me vaguely happy, probably because I can see in my head what the effects are supposed to look like. And the effects-only-I-can-see give me enough glee that I'm less compelled to actually render them in the vid, especially with new and shinier things on my to-vid plate.

Long story short, I'm still curious as to what ya'll think of this vid style, 'cause it's so different from my regular one. To be honest, I thought I'd get bored of watching it, but I don't, and I'm not sure why.

I'm also wondering if there's...how should I say it...disenfranchised viewers out there? ie. vid viewers who are disappointed by today's fanshionable vids because it doesn't connect to them somehow?

If so, what is missing in our current attempts to connect to the audience? Is it the fact that the song is not connecting? Are the clips moving at too fast a rate? Is it the fact that the vid is too ivory-tower avant-garde-ish? Are the songs too long?

The reason why I ask this is that my personal view on art is that its purpose is to connect with people. That's why it is perfectly reasonable for me to view entertainment as art, and it's facinating to me what captures people's attention and what doesn't.

How do I communicate with you?

Or rather,

How do I, as a vidder, communicate with you, as a viewer?

And specifically communicating to a viewer that is not part of the echo-chamber that is all too easy to fall into in all walks of life; how do I communicate with the Other, that does not already see eye-to-eye with me?

Is this communication even *possible*?

I'd like to believe that it is.

For instance, poison_pagan has a totally different vid aesthetic than me, and to be totally honest I read poison_pagan's reviews for the ones that she rates 6 or below, 'cause those vids I tend to like the best. It's simply a different aesthetic.

Question is: is it possible to vid to both aesthetics simultaneously?

Also: *should* it be a goal to vid to both aesthetics simultaneously?

[edit] addendum via thought from laurashapiro: this is a false binary, but here for now for the sake of argument. There's multiple audiences, but can they be communicated with more than one at a time? [/edit]

To borrow morgandawn and laurashapiro's metaphor (god, I love how those ladies makes me think ::blows kisses::), one cannot and should not expect a person who likes PWPs to absolutely adore long angsty epics; they *might* also like it, but it's not a certainty.

And to be honest, fic-wise, I really usually love only the short stories. It's the rare long-fic that I am able to like/invest in. Why should it be different for vids and vid watching?

...

wow, that was rambly. Feel free to respond to any or all parts of the above. ::hugs flist:: Connecting with one's audience is such a fickle matter; wickedwords tried to start a conversation about this last VVC (::gives major props::), but it got choked by the challenge vid-show. She is absolutely right, however, that this conversation should probably take place and I adore her brain for realizing this and bringing this realization to people's attention.

For reference, laurashapiro's great Connecting With Audiences panel notes.

[edit] and her thoughts on vidding Farscape (aka. vidding for multiple levels of viewers)

[edit2] I don't want to be totally catering to the audience, but the fact is that you can't connect your piece with your audience unless you understand your audience enough to understand what they *don't* know, and be able to fill in those gaps. The step that takes them a bit beyond what they already know is, then, the second half of art; it's connecting them back to *you*. Full circle.

[edit3] OHHHH, cathexys' comment, from lierdumoa's made me realise that some of the flashier effects in vids actually *looked* more complicated than they actually are and thus get applauded more. ::headdesks:: This is what you get for being in an echo-chamber, I was totally confused as to why people were so ga-ga over the effects in the Oz version of "Chemicals Between Us".

[edit4] sockkpuppett's brought up a really good point: how do we define an audience? Personally, after these discussions, I'm thinking that an audience is a group of people with a similar knowledge and/or aesthetic base.

The reason why this is important is because a vid that you plan to show a particular audience has to both fill in their gaps of knowledge AND recognize what is already common knowledge and shorthand that.

One of the most brilliant shorthanding's I've seen is shalott and melina's The Mountain vid, wherein they used one perfectly placed shot (of Boromir rubbing his sword handle while Aragorn watches, or was that the otherway around...) to summarize the Aragorn/Boromir relationship, which OMG, was more effective than a complete vid.

[edit5] by elynross:To me, taking the audience into consideration is something that comes in, in part, during the beta process, and involves making sure that to the best of your ability, you've communicated what you want to communicate

[...]

What matters to me is the care and concern of the vidder involved, the intentionality, the skill and/or the signs of talent that can be hidden in the vid of a less-skilled vidder.

[edit6] by musexmoirai: "I think the different expectations often arise from the fact that songs in comedic vids tend to be specific and removed from the fandom shown, so there's a sense of 'wow, that's clever,' when someone is able to find a particularly good match of song/image. Whereas more emotional, serious songs with slower beats tend to have more universal lyrics because of the emotions expressed. So I end up looking for interpretation and it gets a little boring when every kiss is a kiss."

[edit7] from this thread by lierdumoa: "I think the vast majority of live action effects are designed to be subtle. You're not supposed to see them -- you're supposed to feel them. [...] I think anything that's put in to tie the vid together rather than break it apart is going to be harder to notice for someone who's not looking for it."

[edit8] discussion on clean aethetics

[edit9] by hannahrorlove: "I think knowing the fandom is important to 'getting' a vid, but not completely necessary. If the vid-maker has a goal in mind and is able to communicate that - "this is a tragic love story," "this is just too silly to be believed" - then they succeeded in their goal. [...]

You cannot communicate with everyone who might see or interact with the vid, but you can try to reach out to most. This is probably done by just making the vid clear in terms of what its message is."

NOTE: these highlights are not comprehensive, nor complete

Your thoughts?

Comments

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[klia.livejournal.com]

When I sit with some audience members I feel like I am in the Land of Short Attention Span People. "Click, click, click" goes their minds during a vid show - in 10 seconds they're changing the channel. And complaining about it later. "I went to this con, you know, and there was this vid show, and I swear there was nothing on..... 57 vids and nothing on......"

That baffles me, too. And the only explanation I've been able to come up with is, some people are *vid* fans, willing to be open to just about anything. Others have more specific needs/wants/desires when it comes to vids (i.e. they're not interested in new and different fandoms, music they don't already know and like, or certain cutting styles).

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[permetaform]

::nods:: good point, I mean there are certain work arounds, to a degree, but as the discussions have hashed out, never completely possible for every situation

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[klia.livejournal.com]

And see, I guess I'm wondering whether or not the vidder's intention really matters in the long run, when it's all down to each individual audience member's perception, anyway?

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[permetaform]

in the long run, no, in the short run, yes; because without it you can't make a fully rounded vid (ie. one with a beginning/middle/end that viewers can sink their teeth into). To that regard, I'm always surprised that casual viewers look into the vid-notes, because they're process notes and posted more for fellow vidders.

...

maybe I should make a mention of that somewhere on my vid page.

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[klia.livejournal.com]

in the short run, yes; because without it you can't make a fully rounded vid (ie. one with a beginning/middle/end that viewers can sink their teeth into).

Of course. Sorry, I didn't mean the vidder's intention when it came to making a coherent vid as opposed to gobbledygook. :)

I just keep thinking it's possible for vidders to allow too much outside influence (like audience reaction, etc.) to creep in, and that could in turn cloud their initial vision, which I think is of primary importance. So, I think you should vid what you want with your gut as a gauge, and not worry too much about who will like it and who won't. I wish I could say every audience member is open to taking the journey each vid offers, but it just isn't true because everyone views everything through their own personal filters, and there's absolutely nothing we can do about that.

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[permetaform]

but audience influence is different than knowing your audience; knowing your audience meaning knowing what your audience doesn't know and how to ...let them know? Or how to not skip vidding shorthand?

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[klia.livejournal.com]

I was thinking more along the lines of not seeing an audience as its lowest common denominator, so not simplifying your vision or dumbing down your story in order to make it accessible to people who've never seen the source. Does that make any sense?

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[permetaform]

ah, the negative side of the vidding accessibly coin? ::wry grin:: If that's the case then I've already sold out with 5th Element vid, by making the vid less complex than the movie...

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[klia.livejournal.com]

I don't think of it as selling out. There's no getting around simplifying when you're condensing a 2-hour movie into a 3-4 minute vid. There's just no way around it! And we tend to pick out specific threads of stories we want to tell, anyway, so that's just part of the process, too. :)

Re: Audiences Connecting With The Vids

[permetaform]

heh, true true