Lost Video Island

[eloramoon]

Just curious...

I see a lot of fan videos elsewhere on the internet that seem to get a lot of praise even though they're really just a bunch of random clips thrown together, edited to the beat, with use of a texture and coloring. Often the song is irrelevant to the action, there is no theme/concept/story at all, and the effects are random and don't make that much sense. Or, the story has to be explained in a six paragraph dissertation, without which the story would be totally indiscernable.

I think texture, beat use, coloring, and effects are all awesome, too... but I don't think those things alone should be the hallmark of a highly praised video. Yet, just five minutes on YouTube will show you thousands of videos that were (often admittedly) thrown together in a matter of minutes, with no purpose whatsoever, yet ends up very highly praised because of the presence of things like texture, coloring, beat use, etc.

So, what do you think?

Do you think that effects and beat use are more important than concept/effort? Would you rather see a texture than a story? Would you rather see a lot of beat use and effects than clips that are edited together with a purpose in mind, but make only necessary use of things like coloring, effects, etc. (and maybe has no texture at all).

I'm very curious to know what people think on this subject!


(((HUGS)))
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[Polarbear]

I always think that a video should fill the entire screen and that most textures are meant for static art so yeah I am against textures and borders *cue hate lol* I like gradients though they usually look cool over a video.

I'm all about story and concept than colouring and even beat use. They should be the cherry on top of the cake
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[soapbubbles511]

oh concept is so much more important....

as more and more people get better vidding programs I see more and more vids that are nothing but pretty effects... sure the effects are executed smoothly and look cool but there's very little emotion to the vid... or even if the scene choices are good they're so lost in all the effects....

textures aren't necessarily bad... neither are effects... I love using texture to capture the mood of the vid... playing with coloring until it fits the mood of the song... but effects should enhance a vid, not be the vid... there should be something worth saying underneath all the effects not just a song chosen because it has a lot of opportunity for beat use that only kinda fits the couple and then the clip choices don't add anything....
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[Polarbear]

Just let me clarify that I can watch a video and not be bothered at all by the border or texture. When the video is really good it grips you in and you love it despite what you like or don't like about how it looks. And textures can look cool it's just the 'dirt on the windscreen' effect that puts me off which happens with a lot of them.

I really don't have much of an eye for art maybe that's why I don't put so much thought into it. To me using just the color corrector or color balance tools on their own can look cool rather than having to use mulitple instances of color curves, color corrector then color curves and maybe a texture on top it's too confusing for me
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[nikkimonique]

I think you know my thoughts on this. All I need is a good storyline and I'm pulled in. I tend to get bored with videos that are all beat and texture/effects but no storyline. Even in vids with a storyline...if there are too many effects I tend to get distracted.
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[eloramoon]

That makes sense, absolutely!

I'm a coloring fanatic... I absolutely adore good coloring (I'm just not good at doing it myself). I am kind of on the fence with textures... nine out of ten times I like the way they look, or I feel it lends an interesting look to the video, but I understand what you mean about the "dirt on the windscreen" look. I really notice it when I'm trying to employ a texture myself.

For me, I actually really like textures, borders, coloring... all of that. It just bothers me a *lot* when a video is popular just because of those things, when underneath it all there's nothing there but randomly strung together clips. I see that so often on YouTube.

Conversely, it bothers me when I see videos that are really interesting... which have a cool story, interesting concept, really match the song well, or at least has a purpose... but then don't have a texture, border, and an effect on every single clip, and as a result are either largely ignored or are even called boring or told they should have used a more popular song, or used more effects or a texture.

I'm just really interested in understanding what makes a good video, not only in theory but in actual practice.
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[nikkimonique]

[soapbubbles511]

IA about the textures that just make it look dirty... it just makes the vid harder to see and almost never adds anything... textures are nice as long as they're not overpowering... a lot of times I use dodge rather than overlay or multiply and then even blur the texture so its really subtle..

and also agree about good vids being overlooked because they don't use all sorts of fancy effects... there's so much more to vidding than effects...
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[nikkimonique]

yeah I don't mind subtle texture. I think the texture on Kat's vids always looks nice.
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[Charlies_Innocence]

I do enjoy it when vids include borders/textures, and beat use and all that, but I agree that it should be on a vid that have a clear concept to go along with it. Textures can really add to a vid, I think, but only if they're used correctly, you know what I mean? I just think it's fun to play with coloring and effects, just to see what fits with the story you're trying to tell.
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icon by becca

[eloramoon]

I think for me, that's the hardest thing... is trying to find a balance between what really works with the song-- what is complimentary, versus just throwing a bunch of stuff in to make it pretty when there's nothing else going on. My favorite vids (like so many here) are the ones that have a purpose on top of looking really pretty.

I am doing a sort of experimental practice vid for a friend right now for another show, just to try out some things and see what works. I'm trying to emulate (not rip-off) things that I see in other vids, to learn how to do different techniques, see what works, what doesn't... and what I'm finding is that it's a really thin line between throwing in an effect just to throw it in there, and throwing it in because it makes sense.
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[Debbie]

As a newbie, I have to say It's easy to get sucked into the whole "cool effects" thing, my first couple of vids were really messing about to see what i can actuall do with the programme, but I found that my 3rd video was a bigger accomplishment and alot more fun to put together because I had a story to go with.

So I really have to say that it's the story that's important, and I think that when you have a vidder who can tell a fantastic story, that's where talent truley lies.

I think the same applies to fan art aswel,I see so many pieces of fan art (even outside of the LOST fandom) that have everything lightened to the max, or just one photograph with a colouring done to it or a desaturation and people think it's awesome. When theres really been very little effort into the placement of the picture(s) the general colour theme, what feel your looking for in the art, what mood your looking to show etc. IMO every piece of art needs to be unique and I think that this should also apply to videos, anyone can do the colour, not everyone can add that little somehing to it that's needed to make a good, quality video.
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[littleton_pace]

I love concepts and story of course; i think 95% of my vids are story driven. However I don't think I've seen that many vids that don't have a concept of sorts. Even just-Jate videos with no story still have a concept, to me at least, of showing the connection between the characters. I'm with Debbie on her point, when you have a vidder who can tell a fantastic story, that is where the talent is. To me; if they can do that and kick ass with effects, like with Jo's latest vid, that's just epic vidding at its core.

But I also highly appreciate crazy effects and beat because I know how tough it is to get right I also don't think textures means a hell of a lot; its possibly the easiest Vegas effect there is lol But thank you Nik! I'm glad you like mine
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[eloramoon]

Thanks for the input, everyone!
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[nikkimonique]