Lost Video Island

[eloramoon]

So, we all have to stretch our AU vidding muscles for the March contest.

For those of you who have made successful AUs... what are your tips?

What would you consider to be the DOs and DO NOTs of AU vidding? What are your tips, tricks, and advice? Any hard and fast rules you stick to?

I am scared to death of the March contest now after getting my first silver in ages because of using longer clips. So, how do you make an AU vid that is successful in a climate where blink-and-they're-gone clips edited to every single beat reign supreme?

(((HUGS))) ~ Julia
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[littleton_pace]

To me, AU is all about story. Because it's not real obviously; you're making up a story so you have to sell it. Find a way to tell the story you want to tell; don't settle for something that 'kinda fits' cos its likely viewers won't understand what it means, even though you do.

If you can't find audio to express what you want, try and think of another way to show it. Like Kate never gives birth, but you can manip her looking at a pregnancy test and then looking at an infant, selling the point that Kate was pregnant and had a child without actually showing a birth scene.

Like I said, AU=story. If I buy the story, I'm gonna love the vid. I love originality and creativity; seeing things that we don't normally see in vids. Everyone has seen a jack/kate/Sawyer AU where she's cheating on one with the other; so if you want to do a triangle vid; think of a different way to show their story. Like maybe Jack and Sawyer are the pair to hook up and have the affair?

I don't really see any do's/don'ts when it comes to vidding an AU. I don't worry about beat use or effects because like I said; the focus is on the story. Although, some vidders are able to expertly combine story-telling with effects

The one rule I stick to is never think anything is 'too AU'. Everything can be vidded, you just have to find a way to do it. Therein lies the hardest part, most times

Anyway, that's my short stance on AU's Hope it helped!
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[nikkimonique]

I don't worry so much about beat use when I'm making an AU. I focus more on story. I try to put some beat use in there but for me dialog is the most important along with manipulated scenes. And I usually use a slow song for AUs anyway so it doesn't require a lot of beat use. A trick that i like to use is flash-backs to help tell the AU story.

Also, just b/c its clear in your head doesn't mean it will be to everyone else so you really need to be overly clear sometimes when making an AU to make sure everyone gets it. So, yeah I think that's it. Oh and searching the Lost Hatch transcripts is great when you are looking for specific dialog.
http://www.losthatch.com/transcripts.aspx
If you ever want me to look at your vid Julia to see if the story makes sense I'd be happy to!
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[thefilmchick]

Another question, since I've already got my song for the March contest and know what I'm doing, but don't want to go crazy with cookie cutter/masking if I don't have to: How high is people's tolerance for 'mismatched' scenes?

As an example I'm obviously not doing, since I want to keep what I'm doing a little under wraps: Say I'm making a Jate video. If I have Jack in one flashback background against a blue wall, and Kate is supposed to be standing next to him, but the only wall I can find is a slightly different color of blue (not a huge difference, but a slight one), is that noticeable enough to have to insert her into his scene, or can I just run the clips one right after another and assume viewers will make the connection that they're both standing next to the same blue wall?

Similarly, if I want to show Kate over Jack's shoulder AU, but the only AU shot of her I can find is her over Tom Brennan's shoulder (who has a similar hairstyle to Jack and who looks similar if you don't see his face), is it OK to show a shot of Jack looking at the camera, and then a shot of Kate over Tom's shoulder--will people make that connection, that it's Kate over Jack's shoulder in the story, since I showed him right before, or should I mask in his shoulder and part of his head?

I am probably overthinking this, but I'm one of those analytical people who wonders about stuff like this if given the chance and motivation, so don't blame me!
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.

[littleton_pace]

Yeh, you are definitely over-thinking it Kate I would suggest watching some of nikki's AU vids because she does what you're explaining perfectly, using angelina jolie as kate in a Kuliet vid that I love so much
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[nikkimonique]

yeah don't worry so much about that. Most viewers aren't going to care as long as the story is clear.
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[nikkimonique]

Watch this video of mine Kate
http://lostvideo.net/viewvid.php?vidid=6207
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[thefilmchick]

I will tomorrow, once I get onto an internet connection that's not going to be terrible death on videos.
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.

[Belle MacFarlane]

The main thing I try to do is audio use. Voiceovers really help - they can even be from different shows... so long as the voice is convincing - so like, not a British actress if you're trying to do Kate (unless the British actress is putting on an American accent)

One manip that really works is telephone calls - they can be on any background, as long as they're on the phone
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[thefilmchick]

I figured out the telephone call thing already, but unfortunately I have limited footage for that--already used it up! (If only I were doing a Jack and Kate video, for the simple availability and ubiquity of the footage, haha. Might've been easier, though I'm not too fond of either.)

I am planning to mess around with voiceovers--just have to find the right quotes. And hey, who says Kate can't be British? I was thinking of using Wendy Richards' Cockney from 'Are You Being Served?': What could possibly go wrong?

(Thanks for the advice thus far, gang!)
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I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's. His hair was perfect.

[eloramoon]

Great advice everyone, thank you!!!


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[nikkimonique]

[Aislynn]

I find that AU's are better off to go light on the beat use in favor of strengthening the story for all that you can. In other words, I think you definitely still want to show that you're paying attention to your music by acknowledging the major beats or sounds but at the same time, you want to give your story the time to unfold and be as clear and understandable as possible.

The main thing in my opinion is to still concentrate on making a clean vid, watch for stray clips, keep whatever effects and transitions you use consistent (if you do [whatever] with this part of the song, continue to do that every time it comes around) and those sorts of things.

I think it's also worth mentioning that you shouldn't feel afraid, one of the things in the general contest rules for the contests is to not be afraid to take risks. I know it's hard when you feel like your last vid didn't do as good as you thought it would. I've had that happen recently myself with a non-Lost vid or two, they felt like they had a giant, red FAIL stamp across them. I was even tempted to pull one of them down and try to forget that it had ever existed!

However, I've left it because of a few things:

1. Not everybody is going to like every vid I do. Sometimes there will be more in the "dislike" category than the "like" unfortunately.
2. But every vid is a learning experience. I gained a BUNCH of insight off of that one vid by deconstructing why it struck a sour chord with so many people.
3. That said, you can't vid for what you think other people will like. It's definitely important to learn to fix technical mistakes and strengthen technique and all that, but never be afraid to pursue your idea just because you think it might not be popular. Sometimes, they're not (see my above-mentioned vid, I had several people tell me they simply wouldn't watch it because of its premise, which is their prerogative; however, that's not something for me to change in my own vidding, I vid what I like, because having my own likes and dislikes is MY prerogative ).

However sometimes an idea that you think is basically a throwaway one will go big (my most watched vid at Youtube is a vid I put together just to cheer up a friend, my most popular Doctor Who vid is a requested 50-some second long crack vid... to "Tigger's Theme." I truly didn't expect either one of them to get more than a few cursory views by anybody other than the people I made them for).

Trying to chase a trend or to make a vid that you think other people want to see ends up being a rather frustrating exercise in chasing your tail: you can't predict what other people will like (because often they don't know it until they see it themselves ) and you end up not vidding what you like because you're not really following your own artistic vision.

Ideally, I know I'd like every new vid I do to be more popular than the one before it but that's just not going to happen. You can look at any vidder here or in other fandoms and you can chart a very up and down sort of course with their vids, some are more popular, some are not, but at the same time, you can usually see that each IS growing stronger in technique. Because the popularity of ideas is completely at the whim of fate but if you're getting stronger in your basic technique, then every vid really IS better than the one before.

I hope that makes sense! I can look at vids I did last year even and see a ton of things I would do differently now. I've learned a lot more about how to express myself through my vidding, so hopefully there is a definite upwards trend in my technique. However, my ideas are definitely all over the place and I had to falter here and there in order to learn. Don't be afraid to try something you've never done before. Maybe you won't be an immediate master of it but it's all part of growing as a vidder.

Vidding really is a journey without a destination, you never really "make it" to some pinnacle of perfection, it's just all about enjoying the scenery as you go. Your basic techniques will act like a rope to help you keep climbing even as your imagination helps you to wander off the beaten path and find new and wonderful things to explore!

[Aislynn]

Sadly, you were probably hoping more for a few nuts 'n' bolts things to do (Make sure you keep your AU manips orientated correctly by flipping the footage if you have to to have people "look" at each other! Try not to mix indoor and outdoor footage if the characters are supposed to be in the same place together! ) rather than a life lesson. Sorry 'bout that... Hope it helps anyway. It's something that I've been mulling over for myself of late so I just sorta... passed it all along to you.

[nikkimonique]

I always love reading what you have to say Ais!!
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