Vividcon 2011 Report

[jetpack_monkey]

Guys. You guys. So amazing, you guys.

When I went two years ago, I came back, well... I had fun, but there was this certain feeling that I was poking at the outsides of a community I didn't actually belong to or have a right to call my own (which may account for my low vidding output in the year following).

This year, I felt like I was part of a warm, joyful (and occasionally tearful) hug that lasted for days. I don't know if it's because I felt more confident as a vidder or because the atmosphere was just more inclusive, but my overall experience was night and day from 2009. So that was good.

I can't even begin to go chronologically. So I'll sort of pick at random wisps of weekend:

• I had three vids in (one of which was a Challenge and I had a hell of a time keeping that secret). Each one seemed to get the response I was looking for, which is delightful. I got kudos from vidders who continually flabbergast me with their work. If you gave me praise and I just stammered a "thank you" or made a lame excuse, you're probably in the "flabbergasting" camp. I was doing my level best to not melt into a jibbering puddle at the time.
  
  
• On a related note, there was a hilarious (in retrospect) moment where I was randomly chatting with someone and then she introduced herself as heresluck. My jaw dropped onto the floor and I couldn't get it back up for what felt like a minute. Some folks get starstruck around actors. I get starstruck around vidders.
  
  
• The vids that made me cry or near-cry... So many of them. The Marley and Me vid by fan_eunice totally destroyed me. The Up vid by absolutedestiny , the classic Dante's Prayer Star Trek vid by , the How to Train Your Dragon vid by fan_eunice , the Punky Brewster vid by fan_eunice (I'm sensing a pattern), the frickin' Magnum PI vid by barkley (apparently I'm naturally a weepy person -- so it goes). Also, the Smallville vid of ultimate badfic awesomeness which made me cry tears of laughter, mixed with tears of love (thanks dualbunny, greensilver, and sweetestdrain).
  
  
• Spending several hours discussing vidding and fandom and all that jazz with six of the smartest people I know: diannelamerc, lizbetann, wiliqueen, butterflykiki, echan, and (when she could make it) celli.
  
  
• Danced my ass off at Club Vivid, slowly peeling off layers of shirt as I went. It was hot in there. Loved seeing the overwhelming response to diannelamerc's Tik Tok meta vid, which I helped make.
  
  
• The Batman and Tron cosplay at Club Vivid ruled my world. RULED IT. If I were to ever cosplay, I would cosplay at Club Vivid. Such a safe environment to be completely, awesomely dorky.
  
  
• I may have promised cherryice that I would add to the all-too-small canon of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World vids.
  
  
• The X-Men First Class party was badass and it gave me the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of cool folks like, kuwdora , cee_m, hellpenguin, mresundance , and more I cannot name because I was very drunk at the time. Special thanks to deejay for enabling me with her boozy concoctions based on Mystique and [spoilers for XMFC].
  
  
• Premieres was very good. I was continually rapt, even during the vids that were made for a specific fandom of which I was not a part. There were several completely amazing vids and I will do a recs post later and I've had a chance to go through my DVD sets fully.
  
  
• When did My Little Pony get awesome? Seriously, this is information I need.
  
  
• Weirdest thing about the time immediately post-Premieres was running from the public space to the vidshow room to double-check the program so I could praise the right people for the right vids. Too often I would make note of either noting a vid was awesome without checking the vidder or remembering to praise a vidder without associating them to a specific vid. Memory problems, I have them.
  
  
• The two panels that really helped me learn the most in terms of vidding craft were the Big Emotion panel and the Settings panel. Also, the Settings panel made me want to do a Western vid. Something John Ford-y.
  
  
• I'm the kind of person who always wants to do the work that others are doing, without taking into account my specific strengths, weaknesses, or interests. I would particularly like to make very bouncy, effects-laden vids, but I don't think I have the particular how-do-you-say... attention span to learn the techniques. (In particular, the joyful use of zooms and panning in mresundance's Byron vid made me envious).
  
  
• Room concert of wow by jspencer1986 . Completely awesome, great vocals, some super song writing. Also I was laughing helplessly when someone suggested a particular metaphor for what was otherwise a very heartfelt song about a man and his guitar (I think the new metaphor was jarrow's fault but I'm not entirely sure).
  
  
• The badfic on the last night... Sweet mother of pearl. The Charles/Erik forced marriage dubcon mpreg fic was bad enough, but then the Supernatural Wincest werewolf dubcon mpreg fic came along and obliterated it. Yipe. That sucker haunts my nightmares.
  
  
• SO much more, but I can't remember all of it now. It will come to me and I may yet post it.

There will be a recs post later, as noted above, but not until I've had a chance to sit down with the DVDs and relive the con.

Comments

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I have a battlefield of incomplete projects because I felt they were too ambitious for my current skill set.

I did used to vid a lot more when I didn't think as many people were watching -- especially when I didn't think as many proper vidders were watching. I think you may be right. Time to vid for me.

[mresundance.livejournal.com]

It doesn't do any good to do projects which make you feel defeated before you start. I think it's good to push yourself, but not to undermine yourself with what you feel you can't do by giving yourself something . . . you can't do. I had a friend who waited three years to make a vid before she felt competent enough to do the idea justice (http://ladymajavader.livejournal.com/2744.html) and it paid off in the long run. Patience can be a very valuable creative ally. Especially patience with yourself and learning about your own creative process.

Personally I am happy to make a vid every six months or so, lol. It's a pleasant surprise at the end of each year if I've made more than two vids. (See? You could also set the bar ridiculously low and then feel accomplished when you do finish something . . . )

Go away and vid, converse-lover.

[echan (from livejournal.com)]

I'm starting to think there's two big types of successful vids:
- the ones where you have the idea for ages, let it percolate, poke at the timeline sometimes, come back to it as you learn new techniques, and generally spend a lengthy amount of time perfecting it like an opus
- the ones that you pull out of your ass in five minutes because it's such a great idea and you just have to have it done yesterday and you only have time to use the methods&techniques that you know by heart

[jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com]

I think that's fair. I've only really made the second type successfully. I'm not sure I have the attention span to pick at a vid for a long time to shape and form a vid into something grand (the Gene Kelly vid might count, but I don't think it does).

Most everything I make has been somewhere in the middle and it's been mostly moderately successful (although I'm mostly pleased with it).