Eh. The women-kicking-ass vid set to Lady Marmalade? It was one of my least favorite vids on the set. Too much intro, kinda boring selections of clips, and it went on forever.

Out of the 2003 vividcon set, if I had to pick a couple of vids to show to someone unfamiliar with the concept... let me see, I'll probably pick shalott's "Univited" (source material familiar to most people, matched with a song to a great effect), and Seah and Margie's "Haunted" (kick-ass storytelling; a great recruiter vid for even those with zero knowledge of the show).

Oh! And the hilarious ST vid set to "Razzle Dazzle", for yaks.

Oh! And the hilarious ST vid set to "Razzle Dazzle", for yaks.

I love that vid SO MUCH.

I showed Nutty and Meara the ST vid to "Closer". ::shudder::

That's an instance of a vid with a clear narrative line, and the way the vidders cut down on the cognitive dissonance was to give everything a sepia wash, which removed much of the context. It's one of the few instances of a vid which (a) tells a real story, and (b) a story that's definitely contrary to canon, but (c) really really works. Jaw-dropping.

Second and third the rec for Shalott's "Uninvited". That's brilliant. However much as I like "Haunted", though, I think it must be more powerful on the big screen than on my little monitor. Because I like it, but I don't adore it. (Although I'm having a friend send me VCDs of 05, so... *g*)

"Fight" was fun. And I made my guest watch it, and talk about it from a non-fandom perspective. Which is kinda cool. He is a Buffy fan, just not a Fan. So he was familiar enough with the source material, but not too much.

He did promise that if he ever gets the hardware in his house that he'll make a vid. On the chickfighting theme even. But I think it'll be HK action, not a TV fandom. So my quest is unfulfilled.

"Uninvited" is one of my favourites -- many vids I forget right off. Not that one. I need to find it again. "Closer" was also impressive. But for sheer sticking in my memory, "Gett Off" takes the cake. I've heard the song umpteen times since then, and I always see Daniel in my mind's eye on the "move your big ass 'round this way So I can work on that zipper" line.

Over use of special effects can make a really bad vid. I'm thinking of one in particular that looks like the vidder just used everything at her disposal. However then there are 2 vids by vyra that use a lot of special effects that are amazing.

One is a Buffy/Angel vid to a Moby song that I'm blanking on and the effects match the mood of the music. And her Spike vid to Tool's Schism uses a lot of effects but again it doesn't seem like "See the effects I used!!!"

I'd say when using effects you want an impact and look like in Lord of the Rings rather than the look of Phantom Meance and Attack of the Clones.

I haven't watched enough vids to have especoially strong critical opinions. I know there's a Connor vid set to the Dixie Chicks song "Godspeed" that always makes me cry. And the "Closer" vid is wonderful.

I still want a Harmony-centric vid done to Voltaire's When You're Evil.

I just bumped into an LJ entry by LauraShapiro that's really detailed and kinda offputting about vids.

Not saying she's wrong -- it's obviously hard and there's a lot of stuff going on in creation I couldn't even dream of understanding.

But DAMN. She has a high bar.

Which might just explain the quality of her work.

But DAMN. She has a high bar.

Which might just explain the quality of her work.

Exactly. On both counts.

Which might just explain the quality of her work.

Well, yeah. She's among the very best around. And hanging out with her has, frankly, spoiled me for a lot of vids.

Vids are like fic, like writing, like almost any artistic endeavor; and Sturgeon's Law applies. But it took a while for me to begin to develop the tools to evaluate them.

Three more of Minnow's post-Not Fade Away snippets.