What's your favorite vidding-related meta?

[tishaturk]

Over the next few months, I want to start writing about vidding-related meta as well as vids themselves. With this in mind, I'm hoping to hear from as many people as possible:

What's your favorite vidding-related meta?

Link me to the public essays, discussions, vid commentaries, whatever, that you have found most personally interesting or useful or thought-provoking. I'm not looking for an exhaustive list; one or two links is fine (though feel free to include more if you can't narrow it down!). If you can't find or don't have time to look for the link, tell me what you can ("There was this great vidding chat about ____ in bop_radar's journal a few months ago..."). If it's a post or conversation from a mailing list (such as the vidder list on yahoogroups or a fandom-specific list) and thus can't be linked, again, tell me what you can and I'll try to track it down. Or, if it's easier, feel free to point me to your memories section or delicious links--although I really would love to know which of the posts on your list are your favorites, the ones most meaningful to you. And don't worry about whether it's something I've already read; old, new, well-known, obscure, on or off LJ/DW--it's all good. (I've read a fair amount of vidding meta, and I know what I find most interesting; now I want to know what other fans have found interesting.) It doesn't have to be by someone else; if there's something you wrote that you're particularly proud of, or that sparked really good conversation, point me to it!

Thanks in advance for any answers, links, and/or signal boosts!

Comments

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

I think the entire Vid Commentary comm is the best thing since ice cream. Brilliant brilliant stuff these guys have generated! Brad's two vidder documentaries are my favorites, followed by Ian's recent analysis of Hard Sun.

http://community.livejournal.com/vid_commentary/

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

I completely agree! The one problem with that community is that there is TOO MUCH AMAZING STUFF being posted for the last week or so; I can't keep up! (I should always have such problems...)

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

I really liked this (http://community.livejournal.com/vid_commentary/11372.html) post, which gave the thousand-words treatment to a vid I didn't actually enjoy as much as the meta-er did, but thought was fine; the commentary convinced me to give it another try. Giandujakiss and coffeeandink on Origin Stories is another personal favorite.

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I hadn't looked at the "Glorious" commentary yet. (Seriously, I cannot keep up with all the wonderful stuff being posted in vid_commentary; I need a week off to just settle in and read and rewatch and process, which, ha.)

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

Adding on to what cesperanza said with regards to vidding_commentary, I have to say that bradcpu's Vidder Profile Series (http://community.livejournal.com/vid_commentary/tag/vidder+profile) has been absolutely awesome, eye-opening and glee-inducing. I find myself excited every month for a new profile and I can't wait to see who is next and I'm curious to know if more people will end up doing vidder profiles of their friends or other people they want to know more about or help share the vidder's styles and aesthetics.

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

That profile series is AMAZING. And I'm with you--I really home more people start doing that kind of work (though wow, Brad would be a tough act to follow).

[rhoboat.livejournal.com]

humansrsuperior decided to do another commentary that she didn't post at vid_commentary. She wrote up a lovely one for her vid This Is Your Life (http://humansrsuperior.livejournal.com/118662.html).

I also enjoyed millylicious's thoughts on meta vids (http://millylicious.livejournal.com/319525.html) along with her rec for Hard Sun.

ETA: Here via vidding. :)

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hadn't seen that commentary you linked; thank you so much!

here from thuviaptarth's signal boost

[were-duck.livejournal.com]

I'm quite fond of Alexis's blog post New media and old institutions (http://queergeektheory.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/new-media-and-old-institutions-2/) about "Us" being shown in a gallery (she does some related useful links in that post, including one to Kristina Busse's post on the same topic (http://mediacommons.futureofthebook.org/imr/2008/02/01/us-a-multivid-by-lim)).

Also I'm sure you know about this, but you said list our favorites, and so I'll mention Cinema Journal's In Focus section, for which I think you can have the pdf from Karen Hellekson's link here (http://khellekson.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/fandom-and-feminism-section-of-cinema-journal/). That might be more aca than meta, if there's a distinction, but I am really fond of many of those pieces, especially the ones focusing on "Us" and "Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness".

I don't know if you want critiques, but I also like thingswithwings's An extended critique of Ferd's vid "Strip" (http://thingswithwings.livejournal.com/45414.html).

thank you!

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

Yay for the Cinema Journal articles! I do think there's a distinction between aca and meta, although the line can be blurry because some fans do both. (I am still thinking about writing up something about this topic, prompted by (http://logovo.dreamwidth.org/profile)logovo (http://logovo.dreamwidth.org/)'s post from a few weeks ago (http://logovo.dreamwidth.org/602455.html).) But for the purposes of this post, all thinky thoughts about vids and vidding are welcome.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

These are my four favorites (all of the vidding meta I've memoried - though that's fallen off in recent months - is here (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=sdwolfpup&keyword=Vid+Tech&filter=all).

sisabet talks about the Keanu Reeves effect in vids (http://sisabet.livejournal.com/246086.html).

gwyn_r talks about visual vocabularies (http://gwyn-r.livejournal.com/129995.html).

There's a great discussion in the comments of this post on vidding structure and process (http://heresluck.livejournal.com/152677.html).

People provide the 10 Things They Know About Editing (http://community.livejournal.com/vidding/1331504.html) in the post and comments.

[rhoboat.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I hadn't seen the first three links before. Thanks for linking!

[tishaturk.livejournal.com]

I had completely forgotten about that Keanu Reeves post, which meant I just got to re-read it like it was the first time, and now I am impressed with sisabet's brain all over again, and also giggling a little.

And that post of gwyn_r's is terrific as well--I am making a mental note to drop a line and tell her so. I've been grappling with some similar issues in my academic writing, trying to pay attention to the work that's done by people who watch vids as well as people who make vids.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

It was hard to limit it to just one of sisabet's, but that's the one I find myself going back to most frequently.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I still really love thefourthvine's long commentary on her vidding feedback project a couple of years ago. If you go to her journal and look at her tags, it'll pop up. And the comments were fascinating.

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

I like the thefourthvine's vidding meta here (http://thefourthvine.livejournal.com/86583.html). I learned a lot from it.

[jarrow.livejournal.com]

Way back in the day I put together a list of my favorite meta links here (http://jarrow.livejournal.com/882354.html#cutid1) (scroll down), and they probably still stand high in my list.

[par-avion.livejournal.com]

I've read a ton of vidding meta, sadly some journals are deleted, or links are now private, and at some point I just stopped using LJ's memory system because it was so unrelaiable.

But here are a few of the ones that have stuck with me through the years:

Vidding as Meta
http://lierdumoa.livejournal.com/121105.html

Lifecylce of vid and vidder
http://sockkpuppett.livejournal.com/33604.html

Why the average pop song makes a boring vid
http://laurashapiro.livejournal.com/955.html

How To Make a Gut-Wrenching Video In Five Easy Steps or Less...
http://sisabet.livejournal.com/216966.html

http://morgandawn.livejournal.com/100195.html
In part for this quote: Years ago, when I was trying to vid on someone else's VCR, holding their remote precariously balanced in one hand, and one eye glued to the screen, I said: "Vidding with someone else's' VCR is like having sex with someone else's husband. Just unfamiliar enough to be titillating, but somehow the rhythm is always off..."

Vidding as a Fandom
http://sisabet.livejournal.com/272564.html

Authorship, recs vs. feedback
http://heresluck.net/musings/feedback2.html

This is a good post, also lots of interesting discussion
http://heresluck.livejournal.com/99138.html