Vividcon/Vividcon 2004

From Fanlore
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Programming · Vividcon 2002 · Vividcon 2003 · Vividcon 2004 · Vividcon 2005 · Vividcon 2006 · Vividcon 2007 · Vividcon 2007/DVD Set · Vividcon 2008 · Vividcon 2009 · Vividcon 2010 · Vividcon 2011 · Vividcon 2012 · Vividcon 2013 · Vividcon 2014 · Vividcon 2015 · Vividcon 2016 · Vividcon 2017 · Vividcon 2018
"So overall? VividCon rocked." ~ sdwolfpup

Overview

Vividcon 2004 program book, LOTR theme

Vividcon 2004 was the third Vividcon, and was held during August 13-15, 2004. The con was well-established by this point, and for the first time sold out its membership, as word continued to spread about it in the vidding community.

To keep costs under control, in 2004 the concom held an auction, putting out a public call for vidders to offer their services to the highest bidders, with all proceeds going to the con. Five vidders volunteered (Angel, Carol S., Luminosity, Roach, and sisabet), and their vids were shown during a special show following the Challenge show. The Auction vids were not included on the con DVDs; they were put onto their own DVD specifically for the auction winners, as a special thank-you.

The auction succeeded to the point that it became an annual tradition, and has kept membership costs down ever since.

This was also the first year that anime had a real presence at the con; while a few vidshows in previous years had included an AMV, 2004 had a vidshow devoted entirely to anime vids. The show was the stealth hit of the con. Although the audience at the actual vidshow was relatively small, one of the two tapes of the vidshow in the Vid Library was playing nearly constantly in the con suite, and the other copy was checked out for most of the con to one attendee or another. By the end of the con, most attendees had seen at least a couple of the vids in the anime vidshow, and most wanted to know more.

Another new addition to the con was "Vividsection", which is basically a live beta session with a few dozen people. One vidder signs up to have a vid -- either a finished rough draft or something in progress -- talked out by the group.

This was also the first year that Morgan Dawn began collecting links to vids that had been shown at Vividcon to allow non-attending members a chance to view the vids. Vidders would often post their vids online after the convention ended, long before the vid show DVDs arrived. Since Destina had included many links in her review of the Premiere vid show, Morgan focused on the Nearly New and Also Premiering. In later years, the list of vids would expand to encompass all the vids how at Vividcon with the help of many other volunteers. It was an example of how the early Vividcon attendees favored proactive self-directed solutions to improve the convention experience.

Programming

Vidshows

The Wayback Machine (playlist)

VJ: tzikeh
Description: You know how when you're flipping channels and you hit American Movie Classics and the movies there aren't really much like the movies we get now, but you get sucked in and watch them anyway, and then you try to put them in historical context and go back to school and get a Ph.D. in Media Studies? This is kinda like that.

Audio Rarities (playlist)

VJ: Barkley
Description: Vids done to unusual audio source, such as rap,calssical, bluegrass, or spoken word.

Effects? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Effects (playlist)

VJs: Jill, Kay, and Kathy
Description: Vids that pack a punch by means of their straightforward simplicity.

Nearly New (playlist)

VJs: hafital and Cassandra
Description: Miss your favorite con this year? This is the place to catch up: vids in all genres that have premiered in the past year at other cons. Also includes several brand-new vids that couldn't be included in this year's Premieres show due to lack of time.

Club Vivid (playlist)

VJs: the concom
Description: Friday night dance vid party and mixer. We'll be showing a selection of dance vids, with dancing in the vidshow room, quiet vidwatching in the panel room, and drinks and chatting in the con suite. Cocktail hour starts at PM in the con suite.

Saturday Morning Cartoons (playlist)

VJ: Seah
Description: Remember Schoolhouse Rock? Yeah? Well, this is something completely different. A selection of some of the best anime vids out there.
(Seah also provided a comprehensive handout, including her reasons for including each vid, a list of vids that nearly made the cut and why, a glossary, and an introduction to using animemusicvideos.org.[1])

Unexpected Levels (playlist)

VJ: sisabet
Description: Vids that blow your mind, or at least blow your preconceptions out of the water.

Couples, Triples, and Ensembles: Illustrating Relationships (playlist)

VJs: rache and Equanimity
Description: Whether it's a canonical or noncanonical romantic relationship, a tight-knit group of comrades, or a battle between two archenemies, the power and energy that exists between people is often what draws us to a show. How do we capture that energy and distill it in such a way that the core of the relationship is communicated to a larger audience, who may not be that familiar with the source?

Literalism vs. Metaphor (playlist)

VJ: Gwyneth Rhys
Description: "If the lyric says 'my heart is on fire,' then by God, I better see flames." Why do so many vidders believe this, and why do so many vid watchers have issues with it? How do you know how to use these two divergent concepts? The vid show will span the entire spectrum.

Breaking the Rules (and Getting Away with It) (playlist)

VJ: Sandy Herrold
Description: Vids that break the unwritten rules of vidding. External source, voiceovers, added text, use of black space, and other forbidden fruit.

Movie Vids (playlist)

VJ: Jacke K.
Description: Ah, movies. They're big, they're beautiful, and they've got less footage than a Fox or ABC show. But the vids sure are fun.

Premieres (playlist)

VJs: Carol S. and Melina
Description: Vids that are making their premiere at VividCon.

Villains, Scoundrels, and Masterminds: World Domination in 5 Minutes or Less (playlist)

VJs: Dorinda and snoo
Description: Because evil needs vids, too.

Vividcon Challenge Vidshow (playlist)

VJ: tzikeh
Description: A double-blind show, in which vidders respond anonymously to our challenge. Vids will be both shown and discussed in the show. This year's challenge is to make a vid on the them of luck'.

Auction Vids (playlist)

VJ: shalott
Description: Vids made to order by and for the brave and generous souls who participated in our first vid auction.

Panels

Language of Vidding

Moderators: here's luck and Lucy
Description: An overview of technical and fan-vidder terms and definitions, as well as discussion of terminology for different types of vids.
The handout for this show was useful enough that Cesca and Shoshanna promptly grabbed all the leftover copies to hand out at their own panel on Giving Good Beta.[2]. A copy of the handout can be found here. [3]

Master Class

Moderator: Jo
Description: Has it really all been done before? Why is it that some cuts work and some don't? What's a film plane and why shouldn't you cross it? What are the emotional effects of color and tinting? We'll attempt to explore a tiny bit of the theory of visual editing, with a smattering of psychology, practical application, and history thrown in for good measure. And who exactly was that Khuleshov guy?

Language of Music

Moderators: Nestra and par avion
Description: Faster, louder, softer, slower: music theory for vidders.

Song Choice

Moderators: kandy and Carol S.
Description: What makes a song choice unexpected? What makes the unexpected choice work?

Giving Good Beta

Moderators: Cesca and Shoshanna
Description: How do we articulate what we think of a vid? How do we describe how it mkaes us feel, and the connections particular moments and images make us see? How do we explain to ourselves, the vidder, or other people how we think the vid works -- or doesn't work? We'll look at some vids and try to figure out how to beta and give feedback on vids, as well as why it's sometimes so intimidating.

VividSection

Vidder: Juliette Torres
Moderator: Killa
Description: A brave vidder has volunteered to have her vid in progress torn apart by a roomful of hungry wolves... er, enthusiastic participants. The group discussion aims to help the vidder hone her ideas while we hone our own skills as vid betas.

Aesthetics: Movement

Moderator: Luminosity
Description: Movement. What is is. A little of its history. Why it's important. What to choose. how to do it.
Lum had some tech issues; the VCD she'd burned with her examples wouldn't play. shalott stepped up and got several examples from Lum's laptop to play on the tv, though.[4]

Copules, Triples, and Ensembles: Illustrating Relationships (paired)

Moderators: rache and Equanimity
Description: Whether it's a canonical or noncanonical romantic relationship, a tight-knit group of comrades, or a battle between two archenemies, the power and energy that exists between people is often what draws us to a show. How do we capture that energy and distill it in such a way that the core of the relationship is communicated to a larger audience, who may not be that familiar with the source? (follows the Illustrating Relationships vidshow)

Literalism vs. Metaphor (paired)

Moderator: Gwyneth Rhys
Description: "If the lyric says 'my heart is on fire,' then by God, I better see flames." Why do so many vidders believe this, and why do so many vid watchers have issues with it? How do you know how to use these two divergent concepts? This panel will let us discuss the topic in depth. (follows the Literalism vs. Metaphor vidshow)

Breaking the Rules (paired)

Moderator: Sandy Herrold
Description: Once upon a time, there was an unwritten rule that fannish vids must only use source from the show. is this still true? When does it work to use deleted scenes from DVDs, bloopers, home-shot footage, clips from other shows, animated sequences, and other "out of bounds" footage? When does it cause cognitive dissonance in the viewer? the use of voiceovers has grown in recent years, as has the use of audio from our source shows, while credit sequences and added text have become a form of creative expression and vidder commentary. When do these "extras" work to help a vid? When don't they? (follows the Breaking the Rules vidshow)

Vid Review

Moderators: Melina and renenet
Description: An opportunity to examine specific vids from the Premieres show in greater detail, from both vidding and viewing perepectives.


How Did You Do That?

Moderator: sisabet
Description: An in-depth look at the technical and artistic voodoo behind the Smallville vid "Without You I'm Nothing".

Connecting with the Audience

Moderators: Laura Shapiro and rache
Description: When making a vid, one of the questions frequently asked is who is this vid for? Yourself, fans of a character, a relationship, a universe...? How do you define your target audience, and does the way that you distribute your vid affect that? If you're showing at a con, do you need to worry about multiple types of audiences, and is this related to what old-school vidders call con or living room vids? What is the vidder's responsibility to their audience, or is there any, other than to provide entertainment? Is there an implicit vidder/viewer contract?

Notable vids

Concom

Panel Notes, Vid Show Reviews and Convention Reports

A general overview convention report was posted to the Vidder (mailing list) by Flummery- Thing 1. It is reposted here with permission:

"Once again, the VJs pulled it off, putting together a bunch of really terrific themed shows. This year a lot of people took advantage of the option to suggest their own new vids for any show, and many of the themed shows had premiering vids in them -- according to the asterisks in the program book, there were 36 premiering vids in the themed shows, plus another 10 that premiered in Club Vivid. On top of the 32 vids in Premieres, the 5 Challenge vids, and the 5 Auction vids.

(That makes 88 new or new-to-cons vids at this year's con. Holy cow. Even if some of them were up online beforehand -- wow.)

The panels that I went to also rocked; the moderators had clearly done as much prep work as the VJs, and kept everything interesting. I love (love love love) that more panels have handouts every year -- those are fantastic. Those of you who brought handouts, please put them up in the Vividcon Files section on Yahoo!

I also loved how many of the panels reinforced what was being talked about in other panels, even if the moderators weren't always aware of it.

This year, what I came away with overall on the technical level was camerawork and motion, which got emphasized in tzikeh's Wayback Machine show (I think; if not, I've ret-conned it in because it fits perfectly <g), Jo's Master Class, and Lum's Aesthetics: Movement panel. It was fascinating to see some of the stuff I've sort of vaguely kinda known, or been groping toward figuring out, explained (and Jo, Lum, you *are* putting your notes up online somewhere, right? Prettyplease?) The other key, as always, was perception: how the mind perceives and processes information has a huge effect on what will and won't work for a given person.

The most fascinating observation of the weekend for me was when Jo explained that vidding is closest to silent movies in its approach and intent -- which sounds really, really strange at first but makes perfect sense when you think about it. We're using visuals and a completely separate soundtrack to tell a story, too, rather than letting the characters talk for themselves. That's so cool.

Club Vivid this year was possibly even more fun than last year -- more people, more sparkle (IMO, Justacat's Cher outfit takes this year's Silver Pants award), and the new addition of glowsticks. Lots and lots and lots of glowsticks, worn as bracelets, necklaces, belts, garters, footwear, barettes, hairsticks, drillbits (Sandy holding a glowball out in front of her and clearing a path for her to dance down... okay, maybe you had to be there for that one), you name it. Some vids from last year got repeated because they're just so danceable, but a lot of new stuff was shown as well, including the 10 premiering vids (sidenote: LithiumDoll, thank you for using Ballroom Blitz! Love that song, and it's one I never thought would be vidded. It's, it's a ballroom blitz!). Astolat came up with the special title card and drum roll before every premiering vid in CV, which I thought was a fantastic idea -- people stopped and paid extra attention to the new vids. It looked like most, if not all, of the con showed up for CV, and everyone seemed to be having a terrific time.

The con suite, as always, was great -- wonderful things to munch on thanks to Amy's fantabulous baked goodies, and Melina and the con suite volunteers kept everything running smoothly. Any time I wandered in there were people in there hanging out, talking and watching vids (and rummaging through the Swap table and the Orphan Vids). And eating the fantabulous baked goodies.

Once again this year the religious group set up across the hall from us on Saturday and Sunday. It's very, very odd to come out of a vidshow or panel to hear live gospel music wafting across the alcove. But once again, there were no clashes between the two groups at all, just a few strange looks exchanged, even though this year we were more in their space because of where the con suite was set up.

The biggest problem with the con, as always, is that it's impossible to go to a show and a panel at the same time. There was too much good stuff to be able to do everything I wanted to do.

More specific comments in the next posts."

Resources

References

  1. ^ Seah's VJ notes for the anime show, August 17, 2004. Accessed June 6, 2009; reference link for the handout.
  2. ^ "Vividcon 2004: Panels, Part 1" con report by Margie on the Vidder mailing list. Posted August 30, 2004. Accessed June 7, 2009.
  3. ^ Language of Vidding handout WebCite.
  4. ^ "Vividcon 2004: Panels, Part 2" con report by Margie on the Vidder mailing list. Posted August 30, 2004. Accessed June 7, 2009.
  5. ^ Vividcon Panels 1: The Language of Vidding and The Language WebCite by thuviaptarth.
  6. ^ Webcite for Vividcon Panels 2: Aesthetics: Movement.
  7. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Panels 3: Illustrating Relationships; Vid Review; How Did You Do That?.
  8. ^ WebCite for VividSection, Unexpected Levels, & Literalism vs. Metaphor (Thing 2).
  9. ^ WebCite.
  10. ^ WebCite for Audio Rarities, Master Class, & Nearly New (Thing 2).
  11. ^ reference link.
  12. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Report: Connecting With Audiences Panel Notes.
  13. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Report: The Panels.
  14. ^ WebCite for Friday Panel Notes.
  15. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Report on panels and shows: part 1, part 2, and part 3
  16. ^ WebCite.
  17. ^ WebCite for The Anime Vidshow (Disaster) (Thing 2).
  18. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Premieres Show - Initial notes - 1 .
  19. ^ WebCite for Friday Morning and the Wayback Machine (Thing 2)
  20. ^ here's luck Part 1 WebCite.
  21. ^ here's luck Part 2 WebCite.
  22. ^ WebCite for Vividcon Report: The Vids.
  23. ^ webCite for This *is* a VVC Report - Saturday Part 1, VividCon continues - Saturday Part 2, Sunday, part 1, and Sunday part 2 - Final report! .
  24. ^ WebCite for Yay!!! and more VividCon squeeing.
  25. ^ WebCite for theodosia Vividcon report Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
Retrieved from "https://fanlore.org/w/index.php?title=Vividcon/Vividcon_2004&oldid=2493004"