Vividcon/Vividcon 2005

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"VVC premieres...has exploded my brain. WOW!"~permetaform, August 25, 2005.

Overview

Vividcon 2005 program book, Star Wars theme

Vividcon 2005 was the fourth Vividcon, and was held during August 19-21, 2005. This was the last year that shalott served as con chair; during the con, she passed the reins to elynross.

As shalott said in her acknowledgments note, a lot had changed over those four years:

Our first year, we misjudged the time it would take us to make the vidshow DVDs, and elynross ended up camped out in a room with what was then a wildly high-tech standalone DVD recorder, manually dubbing vid tapes that were mostly brought to the con by hand or sent by snail mail. Killa produced the first vid collection on VHS tape. Now the vast majority of vids arrive via electronic upload, and Killa and tzikeh are putting the final touches on the con DVD collection as I write this in late July. But one constant remains: the shows always start on time! (Okay, shh about that once.)

While the membership was sad to see shalott step down, elynross was a known quantity, having been part of the VVC concom from the beginning, and everyone was confident (and rightly so) that the change would be a smooth one.

Anniversary cakes - DVD on the left, videocassette on the right

More importantly to the broader vidding community, 2005 was the 30th anniversary of vidding. As part of the Friday night Club Vivid festivities, the con threw a birthday party, complete with two cakes, to celebrate.

Kandy Fong, the woman who first invented fannish vidding in 1975, is an active participant at Vividcon, and was there to blow out the candles on the cakes. Which is unbelievably cool, and goes a long way to show just what a community vidding really is.

Although the con was well-established by this point, there was still room to add new staple programming: in 2005, it was the In-Depth Vid Review. Earlier in the year, in response to people's varying preferences for how Vid Review should be run, the members of the Vividcon mailing list were offered a poll asking them which they preferred: a single vid review panel that varied from year to year according to moderator preference; a single vid review that alternated between a broad and a narrow focus from year to year; one 2-hour broadly focused vid review panel and a second 1-hour in-depth panel afterwards; two 2-hour panels running simultaneously, one broadly focused and one in-depth.

The preference was for two panels run separately -- one a broader look at a larger number of vids, and one an in-depth look at a small number (generally 2-3). Vividcon 2005 was the first time this was implemented, with a 2-hour Vid Review at 10am and a 1-hour In-Depth Vid Review at 1pm (after the lunch break).

The year also featured a one-shot "showcase" vidshow, breaking two of its cardinal programming rules: the entire show featured vids in one fandom, and also featured vids by one vidder. (The otherwise unbreakable rules call for a mix of fandoms, vidders, and genres.) The vidder Luminosity had created a series of connected Buffy vids to the Beatles album "Abbey Road", under the collective title of Scooby Road. The collection aired on Friday, to great acclaim.

This was the first year that the con DVDs were handed out at the con itself. On the one hand, this was a vast improvement; in previous years, DVDs were ordered after the con, and it took several months to do the design, compile the DVD, duplicate sufficient copies, and mail everything out. It wasn't unusual for DVD sets for the August con to arrive in December. On the other hand, it meant that no DVDs were available by mail, so the only people who could get them were attendees; this was a problem that got worked out in future years.

It also meant that vid deadlines had to be pushed back much further, to allow time to compile and duplicate the DVDs ahead of the con; where the first two years (2002 and 2003) allowed premiering vids to be turned in at the con itself, and the third year pushed the deadline back just a bit, to August 2 (10 days before the con), the deadline in 2005 was pulled way back to July 11, almost six weeks before the con. (This was the beginning of a trend, and the deadline was pushed steadily earlier over the next several years until it hit the final weekend in June, roughly eight weeks before the con.)

As part of the at-con deal, every attending member received one set as part of their membership fee (without any increase in that fee), and went home with a DVD set of the entire weekend's premiering vids in hand. The concom did have some extra sets as well, which were available to the con membership on a first-come, first-served basis; each attending member received a coupon in their registration packet giving them the option to purchase a second DVD set on Sunday.

The result on Sunday morning was a mad (but cheerful) rush on the con suite, with a handful of volunteers keeping order by sheer force of will (and the willingness to block the con suite door to keep things orderly). The membership loved having the DVDs so quickly, and cemented the tradition of earlier deadlines and immediate availability of the con DVD.

After the convention Morgan Dawn again began collecting links to vids that were shown at the convention. With the help of volunteers they managed to provide both playlists and links to vids online (when available) for most of the vids shown in 2005.

Programming

Vidshows

The playlists were previously hosted at derivativeart.org before moving to the Vividcon Vid Database

Wayback Machine Playlist, ^{Archived version}

VJ: tzikeh

It was thirty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play... The history of fannish vidding is a torrid affair, rife with sex and violence and diet soda. In this combination panel/vidshow, you will hear gruesome tales of rollback and lead time, inserts and stopwatches, garbage footage and the Magic of Two Thumbs, and the modern marvel of OMGWTF Rendering. Come thrill to a live performance of Flying Erase Head: the Forbidden Dance, and learn a little bit about your creative lineage at the same time. It's edu-taining!

Character Study: Women Playlist, ^{Archived version}

VJ: Laura Shapiro

Heroes, sidekicks, villains. just don't call them "baby."

Showcase: Scooby Road , ^{Archived version}

VJ: Luminosity

Scooby Road: Buffy and the Beatles

Nearly New (playlist)

VJs: hafital and Cassandra

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 a number of 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

Friday night dance vid party and mixer. We'll be showing a selection of dance vids, with dancing in the vidshow and panel rooms, quiet vid-watching in the con suite, and drinks and chatting in the 2nd floor alcove. Cocktails and finger food start in the alcove at 6 PM.

Action(playlist)

VJ: Sandy Herrold

When the music's driving, the characters are flying through the air, and the vid audience is on the edge of their seats, you've got a successful action vid. Action vids can have theme, story, comedy, darkness -- anything any other vid can have -- as long as they also relentlessly move forward, imparting energy to the audience as they go. So put subtlety aside for an hour, and let's see what can be achieved without it.

Instrumentals (playlist)

VJ: Barkley

We don't need no problematic lyrics.

Vidding History(playlist)

VJ: gwyneth

Vids set in historical times or historical fantasy have unique considerations, both for vidders and for viewers. Song choice, editing techniques, and themes can make or break a vid more in this category than in any other, as can style -- we can do things with comedy that might not work in drama. What makes historical vids successful on all levels?

Horror (playlist)

VJ: Merry

Oh noes!

Anime (playlist)

VJ: AbsoluteDestiny

The best operatic paranoid sugar-high satirical sexually dubious post-modern petal-filled retro Japlish mindfuck about big-eyed hand-drawn characters ever!

Cops and Robbers (playlist)

VJ: Dorinda

Slices of life from both sides of the law.

Premieres (playlist)

VJs: Carol S. and Melina

Vids that are making their debut at VividCon.

Comedy (playlist)

VJs: Zoe Rayne and Alan Smithee

Stop me if you've heard this one: a llama walks into a bar...

High-Definition Theater (playlist)

VJ: shalott

Play it again, Sam! Newly remastered versions of great vids. (Note: sorry, not yet actually HDTV quality. But we can dream!)

Vividcon Challenge: Milestones (playlist)

VJ: tzikeh

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 was to make a vid on the theme of milestones.

Panels

Encore, Encore/Vidfan 101

Mods: Cesperanza and Shoshanna

Ever loved a vid, but didn't know why? We'll help you gain a better understanding of what you're seeing, take you beyond "Oooh!" to a basic vocabulary that will help you express your love for vids. We'll watch a vid several times, concentrating on a different aspect of its art each time: internal movement, color, literal and metaphoric imagery, and so on, to uncover how each one works and how they fit together in the whole.

Action Vids (paired)

Mod: Sandy Herrold

When the music's driving, the characters are flying through the air...and the vid audience is on the edge of their seats, you've got a successful action vid. Action vids can have theme, story, comedy, darkness--anything any other vid can have--as long as they relentlessly move forward, imparting energy to the audience as they go. So put subtlety aside for an hour, and let's see what can be achieved without it. Follows the Action vidshow.

Aesthetics: Visual Composition Panel notes can be found here, ^{Archived version}

Mod: astolat.

Ever thought to yourself, "If only I could find a shot where..."? Visual composition is about arranging the elements of an image to best produce a desired effect in the viewer. Even though as vidders we are limited by what's available to us in the source, the principles of visual composition can help us choose among shots and arrange them. We will cover common shot types, camera angles, the rule of thirds, leaing lines, and other topics, with examples taken from vids to show the effect of good and bad visual composition.

Anime (paired), led by AbsoluteDestiny: Vividcon 2005 Anime Panel Post-mortem notes, ^{Archived version}.

Mod: AbsoluteDestiny

With motion happening at eight frames per second and all subtlety of expression thrown out the window, animation may sound like a vidder's worst nightmare...but where here is hardship there is great reward. Discover the key differences between live-action and animated-source editing, learn how to train your brain to work with animated footage, or, even if cartoons aren't our thing, see what approaches the animation-editing masters have to offer the live-action vidder. Follows the Anime vidshow.

Betaing

Mods: here's luck and renenet

From Wannabe to "Superstar": Beta Process Case Study. This panel will present an in-depth look at the beta process--drafts,conversations, negotiations, nervouse breakdowns--that produced the Buffy vid "Superstar." We'll use this case study as a starting point for identification and discussion of principles and issues involved in vid beta relationships.

Craft: Mentoring

Mods: Luminosity and sisabet

I Once Was Feral, but Now I'm Free: A vidder's personal journey through the wilds of the intraweb and deliverance to VividCon by way of mentoring. Also features the mentor.

Craft: Using the Music

Mods:Laura Shapiro, killabeez, and boniblithe. Panel notes are here, ^{Archived version}

You can cut to the beat, you can work with the lyrics. What else is there? We'll talk about the other things there are to hear in a song, and how to use them to your best advanage. Drum solos, guiar riffs, vocal ornamentation: what do you do with them? Share your ideas.

Eats Vids and Leaves! (Feedback)

Mods: cereta and elynross

Watching vids is easy. Knowing what to say about them? That's hard. But sending feedback is essential to the proper care and feeding of vidders. We will use three vids, including one neither of the moderators has ever seen, to explore possibilities of vvid feedback. From simple praise to critical/technical/aesthetic evaluation, come and get an idea of how to talk about vids.

The Genealogy of Vidding, presented by Rachael Sabotini. Panel notes can be found [1], ^{Archived version} here]

Mod: rache

"For in those days, there were three great houses of vidding: the San Francisco vidders, the MediaWest vidders, and the descendants of Mary Van Deusen. (There were also lesser houses of Houston and individual East Coasters, but we'll ignore them for now.) And lo, the vidders of all the houses looked upon what they had created, and the aesthetics differed greatly, and there was much discussion."

The Genealogy of Vidding takes a look at old-school mentor/student relationships and how aesthetics were transmitted from one group to another (such as by the Rainbow Noise newsletter), and how that transmission of vidding values (rules, guidelines, aesthetics) is replicated on the Internet today.

Song Choice: Matching Song to Fandom

Mods: par avion and Zoe Rayne

Most songs are matched to a specific character or pairing, and not to the fandom as a whole. What is it about a song that makes it a good choice for a particular fandom?

Vidding History (paired)

Mods: gwyneth and Melina

Vids set in historical times or historical fantasy have unique considerations, both for vidders and for viewers. Song choice, editing techniques, and themes can make or break a vid more in this category than in any other, as can style--we can do things with comedy that might not work in drama. What makes historical vids successful on all levels? Follows the Vidding History vidshow.

Notable Vids

Notable vids that premiered at VVC 2005 included:

• A Fannish Taxonomy of Hotness (aka Hot, Hot, Hot), by the Clucking Belles (Multifandom)
• Knights of the Round Table by Killa and T. Jonesy (Star Trek: TOS)
• Scooby Road by Luminosity, which premiered at the Vidder Showcase (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
• Walking on the Ground, by Seah & Margie (Multifandom)

Concom

• shalott (con chair)
• Carol S.
• elynross
• Killa
• Luminosity
• Melina
• Merryish
• Shoshanna
• tzikeh

Convention Reports, Vid Show Reviews and Panel Notes

Convention Reports

• Vividcon 2005 first thoughts and overall reaction by AbsoluteDestiny
• till fannish after all these days! by Shoshanna
• Not a con report by thuviaptarth
• Vividcon 2005, or, There And Back Again by kassrachel
• VividCon Report – Part I by f1renze
• Vividcon! by kestrelsan
• Vividcon report 1: Friday and Saturday by vonniek

Vid Show Reviews

• Sweetestdrain, VividCon Premieres Pt. 1 - reviews
• vid recs and reviews: VVC '05 premiere show selections by heresluck
• My VVC Vidshow - Character Studies: Women by laurashapiro
• The highlight of VVC: Luminosity's Scooby Road by laurashapiro
• Vividcon- Scooby Road by vagabondage
• VividCon Reviews by Loligo
• VividCon: The Premieres Show by butterfly
• Vividcon Premiere show, part 1 by kestrelsan

Panels

• Flummery, Metavid Notes (Walking on the Ground)
• Vividcon: notes on the continuing evolution of vidding, and Premieres Show Part I by laurashapiro
• VC Panel Notes: Using the Music by laurashapiro
• VVC 2005: Panel Notes and More panel notes
• VVC Panels: The Wayback Machine by thuviaptarth
• Notes from Vid Review by par avion

Resources

• Convention Video Database
• VividCon Programming FAQ
• Morgan Dawn's Vivdcon Complete Playlists: One Stop Shopping, ^{Archived version}