![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Vid question
I'm currently working on a vid in a literally nonexistent fandom, so it's not like anyone is even going to notice if I do it wrong, let alone care, but, that aside:
I know that, like in fic, POV is an important choice, even if it isn't a huge part of the vid, and that it's important to have some sense of the POV a vid is from. But in my vid - well, it's not that it has no POV, it's just that ... ah, hell, it has no POV. I mean, sort of. I know, thematically, broadly, the POV of the vid. It's just that, when I break it down into scenes and shots and verses and lyrics, the POV kinda goes poof. Like, lyrically, some sections are able to remain in the POV I want, but others only make sense in the opposing POV (and sometimes both POVs occur within the same verse). And some of it (it's a shippy vid) is just in "their" POV - like, the anthropomorphic viewpoint of the relationship, I guess. And I was just wondering, how big a problem is this? Does every vid need to have a POV? Does that POV need to remain consistent (or to change at logical intervals, and to make it clear that a change has occurred)? Does the POV need to be that of a character, or observer, or can it be less literal and more of a figurative or thematic viewpoint? How much (in a song that's more about music than lyrics) are people really going to be paying attention and noticing unclear or undefined POVs? And if nobody's going to see the vid, is it more important to be technically correct or to make something I love, regardless of whether it would have others cringing at the flagrant disregard of basic vidding rules? ;)
Vidders (and vid watchers) on my flist - thoughts?
I know that, like in fic, POV is an important choice, even if it isn't a huge part of the vid, and that it's important to have some sense of the POV a vid is from. But in my vid - well, it's not that it has no POV, it's just that ... ah, hell, it has no POV. I mean, sort of. I know, thematically, broadly, the POV of the vid. It's just that, when I break it down into scenes and shots and verses and lyrics, the POV kinda goes poof. Like, lyrically, some sections are able to remain in the POV I want, but others only make sense in the opposing POV (and sometimes both POVs occur within the same verse). And some of it (it's a shippy vid) is just in "their" POV - like, the anthropomorphic viewpoint of the relationship, I guess. And I was just wondering, how big a problem is this? Does every vid need to have a POV? Does that POV need to remain consistent (or to change at logical intervals, and to make it clear that a change has occurred)? Does the POV need to be that of a character, or observer, or can it be less literal and more of a figurative or thematic viewpoint? How much (in a song that's more about music than lyrics) are people really going to be paying attention and noticing unclear or undefined POVs? And if nobody's going to see the vid, is it more important to be technically correct or to make something I love, regardless of whether it would have others cringing at the flagrant disregard of basic vidding rules? ;)
Vidders (and vid watchers) on my flist - thoughts?
no subject
I think the most important thing to do is make a video that you want to watch and that you're proud of and then if you do get any negative response to it it wont bother you because you've stayed true to your vision of how it should be.
I doubt that was very helpful but *shrugs*
no subject
Quite honestly, POV issues are one of the bigger problems I see with vids. A few people I've seen around have said their vids have no POV, because they got it into their heads that POV is in some way limiting, or they think what they're doing is edgy or something, but it usually just means that their vids are basically a mess of what looks like random clips thrown at the lyrics, that make no sense whatsoever. I'll say, too, that I've never seen a vid with an omniscient POV that actually worked for me.
And if you're telling a story, which you clearly are, then consistent POV is absolutely vital. Doesn't it make sense to illustrate your story as clearly as possible? I'm not saying you have to anvil viewers over the head with it, but they should be able to understand what you're telling them about the characters, their world, etc.. That's not to say you can't change POVs during a vid, because that's done all the time -- Seah and Margie's first ever vid, Kryptonite, has, I think, 5 brilliantly done, perfectly clear POV changes -- but it takes effort to do them well.
It might help to ask yourself why you chose that song, and what you think it says about the characters. Does it really, really fit them, or are you maybe in the honeymoon stage where every single song you hear is about your couple?
no subject
no subject
Thematically, the song is perfect; it's just that when I get into the nitty-gritty of the lyrics, I can't consistently say that yes, my POV character is saying this. I can say that, at any time, the lyrics fit one of the two characters, but there's a little too much switching for me to be entirely comfortable with it. (Though as I work on storyboarding the vid, POV, like everything else, keeps getting clearer.) So I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, if the mood of the lyrics fits a consistent POV, how much the details of the lyrics matter - ie. does POV mean you have to be able to imagine your POV character as the singer, and how important are the specific lyrics vs. the overall mood of the song?
no subject
The mood of the song is important, and you certainly don't have to shoehorn specific images onto specific lyrics (in fact, sometimes that's a very *bad* thing, like if you end up getting too literal that certain lines become funny), but I think it's important to stick to the overall theme or idea/story the entire song is telling via the lyrics. Does that make any sense?
no subject
And I think a lot of it is that, having listened to the song approximately 200 times in the past week, having read and reread and copied down the lyrics, and having gone over and over the song to start storyboarding, I've become hyper-aware of the lyrics in a way that a casual listener/viewer won't be, so my initial confidence that "hey, I know what the song's broadly about, I know what the vid's broadly about, they match up, it's all good" has faded to "OMG half this line does not make sense from this character's POV, everybody's going to notice and think I suck!" and is only just now, that it's all starting to fall into place, bouncing back to "okay, it's not a strict literal interpretation of every single line, but the idea is good, the mood is good, it's going to be okay (and I can always revise if necessary once I start actually laying down clips)."
no subject
Yep, it's really easy to do that when you're totally immersed in the song and your ideas for clips are all floating around in your head. I've done it LOTS of times.
"okay, it's not a strict literal interpretation of every single line, but the idea is good, the mood is good, it's going to be okay (and I can always revise if necessary once I start actually laying down clips)."
Yes, absolutely. I think it's especially important when you're starting a vid to just jump in and get going, and not let yourself worry about the minutiae, or you may end up getting bogged down.
no subject
no subject
no subject