The last Vividcon post, I swear
Aug. 22nd, 2004 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynThis is the info about the Literalism vs. Metaphor panel and vidshow that I moderated and VJed. Because, d00d, clearly I don't understand the concept since I have a vid that has all these lines about water and no clips of actual water.
I don't have the line speed and the patience to try to rustle up these vid URLs, so if some of these are online somewhere, feel free to leave a comment. Where I don't know the vidder's vid availability, I've used the e-mail address in the booklet if you want to contact them, or an address for their site. Whether they have these specific vids in some cases, I cannot say.
Someone You Might Have Been for Dead Zone by Lynn and Sandy (sherrold@wordyfolks.net)
This was suggested for the panel during the write-in, and I thought it was a good choice because it has a theme of multiple levels -- what Johny's life is now, and what it once was, and what it could have been if he hadn't had the accident. Not to mention all the lives of the people he sees in his visions. So its metaphor and literal interpretations are heavily intertwined. Plus, the truth is, I hadn't seen it in a couple years, and I wanted to see it again on a big screen since I have no copy of it (I still want a copy of my show!)
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair for X-Files by Carol S. ( http://www.triptychvids.com/)
One of the hard parts of VJing this year was competing for good vids. I lost a couple vids I wanted that were humorous because humor is usually quite literal, since that's what brings the funny -- the juxtaposition of the near-literal interpretation of clip choice to lyric. I had wanted to avoid another XF vid in this show, but when I had a space to fill, this was the first one I thought of, because its hilarious Mr. Horrible lines... and so much else ... has perfectly juxtaposed clips that are, quite literally, funny as hell.
Are You Out There? for Contact by Rachel (http://www.fangirl.nu)
Yes, this a metaphor vid -- the song is about the music industry and the movie is about getting in touch with aliens. I'm kind of stunned by how many people seemed to have issues with this, but... that's why it was here. I thought it worked really well as a sustained metaphor, I loved the vid when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
astolat suggested it, I thought it was really well-made and I look forward to seeing more of thatfangirl's work. And yes, some of the vid was reedited before the show; thatfangirl was kind enough to let us know she'd redone it, and we put the latest version in the show, I think.
Passion for Highlander by Shalott (http://www.intimations.org/vidding/)
As I mentioned in the panel, I used this one because this pretty much blows the metaphor concept right out of the water, boom. This goes quite a few steps beyond metaphor to create an entirely new universe based on the Krell's WIP Seduction of the Desert Prince, and while there may be fanfic-based vids now, at the time it came out, I remember it being a very new and unusual idea. I really loved how it pushed past even something as boundaryless as metaphor.
In the End for Farscape by LithiumDoll (http://www.alter-idem.com)
I needed some good literal vids for the show. It's really easy to find good metaphor heavy vids, but not so easy to find ones that are very literalistic and good as well, probably because for most sophisticated vid watchers, super heavy literalism feels thuddingly stupid and dull unless it's done well. I'm not much into Farscape, but I was cruising though some discs that a fan had sent me of online vids, since I can't really watch them at home, and stumbled on this. I know enough of the fandom to recognize that a lot of this is quite literal-heavy, but it's done deftly and without feeling forced, and the literal interpretations don't detract from the story.
Detachable Penis for Professionals by Media Cannibals (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
This one is the rare all metaphor comedy vid, with the metaphor being that guns equal penis. Pros couldn't be more perfect for this.
Bleed to Love Her for Star Trek by Killa and T. Jonesy (http://www.frankworsley.com/vidland/protected.asp)
I have such intense and abiding love for this vid. It was the second vid I thought of when I got handed this show, because I love how it balances such literal clip to line matches so elegantly and deftly against a larger, overarching metaphor. The song is about a man who'd do anything for the love of this one woman; and so the metaphor is what Kirk is willing to sacrifice for his beloved Enterprise. I wish that literalists could take their cue from this wonderful vid -- here's how to do literal without making anyone groan. Every clip that matches a line propels the story forward; they are never there just because the line says stars and so I need a shot of stars!
London Rain for The American Embassy by Still Reeling (laremyb@aol.com)
Apparently Leslie and I are the only humans who ever saw this short-lived Fox show! But that isn't the reason I love the vid -- it's also another fairly literal-heavy vid that is deftly handled, where the shots of London rain don't feel like they're there just because the vidder felt she had to put London rain on the lyric. The clips are there for a reason. A couple people expressed dismay that it was literal, like they'd forgot that this was what the show was about -- spanning the spectrum! But for me this worked nicely to tell a small, intimate story without asking the audience to go way heavy into the metaphorical world.
She's Moved On for Buffy by Jill, Kay, and Lynn (silverleaf@graffiti.net ; I don't know if they have these tapes available anymore)
This was the first vid I thought of when I got the show. This is one of my favorite literal vids -- Oz is literally having to realize that Willow has moved on, many of the clips are literal matches to the lyrics, and never once (not even in the moon shot, so you guys just shut your mouths!) do they feel forced or strained or simply there because by god we have to match the moon to the moon. Elegiac, eloquent, beautiful, and heartbreakingly lovely.
Rook for X-Files by Laura Shapiro (http://www.laurasha.com/)
I had a number of suggestions for this for the show, and though I couldn't remember it easily, I remembered enough to know it would make a great metaphor piece and I was right (duh!). It carefully balances the metaphor against the lyrics and clips without getting too far away from the general theme of the show. (BTW, I am the one who wrote many of the blurbs for this show in the program; I wanted to have blurbs that matched more what the theme of the show was, rather than the more generic blurbs some of the vids had had in the past. Though not all the vids had the new blurbs attached.)
Night Vision for Second Sight by Gwyneth (this is not online but my site is at http://www.gwynethr.net , you can request the DVD that this vid's on)
I hate putting my own stuff in things I do, but I've always been really proud of this vid because it takes a show very few people are familiar with (a British cop minseries), a short, highly metaphorical song, and makes a completely metaphorical vid that seems accessible to all theguinea pigs people I've tested it on. This one is all about the metaphor of seeing -- seeing in the dark, seeing other things, losing one's vision, struggling with seeing what's in another's heart.
It's All Been Done for Highlander by Alex (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
A true classic that goes meta on HL fandom. We'd put two tapes out filled to the brim with HL vids, and people were getting well and truly tired of the hundreds of vids that used the same clips -- the paintbrush on the nose, the sword fight in the dojo, the four horsemen -- because there weren't many other clips to use for Duncan/Methos vidders. As besotted as the vidders were with the show, it was hard for them, and this was a little literal and metaphorical fun with the whole issue, and in some ways, with vidding in general.
And here is the handout I made for the panel part. While I'm being facetious about the Bridge part for the extreme literalist's take, the point of it is that with a lot of vidders who don't really understand metaphor and always choose the heavily literal route, their vids can be perceived as boring or uninteresting or worse because the clips aren't often there in service to a greater story. In this you'll see that all of the clips are random and don't do anything except illustrate that exact lyric; in the metaphorical possibilities part, I've chosen a story about Giles and his job with Buffy, so all of the possibilities are open to keeping the story about them. If you have to illustrate a lyric about brushing tears away with a literal action, you won't be able to find that with Giles, really, but you could shove a clip with Angel in there -- only then, you have violated the focus of your story if Giles and Buffy were your subject.
The big thing I talked about was communication -- what are we trying to communicate in our vid? Does the clip we choose communicate the story? or does it just help illustrate the lyric, or move us on to something else more important? I think it's nearly impossible to teach someone to be artistic or aesthetic, though we can teach timing and mechanics; this is something that we are either born with, or we learn through time and experience and understanding. Seeing and thinking in metaphor is something that an artistic person takes for granted. Some people, though, may never be able to move past literalism, and they will always choose the obvious clip-for-lyric path; this may be okay for other metaphor-impaired folks, but you have to be prepared for mockage from people who do have that more metaphoric mindset.
Metaphor
1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” 2. One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol
Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry
Literal
1. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words. 2. Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation. 3. Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.
5. Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.
Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litteralis, of letters, from Latin littera, litera, letter.
Metaphor doesn’t narrow possibilities. It points out possibilities.
The Extreme Literalist’s Take on Bridge Over Troubled Water
When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy asleep in her bed from Passion
Feeling small — Clip of the fear demon from Fear, Itself
When tears are in your eyes — Closeup of the single tear on Buffy’s cheek when the Master kills her in Prophecy Girl
I’ll dry them all — Scene of Angel comforting her in When She Was Bad
I’m on your side — Clip of Giles standing beside Buffy in Helpless
Oh, when times get rough — Any shot of any battle in any episode with any characters
And friends just can’t be found — Scene where Buffy is blindfolded and searching with her hands in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Buffy jumping off the tower in The Gift, because there are no real bridge shots in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Metaphorical Possibilities
When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy and Giles talking about the upcoming battle in The Gift
Feeling small — Any clip where Buffy has unsuccessfully fought Glory in S5
When tears are in your eyes — Scene when Giles confronts distraught Buffy in The Body
I’ll dry them all — Giles and Buffy discussing love and showing feelings in Intervention
I’m on your side — Scene from the final battle in The Gift
Oh, when times get rough — Clip of Giles and Buffy after he has been speared in Spiral
And friends just can’t be found — Buffy feeling alone and beaten down in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Clip of Giles killing Ben so that Buffy doesn’t have to
I don't have the line speed and the patience to try to rustle up these vid URLs, so if some of these are online somewhere, feel free to leave a comment. Where I don't know the vidder's vid availability, I've used the e-mail address in the booklet if you want to contact them, or an address for their site. Whether they have these specific vids in some cases, I cannot say.
Someone You Might Have Been for Dead Zone by Lynn and Sandy (sherrold@wordyfolks.net)
This was suggested for the panel during the write-in, and I thought it was a good choice because it has a theme of multiple levels -- what Johny's life is now, and what it once was, and what it could have been if he hadn't had the accident. Not to mention all the lives of the people he sees in his visions. So its metaphor and literal interpretations are heavily intertwined. Plus, the truth is, I hadn't seen it in a couple years, and I wanted to see it again on a big screen since I have no copy of it (I still want a copy of my show!)
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair for X-Files by Carol S. ( http://www.triptychvids.com/)
One of the hard parts of VJing this year was competing for good vids. I lost a couple vids I wanted that were humorous because humor is usually quite literal, since that's what brings the funny -- the juxtaposition of the near-literal interpretation of clip choice to lyric. I had wanted to avoid another XF vid in this show, but when I had a space to fill, this was the first one I thought of, because its hilarious Mr. Horrible lines... and so much else ... has perfectly juxtaposed clips that are, quite literally, funny as hell.
Are You Out There? for Contact by Rachel (http://www.fangirl.nu)
Yes, this a metaphor vid -- the song is about the music industry and the movie is about getting in touch with aliens. I'm kind of stunned by how many people seemed to have issues with this, but... that's why it was here. I thought it worked really well as a sustained metaphor, I loved the vid when
astolat suggested it, I thought it was really well-made and I look forward to seeing more of thatfangirl's work. And yes, some of the vid was reedited before the show; thatfangirl was kind enough to let us know she'd redone it, and we put the latest version in the show, I think.Passion for Highlander by Shalott (http://www.intimations.org/vidding/)
As I mentioned in the panel, I used this one because this pretty much blows the metaphor concept right out of the water, boom. This goes quite a few steps beyond metaphor to create an entirely new universe based on the Krell's WIP Seduction of the Desert Prince, and while there may be fanfic-based vids now, at the time it came out, I remember it being a very new and unusual idea. I really loved how it pushed past even something as boundaryless as metaphor.
In the End for Farscape by LithiumDoll (http://www.alter-idem.com)
I needed some good literal vids for the show. It's really easy to find good metaphor heavy vids, but not so easy to find ones that are very literalistic and good as well, probably because for most sophisticated vid watchers, super heavy literalism feels thuddingly stupid and dull unless it's done well. I'm not much into Farscape, but I was cruising though some discs that a fan had sent me of online vids, since I can't really watch them at home, and stumbled on this. I know enough of the fandom to recognize that a lot of this is quite literal-heavy, but it's done deftly and without feeling forced, and the literal interpretations don't detract from the story.
Detachable Penis for Professionals by Media Cannibals (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
This one is the rare all metaphor comedy vid, with the metaphor being that guns equal penis. Pros couldn't be more perfect for this.
Bleed to Love Her for Star Trek by Killa and T. Jonesy (http://www.frankworsley.com/vidland/protected.asp)
I have such intense and abiding love for this vid. It was the second vid I thought of when I got handed this show, because I love how it balances such literal clip to line matches so elegantly and deftly against a larger, overarching metaphor. The song is about a man who'd do anything for the love of this one woman; and so the metaphor is what Kirk is willing to sacrifice for his beloved Enterprise. I wish that literalists could take their cue from this wonderful vid -- here's how to do literal without making anyone groan. Every clip that matches a line propels the story forward; they are never there just because the line says stars and so I need a shot of stars!
London Rain for The American Embassy by Still Reeling (laremyb@aol.com)
Apparently Leslie and I are the only humans who ever saw this short-lived Fox show! But that isn't the reason I love the vid -- it's also another fairly literal-heavy vid that is deftly handled, where the shots of London rain don't feel like they're there just because the vidder felt she had to put London rain on the lyric. The clips are there for a reason. A couple people expressed dismay that it was literal, like they'd forgot that this was what the show was about -- spanning the spectrum! But for me this worked nicely to tell a small, intimate story without asking the audience to go way heavy into the metaphorical world.
She's Moved On for Buffy by Jill, Kay, and Lynn (silverleaf@graffiti.net ; I don't know if they have these tapes available anymore)
This was the first vid I thought of when I got the show. This is one of my favorite literal vids -- Oz is literally having to realize that Willow has moved on, many of the clips are literal matches to the lyrics, and never once (not even in the moon shot, so you guys just shut your mouths!) do they feel forced or strained or simply there because by god we have to match the moon to the moon. Elegiac, eloquent, beautiful, and heartbreakingly lovely.
Rook for X-Files by Laura Shapiro (http://www.laurasha.com/)
I had a number of suggestions for this for the show, and though I couldn't remember it easily, I remembered enough to know it would make a great metaphor piece and I was right (duh!). It carefully balances the metaphor against the lyrics and clips without getting too far away from the general theme of the show. (BTW, I am the one who wrote many of the blurbs for this show in the program; I wanted to have blurbs that matched more what the theme of the show was, rather than the more generic blurbs some of the vids had had in the past. Though not all the vids had the new blurbs attached.)
Night Vision for Second Sight by Gwyneth (this is not online but my site is at http://www.gwynethr.net , you can request the DVD that this vid's on)
I hate putting my own stuff in things I do, but I've always been really proud of this vid because it takes a show very few people are familiar with (a British cop minseries), a short, highly metaphorical song, and makes a completely metaphorical vid that seems accessible to all the
It's All Been Done for Highlander by Alex (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
A true classic that goes meta on HL fandom. We'd put two tapes out filled to the brim with HL vids, and people were getting well and truly tired of the hundreds of vids that used the same clips -- the paintbrush on the nose, the sword fight in the dojo, the four horsemen -- because there weren't many other clips to use for Duncan/Methos vidders. As besotted as the vidders were with the show, it was hard for them, and this was a little literal and metaphorical fun with the whole issue, and in some ways, with vidding in general.
And here is the handout I made for the panel part. While I'm being facetious about the Bridge part for the extreme literalist's take, the point of it is that with a lot of vidders who don't really understand metaphor and always choose the heavily literal route, their vids can be perceived as boring or uninteresting or worse because the clips aren't often there in service to a greater story. In this you'll see that all of the clips are random and don't do anything except illustrate that exact lyric; in the metaphorical possibilities part, I've chosen a story about Giles and his job with Buffy, so all of the possibilities are open to keeping the story about them. If you have to illustrate a lyric about brushing tears away with a literal action, you won't be able to find that with Giles, really, but you could shove a clip with Angel in there -- only then, you have violated the focus of your story if Giles and Buffy were your subject.
The big thing I talked about was communication -- what are we trying to communicate in our vid? Does the clip we choose communicate the story? or does it just help illustrate the lyric, or move us on to something else more important? I think it's nearly impossible to teach someone to be artistic or aesthetic, though we can teach timing and mechanics; this is something that we are either born with, or we learn through time and experience and understanding. Seeing and thinking in metaphor is something that an artistic person takes for granted. Some people, though, may never be able to move past literalism, and they will always choose the obvious clip-for-lyric path; this may be okay for other metaphor-impaired folks, but you have to be prepared for mockage from people who do have that more metaphoric mindset.
Metaphor
1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” 2. One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol
Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry
Literal
1. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words. 2. Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation. 3. Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.
5. Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.
Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litteralis, of letters, from Latin littera, litera, letter.
Metaphor doesn’t narrow possibilities. It points out possibilities.
The Extreme Literalist’s Take on Bridge Over Troubled Water
When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy asleep in her bed from Passion
Feeling small — Clip of the fear demon from Fear, Itself
When tears are in your eyes — Closeup of the single tear on Buffy’s cheek when the Master kills her in Prophecy Girl
I’ll dry them all — Scene of Angel comforting her in When She Was Bad
I’m on your side — Clip of Giles standing beside Buffy in Helpless
Oh, when times get rough — Any shot of any battle in any episode with any characters
And friends just can’t be found — Scene where Buffy is blindfolded and searching with her hands in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Buffy jumping off the tower in The Gift, because there are no real bridge shots in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Metaphorical Possibilities
When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy and Giles talking about the upcoming battle in The Gift
Feeling small — Any clip where Buffy has unsuccessfully fought Glory in S5
When tears are in your eyes — Scene when Giles confronts distraught Buffy in The Body
I’ll dry them all — Giles and Buffy discussing love and showing feelings in Intervention
I’m on your side — Scene from the final battle in The Gift
Oh, when times get rough — Clip of Giles and Buffy after he has been speared in Spiral
And friends just can’t be found — Buffy feeling alone and beaten down in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Clip of Giles killing Ben so that Buffy doesn’t have to
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 06:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 06:51 pm (UTC)http://www.farscapefantasy.com/video/music_videos7/In.The.End.wmv
The Farscape vidding community is very centralized, like the AMV.
In general, Lithium Doll's website is www.alter-idem.com, where non-Farscape vids can be found, as well as links to the farscape fantasy hosted vids.
Does that make sense? I'm tired.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 07:19 pm (UTC)And s/he had a poll in a recent LJ post indicating that some vids would be coming down. I think the culling won't happen for a few more days, though.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-22 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-24 02:02 pm (UTC)I keep worrying that my first fledgling vid is far too literal. (And probably it is, because what do I know?) But the Bridge examples help me see that it's all about telling what you want to tell, and that this:
Oh, when times get rough — Clip of Giles and Buffy after he has been speared in Spiral
does more than just serve up an image that matches the lyric, unlike the random battle shot in the literal example.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 11:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 11:10 am (UTC)Hey, I meant to tell you, the LFN dance vid I had in the show is at Morgan Dawn's site if you wanted to see it -- www.morgandawn.com I'm also going to try to put that LFN disc together and see if it can shape up okay -- sometimes digitizing old vids results in some extreme crap, but it might work out okay.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 11:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-25 11:22 am (UTC)[i should also say that i'm not a visual person at all! i'm almost completely faceblind, for example, and can't read comic books either! it's not that i don't *want* to understand..it just reads like a foreign language to me if that makes sense...]
LFN Vids
Date: 2004-08-25 09:09 pm (UTC)Re: Digitizing your old LFN vids... Eh, I have so many poor quality tapes of oooold vids that I hardly notice the quality; it's just part and parcel of watching the old stuff. I'm actually having vid newbies over this weekend, and I want to show them some of the old VCR-made vids first... before they see the newer stuff. A history lesson, of sorts!
Post the info to vidding list, please?
Date: 2004-08-27 01:28 am (UTC)Would you please consider posting the con/vid/panel reviews to the vidding list? There has been no discussion at all, and I would like to see some get started.
Also, would you be willing to perhaps expound on your panel topic on the list? As I said, it's a topic that I think would drum up some interesting discussion, and there are some 800+ folks on the list who weren't able to attend Vivid Con.
Re: Post the info to vidding list, please?
Date: 2004-08-27 08:37 am (UTC)I also didn't announce the vid collection because I'm just burned out on burninating. ;-) I will probably update the Files section for mine and Jo's vids at some point when I can send tzikeh the file, but the requests I get wear me down -- people always have some kind of special request or question I've already answered, so I can't respond with a form letter, like I do for requests from my web site. I think that may be what's keeping so many people from announcing things there -- burnout and stupid people. ;-)
Re: Post the info to vidding list, please?
Date: 2004-08-28 10:44 am (UTC)I can understand your frustration; indeed, I share it regarding the fact that the list seems to be mostly tech Q & A and vid announcements with little or no discussion. But the fact that there has been little discussion lately just seems to solidify the impression in new list members that the list is meant to be only Q & A and announcements. Both of which I find interesting and useful, but I really would love to see some discussion. LJ just doesn't work for me in that regard.
Thank you very much for posting the info on the list so quickly. It really made my day to come home and see your post. Sure there are those who may disagree with some of the points you make, but that's what can make a healthy and interesting discussion, so long as folks make an effort not to take things too personally.
Spurred by your Literalism & Metaphor LJ post, I hope to be able to pull some thoughts together and post at least a few comments this weekend on Vidder. Probably won't be until late Sunday or early Monday, so if you don't see anything until then, don't think I'm not responding.
I want to say that I really like the way you give examples of both literal and metaphorical vids that work, and the way the two concepts can mix successfully in a vid. I think that's a key point: that vids don't have to be an either/or.
Guess I'll have to hold off on my request for your updated DVD until you can recover a bit. I don't want to add to your burnout, and I know that offline life has been particularly difficult lately. Luckily I'll have your newly online vids I've been downloading to tide me over. As usual, your vids are well worth the time it takes on my horrendously slow dial-up connection.
As to stupid people, well, true, they're everywhere and vid fans are no exception. But I'd guess that at least some who are requesting your vids are probably just enthusiastic and phrasing things in a way that might not communicate that clearly. The actual sentiment may be "I'm so excited and looking forward to watching the vids that I can hardly stand still. I can only watch vids in a particular format, so please don't tell me that your vids are only available in a format I can't view, or I'll be crushed." However, the request can too easily be worded (albeit badly, granted) as "I want, I want the vids. Send them ASAP - and in this format." Unfortunately, that comes across as "I want the vids now! Attend to my particular demands immediately!! If you don't, you're mean!!" And that type of reading is hardly likely to engender any good will.
I thought I remembered a site FAQ on your webpages, but I checked back and didn't see one on either the vid site or fiction site. Setting up a short FAQ specifically about the DVD requests should help quite a bit to cut down on the need to respond to the same issues over and over. Right now, the note about the DVDs simply says to email you for details, which really encourages all kinds of questions. With a FAQ, you can add a short note with the FAQ link - on the page or on the list when you announce a vid - asking folks to "Please read the FAQ before emailing any questions." That might cut down on some aggravation, though there will always be those folks who don't bother to read the FAQ.
Thanks again!
Re: Post the info to vidding list, please?
Date: 2004-08-28 04:06 pm (UTC)I thought about a FAQy thing, but I didn't want my address anywhere on the web if I could avoid it, and it seems so wrong to give people all the info and still ask them to mail you for the address. But I could consider putting the list of vids up, I suppose, though I have so little space on the site that I've been trying to not put up anything I don't need -- every KB counts when you can't even afford the 250 MB you have! I got a program that was suppposed to help me reduce the file sizes of the vids to give me more space, but it's not working for me at all. The files are smaller, but they're also crappier, and I'm just too old fashioned to sacrifice appearance and sound for size.
Sometimes it's such a discouraging process and I am still not sure how I feel about the whole site thing. I thought it might make me connected more to the fans in my fandoms, but it hasn't had any effect like that at all. I thought that by joining the digital vid world, I would be able to join in on the fun I saw my friends having, but mostly it's just been enervating. I don't really have the money for it, and for every "loved the vid" (which are far and few between" there are two posts griping about how much the person hates QT or how their computer won't open the files so please send them to me in WMP or something... I thought I'd got used to being treated like a vending machine in fic, but... you're this faceless vid machine that people stop for a moment, look at, and move on. It's kind of weird.
So in some respects, I haven't figured out how much accessibility and information are worth. I've only had the site for a few months, though, so I need to assess some more and see what I end up doing. The best thing about it has been the ability to put up a vid for beta, very helpful. That alone is a big reason to keep it, but I'm still wondering.