Oh, bother

[gwyn]

At VVC, I had a conversation with a friend about something she'd mentioned to me before the con: she had had a vid idea that had been recently done by someone else, in the same fandom, but with slight differences -- a different version of the song and a different pairing. But she and this vidder are both active in the community, and she didn't want to be the bad guy by doing the same song, similar situation for the vid, in a tight fannish community -- and do it right. Because the vidder had done a bad job (and I am familiar with this other vidder's work in some of my own fandoms, so I know exactly what my friend meant), and my friend is an excellent vidder who would do the song and the fandom justice.

I was all rah-rah do the vid, because in the first place, the other vidder churns out songvids like a vending machine, so no one would be likely to remember; second, I feel like anymore these days songs get reused and done to the same fandoms, pairings, whatever, and few people notice or care -- not like in the olden days, when you wouldn't touch a song someone else had used unless you had permission, because there were far, far fewer vidders and the community was much more tightly knit, even across fandoms. She was still doubtful about doing the vid, and I left hoping she would, because I understood how she felt but I wanted to see her take on the song, knowing it would be good.

Now, though, I find myself in a similar boat, except without some of the extra baggage. I'm not in this fandom's community anymore, and it's kind of a... not dead fandom, but definitely not a thriving one anymore. This vidder is brand new, and she used the exact song I wanted to do, but very poorly, I think; she has a decent visual style but doesn't know how to edit clips (for god's sake, the endless clips and talking! Aiiieeee!), and she didn't edit the song, which goes on forfuckingever and needs to cut off at the end of the vocals. Vids? Should never ever use guitar solos, especially at the end.

But I have thought about this vid off and on for quite a few years now, and had even been contemplating doing it for VVC next year, since I've resigned myself to being a "breather" between all the cool fast-is-the-new-black vids by all the cool vidders. This would be a nice safe solid decent vid, I think. But I feel funny doing it -- it's not an unusual song, and people would probably remember this person posting about it in all the usual places. It would seem like I stole the idea from her, or that I was trying to show the other vidder how to do it "right." Or something.

I normally have no problems being rude and doing what I want to, but I'm stumped about what to do. I wouldn't work on it right away, but it's always been there, waiting to be made... and now someone has made it, only not even close to the way I think the song should be vidded. What to do, what to do?

Comments

[ixchel55.livejournal.com]

As you said, the circumstances are slightly different, but I'll give you the same advice you gave your friend - go for it.

Let a little time elapse before posting it (but that just gives you more time to perfect it *g*) then post without apologies. It's not like you saw the other vid and thought 'Ugh! That's not the way! This is the way!' You've had your own ideas on it for quite some time. If you want to put a little note about 'This has been percolating in my brain since the great gopher invasion of 2000' well fine, but never let a good vid go unvidded because another vidder pre-vidded you. Or something.

Oy vey!

Shutting up now and searching for caffeine.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

It would probably be a loooong time before I did anything with it; I just feel awkward because even though we are not in the fandom community together, we are in the vidding community. I don't know her, but... hopefully by then everyone will have forgotten!

[dine.livejournal.com]

just seconding ixchel - I'd say, go ahead and make your vid, and post it when you're done (maybe with a disclaimer about how long it's been in your brain, if you think it's warranted). you shouldn't deprive vidfans of something good, just because someone else attempted (and failed) a similar project.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

I probably will make some kind of disclaimer... even though by then most people won't remember, just in case the vidder sees it, I wouldn't want there to be weirdness. It's just unpleasant, because I wouldn't mind writing to her and offering her con crit on the vids, but so far that has never gone well for me, and usually makes people mad, and then there's the whole "hey, I had that idea too."

[aukestrel.livejournal.com]

Make the vid.

If you got ten writers together and gave them the same story idea and sat them all down to write it, you would still get ten different stories.

Yeah, some people may think you "stole" the idea but that's just going to happen. If they think that, there's nothing you can really do to change their minds except NOT do the vid, and not doing the vid isn't allowing your creativity its full expression.

You are not hurting anyone by doing the vid.

This happens a lot in dS fandom - this odd synchronicity of ideas. I've had it happen to me where someone and I published stories with a similar theme in the same zine, and neither of us was aware the other was writing it!

This stuff just happens. I think you should do it, and be true to your own creative vision. You can't change how other people are going to react to *any*thing you do, so you might as well do what you want to do. (I mean, you could do a completely original vid with a song you wrote and produced yourself and someone, somewhere, would say that you stole the theme for the vid from *their* story or whatever! *g*)

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

What I think is really interesting about this is that it feels remarkable different, and worse, for vids than it does for stories. I don't know why, either. Maybe because we are using music as well as the basic canon? Because in some respects, manipulating what we have to work with is more complex? I have no idea, because it doesn't make sense. But I feel much more acutely aware of what I'm doing in this respect than I ever have with stories before.

Eet ees confusable.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

*g* It feels different when it happens to you, doesn't it? Heh.

Well, when you figure it out, let me know, because I'm still waffling over here.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

It does! Harder to be rah rah. Usually you just went away crushed by the fact that you couldn't do your idea, back in the day. Now there are so many vidders, and so many fandoms, and so many situations that it's hard to know what the right thing is.

I like the idea of a disclaimer... but not everyone will see that, either. And I don't know... I have had this idea for so many years, always putting it off, and then it was just weird to see it appear at exactly the same time I'd decided to try to make it.

Why does it always have to be so haaaaaard?

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

*g* The disclaimer may be the best solution, particularly if you put it everywhere the vid is distributed. But honestly, I think song re-use is only a problem these days for those of us who were around when it was a *huge deal* and haven't quite gotten over that yet. There's really no way to prevent it now, given the number of people vidding.

This is why I normally pick songs no one's ever heard of. (: But apparently, even that can't always save us!

[morgandawn.livejournal.com]

totally off-topic: http://www.livejournal.com/community/mac_vidding_101/