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Post by legoline on Nov 28, 2011 16:21:23 GMT -5
As in vidding funk, not vidding funk...savvy?
Anyway. I seem to have gotten myself into a bit of a vidding funk--vidder's block perhaps?--and I'm not exactly sure what to do.
I have a ton of cool ideas for vids and songs I want to vid and whatnot, but after I messed up my last vid--the GoT one--I've become really nervous about touching them, particularly since I feel I really have no idea about what I'm doing when I vid. I know, in theory, that only practise makes perfect and that all of you have ditched vids before for whatever reason, but I feel so insecure about vidding that all of these projects suddenly seem very daunting, and so I'm not doing them at all. (The kick-ass vids that have been posted recently really don't help ;D )
Do you ever feel like that? And if so, what do you do to get yourself motivated again? Any advice for a vidding newbie?
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eunice
Pub Enthusiast
Posts: 116
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Post by eunice on Nov 28, 2011 17:27:30 GMT -5
*HUGS* if you want them.
I feel that way all the time, and in my experience the only way through it is...through it. Which is not useful, I know. But when I feel like that is exactly when I need to be opening up my project file and just tossing stuff down, even if it feels like it will never come together. Because eventually, always, it does, and the momentum comes back.
If I give in and wait for a time when I feel more confident to open my vid back up then I just sink deeper into the funk.
(if it helps I am really excited about your future vids, and impressed with what you've done so far)
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Post by obsessive24 on Nov 28, 2011 17:31:33 GMT -5
Imma gonna say what I always say whenever anyone is stuck on anything. Ready? Suck it up, bitch!  It probably comes across better in RL than it does on a page. Picture me saying that with a grin on my face and a spanking paddle in my hand. ;D I think it's easy to get lost beneath your own neuroses, and I'm sorry that you're feeling stuck now. *hugs* Do you think it's the weight of expectation that's making you insecure? What about trying to vid without thinking about releasing it to the public at all? Really focus on making vids for yourself and developing without worrying about what other people will think of it? Not sure that's where your block is coming from, but maybe an approach like that would help? I'm also not sure why you feel like you messed up your last vid. I never did get around to commenting on it, but what I saw of it I really liked. If you're not feeling it, again I say suck it up and either delete it, or grit your teeth and try to make it better. For me, doing something is always better than doing nothing. (says she who needs to take own advice on vid sitting on HD since August.) I know I sound like a brusque bully when I say it, but I honestly do believe that the motto "suck it up, bitch" will get one through pretty much anything. Whether it helps is up to you. ;D |
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Post by gnattery on Nov 28, 2011 17:40:25 GMT -5
If I give in and wait for a time when I feel more confident to open my vid back up then I just sink deeper into the funk. This is my mistake that I keep making over and over, which is why it takes me months to finish all my vids. I should really start taking the advice in this thread and just throw stuff down even when I don't feel like it. |
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Post by jackiek on Nov 28, 2011 17:58:28 GMT -5
What Eunice said. I am trying to dig my way out of what started as a Festivid avoidance funk and has evolved to the point where I put off eating and laundry and like basic life function things for unacceptably long periods of time.
Now that I have laid some clips down, I am free to allow myself the luxury of, you know, food and water.
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Post by astarte on Nov 28, 2011 18:15:32 GMT -5
I had two year(s)-long breaks in my ten years vidding career. So they will sneak up on you and you will hate that you feel so uninspired by everything you used to love. Or just not motivated enough to open a new project. My first hiatus was caused by an epic project and I felt just burned out on vidding love, it lasted a year. The second was forcing myself to finish something I shouldn't have started. That one lasted two years with a little vid in between. I got a lot of fic writing, photoshopping and avisynth reading done in that time.
My lessons learned? Vidding is fun. It should be fun. It's why we do it in the first place. Don't crush yourself under your own expectations, they don't do you any good and will suck your drive up and leave you dry. Not every vid wants to be a masterpiece, some just want to be let out of the closet and you kinda stare at them in their trashy glory and think, 'Whatever!' *pat pat* And you move on to the next project. What also helped me was watching my first vids to put everything I learned into perspective, especially my expectations. Because I thought I was a genius when I mastered the razorblade tool in my first vid, so tapping into the wonder and unlimited possibilities I felt back then helped.
So I would go with eunice advice, just clip and work your timeline or try a vid for a movie you love - with a limited source there comes a lack of boundaries.
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Post by sweetestdrain on Nov 28, 2011 18:19:26 GMT -5
*hugs too*
I've totally been there, and have been there... very recently. I particularly hate it when you have a particular vision of your vid in your head that the timeline just WILL NOT match.
Eunice is totally right about how sometimes you just have to... slog through it. Sometimes it also helps me if I leave the frustrating project(s) aside for a while and work on something else. If I can return to a vid with fresh eyes and see it more objectively, sometimes it's easier to see not only the problems (and how to fix them), but what IS working well. When I'm really frustrated or blocked, the ability to see what I'm still doing right is always what goes first.
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Post by absolutedestiny on Nov 28, 2011 18:38:24 GMT -5
It's not an easy thing to deal with, creative insecurity, but I'm going to give some advice.
If you have ideas that are really daunting *but* you have a good idea in your head how that vid could look - that is EXACTLY the kind of vid you should make right this instant. People worry a lot about whether they are experienced enough or whether because they don't like the last vid they made they shouldn't try and be too ambitious. That can be true sometimes - sometimes it's good to just make something simple to get back in the habit but really you are never going to learn to make that daunting vid without trying it. Sometimes our best work comes from when we are driven by pure feeling. I couldn't make vids to save my life until I tried something that was *way* above my editing competence but the idea was strong enough to keep me working at it and every little part that started to work just spurred me on to make the rest.
Don't judge your abilities on your worst vid or your last vid or in fact any vid you've made so far because for all you know there was no making those vids better. I haven't watched your vids, so I couldn't say if they are good or not but it doesn't matter. I know plenty of vidders who sucked and then one day they didn't and I know plenty who have made great vids and then they make something boring but then they make something great again. In fact, that probably describes every vidder. I know "everyone feels like this sometimes" isn't much comfort but know that everyone can make crap vids and that doesn't mean their next vid will be crap.
In terms of motivating you there are a lot of things that have worked for me:
- Vid a source you adore but don't feel pressured to make any deep statement about. Could be footage or music or both.
- Rule out things you love but just don't have good vidding qualities (you get better at this the more you vid) it will make you feel like you aren't doing the source justice when really it's just plain hard to vid with, period.
- Vid something you know someone else will love and that they'll love it just because it exits
- Vid something totally crazy... it's exciting and if it works out it will really drive you onward
- Do NOT remake old vids, ever. Remaster only if you don't want to change what you made.
- Steal. Think a lot about your favourite vids and work out if there's a vid you could make that is like them. This could be trying out new music styles, new editing techniques or just new types of subjects for your vids.
- Don't dwell on an idea if it isn't working. Move on. Alternatively if you are fretting over minutia and not really making any progress then just fill the timeline with *anything* and see what works. It will almost always make more ideas.
- If you're not used to cutting songs, learn. Sometimes a song just needs to be shorter to turn it into something you can vid. You don't need fancy audio programs, I do most of my song edits on the timeline.
- If there's a thing you think you don't do enough on but you are interested in, focus on it. There's a lot of things to hook a vid on - motion, colour, cut syncing, lyrics, character profiling, visual narrative, image/instrumentation association, build. Pick something and think only in terms of that one thing. You might find you make something you'd have not made otherwise and it might be amazing. I remember once I thought to myself "I'm bad at motion so I'm going to make an action vid where all I care about is that people get flung around and punched in the face to really aggressive music" and I had a blast.
All in all, try not to feel too bad about it and definitely try not to beat yourself up over feelings that you aren't making good vids. You might be, you might not but you can be sure that with an exciting idea and a good amount of focus, time, effort and encouragement you can make really great vids. So focus on that: "the next vid I make could be a really great vid!" Go imagine it and immediately make it.
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Post by sweetestdrain on Nov 28, 2011 18:52:43 GMT -5
absolutedestiny, I... am just gonna... bookmark this. Yes. Don't mind me.
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Post by astarte on Nov 28, 2011 19:00:40 GMT -5
This just proves: Always listen to absolutedestiny - he gives the best advice.
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Post by dragonchic on Nov 28, 2011 19:40:34 GMT -5
Add me to the list of people who are going to bookmark absolutedestiny's post. Well said. ;D
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Post by xitsmymindx on Nov 28, 2011 20:19:02 GMT -5
We all get in funks sometimes. You should always vid what YOU want, not what someone else wants and coz you find it fun not coz someone expects.
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eunice
Pub Enthusiast
Posts: 116
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Post by eunice on Nov 28, 2011 23:08:08 GMT -5
Fourth in line to bookmark absolutedestiny's advice. There's a reason why 'always listen to Ian' is a personal mantra and that right there is it.
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nos
Pub Regular
Posts: 95
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Post by nos on Nov 28, 2011 23:11:53 GMT -5
Fourth in line to bookmark absolutedestiny's advice. There's a reason why 'always listen to Ian' is a personal mantra and that right there is it. I think its going to be mine too.  |
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Post by franzeska on Nov 29, 2011 1:47:40 GMT -5
When that happens to me, it's because I'm working on a project that I turn out not to love as much as I thought or that's too long, depressing, serious, or technically complex for me right now. Sure, I could make those vids, if they were what I really wanted to do, as absolutedestiny comments above. But it always turns out that I like the idea of being a profound, mature person with deep artistic vision way more than I like actually making vids like that. The terror of looming deadlines will usually shock me out of it. (SO BEHIND ON FESTIVIDS ALREADY AAAAAH!) But my number one solution is to change from a serious project to figuring out how to do bright pink heart transitions over Celine Dion. In other words, something exactly like this Hyperbole and a Half strip:  |
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(sorry, I am failing at credits. Gomen)
