After many months of absence, vid chats return! This one's at the request of chaila43 and daybreak777, and is on the topic of commenting on vids. We're particularly interested in the process of commenting on vids when you're not used to it.

( a little introduction )

Questions
So to spark discussion, here are some questions about commenting for people to reflect on. They're by no means 'compulsory'--feel free to respond to them or more generally on the topic, as you wish.
( Read more... )

Links
This topic has been extensively discussed elsewhere, and vidding's memories section contains some great links. Among them:
sdwolfpup's Vid Feedback 101
gwyn_r's thoughts on the hesitance of non-vidders to comment
thefourthvine's On reccing vids (reccing is a whole other topic, really, but it's a great post)

As a counterbalance to this obsession with comments: thefourthvine's genius Why aren't people commenting? post--which I recommend all vidders keep bookmarked. ;)

Aside
Hijacking this post to pimp a couple of recent vid-related posts:
- For the lolz: vidding anthem
- There's much discussion of streaming platforms at the moment. Personally I'm trying out BAM vid vault. Helpful links: here and here.

Wow. Did Michael Jackson break the interwebs? Twitter and Wikipedia both down--I assume this is related?

I do find myself terribly shocked by his death.

So I'm delurking myself briefly to pimp vid_commentary.

I'm having trouble posting about anything these days, so I'll just say briefly that I think it's the best idea for a community I've seen for ages. I love reading people's in-depth ideas about vids, and I look forward to reading the commentaries there in July.

I've signed up, and I think the idea of watching a vid that closely, and being 'allowed' to do so visibly, is fantastic. I hope non-vidders sign up too! I remember when I was non-vidder I was so hesitant writing my thoughts about vids. I think lots of people are scared, thinking there is stuff they don't 'get' about vids... but as a vidder I know how much it means to get even one sentence from someone else's perspective saying what they saw in your vid. And I know I'll be really interested to see what other vid viewers see in different vids. I think it may make the process of vid-watching and the relationship of the viewer with the vid a little more visible and accessible. At least that's what I'm in it for! This seems positive.

( a partially related aside on a personal note )

The tl;dr description.

Goals
( what I set out to do )

Cameron
( Read more... )

John
( Read more... )

Riley, Charlie and Andy
( Read more... )

Problems, structure and narrative
( Read more... )

Source discoveries
( the more readable bit: about SCC )

Effects
( ETA'd in: can't believe I forgot it! )

To con or not to con
( Read more... )

(Ha! Mood icon of appropriateness!)

Special note: This vid exists thanks to the amazing generosity of counteragent and her donation to the Red Cross appeal for the Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. The Victorian government has pledged to rebuild the affected communities and a Royal Commission is underway to investigate the fires. The bush is recovering speedily with new growth rising from the ashes thanks in part to recent (very welcome) rain. On the personal front, I recently saw a car driving through Melbourne with posters stuck to the windows that read 'Thank you from the survivors of the Marysville fires'. I would also like to thank all the other people who donated even if they didn't bid on the vid or win.

Vid: DLZ
Artist: TV on the Radio
Source: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Warnings: spoilers for entire two seasons, violence, disturbing imagery and themes
Description: We are the Resistance. (ensemble)
Download: direct download (79MB), or small version (37MB); streaming at YouTube, BAM or Blip
Credits: Thanks to the incomparable supacat for three rounds of amazing and intense beta-ing.
Notes: I will make a longer notes post about my journey with this vid, as it was complex to say the least. I hoped it, like the show, would reach an intelligent, reflective audience--no matter how small. And it already has, so thank you!

( lyrics beneath the cut )

ETA: Aspect ratio issues should be fixed now--new versions uploaded, apologies to those that got the first dodgy batch.

I am currently working my ass off at my new job (LOVING it) and vidding in what little spare time I have, so I may be a bit quiet on LJ for a while. Between full-time editing, uninterrupted by admin or work politics (yay!), and one of the most intellectually challenging vids I've ever made, I'm finding myself mentally drained at the end of the day.

It is a good feeling.

I'm sure I'll be back soon though.

( cut for spoilers )

ETA: Illuminating article about the reasons for the win.

Dear All Five People on my F'list that Love SCC (*tongue-in-cheek*),

It has been rightly pointed out to me that rather than be angry at Fox or, even less directly, Dollhouse, we should listen to Josh Friedman, and find a way to come to terms with the horrible reality that Sarah Connor Chronicles has ended.

So I think we should have a party. With pancakes! To celebrate what was one of the best shows on television.



Sarah Connor fans are awesome, intelligent, passionate... but we don't always relax and just HAVE FUN with our show. So I am inviting you all over to have fun telling me what you love about the show, why you love it and what you're going to remember the most. Be sad, by all means, but let's make this an anger-free celebration zone.

Share your favourite pics, quotes, characters, episodes, fan creations, links here. Send other fans here. And love our show! Forever! We are the Resistance. Amen.

I am devastated.

I ... really hung on to hope.

Apologies to Dollhouse supporters but I can't believe Dollhouse got renewed and T:SCC got canned. Or rather, I can believe it and I think it says a lot about the ugly reality of network television.

Damn it, damn it, damn it. *sad*

This week needs to pick its game up, news-wise. Over to you, American Idol! If Adam Lambert does not win, I will be punching puppies, a la Kristen from 'Idolatry'.

Unfortunately (clearly) the world does not bend to my will.

*returns to some manuscripts that will*

ETA: Apparently Ausiello may have been basing that on previous advice, not the news that was/is due today, the 18th. Does anyone know anything more definite?
ETA2: And now it's definite. Josh Friedman's announcement is extremely gracious.
ETA3: The transcript of Friedman, Ashman and Thomsen in the SCC chat room is super-cool and soothing me greatly right now. Though apparently it was Fox or nothing. SyFy no go, and Ashman will be 'curling up with the DVDs' now. For those of you that can't be bothered reading the whole thing, my personal favourite chat gems were:
- Friedman saying he'd written a part from a dog's perspective and it was awesome (I want that!)
- Friedman saying we would have found out what happened in the basement in Season 3.
- Friedman saying Derek was never considered a love interest for Sarah (phew!)
- Dan admitting he wrote Trek fanfic when he was young and saying "the ONLY two other male characters in genre who have more chemistry than Kirk and Spock are Clark and Lex". Duh! *hearts*
- Oh, and Friedman saying he liked 'the first three seasons' of BSG. Hahaha, with you, mate.

( Doom (warning for some character bashing within--I can't take it any more, sorry! )

ETA: I miss Lana.

I have resolved to post more often, so you may find that I post about a whole lot of random things you did not know I like for a while. :) Skip on if it's not of interest!

I watched the new Star Trek movie yesterday. I'm so grateful for not knowing anything about it going in, so... ( cut for spoilers )

*token Adam Lambert icon* (blame supacat!)

Also, I am doing the I-have-work! I-have-work! happy dance. :) Freelance rocks!

ETA: Link me to your review of Star Trek if you have one.

I don't have a lot to say about this episode. ( The time delay in me posting a review is indication of my indifference )

I has it. Dreamwidth that is. I'm predictable: bop-radar.dreamwidth.org

I have a paid LiveJournal, though, so I don't plan on moving any time soon. I may eventually cross-post. Who knows?

Actually my LiveJournal is in need of an overhaul and I feel like I'm in a bit of transition time with many of my shows, my interests, and my focus in posting. Which may be why I'm procrastinating a lot about posting anything at the moment.

However my little vent about being stuck with vidding resulted in a burst of productivity, so maybe if I declare my journal in need of refreshing publicly, I will suddenly get off my ass and refresh it! *hopeful*

I found this episode abysmally boring. ( Where's Lois? )

Confession: I have a ridiculous number of WIPs. I'm beginning to think I may never actually finish a vid ever again. ( some introspective blather about the state of my vidding )

This post is about the finale of Battlestar Galactica. Don't click if you haven't seen it, and even if you have, don't click unless you want a rant.

( pigeon poop )

Yeah, I know the whole of BSG fandom has probably talked the finale to death by now but I wasn't here and apparently I'm still ragey.

I haven't felt much like posting since I got back, as my energy and attention has been focused on setting myself up in a new phase of my life.

However, I have caught up on Smallville--admittedly somewhat reluctantly at first--and I was surprised to find myself quite charmed by the rebooted Clark/Lois. This season still seems incredibly hit or miss, but at least there are some parts worth watching.

8.17 Hex
( Read more... )

8.18 Eternal
( Read more... )

8.19 Stiletto
( Read more... )

Hi everyone! I'm back from Thailand. Yup, got out just one day before the State of Emergency was declared in Bangkok. Kind of flabbergasted that it happened as we saw so little sign of trouble on our travels--but civil unrest can be so localised I guess.

Anyway, feel wonderfully rested and had a fabulous time. I'll post some photos when I've had a chance to sort through them. Two weeks of LJ news to catch up on... so I'd rather ask directly: how are you? what's been happening?

So it turns out I *do* still want/need to talk about Battlestar Galactica. I'm actually desperately itching to write a serious meta post on the big-picture problems with the finale. I'm reading a lot of response posts and seeing so many good points being made and I'd really like to collate them together. I've also read a few responses from people that liked it and they are fascinating in a headtilt-y, huh! kind of way. I know my response was very personal: it could be summarised as ( cut for spoilery description of reaction )

I also want to write a post to my fellow Kara/Lee shippers and Lee fans. ( cut for very short version of said post )

I'd also like to write:
- my reaction post to TSCC 2.19 (eeeeee!!! So much to say! So much to process...)
- a post of unpopular vidding fandom opinions (which has been percolating for a long time)
- a squee post about Skins (which I recently mainlined and LOVE)
- a post about the problematic Dollhouse (1.6 didn't really do it for me, kids, though I saw how it was meant to)
- a post on how Kings is not really doing it for me either
and any number of other posts...

And that's not to mention the VIDDING I want to be doing.

You know what all this means? It means I have no time for such activities. I have two days or so in which to respond to comments and then I will be away from the 'net for the next couple of weeks. So all my love in the meantime and I kind of hope you will still be interested in some/any of those proposed posts when I get back. :)

See you on the other side! :p

Are you disappointed in BSG's finale? Wondering how all the promise of the mini-series and Seasons 1 and 2 drained away into a cross between Days of our (Cylon) Lives and Angels in America?

Maybe you're feeling too scarred right now to ever trust a TV series again (understandable). But that's a great pity because there IS a show, doing it all right.

Ten ways in which Sarah Connor Chronicles and Battlestar Galactica are similar
( very vague spoilers for the BSG finale/final endgame within )

Ten ways in which Sarah Connor Chronicles does it better than Battlestar Galactica
( even though SCC is incomplete (some spoilers for 2.19) )

Obviously Terminator's not everyone's taste, I wasn't really sure it was mine to begin with--to be honest I started watching for Cameron to begin with but have grown to love all the characters. I've found the show really rewards rewatching. And I do honestly believe it tells a similar story to BSG's but in a more sophisticated way--its control of its own metaphors, narrative and characters is, I believe, objectively more successful even in its 'unfinished' (and possibly to receive early termination!) state. Do check it out if you think it sounds interesting. :)

ETA ((((((HUGS))))))) to BSG fandom
ETA2 Yes, I am going to review SCC 2.19 (but not the BSG finale because it doesn't deserve thought). I just needed to get this post out of my system first! ;)

Ok, so clearly someone on the Smallville writing staff believes there are still some Clex fans watching. However misguided this impression may be, I say we need to celebrate this.

( less of a review, more of a dare )