TV and movie fandoms express
themselves in some of the most creative ways I have ever seen. Fanction,
artwork, message board avatars, even creating recipes based on food from the
shows they love. My favorite medium, however, is a time-consuming one
that can be stressful, rewarding, and requires an imagination and muse that
work overtime. The art of fan vidding.
Fan vids take on many variations and forms. They have their own vernacular, programs, categories, and style. Machinima (Fanvids for video games,) AMV (Anime vids,) AU (Alternate reality,) Episodic (videos specific to one TV Show episode) Crossovers (mixing TV shows and/or movies,) and the list goes and on. You can create your own worlds within your fandom and if you have a song that reminds you of a certain character, episode, or their current struggle, your music video can voice it for you. As you can see, the possibilities are endless.
So are the programs to use and the
capacity for huge learning curve.
The first thing I can recommend for
starting out in fanvidding is patience. Lots of it. Fanvidding is
more than throwing a five minute chunk of a show into a video program and
putting music over top of it. Secondly, if you want to do this right, own
the song/show/movie that you work with. Don’t illegally download
it. These are fan projects to support the show/movie/music that you love,
so prove that you love them. Buy their stuff!
You have the box set and you have
the music. Now how do you prep it all? First you need to get the
clips on to your computer. DVD Shrink is a free program that I recommend d.
It’s a ripping program that can pull your DVDs on to your computer so you can
watch them on your system any time without having to carry the DVD’s
around. They upload into segments, so be sure you label them so you don’t
get them confused (they upload with the same title for every disc you put
in.) I suggest just making a folder titled Season 1, with sub-folders
that say Disc 1, Disc 2, etc.
DVDs normally rip in a .VOB file
format. Some vid making programs will read .VOB format, but some
won’t. If they don’t you will have to convert the files. There are
many types of conversion programs you can use, but I don’t recommend using
online video converters unless you have no other choice; they tend to download
all kinds of viruses and overload your cookies. Your system will thank
you for downloading an actual conversion program. I recommend Any Video
Converter. It gives you all possible file types to convert a video to,
plus audio file types as well. You can’t go wrong. Plus, like DVD Shrink, it is free. You can’t get any cheaper than free.
Now your clips are ready. But
how to start? I have always felt that learning how to edit is the best
step, but every fanvidder operates differently. For learning how to edit,
learning how to work with a timeline, coloring, shading, special effects, etc.,
the best program I have found is Windows Movie Maker. I can hear the
mouse-click of several fanvidders as they close the web browser because I
suggested this, but hear me out. Yes, we agree with Waterboy’s Mama that
most Windows standard programs “Is da devil!’ But to walk, you have to crawl
first. This program has basic tools in every sense of the word. It’s easy to drag/drop clips straight into a
timeline. You can move a clip frame by
frame with your arrow key and from there, know just where you want to stop and
start a clip so you can learn how to start cutting them down to size. It is the best editing teacher you can
find. Starting off small helps you get
the hang of basics. From there you can
move on to the big league program of your choice.
Always try the free trial version of
the major video programs first. Buying a
vid program before
testing the waters is like brushing your teeth with a
mouthful of Oreos; nothing really gets solved and you’ve wasted your time. If you don’t fancy the format you’re screwed
out of money. Free trial means you’re
only out of 30 days of time and you know if the program is a yay or a nay, and
most give you all of the available features that the pay program does. Some have a watermark for project that you
make on the trial versions that shows up on your project and some might have
minor online services that are not available unless you have the full
version. Those are the only drawbacks. There are tons to try out in the world: Sony Vegas, Pinnacle Studios, iMovie HD for
Mac users, Adobe Premiere, etc. From
experience I recommend Sony Vegas versions 7 or 8, or Pinnacle Studios, which
is what I use. The controls for both Vegas
and Pinnacle are similar and the results are stunning. You can always find multiple tutorials online
for working no only the basics of the programs, but also how to use the more
difficult tools, like shading, making your own gradients, and even clip
manipulation to make people show up scenes that weren’t even in the show (this
is called feathering/masking.) Some
vid makers even have dedicated blogs and/or Youtube pages that are full of
nothing but the tutorials that they have made for the programs that you might
be using. Never underestimate the
generosity of the vid-making community; we share and share alike!
Please remember, however, what I
said about patience. You want to simply
slap clips together and put them to music?
That’s your thing. That takes ten
minutes and you’re done. You want a
project like these?
These take longer than ten
minutes. A project that you pace
yourself on with time and effort, with special effects, watermarking, research
to find the exact clips that you need for the right content, learning how to do
a certain special effect…those take weeks or longer. A normal project for me can take two to three
months if I want to be sure I have done it right. The bottom link for the Supernatural/Gilmore
Girls spoof? I researched tons of Supernatural
clips to find ones that would match up with mannerisms from the Season 3
Gilmore Girls credits, down to a clip of the two of them sitting in a diner to
cap the credits off just like Lorelai/Rory sitting in a diner at the end of the
Gilmore Girls credits. That process
itself took one week just to find the clips that I need and write them down to
know where to find them later. During
one project my computer wiped all my progress after nearly three months and
near completion. I had to start over; the
resulting video took me a total of six months to complete!
I’m not saying this to scare you
off. I say it so you’ll know that this
is an art form that is worth it. I’m
proud of the vids I’ve made. Granted, my
early stuff shows that I didn’t have the handle on audio or editing tools that
I do now, but I’m redoing those later down the pike to tweak em’. But once you find the programs you need, take
the time to tinker with them and to look for tutorials online. Look for online vid sites like Vimeo or
Vidders.net for communities of vid makers that you can get tips and suggestions
from. They are always willing to help
out newcomers with getting familiar with the trade. Next thing you know your muse will not shut
up and you’ll be like me, a woman with a notebook full of fifty-six projects
that she has yet to complete, but hopes to someday.
Did I mention vid-making was an addictive habit? I didn’t? Well…too late now…
Did I mention vid-making was an addictive habit? I didn’t? Well…too late now…
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