A few VVC thoughts + recs
I was sitting outside the Premieres show room Friday night at VividCon an hour before the show started, the first one to line up and with no one else in sight, gulping alcohol and trying to stop shaking. It was around that time - during my ninth VVC - that I finally came to accept that I'll always be nervous at these things. And I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
There's a level of electricity at VividCon that never ebbs. You're surrounded all weekend by talented, amazing people and their artwork, with your own work sitting alongside theirs. A positive reaction to your work is great but, more than anything, you just want to feel like you belong there. And it's all too easy to lose sight of the fact that your artwork isn't you.
All of that said, I've never felt more accepted and embraced anywhere than I have at VVC, and I honestly hope everyone else feels the same way (I've seen a few con reports and reactions that lead me to believe that many people do!) I want everyone to feel welcome to interact with me personally, but it's always a fine line between reaching out to include people and intruding on people who aren't as comfortable with that level of social engagement. I guess that's why the Fandom Life vidshow at this year's con meant so much to me. It really drove home this feeling of a shared experience, to the point that it brought me to tears.
The con "family" seemed to grow in some pretty literal ways this year, via a couple of new babies, some S/Os, and some relatives. There were also a few new first-time attendees of the fandom variety. All of them were lovely and made the experience better for me. Longtime regulars who couldn't make it this year were often still part of programming and part of the conversations around the hotel. Vids at the con were of a uniformly (often INTIMIDATINGLY) high quality, and I came away admiring the people who do this more than ever.
People seemed to like my vids, and they fawned over Milly and my new addition. I sincerely hope Victor's appearances didn't make anyone uncomfortable.
tl;dr - starships are meant to fly
Here are a few of the new (non-CVV) vids I enjoyed during the weekend:
Pompeii (The Martian) by Milly
She made this (and the hilarious intro vid for the Premieres show) in the middle of the night while nursing her newborn. And both are as good as anything I saw all weekend. Amazing.
Never Wake Me Up (Multi) by winterevanesce aka Kitty
For reasons that are probably obvious, I fell head over heels for this dreamy spin on childhood fantasy. Beautiful, seamless editing with a purity of heart.
Aphrodisiac (Star Wars: TFA) by hollywoodgrrl
I'll be honest, it took me a few rewatches to stop marveling at the hugely evocative visual style long enough to focus on the narrative layer, which is equally impressive. It's a vid that is An Achievement in terms of its character connections and statement about motivations but also has surface-level flair. That's a tough balance to strike.
Our House (The Sims) by elipie
I don't want to spoil it, but the progression is a thing of beauty and had the live crowd in stitches.
Suffer (Person of Interest) by Anoel
This premiered in the Kink vidshow, and there's obviously some amount of constructed narrative going on ... but it's hard to say how much is constructed. Which is awesome.
Byzantium (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) by Franzeska
A wonderfully transparent and playful statement about remake/reboot culture.
Fly Me To The Moon (Multi) by TBM
I think she says it best: "metaphor, schmetaphor, I always thought this song was about banging aliens and having sex in space." Hugely comprehensive, with bonus points for the Mass Effect love. Er, pun intended.
This Is My Hand (Multi) by hollywoodgrrl
An interesting look back at the vidder's first decade doing this, made up of vids finished and unfinished. Equal parts nostalgia and insight.
There's a level of electricity at VividCon that never ebbs. You're surrounded all weekend by talented, amazing people and their artwork, with your own work sitting alongside theirs. A positive reaction to your work is great but, more than anything, you just want to feel like you belong there. And it's all too easy to lose sight of the fact that your artwork isn't you.
All of that said, I've never felt more accepted and embraced anywhere than I have at VVC, and I honestly hope everyone else feels the same way (I've seen a few con reports and reactions that lead me to believe that many people do!) I want everyone to feel welcome to interact with me personally, but it's always a fine line between reaching out to include people and intruding on people who aren't as comfortable with that level of social engagement. I guess that's why the Fandom Life vidshow at this year's con meant so much to me. It really drove home this feeling of a shared experience, to the point that it brought me to tears.
The con "family" seemed to grow in some pretty literal ways this year, via a couple of new babies, some S/Os, and some relatives. There were also a few new first-time attendees of the fandom variety. All of them were lovely and made the experience better for me. Longtime regulars who couldn't make it this year were often still part of programming and part of the conversations around the hotel. Vids at the con were of a uniformly (often INTIMIDATINGLY) high quality, and I came away admiring the people who do this more than ever.
People seemed to like my vids, and they fawned over Milly and my new addition. I sincerely hope Victor's appearances didn't make anyone uncomfortable.
tl;dr - starships are meant to fly
Here are a few of the new (non-CVV) vids I enjoyed during the weekend:
Pompeii (The Martian) by Milly
She made this (and the hilarious intro vid for the Premieres show) in the middle of the night while nursing her newborn. And both are as good as anything I saw all weekend. Amazing.
Never Wake Me Up (Multi) by winterevanesce aka Kitty
For reasons that are probably obvious, I fell head over heels for this dreamy spin on childhood fantasy. Beautiful, seamless editing with a purity of heart.
Aphrodisiac (Star Wars: TFA) by hollywoodgrrl
I'll be honest, it took me a few rewatches to stop marveling at the hugely evocative visual style long enough to focus on the narrative layer, which is equally impressive. It's a vid that is An Achievement in terms of its character connections and statement about motivations but also has surface-level flair. That's a tough balance to strike.
Our House (The Sims) by elipie
I don't want to spoil it, but the progression is a thing of beauty and had the live crowd in stitches.
Suffer (Person of Interest) by Anoel
This premiered in the Kink vidshow, and there's obviously some amount of constructed narrative going on ... but it's hard to say how much is constructed. Which is awesome.
Byzantium (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) by Franzeska
A wonderfully transparent and playful statement about remake/reboot culture.
Fly Me To The Moon (Multi) by TBM
I think she says it best: "metaphor, schmetaphor, I always thought this song was about banging aliens and having sex in space." Hugely comprehensive, with bonus points for the Mass Effect love. Er, pun intended.
This Is My Hand (Multi) by hollywoodgrrl
An interesting look back at the vidder's first decade doing this, made up of vids finished and unfinished. Equal parts nostalgia and insight.