i'm always late with these things

[kiki_miserychic]

I got my grades for last semester and they’re not bad considering it was the first full semester I worked during, but I got a B in Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers and Art History II, and an A in Introduction to Biology (with my time consuming lab grade smushed in) and Introduction to Mythology. The sucky part is that I was .78% away from an A in Art History, not even a whole percent. Oh well, I thought I was going to fail Art History and I was worried about my Mathematics and Bio finals, so it’s all good.

I took a slight break from the internet over the holidays to spend time my family and friends. Thankfully, the family didn’t fight as much as I thought. All my Christmases were great and my New Years was awesome too.

I decided to finish the season one Dexter character vid if it killed me. When I finish, I’ll slowly go through my backlog of lj posts, emails, messages, etcetera, so hopefully I’ll be caught up soon so to speak. I don’t have much of the vid left either; just some tinkering, beta-ing, and then saving. It’s crazy and weird, so I’m not sure it will go over well. I’ll have a rough cut soon if anyone wants to check it out and give me their opinion...

I’m behind on feedback because I don’t watch vids while I vid, but I do have a rec from before I went into hibernation:

VID REC: bradcpu’s My Little Drum - A House vid with amazing music, just the right touch of Christmas, sadness, happiness... It has a nice flow and great clip connections, overlays, and it takes the whole first season and presents it beautifully.

Because cool people like me wait to do the end of the year meme things, I give you my first end of the year vidding meme:

Videos I made this year:
Eternal Life (The Devil’s Rejects) never to be completed
Metamorphosis (Firefly) posted 1/04
Peace in the Valley (Firefly) posted 1/06
Sister I’m A (Firefly) posted 2/08
What Remains Trailer (Stargate: Atlantis) posted 2/19
Shin Jingi-naki Tatakai (Firefly) posted 3/14
Driver Picks the Music (Supernatural) posted 3/17
She Cries Your Name (Farscape) was so bad it should never have been posted, so I took it down
It’s Oh So Quiet (Veronica Mars) posted 4/10
Softly and Tenderly (House) posted 4/14
Glorious #1 (Angel) posted 4/26
Coma White (Hex) never to be completed
Supernatural Opening Credits (Supernatural) posted 5/10
Gone Daddy Gone (Supernatural) posted 5/13
Blood Red Summer (Veronica Mars) posted 6/13
For the Damaged Coda (Firefly/Serenity) posted 7/12
I Hear The Bells (Grey’s Anatomy) posted 7/25
Silent Night (Doctor Who) posted 8/02
SexyBack (Stargate: Atlantis) posted 8/29
The McKay Song (Stargate: Atlantis) posted 10/12

My favorite video this year (of my own):
I’d have to say that my favorite is SexyBack because I can watch it without cringing every 3 seconds.

My best video this year:
It really depends on the criteria for best, but I’d have to go with I Hear The Bells because I’m quite proud of myself for having completed it and having it encompass so many parts of the show.

Video most underappreciated by the universe, in my opinion:
Peace in the Valley because when I was making I thought it was freaking great. I realize now what I was trying to do stayed in my head and didn’t make it to the actual vid.

Most fun video:
The McKay Song because seriously? How is doing something that silly not fun?

Video with single sexiest moment:
I was going to say all of SexyBack, but I changed my mind when I watched Gone Daddy Gone and remembered that flash of Jeffery Dean Morgan’s stomach when he fell down. It’s wrong to think of that as sexy considering the circumstances of the scene, but I’m messed up that way.

Hardest video to make:
I Hear The Bells. While I made it, it sucked my soul out through my nose.

Most unintentionally *telling* video:
Blood Red Summer. Another time, another place, I could have been him. I didn’t realize how much of myself I put into the vid until after it was finished and now I can’t watch it. I wanted to be able to hand people something, point at it, and say: “See? He was fucked up for a reason.”

And in addition:
If there is any question you would like to ask me about any one of my vids, then go ahead! What I meant by a particular clip or sequence, why I chose to highlight that characterization, why I chose that song, what crack I was taking and where you can get some...anything. Anything you might like to know about how I made a vid, I shall do my best to answer.

Comments

[redstone.livejournal.com]

A couple things, though they are not all questions. First I must say I really enjoyed Metamorphosis. I've been a fan of Philip glass [and my fav is his Solo Piano] for a long time now and Firefly as well. I was curious to why you picked to put those two togather.

Also wanted to say you put togather I Hear the Bells really well. So what program do you use to edit these?

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you. There was an episode of Battlestar Galactica (I'm not sure if you watch) where Starbuck goes to her old apartment and plays Metamorphosis One, saying it's something her father composed. I instantly fell in love with it and searched the internet for the whole thing. Once I downloaded it, I listened to it over and over again. At the time I was planning to do a vid for every episode of Firefly and the creepiness of the piece seemed to be perfect.

I use Windows Movie Maker for now and I sometimes export frames to Photoshop to edit. :)

[redstone.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do happen to watch BSG, and remember that episode well. Have you heard the rest of that cd? It is out of print now, so its not easy to find even to download. The whole thing has a similar feel.

I've heard some.. umm .. unkind things about Windows Movie Maker, and I take it from your 'for now' that you plan on moving on eventually. Obviously some decent work can be made, but it is all that difficlut to use well? And what would you rather use?

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I found a website right after the episode aired that had the whole cd on streaming audio, but I couldn't get it to work and I gave up after I found the one song I was looking for. Now that I remember, I'll have to see if my library has it or something. I still adore Metamorphosis, so I'll have to check it out. After I first heard Metamorphosis Five on BSG, I started recognizing his stuff everywhere: The Truman Show, The Hours, The Fog of War, even The Candyman.

Yeah, WMM is one of the worst. I liked using it for a while because I was just starting out and it's ok to start out on to understand the basics of editing. There's problems with it like the preview as your vidding is horrible. Most people don't like it because there aren't a lot of effects the come with it. I found out there's xml files that let you make your own effects for the program.

I've been looking for a program that gives me everything I want, but it hasn't been working out. I got Adobe Premiere as a present, but it's not compatible with my computer. I've tried out other programs, but there's nothing that really clicked with me. This year I'm going to take vidding a bit more serious and find a better program to play with.

[redstone.livejournal.com]

Wow, sorry about the delay in the reply, I was getting packed and ready for the trip back home from my folks and then had to travel home. TMI i'm sure.

So what kind of computer do you have that Adobe Prem is being a bastard? And if you don't have Solo Piano, I do and can send it. I've got a few others of his but for some reason just find that CD it be something i connect with.

And good luck with the vidding!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:) Hope you have fun back home and it's not torturous.

AP needed a whole lot more memory than I have available. I'm looking into other programs right now actually, in other windows. This year I want to take vidding more seriously and WMM is gone. It gave me so much crap with my last vid that I'm done with it. For a while I thought it was fun to see what I could get out of it, but now it's just annoying.

I'd be extremely happy if you could send me Solo Piano. If you need it, my e-mail is miserychic47@hotmail.com

Thanks. :)

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on grades! Sucks about the very-nearly-A in art history, but if you honestly thought you were going to fail, then that must have been a huge Yay instead. ;D

This is an awesome meme - I actually haven't seen it going around. May have to gakk it. Love your answers - they are indeed very telling. ;)

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

PS. Shit, you did a Hex vid to Coma White? That was never completed? *dies* Any hope of resurrection?

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I really thought I was going to bomb the final because it was online and I had 3 hours to write six essays which were compare, contrast, and analyze 10 artworks.

It's actually the meme from last year, but I didn't finish it last year. I found it when I cleaned my files out labeled: "endofyearvidmeme". :)

OMG, that Hex vid drove me nuts because I started it early on and it was going to focus on Ella’s arc (2x04, 05, 06) when she was sick. I love Hex and there aren't many vids out there, so I wanted to make one, which isn't a good enough reason for me to vid. Sadly, I wasn't motivated enough to follow through, so I abandoned it. At that time the computer was so full I had to delete something and I hadn't worked on the vid in so long, I said screw it and deleted it (along with The Devil's Rejects one). If there's ever a vid amnesty day like there is for fics, I'll let what I finished into the light of day.

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

Urgh... I had forgotten about your House vid! Must download...

Also, thank you so much for the lovely words about mine. There aren't many vidders that I respect as much as you, so it really means a lot.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:) They were from early on, so you can watch and mock me: Softly and Tenderly (http://kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com/59428.html), Lonely One (http://kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com/31663.html), You Spin Me Right Round (http://kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com/32694.html), Hide and Seek (http://community.livejournal.com/vidbites/20407.html). Nicky's is freaking amazing though, so watch that one for sure.

Aww, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside that I'm respected... Let me bask...

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

Urgh (again). Your most recent House vid is an episodic for an episode I haven't gotten to yet. And there's the S2 DVD set sitting right there on the shelf...

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

EHehhehe, House mocks you with his cane. :)