kiki_miserychic

January
5 - Enter the Circus (MirrorMask) - It's going to be a bumpy ride to the other side.

February, March, April
none

May
18 - When I am Laid in Earth (Utopia) - He named his daughter Jessica Hyde. Jessica. Hyde.

25 - Après Moi (Person of Interest) - After Samantha Shaw, comes the flood.

June and July
none

August
20 - That's Life (Barefoot in the Park) - Frozen skinny Bratter lovers found on 10th street, 6th floor.

20 - Who Needs Sleep? (Elementary) - Forget Sherlock, Irene, and Moriarty. Forget being a sober companion and a consulting detective. Joan Watson just wants to get some sleep.

21 - All I Need (Superatural) - Four times Dean Winchester’s loved ones overcame mind control for him.

September, October, November
none

December
7 - Endure and Survive (Teen Wolf) - Sterek zombie AU.


Total of 7 vids, 4 of which are under 2 minutes and could be considered vidlets... What's the definition of a vidlet these days? In my mind the length doesn't always equate vid vs. vidlet. Hmmm.


My favorite video this year (of my own)
When I am Laid in Earth. I was playing with connecting clips going from frame to frame. Like trying to manipulate the viewers' eyelines. Utopia is a beautifully screwy show and I think I captured a lot of that. The visuals of the show were gorgeous and I loved pulling together things within frame and moving them around. Plus, Jessica Hyde is an interesting character and I can't wait to see what happens in season two. Blood dripping from a severed down a toilet paper dispenser in a public bathroom is the most beautiful images I saw in 2013.

Least favorite
All I Need only because I feel like I could have done more to even out the visual source. I used episodes that span across seasons where the look of the show changed tremendously. The earlier seasons are dark and moody with sparse color and the recent seasons are BRIGHT AS THE SUN by comparison. I have two Supernatural vid ideas that I really, really want to do once I get the last few clips to make my points, but I do not look forward to trying to make the visual menu balanced.

Most successful
Who Needs Sleep? simply because elipie and some others got what I was going for, but I genuinely did not expect. I find that if I expect no one to understand what I was going for, I'm super happy when someone does get it. Lower expectations is where it's at.

Video most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion
Endure and Survive because I love zombies and I think that everyone else should too. I quite like how the black and white turned out with all the different sources. It melds perfectly with the fic storyline. I suppose not many people could thoroughly enjoy it without reading the fic, but IDGAF because I love me some zombie!AU.

Video with single sexiest moment
Après Moi. There's a moment at about 2:12-2:20 where Sarah Shahi's character, Shaw, is advancing in a series of clips, which is sexy as hell. Shaw could kill you or kiss you and you won't know until after she's done it. I am so into the Shaw and Root dynamic on Person of Interest that I'm actually writing kinky fic of them. I rarely write fic, so it's huge that I'm actually trying for sexy times.

Biggest vid fail
Enter the Circus because I didn't remember to post the signed version online until I went to do this meme. Oops. I also failed at posting recs to livejournal. I did a few on twitter and posted all of my vividcon recs to livejournal though.

Hardest video to make
Endure and Survive because the different sources were a pain for me technically. I had trouble evening out the black and white and contrast and levels for everything. I can stand back and look at it and see a few things that I didn't balance enough, but I had a deadline for the Teen Wolf Big Bang and I'm very happy with what I made. It's strange for me to say that about a vid, so I'm obviously happy with it.

Most unintentionally *telling* video
That's Life. Barefoot in the Park is one of the first non-children's movies I ever got to see. That and Silence of Lambs and Leprechaun II, but that's a different story. Movies and tv had a large influence on my development. The tv show Mad About You and Barefoot in the Park formed what I thought a romantic relationship was supposed to be along with my personal examples in my young little life. I think Jane Fonda's character, Corie, was one of the first, if not the original Manic Pixie Girlfriend. I'm amazed that I understood what was going on in the movie, which is basically a newly married couple's first fight that escalates to the point where they're "trapped" in their "apartment." Trying to look at it objectively, I think this movie is part of the reason why I go for the Paul Bratter type and the Corie Bratter type in my personal life, which makes it telling.

Things I've learned
I think I did better with the technical aspects of vidding this year (this is when compared to my previous years and not the epic awesome skills of others). I learned how to chop off the letterboxing once I've rendered my vid. I started rendering my vids uncompressed with square pixels, then putting them into virtualdub to fix the frame if needed, and popping them into autogk. I think that's working out...

I learned some more about tumblr and vidding by researching for the tumblr section of the Vividcon 2013 Infinite Diversity in Vidding Combination Panel. It's like a rabbit hole that sucked me in and gave me thousand of new thoughts and new ways to think. And continues to do so today. I absolutely love how helpful tumblr can do for organizing vid time lines. With certain vids I'm able to pull gifs into the timeline as a placeholder for actual video clips into funnel them in.

Things to work on
Last year I said, "I want to try vidding female characters that do more than beat people up and make things explode while being pretty." I think I failed partly on that, but I've expanded myself a bit more and want to continue trying. The ideas I've had for 2014 vids have evolved a bit from violent women ideas, more of a different angle on the characters I enjoy. Last year I also said, "This year I'm going to focus on making vids that have higher quality video instead of lower quality for artistic reasons that make them muddy." I think I accomplished this one for the most part. I always struggle with technical stuff, but this year was better than most for fixing those problems.

In the past I've tried to be more subdued in my vidding and I've tried to widen my window of vid ideas. I think this year I want to try considering the audience more to stretch myself. I started caring very little about what people thought about my vids, which is freeing. I'd like to make one vid this year where I actually vid for an audience. I made my festivids with this in mind, so I'm getting a head start on it.

Vid projects I definitely want to get finished this upcoming year
I considered only making vids for cons this year, but I find that to do more limiting than I want. Instead I'll say that I want to make vids for Vividcon, Wiscon, and VidUKon. Anything else on top of those is icing.

Resolutions for 2014
Again, I want to go to VVC and hope that my school doesn't have another in-service on the dates. I e-mailed by supervisor about the dates. Driving to Chicago after a day of boring meetings sucked HARD and I will not be doing that ever again. I won't know if I have a job next year for a while. I'll probably be riffed again along with the whole department, which isn't a positive outlook. I'll have to find another job, so I don't know if I'll be able to enjoy myself at VVC if I'm thinking in the back of my mind that I need to find another job.

I was made of epic fail and didn't properly send the e-mail for VVC about putting together a femslash vidshow with lots of premieres, so I'm trying again this year... maybe. I'm going to make suggestion of some vidshows I'd curate for Wiscon again this year. I really enjoyed curating the Thank Heaven for Little Girls Playlist in 2013.

I want to continue filling up my vidding journal. (I find an old one I started years ago, lost, found it, lost it again, found it, lost it, and found it again, which I need to scan pages from for laurashapiro from last year's meme.)

I need to be more social online too. I'm so bad at that. I always feel like I'm trying to hard to be friends with people, like this:



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.

January
none

February
06 - Brand New Key (Pulp Fiction) - Some people say I've done alright for a girl.
It's my own little take on the movie. I remember watching it when I was very young and wanting it to be more about Mia Wallace, Honey Bunny, Fabienne, Esmarelda, Jodi & Trudi, Raquel, and even the waitress that corrects Pumpkin with flat confidence. I watched the insanely edited version that was on tv, so I fell in love with a horribly cut up and pasted together movie. I watched the VHS of it so much that it warped (the same way my Mary Poppins tape did). My aunt rented me the original version to watch and my mind was blown because it made actual sense.

March
none

April
13 - Spit the Devil (V the Series) - Erica/Anna: firedogs
The series was never as good as when these two were on screen together. There was a sizzle and smolder when they interacted because they were two powerful, willful, strong, intelligent characters on opposite ends of a spectrum. While opposing each other, they were quite similar in their actions, motivations, and emotional status. Together they would have been a flash fire that destroyed everything around them. I only wish that it was possible to watch, therefore, I created an alternate universe where we could see those Ladies of War interact on a sexual and romantic level.

May and June
none

July
13 - Lullaby (Damages) - Ray Fiske's life spent trying to do well.
There has never been a character that filled me with such sadness and sorrow as this one. He never lived his life for himself. It becomes his purpose to make everyone else's life work and to fix the problems of others, but he pushed aside his own needs and feelings. When it did finally address them, the results were not entirely favorable and he spent the rest of his life seemingly crushed under the weight of his own weaknesses like a broken puppy.

August
14 - Bright Star (Bright Star) - Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, And so live ever--or else swoon to death.
I wanted something delicate and light in the editing and I wanted to capture a mood and atmosphere with it like falling in love when you find it hard to breathe and everything slows down and speeds up like you're dying inside.

14 - Black Dove (January) (Doctor Who) - River Song was a January girl, she never let on how insane it was.
Fuck Yeah River Song and other unconventional aspects of her great and powerful awesomeness.

September, October, and November
none

December
21 - Somewhere Only We Know (Winnie the Pooh) - I'm getting old and I need something to rely on.
I have loved Winnie the Pooh from my first memory. It is like the pain from an old wound soothed.

Total of 6 vids.

( year end vidding meme 2011 )

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.

Is there someone willing to upload 2 files (187mb and 53mb) to the VVC FTP? I've given up on connecting to the server, I'd rather keep my sanity for the moment.

Welcome to another thrilling addition of "Me vs. Technology" where I battle my own stupidity and beg for smarter people to help me. I'm trying to upload my CVV vid to the VVC server. I'm using SmartFTP, but it won't connect. I tried to work my google-fu, but I didn't find anything to help. This is a copy the log that I've been getting everytime I try:

[15:24:33] SmartFTP v3.0.1026.32
[15:24:45] Resolving host name "www.vividcon.com"
[15:24:46] Connecting to 208.113.233.195 Port: 22
[15:24:46] Connected to www.vividcon.com.
[15:24:46] SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_4.3p2 Debian-9etch2
[15:24:46] SSH server detected. Change the protocol to SFTP over SSH and try again.
[15:25:47] Timeout (60s).
[15:25:47] Active Help: http://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/74
[15:25:47] Client closed the connection.
[15:25:47] Connect failed. Waiting to retry (30s)...
[15:26:18] Connection attempt 2...
[15:26:18] Resolving host name "www.vividcon.com"
[15:26:18] Connecting to 208.113.233.195 Port: 22
[15:26:18] Connected to www.vividcon.com.
[15:26:18] SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_4.3p2 Debian-9etch2
[15:27:18] Timeout (60s).
[15:27:18] Active Help: http://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/74
[15:27:18] Client closed the connection.
[15:27:18] Connect failed. Waiting to retry (30s)...
[15:27:50] Connection attempt 3...
[15:27:50] Resolving host name "www.vividcon.com"
[15:27:50] Connecting to 208.113.233.195 Port: 22
[15:27:50] Connected to www.vividcon.com.
[15:27:50] SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_4.3p2 Debian-9etch2
[15:28:13] QUIT
[15:28:13] Protocol mismatch.
[15:28:13] The operation has been added to the Transfer Queue. Check the Transfer Queue for the status.
[15:28:13] Server closed connection

ETA: Fixed.

My aspect ratio is coming out wonky and I have no clue how to fix it. My source is 720x400:


but when I render it from Vegas as DV Widescreen and the dimensions 720x400 it looks like this:


I tried rendering as DV with the dimensions set to 720x400, but it looks like this:


I also tried DV and DV Widescreen under 720x480, but the come out with the letterboxing at the top and bottom.

Does anyone have thoughts as to how I'm made of FAIL when it comes to rendering? Or a way to fix it?

(I'm going to cross post to comms later if no one on my flist can help.)

ETA: Fixed.

Now that I've completed my VVC premiere vid (I only have rendering, encoding and submitting left), here comes the self doubt. Considering it will be a while before people see it, I'm pretty much screwed in that respect. I need three full days to render, encode, and submit, so hopefully I'll be able to do it by the first...

I'm starting on my Sweet Charity vid (I can't believe people have already done some, I'm a slackerbitch) and I've run into a technical problem. I downloaded an entire season of a tv show, but the format (Windows Movie) won't work in Vegas. Could I use some sort of a program to grab out what I want and have it in the correct format for Vegas? Do I make any sense? At all?

ETA: Jesse Lange is my new hero

Does anyone else have trouble running AIM 6.0 with Windows XP? It’s always gave me crap, but lately it doesn’t work at all.

I was the rec/reviewer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fandom for April over at the_reel. Due to a bout of stupidity, I started posting in March, but I reviewed yhlee’s Have Your Heard. I recced butterfly’s Hallelujah, Brad’s Living Dead Girl, Rowena’s Pluto, and Ryan’s Everyday is Exactly the Same.