Swancon 07 Fanvids Panel

Panellists

Sophie (That's me :))
Phlebas
Danny Oz

What is a fanvid?

Somewhere between a music video and a small film, set to music (usually just one song), with footage taken from a pre-existing source. An AMV is an anime music video, a fanvid made from an anime.
Example: Desperation Song Lord of the Rings

The History of Fanvids

(A very brief overview, Danny knows a LOT more about this than me so ask him :))

Fanvids have been around in one form or another for decades. People used to have to laboriously start and stop and carefully synchronise two reels of film, usually with two vcrs. Vids were distributed via vhs cassettes at cons or via mail.

High bandwidth internet, dvds, and home computers capable of digital effects have revolutionaised the making and distribution of fanvids, and they are becoming increasingly popular. Sites like YouTube are making them increasingly visible to those in the "outside world" and there is much discussion amongst the fanvidding community about issues of visibility given the possible repercussions of copyright infringement.

Unfortunately it's not online, but Danny showed an awesome Star Trek: The Next Generation vid which illustrated that it doesn't take fancy digital effects and high definition images to make a compelling and entertaining vid.

How to watch a fanvid An article about vids and their history by Henry Jenkins

What's important?

Source quality: video and audio

Really, it makes a difference!

Synchronisation

Tone & movement: matching visuals to each other and the music and concept in the vid overall.
Action/Editing sync, making sure everything matches moment to moment

Concept & Narrative

Originality
Narration: Going somewhere vs. Isn't this cool
Example: It's Tricky, which is all "isn't this cool" and has no narrative to speak of. Also a good example of a multifandom vid which takes advantage of the flexibility inherent in AMVs.
Subverting vs. Capturing the source material
- Humor
- Music choice (compatibility of lyrics and music to the vid)
Example The Narutrix which has a narrative, humour, subverts the original source and is very original.

Re-watchability

The best vids actually improve on rewatching.

What's specifically important to viewers?

Emotional resonance (audience identification/response) with visual & music
Does it make sense if you haven't seen the show/movie?

Example Drop Dead Gorgeous which tells a very clear and emotionally compelling story even if (like the panellists :)) you don't watch the show

What's specifically important to Vidders?

Source Quality
Lip sync & Digital effects

Some genres of vid

I originally had like 3 examples for each type, there is a Lot More To Vids than what I've shown here!

Synopsis/condensed version, e.g. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Abridged The vid that got Sophie into fanvids in the first place!
Exploring one aspect or character e.g. Jesus Walks Angel, looking at Gunn.
Lord King Bad Vid (LKBV), all earnest and deliberately kitsch e.g. Jolene Stargate atlantis
Humour Stargate Cantina SG1: Stargate=Star Wars, the evidence is pretty compelling.
Constructed Reality e.g. Untouchable Buffy, a totally constructed plot where Angel is Buffy's abusive spouse
Meta, a commentary on the act of vidding itself e.g. Failed Experiments in Video Editing Cowboy Bebop...in theory :)

Where to find good fanvids

the_reel livejournal community Both recs and reviews
Fanvid-recs.com
AMV.org Anime music vids.
Vidding lj community Generic vidding discussion, you can post your vids here.
Vidding in Imeem 101 Apparently a lot of vidders are putting their vids up here.
makesmewannadie's Compilation of recs post Huge list of recs, organised by fandom
Sophie's recs
Phlebas's favourite AMVs

How to make your own vids

I don't make vids, so I have no idea if these are any good, but thought some links was better than none :)