Pet Peeves: Pen Spinning Collaboration Video Editing
I am just an old fart that has watched a lot of pen spinning videos, edited a few small things, and wanted to say my thoughts (and have fun nitpicking about my specific preferences).
This blog post is not meant to point out people and say that you're making CVs wrong. I've made all of these mistakes as a crappy editor as well, and I'm honestly just happy people are still making CVs. So, if any of these apply to you: don't be so hard on yourself! Especially because these are just my preferences with CVs. 😅
Anyways, here are the pet peeves of a old pen spinner:
1. Non-JEB spinners using Japanese music.
To me, I want to see uniqueness in music choices so that other communities can stand out and be different.
FPSB 5th really stood out to me "growing up with pen spinning", because the music choice was so different from any of the JapEn videos.
I understand pen spinners all have different music tastes. I'm only saying this because I just think in a very community-focused way. 😅
2. Music syncing.
At around 1:55, you can see how Joshin emphasizes this musical point by zooming in here, and continues it with the transition to aoneko's video reveal. I find that the best CVs continuously sync with the music from beginning to end.
I think that all visuals need to directly react to the music to feel satisfying. I tend to see a lot of editors that have a sense of graphic design and skill with editing, but haven't incorporated the creative visual reaction that is driven by the music. It's not always easy!
3. Distraction from the pen spinning performance.
I'm seeing a lot of editing where there are animations that are purely for the aesthetic, which distract me from watching the pen spinning itself.
Filmmakers have tapped laws of perception still unexplored by neuroscience to create a visual feast in the brain
An article about filmmaking concepts that inspired me to think about where a viewer is looking on the screen at any given time.
It's a subtle, but difficult, skill to guide an audience's eyes towards parts of the screen. Using the more modern 16:9 aspect ratio makes it even more difficult, because there will be more stuff on the screen to distract people.
Final Thoughts: Who is the audience?
With all that said: I'm actually very happy people are still editing and making collaboration videos. I see a lot of great stuff that people are making!
I'll leave you with some food for thought:
Collaboration videos are great for the pen spinning community, but are they great for the public? If our goal is to spread pen spinning everywhere, is my nitpicking about music syncs that important? Spending the extra time to incorporate the things I said could be important, sure. But, is it really going to attract any more new spinners than other types of videos? Non-spinners are not going to be focused on the pen spinning because it is hard for them to keep track of. Is it better to fill the video with other interesting things? Or is it better to separate our non-spinner-oriented CV media and call it a different name? Is that even worth it to do so? What do you think? :o
This is my way of tricking people to think more deeply about pen spinning as always. 🤣 I personally think that collaboration videos is a huge part of pen spinning culture and should stay the same way. But I think it's a fun exercise to be open to different things, especially when it concerns growing the hobby for everyone.
Hope you enjoyed my rant! See you next time!
Extras
A pen spinning promotional video that has lyrics and shows spinning around town. This type of video in the community is generally thought to promote pen spinning for newer spinners, because it's difficult to see the pen spinning. It also focuses on the atmosphere and vibe more than the pen spinning itself.
