#wimzeevids

[countessmikaelson-blog]

I hope i am not bothering you:) did you learn your video skills with tutorials? I wanna start vidding but i simply don't know where

Hi!

No bother at all.

My vidding history is a treacherous one. I, personally, never watched tutorials (though if I did my life probably would have been easier). I started on Windows Movie Maker just putting photos to music and then I progressed to clips. 

Tbh, I learned most from watching/studying other vidders videos. You can learn a lot by paying attention to how they tell a story, or where they cut a clip on the beat.

Using the program itself was trial and error. I just opened it up and started messing around. I cried. A little. But I stuck with it and learned, slowly. I’ve been vidding for 8 years now, so if you’re just starting don’t get discouraged!

I do remember making friends with some great girls during my YT heyday, and if I ever had a question (e.g., what settings do I render my video in?) they were always there to help. But if in doubt now-a-days, just Google.

But basic starters are: program. clips. song.

1. You need something to edit on, as I’ve stated I use Sony Vegas. Other people use Final Cut Pro or Avid. Sony Vegas platinum edition is the simplest to use/learn on in my opinion. 

2. Figure out what you want to vid. A tv show, a movie? a couple from a tv show or movie? a particular character that you love? A simple dvd ripper can help you get decent clips off the discs you own or borrow. Magic DVD ripper is what I use for most of my footage, but you can google more options. AVC downloader/converter helps you get clips off of places like Vimeo or youtube.

3. Once you know what you want to vid then you can find a song (side note: sometimes you find a song first and then have to find the footage you want to vid with it). It can be anything that fits the mood or clips of the story/video you want to create.

Open up your program, import your footage and song, and start editing. Then, repeat.

Here are some of my top fave vidders. You can watch them for inspiration (like I do, all the time):

BlacksGodDaughter

Grable424

KatrinDepp

MundaneMuggle

Nyah86Production

OViolentDarkKnightO 

I hope this helped some =) Sorry, I don’t have any actual tutorial vids to link.

[countessmikaelson-blog]

Hi! Just wanted to say that I really love your book tv credits! I was also wondering what your creative process is like (how you come up with ideas, plan things out, if you storyboard or not, etc.) and how you were able to find so many great clips to use

Aw, thank you so much! Oh, boy, well…when it comes to interpreting the book visually, I like to wait some time after reading before I start. That way, I work off my initial impressions of the overall story instead of getting bogged down in details. 

Then, I rewatch some of my favorite tv credits to spark ideas of what types of clips I might want to choose or what type of credits I want to create. For instance, whether or not I want to show faces or just have objects. Sometimes, I’ll write down keywords for things I remember from the story. For example, with the Raven Boys I wrote down stuff like school, psychic, trees, bees, birds, an orange Camaro – and once I had that, I started searching Vimeo and youtube using those keywords. 

It takes a looong time to find the right footage because I watch any short film, music video, or documentary that might have something useful in it. Searching the Staff Picks on Vimeo is best, as well as searching for things using the terms: stock footage or macro. I don’t hate it, though. I’ve found some excellent films that really stuck with me, plus it’s really helpful from a writing perspective to watch how stories unfold in such a short amount of time. But then again I’m a sucker for research…

Because there is no Raven Boys movie, my initial idea for the vid changes based on the clips I can find.

As far as the song goes, I usually find them while listening to 8tracks or Spotify. If I hear a song that reminds me of a particular book I’ve read, or am currently reading, I’ll save it in case I want to use it later. In the event I don’t have a song, I start googling lyrics. For example, if I was searching for Shadow and Bone I’d search: “songs with the word shadow in the lyrics.” Thankfully, an episode of CW’s Star-Crossed already gave me the song I used! 

After that, it’s just about editing and fonts and my favorite: soundeffects. As a rule, I always try to create according to the feeling the book left me with. The atmosphere is the most important part I think. 

Hope this was helpful, anon. Thank you for the interest :)