The O.G. Vexercises

[lola]

Hi folks! Today's the day the first vexercise drops for the 2021 Vexercises! This time round, you can choose each time whether to do the O.G. Vexercise (i.e. the challenges we used last year) or, in some cases, the Vexercise 2.0 options. Below you will find the O.G. Vexercises, and click here for the Vexercises 2.0. We'll also post specifics about the vexercise that's up on each drop day. 

On to the O.G. Vexercises!

First, choose your primary source. It can be anything! From a TV series to a web series to music videos or vlogs to behind the scene footage to a movie. We'd orginally recommended that you should work with the same one and a half to two hours of source for all vexercises, but hardly anyone actually followed that :D Still, we recommend you work with 2-4 episodes of a given series, or a single film, if you can limit yourself--it will make the process easier! In general, we recommend that you use only this source for all the vexercises, but if a particular activity sparks a creative idea and you want to expand or swap your source, of course you can! 

All of the vexercises except for the last are limited to one minute long, to help make them doable and give a creative limit/framework, but once you're done with each, if you're so inspired, you can expand your minute video into a full three minute vid, for extra super Very Important bonus point!

1) Pechakucha 2 ways

Create a video edit of exactly 60 seconds consisting of precisely 10 video clips from your chosen source text, each lasting precisely 6 seconds, assembled with straight cuts. Make two versions of your pechakucha, with 1 minute excerpts from two different songs as audio. Fade in and out on your audio at the beginning and end of the audio clip.

[Word to the wise: Most six second clips that you use are bound to have in-clip cuts--you don't have to go looking only for clips that have no internal cuts. But you can make those internal cuts work for you rhythmically or thematically etc!]

[This exercise is inspired directly by the first of the videographic criticism exercises, but modified here to be vid/fanedit focused with the inclusion of music from an outside source. You can see some examples of the original videographic pechakucha’s here and a more vidlike one Lola made here. !!And now you can see way more wonderful vidding pikachus on this YouTube Playlist (as well as examples of the other O.G. vexercises at the vexercises collection on a03! 
 

2) Visual Continuity 

Produce a 1 minute video edit on your selected source using match-on-action and graphic matches as your primary editing logics. The motion of each shot should seem to continue into motion in the following shot.  Audio should be music of your own choosing.

Here's a really helpful video on different types of match cuts (bonus with lots of helpful Sherlock examples!) This video is about match cuts in cinema and TV, but I think it's really cool how we can adapt these techniques to vidding/fan video editing. 

Some vids that use visual continuity, match on action, and graphic matching (feel free to rec others in the comments!)

Yuris in Love(starting at about 1.41)
Motionography 2012
Multifandom Mashup 2019 (for All the Graphic Matches) 
 

3) Audio layering supercut

Produce a 1 minute video edit of your selected source, in which you edit together similar visuals (this could be a theme like “hands” or “curtains,” or it could be a type of shot or camera work like “all the close ups”). Your audio for this should be a selection of spoken word from your source, or audio that is not music from your source. You can combine these spoken word or non-music sounds with music if you want! The audio and visuals can line up some of the time or none of the time. If your source doesn’t have audio, you can choose audio from another source. 

Inspirations (please feel free to suggest others)
Under Pressure (Good Omens) 
Glitter and Gold (Hannibal)
Glitter and Gold (MCU) 
The Untamed 

4) Side character study

Produce a 1 minute video edit from your selected source focusing on a side character, making them the central character of your vid. Audio can be of your choosing.

Inspirations: 
Blackbird (HP fanvid; McGonagall focus)
Insane (Xue Yang, The Untamed)

5) Lyrical play/no lyrics (3 versions): 



Produce a 1 minute video edit from your selected source, in which lyrical interpretation ( guides your shot choice. You could interpret the lyrics literally or metaphorically/suggestively. Once you have completed this video, choose selected lyrics to incorporate creatively as text within the video. Then make a version of this video with the text, but substituting the original audio with a different piece of music that has no lyrics.

Inspirations for typography  (a whole playlist!) 

6) Advanced round // genre mashing/AU:




Produce a 1 minute video edit that combines your selected source with another source from a different genre (i.e. fantasy, western, sitcom, film noir), and/or use editing to transform the genre of your source text. Audio can be of your choosing

 

7) Advanced round // multivid:
 



In a one minute video, put your media source choice in conversation with other media using match on action, graphic matching, audio layering, and lyrical play. 
 

 

8) Free Vid! 



 

Deploy any and all of these techniques to make the fan video edit of your heart, including but not limited to your chosen source, length entirely up to you! Try to deploy some combination of the various techniques you explored in the exercises along the way. 

 

Vexercises 2.0

[lola]

For 2021, you can choose between the O.G. Vexercises, or these alternates if you want to mix things up (if you did the first versions, or even if you didn't!)

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions in the comments, big or small!! 

Vex 1: Vidding Pechakucha 2 ways. No alternate here--vidding pechakuchas are addictive! 

 

OG Version: Create a video edit of exactly 60 seconds consisting of precisely 10 video clips from your chosen source text, each lasting precisely 6 seconds, assembled with straight cuts. Make two versions of your pechakucha, with 1 minute excerpts from two different songs as audio. Fade in and out on your audio at the beginning and end of the audio clip.

[Word to the wise: Most six second clips that you use are bound to have in-clip cuts--you don't have to go looking only for clips that have no internal cuts. But you can make those internal cuts work for you rhythmically or thematically etc!]

[This exercise is inspired directly by the first of the videographic criticism exercises, but modified here to be vid/fanedit focused with the inclusion of music from an outside source. You can see some examples of the original videographic pechakucha’s here and a more vidlike one Lola made here. !!And now you can see way more wonderful vidding pikachus on this YouTube Playlist (as well as examples of the other O.G. vexercises at the vexercises collection on a03! 

Vex 2: Follow the light. (aka Lightbuilding)

Lim talks about this in Demystifying Vidding. Produce a 1 minute vid where your guiding logic is lightbuilding. Try letting the flow and build of light guide your editing choices throughout. (You can still incorporate match-on-action as well, so this sort of builds on the OG version)

Vex 3: Rhythmic Editing

Produce a 1 minute video edit where you focus especially on rhythmic editing. Try your hand at time remapping at least once in this video. Choose an audio track that has a clear rhythmic pattern or interesting rhythmic progressions to make your editing experience easier. Reference the wave visualization of your audio track to help guide your editing choices. (If you’re up to it, make 2 versions, 1 that cuts primarily on the beat, another where you try syncopated editing (cutting on the *and*) 

Resources:
Example of emphasis on on-the-beat editing
Example of emphasis on syncopated editing (warning for flashing lights)
A short video on syncopated rhythm. 
A short video on time remapping in Premiere. 

Lim on time remapping (or velocity vidding) in Premiere.
Short video on time remapping in Davinci Resolve.
More advanced version for greater flexibility in Resolve.
 

Vex 4: Side Character Vid (This one is worth doing a second time, we think! Side characters need all the love.)

OG Version: Produce a 1 minute video edit from your selected source focusing on a side character, making them the central character of your vid. Audio can be of your choosing.

Inspirations: 
Blackbird (HP fanvid; McGonagall focus)
Insane (Xue Yang, The Untamed)

Vex 5: Lyrical Play with Key Frames & Masking

Follow the guidelines for the OG version, but try using key frames for moving text or text masking. (Links for tutorials and examples coming soon)

OG Version: Produce a 1 minute video edit from your selected source, in which lyrical interpretation ( guides your shot choice. You could interpret the lyrics literally or metaphorically/suggestively. Once you have completed this video, choose selected lyrics to incorporate creatively as text within the video. Then make a version of this video with the text, but substituting the original audio with a different piece of music that has no lyrics.

Inspirations for typography  (a whole playlist!) 

Vex 6: Alternative Narrative

 

1 minute vid where you create an alternative narrative. (I know this is a possibility with the OG version, but it’s hard, and no one really went for it last time!) (links with examples coming soon)

 

Vex 7: Multivid OG again--but try using more sources than you did the first time for your multivid!

OG Version: In a one minute video, put your media source choice in conversation with other media using match on action, graphic matching, audio layering, and lyrical play. 

 

Vex 8: Free vid OG--you’re free! Create the vid of your heart!
 

Deploy any and all of these techniques to make the fan video edit of your heart, including but not limited to your chosen source, length entirely up to you! Try to deploy some combination of the various techniques you explored in the exercises along the way. 

Vexercise 1 Drops! (2021 Edition)

[lola]

Hi all!!! Here we go, the first vexercise of the 2021 edition! We're so excited to play in this sandbox again, and hope you are all as well!

For this first vexercise, we decided to keep it simple and stay with the original version of the vexercise. We've found that this vidding pechakucha variation has been a terrific exercises for people new to vidding to learn the ropes of editing, and for old timers to try out new media sources, new ideas, or to embrace the limitations and to see what you can do within them. So many amazing and inspiring videos came out of these vexercises last year. You can see them on this YouTube playlist that bonibaru  put together, plus others that were not posted to YouTube at the Vexercise collection on A03. 

Here are the instructions/guidelines for this first vexercise: 


1) Pechakucha 2 ways

Create a video edit of exactly 60 seconds consisting of precisely 10 video clips from your chosen source text, each lasting precisely 6 seconds, assembled with straight cuts. Make two versions of your pechakucha, with 1 minute excerpts from two different songs as audio. Fade in and out on your audio at the beginning and end of the audio clip.

[Word to the wise: Most six second clips that you use are bound to have in-clip cuts--you don't have to go looking only for clips that have no internal cuts. But you can make those internal cuts work for you rhythmically or thematically etc!]

[This exercise is inspired directly by the first of the videographic criticism exercises, but modified here to be vid/fanedit focused with the inclusion of music from an outside source. You can see some examples of the original videographic pechakucha’s here and a more vidlike one Lola made here. !!And now you can see way more wonderful vidding pikachus on this YouTube Playlist (as well as examples of the other O.G. vexercises at the vexercises collection on a03! 

If you have any questions about this vexercise, either before you start or as you get going, feel free to post them here!

Stay tuned for a post about technology, resources, etc., and a check in next saturday. This vexercise will be "due" in two weeks, so March 27

Tech Questions

[lola]

 Hi all! It's time to talk about technology! Let's crowdsource our knowledge and use this as a place we can connect to each other to figure things out.

For those of you have already decided on your editing software, what are you planning to use?

And for those of you just starting out,  For those of you just starting out, what hardware (Mac, PC, chromebook, ipad?) are you planning on using? Have you tried any editing software before? 

Here are some resources we shared last year.... let's update this list as we go! (We've also added a few specific tutorials for some of the vexercises...)

Here are a couple of lists of software options: 
Free
Full list with prices listed

FWIW, last year for the vexercises I (Lola) used Davinci Resolve and actually really loved it. It's free, and just as powerful as Premiere, but felt more intuitive to me. 

I've also heard good things about Wondershare Filmora as a somewhat affordable and intuitive first step video editing software. 

A few decent tutorials on YouTube: 
Excellent Davinci Resolve Tutorial
Another Davinci Resolve Tutorial
A whole tutorial playlist on Filmora 
LumaFusion Tutorial for Beginners

Also, there are some great affordable tools for screengrabbing and downloading (like, from YouTube).

4K downloader is stellar for getting HQ files from YouTube, though I'd recommending getting premium to get the 1080p HD files...
and Movavi is great for screencapturing things, well, playing on your screen

We can add to this list as we find more and get a sense of what software folks are using!