Vidding Exercises for Creative Distraction

 [*blame the name on nu_breed it was her idea.... :D]

So... I’ve also been trying to learn a new tool for me - Adobe After Effects - and as part of the process, I thought that we could have a sort of second set of bonus vexercises each round, except these would be VfXercises—challenges meant to specifically dig into special effects tools, and designed to be short form videos (even shorter than a minute!).

These are not tried and tested, it would be a grand experiment! And perhaps people could adjust them to whatever tool they’re using. I’m using After Effects, but also interested in trying the ipad app Video Star. It’s also possible they could be done within Davinci Resolve Fusion (I have to admit I found fusion a bit overwhelming, and haven’t tackled it yet…) They could even be done with Premiere, for the most part.

This is what we’re thinking these extra VfXercises would be, loosely. (Perhaps we can tweak some of the later ones as we go)

1. 30 s edit, 10 3-second shots, with at least one effect (like an LUT) applied throughout (on AE, through an adjustment layer)
2. same (though if you would like to let go of the 3-second shot restriction, go for it) but with transitions between edits (bonus if you use 3D transitions?)
3. (10-30s) incorporate animated text
4. (10-30s) incorporate masking
5. (10-30s) use/modify a preset edit layout/template
6. make animated closing logo or a watermark, or both!
7. free edit

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions? 

(We also have been gathering/testing out tutorials etc., so we'll share those as well!) 

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...)

Some lists of software options:

• Free
• Full list with prices listed
• Davinci Resolve Lola has used this and loved it. It's free, and just as powerful as Premiere, but felt more intuitive. I’ve (Yvette) started playing around with it myself and I am considering switching - I’ve been having a ton of issues with Premiere Pro and DVR feels really streamlined and I agree with Lola - it’s much more intuitive. I also really like the colour coding on the tracks on the timeline and a bunch of other things (oh and the fact it’s free, haha)
• Wondershare Filmora A somewhat affordable and intuitive first step video editing software.

Some decent tutorials on YouTube:

• Excellent Davinci Resolve Tutorial
• Another good Davinci Resolve
• This is a great Da Vinci Resolve tutorial playlist

• Yvette and Lola both endorse this vlogger for Premiere Pro
• A whole tutorial playlist on Filmora
• LumaFusion Tutorial for Beginners

Additional Resources

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

• 4K downloader (stellar tool) for getting HQ files and mp3’s from YouTube, though I'd recommending getting premium to get the 1080p HD files...
• 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!

Hi everyone! So it's time for Vexercise 5, and I have to admit to being really geekily excited for this version. I'm not sure how much energy folks have been having lately for the vexercises (I know I've been totally swamped and have been trouble opening Premiere!) but I hope that this one might get people inspired (and it may get me finally editing again too!)

So, the new version of Vexercise 5 is:

Before I wrote this one up, I tested it out myself to see what was involved. And I found it was really a different way of thinking. I tried to rework bits of previous videos for TikTok and I found that I had to really go back to the drawing board to make it work with the vertical aspect ratio. It's amazing how it narrows your focus and limits what footage you can use. If you want to check out my experiments, here they are: tiktok experiment 1 and tiktok experiment 2.

Here's a quick overview of settings (on Premiere) for TikTok
And here's a video tutorial for Instagram

Have you explored the world of short form fan edits on Instagram, TikTok, or even YouTube? There are SOOO many videos, and they can look really different from "traditional vids" (whatever that means :D) and can be really aesthetically inspiring. Please do share your favorites or any questions you have in the comments!

And of course, if you'd rather do one of the earlier version(s) of Vexercise 5, you totally can. The focus is on Lyrical Play/Lyrics and Typography. The prompt is as follows:

 (a whole playlist!) 

Whichever you do, have fun with it and don't worry about perfection -- these are just (v)exercises after all, and meant for experimentation and pushing out of comfort zones!

Hi vexercise summer-now-fall folks! I haven’t seen any responses come in yet on Vexercise 4, and with the beginning of my semester I forgot to post a check in last Saturday. How goes it with Vexercise 4? Would an extension be in order? We could set the “due” date (as binding as it is and all) for next Saturday instead?  

Hi all! Happy fall! Can we still call these the summer school vexercises? Sorry to be less punctual than usual with this due dates and prompts... it's been a bit of a crazy time on my end. But vexercise 3 is "due", and I'll drop vexercise 4 in a soon-coming post.

I hope that you're enjoying your vexercise experimentations! How'd your vexercise 3 experience go?  Which version of the prompt did you decide to do and why? Advice for others doing a variation of vex 3? 

Hi everyone! Sorry I didn't have a chance to post this weekend but the Vexercise 2s are now officially "due"! How'd it go? Which version did you try? Are you happy with what you produced? Any new insights about visual continuity, lightbuilding, or transitions? For those of you who did the new transitions vexercise, what did you think of it? Did you find any new favorite transitions? 
Stay tuned shortly for the drop of Vexercise 3! 

Hi folks! It's time for Summer School Vexercise 2!

Here's the instructions:

Vexercise 2 Focus on Transitions: (1 minute video) Use transitions for every edit. Extreme version: use as many different transitions as you can.

You can also absolutely opt to do the earlier versions of Vexercise 2, Visual Continuity &or Lightbuilding

For the transitions version of this vexercise, you can use the default transitions that come with your editing software, but you can also look further afield for some more possibilities.  Here's a video that links to some promising resources for transitions! 

If you're new to editing, here are a couple of basic tutorials on using transitions
Using Transitions in Premiere
Using Transitions in Resolve

On a meta note, I feel like the use of transitions in fan video/vidding differs pretty radically depending on which corner of fan video (vidding/edits/etc.) you're in (and also for that matter the time period!) In the vidding tradition, shall we say (Vividcon tradition, maybe?) clean cuts are definitely a key aesthetic for a tight, clean, feel, but even within that editing style, transitions can be used so effectively. But in other corners of fan video, transitions are a highly visible part of the video itself, rather than careful accents.

What are some of your favorite videos that use transitions, either subtly or as a sort of spectacle? Let's link them below and come up with a little playlist of sorts! 

Hello summer school vexercisers!! How’s it going with the first vexercise? Did you decide to try the haikus, pechakuchas, both? If you did the haikus, how do you feel about the short length and the particular 5/7/5 second structure? If you’re doing the pechakuchas, how did you feel about the two different versions? Which version did you like best of the two you made, and why? And if you’ve done both haikus and pechakuchas, how do they compare?

I’ll admit, I’m kind of dying to hear about the haikus especially, and the difference in experience between haikus and pechakuchas, since we’re the first group taking them from theory to practice pretty much, and I do feel like they have a pretty different flow (both creating them and then the final product) than the pechakuchas.  

Also, let’s have a convo about tech! What editing programs are you using? What computers/devices are you using, for that matter? Does anyone have questions about how to get source etc., or how to do certain steps of the process?

Hope you’re having fun vidding/vexercising!

Here we go! We're ready to start the ball rolling with the vexercise summer school!  For this edition of the vexercises, as always, you're welcome to do the tried and true O.G. Vexercises, or the 2.0 Vexercises, but we've also (with the help of folks at vidukon) come up with a set of all new vexercises special for this summer school. Today (below!) we'll share an overview of all of the new vexercises, and next week, we'll officially drop Vexercise 1.

The vexercises are "due" every two weeks after they drop, and we always post a check in post at the midway point to see how folks are doing. 

And without further ado, here we go! The Summer School Vexercises for your perusal:

Vexercise 1 Vidding Haiku:  (27 or 54 second video) Five 2-second shots, followed by seven one-second shots, followed by five 2-second shots. You can put two of them in a row if you'd rather make something closer to a minute long! Or just make as many of these little babies as you feel like. They have a bit faster pacing than pechakuchas, have a natural build built in, and are super fun to make! 

Vexercise 2 Focus on Transitions: (1 minute video) Use transitions for every edit. Extreme version: use as many different transitions as you can.

Vexercise 3 Focus on Color/Color Grading: (1 minute video) Let color guide the logic and flow of this vexercise, either by selection or special effects. Highly recommended: download an LUT or more and try using it!

Vexercise 4 Music Remix: (1 minute video) Try connecting two different songs in some way — a mashup, one leading into another, etc., and then vid rhythmically to the result.

Vexercise 5 Aspect Ratio & Framing: (Up to 1 minute video) Create a new vid or rework a vexercise for instagram or tiktok. Not that you need to post it there, but create it with the appropriate aspect ratio for the platform you choose, and then consider the best framing of each image for that aspect ratio. For TikTok also keep in mind the looping nature of the format. These videos can be shorter than a minute if it feels right to you, since edits on Instagram and TikTok often are quite short.

Vexercise 6 Response Fanvid: (1 minute video) Respond to another fanvid, vexercise or otherwise. If you're going to remix another vid, please do ask the vidder for permission; but there are other ways to respond to—vid as your form of conceptual or formal reply inspired by a particular video.

Vexercise 7 Transform! (1 minute video) Transform your source as completely as you can so that it feels unrecognizable.

Vexercise 8: Free Vid! No rules. No time length. Just try to use as many of the skills and techniques you've learned through the vexercises as you can/feels appropriate. This is an opportunity to turn a vexercise into a full vid if you want! 

When we drop each video, we will post links for support, examples, etc. But this should give you a general sense of what's coming. Please ask any questions/make any suggestions in the comments! 

Hi everyone! How's it going? Are folks working on a final free vid? If so, how does it feel to be freed of the 1 minute restriction? And well, all the other restrictions? Is it freeing? Overwhelming? Awesome? Awesomely terrifying? 

I realized we never really clarified a "due" date for the final free vid, since the timing got delayed at the end because of the cons etc. Let's say July 17th?

And then we can kick off the new Summer edition on July 18th! There seems like there's plenty of interest in the summer edition, so it's a go :) Stay tuned for more details on the Summer Special Exercises!