Vidding Exercises for Creative Distraction

Call for Videos: Monster Themed Vidshow!

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:59:02 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi Vexercise folks! I know this comm has been quiet for a while -- I miss all the vexercises energy! But I hope some of you are still editing, and if so, that you might be interested in a new call for videos for the Fan Studies Network North America vidshow. The theme this year is monsters!! Here's a link to the call. Please let me know if you have any questions!

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It's a wrap!

Sat, 24 Sep 2022 14:35:50 GMT

Posted by: lola

Wow, here we are, the end of Vexercises 3.0! How's everyone feeling about the experience? Lessons learned? Favorite vexercises? Most frustrating vexercises? Vid bunnies that were born but have yet to grow up into full vids? Ideas for future vexercises?

I say "end" but as with all things Vexercise, if life got in the way, you can always do the challenges at your own pace and you're welcome to share them here! Thanks, all, for participating and sharing your work and thoughts along the way!

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Vexercise 7 Round-Up!

Wed, 21 Sep 2022 00:24:24 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Two days later than agreed, Vexercise 7 is "complete"!

[If you’re joining us after the "official" deadline and you’ve completed an exercise, please leave a link in the comments of this post and/or add your works to the AO3 collection, I’ll ensure they get updated to this list. No Vexercise is ever really closed :) if the mood strikes you to make more, feel free to share!

I was hoping to get my own vid in for the extended deadline but haven't managed to so I will definitely be doing this!]

As usual, here is the round-up of works that were completed, all in one handy post. If you haven’t had a chance yet to view your fellow participants’ work, please check them out and if so inclined, leave some likes/kudos/comments as you wish. IF I MISSED YOUR WORK or if a link isn’t correct, etc, please ping me and I will fix!

Also, stay tuned for a wrap-up post for Vexercises 3.0!

Here are the free vids!

Time Has Come
Fandom: Doctor Who
by valoise

Small Talks (free vid) | 221b (bonus: audio layering OG vexercise)
Fandom: Miss Sherlock
by marah_sarie

Common People
Fandom: Star Wars (prequels)
by extrapenguin

Noble Blood
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
by the_wavesinger

Fire Escape
Fandom: Star Wars (Solo/Rogue One)
by colls

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Vexercise 7 - possible extension

Mon, 12 Sep 2022 23:42:07 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hey all! We are officially just past the deadline for the final free vid exercise, but we thought we might just check in to see if anyone is still working on theirs and might benefit from a little extra time? I'm in this boat and I'm happy to post after the deadline (as usual, no vexercise is ever truly closed!) but if anyone else is also on their way to finishing we thought we might extend till this weekend.

Please let us know - otherwise I'll do the round-up post for the vids we have had so far and we will call Vexercises complete!

ETA: Okay, let's hold the close-off over till Sunday as we have 1-2 people who may get their vids in on the weekend. I'll do the roundup post then :)

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Vex 8 Free Vid Check In!

Sat, 03 Sep 2022 13:46:47 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi everyone! Somehow, we're a week in to the final Free Vid challenge. (How is it September, really?/?) How's it going? Does it feel strange to be loosened from all constraints? Exciting? Overwhelming? Can you see the impact of the vexercises passed in your work now?

Feel free to share any questions, discoveries, challenges, or even partial drafts here if it would be helpful! Looking forward to see what vids come out of this one.

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Vexercise 6 close-off reminder

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 02:38:21 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Heya Vexercisers! This is just a quick reminder that Vexercise 6 - response fanvid/side character study wraps up tomorrow (insofar as any Vexercise is ever "done") If you've got something to post, make sure you put it in the comments of the kickoff post, and also remember to add it to the AO3 collection if you want to!

Tomorrow I will make a round-up post which collects all the posted Vexercise 6s (though I will be "late" with my submission myself. As always, no Vexercise is ever closed off and you can submit anytime!)

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Final Vexercise (7) drops!

Sun, 28 Aug 2022 02:33:14 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello everyone! So we are on the home stretch!

This last exercise lifts the 1 minute "restriction," and there's no particular focus, but it does ask you to draw on the tools we've been playing with throughout the vexercises:

Vexercise 7: Free Vid!

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

We realise that a two week timeframe is on the short side for making a full vid, but it is *possible,* however the process will certainly look different than for a vid that you have months to play with.

Sometimes, though, having a tighter timeframe can help! You might have to loosen up on perfectionism and constant tweaking and just go for it, which can be a challenge in and of itself or you might find it very freeing! We hope this final exercise will be more towards the latter than the former!

Please share any questions here as well as any thoughts you have on the Vexercises as a whole! We'll make a post later asking for feedback about particular exercises, which ones could be adjusted, which worked best...but would love to hear any initial thoughts you have about the process overall here.

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vfxercises & vfxercise 5

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 19:08:37 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi all! So I'm afraid I dropped the ball on the vfxercises... not sure if anyone was keeping track, but yeah, we're a bit behind :) It may be that the vexercises themselves are enough, but if anyone would like to do vfxercise 5, here's the belated drop post!

Vfxercise 5: (10-30s) use/modify a preset edit layout/template

I ended up springing for a month of motionarray to download a bunch of templates for kinetic typography, LUTs, etc., but I know there are free resources out there as well. Please rec any that you have!

Let's say that this one is "due"... September 3rd, if anyone wants to give it a go!

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Vexercise 6 check in!

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 00:12:51 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Happy Sunday/Monday everyone! How are we all going with our side character/vid response vexercise?

If you've started already (or finished), are there things you're finding challenging? Satisfying? Both at once?

I'm currently re-clipping my source due to a technical issue ughhhh excruciating honestly but that's a different topic altogether - I do have a response vid I am itching to start on, though!

If anyone has any questions/concerns please do comment and maybe we can chat it out :)

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Vexercise 6 drops! Side character study/Response fanvid

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 23:41:51 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello vidders and viewers! Here we go with Vexercise 6! This is one I've personally been looking forward to a lot :D

For this, the last vexercise before the free vid, you have two different choices!

Side character study

Produce a one 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.

Examples:
Blackbird (HP fanvid; McGonagall focus)
Lose Control (Nie Brothers, The Untamed)

Or, Response fanvid:

Produce a one minute video edit that responds to/remixes another fanvid, Vexercise or other.

If you're going to remix another vid, please do ask the vidder for permission; but there are other ways to respond too, such as your own brand new fanvid as a form of conceptual or formal reply inspired by a particular fanvid.

Examples:

Mei Changsu is Climbing the Mountain (Nirvana in Fire), a remix/response to The Mountain (Nirvana in Fire)
Fire Drills (The Untamed), inspired by Women’s Work (Supernatural)

If you have any other examples for either of these options, feel free to let us know in the comments!

Lola is in France right now (SO JEALOUS OMG) but I'm here and available to answer any questions you might have! :D

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Vexercise 5: round-up

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 23:24:44 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello vexercisers! Vexercise 5: Colour/Colour Grading/Lightbuilding is now complete!

Here is the round-up of works that were completed, all in one handy post. If you haven’t had a chance yet to view your fellow participants’ work, please check them out and if so inclined, leave some likes/kudos/comments as you wish. IF I MISSED YOUR WORK or if a link isn’t correct, etc, please ping me and I will fix!

[If you’re joining us after the "official" deadline and you’ve completed an exercise, please leave a link in the comments of this post and/or add your works to the AO3 collection, I’ll ensure they get updated to this list. No Vexercise is ever really closed :) if the mood strikes you to make more, feel free to share!]

True Colors
Fandom: Rogue One | Solo
by colls

MCTNA: a study of colour and light
Fandom: 나의 나라 | My Country: The New Age (TV)
by nu_breed

The Ghost's Eulogy
Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic
by extrapenguin

Far, Near
Fandom: Miss Sherlock
by marah_sarie

Fare Thee Well
Fandom: Our Flag Means Death
by alba17

Nor Bid the Stars Farewell
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
by the_wavesinger

Scenery
Fandom: Naruto
by lizardjay

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Vexercise 5 close-off reminder

Sat, 13 Aug 2022 23:35:52 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Heya Vexercisers! This is just a quick reminder that Vexercise 5 - colour/colour correction/light-building technically wraps up tomorrow (insofar as any Vexercise is ever "done" - please feel free to post any time!) If you've got something to post, make sure you put it in the comments of the kickoff post, and also remember to add it to the AO3 collection if you want to!

On Monday I will make a round-up post which collects all the posted Vexercise 5s as of then and I'll also launch Vexercise 6 (given a lot of folks are at fanworkscon I'm holding off till Monday for both of these)

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Vexercise 5 check-in

Sun, 07 Aug 2022 04:24:04 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Happy Saturday/Sunday everyone! How are you going with your colour/colour grading/lightbuilding vexercise?

If you've started already (or finished), are there things you're finding challenging? Satisfying? Both at once?

I ended up getting carried away with mine and accidentally ended up with a whole vid which I'm about to post.

It seems lightbuilding is a confusing concept for a bunch of folks and I would say it's really up for interpretation. In my mind it's using the lighting (natural or artificial) like you would use movement or graphic matching - letting the flow of it guide your editing choices. If anyone has more questions please ask! And/or if you're stuck with colour, let us know and we can chat about it :)

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Vexercise 4 Round-up!

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 03:22:25 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello vidders and viewers! Vexercise 4: Lyrical Play + is now complete! Apologies for the delay!

Here is the round-up of works that were completed, all in one handy post. If you haven’t had a chance yet to view your fellow participants’ work, please check them out and if so inclined, leave some likes/kudos/comments as you wish. IF I MISSED YOUR WORK or if a link isn’t correct, etc, please ping me and I will fix!

[If you’re joining us after the "official" deadline and you’ve completed an exercise, please leave a link in the comments of this post and/or add your works to the AO3 collection, I’ll ensure they get updated to this list. No Vexercise is ever really closed :) if the mood strikes you to make more, feel free to share!]

Birth of Darth Vader | Nobody's Friend | Do It For Myself
Fandom: Star Wars
by extrapenguin

Vexercise 4: Lyrical Play
Fandom: Star Wars
by colls

This Is What You Up Against
Fandom: Miss Sherlock
by marah_sarie

Amdir | Estel
Fandom: Lord of the Rings
by the_wavesinger

True North
Fandom: Our Flag Means Deth

Obito – Make Me Like You
Fandom: Naruto
By lizardjay

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Vexercise 5 Drops: Colo(u)r/Colo(u)r Grading/Lightbuilding

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 22:58:33 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hey everyone, as I mentioned in my last post it's time to drop Vexercise 5!

This exercise is focused on colour/colour grading (or color if you are, unlike me, from the US!)

So the brief here is to make a one minute video where you let color guide the logic and flow, either by selection or special effects.

Highly recommended: download a LUT and try using it!

There are many many LUT resources out there. Here are a few links you could try:

The 70 Best Free LUTs Hand-picked By A Colorist For Your Films
73 free LUTs for Premiere Pro
Free LUTs for Da Vinci
30 FREE Cinematic Luts | Color Grading | How to apply Luts in Adobe Premiere Pro
How to Install LUTS in Davinci Resolve
How To Install LUTs in Premiere Pro 2020 on MacOS super EASY!
How to Properly Install Luts in Premiere Pro for Windows & Mac Users

I haven't listed any vid examples here because there are numerous examples of vids that use colour in either of these ways (on the colour grading side there are too many YT vids to count that meet this brief!) But do please make suggestions in the comments!!!

Advanced: Lightbuilding

Lim talks about this in Demystifying Vidding. Produce a one minute vid where your guiding logic is lightbuilding. Try letting the flow and build of light guide your editing choices throughout.

Example vid: Lim's Expo (MCU)

Also some of these examples from Vexercises 2.0 may be useful!

Any questions, please ask!

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Vexercise 4 (Lyrical Play) close-off tomorrow

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 22:03:12 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Heya Vexercisers! This is just a quick reminder that Vexercise 4 wraps up today (insofar as any Vexercise is ever technically "done" - please feel free to post any time!) If you've got something to post, make sure you put it in the comments of the kickoff post, and also remember to add it to the AO3 collection if you want to!

Tomorrow I will make a round-up post which collects all the posted Vexercise 4s as of tomorrow and very shortly we will launch Vexercise #5!

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Vexercise 4 due date extension!

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 03:11:52 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hi all

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks for Lola and I and we’ve made the decision to extend the “due” date for Vexercise 4 to this coming Sunday - we’ll drop Vexercise 5 on the Saturday and you have officially until Sunday (or you know anytime after unofficially) to get this one in!

I’ll update the future drop/due dates when I can.

Any questions please ask!

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Vexercise 4 Check-in!

Sat, 16 Jul 2022 22:11:56 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello all! Happy Saturday/Sunday! How are you going with your lyrical play vexercise?

If you've started already (or finished), are there things you're finding challenging? Satisfying? Both at once?

I have barely started mine as I'm sick with a cold and trying to get my vids ready to submit to Fanworks Con before the deadline on Monday, but after that I'm keen to get back to it!

Let us know if you're stuck and not quite sure how to start and if you feel up to sharing your ideas/approach maybe we can all help brainstorm! Equally if you really don't know where to start let us know and maybe we can figure it out together!

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Vexercise 3 round up!

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 23:21:01 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello vidders and viewers! Vexercise 3: Rhythmic Editing is complete! Here is the round-up of works that were completed, all in one handy post. If you haven’t had a chance yet to view your fellow participants’ work, please check them out and if so inclined, leave some likes/kudos/comments as you wish. IF I MISSED YOUR WORK or if a link isn’t correct, etc, please ping me and I will fix!

[If you’re joining us after the “official” deadline and you’ve completed a vexercise, please leave a link in the comments of this post and/or add your works to the AO3 collection, I’ll ensure they get updated to this list. No Vexercise is ever really closed :) if the mood strikes you to make more, feel free to share!]

trickybonmot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LZZjzA6xZY&feature=emb_logo
Jiukuang
The Untamed

extrapenguin
https://archiveofourown.org/works/39922635
Leave This Place Alive
Star Wars: tOR

lizardjay
https://lizardjay.dreamwidth.org/5269.html
Let Up
Naruto

nu_breed
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40005816
Love SOS
My Country: the New Age

aurumcalendula
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40079358
Dark Side
吸血鬼鬼盲盒 | The Vampires

marah_sarie
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40102791
gimme gimme
Miss Sherlock

unavee
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40195110
Exactly How I Feel
Seventeen

annathecrow
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40203018
Tatooine
Star Wars

the_wavesinger
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40215534
River
The Borgias

the_wavesinger
https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Vexercises_Collection/works/40058205
Get Lucky
Battle of the Sexes

colls
https://archiveofourown.org/works/39603213/chapters/101026536
The House is on Fire
Star Wars (Rogue One and Solo)

alba17
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40571043
Oh Please Stay
Our Flag Means Death

naye
https://archiveofourown.org/works/40608522
Come With Me Now
Moon Knight

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VfXercise 4

Sun, 10 Jul 2022 14:18:00 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi all! Vfxercise 4 is pretty simple, incorporate masking in some way for a 20-30 second edit. You could do this on whatever tool you want to use, be it Premiere, Resolve, After Effects, FCP, you name it. Mask away characters, mask away objects, go crazy! Can't wait to see what things you erase and create!

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Vexercise 4 Drops: Lyrical Play

Sun, 10 Jul 2022 14:14:19 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi all! It's time for Vexercise 4 (wow, time flies!) This one is focused on working with incorporating lyrics conceptually and as text. (For those of you who did the vfxercise 3 on typography, you got a little taste/head start on this one!) Here are the details:

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.

Advanced Version: Lyrical Play with Key Frames & Masking

Follow the guidelines for the OG version, but try using key frames for moving text or text masking.

Keyframing in Da Vinci Resolve
Keyframing and masking in Premiere Pro

And here are some useful resources & tutorials:

Easiest Cinematic Title Minimal & Clean
How to place video within text
Add text behind a moving object
Typewriter effect
How to Make a Lyric Video
Inspirations for typography (a whole playlist!)

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Vexercise 3 "Due"

Sun, 10 Jul 2022 13:58:58 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi vexercise folks!! Vexercise 3s -- Rhythmic Editing -- are now "due"! If you've got something to post, make sure you put it in the Vexercise 3 post, and also remember to add it to the AO3 collection if you like. We'll post a Vexercise 3 round up soon!

How'd this rhythmic editing vexercise go? For those of you who decided to do multiple versions with different styles of rhythmic editing, which ones were most fun? Did you find yourself discovering new styles, or doubling down on your preferences?

More generally, I'm curious: how are you feeling about working with the same source/source limits? This is around the time when I get itchy to work with something new :D But I admire the consistent ppl who stick with the same source all the way through...

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vfxercise 3 check in

Sun, 03 Jul 2022 15:14:28 GMT

Posted by: lola

Hi all! Anyone working on their vfxercise 3? If so, how's it going?

How are you approaching your text animation? Are you using lyrIcs, or dialogue, or something else?

I decided to learn Davinci Resolve (and fusion) this summer, and so am using vfxercise 3 to kick that off... I keep falling asleep to tutorials on fusion nodes! I can't decide if this is because it's complicated, boring, or relaxing :D

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Vexercise 3 (Rhythmic editing) check-in!

Sun, 03 Jul 2022 03:01:01 GMT

Posted by: nu_breed

Hello all! Happy Saturday/Sunday depending on where you are! How are you going with your rhythmic editing vexercise?

If you've started already (or finished), are there things you're finding challenging? Satisfying? Both at once?

I really enjoyed this one and especially enjoyed the bonus version using vocals and instrumentation as the basis for my edit but the syncopation was fun too! Anyone else who has finished have any insights they'd like to share re their process? Things that were challenging/satisfying?

If you're stuck and not quite sure how to start we'd love to help. If you feel up to sharing your ideas/approach maybe we can all help brainstorm! Equally if you really don't know where to start let us know and maybe we can figure it out together!

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Vfxercise 2 round up

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 21:59:17 GMT

Posted by: lola

A few folks made some pretty cool stuff for vfxercise 2. Inspired? Join the fun! You can really just play around with special effects in whatever tool you're already using for the vexercises. No need for after effects if you don't have it!

When the last light is gone
Fandom: Star Wars: The Old Republic
by extrapenguin

Supermassive Black Hole
Fandom: Moon Knight
by naye

All Yi Bang-Won Does is Win
Fandom: My Country The New Age
by nu_breed

Oneus Got a Secret
Fandom: Oneus
by lola

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