Songvid
From Fan History Wiki
A songvid is a music video that edits clips from a favorite TV show, anime series or movie to a song. It is a cross between narrative story-telling and visual poetry. Because only small snippets of video images are used and no profit is made, some fans (and lawyers) argue that it should fall under the Fair Use exception to copyright laws. Interestingly, while a large number of anime video-makers (or vidders) are male, the bulk of vidders in media (TV/film) fandom are women (although these general lines are beginning to slightly blur).
Many fan-run media conventions (ex. Bascon, Escapade, MediaWest, Zebracon) host music video shows or vid shows. Only one convention is devoted exclusively to the art of songvids: Vividcon, which is held each year in August in Chicago, Illinois.
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[edit] Historical terminology
- Song tape - one of the first names used for songvids
- Songvid, song video, vid - term which became more popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s
- Feral vidder - a term used by some media fandom vidders for those who did not come into vidding through their mentoring circles or traditions
- Fanvid - a term being more commonly used to include the wider-range of fan-made videos being produced since the explosion of computer-vidding technology
- Vidder - someone who created fan-made vids
[edit] History
The first songvid was made by Kandy Fong in the 1970s when, at a Star Trek convention, she combined stills on a slide projector and a cassette player.
The first video cassette recorders (VCRs) came on the consumer market around 1978, and were at the time called VTRs. Blank tapes were much more expensive than today: $25 a piece. Starsky and Hutch was at its peak of popularity and as such fan recorded tapes were made, and traded within the community for many years as this was for a long time the only source of uncut, non-syndicated versions of the episodes. These would also be used extensively for the first songvids in the fandom.(Flamingo)
Early vids were referred to as "song tapes", and due to the limitations of early equipment were far less polished visually than vid watchers are used to today. A single scene might be recorded without edits with a song matched to its timing as closely as possible. One of the most notable examples of this is the Starsky and Hutch songvid to Bette Midler's "The Rose", put together by Kendra Hunter. Freeze-frame would be used to extend the length of shots as necessary, as well as inserting stills. Appreciation for these vids was more focused on the novelty of inserting a new soundtrack beneath familiar scenes in a complementary way than the advanced editing skills of the vidder.
As technology advanced, so did the art of creating songvids. SVHS machines made smoother and more precise cuts between scenes easier, and creative vidding grew in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Vidding groups were popular from the 1980s onwards, as vidders would combine their source materials, critique each others work and mentor new vidders, and release tapes together at conventions featuring their works. Some vidding groups popular through the years include California Crew, Central Consortium, Media Cannibals, Apocalypse West, Vid Weasles and Recycled Media Station. These groups would often develop and share a certain aesthetic style and approach to vidding.
As vidding became popular in a wider range of fandoms, vidding became a popular way of promoting or "pimping" fandoms at media conventions. Through the course of a 3-4 minute songs, members of a vidshow audience could be introduced to the characters, universe, and dynamics of a fandom. Vidding also evolved to the extent that different kinds of vids were given different names based on their intended audience. "Con vids" , for instance, were called such because they were intended to appeal to a wide audience of fan viewers who did not need to be deeply familiar with the source material to enjoy the vid. Con vids often were humorous, featured upbeat music, and might be multi-fandom celebrations of various shipped couples or character types. "Living room vids" were given that name because they generally were of more interest or appeal to those deeply familiar with a particular fandom. They might explore particular story arc, or rely on the viewer's familiarity with the context of a scene being used.
As computer-based video editing technology became available to the consumer market, songvids became increasingly complex. Quick-cuts, special effects such as dissolves and titling, and even image manipulation became prevalent in the 2000s. The first computer vid in Starsky and Hutch fandom, by Cindy Robinson, premiered at Connexions in 2001. Videos which were created using traditional vhs-to-vhs methods and/or featured longer scenes and fewer edits became less popular. Critical analysis of the art of vidding became increasingly intense, as matters of point-of-view, jump cuts, color palettes, gender of vocalists, and the use of special effects became factors in evaluating videos. Conventions such as Escapade would feature video review panels the morning after vidshows, where vids would be critiqued and discussed by creators and fans in attendance.
By 2002 at the first Vividcon convention for songvids, the term "feral vidders" was being used to refer to vidders who did not come from the media fandom mentoring circles or aesthetic, such as those who were becoming popular within Xena fandom using an entirely different aesthetic which was heavy on special effects and quick action cuts. There was also controversy around this time, discussed primarily on the vidder yahoogroup, about the practice of some Xena vidders charging what was considered too-high costs for copies of their vids and apparently making a profit off of them. This was considered a violation of the standard practice among media fandom vidders that vidding and sharing of vids should be a not-for-profit effort in order to avoid legal complications.
The founding of YouTube on February 15, 2005 was another landmark event in the history of songvids. Now vidders could easily share their computer-created videos on-line without needing to pay for expensive video hosting space. Fans outside of traditional media fandom circles also began creating songvids and sharing them on the web through YouTube. Some vidders, however, feared that YouTube would increase exposure of vidding in dangerous ways, and also responded negatively when they found their own videos being uploaded to YouTube by others without their permission.
Songvidding on YouTube has continued to expand through 2007 and into 2008 and fan-created songvids can be found for musical acts, video games, and all other manner of media sources. The art is continuing to evolve to incorporate original animation and computer graphics, and advances in technology should only continue to expand the scope of what constitutes a "songvid" in fandom.
[edit] Examples
- "Greetings in a Bottle" - The Police (fandom) - toredencker (vidder). Example of fanvidding in music fandom, where a song from the fandom itself ("Message in a Bottle") is interpreted in live performance and clever editing by a fan.
- "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" - Whitney Houston (song) - Starsky and Hutch (fandom). One of the first "altered reality"/story vids, where scenes were used to create a unique storyline which differed from the canon of the series.
- Policeholiday2007 - The Police (fandom) - nessy1337 (vidder). Example of computer animation combined with music and audio samples to create a fanvid in music fandom.
- "The Rose" - Bette Midler (song) - Starsky and Hutch (fandom) - Kendra Hunter (vidder). One of the earliest and most important vids in the fandom still, despite or perhaps because of the simplicity which perfectly conveys the message of the song.
- "Smut" - Tom Lehrer (song) - multifandom - Mary Schienblatt. Early multi-fandom vid, which also incorporates footage of fans as well as their media fandom characters.
[edit] External Links
[edit] See also
This section needs more information.
[edit] References
- "Starsky & Hutch Historical Vids", Flamingo
