Post by AD on Jan 4, 2015 16:18:17 GMT -5
Ok, so I noticed this discussion taking place in the Vidmas thread, but (as Leelee pointed out) it seems to be devolving into a pointless "my way of doing things is better than your way of doing things" argument, and nobody really benefits from those. And, since the debate seemed to be sparked by my "storytelling is overrated" comment (which was just a throwaway post not meant to be taken too seriously), I thought I would create this thread so we can refocus the discussion (which is a very interesting one to me), while also refocusing the Vidmas section on the actual Vidmas videos.
So to kick things off I have two key points I want to hit on.
1. Storytelling really is overrated.
Story-based videos are not inherently more creative than other forms of videos. So let's put a stop to that ridiculous notion right now. When you're doing a story video the story you are "telling" has actually already been told in much greater detail by other people. So in essence what you're really doing is summing up said story, highlighting the key moments. You don't get credit for "creating" that story. Therefore, the real creativity comes from the formal innovation of the editing. And that can come from a character study video (like beej's Vader video), or a theme-based video (like Eric's "We Can Overcome") or even a simple freestyle video (like Shocker's "Scat Man" video), just as easily as it can come in a story-based video. They are all equally valid forms of creative expression.
2. Story and substance are not the same thing.
I suspect that a lot of people use the word "story" as an all-encompassing term for any video with any depth beyond just random highlights set to music. But substance can come in so many other forms. It can be as simple as the perfect marriage of song and subject. It can come in the form a clever combination of clips from different sources (Leelee's current Vidmas video is the perfect example of this). It can come in so many different forms.
Music videos are an almost purely emotional form of expression, and the editing is what really creates the emotion. If you're doing a story video then the story is just an excuse for the editing. So let's not mistake the surface (story) for the substance (emotion created by editing).
So that's my philosophy (I come by it honestly). Now it's your turn to refute my arguments or build on them as you see fit. Let's have a real discussion on the subject, we might all benefit from it in the long run.
So to kick things off I have two key points I want to hit on.
1. Storytelling really is overrated.
Story-based videos are not inherently more creative than other forms of videos. So let's put a stop to that ridiculous notion right now. When you're doing a story video the story you are "telling" has actually already been told in much greater detail by other people. So in essence what you're really doing is summing up said story, highlighting the key moments. You don't get credit for "creating" that story. Therefore, the real creativity comes from the formal innovation of the editing. And that can come from a character study video (like beej's Vader video), or a theme-based video (like Eric's "We Can Overcome") or even a simple freestyle video (like Shocker's "Scat Man" video), just as easily as it can come in a story-based video. They are all equally valid forms of creative expression.
2. Story and substance are not the same thing.
I suspect that a lot of people use the word "story" as an all-encompassing term for any video with any depth beyond just random highlights set to music. But substance can come in so many other forms. It can be as simple as the perfect marriage of song and subject. It can come in the form a clever combination of clips from different sources (Leelee's current Vidmas video is the perfect example of this). It can come in so many different forms.
Music videos are an almost purely emotional form of expression, and the editing is what really creates the emotion. If you're doing a story video then the story is just an excuse for the editing. So let's not mistake the surface (story) for the substance (emotion created by editing).
So that's my philosophy (I come by it honestly). Now it's your turn to refute my arguments or build on them as you see fit. Let's have a real discussion on the subject, we might all benefit from it in the long run.