Synopsis Guidelines
Assignment emails are still forthcoming, but since we don't have any previous rounds to refer back to yet, sdwolfpup and I wanted to clear up any misconceptions about what a Stranger's synopsis should entail. I promise these ginormous mod posts will die down once we've established some precedent. :-)
Most importantly, we reiterate that SSF is not a vid critique. We are here to talk about fandoms. The vids are merely the tools you will use to decipher what's going on in the fandom. The mods reserve the right to censor any vid-critiquing portions of your synopses, and we will send you an email letting you know specifically what will be removed and why. This includes both negative and positive feedback. This is not the place for it. We do, however, highly encourage you to contact the vidders individually and let them know what you thought about their work.
To clarify, please do not submit statements like this:
"The vid didn't give me much to go on, but I assume..."
"Wow, what a ________ vid!"
"I love how the overlays convey such strong emotion..."
"That is totally the wrong song for this show..."
And so on. The only reason to mention a vid in your synopsis is to clarify which vid you are pulling information from (if you have more than one). Statements like "in X vid he was doing this, but in Y vid he was doing that," are fine because you're talking about the character and action. I hope the distinction is clear enough. You're welcome to run something by us (publicly or privately) if you're unsure.
Aside from that, you have free reign to write whatever you'd like! We encourage you to use whatever writing style and approach you are most comfortable with. Be serious, be snarky, be witty, be whatever! Profanity is allowed, as is discussion of adult themes. Maybe you're out to construct the most accurate description of the bunch. Maybe you're out to construct the least accurate description possible. So long as you're talking about the fandom at hand, we honestly couldn't care less!
There is no right or wrong way to go about this. You could do an action-oriented running commentary for the vid(s). You could do a book report approach, offering your serious analysis of the fandom. You could completely make up ridiculous plotlines, referencing points in the vid to back up your theories. You could write an epic poem about how these two characters are obviously so gay for each other. The list goes on and on, you guys. Be creative!
If the fandom has multiple vids, you have even more options open to you. Do you want to watch them all before you start writing? Or watch one, write some, watch the next, write more, etc? You could describe how the different vids weave together to produce one fandom, or pretend each vid is its own AU of the fandom, or something else entirely. And so on and so forth.
So, what in the world should you write about?
It's up to you, but we recommend touching on points like these:
- genre
- premise
- setting (time and place)
- size of cast
- characters (including actors' names)
- relationships
- plot
That's just for starters to get your brain going. You are in no way obligated to mention any of those things if you don't want to.
It's important to remember that the synopses will be posted anonymously. There is no shame whatsoever in not knowing what is going on! The less you know, the more fun this is. Details are golden! Be specific! Feel free to call people "Probably Wears Thongs" or "Big Gay Bob" if you don't know their names. Make accusations about characters! Be confident in your ability to deduce plotlines! If you don't know, pretend you do! Don't worry about being wrong, no one will know it was you. Looking up information on the internet to appear smarter in your synopsis just proves you're a big cheater with no sense of fun.
We only have two mandatory requirements for all synopses:
1) At least 200 words. More is better! There is no upper limit. Go wild!
2) Submit your synopsis via email with the subject line "Round 1 Synopsis - Hercules" or whatever fandom you have. Please only send one synopsis per email. If you have multiple assignments, send individual emails with distinguishing subject lines. Each synopsis must be in this 2-part format:
All I knew about this fandom was:
Here's what this fandom is really about:
In the first section, lay down everything you knew going into this project before you watched the vid(s), even if that was nothing at all. Some of you knew more than others, and it's nice to see the foundation you built your analysis on. The beef of your synopsis is the second section. Show us what you've got!
You are all welcome to discuss what fandom(s) you were assigned in your own livejournals or whatever. We welcome the advertising, and it's more of an audience for you! We do, however, implore you to keep your particular synopsis a secret within the walls of the community. Even if you don't care if people know, please respect the anonymity of the other Strangers. Process of elimination ain't that hard once it starts unravelling. When the synopses are posted, we will delete any comments on the community that reveal a Stranger's identity.
Again, synopses are due by the end of Sunday July 29th. If you can't make the deadline, submit it anyway, and we'll add it to the post later on. If you have any questions about this process, please don't hesitate to ask via comment or email. Good luck!
Most importantly, we reiterate that SSF is not a vid critique. We are here to talk about fandoms. The vids are merely the tools you will use to decipher what's going on in the fandom. The mods reserve the right to censor any vid-critiquing portions of your synopses, and we will send you an email letting you know specifically what will be removed and why. This includes both negative and positive feedback. This is not the place for it. We do, however, highly encourage you to contact the vidders individually and let them know what you thought about their work.
To clarify, please do not submit statements like this:
"The vid didn't give me much to go on, but I assume..."
"Wow, what a ________ vid!"
"I love how the overlays convey such strong emotion..."
"That is totally the wrong song for this show..."
And so on. The only reason to mention a vid in your synopsis is to clarify which vid you are pulling information from (if you have more than one). Statements like "in X vid he was doing this, but in Y vid he was doing that," are fine because you're talking about the character and action. I hope the distinction is clear enough. You're welcome to run something by us (publicly or privately) if you're unsure.
Aside from that, you have free reign to write whatever you'd like! We encourage you to use whatever writing style and approach you are most comfortable with. Be serious, be snarky, be witty, be whatever! Profanity is allowed, as is discussion of adult themes. Maybe you're out to construct the most accurate description of the bunch. Maybe you're out to construct the least accurate description possible. So long as you're talking about the fandom at hand, we honestly couldn't care less!
There is no right or wrong way to go about this. You could do an action-oriented running commentary for the vid(s). You could do a book report approach, offering your serious analysis of the fandom. You could completely make up ridiculous plotlines, referencing points in the vid to back up your theories. You could write an epic poem about how these two characters are obviously so gay for each other. The list goes on and on, you guys. Be creative!
If the fandom has multiple vids, you have even more options open to you. Do you want to watch them all before you start writing? Or watch one, write some, watch the next, write more, etc? You could describe how the different vids weave together to produce one fandom, or pretend each vid is its own AU of the fandom, or something else entirely. And so on and so forth.
So, what in the world should you write about?
It's up to you, but we recommend touching on points like these:
- genre
- premise
- setting (time and place)
- size of cast
- characters (including actors' names)
- relationships
- plot
That's just for starters to get your brain going. You are in no way obligated to mention any of those things if you don't want to.
It's important to remember that the synopses will be posted anonymously. There is no shame whatsoever in not knowing what is going on! The less you know, the more fun this is. Details are golden! Be specific! Feel free to call people "Probably Wears Thongs" or "Big Gay Bob" if you don't know their names. Make accusations about characters! Be confident in your ability to deduce plotlines! If you don't know, pretend you do! Don't worry about being wrong, no one will know it was you. Looking up information on the internet to appear smarter in your synopsis just proves you're a big cheater with no sense of fun.
We only have two mandatory requirements for all synopses:
1) At least 200 words. More is better! There is no upper limit. Go wild!
2) Submit your synopsis via email with the subject line "Round 1 Synopsis - Hercules" or whatever fandom you have. Please only send one synopsis per email. If you have multiple assignments, send individual emails with distinguishing subject lines. Each synopsis must be in this 2-part format:
All I knew about this fandom was:
Here's what this fandom is really about:
In the first section, lay down everything you knew going into this project before you watched the vid(s), even if that was nothing at all. Some of you knew more than others, and it's nice to see the foundation you built your analysis on. The beef of your synopsis is the second section. Show us what you've got!
You are all welcome to discuss what fandom(s) you were assigned in your own livejournals or whatever. We welcome the advertising, and it's more of an audience for you! We do, however, implore you to keep your particular synopsis a secret within the walls of the community. Even if you don't care if people know, please respect the anonymity of the other Strangers. Process of elimination ain't that hard once it starts unravelling. When the synopses are posted, we will delete any comments on the community that reveal a Stranger's identity.
Again, synopses are due by the end of Sunday July 29th. If you can't make the deadline, submit it anyway, and we'll add it to the post later on. If you have any questions about this process, please don't hesitate to ask via comment or email. Good luck!