VVC09 Panel: Timing Is Everything
Timing Is Everything
Moderator: heresluck
This panel approaches timing on both a micro level (making the most of individual sounds in a piece of music) and a maco level (pacing a vid as a whole). Although it will be aimed primarily at vidders, the panel might also be of use to vidwatchers and betas seeking to understand how vidders create particular aesthetic and emotional responses through their choices about timing and pacing. Questions to be discussed could include: What are techniques for landing stuff on the beat? How do we acknowledge the beat yet avoid boring/predictable monotony of cuts? How do we decide whether and why to cut fast or slowly? How do internal and external motion of clips affect our perception of pacing?
In other timing news, this panel took place right after lunch, so I missed the first few minutes. When I came in, I think heresluck was talking about using the waveform to time cuts precisely and
laurashapiro and
jarrow were recommending going by feel instead.
heresluck: What's good timing?
Audience: [Suddenly avoiding eye contact for fear of being called on]
h.l.: Okay, let's try this: What makes for bad timing?
Missing key elements of the music. Video and audio not being in unison. Conversely, good timing works with the music -- all the music, not just the beat. What elements of the music is it possible to work with?
Pacing
Enthusiasm: don't get bored with your own vid. How do you maintain enthusiasm?
How do you decide when to cut faster or slower? What changes in the music?
Instrumentals often strike people as difficult to vid, initially, but they have their own shapes. You can also change the shape of the song via sound editing.
People need more time to process clips that contain a lot of information (whether that information is visual, emotional, thematic, or narrative), or that depend heavily on context.
h.l. showed part of her vid "Atropine" and all of "New Frontier" to point out changes in her use of the music. nestra pointed out "New Frontier" is a more dynamic song; where "Atropine" is 2-2-2-2, "New Frontier" is 3-3-2, which creates a punchier sound. Luminosity pointed out the use of circular spinning movements to move from one clip to another. She also mentioned "Dante's Prayer" as a slow vid that doesn't drag at all; it uses the slowness of the song to pack in more visual information.
Moderator: heresluck
This panel approaches timing on both a micro level (making the most of individual sounds in a piece of music) and a maco level (pacing a vid as a whole). Although it will be aimed primarily at vidders, the panel might also be of use to vidwatchers and betas seeking to understand how vidders create particular aesthetic and emotional responses through their choices about timing and pacing. Questions to be discussed could include: What are techniques for landing stuff on the beat? How do we acknowledge the beat yet avoid boring/predictable monotony of cuts? How do we decide whether and why to cut fast or slowly? How do internal and external motion of clips affect our perception of pacing?
In other timing news, this panel took place right after lunch, so I missed the first few minutes. When I came in, I think heresluck was talking about using the waveform to time cuts precisely and
laurashapiro and
jarrow were recommending going by feel instead.
heresluck: What's good timing?
Audience: [Suddenly avoiding eye contact for fear of being called on]
h.l.: Okay, let's try this: What makes for bad timing?
Missing key elements of the music. Video and audio not being in unison. Conversely, good timing works with the music -- all the music, not just the beat. What elements of the music is it possible to work with?
- Beats or stress points
Don't think of cutting as the only thing you want to do on the beat; sometimes you'll want to use the beat to emphasize internal motion or a big moment. cherryice maps out the stress points before she begins vidding. - Lyrics
- Tempo
- Instumentation
Be aware of all the instruments (including the voice as a sound). Generally your pacing and cutting will be consistent with a particular instrument. But beware of becoming so attuned to a particular instrument line when you're working on a vid that you lose track of how the instruments combine. Pay attention to the overall rhythm. - Volume
- Phrasing
For example, you might cut a techno vid exactly on the beat, and a waltz a little past it, because the waltz phrasing glides you past the beat instead of hitting you on it)
Pacing
- Variety in cutting is important. In astolat and cesperanza's "A Day in the Life," the first crescendo has lots of fast cuts but the second crescendo has one long, long shot and then a fast cut - because you've already seen the first crescendo's frenzy and intensity reflected in the rate of cutting, the single shot on the second crescendo is ominous and suspenseful.
- Filler=problem
- Starting too fast can tire your viewers out, especially if you use a long song and cut fast all the way through. Let the vid build to a climax. This may require editing the song intensively to create a musical structure that supports this (see Why the Average Pop Song Makes a Boring Vid), although it's possible to create a build entirely through visuals. morgandawn objected to the assumptions in the idea of "build"; the vidders in the discussion privileged that structure, but it's not the only one possible, and not the only aim possible for vids. (h.l.: That brings us to the idea of genre: narrative vids vs. mood vids, for example.)
- Don't blow your wad too soon; make sure the impact of the vid comes at the right place.
- Don't make your vid all punchline, no setup, and no reaction time; give the vid time to breathe and the viewers time to react.
Enthusiasm: don't get bored with your own vid. How do you maintain enthusiasm?
- absolutedestiny vids his favorite parts first.
- sockkpuppett has to know where she's going (if she has the end, she can figure out the beginning) and usually does the bridge first. laurashapiro points out the bridge is the point where things change musically and should be the point where things change visually (thematically/narratively).
How do you decide when to cut faster or slower? What changes in the music?
- "Busier" sound
- Vocal changes
- Volume
- Additional vocal lines or instruments
- Chorus/verse/bridge
The bridge is a good time to cut faster - viewers only need to process the music and the visuals, not the music, the visuals, and the lyrics. Choruses also allow faster cutting than verses, especially after the first chorus, because the vid watcher is already familiar with the lyrics. If you've shown an image before, you can use a shorter clip to evoke its memory than you needed to establish its presence. - Thematic reasons
- Because of the vid's internal narrative
- To create motion in the vid
- Song changes in mashups
Instrumentals often strike people as difficult to vid, initially, but they have their own shapes. You can also change the shape of the song via sound editing.
People need more time to process clips that contain a lot of information (whether that information is visual, emotional, thematic, or narrative), or that depend heavily on context.
h.l. showed part of her vid "Atropine" and all of "New Frontier" to point out changes in her use of the music. nestra pointed out "New Frontier" is a more dynamic song; where "Atropine" is 2-2-2-2, "New Frontier" is 3-3-2, which creates a punchier sound. Luminosity pointed out the use of circular spinning movements to move from one clip to another. She also mentioned "Dante's Prayer" as a slow vid that doesn't drag at all; it uses the slowness of the song to pack in more visual information.