VVC09 Panel: I C WHUT I DID THAR: Understanding Meta Vids
I C WHUT I DID THAR: Understanding Meta Vids
Moderated by millylicious and nightchik, following the vidshow VJ'd by nightchik and kiki_miserychic.
Discussion pertaining to the methods and reasoning of reading the meta level of vids. Discussion of the visual, narrative, and stylistic choices that lead to a meta reading. Meta vids being those that work in more ways than one, often suggesting a basis beyond the individual fandoms of the source andmore about a larger concept and/or fandom itself. Vids that go beyond the narrative of their source, commenting on the nature of that narrative, connecting with outside meanings, or placing the story in a larger cultural context.
Group discussion of all the vids, and apparently I talked too much, because I don't have notes on most of them.
thingswithwings's "The Glass" and Stacia Yeapanis's "We Have A Right to Be Angry" were both under acatheory; some discussion of how suitable this was for Yeapanis's vid. (I would say that "The Glass" could easily be categorized as a meta vid about sexuality as well as fair use and acatheory, but I'm not sure anyone brought this up.) Someone-Deepa?--expressed reservations about the use of violence in "We Have A Right to Be Angry": when do we take violence as a metaphor and when do we imagine literal violent revolution? What effects does violence as a metaphor have?
In "The Glass," the POV is that of the fan audience; the camera is us.
shati's "Secret Asian Man" and talitha78's "'White' and Nerdy" both use humor to subvert racism; they use the songs in diametrically different ways. Where the writer of "Secret Asian Man" clearly critiques the lack of Asian representation in pop culture, Weird Al is reinforcing racial stereotypes even as he parodies them. Talitha is subverting the song with the video editing. Showing George Takei when the lyric is "Kirk or Picard" underlines the invisibility of people of color: while white fans argue about white captains, Talitha points out the ignored character played by a person of color. Deepa: This is a vid about the performativity of race and the policing of racial identity, by both whites and nonwhites - the reaction shots show both white people and other black people reacting to Gus's geekishness or his failure to persuasively perform stereotypes of "blackness."
yunitsa's "My Medea": Many read the camera gaze as Joss Whedon and the argument as powerful women are okay if you can control them, rescue them, and/or get off on their debasement. Others felt the song choice didn't work for this argument and/or that the criticism was instead or also of the female audience, of female investment in narratives that depend on our own injury, because the song is too gendered (female singer, Medea story about female vengefulness in response to injury by man, Medea story about woman inflicting violence on children in response to injury by man).
obsessive24's "Effigy": The starkness of the black and white. Does "an effigy, a parody" mean "I was a queen, now I'm a servant girl"? I have a hard time with this vid, because it's very effective, but it does such violence to Gwen's character to make her into the Guinevere of legend; it's such a contrast to Obsessive24's other Merlin vid for me, because "Red" brings out characteristics that make the male characters into heroes (tragic heroes, but heroes, active, admirable) and "Effigy" suppresses most of what Gwen currently is to make her into a tragic heroine (passive). Also contrasts to bananainpyjamas's "Intergalactic Friends" where again the invocation of external mythology elevates the male heroes to a higher plane. "Intergalactic Friends"'s brilliant use of the mashup between something science fictiony and The Dandy Warhol's "We Used to Be Friends," intimate soap opera and status plays, Smallville as comic book adventure gone soap opera.
"Pressure": Gave one viewer such love for VCR vidders. The emphasis on female industry: the one woman in the traditional female supporting role cooks for them, doesn't participate in vid-making, calmly reads porn off in her corner: what she does is important too.
This was another panel that didn't go where I expected, although, again, I enjoyed where it went. I had expected more of an examination of what makes a vid meta, how does a vidder signal that the vid is about more than the source fandom content, how are the arguments structured? What makes one meta vid successful in conveying its argument and another unsuccessful?
Also am puzzled why it's "I C WHUT I DID THAR" instead of "I C WHUT U DID THAR."
Moderated by millylicious and nightchik, following the vidshow VJ'd by nightchik and kiki_miserychic.
Discussion pertaining to the methods and reasoning of reading the meta level of vids. Discussion of the visual, narrative, and stylistic choices that lead to a meta reading. Meta vids being those that work in more ways than one, often suggesting a basis beyond the individual fandoms of the source andmore about a larger concept and/or fandom itself. Vids that go beyond the narrative of their source, commenting on the nature of that narrative, connecting with outside meanings, or placing the story in a larger cultural context.
Group discussion of all the vids, and apparently I talked too much, because I don't have notes on most of them.
thingswithwings's "The Glass" and Stacia Yeapanis's "We Have A Right to Be Angry" were both under acatheory; some discussion of how suitable this was for Yeapanis's vid. (I would say that "The Glass" could easily be categorized as a meta vid about sexuality as well as fair use and acatheory, but I'm not sure anyone brought this up.) Someone-Deepa?--expressed reservations about the use of violence in "We Have A Right to Be Angry": when do we take violence as a metaphor and when do we imagine literal violent revolution? What effects does violence as a metaphor have?
In "The Glass," the POV is that of the fan audience; the camera is us.
shati's "Secret Asian Man" and talitha78's "'White' and Nerdy" both use humor to subvert racism; they use the songs in diametrically different ways. Where the writer of "Secret Asian Man" clearly critiques the lack of Asian representation in pop culture, Weird Al is reinforcing racial stereotypes even as he parodies them. Talitha is subverting the song with the video editing. Showing George Takei when the lyric is "Kirk or Picard" underlines the invisibility of people of color: while white fans argue about white captains, Talitha points out the ignored character played by a person of color. Deepa: This is a vid about the performativity of race and the policing of racial identity, by both whites and nonwhites - the reaction shots show both white people and other black people reacting to Gus's geekishness or his failure to persuasively perform stereotypes of "blackness."
yunitsa's "My Medea": Many read the camera gaze as Joss Whedon and the argument as powerful women are okay if you can control them, rescue them, and/or get off on their debasement. Others felt the song choice didn't work for this argument and/or that the criticism was instead or also of the female audience, of female investment in narratives that depend on our own injury, because the song is too gendered (female singer, Medea story about female vengefulness in response to injury by man, Medea story about woman inflicting violence on children in response to injury by man).
obsessive24's "Effigy": The starkness of the black and white. Does "an effigy, a parody" mean "I was a queen, now I'm a servant girl"? I have a hard time with this vid, because it's very effective, but it does such violence to Gwen's character to make her into the Guinevere of legend; it's such a contrast to Obsessive24's other Merlin vid for me, because "Red" brings out characteristics that make the male characters into heroes (tragic heroes, but heroes, active, admirable) and "Effigy" suppresses most of what Gwen currently is to make her into a tragic heroine (passive). Also contrasts to bananainpyjamas's "Intergalactic Friends" where again the invocation of external mythology elevates the male heroes to a higher plane. "Intergalactic Friends"'s brilliant use of the mashup between something science fictiony and The Dandy Warhol's "We Used to Be Friends," intimate soap opera and status plays, Smallville as comic book adventure gone soap opera.
"Pressure": Gave one viewer such love for VCR vidders. The emphasis on female industry: the one woman in the traditional female supporting role cooks for them, doesn't participate in vid-making, calmly reads porn off in her corner: what she does is important too.
This was another panel that didn't go where I expected, although, again, I enjoyed where it went. I had expected more of an examination of what makes a vid meta, how does a vidder signal that the vid is about more than the source fandom content, how are the arguments structured? What makes one meta vid successful in conveying its argument and another unsuccessful?
Also am puzzled why it's "I C WHUT I DID THAR" instead of "I C WHUT U DID THAR."