Songvid
Encyclopedia
Vidding is the fan labor
practice in media fandom
of creating music videos from the footage of one or more visual media sources, thereby exploring the source itself in a new way. The creator may explore a single character, support a particular romantic pairing between characters, criticize or celebrate the original text, or point out an aspect of the TV show or film that they find under-appreciated. The creators refer to themselves as "vidders", their product as "vids", "fanvids", or "songvids", and the act itself as vidding.
Vidding can occur within a fandom
; however, it is also often considered its own fandom, as vidding fans will often watch vids simply because they are vids. (This is distinct from fan fiction
readers and other fans
, for instance, who tend to choose what to engage based on source text more than form.) Accordingly, vidding has its own dedicated fan convention
, Vividcon.
Fan videos within the world of anime fandom are distinct from the videos created by vidders. A fan-made music video using anime footage fans is called an anime music video
or AMV, not a fanvid. While a large number of anime video makers are male, the bulk of vidders in media fandom are women.
stills on a slide projector
with music from a cassette player. She performed her vids with live cutting at fan conventions, which continue to be one of the main venues for vid-watching. When home videocassette tape recorders became available in the mid-1970s, vidders began producing live-action vids that were recorded onto media that could be shown at fan conventions and further distributed to fans. Substantial technical and artistic skill were required to cut vids together, often requiring footage from multiple VCRs to be placed on the same tape, with the added challenge of exact timing. Typical vids could take 6–8 hours to produce, and more elaborate ones could take substantially longer. Vidders, predominately women, passed this knowledge on to each other.
With the rise of digital media, greater bandwidth, and the widespread availability of free, albeit basic, video creating/editing software
such as iMovie
and Windows Movie Maker
, the skill level required for vidding has been reduced and the number of distribution outlets has increased. As a result, both the number of vidders and the number of accessible vids has skyrocketed. However, because of concerns that the outside community won't understand the vids and the context of vidding as well as some copyright and intellectual property concerns, many of the most experienced vidders do not make their vids readily-accessible on public venues such as YouTube
, although this is changing.
In the age of YouTube
and other video sites on the internet, there is increasing cross-pollination between these schools, as well as between vids, anime music videos, machinima
, and political remix music videos.
Many fanvids are primarily concerned with shipping
, the love stories that a fan sees within her favorite films or TV shows. Existing romantic scenes may be further romanticized through video transformations or song choice. The author may also argue for a romantic pairing that does not occur in the source text through juxtaposing relevant scenes or even splicing in additional material. Supporters or "shippers" of on-screen couples may also manipulate clips to retroactively change scenes to fit a within-vid reality that incorporates their pairing.
Youtube vidding is a vast community with hundreds of users now taking part.
and digitization, a prosumer
can create their own work out of copyrighted material.
Copyright
law attributes the clips and the music in fanvids as the property of those who originally produced them for radio and television/film. As a result, some fans and lawyers worry and argue that fanvids constitute a breach of copyright law. Other fans and lawyers, such as those in the Organization for Transformative Works
, argue that fanvids fall under the fair use
exception to copyright laws, as only small snippets of video images are used creatively and no profit is made.
Websites such as YouTube
caution against the uploading of copyrighted material, even though thousands of fanvids have been uploaded there. Fans with material on that website will sometimes find their vids removed with a copyright infringement message.
More recently though, James H. Billington
in his statement relating to section 1201 rulemaking noted that circumvention of security protocols for motion pictures on DVD
s will not be subject to DMCA statute against circumvention. Billington specifically allows for the creation of "non-commercial videos" which would include vids.
Fan labor
Fan labor is a term used to refer to the productive creative activities engaged in by fans, primarily those of various media properties or musical groups...
practice in media fandom
Media fandom
Media fandom refers to the collective fandoms focused on contemporary television shows and movies. Media fandom has a focus on relationships and is distinct from science fiction fandom, anime fandom, book fandom, music fandom, soap opera fandom, sports fandom, and video game fandom.-History:Media...
of creating music videos from the footage of one or more visual media sources, thereby exploring the source itself in a new way. The creator may explore a single character, support a particular romantic pairing between characters, criticize or celebrate the original text, or point out an aspect of the TV show or film that they find under-appreciated. The creators refer to themselves as "vidders", their product as "vids", "fanvids", or "songvids", and the act itself as vidding.
Vidding can occur within a fandom
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
; however, it is also often considered its own fandom, as vidding fans will often watch vids simply because they are vids. (This is distinct from fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
readers and other fans
Fan (person)
A Fan, sometimes also called aficionado or supporter, is a person with a liking and enthusiasm for something, such as a band or a sports team. Fans of a particular thing or person constitute its fanbase or fandom...
, for instance, who tend to choose what to engage based on source text more than form.) Accordingly, vidding has its own dedicated fan convention
Fan convention
A fan convention, or con , is an event in which fans of a particular film, television series, comic book, actor, or an entire genre of entertainment such as science fiction or anime and manga, gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and...
, Vividcon.
Fan videos within the world of anime fandom are distinct from the videos created by vidders. A fan-made music video using anime footage fans is called an anime music video
Anime music video
An anime music video is a music video consisting of clips from one or more animations set to an audio track ; the term usually refers to fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of video game footage put together with music which is known as a GMV...
or AMV, not a fanvid. While a large number of anime video makers are male, the bulk of vidders in media fandom are women.
History
Vidding began in 1975, when Kandy Fong synced Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
stills on a slide projector
Slide projector
A slide projector is an opto-mechanical device to view photographic slides. Slide projectors were common in the 1950s to the 1970s as a form of entertainment; family members and friends would gather to view slide shows...
with music from a cassette player. She performed her vids with live cutting at fan conventions, which continue to be one of the main venues for vid-watching. When home videocassette tape recorders became available in the mid-1970s, vidders began producing live-action vids that were recorded onto media that could be shown at fan conventions and further distributed to fans. Substantial technical and artistic skill were required to cut vids together, often requiring footage from multiple VCRs to be placed on the same tape, with the added challenge of exact timing. Typical vids could take 6–8 hours to produce, and more elaborate ones could take substantially longer. Vidders, predominately women, passed this knowledge on to each other.
With the rise of digital media, greater bandwidth, and the widespread availability of free, albeit basic, video creating/editing software
Video editing software
Video editing software, is application software which handles the post-production video editing of digital video sequences on a computer non-linear editing systems...
such as iMovie
IMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac, iPod Touch 4th generation, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, and iPad 2 users to edit their own home movies. It was originally released by Apple in 1999 as a Mac OS 8 application bundled with the first FireWire-enabled consumer Apple...
and Windows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker
Windows Movie Maker is a video creating/editing software application, included in Microsoft Windows Me, XP, and Vista. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be...
, the skill level required for vidding has been reduced and the number of distribution outlets has increased. As a result, both the number of vidders and the number of accessible vids has skyrocketed. However, because of concerns that the outside community won't understand the vids and the context of vidding as well as some copyright and intellectual property concerns, many of the most experienced vidders do not make their vids readily-accessible on public venues such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, although this is changing.
Schools of Vidding
There are three main schools of vidding:- MediaWest vidders congregated around the MediaWest*Con fan convention, which began in the 1970s and provided a vid room. Vids were shown repeatedly, and people wandered in and out all day. MediaWest-type vids are meant to be understood by people who don't bring a lot of context to them (including even knowledge of the fandom source text), so are often spectacular, splashy, or funny.
- Living room vidders, the followers of Mary Van Deusen, are designed to be watched by fans multiple times in a quiet environment. These vids call for viewers to have intimate familiarity with the source and to study the vid's visual choices through multiple watchings, so that the vidder's arguments can be understood. Fully understanding a living room vid is most akin to poetry analysisPoetry analysisand content, in an informed way, with the aim of heightening one's own and others' understanding and appreciation of the work.The words poem and poetry derive from the Greek poiēma and poieo . That is, a poem is a made thing: a creation; an artefact. One might think of a poem as, in the words of...
; it usually calls for understanding the source text, learning the song lyrics, watching for visual metaphors and alterations to the original scenes, as well as being involved in the community. - San Francisco vidders tell stories similarly to Mary Van Deusen and her followers, but with an art school sensibility. This school of vidding emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and is defined by more concern for the visual and different use of color and motion than classic vidding.
In the age of YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
and other video sites on the internet, there is increasing cross-pollination between these schools, as well as between vids, anime music videos, machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
, and political remix music videos.
Terminology
Vidding uses all the terminology common to media fandom, as well as terminology developed for vidding-specific needs. For instance, "MM" may stand for multimedia, meaning a vid made from more than one source show. A "garbage can vid" is a multimedia vid with source from tens or even hundreds of shows and movies.Content
Fanvids are created based on material from TV shows, movies, and occasionally official music videos to make an argument through juxtaposing the original video with song lyrics. In vids, the music is an analytic device rather than a soundtrack. At their best, fanvids are a cross between narrative story-telling and visual poetry, a form of visual essay that uses the source material itself to put forward one aspect of how the author sees the source. At their worst, vids are little more than a string of shots strung together, akin to a thesis statement without significant backup.Many fanvids are primarily concerned with shipping
Shipping (fandom)
Shipping, derived from the word relationship, is the belief that two fictional characters, typically from the same series, are in an intimate relationship, or have romantic feelings that could potentially lead to a relationship. It is considered a general term for fans' emotional involvement with...
, the love stories that a fan sees within her favorite films or TV shows. Existing romantic scenes may be further romanticized through video transformations or song choice. The author may also argue for a romantic pairing that does not occur in the source text through juxtaposing relevant scenes or even splicing in additional material. Supporters or "shippers" of on-screen couples may also manipulate clips to retroactively change scenes to fit a within-vid reality that incorporates their pairing.
Youtube vidding is a vast community with hundreds of users now taking part.
Copyright and Fair Use
As television and online media increasingly intermingle in the age of new mediaNew media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
and digitization, a prosumer
Prosumer
Prosumer is a portmanteau formed by contracting either the word professional or less often, producer with the word consumer. For example, a prosumer grade digital camera is a "cross" between consumer grade and professional grade...
can create their own work out of copyrighted material.
Copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
law attributes the clips and the music in fanvids as the property of those who originally produced them for radio and television/film. As a result, some fans and lawyers worry and argue that fanvids constitute a breach of copyright law. Other fans and lawyers, such as those in the Organization for Transformative Works
Organization for Transformative Works
The Organization For Transformative Works is a non-profit organization that advocates for the transformative and legitimate nature of fan labor activities, including fan fiction, fan vids, anime music videos, and real person fiction...
, argue that fanvids fall under the fair use
Fair use
Fair use is a limitation and exception to the exclusive right granted by copyright law to the author of a creative work. In United States copyright law, fair use is a doctrine that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the rights holders...
exception to copyright laws, as only small snippets of video images are used creatively and no profit is made.
Websites such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
caution against the uploading of copyrighted material, even though thousands of fanvids have been uploaded there. Fans with material on that website will sometimes find their vids removed with a copyright infringement message.
More recently though, James H. Billington
James H. Billington
Lord LeBron James Hadley Billington is an American academic. He is the thirteenth Librarian of the United States Congress.-Early years:...
in his statement relating to section 1201 rulemaking noted that circumvention of security protocols for motion pictures on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s will not be subject to DMCA statute against circumvention. Billington specifically allows for the creation of "non-commercial videos" which would include vids.
See also
- Anime music videoAnime music videoAn anime music video is a music video consisting of clips from one or more animations set to an audio track ; the term usually refers to fan-made unofficial videos. An AMV can also be a set of video game footage put together with music which is known as a GMV...
- MachinimaMachinimaMachinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
- Copyright infringementCopyright infringementCopyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
- FandomFandomFandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
- Fan fictionFan fictionFan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
- Found footageFound footageFound footage is a filmmaking term which describes a method of compiling films partly or entirely of footage which has not been created by the filmmaker, and changing its meaning by placing it in a new context. It should not be mistaken for documentary or compilation films. It is also not to be...
- Glossary of fan fiction terms
Vidding history
- "Women, Star Trek, and the early development of fannish vidding," Francesca Coppa (2008), Journal for Transformative Works.
- "The Vidder: Luminosity upgrades fan video," Logan Hill (2007), New York Magazine.
- "Vidding (2008)," Organization for Transformative WorksOrganization for Transformative WorksThe Organization For Transformative Works is a non-profit organization that advocates for the transformative and legitimate nature of fan labor activities, including fan fiction, fan vids, anime music videos, and real person fiction...
(2008), New Media Literacies at MIT.
Copyright
- "Visions and Revisions: Fanvids and Fair Use," Sarah Trombley (2007).
- "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video," Center for Social MediaCenter for Social MediaThe Center for Social Media in the School of Communication at American University examines strategies to use media as creative tools for public knowledge and action. It focuses on social documentaries for civil society and democracy, and on the public media environment that supports them...
(2009). - "A 'Test Suite' of Fair Use Examples for Service Providers and Content Owners," Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
.
External links
- Cardboard Reel Inventions - The Ultimate Fan Vidding Community
- Vidders.net
- A Genealogy of Vidding - curated by Francesca Coppa and Laura Shapiro
- Organization for Transformative Works
- An Archive of Our Own - with more than 5000 curated works in more than 500 fandoms
- "Vidding" at Fanlore, a fan history wiki