I am pleased to announce...

[hmpf]

... that we have a beta version:

http://www.allabouthmpf.com/ab17.wmv

(Yes, that '17' does indeed mean that this is version no. 17 of my vid.)

Comments, especially from more experienced vidders, are very welcome. Doesn't matter if you know the show or not - what I'm most interested in are comments about technical issues like timing and the many oddities of Windows Movie Maker, anyway. (And yes, I *am* going to use a different program for the next vid. WMM is too much of a pain in the eema to make more than one vid with, unless you have an insanely high tolerance for frustration.)

Notes:

- There's still odd little image hiccups in it which I can't seem to remove in Windows Movie Maker. Will have to try another program for that, just don't know what yet.

- Windows Movie Maker screwed up the timing ever so subtly during rendering, I think. Or maybe I'm just tired. Will have to look at it again tomorrow when I'm not so exhausted.

- A couple of clips still need replacing.

- At least half a dozen clips still need to be re-timed.

- There's silent speaking in a number of clips. In most cases this is due to there simply being *no* footage of the characters in question in a fitting situation that does *not* involve talking. (Considering that we only have something like five minutes of footage of Sam in 2006, and I had to find all my 'A' material in those five minutes, it's a miracle I found as many usable clips as I did.) In the cases where better clips can be found, the clips will be replaced.

- There's silent shouting, too. That is due to my needing shots of angry!Sam, and he does a lot of shouting when he's angry. Personally, I think those shots work pretty well, but if you think otherwise, do tell me. After all, this is still only a beta version.

- I still need to figure out how to save this in a format that will not appear squished. For now, please set your players to widescreen; that should fix the problem on your side, at least until I've found a way to fix it on my side.

- I misspelled my name nickname in the credits. How embarrassing. It's actually Hmpf MacSlow, with an 'a'.

- Yes, I am aware that some of the lyrics don't *really* fit. Still, the concept of the song was so nice for a Life On Mars vid that I couldn't resist.

***

Useless trivia: This vid contains 74 separate clips.

Comments

[aprivatefox.livejournal.com]

I don't know the source or the song - but I liked the vid. Without either piece of context, it's hard to figure out exactly what any of it -means-, but the emotions generally run right throughout, and nothing feels out of place video-wise. I'm impressed. =)

[steelvictory.livejournal.com]

Not knowning anything about the song, or the show, or vidding itself, the only thing I can really say is that I thought it was lovely.

So does he see dead people or what? And he seems to get guns pointed at his head an awful lot.

[mmapmaker.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

I've been following your posts on this, and it seems as if you were able to put this vid together fairly quickly -- amazing! Go you!

[ralphwynn.livejournal.com]

cool song, cool vid *claps*

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay!

My thoughts on this are pretty much the same as my thoughts on the last one. I like it a lot, there are a bunch of really nicely timed moments, and the clips fit the music thematically very well even when the words aren't quite right (although I can't tell that well since I don't watch the show.)

Yeah, I can see the three moments you mention, but to be fair, you are using WMM. The image hiccups still look like you've accidentally got an extra clip in front which is, like, a frame or two long, and there's one ghost frame (irritating if you don't have enough clip to make do after cropping it and no real solution short of retiming or using another clip.)

All in all, a great video and I can see why it would make Ebru want to watch the show. It does to me, but that's mostly because of stuff I've seen of it *outside* your vid, and the fact that with all the Methos eps still to watch, and a video being made (currently half way through, 88 clips and counting, oy why am I doing lots of fast cuts?!) I'm extremely resistant to new fandoms. I'm already way behind on my writing - I don't need to exacerbate the problem!

Anyway, good luck eventually fixing the issues. In the meantime, rest assured, it's *good*. I enjoyed it.

In other news, Kev has an infected cut on his hand and might have to go to hospital (hopefully not) and can't stand up for too long in case he collapses due to low blood pressure and is on craploads of antibiotics that the doctor says will probably make him throw up. Which sucks, cos it's his birthday tomorrow. Fun!

TBRFKASK.

[chasarumba.livejournal.com]

When I saw your post at vidding, I had to come and find out more about your work-in-progress! I'm really impressed with what you've done with this so far...it's shaping up to be a very mature first video. The thing that strikes me most is that you have excellent instincts when it comes to using the motion already inherent in clips -- be it camera pans or action of actors/objects in the shot. This is something that I feel a lot of vidders don't fully exploit...it's already there, so make the most of it (the vid I'm working on now is largely a big motion whoring experiment, so I've been like a kid in a candy store playing with it)! You're doing that with great attention to the music.

I see you've already chosen to upgrade editing software, and I hope that eliminates a lot of the headaches you've had with WMM. Even an older version of Premiere (which I'm guessing is what you're using) will offer you much greater control when it comes to cutting and placing clips.

Re talking/shouting shots -- as far as I'm concerned, you can't avoid them all, and further, there ARE times when you will appropriately, intentionally use them. I agree with how you've used them here...the shouting clips work for me. I dunno...maybe some go the "never ever" route, but not me. The biggest problems with talking clips are when you have the repeated use of dialogue close-ups (tight, close head shots with no action or movement to distract from the very obvious talking head).

And to encourage you further, I had heard about Life On Mars, but sort of forgotten that I wanted to procure it...until I watched your draft, which re-focused my attention ;) Off to give it a whirl now...

OH! Time spent on vids. I am not the right person to be saying what's "normal," but it seems that (looking at your past posts) this has come together pretty darn quickly! This from the slowest of the slow.

[jazzymegster.livejournal.com]

I thought it was still cool, even with the hiccups, and I am AMAZED and impressed muchly by it (also, I really liked the song - could you please send me it? *flutters eyelashes*)

:)

[fenlings]

I recommend that you Disable the Divx watermark.

I think that when the music changes at 0:25 you need to change something visually. This is a whole different section musically, and staying on the blue sky feels like we're being left behind. Even zooming in or out would work.

I adore the lights/door thing from 0:55.

At 1:21, you need to either take out the first clip of the naked girl or stay on it longer.

At 3:06 I feel that "Let's roll the dice just one more time" stays a little too long on that shot of the guy reaching for the gun.

I don't know the context, but 3:22 doesn't seem like a very "Don't wanna die" shot to me. I've never seen the show though!

Anyway, these are just my impressions. I really really like this vid. I am very impressed. It's got strong narrative coherency and good use of external movement. I hope you fix those stutters, and I can't wait to see the finished product. It's already better than the vast majority of stuff out there.

[fahrbotdrusilla]

heh, I like this, I probably couldn't give you any extra feedback then most that have already posted here. BUT! I just wanted to let you know (which is silly, you don't know me, I don‘t think) Your post on vidding a bit back was one of the reasons I watched Life on Mars in the first place! (The whole “How could this show be vidded with A & B Song,” which I love). I ADORE the show, so thank you. :)

I can't wait to see the final version.

I still have no LoM icons