CH5 COLLABORATING

CH5 COLLABORATING

COLLABORATING | 73

HOW DO WE COLLABORATE WITH OTHER FANVIDDERS?

Well, collaborating with other fanvidders across the world is something special. Getting to share the same passion we have for fanvids together is an amazing feeling. Joining collabs is one of the most ecstatic things about the vidder community. The experience, skills, and new friendships we make through collabs is a big plus in our lives.

HOW DO WE CONTACT?

Vidders contact through social media, such as, Twitter, Skype, Instagram, or YouTube. YouTube notifications are not good in this sense, because for some odd reason YouTube has stopped giving us notifications. Another great way to contact each other is through “WhatsApp”. This is a great text messaging app that is available to use internationally and most vidders have been using it lately. Another great and new app to contact each other is “Discord”. Most people have been using it more, because of how organized it can be compared to Skype or Twitter. You can make multiple groups for different chats in your own group. I have also noticed many students at George Mason have started using it. It’s a great way to contact each other in big groups.

WHO HOSTS THESE COLLABS?

Collab or Collabs are usually hosted by one person. One way it begins is by that person choosing a song and cutting the song between 8-12 seconds for each part. Then the host will upload the collab to YouTube and they would list how many parts are available in the description box. Other video editors will then comment under the video for what parts they would like to have. We call them Collab Parts.

Another way that’s become very popular in our community is by making a group on Twitter or Skype and inviting many vidders. Some vidders can say that they’ll love to join, and others might not be able to. By this process the host will take note of how many people want to join and start cutting the parts. The parts again are usually between 8-12 seconds. They can be more or less, but most of us recommend sticking to no less than 8 and no more than 12.

The reason behind how many seconds one part should be, is because you don’t want it to be too fast or too slow. You want that perfect balance. Some people follow the beat, and some don’t. In that case not everyone will have the exact same number of scenes in their parts.

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WHAT ARE COLLAB GROUPS?

Collab groups are initially made by one person and that person can have co-captains to help. Collab groups are usually made for channels that will upload regularly. The collab group will have a specific YouTube channel available for them and it will list all the members as part of the group.

First the Host will open auditions to see if anyone wants to join. Unfortunately, not everyone will be accepted into collab groups all the time. Some collab groups want a specific style from the video editors, but some accept everyone.

A collab group can be focused on either one fandom, for example a Harry Potter group. In this collab group we will be video editing only from the Harry Potter world. Another example of a collab group can be focused on only romantic couples. We call them “Multicouples” because it’s multiple different couples from different fandoms. Second example would be, “Multifandom” collab group. This will focus on everything, from couples, characters, TV shows, movies, family, friendships, and anything you can think of. Third example would be, to focus mainly on one TV show, such as, “Supernatural”, “One Tree Hill”, “Supergirl”, “Smallville”, etc. As you can see, there are many focuses a collab group can be made for.

Here is the last tutorial of the book and I will be covering how you can mask out characters from their TV show or movie and add them onto another.

There’s another great example of collabs or just videos in general and they are called “MultiCrossovers”. A MultiCrossover is combining actors from different fandoms in the same world. This world is usually made up by the video editor. They have a story to tell and want to create their own characters using different actors that would fit their vision. I have always been extremely amazed by what these MultiCrossover editors can do. It’s like they write their own book or create their own world and choose which actors would fit their characters.

I never thought in a million years that I would edit any crossovers; however, I gave it a shot and it really surprised me how much I enjoyed it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUwdGTX6rQk

THE CREATIVE LIFE BEHIND #fanvids | 75

MultiCrossover collab part with actors Selena Gomez and Jason Behr. I took scenes from their TV shows and movies to make it look like they are in the same world. Creating a story for them using the mask tool in Sony Vegas.

In the MultiCrossover collabs I took part in, I used masking inside my program to remove either the background or the actors from the background. Then I blended them in the other actor's background. I also made sure the coloring, such as, the brightness, saturation, and contrast was all the same. How did I do?

I plan on making full MultiCrossover videos in the future and now that I have tried making them it truly makes me want to go into that world from time to time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fLHuzcbRgo

My second MultiCrossover collab I took a part in was with actors Kerem Bürsin (who is a famous Turkish actor) and Lily Collins. I used scenes from their TV shows and movies to create a world they both live in using the mask tool.

If you are still not sure what exactly a collab is, you can head over to YouTube and type in the search box, “fanvid collab groups”. There are great examples of what kinds are out there. Some collab groups might focus on just one TV show and others can focus on various TV shows and movies. The collabs usually look like one person made them, but if you check the DB you'll be able to see many other channel names of the participants who took part.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODwDfI0DgXQ

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ONE ON ONE VS GROUP COLLABS

One on one can be as much fun as group collabs, if not better. Group collabs are not the same as collab groups. A group collab is when you make a video with more than three people and there can be as many as 30 people, even more. It makes it harder when there’s a lot of people mostly because of tracking who turned in their collab part. Sometimes personal issues arise in our lives and in that case, we might have to let the person know who hosted the collab that we won’t be able to complete our part. The good thing about this is that they will be able to get a fill in to do our part. The bad thing is that this might make it hard and stressful for the hosts to find someone. In certain times, there might not be anyone who can fill in.

COLLAB PARTS VIDEOS

Collab parts videos are going to sound a bit confusing at first. As I talked about in the previous sections, a collab part is usually between 8 -12 seconds. Once you have created your collab part for the collab you joined, then you still have it in your computer. Most people tend to keep their collab parts because they are like small portfolio pieces. Collab parts videos are edits that combine all of your collab parts from different collabs into one video. Imagine having 50 collab parts and most of them are from different collabs you have joined. Then those 50 collab parts will be in one video and the video will most likely be 3 to 5 min long or in some cases, longer. We create these videos to showcase the collab parts we have made, and this also helps us see our progress.

Time zones are a nightmare… and not a figurative one

TIME ZONES

The vidding community struggles a lot with time zones because we can’t contact each other whenever we are all free. It can be a real struggle when planning things or figuring out times to get together and talk about collaborating. My best friends live three hours behind me, which might not seem like a lot, but it can be very hard at times to talk to them when I am free because maybe then they are busy or vice versa.

Here I combined some of my favorite collab parts that I got to work on for different styles. I had so much fun for each one and have gotten the chance to learn new techniques and grow as a video editor. My favorite editing style to work with is definitely more on the raw side with few effects and focusing more on the voiceovers and sound effects.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQK_Ka31rwg