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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

The Prize at the Bottom of Box: Multimedia and Fan Fiction. Do you YouTube?

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by oqidaun, Jan 21, 2007.

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  1. oqidaun

    oqidaun Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
  2. Are you the type of person who has a secret file full of right-clicked graphics just waiting to be dumped into Photo Shop?


  3. Do you have sketchbooks full of concept art to go with your WIP?


  4. Do your readers feel let down if a chapter is updated without graphics?


  5. Is there an iMix named after your fic for all the world to see on iTunes?


  6. Have you gone above and beyond simply writing a trailer and actually made one with music, photos and video clips?



  7. This is a place for all those extras to shine. If you're the type of writer who uses multimedia to help the reader experience the epics inside of your head, let's fess up and admit to all of that extra work that makes our stories more than just words on the page.

    You might be asking why not split this up and send the art to FanArt and the trailers to FanFilms? Easy, these are the things that we do as writers to promote and expand our stories, why not keep it close to the readers and our fan fiction family? There are a lot writers here who are adding some really excellent "extras" to their work and just as many eager to give it try.


    This will be a place to share our creations, have fun with the occasional challenge and talk about the audio-visual side of fan fiction.


    To get the ball rolling, tell us how you incorporate multimedia into your fic. Let's go easy on the images for now, but you can definitely post links.


    I suppose I'll go first:

    Hi, my name is oqidaun and when I'm not being an OC Revolutionary, I'm addicted to making cheezy trailers to go with my fan fiction.

    I started off about six years ago using PowerPoint sideshows to bring together images to set the scenes for my LOTR and Matrix stories. I then moved to webpages with clickable chapter graphics. The rise of MP3s and better audio editing inspired me to have embedded links in my stories to the thematic music--that was in the happy decadent days of the Napster free-for-all. When I became proficient with Windows Movie Maker I started making trailers in addition to keeping up with chapter graphics and soundtracks. Now, I've made the big switch to Apple. Currently, I am learning the ropes on iMovie and I've replaced Photo Shop with Gimp.

    I lost a lot my stuff this past November when I lost my computer and all of my back-up drives. Unfortunately I was in habit of posting things online for a short period of time and then pulling them off. Bad idea! What's left of the older graphics can be found at circusfiretragedy.com.

    I'm also a YouTube junkie and here's a link to my current trailer
    The Keeper of Secrets: Death is in the Diamond



    Anyone else or am I just the only one around here this obsessed?
     
  8. RebelGrrl

    RebelGrrl Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 13, 2006
    I mess around with graphics to 'design' my OCs. :)

    The link is in my sig... I put stuff up in the FanArt section as the muse moves me.
     
  9. The_Face

    The_Face Ex-Manager star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Feb 22, 2003
    Well, as you can tell by the bonus features I just put up at Galaxy Grey, I do put extras together, though not of the AV variety. I'm not quite that savvy. :p This time around, I kept my deleted scenes and ideas and set them aside for later to share with my readers. I also put together a poor casting for the fic, which I know some people do.

    I usually try to put together written trailers for my upcoming fics at the end of my story threads, and a playlist of tunes for me to write to.

    One unique thing I did for Galaxy Grey: There was an author OC in the fic, and I wrote up an "excerpt" from one of the book titles mentioned by another character. I like those kind of extras on my DVDs. I started writing a Dan Brown parody, but I took the Mary Sue aspect of Langdon too far, and ended up with a bad fanfic parody. So I have a deleted bonus feature. That was too many levels for me, so it's still on my computer. :p
     
  10. DarthIshtar

    DarthIshtar Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Mar 26, 2001
    For a lot of my stories, I have specific costuming done. It's a function of the fact that a lot of my characters are in diplomatic or royal roles and need some help.

    In other types of fic, I have tried to broaden. I have a Yellowcard CD that helps me get into the mindset to write my Pink 5 fics and I have shopped extensively online (well, Windows shopping, not buying anything) for clothing and accessories.

    Other than that, I'm just not very bright.
     
  11. Star-Foozle

    Star-Foozle Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Aug 24, 2006
    Oh, how cool. :D

    I'm an artist, and I always draw concept sketches of my characters before I start writing them. I'll also scan magazines for people who look like them and cut out pictures for references. About half my sketchbook is overrun with doodles related to my stories.

    I've got several burned CDs that are entirely filled with 'story songs': tunes that remind me of a character, or an event, or are just inspiring and good to write to. I've also got a program called ACID Music Studio that lets you custom-make and design your own tracks. I play around with that alot to get a 'theme song' for specific characters or events. Right now I've made four that directly correlate to fics I've written.
     
  12. Layren

    Layren Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 28, 2003


    Anyone else or am I just the only one around here this obsessed?



    You're not the only one, oqi, rest assured :p


    My craziness involved making a multi-volume four disc soundtrack collection edited with the program audacity taking various clips from other music and weaving them together for the Days Like These soundtrack books 1 and 2. Each CD had roughly 22 tracks, if that tells you anything :p

    What's this iMix thing you speak of? Can I really share my soundtracks with everyone else??

    I've never bothered to share them with anybody; seeing as most people wouldn't be interested except the readers I have.

    I also made a trailer with windows movie maker to go with it. Need to make a new one since the other story has since been scrapped due to plot holes and is being rewritten under an entirely different name.

    I thought it was bad that I was so obsessed with my own writing. Glad to know I'm not the only one :p

    Here's the link to my trailer. Days Like These

     
  13. rebel_cheese

    rebel_cheese Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 6, 2006
    I'm very minimalist with promotion, myself. I'm one of those people who tries to get the job done without any extra frills. Granted, that won't work when I'm actually publishing, so I'm just going to enjoy being lazy now. :p

    I do listen to music sometimes, though. And I do have theme songs for the characters I use, as well as general themes for situations. Unlike the characters (who universally get a rock or alternative song) the situations often dive inbetween alternative/rock and classical. Whether's it's 'Battle of Heroes', the Call of Duty soundtrack, the underappreciated Finch song 'What It Is To Burn', or the guitar solo extraordinare 'Hangar 18', I find a theme song for every kind of situation.

    But I don't burn them or make iMixs. That's something I'll do when I actually publish. :p
     
  14. JadeSolo

    JadeSolo Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2002
    I GIMPed a picture of an OC once, and my roommate at the time was horrified that I was coloring Michael Vartan's eyes to make them greener. Then I told her I was creating a story character, and she was okay with that. :p

    The most I've done is create soundtracks. Sometimes I build the soundtrack first from a general storyline. I have two mix CDs that were made that way. Often there's a specific song that inspires a scene or whole vig (once it was Chevelle's "Send the Pain Below"), but lately I've been playing anything that evokes the right mood, regardless of lyrics.

    The biggest reason I never played with anything more is that I had craptastic Dell computers. Now I have a Mac. I'm ready for the big time. :D

    edit: Damn, oqi! That is one badass trailer! \m/ I liked the nod to Badour in the credits. [face_laugh]
     
  15. Thumper09

    Thumper09 Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 2001
    The most I've ever posted in a story on these boards wasn't multimedia in and of itself, but it was modeled after it. I wrote out some "gag reel" scenes like some DVD's have now and posted them after the story was complete.

    Like many others have mentioned here, I do soundtracks for my own use. My OC's have theme songs and most of my stories have songs I associate with them, either because of the situation, the "feel," or as little as one line that connects them in an important way. Sometimes I associate a song with a story or scene after I'm done writing it, and other times I get the idea for the story or scene from a song. That happens a lot with me.

    I've got photos of people for my main OC's, and if I'm really lucky then it's an actor or actress. I'm using these as references to try sketching portraits, because I don't want to get into any trouble from posting the actual photos. One of these days I'll tackle that list I have of scenes from my stories that I want to sketch, but that'll be...quite challenging, LOL. One of my big goals is to learn Poser and Bryce well enough to make CG pictures of my OC's and their homeworlds. (One day...one day...)

    The multimedia trailer concept is really cool. I'm envious of all of you who do it. :)

    -Thumper
     
  16. Healer_Leona

    Healer_Leona Squirrel Wrangler of Fun & Games star 9 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2000
    Pretty cool how many people can do even more than writing. The coverart, scene pics and video trailers are astounding.
     
  17. Rebel_Radio

    Rebel_Radio Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2006
    I'm just getting into Photoshop (I use CS2), so I like to use the Japanese NJO Covers and play around some. I've made two covers for Reverse Situation:
    Cover 1 (The cover that my readers voted for)
    Cover 2 (The "Darkness" cover)
    Although, it's still really hard to do something like taking a Jacen Solo head and putting it on an Anakin Skywalker body. I'm trying that for a new cover, but it just doesn't look right. Any suggestions?
    (Yeah, I know, it's not a Photoshop thread...)
     
  18. Alley_Skywalker

    Alley_Skywalker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2005
  19. JadeSolo

    JadeSolo Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2002
    Rebel, I like the blue/green one. Those stripes are nifty. :D I'm not a PS expert, but you may have to futz around with the head's size - I'm still a newbie, so it takes me a while to get it right. I end up enlarging or decreasing the size of the original picture that I'm taking the head from, but I think if it's not too bad, you can get away with tweaking the head right after you've pasted it. Try also rotating the head - the angle makes a big difference. And don't forget necks! :p

    Alley - Daniel Craig! The AFA from Law & Order! Way to use a lesser-known actor. :D

     
  20. JediNemesis

    JediNemesis Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2003
    I do cover art for everything, regardless of whether it'll ever be needed. I even have cover art for several stories I haven't actually written. :oops: I use Corel PP.

    Here are the ones I've got round to uploading . . . they've lost a little of their resolution going onto Photobucket but they still look okay.

    The Storm
    Alone
    Seventy & Seven Shades of Green
    Bucket Dreams
    &end
    Half-Life
    Ice

    So, um, yeah. :p

     
  21. Alley_Skywalker

    Alley_Skywalker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2005
    Just realized that I have this little thing uploaded. The orinial version (this is the new version complete with some touch ups and stuff) was actually intended for an English project. however. now its a frustrating sourse of plot bumny breeding.

    Shadows Of Justice


    These two I made for Luna.
    Never A Master
    Demons In My Sanctuary


    ...Hmmm...I wonder what else I have floating around[face_thinking]
     
  22. Nienna_Narmolanya

    Nienna_Narmolanya Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 5, 2005
    I love getting to see everyone's cover art and trailers. :) They're all lovely.

    I like making cover art and trailers for my fics because they help me get more excited about the story and force me to summarize the plot and figure out the theme - all essentials for me before I can really start writing. Not to mention it's fun and a great way to procrastinate. :p

    Here are some of my covers. I'm too nervous about my trailers to post them... [face_worried]

    Proof of Heart
    A Single Tear
    Ghost Stories
    Whispers
    Into the Dark
     
  23. oqidaun

    oqidaun Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    Wow! The cover art is really great!
     
  24. poor yorick

    poor yorick Ex-Mod star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Jun 25, 2002
    I've done almost all of the above . . . except I still don't know what an iMix is. :(

    The first thing I did back when I decided I was inventing an entire planet in detail was go online and download about 18 MB (truly) of images that showed what the place looked like. I had to find pictures of the landscape, the houses, the people, etc. I don't know why I apparently needed to "see" a world I was inventing in my own head, but apparently I did.

    The story's soundtrack evolved naturally--mostly just through what songs I found myself hitting "repeat" on a million times as I was writing, because they called up some useful mood or something.

    The trailer came about because I was blown away by oqi's "cheezy" trailers and suddenly wanted one of *those* there things, real bad. :p

    Several of my one-shots were inspired by pictures from my old image thread, but I haven't really had another project major enough to justify all that background work. Actually, I swore never to write another fanfic novel again as long as I lived. I'm praying that the thing I'm writing now is going to curl up and die as a novella. [face_praying]
     
  25. Healer_Leona

    Healer_Leona Squirrel Wrangler of Fun & Games star 9 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2000
    So many multi-talented people on the boards.

    Wonderful coverart all. =D= =D=
     
  26. JediNemesis

    JediNemesis Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 27, 2003
    iMix is a tool they have on iTunes. If you have an IT account, log onto the iTunes Music Store and you can put together iMixes - basically, create your own playlists from the music available in your country's Store. The cool thing is that having created this playlist, you can put it up for other people to look at - and download as they would an album if they want to. :)
     
  27. Alley_Skywalker

    Alley_Skywalker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2005
    Man! Talk about this thread boosting inspiration levels!

    Umm, so speaking of trailers.

    The Ways Of The Force teaser trailer


    This trailer covers one of the aspects of the story, I wasn't able, so far, to find enough matirial to cover all the aspects.

    Also this trailer contained SPOILERS, or at least in my POV it does. So you have been warned.
     
  28. oqidaun

    oqidaun Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    Nice trailer, Alley!


    Here's new cheez from me. I put together a new character trailer Crimes of Fashion: Mazaricky MaclaMahoney and Elan Sleazebaggano. I've been playing more with video than usual. If you view it, you might want to check the "Description" for my little caveat about the music before you turn it up at work. :D
     
  29. Alley_Skywalker

    Alley_Skywalker Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 27, 2005
    Thanks, Master. See all the wonderful ways I have for procrastinating with updates?:p

    [face_laugh] Now, THAT was something. [face_laugh]
     
  30. Kestrel_Kenobi

    Kestrel_Kenobi Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 26, 2005
    oh, just found this!

    I have a few trailers - all up on you tube and have just started to add cover art to my fics. I'm very new to all this so I'm using really basic packages at the moment. The limitations can be frustrating, but it's a start!

    I'll dig out some links and add them later.
     
  31. oqidaun

    oqidaun Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jul 20, 2005
    Egads! I let this sink out of existence! :(
    Can't help, but notice there's a plethora of fanfic trailers over on YouTube.
    Time to spill the Jawa berries, what's your YouTube channel and preferred software for cheezy fanfic trailer making?


    I'm an iMovie person and here's where you'll find the oqster over in YouTube land.

    C'mon A/V fanfic nerds and geeks fess up!

    :D



     
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