How do you judge success?

Savia · Post by **Savia** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:11 pm

Not that I create AMVs per se, but on the subject of creative success, I adore this quotation (whichhas been intermittently featured in my signature):

'A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him' -Man Ray

downwithpants · Post by **downwithpants** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 1:51 pm

My definition of success would be how closely the product matches the original idea and intent of the video i had in my head, rather than other people's opinions. If I wanted the video to be an simple action video, but it ended up dwelling on the story too much, I'd consider it relatively unsuccessful, even if it was well received.

Other people's opinions help me see things I don't see myself, and scores roughly measure how well the video appeals to others. They are very important, but they aren't essential to my definition of success.

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:01 pm

downwithpants wrote:My definition of success would be how closely the product matches the original idea and intent of the video i had in my head, rather than other people's opinions. If I wanted the video to be an simple action video, but it ended up dwelling on the story too much, I'd consider it relatively unsuccessful, even if it was well received.

Other people's opinions help me see things I don't see myself, and scores roughly measure how well the video appeals to others. They are very important, but they aren't essential to my definition of success.

That's actually a very good way of putting it; I could have said something along similar lines, except in my case, I think I'm a bit more flexible - that is, I sort of welcome changes to the video concept that come during the process, even if they're major changes. Although I gotta admit I usually go into videos with a rather vague idea of what exactly they'll turn out like, it's usually more of an intention than a concrete plan. But fulfilling that intention (even if it's as simple as 'making a decent video to this really good music while trying out certain editing techniques and keeping in mind the plot of the anime') is still the main measure of success.

Tsunami Jones · Post by **Tsunami Jones** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:06 pm

Savia wrote:Not that I create AMVs per se, but on the subject of creative success, I adore this quotation (whichhas been intermittently featured in my signature):

'A creator needs only one enthusiast to justify him' -Man Ray

That's kinda how it is for me. If one of my videos brought enjoyment to even just one person, then it was a great success.

mexicanjunior · Post by **mexicanjunior** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:13 pm

If at the end of the day I can still watch my vids and get a hard on...I succeeded.

Voices_Of_Ryan · Post by **Voices_Of_Ryan** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:17 pm

mexicanjunior wrote:If at the end of the day I can still watch my vids and get a hard on...I succeeded.

I know I get hard to your videos =O.

rubyeye · Post by **rubyeye** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:18 pm

If you are doing this just for "acceptance and praise", then stop doing it. It isn't worth the time and energy if you're just waiting for people to compliment your hard work - to make you feel like you did something productive/positive.

To answer your immediate question, I address "success" by the number of people who have taken to time to say they enjoyed my work and/or were inspired by it (even the negative critiques). That more than anything is my definition of success ~ how many people whose lives I've affected.

But quantifying "success" is as futile and inaccurate as quantifying "intelligence". Don't judge by numbers. Elilminating the human factor diminishes any meaning of "success".

ReannaKing · Post by **ReannaKing** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:34 pm

I try not to be bothered with whether a video of mine is "successful" as long as I know I like it.
The only thing I can truly judge success by is a multitude of positive, INTERLLIGENT opinions. Not opinions like:

good: "omfg great vid u rock!"
bad: "nothing it rocks!"
general: "yeah u rock check out my vids!"

I don't even judge by the 1-10 ratings of most opinions because it's far to easy to just check some numbers to get it over with, and I know some people do that.
Hell, some people give their own videos all 10's just to push the rating higher, but that's another kind of pathetic.

Anyway, in conclusion, while I'm certainly happy when a video is getting a high star and opinion rating *cough Slayers Cabaret cough* the only thing I truly pay attention to are well-thought out opinions.

The Wired Knight · Post by **The Wired Knight** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 2:34 pm

Depends if you are talking about success to yourself or success using popularity as its definition. The former is easier to define in that if you are pleased with your work and are getting better then that would be success. However the later definition is a little bit more obscure in that you have to determine what would be success in the public's eye. I personaly would view it in that your video is well recieved by those who view it and consider the video to be particularly well made. I would never say to judge it based on awards. There are many exceptional videos out there but only a very small percentage achieve awards and then you have to take into consideration your competition, so while an award is nice I would never factor it into the definition of success.

Sephiroth · Post by **Sephiroth** » Fri Oct 08, 2004 8:19 pm

One of the AWA staffer having a button with "your video blows" on it. All because of All You Need To Win An AMV Contest .