Ever felt you've topped out? Done the best you'll ever do?

temaranight · Post by **temaranight** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:19 pm

Peaked? Nah..I know I'm nowhere even close to making something that's going to have me saying "There! This is my opus! This is the one! There shall be no others!"
I've got a whole heap more to learn, anime to see I've not seen yet to have ideas with...there..just beyond my fingertips is a whole other world I've not yet explored!

nailz · Post by **nailz** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:20 pm

Voices_Of_Ryan · Post by **Voices_Of_Ryan** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:23 pm

ladydx wrote:Peaked? Nah..I know I'm nowhere even close to making something that's going to have me saying "There! This is my opus! This is the one! There shall be no others!"
I've got a whole heap more to learn, anime to see I've not seen yet to have ideas with...there..just beyond my fingertips is a whole other world I've not yet explored!

Well said.

lilgumba · Post by **lilgumba** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:55 pm

I poured my heart and soul into my second real AMV and haven't done good since. Go check the scores yourself! I'm joking. I got much to learn and I can always approve especially since I really don't want to go through the after effects route at the moment. It's just that I'm not leaving a piece of myself in the other videos I have made after the one I was talking about earlier. It just doesn't feel right. So in that since I have "topped out." Will I stop creating? Heck no cause I am improving. Bah I don't know when I'll get that feeling again!

CaTaClYsM · Post by **CaTaClYsM** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 5:03 pm

Machine wrote: I had my newbie video phase....then my dark video phase....then parody phase....then my pink video phase....I have barley hit my comedy phase as of late since I've only made 2 comedy videos out of the 18 videos I've made in the last 4 years.

Emotions in a creator can very much have a huge impact on what their works look like. Some will be great....some won't be great....some will be really awesome....some will just really be out there.

Any goth newbie can pull out an LP albut and pour his pimply teenage angst into a DBZ vid, it takes skill to convey that emotion. AD could start editig a KareKano video when he first wakes up and before he's even lucid or the morning wood wears off can have a tear jerker encoded and uploaded. But I do think that emotions can have a negative impact on what happens Disinterest, indifference, discouragement, and frustration can KILL a video dead in it's tracks.

But sometimes it you'll see peoplestop editing, or leave the community entirely. Either because they want to, or because they have to. It's been a while since anyone asked about a certain Kevin Caldwell who shall remain unnamed. I doubt ANYBODY who joined this year know who the hell ErMac is or his voyeristic antics in the off topic forums when we had them. And in a couple of year noone is going to know who Phade, the person who made and maintained the org all this time is. He'll barely be a memory to the people that joined this year.

I'm going to go cry now.

dwchang · Post by **dwchang** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 5:33 pm

AbsoluteDestiny wrote:Pretty much everyone maxes out pretty early, imo.

Why? Because when you are new you take more chances because you don't care.

I'm not going to beat SRV in terms of enjoyability and I'm not going to beat Arima Shinjikun in terms of artisticness. I'm just going to make videos that I think are good, but they'll never stand up to those.

Am I the only one here that (somewhat) agrees with AD here?

I think you guys are missing the point he was trying to make. First off, he doesn't say "everyone," he says "pretty much." Pretty much != All.

More importantly, his point is that when you're younger or "unknown," you're more willing to take chances. Since you don't care about things like contests/awards/scores, you make what you want.

Once you've established yourself in the community or as a creator, there is a level of expectation that people have for you and your work. Because of this, you'll start to care about your work in a different way. Not to say you didn't care from the start, but it'll be different.

I know everyone here would say such expectations from others don't affect them, but they'd be lying. They affect us, even if just a little. That little amount is enough to have you think and edit differently imo. It constrains you ever so slightly.

Now I say all this and try to argue it, but I do entirely subscribe to it? No. I think he has a valid point that can be shown in many cases, but as I said above, not all.

As someone said, it's all in your head. Once you think you've topped out, that's when you've topped out.

At the same time, I myself have been conceiving a video for over a year that I think is "way out there" and "not my style" and wonder if there will be a day that I have the courage or vision to tackle it. I believe that's what Ian is referring to....maybe not

In any case, I think the more important thing is having fun. Maybe you'll never create your next big opus and surpass yourself, but if you're having fun, who cares? Yeah I understand some people have fun by topping themselves over and over, but I'm not one of them. If I did, I think I would've quit after making "Evolution" or "I Just Can't Wait to be King"

.

taeli · Post by **taeli** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 5:36 pm

CaTaClYsM wrote:But sometimes it you'll see peoplestop editing, or leave the community entirely. Either because they want to, or because they have to. It's been a while since anyone asked about a certain Kevin Caldwell who shall remain unnamed. I doubt ANYBODY who joined this year know who the hell ErMac is or his voyeristic antics in the off topic forums when we had them. And in a couple of year noone is going to know who Phade, the person who made and maintained the org all this time is. He'll barely be a memory to the people that joined this year.

I'm going to go cry now.

For what it's worth, I joined this year, and I can list all of both KC and ErMac's videos. I think I've seen all the ones availible on the org too, and a few which aren't here. As long as the community is healthy and growing there will always be people fascinated by the history of it all. (Tho to be honest I prefer a lot of the newer videos.)

Org Profile · Post by **Otohiko** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:30 pm

dwchang wrote:
AbsoluteDestiny wrote:Pretty much everyone maxes out pretty early, imo.

Why? Because when you are new you take more chances because you don't care.

I'm not going to beat SRV in terms of enjoyability and I'm not going to beat Arima Shinjikun in terms of artisticness. I'm just going to make videos that I think are good, but they'll never stand up to those.
Am I the only one here that (somewhat) agrees with AD here?

Well, that's just cause you are both bloody self-depreciatory skeptics

AbsoluteDestiny · Post by **AbsoluteDestiny** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:34 pm

Hey! I resent being compared to dubya in terms of skepticism - he's in a totally different league

inthesto · Post by **inthesto** » Fri Jun 18, 2004 6:37 pm

CaTaClYsM wrote:AD could start editig a KareKano video when he first wakes up and before he's even lucid or the morning wood wears off can have a tear jerker encoded and uploaded.

The day I see "This video was entirely edited while I had morning wood" in the editor's video comments is the day I see it all.