The holiday motage project: Call for videos!

[Darth Cephalus]

Hello Sabering community. For those I have not met, I am Darth Cephalus and I spin stuff. A few of us spinners have carved out a little niche over in the non-martial arts thread and we have been kicking around an idea that it might be time to present to the sabering community at large.

Simply put, most of us here tend to do our own things. We do choreographed fights, martial arts demos, spinning routines, costume work, etc. What if there was a way to get several of those things into one project that would showcase a wider picture of what we, as a community, do with lightsabers? 

What I am proposing is that anyone willing to volunteer, post a video (roughly 4 minutes long) in which they show us their saber work. You can choreograph a fight, you can give us spinning, you can film some freeform work, you can do it with lit or unlit blades, in costume or in plain clothes, outside, inside, or on green screen. I will edit this footage together (unless someone with more editing experience wants to take it over) into a single video.

The criteria:

1. For editing and theme purposes, the video should be designed to accompany this music (a download link for the mp3 is provided below the video so that you can load it onto a player). Please have the music playing so that I can hear it in the background for timing. If you record it without the music or while the music was playing through headphones, please attach the music track to it before you post.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf1U-YeGnRM" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf1U-YeGnRM</a>

http://themusicninja.net/newsongs/Duel%20Of%20The%20Fates%20(The%20Noisy%20Freaks%20ft.%20Dead%20CAT%20Bounce%20remix).mp3

2. Your video must include a lightsaber and be something recognizable as "a performance".

3. Your content should not violate youtube or forum rules.

The details:

If you are interested, please post and say so. When you have a video, please post it here. I can rip things from youtube without a problem for editing. Please include the name or moniker you would like to appear in the credits. If you have a signature move, pose, or other brief trademark, please post it as a separate video or still image as you would like it to appear in the credits. If none is submitted, I will use a short clip from your routine. If you have a youtube channel or web link, post it and I will include it in the description. Please try to submit material as soon as you are able. I would like to start editing in mid December with a video release on Youtube around the first of the year.

Additional notes and disclaimers:

First off, this will happen. If it is just the three of us from the non-martial arts thread, so be it. It will not be like one of those fan fic pieces that gets planned and then abandoned. Second, don't expect a high budget production; expect a no budget production. My skills are minimal but should be enough to get the job done and I am working with basic editing software. If you have seen my other videos like the Jar'Kai Teaser, that is about the level of editing I am willing to commit. This is not a professional video and my channel is not monetized so there is no profit being made. This is by and for those who are willing to donate time and energy to make it happen. Third, If I am doing the editing, I will have to decide what makes it in and what does not. We are only working with 4 minutes. I will try to include everyone, and if too many people are interested to do that, I will try to make a second cut. If you have a favorite segment, feel free to let me know the time range and I will do what I can, but no promises. Other than that, feel free to discuss and ask questions if you wish. If there is anything I can do to help you put together a submission, let me know. Otherwise, happy sabering

[DARTH CH3M15T]

Obviously i'm in on this. I was thinking of a few places to film my piece to make an interesting backdrop. Theres a youth club or something near me with a huge graffiti mural of General Grievous on it which is quite cool . Or theres Chester Cathedral for something Medieval or Ancient looking as it was built in around 900. not sure i can get in there at night, tho with the days getting shorter... I wanted to use chesters roman amphitheater but the public obviously can't walk in it just around it.  Otherwise i could go into some woods near me,  or if i'm lazy / run out of time it'll just be in my garden again. lol

[Master Venturous]

Ok here is my entry...

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFO1--xt-bo&feature=youtu.be



Credit Image:





Youtube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR1bX1OucgsmuuBmdcNU5kw

[Master Lucien Kane]

I'll try to get something in on this

[DARTH CH3M15T]

here is my attempt. wish i could have been better but i rushed most of the edit and filming. also missed putting some moves in but hey.
in regards to editing, won't it be a pain in the arse to use the music to sync up our films. Or are you just going to use all our footage to create the required 4 mins then put the audio back on.? not sure how you do it but i'm sure you'll smash it.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlGGXtBHOg" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktlGGXtBHOg</a>

If you want to Credit me, either say its  THE CH3M15T.  or LORD CH3M15T

[Master Venturous]

It will be a lot easier to edit the clips together first before adding in the music after. Whatever software you are using should give you the option to mute the audio for each clip.

[Darth Cephalus]

That is the general plan. When I said that the music would help me sync it, that meant that if your moves were timed to the music, I could keep the portion used timed to the same portion of music. It makes it easier for me because it makes timing the move to the music your responsibility. I don't have to worry about tempo, I just have to worry about time stamp and cutting back and forth between video files. Once I have the files cut together, I will mute them and resupply the music track.

[Master Venturous]

Awesome...can't wait to see the finished result

[Darth Cephalus]

Still time to get in on this if anyone else is interested. Weather permitting, I should have mine up sometime next week. Tentatively, I'm going to say that anything that gets in by about the 18 to 20th should give me enough time to edit. Also just noticed I misspelled "montage" in the thread title. I promise not to do that in the video itself.

[Darth Cephalus]

I was waiting to see if the weather would cooperate for an outside video. Unfortunately things never shaped up. With a new storm starting today, I gave up and did it indoors. Since the other two entries covered dual wield and staff, I decided to focus on single saber. This is a little like what my typical practice sessions with that style look like. Contains flips, spins, and footwork. It starts out slow, but picks up speed about one minute in. I usually don't film these, focusing on stationary spins, tutorials or specific moves, but this seemed to fit the bill a bit better. Part of the training is learning not to knock things off the shelves. Enjoy.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTSOjNVQ9c" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCTSOjNVQ9c</a>

[Darth Cephalus]

Only a couple more days before I start editing, so.. Last call.

[Darth Cephalus]

So this is a rough work print of the holiday montage. The final version to be released around the new year. Since there were just three participants, I tried to divide the time as evenly as I could while still getting in as many of the great moves/scenery as I was able. This is all videos synced. Watch the upper right for transition marks The order of switches (with Ch standing for me, Cm for CH3M15T, and V for Venturous) is as follows: V, Cm, V, Cm, Ch, Cm, V, Ch, Cm. CH3M15T's video got cut up a bit more because of the internal cuts in the original video. Both videos will be visible partially during the transitions. The credits will come first, then the montage, then a thank you to the viewers. I will be tinkering with it in following days so feel free to chime in with comments or suggestions

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMpv9hR5kw" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMpv9hR5kw</a>

[Master Venturous]

Very cool. I look forward to seeing the end result, which I'm sure will be awesome.

[Darth Cephalus]

Just putting the finishing touches on this video but it will definitely be ready for new year's eve. I got the transitions and credits in and added an opening crawl (SW style) to the intro. Since the only participants were spinners, I gave the intro a spinning theme. Cuts have transitions but will remain a bit rough as time has recently become more scarce with the birth of my son on the 23rd. Expect the video posted on the 31st.

[DARTH CH3M15T]

Awesome. I expect it shall be epic, even though I was also displeased with my efforts. If we pull it off we could possibly do a second one later in 2015 in the summer or something.