Video Series Don'ts

projectrallus wrote:

If you're going to do audio distortion, remember to mix it up once in a while. Don't just stick with static, try mixing in garbled voices recorded with bad microphones, various tones, and of course some odd clicking. Try also to match it up with what's going on in a scene as well as you can. you can use the fade in/fade out feature on tones and static to give the impression that something on screen is causing the distortion.

*looks at username*

...youuuuuuuu?

Anyway, for don'ts, I'd say DON'T make many long videos and DON'T just talk all the time. Watching people talking is boring, and I don't want to sit there for three minutes listening to you talk. And I do have to sit there watching and listening, because if I don't, I feel like I'm going to miss something important. This is, in my opinion, the biggest flaw with MLAnderson and Angel's Game.

DaLadyBugMan wrote:

.... and Angel's Game.

I just lost the game.

Zander wrote:

Don't film your feet. Learn to use emotion, but don't flip shit. Uh, don't use a bag for Slender Man's head(I'M LOOKING AT YOU TWENTYEIGHTY).

That's Cillian Murphey Zander, get your actors strait.

Zander wrote:

Well, TribeTwelve has the best effects. EMH started out good, but many people lost interest when they spread out their story too far.

The fact that nothing has really happened in either for awhile is making me lose interest. I mean the whole hacker shit on TribeTwelve was interesting, sort of, but i lost interest again by now.

I have a feeling EMH is actually having some RL going on, hence what I'm viewing as a stopgap vid, and for that i can forgive them, but i'm getting annoyed at Tribe Twelve.


Anyways... ON TOPIC! - Bad Computer Animation. DO NOT WANT. *glares at goodwins(with numbers i can't remember)* Major turn off there. When I saw the cheezy tentacles I QUIT WATCHING.

Zander wrote:

Talking Slender Man. :/

Ah, reading through threads DOES pay off, was gonna say this!

A talking Slenderman would fucking ruin the entire thing for me... well maybe only for a little while.

I also don't ever want to see him having human emotions. EVER EVER.

Oh and I don't know about anyone else, but I would HATE to see the camera focusing properly on Slendy. Because it would probably look fake, and the minute it looks fake, the whole thing just dies.

DaLadyBugMan wrote:

...youuuuuuuu?

No. Some other asshole named Rallus.

But yeah, you've also got to be conscious of who it is you are making these for, and what kind of story you're wanting to do. Doing a real ARG, with full-on character interaction is WAY different from a straight-up video series. As such, you've got a generally split audience, with one side being fans of series, and the other of ARGaming. The latter is more likely to be into a deep, complicated story, with loads of interaction. When you're doing those, it's them you want to listen to. The other group will be complaining about a lack of understanding, and videos they don't understand the reasons behind. That's not a big deal, just focus on your target audience. If you don't stop for the other guys who really aren't following you as a full ARG, the guys who are really getting into your story will be real happy.

Now seeing as I do an ARG and not a plain, old video series, I have no idea what to tell you to do for them. I assume you'd play things out more like a television program, with a greater focus on cinematography and camera angling, and generally steadier movement and close ups of all of your characters.
(please don't read too much into this, just trying to be helpful)

Dont's:
-Film w/o reason. I.E. I hear a noise LEMME FILM EET!!! No, that makes no sense.
-Film your feet/the ground
-Be the same as other vlogs out there. They are already doing it--and probably better than you.
-Overuse static/distortion
-Overuse Slender Man
-Overuse proxies
-Make us go all over the internet just to figure out what the fuck is going on in the videos.

Do:
-Take risks
-Think differently
-Act differently
-Less is more, apply it to everything.



Take my free advice, it is golden.

Can someone give me ideas for a Slenderman head-mask-thing please? i have the whole outfit perfect except the head. i just don't want to displease people in a series me and my friends are doing. any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

Yeah, I wanna know how to do a Slendy too....

I mean, I can't do a video series with a Slendy subplot without the man himself, amirite?

AwesumSaurusRex wrote:

Can someone give me ideas for a Slenderman head-mask-thing please? i have the whole outfit perfect except the head. i just don't want to displease people in a series me and my friends are doing. any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

At a craft store, you can usually buy styrofoam heads (like the kind you would set a wig on) and I use that with a set of stockings over it to get the flesh tone. Give this nice, surreal look of the outlines of a face without the features. (Sorta like the site logo version of Slendy actually.)

As for a mask version or more traditional look, not sure. Most ways I could think to do it would leave the Slendy-actor blind.

AwesumSaurusRex wrote:

Can someone give me ideas for a Slenderman head-mask-thing please? i have the whole outfit perfect except the head. i just don't want to displease people in a series me and my friends are doing. any and all help will be greatly appreciated. Thank You!

A) White Pantyhoes for the eye-area in a blank straight mask....slendy's actor DOES HAVE TO SEE at least some if he's mobile. and maybe taking one of those aforementioned styrofoam heads and making the head itself taller. as like a cap to complete it. ...not sure precisely how it would work.

I have decided to do a video on how I made my Slendy. Of course, my identity will be revealed in the process, but I've decided, screw it. I'll have to wait until I go back to school to do it though. I'll have a video in a week or two.

I think you'd have to reveal yourself whenever your tournament features who you are. >.>; But props on showing your Slendy. I'll definitely watch it. You've captivated me with the SC fights...

Here's how mine looks with the styrofoam head process described.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Holy shit, Slendy's invaded my thread!! >.>

..Now all I really need to do is get a goddammed suit.

But aren't those expensive?

CuteWithoutThe wrote:

Holy shit, Slendy's invaded my thread!! >.>

..Now all I really need to do is get a goddammed suit.

But aren't those expensive?

Bagged the suit for $5 at a Goodwill. Problem is finding an actor to fit into whatever you happen to find. Which is why mine is just in mannequin form right now.

Zaber- that thing looks frigging AWESOME. I can't wait for the instructional vid.

Lucky man, my man.

I know a couple a tall guys, so maybe I will have a Slendy appearence!!

Not that it's changing the plot at all....

You could also probably build a shoulder-mounted rig onto your actor, make his torso look crazy long. That would employ everything mentioned about making a slendy in this topic. Legs can be elongated with painter stilts or, if you're doing no budget, have the lower half of his body not showing and have the actor stand on a chair. If you want featureless hands, put a roll of socks in a stocking and have your actor hold it with the sleeves over his actual hand.

I've been planning on doing a video on no-budget slondormons.
I'll link it here when it's up.

BanishedZaber wrote:

Here's how mine looks with the styrofoam head process described.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The downside is I can see the shadows of the facial features on the mannequin head. Would need to paper mache them out or something.

I would kill to see how to make a good slendy. Alas, I have none of those kinds of mad skillz.

As for what I like/dislike about slender-series?
Hm.
Bad acting. That's my biggest pet peeve. A lot of slenderseries are done by fans with no experience or film students looking to get famous. Don't get me wrong, some excellent series have come out of those two catagories, but man-o-man, some bad ones too.
You can't just stand there and recite 'oh-god-oh-god" on screen with no emotion and hope that your special effects will get the fear across for you. I can get over almost any other slender faux pas privided the acting and the story are still making it believable.

Don't copy MarbleHornets. I don't care who you are and how awesome you can be with Windows Movie Maker. MarbleHornets did it first and therefore they did it better than you. Move on.

Operator symbols don't bother me provided they are there for a PURPOSE. If you just tossing them around to go "Hey look guys! I haven't finished my slenderman costume yet but...LOOK I DREW SOME RAD OPERATOR SYMBOLS!" I am not amused. You can have them provided you DO something with them.

Slendy has to be Slender, and quiet and still. A ninja in the night, if you will. I, personally, don't like seeing him move, or tilt his head much. Occasionally it's fine, but I think he's creepiest when he's just THERE; teleporting up right behind you.

Also. I have to be scared for you. I like EMH, but they never see slenderman, he's there but the don't see him and when they do they attack him. I do not fear him if you don't fear him.

AND FURTHERMORE... *tackled off stage*

i agree with the bit about acting. if i don't believe the creators of the series are having nightmares about the series they created, it is so not worth it.

if i don't see your slendy in every shadow of my apartment when my girlfriend is at work, it's not worth it.

and zaber, that slendy is bitchin. i like the shadow of facial features without actually having facial features, because it seems then like slendy just grew skin over his eyes and mouth and such.

Alright... if I have one piece of advice for making a vlog, it is this.

No matter how good your effects and editing...
No matter how clever/thrifty you do the Slender Man...
No matter how good your story...

You need people.

This has been my main problem with compileTRUTH. I had SO MUCH MORE planned up until now. The Benefactor arc was supposed to end with the start of summer, but obviously things didn't go as planned. Why? Because I have no actors. It's me and Slender dummy. It's why Benefactor has never been on screen, it's why so much of the story has moved to the blog and it's why Cairo's been missing for the last month.

My best advice, line up people to play parts BEFORE you start, film ahead as much as you can, and above all get people who you TRUST for the parts because I found seven or eight people willing to participate but all of them backed out or ditched me when it was time to actually film.

Coming from someone who at best had a really, really bad Slenderblog. That I completely backed out of. My opinion may not matter that much.

Don't/
- Try and teach Slendy how to love. I swear, if fangirls made vlogs...
- Start the series with "OH MA GAWD GAIS! SLENDY IS STALKING ME!" It becomes less believable when the victim already knows everything there is to know about Slendy and how to survive.
- Be afraid to change Slenderman slightly. Nothing is set in stone. Just because MH did it, doesn't mean you have to keep with what they decided about Slendy. No matter how much I despise what I did about my Slenderblog, it made mine unique. I made Slenderman a Slenderwoman.

Do/
- Be creative. Just be fucking creative.
- Use emotion. Emotion is key.
- Try new things.