Editor vs. Creator -- The Ongoing Battle

JCD · Post by **JCD** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 3:56 pm

This was like it worked for 2 videos of me, Fight For Justice and Spirit of the Stage, where I got the most basic ideas from my good friend Messi, who doesn't edit himself (he did, but very very very rarely

). Both videos progressed very much like you described yours.

So what I did in the end was listing him as a collaborator.

I figure that's the best solution for you guys

The editor should always enter the video though.

genestarwind21122 · Post by **genestarwind21122** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:20 pm

I have a studios and I'm the one that does the editing for the most part. The other guys are here to toss ideas around and help me find mistakes in my video and while they have little editing experience everytime we gather I teach them a little more about priemere and they edit some and then I go back and touch it up. So don't edit videos for some one else unless it is a dedication video or some you care about. I did Outlaws Don't Stop Remake and dedicated to my grandmother who passed away last year and my grandfather who passed away 4 years ago. So anyway I agree with what Sierra said and OmniStrata.

JaddziaDax · Post by **JaddziaDax** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:34 pm

you can always ask him to find the "correct" clip to replace it with...

but if you learn your clean up then it shouldnt matter either way O.o

ANTDrakko · Post by **ANTDrakko** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:49 pm

JaddziaDax wrote:you can always ask him to find the "correct" clip to replace it with...

Honestly, I think thats exactly what he needs to do.

My view: The hardest part about editing a video isn't the editing. Its finding the right scene or clip to use.

You can teach any monkey out there to cut and move around footage. But if the footage isn't the "right" footage, its just some randomly edited footage.

Not to cut down on your editing skills, thats important too. If the exchange goes like:

You: "Ok, what should I do here?"
Him: "I think you should show (such and such) doing (such and such)"
You: "Ok. Find me where that happens and then I'll use it."

Then everything is split 50/50. If he doesn't go out and find it and YOU do, that means you own the AMV. I mean come on, rule of thumb on patents, real or not. Chances are, you aren't the first person to think of your idea. However, if you DO it first, its yours.

I love lamp.

~Seen

SarahtheBoring · Post by **SarahtheBoring** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:19 pm

Well... no, I don't think he's the boss of the video. You did all the work. Ideas are great, fantastic, important, but IMO putting the actual work and time into it means that you get more credit than he does.

But that doesn't really matter, in this case, because your friend apparently has an auteur complex / attitude problem. The question is basically how to get him to chill out without blowing up even more drama. The video is ultimately expendable; I'm guessing your friendship isn't.

Since it's caused so much drama between you two, I would suggest biting the bullet, scrapping the thing and letting him edit his own damn videos from now on. Yeah, it's wasted effort on your part and that's a shame, but if it's going to be such a hassle to hash out the last couple of steps toward releasing it, just think of it as a learning experience. Sounds like nothing is going to make both of you happy, so I'd bury this one and move on.

Screen your collaborators closely or go solo, I guess.

Malificus · Post by **Malificus** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:26 pm

I say release the good version first. A few days later, make a second version for the friend, with the change they insist on, and let them release the sub average version themselves. No colab status on either. one would be just for you, one would just be for the friend.

Corran · Post by **Corran** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 6:39 pm

Lemme get this straight... they throw out an idea, a suggestion, do not offer compesation for your hard work, and now they expect to have further authoritative say in the creative process. They came up with the idea and have beta tested for you, that is all. Comming up with ideas and sharing them is nice and dandy but they can't expect you to edit exactly what they want unless you both agree to that at some point. It sounds like no such agreement was made.

If you are feeling generous (I probably wouldn't be based on your description of events) give them a copy of the project file and thus have the video branch off in two seperate directions. If he wants the video done in exactly the manner that he wants so badly then he should be able to figure out how to do it himself. You aren't being compensated and yet you can't edit how you want? Give him credit for the idea in your outro bumper, tell him he is selfish for expecting you work (for free) for him without creative freedom, give him a copy of the project file, and finish the video in your vision.

trythil · Post by **trythil** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:47 pm

I'd recommend that you just give your friend credit if he wants it so badly.

My justification for such a consise recommendation (that even dares to counter everything else written here, holy shit) is that I don't think any fanvid is nontrivial enough to get worked up with all this crap about proper attribution*. Besides, improper attribution means that the media cartels will sue the wrong set of people when all the shit finally hits the fan, which may end up being good for you.

Of course, as my recommendation is based on an opinion that a lot of people don't share, you might just want to blow this entire post off.

* See my profile if you're wondering what I've done from a technical/difficulty perspective. I think I have enough grounding to say what I said, but people might disagree.

Corran · Post by **Corran** » Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:48 pm

trythil wrote:I'd recommend that you just give your friend credit if he wants it so badly.

I don't disagree with you at all. However I don't think this is a discussion on whether to give credit where it is due but rather who has the right to decide how the video is edited.

inthesto · Post by **inthesto** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:21 am

Punch your friend in the nuts in the figurative sense by throwing the video back at him and telling him to go ahead and upload it. You yourself said it's not release quality and he can't possibly fix it up himself. If it's flawed as it is, let him take credit for it. Make him realize that his ideas don't mean shit without technical know-how and execution by forcing him to swallow a half-assed product.