by Trish Milburn
I'm a happily married woman, have been for fifteen years. But I have to admit I'm harboring a great passion for another. Who is this object of my affections?
YouTube. Yes, that fabulously wonderful waster of time. If only they'd had high-speed Internet and YouTube when I was in high school. I could have fed all of my various celebrity crushes to my heart's content. Why do I like YouTube so much? I'm so glad you asked.
1. Fan Videos
When I find a TV show or movie I like, I tend to obsess about it. That's just my personality. I can remember yearning for each week's episode of The Young Riders when I was younger. If I'd had YouTube then, I could have watched endless fan videos during those long days between episodes. There are actually a lot of talented fan vidders out there, who can edit video and set it to songs that help tell the story and evoke emotions. Here are a couple of examples.
From one of my new favorites, the BBC's North & South mini-series:
The last 50 seconds of the video are very inspiring to me as a romance writer. This example also illustrates Reason No. 2, below. I really like the song "Ache" by James Carrington. It's a beautiful song and so fits this story.
Other times, the vidders use music from the actual production they're celebrating, as in this case for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The video is about Will and Elizabeth, and the vidder uses "One Day," their love theme.
Oh, and I just have to put in a Buffy & Angel example, just because. :)
And here's a cute one for Stardust, a movie I watched recently and really enjoyed. I think I'll cast Charlie Cox as a hero in a future book. Plus, I really like Lifehouse, the band singing the song, "Hanging By a Moment." They're a great band to listen to when you're writing romance.
2. Discovering New Music
I've discovered new bands and songs that I like through watching fan videos. One such band, now one of my favorites, is HIM, from Finland. I found them when their song, "Vampire Heart," accompanied a fan vid for the show Blood Ties. But one of my favorite songs and music videos by them is "Pretending." Plus, I think Ville Valo, the singer, isn't too hard on the eyes either. :)
3. Creativity
Sometimes vidders like to mix things up with fun results, like in this example of a trailer for Pride & Prejudice done Harry Potter style.
And this ode to the Justice League on Smallville set to music from Pirates of the Caribbean.
So, any other YouTube junkies out there? Or am I alone in my obsession?
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42 comments:
No You Tube for me.
I prefer the GR anyway!
I'm giggling. I read the opening paragraph and without even SEEING who authored it, I knew it was Trish! hehehe
I'm not a big YouTube watcher. My internet has gone downhill the last few months and I usually want to beat my head against the screen to try and make those people MOVE when it keeps 'buffering'.
Congrats, AC on hauling the GR back to rainy CA.
For some reason, my hubby's computer does the buffering thing too. I wonder if it's because we're on a home network, and his is the remote computer while mine is physically attached to the router.
And LOL on knowing it was me who posted, Tawny. And you knew Orli would be in one of those videos too. :)
LOL Trish, of course I did. You have fabulous taste, after all ;-)
Oh, and I'm the computer physically attached to the router here, so I don't know if thats my issue :-( I wish I could figure out what it was, since it drives me batty.
Is it raining at your place Tawny? Then it will be hitting here about the time Leno starts his monologue. :-P
Actually, I think Nancy and I are probably the only 2 souls left on Planet Dial-Up. But high speed would be wasted on my old dinosaur of a puter and until I get more $$$ I'm NOT gonna be replacing it.
AC the penniless
But at least I have the GR for company today!
Congrats, AC!
Hi, Trish! Actually my kids are turning into YouTube junkies (I guess I'm probably the enabler, then)--they love to watch snippets of Hi-5, Lego Star Wars animations, Elmo and his special guests, and random ABC songs... YouTube is pretty amazing, I have to say :)
Tawny, I had the same thought. I said to myself, someone who sounds like she's young and hip - has to be Trish. Apologies to all you other Banditas out there ;-) Mind you, the POTC video just confirmed it all for me!
AC, congrats on the rooster! He says g'day now and wants kangaroos to hang out in the henhouse with him.
I had to laugh at the hopeless crush stuff. I think I can measure my life in who I had a crush on at the time. At the moment - big secret! - it's the gorgeous Richard Armitage. But prior to him there was the James Blunt stage (I like 'em English and miserable, clearly!). Anyway, Trish, thanks for putting the N&S video up. Sigh...
Trish - If you want to see a really, really cool video on You Tube made by fans of a romance novel, search for Gardella Chronicles on You Tube.
It was made by fans of Colleen Gleason's Gardella Chronicles. Man! I thought I was a good fan, but this is going above and beyond!
Hey, MK, I'm really happy you've pulled up a berth in the lair! At last, book recommendations on tap... Now, off to check out the Gardella video. I seem to be having trouble not hitting play again and again and again on the N&S one. Um, did I mention I get a bit obsessive about this stuff? Scary really!
Cindy, I don't know how you and Nancy still do dial-up. I would go INSANE!
flchen1, I hadn't thought about YouTube for the toddler set. :)
MaryKate, how cool about the Gardella video. I just watched it. Colleen is a pal, and I love her books. I just finished the third in the series. I'm a Max fan. :) Oh, and I like your Wentworth Miller piccie.
Anna, I think I love you for that "young and hip" comment. Take that, persistent gray hairs on my head. And I'm glad you liked the North & South video with the yummy Richard. Now I want to know when I'll be able to get the second season of Robin Hood on DVD.
Anna, I have no idea how many times I've watched that N&S video, along with several others dedicated to the mini-series.
Good grief, it's 1:39 in the morning, I'm typing in revisions, and I have an RWA chapter meeting in the morning.
Trish, I actually 'stole' that kiss at the end of North and South for a very significant moment in Tempt the Devil. So I could tell myself it was research when I watched it over and over ;-) Sometimes this job is just SOOOOO tough!
Trish, great picks from YouTube! There's also a fantastic one set to Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding out for a Hero' with all the historical heroes from recent movies, including Nth & Sth. I think Anne Gracie recommended it.
Love watching that--we historical writers have slimmer pickings for inspiration, I think, but there's some quality stuff in that vid.
I also love the fact that when I recall some funny song that was around in my childhood, like the Manamana song from the Muppets, I can find it on YouTube. Hmm, maybe I'm showing my age here.*g*
I'm Mom to two teenage and one tween girls. Youtube rules this house. I do love the video that Christine mentioned, and Trish, I also cannot wait to get my hands on Robin Hood season II.
Wow, Trish those were all great videos! But I have to admit my all time favorite was the trailer to the movie 300 set to "It's raining men." Too dang funny!!
Nice nab of the GR, Aunty C! Yes, that's Trish - young, hip and too cool for words.
Add me to the list of people on Planet Dial-Up. I hate it. It takes forever for me to watch You Tube videos. MY BFF sent me the video of Paul Potts winning Britain's Got Talent and I wanted to scream because the damned buffer kept messing with it! One day high speed AND cable will actually make it this far out into the woods. I'll be on Social Security by then!
I would LOVE to be able to set some of my favorite love stories to music. Music is a huge part of my writing process. I probably have the only pets on the planet who prefer "classical" music to anything else. I live in a 14x80 foot trailer and have two HUGE Bose speakers attached to my stereo system.
My current crush? Matthew MacFaddyen actually. LOVED him in Pride and Prejudice and have howled at his latest Death at a Funeral. TOO FUNNY!
Wish I could see the Gardella video. I just finished The Bleeding Dusk and am frustrated because it left me hanging!
AC, congrats on the GR! But, er, you really need to check out You Tube. Such fun1
Trish, you know how little TV I watch, but I am a movie junkie! I LOVED the vid for North & South. I just watched it a few weeks ago and I am SUCH a fan girl now!
I could spend all day watching vids on You Tube. Which is, of course, why I don't allow myself to go there very often. Well, Big Brother keeps me from it at work, but I keep myself away from it at home.
Except when evil friends send me links, of course. Or when vids are cleverly embedded in blog posts. *ahem* Something like that.
Oh, okay, I have gone to look for music videos by obscure bands I like. I wish there were more good quality ones, but it's free, you know?
I'm just glad I know nothing about video editing or I'm sure most of my creativity would be channeled into making clever vids for You Tube rather than writing!
AC, congrats on bringing the GR back to sunny California!
Great post, Trish! I'm fascinated by the You-Tube mania.
I confessed that I haven't watched BBC's North and South, but after your clip, I'm dying to!
You Go, AC!
Trish, I love that N&S montage!! Now, I'm going to be a regular watcher of YouTube.
The only thing I really glommed on to have been the Pavarotti vids.
MK: What a great tribute to Colleen Gleason. Very well-made, too!
Great post Trish! I loved the vids. Great music too. (Note to self, go look up the music on iTunes...)
AC, great job nabbing the GR! I just switched from DialUp about 4 months ago...ah, Brave New World, that has such SPEED in it...
As to UTube, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I love the stuff you can find on there, including the kidvids, muppet stuff, interesting and very FUNNY clips. (Frank Calliendo doing George W. Bush, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Straight No Chaser singing the 12 Days of Christmas) but the other stuff my son wants to surf - hip-hop, sports vids, etc. have to be monitored verrrrry closely. Don't get me wrong, I LIKE hip-hop and rap, but some of the lyrics and the other vids that come up on the "if you like this you'll like" sidebar are NOT suitable for a 7 y/o. :> So, I get to monitor UTube. At least there's also a CLEAN version of Ft. Minor's Remember the Name, which he and I both love. Ha!
Hi Trish,
I'm not obsessed with You Tube like you. I only occasionally check out You Tube. I know I must be missing out on many hilarious videos and spoofs.
Hi Trish,
I'm not the biggest youtube junky- but sometimes I do find some gems, or people find them for me.
Like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIbfzK2spg
I'd already discovered Imogen Heap, but this just blew me away.
Great videos, I'd love to see N&S...And "our" Ville Valo is one of my favorites too! My daughters keep sending me funny videos and I like watching them but that's almost all YouTube for me.
Congrats, AC!
Hi Trish -
I know my limitation - I'd be addicted in a heartbeat which is why I don't watch youtube. It does call my name at times.
Did you all see the news article that said the bandwidth used for movie/tv shows/music downloads is threatening to crash the internet? I can remember a time before the internet and I can't imagine going back - ever.
AC, Nancy & Doglady - Hugs to you on the dial-up. I'm afraid I don't have the patience for that anymore. Plus, I seem to recall losing the connection if the wind blew particularly hard *g*.
Congrats on the GR Aunty Cindy have fun with him
Trish they are very good I don't go looking for them but I do watch any that are posted on blogs that I go to. The people who make them obviously put a lot of work into them. I have enjoyed all the ones that I have seen.
Have Fun
Helen
Anna, LOL on stealing the kiss from N&S. It was a very nice kiss.
Christine, I'll have to watch that video with Bonnie Tyler's song when I finish up typing in my revisions.
Suz, I've seen that 300 video. It's hysterical!
doglady, oh no, you're on dial-up too! I think fast Internet is a basic human right -- life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and smokin' fast Internet. :) And I really liked the P&P with Matthew and Keira. I need to watch that again. I think I'm going on a historical kick next. I've requested the DVDs of Jane Eyre and Wives & Daughters from the library. LOL on your Bose speakers. I have some awesome speakers attached to my computer, so when I'm here alone during the day, I open iTunes and blast the rock music. And I know what you been about The Bleeding Dusk. OMG, I'm about to throttle Colleen. I have to wait until AUGUST to find out what the heck was going on.
Caren, glad to feed the addiction with the embedded videos. :) I'd like to know how to do them as well, but I'll just watch and enjoy instead. They seem like they'd be very time-intensive to create.
Jeanne, I can imagine YouTube does need monitoring if there are kiddos in the house.
Keira, Pavarotti videos, huh? It is a good place to watch performances you'd never be able to see in person. I watch some live concert stuff of some of the European bands I may never get to see live.
limecello, that Imogen Heap song was pretty cool. She's talented.
Eva, you're in Finland, aren't you? I really like HIM as well as The Rasmus and Apocolyptica, all of whom I discovered as a result of YouTube. Ville is very talented as well as easy on the eyes. :) Have you ever seen HIM in concert?
YouTube is the only TV I get, and I watch a lot of Craig Ferguson monologues and Flight of the Conchords videos, in addition to bunches of other stuff. Hadn't seen that P&P mock up of Harry Potter. GREAT!
I think my favoritist of that last kind of vids is still "Ten Things I Hate About Commandments." Here's the link:
http://tinyurl.com/gqgln
Trish, I'd love to see HIM in concert, but they aren't here very often. Now they are on tour in Australia but perhaps in July when they come back to Finland again.
Esri, I am SO GLAD I finished my Earl Gray before I watched the 10 Things vid. That was hysterical! Plus, any chance I get to see Yul in his prime I will LEAP on! Thanks for that one!
Limecello: That Imogen Heap video is FAB. I'm sending it to my dad immediately. As a technomusicphile, he'll love it.
I'll also give you a video of Chris Bliss, juggler/comedian, doing his world famous juggling finale to the Beatles. My family saw him do this live on a cruise ship, and my Dad and I teared up, it was so incredible. The delay in YouTube messes with the rhythm (which is exact in real life, and the videographer cuts off the tops of the arcs, so you probably won't cry, but it's still a hell of a show.
http://tinyurl.com/2sgd89
Okay, I saw this vid recommended in the EW I just got today. It is absolutely a riot (but in a naughty way, so be warned). Dave Foley from 'Kids In the Hall' plays the CEO of the apparel company in the video. Too funny! Americanarama
Esri, Chris Bliss was amazing! Oh, and I figured out today how to make the vids stop the annoying stop-start and delay thing.
Click on the little circle that moves along the bar as the video plays. Just click and hold it where it is. The video will keep buffering until it finishes. Then, release your mouse and it should play fine. Unless, of course, you live on planet dial-up. *g*
I did that for the Chris Bliss video and it was perfect. I did get a bit choked up when they hit the Golden Slumbers part!
Caren: OMG, that was Dave Foley! I love him! Great spoof on American Apparel. You ever read the Onion article on them? "14 American Apparel Models Freed in Daring Midnight Raid." A.A. usually has the whole back page of the Onion, but they didn't on that issue.
http://tinyurl.com/344w5e
OMG, that was hysterical! I adore The Onion and have not been getting my Onion fix lately. Big Brother won't let me go anywhere while I'm at work. And honestly, if you can't surf the pseudo-news at work what are you supposed to do, read it in your free time? Gah! *g*
Esri, I think Craig Ferguson is hysterical. My TiVo catches his show fairly often, and I love his monologues. I just saw the show where he shows when he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen.
Eva, if I had discovered them a little earlier, I could have taken a road trip to the beach when they were playing House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Next time they are in the States, I'm SO going. Then and Within Temptation.
If I disappear, you all, it's because my Internet is down at the house. I had to come down here to Panera to send my finished revisions to my editor and check the blog. Considering my hubby is waiting for dinner, I better close up shop and pick up some vittles. :)
Ooooh, I just LOVE YouTube, you wicked Bandita, Trish! I try really hard to keep away from it, but occasionally, I just...fall. Or am tempted...
doglady, it's actually really good for opera and I'm going to do a series of opera posts on my blog using it. Soon.
I also use it for teaching in the day job. Very useful for discussion triggers and all kinds of things. One I absolutely adore is the Herding Cats video, because it's clever and funny and slick and can be applied to so many things. In fact, I love it so much, I even worked it into my very first blog post here - http://tinyurl.com/2cwak3
Now I'm off to check out all these videos. Trish, it's totally your fault I have no self-discipline. I'm supposed to be doing my tax. Again. Still.
Denise: Ooh, it's been ages since I saw the cat-herding vid! Thanks for reintroducing me to an old friend!
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