FIRST Parody Fatigue and other Media Things [long]

[Metonym]

Woo I finally get to make my yearly convoluted post about how much I hate/love (49:51) the combination of creative media and FIRST. Trust me this is going to be a ramble, but I will totally get to a solid point about something...maybe not media related.

First off, Wil makes a very important statement that should resound with anyone doing creative work.

Originally Posted by PayneTrain

If you want to go do something, don't let FIRST be something that boxes you in...

Do what you want to do, but better than everyone else is what I tell myself. Who cares what other people make as long as you set the bar? And if someone else sets the bar higher just work upwards. Being a standard for cinematic excellence should obviously be your goal and nothing is stopping your work from reaching that goal except for the gap between idea and reality. If you haven't seen the video that I linked please watch it. It is something I refer to every time I finish a video because of how powerful the message is.

Now back to this whole talk about parody videos, which I think are 90% garbage because it is just FIRST capitalizing on one team doing an amazing job last year. FIRST holding video contests isn't a bad thing, but it also isn't something that we need to force on everyone. Having all of those video get played at events was a bad choice, I honestly wish we had cut them from the scripts at my events. The winner should absolutely be played once at every regional and once at DCMPs to spread their work, but the rest should be mentioned else where. They might have put in a lot of work but, I'll be blunt/harsh, that doesn't make their content good and bearable for the audiences at events.

Originally Posted by TheMilkman01

But part of me is sad because not many teams had the means to create quality parodies, and those that had potential are likely cringeworthy, but FIRST feels obligated to play them, which makes people sick of them. This arguably puts media and video making in a bad light for those involved in FIRST, which is somewhat heartbreaking for me, who has only been in FIRST for that reason.

People that want to make videos won't get annoyed or put off, they will see them and think "Wow, I could do 10 times better than those people." But obviously showing all the videos won't raise the bar by much. Showing the best video gives a gold standard, something to strive for, something to revere, and that is what I think makes better videos.

Originally Posted by TheMilkman01

On a side note, all of this has somewhat discouraged me from doing a parody that I've been working on for a while now--Rap God by Eminem. Yes, I know it's crazy, but I've already written it sooo, idk. Probably will just make extra sure the quality this time is great and not cringeworthy.

SCREW THAT. Make the video. Make it good...no make it AMAZING. Give it everything you got and show the FRC community that they can't make low tier videos. Did anyone tell Jordan and Jacob to make their amazing FRC music video, this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLQb4m2a5TQ. NO they did because they believed that it would be worth it for themselves (I am making an assumption, but it should be close to correct).

You saw FIRST as an opportunity to do creative work, but I think you should now see it as a way to inspire people to do better creative work. Inspiration is core ideal of FIRST so take it to heart and make awesome videos that inspire others to do the same.

As a bit of inspiration I want to leave off with a few videos that truly inspired me to create better content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMA_r1oHOPQ - 1678's 2013 recap video of worlds. This video is what made me want to do highlight reels in the first place. 1678's videographer really impressed me and was the first person I looked for at Worlds in 2014 to thank for inspiring me to create better content.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jd32B0chAg&ebc - 610 does it again with a phenomenal video about what it is like behind the glass. It wasn't perfect, but it is the best attempt to this day to give a sense of what it is like to be on a drive team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjqFuNfbhOM - Another great highlight reel/recap video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCz2yTVPxbM - 27's chairman's video instantly led me to believe that they were going to win chairman's at worlds. Everything about it is great and unique, something that hasn't been achieved since then.