Category: commentary

I have literally seen 1000s upon 1000s of videos, I check them out almost every single day. Both for my blog “Furry Times” as well as my own enjoyment. But the one thing I can say without a doubt is there is no such thing as a bad video. As long as those who took the time to create it, and are happy with it, that is all that matters.

It might be surprising to some that a self-proclaimed expert in what makes a good furry music video says that…but I honestly feel that way.

Furry videos in general literally can be anything from dance, random things that happen at cons to full-fledged stories. Not all are the same, but it would be boring if they were.

Are all fan-made videos brilliant? No, but that is just my opinion.

Like me saying anyone can make a great video. It could be their first or something they did at the last minute. I have seen dozens of incredible videos, not necessary furry ones. They all share the same story that it’s creator could have been making videos for years, then all of a sudden…INCREDIBLE!!! To quote Aladdin, “A diamond in the rough”. Really I am not even joking about that. It really can happen, and I could honestly give dozens of examples. Think of it as like winning the lottery, it doesn’t happen every day. Like what will become viral I think the best example (and frankly the only video that I will mention by name) is “All The Single Furries!” which has as of the last time I checked had 1.17 million views. Love it or hate it, that video has literally gone viral. Okay so it’s viral…so what? Since the song is a parody and if they monetized that song. And in case you didn’t know parodies are legal and based upon what I could find out they could have made around $5,000.

Like I said “A diamond in the rough”.

Do I feel those like EZ Wolf always make a great video? No, and this comes from a guy who really doesn’t like Bitter Lake, but that is just my opinion.

Before we really get into stuff that I feel all video makers should know, not nescessary those making furry music videos, just videos in general and what to watch out for. If you want to know what I think makes a really good furry music video. Check out my playlist on YouTube, just search for “Best Furry Music Videos” and I have another playlist called “Best Furry” for other things furry I thought is quite good and you will have your answer.

With that said the following is really more a list of suggestions rather than actual guidelines. Really it more a list of what you should watch out for and stuff any video maker should know.

Okay so the first one is really a rule, and something all video makers should follow.

MAKE SURE YOUR EQUIPMENT WORKS!!!

I can’t honestly tell you the number of posts or the plain number of people ready to record something and suddenly discovering their equipment isn’t working, or that something is missing. Please check first!!!! Even make a test video on whatever you plan on using. If it doesn’t work you can’t record anything…and do this before you get to the location…more on that later.

Next…

I guess planning, and there is really a lot that goes in to this and I’ll break it down. Not necessarily in order but still something you should really think about.

What kind of Video will you be doing?

Story, song, whatever…do like the professional do and plan it out. You want people to enjoy and and not complain you didn’t have a clear idea of what the hell was that about.

MUSIC

As in what song are you planning to use, that actually guides you to what you plan on recording. Think typical circus music to a background of hardcore dancing like at a rave. Doesn’t make sense now does it, to me that is why picking the right song is so important and from the very start.

Speaking of which, and this frankly has been happening a lot on YouTube. Getting you video flagged because of the song you used. Face it, any popular in America song will get flagged for copyright infringement. But not ones recorded outside the US. Really there are a lot of great songs that frankly most of us never heard before why not consider one of them.

Really parodies don’t get flagged, neither does original songs. Besides you can really monotize them and make money if you get a lot of views.

Location

Remember the people you are recording are in fursuits (in general) and you don’t want problems. The general rule is that if it’s not safe to fursuit, it’s probably not safe to record. If your in a building like a store, it’s doesn’t hurt to ask if it’s okay to record. Cons are an exception, but you have to deal with crowds.

Editing

Unless you planning to do the entire song in one take. You might need to edit your video, and a friend with an actual YouTube channel told me. Editing is a lot harder than you can imagine. It’s a combo of skill and whatever program you are going to use, and naturally you will get better with practice. But knowing someone who is already good at it is a real plus.

Promotion

Promote the hell out of your video. Don’t think about making a single post to social media and think that was it. You need word of mouth, post it on everything and everywhere and if your brave enough ask for comments.

Really this began as a piece I decided to post on my Facebook page of how the Furry Raiders (at least some of them) behave badly and of how they should for the sake of peace drop that armband. The reason I mentioned armband is that a growing number of places armbands are totally banned. Not just cons, business have them banned as well.

My original Facebook post

Last night I read a piece on the Furry Raiders saying they are misunderstood. But given everything I have heard and seen, you know who is there own worst enemy….THEMSELVES!!! Look you can say someone is lying who might have issues with them. But the things I heard came from friends, one who witnessed an incident at the very last RMFC, and they showed me the video. Look I won’t go into details but…seriously if they want people to given them the benefit of the doubt they have to start acting better. I saw what started that incident with Deo on Twitter, and frankly I can’t blame Deo for reacting the way they did. That is just one example of dozens I could give where no raider is thinking before they react. People expect bad manners from it’s members and that is what they see. There is this incident with their leader Foxler where they went into this rant, which I will not repeat here. That was filled with things I rather not say. Yet another example of not thinking. Like the armbands, please drop them. I know it’s your symbol but there are a growing number of cons where they are banned without exception. Also given the current level of hate, it would be nice to see them take it down a notch. Also please behave better, it reflects badly on furries in general. Speaking of which I did a bowling event on Sunday and I was told by a member of their staff, that armbands were banned there too. So please drop those stupid armbands.

Believe me I respect Perri Prinz, I think they are a great commentator…but really this…

To drop the armband is dropping freedom of speech and expression. And anything you hear from the Colorado Furs group is suspect. They aren’t exactly impartial. I’ve never seen this video you speak of where they do something bad, but you won’t say what it is.

Editor:
For the record the video I mentioned was privately shown to me. Believe me I don’t blame them for doing so, given the feeling some have for the Raiders.

Then C.C. Nelson posted

Armbands are not freedom of speech if being used to instill fear and/or hostility. Freedom of speech does not ignore legal consequence. Example, If I go to a mega church and talked about how all the furries are pedophiles, get the crowd riled up, and inform them that there is Furry convention in town and someone should “do something” before one of there kids get molested, I am and should be open some legal ramifications of that action if a churchgoing then immediately goes down with guns in hand and kills a whole bunch of Furries. Aside from that argument, many conventions are STILL private events held by 501c, LLC, etc organizations as well as the Hotels that host them. They are BOTH legally allowed to curtail or ban individuals due to “disruptive behavior” outside specific subsets. Sadly, these armband DO specifically try to mirror a nazi style insignia . The raiders have been asked to change iconography to any number of different colors, graphics, and placements that are significantly different but have refused because they keep “needing” a standard that looks similar to Nazi iconography. The effect there are going for is clear.

Editor:
It’s just a stupid piece of cloth, it’s not like it is a flag. Really get a life