I do like this one but I'm not sure why. Perhaps all the elements really came together well, or that I'm not sure how I could improve it. Sometimes things just click right into place perfectly. I'm not one to usually stress too much over a caption. I can walk away and sometimes never look back if things don't feel right, or revisit it somewhere down the line with a new way of looking at it.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: How often are you perfectly content with a caption, that it is the absolute best that it can be? Is it easier or harder to be content when the caption is being made for someone else?
I tend to be satisfied with all of my captions if even one person likes them. Although if one person dislikes them I want like five people to say they like it to make me feel vindicated.
ReplyDeleteBut I realize not all my captions are my best. But some of the caps I've done and thought didn't turn out all that well have been my most popular. And what people prefer is sometimes easier to do than some challenging idea I want to try out.
As long as I can do something different and try for something unique I am content, but I make almost all my captions for me and then hope someone else likes them.
The few times I haven't been totally content with a caption is working with someone's preferences that weren't a natural fit for me.
I think sometimes i try to reflect some of my persona on the preferences of the other person but without being to much overwhelming, but then again if you get to know more about the others you do cap for you start to make something really good for them and less about your preferences, so overall its easier for me to cap the way i want, but once you get used to it you can start to get more confident capping another person...
ReplyDeleteP.D: Dee post something about this blog in your folder we are the only person talking about it :3
Once, maybe twice. (I've made several captions outside the haven.) It's harder when it's being made for someone else. I measure those based on how well I think the captionee liked it. Also, I always always end up thinking the captionee is just being polite.
ReplyDelete@ Meridon
ReplyDeleteThe weird thing is I think I've only made 2 captions in my life that weren't for someone else. Perhaps I'm not motivated or something, but making captions for myself does not seem interesting to me.
It does seem odd now that I think about it, but in a way, I've never really made captions for the sole purpose of receiving one back. I look at it as a creative challenge, and without that challenge, I would probably just do something else.
Piggy-backing off of Dee -
ReplyDeleteBefore I started posting captions, I spent two months creating a series of Great Shift captions just for myself, just for practice. The ironic part about making captions for a broad audience is that since you made it, it won't have the same appeal to you. IE - you probably wouldn't pick up a book you wrote to enjoy reading it.
I think making captions for specific individuals is much different than creating something for contests or broad view. Consider that a caption made for a broad audience has to appeal to a large array of factors. It's common sense really.
To answer the original question, I always want my audience to enjoy the caption, whether that audience is one person or everyone.
-Kaitlyn
@ Kaitlyn
ReplyDeleteIf I make a caption for someone else, which is what 99 percent of my captions are, I tend to be happy if THEY like it. Anyone else that likes it, makes it gravy to me.
The creative process is what is important to me, and if I can satisfy that persons preferences, and still bring a smile to my face somehow, then I've done a good job. Each caption is different, and what I take out of it varies as well. Sometimes it's a pop culture reference, or me sneaking in something subversive in an anagram or character reference. It just has to have some tasty nugget to appeal to me.
Dee
Perfectly content? I would have to say I have never been content with my captions.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel that I have left out to much detail. Other times I feel like I have given to much detail. Sometimes I feel like I am writing the play by play to a kinky porn (well I kinda like those, but it still doesn’t mean I’m content).
And if it wasn’t bad enough writing up a story, I have to use a photo representation of that story. So sometimes I feel like the story doesn’t really match up to the image. Sometimes I feel like I am just adding un-needed verbage to an image that already tells its story well.
And if I ever got those two parts right (which I don’t feel that I’ve done yet), I still have to design the cap. Do I want to put a ‘title’ into it? What font should I use? What color of text? What color of background? Should I use an image in the background?
And then there is the perfect merging of these three areas.
But I remember a quote something like “Perfection is the realm of God. Pursuing perfection is the realm of man”. I keep that idea in my head and heart for anything I do. I don’t believe I will ever achieve perfection (and nothing less than perfection will make me content), but I will keep on striving. I guess I am ‘satisfied’ if the person I am capping for is happy. By that thought process ; I find it much easier to be satisfied if I am writing for someone else, as I know I will never make myself happy.
Caitlyn