Pretty damn QUIET in here.......

For reasons that escape me, the forum format has lost its appeal. There are so many other options, but all of them have a 'stream of consciousness' format where one posts a question (take Facebook's Location Sound). it gets answered by a few people and then it dies and the next question comes along. That format eliminates topic organization, threads, conversations, getting to know each other, whimsy, humor, off-topic conversations, and community..

Maybe forums are cumbersome on phones (I only use my laptop for this sort of stuff). Maybe forums are considered old-fashioned. I don't know. I miss the forum format.

Discord servers seem to have replaced the forum. They are a little bit better than places like Facebook or Reddit, being that they have 'channels' (subsections for various topics). But again, within a channel, it is a stream of consciousness.

It is unfortunate that forums are fading away. There were so many great contributors to this forum. There were so many great conversations.

C'est la Vie.
 
A reflection of life I always have is how we had many great years without most of us knowing each other and then one day everyone is just gone, in one way or another.

Rock keeps on spinning... 🌎
 
I agree with both of these last takes

I don't think I'm being nostalgic about this

Trying to have genuine conversations regarding filmmaking or cinema in general is very difficult and unfulfilling with modern social media as mentioned, how it all just disappears into the void.

I have this brand new re-found fire and love for cinema, filmmaking, editing, and cinematography and no one talk to about it with. 😂
 
We're listening J.R......... Well, I don't know who exactly we is. Maybe it's just me and my dog.

One thing I have noticed is that the art of communicating via the written word has also declined. Perhaps it is the all part of people staring at their phones thing.

Perhaps people don't feel they have the time to have a conversation. They have just enough time to check their Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, Reddit, and half dozen other sites and only have time for a quick review and move on.
 
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On reddit there are people who still write many paragraphs about things they are passionate about and they'll receive replies that are just as lengthy.

But it really depends on the subject, the post, the community, the day, how the interactions usually are in a certain area.

That hasn't changed, at least not yet, humans are still writing about things online, but the places have changed.

DVXuser is a specific building, a room, you walk into and sit down, maybe by the fireplace, and have a chat...and not a lot of people are going to do that anymore.
 
I can tell you why I don't bother writing here, over-moderation. If anyone says anything the least bit controversial, even in a so-called off-topic area intended for the purpose, they are scolded and topics locked. Not only, they discouraged conversations about camera equipment to give a boost to their pet projects/interests. John Brawley is gone, Doug Jensen is gone, Barry Green. It wasn't always this way. It thrived once, and was a landing spot for refugees from Chris Hurd's DVINFO.NET who tried the same thing. He called it raising the signal to noise ratio but all he did was lower the noise but the signal left too. I check in to see what NorBro (y)is up to.
 
Tom Roper said:
I can tell you why I don't bother writing here, over-moderation. If anyone says anything the least bit controversial, even in a so-called off-topic area intended for the purpose, they are scolded and topics locked. Not only, they discouraged conversations about camera equipment to give a boost to their pet projects/interests. John Brawley is gone, Doug Jensen is gone, Barry Green. It wasn't always this way. It thrived once, and was a landing spot for refugees from Chris Hurd's DVINFO.NET who tried the same thing. He called it raising the signal to noise ratio but all he did was lower the noise but the signal left too. I check in to see what NorBro (y)is up to.
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What happened to Doug?
 
I don't know how I never got banned sometimes...I was kind of a lunatic when younger.

I learn a lot from every experience, every mistake I've ever had, teach myself to become a better human.

Did get several warnings about my selling posts though, lol.

Doug got banned for offering a Doug-like response to someone about a camera/camera quality (or maybe he said something else after being warned in a PM if he was warned, IDK).

I didn't think it was terrible (he has said worse, I have) - but I know the thread/post and that was his last (at least for now) because maybe patience ran out.
 
Reddit - Right you are. I had not though of that. So that rules my phone thing out.

The Brawley situation was most-unfortunate. Between John and Barry leaving, was that a turning point? I think not, as forums in general have faded. But it sure didn't help. Even dedicated major-contributors such as Mitch Gross are gone. The momentum is lost.
 
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NorBro said:
I don't know how I never got banned sometimes...I was kind of a lunatic when younger.

I learn a lot from every experience, every mistake I've ever had, teach myself to become a better human.

Did get several warnings about my selling posts though, lol.

Doug got banned for offering a Doug-like response to someone about a camera/camera quality (or maybe he said something else after being warned in a PM if he was warned, IDK).

I didn't think it was terrible (he has said worse, I have) - but I know the thread/post and that was his last (at least for now) because maybe patience ran out.
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Doug is funny. He's knowledgeable, smart and experienced but he's the type that feels his view is right and there is no room for differing opinions. I'm sure we all feel that way at one time or another but we don't have to rude about it to someone which again is easy to do over the internet.

I get from the forum moderation perspective that if the site isn't getting the traffic as it once did and you're under staffed, policing adults acting as bickering kids is tiresome. Same for the Spam. While the verification every month is annoying it's stopped the bots.
 
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One thing that put me off was the bashing of people's efforts to produce a video about some widgit they built or some product they reviewed. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but when people got thrashed on for their efforts, there was no reason to continue.

The best example of this behaviour was the Zacuto camera shootout. If you recall, it was a three phased presentation. Each camera shot a scene. The cameras were not identified. There was about 6-8 cameras. Once the scenes were made available here, people made their guesses as to which was which; lots of fun.

No one made any negative comments about how the tests were set up. It was all good.

Then it was revealed that Francis Coppola reviewed the tests and deemed camera 3 as the best. More guessing continued, but no one objected to the test.

Then the camera reveal came and it was revealed that camera 3 was a GH2. The floodgates of Hades broke loose. Suddenly, the tests were no good. Mr. Zacuto was lambasted by everyone, including the bigger names here. It went so far as having a noted column writer saying the tests did a disservice to the community because every producer would demand a GH2 instead of more expensive cameras. Many agreed. It was a pretty big production, having brought in noted DPs to shoot the scenes.

It was a ludicrous conclusion and of course, it never happened. People's behavior was deplorable. It was remarkable how people went from giving kudos for the effort to scathing remarks delivered towards Mr. Zacuto. After that, there was no reason for anyone to present their efforts.

Now that doesn't mean I wanted censorship of such, but people's behavior when relatively anonymous is disappointing.
 
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I can't speak to the particular instance you're referring to but I watch a lot of Youtube reviews. What I've learned its hard to setup and film a neutral test. The marketing and people desire to identification to brands divides people making gear talk often divisive. Again I can see the forum wanting to move away from that. Watching a movie most of us have no idea what tools were used.
 
I think the bigger picture when critically-thinking about the above reaction is that it's just natural human behavior.

Because what's the alternative; everyone says "great job" and goes on about their day, you know?

People have argued, killed and herded since day 1. More civil today and most do that now on the internet with words.
 
Paul F said:
Reddit - Right you are. I had not though of that. So that rules my phone thing out.

The Brawley situation was most-unfortunate. Between John and Barry leaving, was that a turning point? I think not, as forums in general have faded. But it sure didn't help. Even dedicated major-contributors such as Mitch Gross are gone. The momentum is lost.
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Reddit/YouTube are good for searching specific experience/solutions for equipment combinations e.g. blackmagic L mount to PL adapter with vari-nd, but it still feels like strangers talking to each other, even if familiar names/faces crop up. Not that it matters, but I don't think the forum format puts people off, but very few people know about them. On literally every single set I've been on (assistant grip and lighting work, Gaffer, shooting, directing), during the inevitable nerding out during downtime, I've asked about dvxuser, like mentioning direct contact with Mitch or Charles when talking about Prolycht or a thousand other things Charles has helped with. Only once last year did someone say they knew of dvxuser - they knew of reduser and dvxuser. Other than that, nobody knows about it. That's not to say they haven't come across the forum in their own searching, but it's not on the radar of the general video production population.

The turning point wasn't john or barry leaving, I think we pinpointed it to (Norbro can correct) the major site overhaul(s). It seems like 50 people disappeared along with the update. On BMC user I could never officially log in and post so I stopped trying.

I don't think Mitch left, I think he's just way too busy with Aputure stuff. But no JB is a huge shame IMO, he was one of an extremely small handful of people on this forum actually doing large project narrative work.

Funnily enough, as someone who has posted extensively about equipment, I might be working on a zero budget feature early next year. I'll definitely document parts of the process and should be in line with the spirit of the site's filmmaking focus.
 
There's a cast of characters that has been gone for a while (maybe only 1 of them has said something in the past year, Run&Gun last seen in May).

It was a combination of factors; site update was significant, a few were banned, one possibly passed away (hope not), one or two were batshit crazy (not Doug, lmao) and were either banned or are likely in therapy, 1-2 maybe couldn't swallow pride after some things happened, maybe some depression and regular life things contributed...and basically just time...a lot of time has passed (so much that I don't remember half the names anymore, just the personalities).
 
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