foundations!

[schmerica]

So, as a complete and utter newbie, my first places to go for learning about vidding were permetaform's Vidding for newbies links and vidding community's memories -- along with lots of just general quiet lurking and observation of my friends list and friendsfriends list and vidding fandom.

At this point, I think I can say that these are the first three rules I feel fairly certain I have learned about vidding:

1) Cut to the beat
2) Don't be overly literal
3) Always know what you're trying to say (your theme, your thesis, your point, whatever)

There is other stuff I've learned or noted, of course, but I'd say those are the ones I've most internalized. What about you guys? What were the first building blocks you picked up? I'm thinking conceptual rather than technical, which, um, is a whole different thing.