Songvid Recs: Rare Fandoms
May. 27th, 2004 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eruthrosThe giant post of songvids this past weekend was in part a preface to an (attempted) weekly songvid rec/review, loosely grouped by theme. We'll see if I actually manage this every week. (Ha!) This week, three vids from rare movie fandoms.
Destina's Gladiator vid to 'All Souls Night,' song by Loreena McKennitt.
I have to begin this commentary by admitting that I've never seen Gladiator, barring half an hour while channel surfing. But you don't need to know the source to enjoy some vids, and this is one of them. The basics of this vid are just gorgeous -- the soft fades at the beginning and end of the vid match the music incredibly well. And the vid feels timeless, in part because of the fades but also in part because it's designed to start and end with similar clips, so that the clip of Maximus you see at the beginning of the vid is in fact the continuation of the clip of Maximus at the end of the vid. And clips of Maximus's wife and son are interspersed just beautifully, using tons of the same clips and same moments, and dissolving between them -- very dreamlike and perfect. So never having seen the source, my deduction is that this film is about Maximus dreaming about his family, and about his goal of killing ... um, Commodus? Joaquin Phoenix, anyway. Both of which match the chorus "I can see the lights in the distance / trembling in the dark cloak of night."
I particularly like the shots at the beginning of the vid, starting at around 0:12, where the camera seems to drift or float slowly -- very out of time. Really lovely when combined with the vocals there. And the color change on the clip of Maximus's family, from blue-tinted black and white to color, at around 0:54 is perfect -- since the lyric is "Somewhere in a hidden memory / Images float before my eyes." I didn't know that Maximus's wife and son were dead before seeing this vid, but after that clip I do. And the fight scenes for the chorus line "candles and lanterns are dancing dancing a waltz" are incredibly moving in context. The fast clip sequence at 3:03 makes me really, really happy. I don't know why. Partly because it's a really moving set of images -- all the happy clips there are sad in context, especially with the lyric "pass by the bridge and me." Especially ending with Maximus in chains.
Problems with the vid: Since I haven't seen the movie, the clips starting 2:10 made very little sense to me -- I just now realized that that's his dead family, and that's him swearing vengeance. D'oh. It would have helped if I'd seen more than the feet, but I think the entire world saw this film, so it's really not the vidder's problem -- it's mine. And for some reason the clip of Maximus on his stretcher at, um, 1:07 doesn't work for me; I think it's in part because it seems a little out of place, or because the clip speed feels wrong. That's a minor quibble, though, in an otherwise gorgeous vid.
Available at Triptych vids. Password required. Available in Real Video 8 only.
ThatFangirls's Contact vid to 'Are You Out There?', song by Dar Williams.
Another movie I've only seen parts of -- I'm so lame. It's still a good vid. The song is a perfect choice for the movie -- Ellie's been listening all this time, and it's all about understanding.
The opening shot establishes the universe of the vid really well, and fades in on Ellie's bag so beautifully. I watched it twice in a row the first time -- very cool. And the cuts between young and adult Ellie starting at 0:34, with the parallels in mannerism, set up the line "I was out here listening all the time" really wonderfully, and is cut to the percussion to boot. Word. I also like the shot of Ellie on TV followed by some Senate dude to "indies versus major labels." It's a nice interpretation of the line. And the flashes of light are perfectly timed at the end, with a fade to white -- fade to white is rare and neat.
For some reason, though, I often begin to get a little ... not bored, but easily distracted around three quarters of the way through the vid, around 1:50. Partly it's because I don't know the plot that well, I'm sure, but also I think it's because the clips there seem to stop the flow of the vid, which is towards this triumphant exultation of space travel, of talking to aliens after being there listening all the time -- the vid narrative slows vid down, there, for me, with the clips to "Corporate parents, corporate towns / know every TV set that has them lit." I think it's because Dar's voice is climbing louder and more vehement, and then we do... a lot of shots without much motion, right after all the running and the helicopter and the fast percussion clips on "time." It's a good vid regardless. *g*
Available at Fangirl.nu: a girl and her fandoms. No password required. Available in Real Video 9 only.
T. Jonesy's Catch Me If You Can vid to 'I'm Looking Through You,' song by the Wallflowers.
And I've actually seen this movie. With the scenes in order and everything. Which helps with the plot.
The song's a good choice for Abagnale: it's all about change, and Abagnale's all about change. "I thought I knew you / what did I know / you don't look different / but you have changed" -- well, he's a pilot, and he's a lawyer, and he's a doctor, and so on.
The vid begins really well, I think. I like the typing clip, which somehow seems to match the guitar without being synced. And then we follow that check in the next clip to Hanratty, so you can get the concept of the film right away.
But the vid's a little over-literal at times, which can make it less interesting on repeated viewings. Although sometimes the lyric of "I'm looking through you" is paired with Hanratty gazing into a check to find its secrets. So it's a mixed bag, literalism-wise. In some ways, really, the song is too perfect for Abagnale -- there's no deeper meaning in the lyrics. He's changed, yup. Now he works for the side of good, check. It's not a bad vid, but there's not much to make me want to watch it a second or third time (although I just did, to write this).
Available at Vids by Killa and friends. Password required. Quicktime only.
Destina's Gladiator vid to 'All Souls Night,' song by Loreena McKennitt.
I have to begin this commentary by admitting that I've never seen Gladiator, barring half an hour while channel surfing. But you don't need to know the source to enjoy some vids, and this is one of them. The basics of this vid are just gorgeous -- the soft fades at the beginning and end of the vid match the music incredibly well. And the vid feels timeless, in part because of the fades but also in part because it's designed to start and end with similar clips, so that the clip of Maximus you see at the beginning of the vid is in fact the continuation of the clip of Maximus at the end of the vid. And clips of Maximus's wife and son are interspersed just beautifully, using tons of the same clips and same moments, and dissolving between them -- very dreamlike and perfect. So never having seen the source, my deduction is that this film is about Maximus dreaming about his family, and about his goal of killing ... um, Commodus? Joaquin Phoenix, anyway. Both of which match the chorus "I can see the lights in the distance / trembling in the dark cloak of night."
I particularly like the shots at the beginning of the vid, starting at around 0:12, where the camera seems to drift or float slowly -- very out of time. Really lovely when combined with the vocals there. And the color change on the clip of Maximus's family, from blue-tinted black and white to color, at around 0:54 is perfect -- since the lyric is "Somewhere in a hidden memory / Images float before my eyes." I didn't know that Maximus's wife and son were dead before seeing this vid, but after that clip I do. And the fight scenes for the chorus line "candles and lanterns are dancing dancing a waltz" are incredibly moving in context. The fast clip sequence at 3:03 makes me really, really happy. I don't know why. Partly because it's a really moving set of images -- all the happy clips there are sad in context, especially with the lyric "pass by the bridge and me." Especially ending with Maximus in chains.
Problems with the vid: Since I haven't seen the movie, the clips starting 2:10 made very little sense to me -- I just now realized that that's his dead family, and that's him swearing vengeance. D'oh. It would have helped if I'd seen more than the feet, but I think the entire world saw this film, so it's really not the vidder's problem -- it's mine. And for some reason the clip of Maximus on his stretcher at, um, 1:07 doesn't work for me; I think it's in part because it seems a little out of place, or because the clip speed feels wrong. That's a minor quibble, though, in an otherwise gorgeous vid.
Available at Triptych vids. Password required. Available in Real Video 8 only.
ThatFangirls's Contact vid to 'Are You Out There?', song by Dar Williams.
Another movie I've only seen parts of -- I'm so lame. It's still a good vid. The song is a perfect choice for the movie -- Ellie's been listening all this time, and it's all about understanding.
The opening shot establishes the universe of the vid really well, and fades in on Ellie's bag so beautifully. I watched it twice in a row the first time -- very cool. And the cuts between young and adult Ellie starting at 0:34, with the parallels in mannerism, set up the line "I was out here listening all the time" really wonderfully, and is cut to the percussion to boot. Word. I also like the shot of Ellie on TV followed by some Senate dude to "indies versus major labels." It's a nice interpretation of the line. And the flashes of light are perfectly timed at the end, with a fade to white -- fade to white is rare and neat.
For some reason, though, I often begin to get a little ... not bored, but easily distracted around three quarters of the way through the vid, around 1:50. Partly it's because I don't know the plot that well, I'm sure, but also I think it's because the clips there seem to stop the flow of the vid, which is towards this triumphant exultation of space travel, of talking to aliens after being there listening all the time -- the vid narrative slows vid down, there, for me, with the clips to "Corporate parents, corporate towns / know every TV set that has them lit." I think it's because Dar's voice is climbing louder and more vehement, and then we do... a lot of shots without much motion, right after all the running and the helicopter and the fast percussion clips on "time." It's a good vid regardless. *g*
Available at Fangirl.nu: a girl and her fandoms. No password required. Available in Real Video 9 only.
T. Jonesy's Catch Me If You Can vid to 'I'm Looking Through You,' song by the Wallflowers.
And I've actually seen this movie. With the scenes in order and everything. Which helps with the plot.
The song's a good choice for Abagnale: it's all about change, and Abagnale's all about change. "I thought I knew you / what did I know / you don't look different / but you have changed" -- well, he's a pilot, and he's a lawyer, and he's a doctor, and so on.
The vid begins really well, I think. I like the typing clip, which somehow seems to match the guitar without being synced. And then we follow that check in the next clip to Hanratty, so you can get the concept of the film right away.
But the vid's a little over-literal at times, which can make it less interesting on repeated viewings. Although sometimes the lyric of "I'm looking through you" is paired with Hanratty gazing into a check to find its secrets. So it's a mixed bag, literalism-wise. In some ways, really, the song is too perfect for Abagnale -- there's no deeper meaning in the lyrics. He's changed, yup. Now he works for the side of good, check. It's not a bad vid, but there's not much to make me want to watch it a second or third time (although I just did, to write this).
Available at Vids by Killa and friends. Password required. Quicktime only.
