VividCon: The Premieres Show

[butterfly]

The Premieres Show
First off, wow. I loved last year's show, but there were a couple of vids in that one that fell flat for me. In this one, all of the vids were both very well-made and very emotionally-gripping (for one reason or another). Terrific line-up of vids. Absolutely wonderful.

Intro Vid
(vid by tzikeh)

So amusing. Starts out all Star Wars-y, which made me happy on a number of levels and then turns into... the perfect llama fandom song. Seriously. Perfect opening.

Ecstatic Drum Trip
(vid by sockkpuppett; Farscape; music by Rusted Root)

First off, I must say that I am not a fan of Farscape. I've tried several times to get into the show and I always end up giving up on it again. Emotionally, the show does not often hit any of the right buttons for me and, quite often, manages to hit the wrong buttons very hard. But I'm fairly familiar with the show -- I've seen the first season and a half, read the transcripts for all the episodes, and saw Peacekeeper Wars.

This vid, which is an instrumental vid that has a voiceover from the show, manages to touch all the emotional hotspots without hitting any of the things that turned me off the show. Because it just moves forward, relentlessly. The wormhole imagery returns in the vid, again and again, a spinning vortex that John travels into many times. The ride is bumpy and fast and frentic and everything that the show is, but over the course of three minutes, so it's over long before I hit my saturation point (which is about three or four episodes and then I have to hide from it for a while).

Street Cafe
(vid by Jill, Kathy, and Kay; The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy; music by Icehouse)

Now, with this vid, I have a strong love for the source material -- I adore the two Bourne movies, I love the character of Jason Bourne, and I find his journey to be incredibly interesting.

This vid more than lived up to any hopes that I held out for it. It just kicks ass. The music fits Bourne -- not just the character, but also the style of the movies. This was one of the vids that was talked about in the In-Depth vid review and it deserved it. Here comes the part where I want to be more articulate about the things that I love. I loved the clip choice and placement. I adore the editing, the way it managed to show Bourne's confusion and also his bone-deep competence, amid the chaos that is happening all around him. And I just loved the way the vid used Marie. She really was such an important character and such an pivotal relationship for Bourne.

Joker
(vid by tv_elf; Battlestar Galactica (2003); music by Steve Miller Band)

A good Starbuck vid, though I think I was the only person at the Con who was unfamiliar with the music. Never heard the song before. This vid suffers a bit from literal clips-lyrics usage and a couple of inappropriate clip choices, but it's a lot of fun, regardless.

Tiger
(vid by Keely; Dead Like Me; music by Paula Cole)

Despite never having seen an episode of the show, I've really enjoyed all three of the Dead Like Me vids that I've seen. I keep being surprised by Georgia's breasts, though. Her face looks about twelve, then all of sudden, breasts, all perky and grown-up looking!

Hallelujah
(vid by Zoe Rayne and rache; Stargate Atlantis; music by Rufus Wainwright)

I'll admit it straight-out that I was inclined not to like this vid because of the Firefly vid to the same version of the song. That vid has made Rufus' version of Hallelujah mean 'Mal' to me. Despite that, I did find myself enjoying this vid -- it doesn't use the song in the same way. The other version was a character vid, whereas this one is a relationship in context vid. Because of that difference, it's much easier for me to view them as distinct entities. There are some places where I didn't feel that the visuals matched up to the pain in the song, and some places that worked really well.

Ring Them Bells
(vid by sisabet; Kill Bill; music by Bob Dylan)

sisabet continues to amaze me. Her range is simply incredible and she managed to capture the longing in Kill Bill, the beauty that is normally drowned out by the action and violence. She found the heart of the movie and shows it to us in a tender, honest way that blew my mind.

I've rewatched this vid a lot already, and I don't see myself ever getting tired of it. It's stunning in how it uses the source material's color (and black and white), makes explicit certain implicit parallels in the film, and it just has such aching beauty.

Rebels of the Sacred Heart
(vid by Zeneyepirate; The Boondock Saints; music by Flogging Molly)

Perfect song choice. The Boondock Saints is an interesting cult movie, full of religion and violence and love. This vid captures all of those sides. It's rough and true. And just plain fun.

Polaroid Millenium
(vid by gwyn_r; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; music by Superior)

Buffy's my girl. In a way, that's her purpose. Joss wanted to create characters that grabbed the heart and never let go. Buffy hasn't let go of me yet, and I doubt that she will. That it's even possible. And I know that I don't want her to.

This vid captures the quiet strength that isn't always obvious -- the smaller moments of decision and love. And I just like it more as I rewatch it.

Girl Anachronism
(vid by lierdumoa; Gia; music by Dresden Dolls)

Wow. I've never seen the movie that this is based off and heard only the one-sentence summary of her life before I saw the vid (basically she was the first 'supermodel', a lesbian/bisexual drug-addict who died because of AIDS-related reasons). Gia (portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the movie that was used in the vid) breaks my heart here. This vid seems to cover her whole life, showing her childhood, her beauty, her pain, and even her corpse. The vid is an attack on the senses, brash and honest.

It was pointed out in Vid Review (and I would agree) that this is an intensely female vid, devoid of the 'male gaze' that permeates almost all the media that we use. Men and how men view Gia are both completely unimportant in the terms of the vid. And all of the important players in the vid are female -- Gia herself, her lover, someone that may be her mother, even the one doctor that we see sitting next to her. There are people that could be men, but they're all in the background or cut-off so that we don't see their faces.

Gorgeous vid. Quite possibly my favorite of the con.

Ghost
(vid by morgandawn; Doctor Who (2005); music by Live)

God, I want to see Doctor Who. I knew already that I wanted to see the show, but now I really, really want to see the show. This vid is such a wonderful look at the Doctor and at Rose and I want to know more about the characters and their relationship. Possibly my favorite part of the vid is the overlay of them clasping hands as the female singer sings by herself for the first time. Touching and deep.

Someone You Might Have Been
(vid by merryish; Numb3rs; music by Oysterband)

Neat. I am really getting to like Oysterband, who I've never heard of outside of vidding circles.

I've seen two episodes of Numb3rs, so I can identify the characters, which is nice. This vid basically has the bits from the show that I enjoyed with the bits that threw me off (the show proper has too much overt sentiment for my tastes). And Charlie is pretty.

Forget Regret
(vid by przed; Professionals; music by The RH Factor)

An old-school vid pairing. I enjoyed the vid, though it feels a bit too long.

Circles
(vid by laurashapiro; The West Wing; music by Angele Dubeau and La Pieta)

Amazing vid. The circles and the movement were gorgeous here. I've only seen one other West Wing vid and it was sunk by the overly talky nature of the clips used -- here, the clips were full of life. Very lovely vid.

The Happy Happy Birthday Song
(vid by The Frosty Beverage Twins; Smallville; music by The Arrogant Worms)

Very funny vid, and very needed after all the wonderful seriousness that came before. I actually do think that Smallville is a very good choice of fandom -- the twangy sound of the music fits the setting well.

Blue Jean
(vid by marycrawford; Labyrinth; music by David Bowie)

And the fact that David Bowie sings the song is amusing on a meta level. I loved how marycrawford manipulated the clips to make it look like the song was actually being sung. Overall, a very appropriate vid for the movie, I thought.

Scared
(vid by sweetestdrain; Firefly; music by The Tragically Hip)

I really enjoyed this a lot, for showing both sides of Mal -- the hard exterior and the softer inside. He's living a complicated life and he wants simple. Because caring means worrying about losing what you care about.

American Tune
(vid by andrastewhite; Alias; music by Paul Simon)

Again, this was a song that I very much associated with another fandom. You'd think that it would be especially hard for me to enjoy a new version when I don't (at all) know the fandom. This is what I know about Alias: there is a chick with hair that changes color a lot. Her name is a city (I want to say Sydney, but I'm not married to it). She's a Spy and has a Spy Daddy, and possibly had a Spy Mommy as well. That's about it. And this vid appears to be about Spy Daddy and the possibly late Spy/Not!Spy Mommy (if that's who they are).

I did really enjoy the vid, though, wow, that clip from the show with the kid holding the gun (presumably young Spy!Cityname) disturbs me on the 'that kid holding a gun' level.

A Day in the Life
(vid by astolat and cesperanza; Dead Zone; music by The Beatles)

Wow. Seriously, no other thoughts. Just... wow. Oh, and I really want to see this show. Now.

Jerusalem
(vid by Seah and Margie; Battlestar Galactica (2003); music by Anouk)

Three women with interwined paths. This vid is complicated without ever being confusing. It perfectly interweaves the three journeys. It's... perfect. I can't think of a single false note.

In the Breakdown
(vid by permetaform; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; music by Frou Frou)

Gorgeous. I appear to have lost any ability to talk about what I love, haven't I? Seriously, though, I have never seen the movie (well, I watched twenty minutes, then got bored and turned it off) and this vid made me care about the main character and what he was losing. Again, a vid that was complex while remaining clear. Lovely.

Hide My Track
(vid by taraljc; Firefly; music by Boiled in Lead)

It's interesting (for me) to compare this to Jerusalem. This is a more straight-forward way of comparing three people and their paths. I found both vids to be lovely, but in this one, the three stories are kept very distinct in their verses, which means that the parts of the vid are not the same as the whole -- if you only saw the middle, it would look like a Jayne vid, whereas the middle of Jerusalem still contains the message that lives in the whole. I like both methods. And the music here is wonderful for Firefly.

Woman King
(vid by sdwolfpup; Deadwood; music by Iron and Wine)

Another beautiful vid. This one was a character study of a woman that my summary helpfully tells me is named Alma. In any case, I really adored the vid. Alma was a fascinating person to meet -- full of deceptive quiet and growing strength.

Bright Future in Sales
(vid by L'Abattoir; Wonderfalls; music by Fountains of Wayne)

Poor Jayne. Very cute vid that really fit the tone of the show and made me want to actually watch the series all the way through.

Night on Bare Mountain
(vid by absolut3destiny; exploitation movies; music by Bob James)

In which the title contains a pun. This vid prompted two very different reactions for me -- on the one hand, visually, I found it fascinating. But it also brings up the question of whether later empowerment validates rather massive amounts of victimization. And that's a subject that I'm torn on.

Killing in the Name of
(vid by f1renze; BtVS/AtS; music by Rage Against the Machine)

A really lovely exploration of the interrelationships between Faith, Wesley, and Angel. They all have interesting things in common and interesting differences. The violence of the vid shows the violence of the characters and how they express their inner demons (though Angel's is, of course, rather more literal).

Hello
(vid by merryish; Stargate Atlantis; music by Poe)

Wraith and McShep. I really enjoyed this vid. Adored the way she cut John screaming, "Koyla" to make it look like he's yelling out, "Hello". Very nicely done.

Exile
(vid by wolfing; Doctor Who; music by Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts)

I really liked getting to see the old Doctor Whos, as I've only heard about them (mostly via QaF (UK)) And Captain Jack is cute and my brain is out of thoughts. I did really like the vid.

Crush Story
(vid by sherrold and wickedwords; The Tick; music by OK Go)

Very amusing and touching.

Sunburn
(vid by Taselby and killabeez; Spider-Man; music by Fuel)

Being a superhero isn't all fun and games. This vid actually made me like Mary-Jane, at least for a few brief moments. Though I still liked the other stuff more. But hey, I didn't hate Mary-Jane! Even in the scene where she was wearing a wedding dress and I knew she's about to pull the Abandoning At The Altar shit that I hate so much. And this made me feel Peter's pain in a way that the movie itself failed to.

Dancin' in the Light
(vid by barkley; Babylon 5; music by Entrain)

A happy B5 vid. Apparently this is rare. Really cute vid, though I lack context.

Disappearing Man
(vid by melina123 and feochadn; Lord of the Rings; music by Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer)

Oh, beautiful. I love this so much that I can't be articulate, partly because it's Dave and Tracy. He's been gone for three years now and is still sorely missed (he may not have been from Portland, but it was where he and Tracy first built up a fanbase, and I can remember meeting them, back when Tracy wore glasses). He was such a wonderful writer and he and Tracy always sounded glorious together. Her voice is so beautiful on this song and it really does fit the movie storyline of Arwen-Aragon-Eowyn-Faramir well.

The cuts are well-done, the point of view shift works wonderfully well, and it's extremely beautiful.

Knight of the Round Table
(vid by killabeez and T. Jonesy; Star Trek (TOS); music by Monty Python)

Such a perfect, silly little show ender. Wonderfully done and so very amusing. Plus, something that will amuse my mom as well!