Vid: No Light, No Light

[bop_radar]

Title: No Light, No Light
Artist: Florence and the Machine
Source: Battlestar Galactica
Summary: "Tell me what you want me to say!" - Kara
Acknowledgments: Without

Comments

[bop_radar]

Oh, Tara, I'm so thrilled and amazed and humbled that you like this so much, and that you see your Kara in it!! Thanks so much for reccing it as well! ((hugs))

And yes, I DO SEE HER TOO!!!! *twirls* It's really thrilling for me, actually, it's like discovering the whole show over again... and in a more complete way, because it makes the picture much fuller when I can connect openly with Kara's perspective too.

The credit for the ending should go to m_a_r_i_k_s who suggested the slap-kiss! I agree it works really really well. I'd been playing with some other footage but when I tried this it was immediately apparent what a great choice it was for summing up.

I'm super-thrilled you like the night footage. :) I really pushed out the length that shot was held for but it was such an amazing opportunity to show how uncomfortable Kara is. ;)

it's with him that we get to see that deepest self of her I think, that chewy emotional center
I think so too! Of course there is some wonderful material of her with other people too... even not necessarily shippy, I mean--I'm thinking more that some scenes with Adama are very revelatory about her ... but definitely consistently with Lee we see a lot of different facets! Those glimpses of that buried self are so compelling, aren't they? They're a treasure!

You're so right... it's the only moment in the mini when we see her so emotionally exposed. And she's also RADIANT in that moment--as she so often is in that moments where the mask slips and she shows her heart, however briefly. :)

[m_a_r_i_k_s]

Those glimpses of that buried self are so compelling, aren't they? They're a treasure!

Did you ever try to imagine how it would sound, what kind of "picture" it would create if you take all those moments when Kara says Lee's name out loud with different intonations - put them together and just "watch" attentively with your ears? :-)

[bop_radar]

Oh, that's a lovely idea!! :)

[callmeonetrack]

Butting in just to say that would be amazing! At the start of one of my vids I included a tiny series of sound clips of Kara saying "So What?" about six time in totally different inflections/tone of voices and I was surprised by how effective and interesting and kind of powerful it was. I can only imagine LEE'S NAME would be on another plane of powerful entirely! Katee does such amazing things with her voice/vocal inflection alone that it blows me away. A lot of her voiceover work for comics and video games is just really stunning because she conveys so much without even using one of her biggest assets which is how amazingly transparent and changeable her face is. (I always think I've never seen a better actress able to convey multiple conflicting emotions at once without so much as even a sigh, never mind dialogue. <3 <3)

(ETA: I'd love to see the reverse also--all the times that he says her name and what that sounds like.)

[m_a_r_i_k_s]

Oh yeah I remember that start of So What you made to one of the songs by Pink. I thought it must've taken you forever to cut those moments and put them together! :-) But the effect and image it creates are totally worth it.

Well in this imaginary crescendo of "Lee!"s - her "Leeee! Oh... Lee..!" moan would definitely fit the climax point, right? :D

A friend of mine is kind of deaf to different voices, can't recognise them at all and I always used to tease her about it warmly when it would come to BSG because it used to be such a pleasure to hear every character announce "previously on Battlestar Galactica" and know the character immediately and she wouldn't get my excitement. Her inability to recognise Kara's voice especially was baffling to me))). I remember I once made her listen to it like twelve times in a row or something to make sure that she wasn't faking... because Kara's voice timbre is sooo distinct to me and I honestly find it hard to imagine being unable to HEAR it and remember! :-)

Haha! Yeah the reverse would be a pleasure to listen to as well! :)

[callmeonetrack]

Oh no--it was actually surprisingly quick! I remembered at least a few of the "So What"s right off the bat and I did a little transcript searching to find the others! I wasn't sure what to do with it at first, because I don't really look dialogue over my vids, but it worked okay as a leadup to the song starting I thought.

Oooh yes--the moan would definitely be the, uh, climax point. ;)

oh wow, that's so sad. Their voices lend sooo much to the individual character portrayals!

Definitely, I love the way he says her name especially when he's calling for her when they're flying--and he slips and uses Kara (all desperate and panicky) instead of Starbuck. <3

[callmeonetrack]

She's amazing, that's how. :) Ooh do that picspam!

[callmeonetrack]

The credit for the ending should go to m_a_r_i_k_s who suggested the slap-kiss! I agree it works really really well. I'd been playing with some other footage but when I tried this it was immediately apparent what a great choice it was for summing up.

I think, for me anyway, that now there's an instinctive fear that any Kara vid will/must end with the poofing just because that was her end in the show and while that works wonderfully in some vids, that ending is so not about Kara being Kara to me and her not having a choice in it and no agency so... I'm just really glad it doesn't have a place in this particular vid? (Actually now that I think about it--did you vid anything after maelstrom? Maybe just the shot of them in their vipers together when she first comes back? I'll have to watch again.)

I'm super-thrilled you like the night footage. :) I really pushed out the length that shot was held for but it was such an amazing opportunity to show how uncomfortable Kara is. ;)

Oh that's interesting because I never see her as uncomfortable there, though I know a lot of people do. I mean I see her trying to process it and her own self-doubts coming to the surface --and maybe that's all you mean-- but I never took it as a rejection of Lee or her already thinking that she has to go back to Anders or anything that I've seen other people ascribe to her in that moment. But yes, I think lengthening/slowing that was very powerful and the same with the beginning shot of her being slow and calm, such a nice contrast to the turmoil/poundier parts of the vid. (ETA: You also really slowed down and drew out the shots of her reacting to Tyrol's news that Lee died deliciously. It's a very very quick moment in the show I always think, almost too quick to read her expression/see her do anything but pull up and pause, and I really liked seeing the longer play of emotion on her face with it slowed down and broken up here. She looks more sad/conflicted than in that instant in canon and I enjoy seeing it!

I think so too! Of course there is some wonderful material of her with other people too... even not necessarily shippy, I mean--I'm thinking more that some scenes with Adama are very revelatory about her ... but definitely consistently with Lee we see a lot of different facets! Those glimpses of that buried self are so compelling, aren't they? They're a treasure!

I was actually going to mention Bill in my comment because I really do think it's mostly with the two of them that she only ever shows her vulnerable self (ok and maybe with goo tub boy at the end because he's already on another plane of existence or whatever). But I do think that she and Bill had such a disconnect...pretty early on. Like after S2 their relationship changed and got so ugly that... I don't know I guess I don't like to think about it much. But yes I think both (all?) the Adamas really knew how to get behind Kara's walls. Did you consider including more/any footage of the two of them? Just curious. I love to hear about people's creation process.

You're so right... it's the only moment in the mini when we see her so emotionally exposed. And she's also RADIANT in that moment--as she so often is in that moments where the mask slips and she shows her heart, however briefly. :)
Indeed! I remember seeing a lot of folks (maybe even you?) saying that they didn't like Kara much right off in the mini because they thought she was all over-the-top swagger and overly masculine and had no grace notes/was nothing but a caricature of the original Starbuck. That ALWAYS baffled(s) me because the more important and impressive bits for me were always those quiet beats with/thinking about Lee. The glimpse of her face after he leaves the brig, Tyrol telling her he died, her praying for him,and her expressions throughout the ENTIRE handshake scene by the viper. It was all so transparent to me how much she loved (a very complicated love, but still) this Lee guy. ;)

[bop_radar]

Oh god, I could never have ended with the 'poofing'!! I did use some footage from season 4 though not very much. I used the shot from the memorial hall when she beams at him so radiantly because I felt it was important, but I didn't feel any need to include anything else (and this wasn't one of those vids where I really felt pushed to show the WHOLE of their story--it was more about teasing out this specific aspect and feeling as clearly as possible).

trying to process it and her own self-doubts coming to the surface --and maybe that's all you mean-
Yes, it's all I mean. It's an incredible moment of opening herself up. I don't believe she is thinking of fleeing back to Anders or anything. If she wanted that really she'd have done it. :p But I think it's a moment of opening herself to the unknown and some self-doubts, yes, arising. It's uncomfortable for her from that perspective. Lee works kind of like a mirror for her in that moment and she squirms at the reflection... at first. But she doesn't actually run away from it. I love watching that.

lengthening/slowing
Thankfully didn't have to do any actual slowing there! That shot is INCREDIBLE ... Katee's facial work is amazing.

I really liked seeing the longer play of emotion on her face with it slowed down and broken up here
Coooool! I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, it's super fast in canon and I wasn't sure if this would work but I was pleased when I got it to because I think this very self-contained grief reaction is actually very moving... she goes and mourns in private, won't show her feelings in a public outburst. And that actually makes me feel for her more ... though I used to think she didn't react at all! It was different when I rewatched with a more open heart and mind.

Did you consider including more/any footage of the two of them?
Not in this one... I was pretty clear that this was All About Lee. ;) (Although there was this hideous--but blessedly brief--period where Anders somehow took over the ending!!) The only time when I was tempted was in dealing with Zak guilt because that scene with him is amazing. I use that shot of her reacting and turning away from him as a layer but don't actually show him. I could imagine vidding more with Adama and Kara in another vid though. As I was vidding this one, I started getting that twitch to explore some of the things that AREN'T in this vid. I agree though that some of it is unpleasant territory to say the least.

I never saw her as a caricature ... and I don't have any attachment to the original series. But I didn't immediately click into 'omg, you are MY character' with her the way many people did. I did love the reunion scene with Lee though... in that scene I was very much drawn to both of them and the energy between them--the chemistry was off the charts and I was fascinated. I also loved the scene where she told him about passing Zak. I didn't immediately know what to make of her though... I should have just been relaxed about that and taken time to get to know the person behind all these aspects. But I got intimidated by other people really clicking with her straight away, and just backed off for a long time.

But I'm glad to say it's never too late to remedy! :)

[callmeonetrack]

Lee works kind of like a mirror for her in that moment and she squirms at the reflection... at first. But she doesn't actually run away from it. I love watching that.

I was just saying to Mariks downstream actually that I always read pilots as being so scarily similar at heart (as opposed to so many people who seem to dwell on their differences/opposite natures). So that moment when he says "I didn't want to admit how much I needed you...how much I needed anyone" and Kara just nods and says "Yeah." I thought that was incredibly profound. It's that similarity, that mirror, the way their hearts are so similarly scared and scarred, that fraks them up time and time again and just gets me sooo much. <3

Ooh very excited to hear you say you may need to explore things that aren't in this vid and that you may not be able to stop vidding Kara now that you've started. GOOD GOOD GOOOD! <3

[bop_radar]

Ohh, I like the scarily similar idea!! :) I might in the past have resisted defensively and said although I saw some similarities, there were more differences. But I don't feel the same way now... Discovering Kara so completely separately, AFTER Lee, makes me notice a lot of similarities--especially when I'm noticing how when I watch for her primarily I don't find it hard to slip into her point of view.

I think they both have a primary struggle which is that their hearts call out to each other but they have so much crap in their heads (from parents, from other people's expectations and their own excessive self-criticism) that they doubt and fear and avoid.

That moment you mention is a great example--of one of them saying words and the other identifying--and that moment breaks down the feeling of enormous distance between them (which feeds the fear).

Yeah, I already started another one! And it's KILLING me emotionally--I cried almost more clipping its four sections so far than I did in this whole vid. But i'm hungry for it! :p