Rec List: Supernatural Vids
So I believe I've mentioned my new addiction to Supernatural. And perhaps you are aware that there are no longer any new episodes. These two facts coincided into a frantic search for something (anything) to take the edge off. Then I discovered that this fandom has some really excellent vids, and inspired by gothic_elvis's latest cry for recs, I decided to share.
(I'm aware that many of these are fandom staples and that Supernatural fans have probably seen most of them already, but they are all so excellent that I will rec them again, just in case, and maybe I will entice some of you non-SPN fans with the promise of hot boys being awesome set to music.)
May Angels Lead You In by ashdoode. It's okay, Dean, it's gonna be okay. I got him.
A beautiful coda to the season five finale. Not gonna lie, I tear up every time I watch this. (It's kind of embarrassing. People keep walking in on me while I am wracked with tears and pointing out, rightfully so, that I am watching something that is only a minute and twenty seconds long, and moreover that I was crying the last three times I watched it, too. To which I respond: SHUT UP SHUT UP THEY ARE SO SAD OH GOD MY HEART. And that usually gets them to leave.) I think part of the reason it gets to me so badly is that the song is, not happy precisely, but hopeful, and when that sort of music is combined with the Winchester Angst Parade- especially when I turn up the volume just a little too loud- it gives me that same tragic feeling that I always get with Supernatural finales, the one where I know something bad is going to happen but I can't help the glimmer of hope that maybe this time the boys will get the happy ending they deserve. This vid is short, but it packs all the emotional punch of the episode and manages to distill its essence into one simple message: the power of love just saved the world. Take that, destiny.
My Boy Builds Coffins by mithborien. Everyone leaves you, Dean. Ever ask yourself why? Maybe it's not them. Maybe it's you.
If you've watched Supernatural, you don't need a vid to tell you that Dean Winchester's life sucks. A lot. So it's rather fitting that this vid starts with Dean gasping for breath in his own coffin. Rarely have I seen something that so deftly captures the different facets of his character: the balance of saving people and hunting things, his aggression and his empathy, the cocky smirk that covers for his complete lack of self-worth, and forever running underneath, the duty that he clings to with a suicidal stubbornness: watch out for Sammy. This vid's technical aspects are excellent as well- all the transitions hit their beats, which is something that you don't really notice until you see it done badly (and after that you are eternally grateful for the people who get it right). About halfway through there's a clip from 5.04, right as the chorus ends, which for some reason just gets me every time. But it's really the song choice that makes this vid for me. Florence and the Machine has that certain mood about it that I think just fits, and all of the lyrics match their clips amazingly well, as well as the message as a whole. After all, Dean is always building coffins, isn't he?
Glittering Clouds by
lithiumdoll. I'm not always like this; it's something I become.
Ever wondered what it's like to be possessed by a demon? Watch this vid. It explores the dynamic of demons vs. their hosts in a way that Show usually brushes off (with the exception of Meg's ghost and a few lines of dialogue to satisfy the Ruby 2.0 consent issues). This is another example of excellent song choice: the title is especially appropriate, given that the demons in the SPN verse are black clouds of smoke that turn purple and sparkly when they're in close proximity to each other. (And you thought the gayness was subtext.) The lyrics sound custom-made to describe possession, and again the clips she uses fit the words very well. The vid also makes a lot of interesting parallels between demons, whose hosts obviously can't control their actions, and Sam, who, though arguably under the influence of demon blood, consciously chose to use his powers and do "evil." My favorite part of this vid is the ending: while the vid itself pulls from all five seasons, the last scene is from season one. It's an ominous mirroring of the opening clip, but the music and picture cut off just before anything happens. It gives me chills.
The Fifth Circle (Lazarus Man) by sockkpuppett, aka luminosity. One foot in glory and one foot in hell.
This vid opens, and every single time I am creeped the fuck out, because: it's hell. It's footage from another source (I'm not entirely sure where it comes from), and it's not bloody or graphic or violent, just a boat and people swimming in the water, but their wet grey arms writhing out of the water and dragging the boat down is probably one of the most disturbing things I've watched. *shudder* Don't let that put you off, though! The outside footage really adds something to the story here that would be difficult if not impossible to hack together from SPN footage alone, and- while creepy- it fits with clips from the show seamlessly. One of the most interesting parts about this vid to me isn't something technical, or even something that the vidder could have intended while making it: this was made in the middle of season three. It's fascinating to see this song through Sam's point of view, because I think anyone who's seen season four would hear these lyrics and think of Dean. This vid's story is a vision of Sam trying to get Dean out of hell. That vision has obviously been Jossed now, but I love looking at what the fans expected to happen. (I was spoiled for season four before I even started watching SPN, but when I got to the end of season three I still expected Sam to pull Dean out somehow.) I don't know if this vid could be made by someone who knew what happens in seasons four and five, and it would certainly have turned out differently if they'd tried, so from fanhistorical interest alone this vid grabs me. Add to that an expert vidder (she's the one who did the feminist meta Women's Work), the perfect extrafandom sources, and a storyteller's song, and you've got yourself one damn good vid.
Rebellion (Lies Lies) by mithborien. I just know that we're all we've got.
Despite the title, this vid is actually quite happy, at least compared to the above list (and hell, even compared to canon). It's basically a celebration of the relationship between the Winchester brothers- fighting ghosts, dealing with demons, throwing punches, stupid pranks, self-sacrifice, the good and the bad and everything in between, all rolled into a five-minute vid that ends with a hug montage. The lyrics to this song repeat themselves over and over, but I think that helps: each repetition is paired with different footage, the cumulative effect of which means that each line carries a lot more weight by the end of the song than it did at the beginning. I especially like her use of clips from 4.17, the office!AU where Sam and Dean don't know each other- the line "every time you close your eyes" repeats there, implying that no matter what their lives are like, the boys can't live without each other. This isn't a Wincest vid (unless, like me, you've got your slash goggles surgically grafted to your face), but it's a love story all the same.
Stuck In The Middle With You by deirdre_c. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am.
Another episode coda. (I suppose I should call it an episodes coda, since 4.09 and 4.10 were kind of a two-parter and they're both featured in this vid. But you know what I mean.) Though the clips are taken from the fourth season, I feel like the message really epitomizes season five: that idea of Team Free Will and the Winchesters as two humans, caught between opposing supernatural forces and not exactly keen to join either side. This vid also makes some pretty funny jokes with the lyrics, particularly of the Sam-falling-over variety. (My favorite is the line, "is it cool to fall asleep on the floor?" while Castiel noggin-taps Sam and he passes out. I like my humor subtle, you guys.) From a technical standpoint, the camera movements really mimic the visual and lyrical shifts back and forth, from angels on one side and demons on the other, while Sam and Dean stay balanced between the two. It's nice to see a vid that casts the brothers as an inseparable force, especially during season four, when they seemed so desperate to fight.
Kill A Man by zimshan. No force on this earth is stronger than fangirls on a mission.
Mmm, meta. Supernatural has a somewhat unique relationship with its fans, in that the fourth wall has been completely and utterly smashed to pieces and refuses to be rebuilt. (Yes, Misha Collins, I am looking at you. And the abyss is looking back.) So what I like the most about this vid is its examination of the fannish experience, told through the lens of our very own canon fangirl. The way this is structured really helps emphasize the dichotomy between fans-in-canon and us, the denizens of LJ and actual real life fans. During the song verses, we see all the pivotal moments from the show itself, overlaid with Becky either huffing in disapproval or (more often) unleashing her Fangirl Squee™. During the chorus, though, the show is backed up and contrasted with fanart and lines from actual fics. This mix of canon and fanon continues until the one moment when the music stops, Dean throws away the amulet, and the fangirls explode. There is rage here, yes, and frustration with canon, which I think every fan has experienced at one point or another, but there is also a refusal to passively accept that frustration. If we don't like what we see, we'll do it ourselves, and you know what? We'll do it better. As she says: Sam and Dean are ours now.
Haven't Met You Yet by ashdoode. Jensen and Jared are ridiculous dorks, and also totally in love.
And here we have the schmoopy portion of today's program. Seriously, no matter how crappy my day has been, I can watch this vid and know I'll be smiling the entire way through. The song is so cheesy and romantic, and the boys have such infectious smiles, and they are so blatantly happy that watching them together is like being tickled to death by puppies and sunshine. The vid itself is quite well put together, too- she mixes audio interviews with behind-the-scenes clips and still photos very effectively, reminiscent of her Bradley James/Colin Morgan vid, which is another of my favorites. For any of you who were sad to hear of Jensen and Jared's recent weddings to people not each other, this vid will ease the pain in your soul and remind you why you shipped them in the first place, and how adorkable these two really are. Oh, boys.
Like A Boss by winterevanesce. So, that's an average day for you. You chop your balls off and die.
If there were an award for Best Use of Clips From That Office!AU, this vid would win it hands down. Obviously the song is funny, written as it was by the same people responsible for Saturday Night Live, but it becomes exponentially funnier when corporate!Dean is explaining to Zachariah about scoring some coke and crashing into the sun. All of the clips fit the lyrics disturbingly well, even when they're not taken from 4.17, and the lip-syncing at the beginning and the end looks like they could actually be saying that dialogue. (Oh, Jensen Ackles, how I love your ridiculously expressive face.) The best part? Dean's pose at the very end.
In My Pants by deirdre_c. In which Sam and Dean come early.
Different vidder, different song, same levels of hilarious. Sometimes I'm so busy laughing hysterically to remember just how well-edited this vid is- the clips hit the beat in consistently awesome ways, and there's a clear POV change from Dean to Sam to both of them without breaking rhythm. The transitions get faster toward the end, too, as the song speeds up, and then it stops completely when the music does to show a clip of Ruby's "WTF" face. (One danger of watching this vid too many times is that you will never be able to look at anguished expressions of manpain in quite the same way. But that's a risk I am willing to take.)
Alsø alsø! Speaking of awesome things, do you guys remember Merlispn, that Merlin/Supernatural crossover that I wrote with openmoments? Well, now there's a part two. You should definitely go check it out.
(I'm aware that many of these are fandom staples and that Supernatural fans have probably seen most of them already, but they are all so excellent that I will rec them again, just in case, and maybe I will entice some of you non-SPN fans with the promise of hot boys being awesome set to music.)
May Angels Lead You In by ashdoode. It's okay, Dean, it's gonna be okay. I got him.
A beautiful coda to the season five finale. Not gonna lie, I tear up every time I watch this. (It's kind of embarrassing. People keep walking in on me while I am wracked with tears and pointing out, rightfully so, that I am watching something that is only a minute and twenty seconds long, and moreover that I was crying the last three times I watched it, too. To which I respond: SHUT UP SHUT UP THEY ARE SO SAD OH GOD MY HEART. And that usually gets them to leave.) I think part of the reason it gets to me so badly is that the song is, not happy precisely, but hopeful, and when that sort of music is combined with the Winchester Angst Parade- especially when I turn up the volume just a little too loud- it gives me that same tragic feeling that I always get with Supernatural finales, the one where I know something bad is going to happen but I can't help the glimmer of hope that maybe this time the boys will get the happy ending they deserve. This vid is short, but it packs all the emotional punch of the episode and manages to distill its essence into one simple message: the power of love just saved the world. Take that, destiny.
My Boy Builds Coffins by mithborien. Everyone leaves you, Dean. Ever ask yourself why? Maybe it's not them. Maybe it's you.
If you've watched Supernatural, you don't need a vid to tell you that Dean Winchester's life sucks. A lot. So it's rather fitting that this vid starts with Dean gasping for breath in his own coffin. Rarely have I seen something that so deftly captures the different facets of his character: the balance of saving people and hunting things, his aggression and his empathy, the cocky smirk that covers for his complete lack of self-worth, and forever running underneath, the duty that he clings to with a suicidal stubbornness: watch out for Sammy. This vid's technical aspects are excellent as well- all the transitions hit their beats, which is something that you don't really notice until you see it done badly (and after that you are eternally grateful for the people who get it right). About halfway through there's a clip from 5.04, right as the chorus ends, which for some reason just gets me every time. But it's really the song choice that makes this vid for me. Florence and the Machine has that certain mood about it that I think just fits, and all of the lyrics match their clips amazingly well, as well as the message as a whole. After all, Dean is always building coffins, isn't he?
Glittering Clouds by
lithiumdoll. I'm not always like this; it's something I become.
Ever wondered what it's like to be possessed by a demon? Watch this vid. It explores the dynamic of demons vs. their hosts in a way that Show usually brushes off (with the exception of Meg's ghost and a few lines of dialogue to satisfy the Ruby 2.0 consent issues). This is another example of excellent song choice: the title is especially appropriate, given that the demons in the SPN verse are black clouds of smoke that turn purple and sparkly when they're in close proximity to each other. (And you thought the gayness was subtext.) The lyrics sound custom-made to describe possession, and again the clips she uses fit the words very well. The vid also makes a lot of interesting parallels between demons, whose hosts obviously can't control their actions, and Sam, who, though arguably under the influence of demon blood, consciously chose to use his powers and do "evil." My favorite part of this vid is the ending: while the vid itself pulls from all five seasons, the last scene is from season one. It's an ominous mirroring of the opening clip, but the music and picture cut off just before anything happens. It gives me chills.
The Fifth Circle (Lazarus Man) by sockkpuppett, aka luminosity. One foot in glory and one foot in hell.
This vid opens, and every single time I am creeped the fuck out, because: it's hell. It's footage from another source (I'm not entirely sure where it comes from), and it's not bloody or graphic or violent, just a boat and people swimming in the water, but their wet grey arms writhing out of the water and dragging the boat down is probably one of the most disturbing things I've watched. *shudder* Don't let that put you off, though! The outside footage really adds something to the story here that would be difficult if not impossible to hack together from SPN footage alone, and- while creepy- it fits with clips from the show seamlessly. One of the most interesting parts about this vid to me isn't something technical, or even something that the vidder could have intended while making it: this was made in the middle of season three. It's fascinating to see this song through Sam's point of view, because I think anyone who's seen season four would hear these lyrics and think of Dean. This vid's story is a vision of Sam trying to get Dean out of hell. That vision has obviously been Jossed now, but I love looking at what the fans expected to happen. (I was spoiled for season four before I even started watching SPN, but when I got to the end of season three I still expected Sam to pull Dean out somehow.) I don't know if this vid could be made by someone who knew what happens in seasons four and five, and it would certainly have turned out differently if they'd tried, so from fanhistorical interest alone this vid grabs me. Add to that an expert vidder (she's the one who did the feminist meta Women's Work), the perfect extrafandom sources, and a storyteller's song, and you've got yourself one damn good vid.
Rebellion (Lies Lies) by mithborien. I just know that we're all we've got.
Despite the title, this vid is actually quite happy, at least compared to the above list (and hell, even compared to canon). It's basically a celebration of the relationship between the Winchester brothers- fighting ghosts, dealing with demons, throwing punches, stupid pranks, self-sacrifice, the good and the bad and everything in between, all rolled into a five-minute vid that ends with a hug montage. The lyrics to this song repeat themselves over and over, but I think that helps: each repetition is paired with different footage, the cumulative effect of which means that each line carries a lot more weight by the end of the song than it did at the beginning. I especially like her use of clips from 4.17, the office!AU where Sam and Dean don't know each other- the line "every time you close your eyes" repeats there, implying that no matter what their lives are like, the boys can't live without each other. This isn't a Wincest vid (unless, like me, you've got your slash goggles surgically grafted to your face), but it's a love story all the same.
Stuck In The Middle With You by deirdre_c. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am.
Another episode coda. (I suppose I should call it an episodes coda, since 4.09 and 4.10 were kind of a two-parter and they're both featured in this vid. But you know what I mean.) Though the clips are taken from the fourth season, I feel like the message really epitomizes season five: that idea of Team Free Will and the Winchesters as two humans, caught between opposing supernatural forces and not exactly keen to join either side. This vid also makes some pretty funny jokes with the lyrics, particularly of the Sam-falling-over variety. (My favorite is the line, "is it cool to fall asleep on the floor?" while Castiel noggin-taps Sam and he passes out. I like my humor subtle, you guys.) From a technical standpoint, the camera movements really mimic the visual and lyrical shifts back and forth, from angels on one side and demons on the other, while Sam and Dean stay balanced between the two. It's nice to see a vid that casts the brothers as an inseparable force, especially during season four, when they seemed so desperate to fight.
Kill A Man by zimshan. No force on this earth is stronger than fangirls on a mission.
Mmm, meta. Supernatural has a somewhat unique relationship with its fans, in that the fourth wall has been completely and utterly smashed to pieces and refuses to be rebuilt. (Yes, Misha Collins, I am looking at you. And the abyss is looking back.) So what I like the most about this vid is its examination of the fannish experience, told through the lens of our very own canon fangirl. The way this is structured really helps emphasize the dichotomy between fans-in-canon and us, the denizens of LJ and actual real life fans. During the song verses, we see all the pivotal moments from the show itself, overlaid with Becky either huffing in disapproval or (more often) unleashing her Fangirl Squee™. During the chorus, though, the show is backed up and contrasted with fanart and lines from actual fics. This mix of canon and fanon continues until the one moment when the music stops, Dean throws away the amulet, and the fangirls explode. There is rage here, yes, and frustration with canon, which I think every fan has experienced at one point or another, but there is also a refusal to passively accept that frustration. If we don't like what we see, we'll do it ourselves, and you know what? We'll do it better. As she says: Sam and Dean are ours now.
Haven't Met You Yet by ashdoode. Jensen and Jared are ridiculous dorks, and also totally in love.
And here we have the schmoopy portion of today's program. Seriously, no matter how crappy my day has been, I can watch this vid and know I'll be smiling the entire way through. The song is so cheesy and romantic, and the boys have such infectious smiles, and they are so blatantly happy that watching them together is like being tickled to death by puppies and sunshine. The vid itself is quite well put together, too- she mixes audio interviews with behind-the-scenes clips and still photos very effectively, reminiscent of her Bradley James/Colin Morgan vid, which is another of my favorites. For any of you who were sad to hear of Jensen and Jared's recent weddings to people not each other, this vid will ease the pain in your soul and remind you why you shipped them in the first place, and how adorkable these two really are. Oh, boys.
Like A Boss by winterevanesce. So, that's an average day for you. You chop your balls off and die.
If there were an award for Best Use of Clips From That Office!AU, this vid would win it hands down. Obviously the song is funny, written as it was by the same people responsible for Saturday Night Live, but it becomes exponentially funnier when corporate!Dean is explaining to Zachariah about scoring some coke and crashing into the sun. All of the clips fit the lyrics disturbingly well, even when they're not taken from 4.17, and the lip-syncing at the beginning and the end looks like they could actually be saying that dialogue. (Oh, Jensen Ackles, how I love your ridiculously expressive face.) The best part? Dean's pose at the very end.
In My Pants by deirdre_c. In which Sam and Dean come early.
Different vidder, different song, same levels of hilarious. Sometimes I'm so busy laughing hysterically to remember just how well-edited this vid is- the clips hit the beat in consistently awesome ways, and there's a clear POV change from Dean to Sam to both of them without breaking rhythm. The transitions get faster toward the end, too, as the song speeds up, and then it stops completely when the music does to show a clip of Ruby's "WTF" face. (One danger of watching this vid too many times is that you will never be able to look at anguished expressions of manpain in quite the same way. But that's a risk I am willing to take.)
Alsø alsø! Speaking of awesome things, do you guys remember Merlispn, that Merlin/Supernatural crossover that I wrote with openmoments? Well, now there's a part two. You should definitely go check it out.