New crackvid: I'm Your Gun!
Song: I'm Your Gun!
Artist: Alice Cooper
Characters: Kara and Lee
Spoilers: up to S3
Size: 34 mb
Warnings: adult language and innuendo, pilot-porn; you may need to take a cold shower afterwards :)
Notes: this is an attempt to make something different from my usual angst worshipping approach for a change... just to have fun and to lighten the endlessness ( Read more... )
Artist: Alice Cooper
Characters: Kara and Lee
Spoilers: up to S3
Size: 34 mb
Warnings: adult language and innuendo, pilot-porn; you may need to take a cold shower afterwards :)
Notes: this is an attempt to make something different from my usual angst worshipping approach for a change... just to have fun and to lighten the endlessness ( Read more... )
I don't think I've ever seen a video so wonderfully kinetic as this one - there aren't many songs that can take such fast, mobile imagery, but with this one it felt like you and the tune were playing games against each other, as the song swept forward and the images danced around it. I have a distinct fondness for Alice Cooper, although I'd never heard this song before; I wasn'tsure how your vid was going to play out to work with Alice Cooper, but I think you've just set the standard.
In some areas, I could see echoes of the vidding techniques you've used before, but after watching it through several times I've found it difficult to do much more than stare appreciatively and get swept up in the vid itself - which is an incredible thing for me, given that since I started trying to vid with any seriousness, I've invariably ended up getting hooked into vidding techniques in the vids I watch after the first few watches.
I don't think I've ever seen you make a tighter vid - and I love the way you managed to make every single clip tie into the pace of the song perfectly. I'm staggered at that - that's a level of insight and professionalism that really stands out. It's more than just a technical ability - you seem to have been able to flex the images, stretch the pacing or stutter and blink the images to match the music in such a way that it feels like the song was written for the images, not the images wrapped around the song.
And given that I've raved about the tech side, I Have to say that I absolutely love this vid. It's made it straight onto my list of favourites - a handful of songs that I watch repeatedly when I'm trying to write. It's just so much... well, fun. It's a fun, bouncy, enthusiastic romp of a video that has me grinning like a loon every time I watch it.
I'm officially in awe - and I'm really glad I bought a DVD player that can play .avi files, because this vid is going onto DVD so I don't have to stop working on the PC to keep watching it :)
Reply
Don't worry please, cause it's taken me almost as much to send you Christmas presents and to reply to your comments from here - my friend's home - where there is a stable internet connection.
Moscow reminds a huge mental hospital with 16 millions patients these days all coming and going; the traffic congestions are hardly describable, the whole city just comes to a standstill at times, streams of cars move in tortoise-like fashion. People are rushing to buy presents, to make business congrats and what is really infuriating - to devastate grocery stores as if they've been starving the whole year long. There's even a new level of stupidity when they take credit at bank just to carouse royally during 7 days and drink themselves to oblivion.
..with this one it felt like you and the tune were playing games against each other, as the song swept forward and the images danced around it.
It was more like I was trying to tame the tune, but you're right, it was real fun, I was grinning like a crazy each time these silly porny kids were making some very appropriate gestures. Their body language is truly intoxicating, especially in duet with Alice Cooper's performance :D
I have a distinct fondness for Alice Cooper, although I'd never heard this song before
Hee. I'm very glad, because I like the band too :)
In some areas, I could see echoes of the vidding techniques you've used before
Sure. I'm not a walking encyclopedia of nonrecurring effects and stiles after all :) I guess it's only natural that my technique is recognisable... and I don't mind, I mean I have no aim to bring up something absolutely new with every vid. At least not in the technical part of the matter. The storytelling and characters' insight are much more important.
I'm currently working on the Lee vid, the one that's supposed to explore his personality more fully and deeply than in my previous vids which were concentrated on his relationship with Kara mostly. And given that Lee is a very many-sided character, I think my attempt to create some kind of reflection of his essence will leave much to be desired.
I don't know, it was pretty much the same when I was making 24, the first half of video the imagery felt very obdurate, slow and I needed to talk about Kara's experiences with people in order to make my mind work to see different directions and the variety of her inner diamond's facets. It's a shame to admit that it took me three months to finish 24 and with Lee the amount of required time doesn't want to be reduced. I'll consider it a luck if I miraculously manage to finish the vid _this year.
"I'm your gun" in comparison with this is total fun and relaxation. In fact, it worked as a distraction from the deep well of Lee Adama's struggles and at the same time a challenge to make something bright optimistic and horny for a change)).
you seem to have been able to flex the images, stretch the pacing or stutter and blink the images to match the music in such a way that it feels like the song was written for the images, not the images wrapped around the song.
Thank you. If the viewer really does get such a feeling, then I know I've done my job).
It's made it straight onto my list of favourites - a handful of songs that I watch repeatedly when I'm trying to write.
Well... I'm pleased beyond measure to know it helps you to write. ^_^
Because that's exactly the way your writing affects me sometimes - it helps me in vidding.
And it's kinda secret, but I'm still nurturing the insane idea to make a vid to Fractured in my mind :))... I hope to make it even if it takes me forever, the vid sees the daylight on the verge of your next Birthday and at that time you loose any interest in BSG and pilots whatsoever :)
Reply
We're each as bad as the other, it would seem ;)
There's even a new level of stupidity when they take credit at bank just to carouse royally during 7 days and drink themselves to oblivion.
I thought it was manic where I live, but Moscow sounds even busier. That supermarket devastation isn't unique to Moscow... people sweep the shelves bare around here as well, and everywhere else I've lived. I think there's a switch in their head that goes off near the holidays, and makes them think "civilisation is going to end over the holiday! I must stock up on canned goods for the upcoming three centuries of barbarism..."
I do wonder how many people have been left with huge debts to go with their crushing hangovers...
Their body language is truly intoxicating, especially in duet with Alice Cooper's performance :D
I definitely think you had the right approach - you can't tame Alice Cooper, but with a little effort you can distract him and pilots both ;) There's an artistry in knowing just how much pressure to apply...
Hee. I'm very glad, because I like the band too :)
Excellent :D Although you've not lived until you've seen him performing with the muppets...
The storytelling and characters' insight are much more important.
I think that focus really shines through - it's something that I think works very well for you, because the viewer never gets bogged down in technical effects within your vid... the story comes first, and claims primacy over everything else, making everything... flow.
I'm currently working on the Lee vid, the one that's supposed to explore his personality more fully and deeply than in my previous vids which were concentrated on his relationship with Kara mostly. And given that Lee is a very many-sided character, I think my attempt to create some kind of reflection of his essence will leave much to be desired.
I spent a fair amount of time talking to Boppy about vidding Lee; she's lamented before the lack of Lee vids floating around out there, and I think a part of the reason is that many-sided nature to his character. He's difficult to get a handle on, and much of his time actually involves a lot of stillness, which can be difficult to channel into a video.
However... difficult though the subject matter is, I honestly think that if there's anyone who can create a vid that explores Lee successfully, it's you.
It's a shame to admit that it took me three months to finish 24 and with Lee the amount of required time doesn't want to be reduced. I'll consider it a luck if I miraculously manage to finish the vid _this year.
24 was very much like an intricate piece of jewellery - you worked over every segment of it, refining and enhancing what you had until you were happy with it. That's always going to be very time-consuming... and takes far more patience than I think I'll ever have ;) However... while 24 is fantastically intricate, the real strength of it is the message. I think your Lee vid will be the same - you could spend months working on it, refining it, polishing it - but the power it has will lie not solely in that.
Reply
Given that the orthodox Christmas is on January 7th, I think some of those geniuses had plenty of time to sober up and use the rest of their money (if there were anything left) to go through the pleasant experience all over again before starting the everyday work in The New Year.
Excellent :D Although you've not lived until you've seen him performing with the muppets...
Hee. You're lucky if you had a chance to come to his concert). I remember the last time he was in Moscow the tickets were too expencive.
I think that focus really shines through - it's something that I think works very well for you, because the viewer never gets bogged down in technical effects within your vid...
I'm very glad to know it shows at least on some level. Although I still should work on finding more accurately that invisible point of balance between the visual effects, picture frequency and the general storyline. Some people were right when they pointed out to me that in 24 I was very close to partly loosing the message along the lines because of the attempt to increase the imagery's intensity and thickness, to tell more than the message's boundaries could hold. I know I'm not happy with some of the moments there and that I would probably change a couple of significant things if I were correcting the vid. But then I try to remind myself that most of the beautiful things in our life hold a fair part of their secret attraction in their imperfectness, things such as the nature itself, to start with.
He's difficult to get a handle on, and much of his time actually involves a lot of stillness, which can be difficult to channel into a video.
Yes. As a matter of fact, I think Lee is the most meditative bsg character, which is one of the countless reasons I love him. His relative inertness in actions is contradictory to his active mind; both traits are his blessing and his scourge, and colliding, they give birth to one of the most powerful inner conflicts I've ever seen.
I think your Lee vid will be the same - you could spend months working on it, refining it, polishing it - but the power it has will lie not solely in that.
He-he. I don't really like to make assumptions half-way.., but soon we'll see if your prophecy comes true or not).
Reply
A change is as good as a rest, I've been told ;) I'm not surprised that I'm Your Gun helped you relax - I don't think your mind and talent are happy working in a particular fashion consistently. I've seen the work of vidders who tend to focus on a particular theme, a particular method... and they can be incredibly good at what they do. However, they're also... limited, perhaps is the word. You aren't. That creative fire of yours wants to do everything, and each new thing, each change even from day to day is a way of feeding it... and that in turn can be very satisfying :)
Well... I'm pleased beyond measure to know it helps you to write. ^_^
Because that's exactly the way your writing affects me sometimes - it helps me in vidding.
I'll often watch your videos while trying to write - quite often certain parts of certain videos over and over, as I try and put the mood I'm thinking of into words with an image that reflects it in front of me. You'd be surprised how often you've helped me focus and actually write :)
And it's kinda secret, but I'm still nurturing the insane idea to make a vid to Fractured in my mind :))... I hope to make it even if it takes me forever, the vid sees the daylight on the verge of your next Birthday and at that time you loose any interest in BSG and pilots whatsoever :)
As an idea, it might be insane - but then don't genius and insanity often share am interwoven boundary? I don't know if you will manage something like this... but I really hope you do, and I think it's wonderful that my fic makes you want to vid :)
Reply
Thank you). I think my style is pretty recognisable, which isn't necessarily bad, it just shows through.
As for the methods, believe me, they're very limited compared to some work I've seen. I should've sent you a couple of non-bsg vids which are made really professionally so that you could see the difference. There are things I'll never be able to do in vidmaking.
I don't know if you will manage something like this... but I really hope you do, and I think it's wonderful that my fic makes you want to vid :)
There are many things that might prevent me from making it.
One of them is a simple lack of skills. Yep, because as you may've guessed I wouldn't like this vid to be just a sequence of clips from canon... The game's not worth a candle it this case, there's no point of even starting. I need to make the well-known BSG imagery work for me in a different context, almost in a parallel universe.
I need to slightly alter the footage, play around with it in such a way that it looks and *feels* like Fractured at best or at least reminds the viewers of the fic - at least those who've read it. And I don't know if it's possible, but I want to reread it and try.
Reply
Leave a comment