(no subject)
A week and a half of solid vidding later (and I mean SOLID vidding, I've forgotten what fresh air feels like)...I think I have a complete draft of my festivids assignment. (Woohoo!) Never leaving anything this late again though, swear to God - it wasn't really intentional, just a combination of indecisiveness followed by technical problems followed by a busy December, a manic Christmas, and visitors over New Year. Next year though I need to start ripping and clipping and getting something down on the timeline the second I get my assignment, song choice finally decided or no, as this has been...not an experience I'd like to repeat, put it that way!
After 10 days of staring at Final Cut til I go cross-eyed, I've lost all sense of perspective - I'm now looking at this vid and I can't tell for the life of me if it's decent, terrible, could-be-okay-with-a-bit-of-work, or so unbelievably bad I'd be better off defaulting than inflicting this piece of crap on my poor recipient. So, um...
Would anyone be willing to take a look at my Festivid for me? (No fandom knowledge required!) Am feeling a bit - okay, very - nervous about this one and would be really, really grateful for a second pair of eyes and someone to talk over a couple of concerns with. I know it's a bit short notice, but it wouldn't need to be by the deadline, I can always edit the submission info later.
On a completely different subject I have, much to my astonishment, been really enjoying the current series of Sherlock. I couldn't work out why, as I've never taken to the show before, until I discovered how much the actual Sherlock fans seem to loathe this series. So clearly it's now a completely different show with different characters, which is absolutely fine by me - I was supremely bored by the show it was before but adore beyond measure the version we saw on Sunday.
To the point I've rewatched the first two series to see if the change was in me or the show, but nope, definitely them...
See, this was my issue with the very first series of Sherlock and the reason I gave up halfway through the (let's face it, fairly racist) second episode: I've seen clever men standing in rooms talking about how clever they are before. It's boring. Actually, not just clever men - it's once again white, middle-class clever men having a blether, while female characters are seen only briefly in order to provide a few lines of comic relief (Mrs Hudson, Molly), to be kind of a bitch (Donovan) or to be murdered, kidnapped, strapped to bombs or just generally stuffed in fridges.
This is not a condemnation by the way - I'm not judging people who loved the first series. I've loved plenty of tv shows that fell into that general pattern to a greater or lesser extent. It's just...for me personally, I've seen it and I'm bored by it, unless you've got something else to keep me watching - and for me, that's got to be characters I like or engage with. And the first series of Sherlock didn't provide me with that - John was kind of a nothing character, barely fleshed out (and I've never taken to Martin Freeman much, not sure why), while Sherlock was just an irredeemable arsehole, a character trait I find neither cute nor charming without something positive to balance it out. Nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea.
(Also, I feel I need to point out here that this isn't going to be some sort of angry diatribe about Moffat and misogyny or how Moffat and/or Gatiss need to be burnt at the stake or anything like that - this is me idly musing on why I love S3 of Sherlock when I didn't enjoy the first two very much, not a commentary on the writing itself. For the record, I've been a Stephen Moffat fan since the early 90s and Press Gang, and that's a tough habit to break - I love his writing, his dialogue and the way he constructs plots, but I also recognise that a lot of his writing is somewhat problematic and some of his writing is incredibly problematic. I mostly subscribe to the Philip Sandifer view though; that Moffat is aware that he isn't the best writer of female and queer characters and is trying to improve. Unfortunately, his attempts to improve often just make things worse, possibly because of how much he Does Not Get It.)
Series 2 was...better in many ways, in that it was slightly more engaging, they started to tone down Sherlock's complete dickishness, just a bit, and the supporting characters got a bit more fleshed out and a bigger role (anyone who knows me knows I always love a team dynamic over Two Against the World, with one XF-shaped exception). There was of course the Scandal in Belgravia/Irene Adler problem, which has been well documented enough all over the internet, but I didn't actually see that episode live - I watched the next two out of curiosity and found them entertaining enough but mostly forgettable.
But now there is Series 3. Oh, Series 3... I'm not sure there are words to describe just how much I loved Sunday's episode. The fact I nipped out at lunchtime the next day to buy the DVDs and watched my way through them in two days probably gives a slight clue. But this was a mistake, because everything I deeply, deeply love about Series 3 kind of isn't there in the previous two series - or only appears in brief glimpses before being cruelly snatched away. Like MARY. I am more than just a little bit in love with the fabulous Mary Morstan, and am rather nervous that the boys in charge are going to screw up again and do something stupid in the final ep on Sunday. (Don't touch her guys, she's awesome.)
And Molly, who gets better in every episode, and Lestrade and Mrs Hudson...and best of all, a likeable John. And this version of Sherlock. This version of Sherlock, who loves his friends almost to the point of insanity and yeah, still kind of an arsehole, but acknowledges that and even occasionally remembers to apologise for it...this version I could nearly understand people loving. For the first time since this show began, I wanted to give Sherlock Holmes a hug rather than being entirely bored and irritated by him, and that's the kind of fictional character I like to watch. Adored the moment where he acknowledged to Mary he was a drama queen but demanded she recognise John is one too.
Some of the criticisms of this series have been really making me laugh - not because they are invalid, a lot of them are very valid, but because they perfectly encapsulate the problem for me. (I've not been seeking them out or anything, they've just been popping up everywhere, in unrelated places. A lot of fans seem to be really pissed off, which is, granted, sad to see - I've been there.)
I've seen criticisms that they've humanised Sherlock too much (well, yes...I like watching dramas about human beings rather than emotionless aliens, don't you?); that they've turned Sherlock into the Doctor and the show's lightened up too much and taken on the tone of Doctor Who (um, valid complaint...but I like Doctor Who); and that the last episode felt just like an episode of Jonathan Creek (ohmygod,yes! that's why I loved it so much! it was exactly like an episode of Jonathan Creek which is one of my all-time favourite tv shows!).
I've also seen criticism that the actual plots this series are a bit pants, which fair enough. I can't really argue with that. The denouement of the first episode was gloriously pants if you know anything about how the actual Tube system works, and although the second episode had a neat solution, the plot was pretty thin to stretch out to the full 90 minutes. But if you fixated on that amongst all the hilarious dialogue and lovely character stuff, then you and me watch television in such a fundamentally different way we might as well be speaking two completely different languages.
So yeah, I started rambling a bit there. Long story short; I loved the first two episodes of Series 3 and am kind of terrified about how they're inevitably going to screw it all up on Sunday. Because they will. Life is rarely that kind, and Stephen Moffat even less so...
After 10 days of staring at Final Cut til I go cross-eyed, I've lost all sense of perspective - I'm now looking at this vid and I can't tell for the life of me if it's decent, terrible, could-be-okay-with-a-bit-of-work, or so unbelievably bad I'd be better off defaulting than inflicting this piece of crap on my poor recipient. So, um...
Would anyone be willing to take a look at my Festivid for me? (No fandom knowledge required!) Am feeling a bit - okay, very - nervous about this one and would be really, really grateful for a second pair of eyes and someone to talk over a couple of concerns with. I know it's a bit short notice, but it wouldn't need to be by the deadline, I can always edit the submission info later.
On a completely different subject I have, much to my astonishment, been really enjoying the current series of Sherlock. I couldn't work out why, as I've never taken to the show before, until I discovered how much the actual Sherlock fans seem to loathe this series. So clearly it's now a completely different show with different characters, which is absolutely fine by me - I was supremely bored by the show it was before but adore beyond measure the version we saw on Sunday.
To the point I've rewatched the first two series to see if the change was in me or the show, but nope, definitely them...
See, this was my issue with the very first series of Sherlock and the reason I gave up halfway through the (let's face it, fairly racist) second episode: I've seen clever men standing in rooms talking about how clever they are before. It's boring. Actually, not just clever men - it's once again white, middle-class clever men having a blether, while female characters are seen only briefly in order to provide a few lines of comic relief (Mrs Hudson, Molly), to be kind of a bitch (Donovan) or to be murdered, kidnapped, strapped to bombs or just generally stuffed in fridges.
This is not a condemnation by the way - I'm not judging people who loved the first series. I've loved plenty of tv shows that fell into that general pattern to a greater or lesser extent. It's just...for me personally, I've seen it and I'm bored by it, unless you've got something else to keep me watching - and for me, that's got to be characters I like or engage with. And the first series of Sherlock didn't provide me with that - John was kind of a nothing character, barely fleshed out (and I've never taken to Martin Freeman much, not sure why), while Sherlock was just an irredeemable arsehole, a character trait I find neither cute nor charming without something positive to balance it out. Nothing wrong with it, just not my cup of tea.
(Also, I feel I need to point out here that this isn't going to be some sort of angry diatribe about Moffat and misogyny or how Moffat and/or Gatiss need to be burnt at the stake or anything like that - this is me idly musing on why I love S3 of Sherlock when I didn't enjoy the first two very much, not a commentary on the writing itself. For the record, I've been a Stephen Moffat fan since the early 90s and Press Gang, and that's a tough habit to break - I love his writing, his dialogue and the way he constructs plots, but I also recognise that a lot of his writing is somewhat problematic and some of his writing is incredibly problematic. I mostly subscribe to the Philip Sandifer view though; that Moffat is aware that he isn't the best writer of female and queer characters and is trying to improve. Unfortunately, his attempts to improve often just make things worse, possibly because of how much he Does Not Get It.)
Series 2 was...better in many ways, in that it was slightly more engaging, they started to tone down Sherlock's complete dickishness, just a bit, and the supporting characters got a bit more fleshed out and a bigger role (anyone who knows me knows I always love a team dynamic over Two Against the World, with one XF-shaped exception). There was of course the Scandal in Belgravia/Irene Adler problem, which has been well documented enough all over the internet, but I didn't actually see that episode live - I watched the next two out of curiosity and found them entertaining enough but mostly forgettable.
But now there is Series 3. Oh, Series 3... I'm not sure there are words to describe just how much I loved Sunday's episode. The fact I nipped out at lunchtime the next day to buy the DVDs and watched my way through them in two days probably gives a slight clue. But this was a mistake, because everything I deeply, deeply love about Series 3 kind of isn't there in the previous two series - or only appears in brief glimpses before being cruelly snatched away. Like MARY. I am more than just a little bit in love with the fabulous Mary Morstan, and am rather nervous that the boys in charge are going to screw up again and do something stupid in the final ep on Sunday. (Don't touch her guys, she's awesome.)
And Molly, who gets better in every episode, and Lestrade and Mrs Hudson...and best of all, a likeable John. And this version of Sherlock. This version of Sherlock, who loves his friends almost to the point of insanity and yeah, still kind of an arsehole, but acknowledges that and even occasionally remembers to apologise for it...this version I could nearly understand people loving. For the first time since this show began, I wanted to give Sherlock Holmes a hug rather than being entirely bored and irritated by him, and that's the kind of fictional character I like to watch. Adored the moment where he acknowledged to Mary he was a drama queen but demanded she recognise John is one too.
Some of the criticisms of this series have been really making me laugh - not because they are invalid, a lot of them are very valid, but because they perfectly encapsulate the problem for me. (I've not been seeking them out or anything, they've just been popping up everywhere, in unrelated places. A lot of fans seem to be really pissed off, which is, granted, sad to see - I've been there.)
I've seen criticisms that they've humanised Sherlock too much (well, yes...I like watching dramas about human beings rather than emotionless aliens, don't you?); that they've turned Sherlock into the Doctor and the show's lightened up too much and taken on the tone of Doctor Who (um, valid complaint...but I like Doctor Who); and that the last episode felt just like an episode of Jonathan Creek (ohmygod,yes! that's why I loved it so much! it was exactly like an episode of Jonathan Creek which is one of my all-time favourite tv shows!).
I've also seen criticism that the actual plots this series are a bit pants, which fair enough. I can't really argue with that. The denouement of the first episode was gloriously pants if you know anything about how the actual Tube system works, and although the second episode had a neat solution, the plot was pretty thin to stretch out to the full 90 minutes. But if you fixated on that amongst all the hilarious dialogue and lovely character stuff, then you and me watch television in such a fundamentally different way we might as well be speaking two completely different languages.
So yeah, I started rambling a bit there. Long story short; I loved the first two episodes of Series 3 and am kind of terrified about how they're inevitably going to screw it all up on Sunday. Because they will. Life is rarely that kind, and Stephen Moffat even less so...