"This World" by Buffyann, commentary by nushanakt
The vid opens with shots of the human fleet gliding through the vastness of space, setting up the expansive scope of the vid right from the first shot. The matching of the synth piano notes to the flashes of the fleet ships arriving after an FTL jump is just inspired, and the Galactica and the other ships glide past the camera to the ghostly opening notes of the piece.
The instrumental introduction to the song consists of close-up images of the character’s faces, interspersed with images of the fleet, the dark clouds of space, and the wide scope of the series (up to 0.37). The movement between shots here is just as slow and seductive as the bass line:
The camera rolls from the closing hatch of the Galactica during a massive funeral, up through the floor of the prison, back into space, showing the lights of the fleet, and across to Adama pacing through the rows of corpses - fantastic transitions here.
There is some distance from the characters here at first, but not for long. The bass line repeats, and we get even closer to the faces of those soldiers and individual people who are involved in this massive event:
These kinds of connections are what the vid is all about for me: looking at the big events, but always remembering the individuals, the humans involved at every step of the way.
Here is one of my favourite transitions throughout the whole piece (0.49-0.51):
Notice how the focus of each of the shots is a piercing white light - bringing all of these events together from the initial attack on Caprica to an FTL arrival in space, to the close-up of the individual eye to Saul imprisoned on New Caprica. The images flash forward through the timeline from the early shots of the vid, which dealt generally with the opening episodes, to the Season 3 episodes of the new colony and the resistance.
The connections between the lighting I also really thought were amazing here: moving from the last screenshot of Saul in prison, the vid transitions to the persistently grey skies of New Caprica (with the brightest section of the shot here just over Saul’s shoulder in line with the previous shot), and then widens to the open field, and then the light source subtly switched to above in the shot with the Cylons inside, and then to a directed light coming from above with shot of the President’s hands on the book, to shining directly in Saul’s face, and then to Baltar as a gun is held to his head.
This flow from shot to shot, with such consistency, is what really makes this vid speak to me. It’s also telling to look at the lyrics here.
Another dream is shattered / Another day has begun: The dream of the colonists finally having a home on New Caprica has been shattered, and they have to move on yet again to find a place to settle.Throughout the vid, Buffyann matches the cymbal crashes to flashes or explosions in space - I just love this one at 1.04-5:
The vid then moves to scenes of the Vipers and the Galactica fighting off the Cylons yet again, forced to keep battling - this is their “new day”. Despite the general downer of this idea, the lyrics of the song are hopeful:
As the Vipers breeze past the camera the lyrics are “This world is still afloat”. This connection gave me a feeling very similar to that of the Browncoats general motto of “keep flying no matter what happens”. Here at the chorus (starting around 1.05 at the previously mentioned cymbal crash) we have scenes of the crew of the Galactica fighting off yet another Cylon attack, and despite the misery of shots like this one...
…the lyrics lift the vid from becoming too mired in self-pity as they again repeat “This world is still afloat”.
The smooth transitions and use of movement across the shots is just stellar throughout. It would be impossible to screen shot every single fabulous transition throughout the vid, and indeed not even necessary as the still image cannot possibly do them justice. I would rather say just watch the vid, and enjoy them yourself.As the song begins to pick up intensity, the shots also increase in speed at a measured pace.
Starting at 1.34 is what I consider to be the core of the vid, with a montage of scenes of violence: Vipers fighting Cylons in space, humans fighting humans face-to-face. The darkest moments of the series are strung together here. But throughout, there are recurring shots of hands reaching out to each other or clutching each other in support. Here, from space battle to human intimacy.
Right around the 2.00 mark, just as the song hits the emotal climax, the footage slows down immensely, suspending the moment just that much longer for these particular scenes of extreme emotional intensity (ie: Sharon shooting Adama, and then getting shot herself on her way to prison).
(On a random and less serious note, man, I love some of the ridiculous faces in these screenshots. Lee FTW.)
The footage speeds up again by the second chorus to a more fast-paced movement between the images of violence: humans again fighting the Cylons, and each other, with the intimate shots of hands touching and close-ups of facial expressions. The repetition in this vid really drives the message home, as the chorus sings over and over:
This world is full of love - Short cuts from battle to battle.
On the second line of the chorus, the cuts slow slightly to linger over the intimate moments with the words: We still have hope.
Finally, the string line in the song spirals up and out of the repeated chorus, accompanied by the Vipers swirling up and out of the clouds. The crescendo in the vocal line helps the visual of the ships flying across the screen.
Lee and Starbuck hug it out. Aww. This image dissolves into the cloudy expanse of space, tying the imagery back to the opening shots. Amidst the shots of space is this one, that just encapsulates the whole vid for me:
The complex expression on Starbuck’s face here just speaks volumes about what this vid is trying to say: fear, awe, and most importantly, hope.
The shots now move in reverse: from close-ups of the central characters (Lee, Adama, the President, etc.) the camera pulls back, drawing away from the intensity of the extreme close-up to breathe again. The intensity of the music has also calmed, and the camera flies back through space. The crew of the Galactica prepare to jump, get back to their daily lives, and fly on to live yet another day.
BSG is extremely bleak, but despite all the horrible things that happen, Buffyann pulls out the thread of hope and the possibility for things to improve and brings it all together in a powerful package. The space dogfights are well-represented, but it always returns to the emotional toll, the physical toll, and the toll in lives of soldiers and civilians. Despite the smooth, down-tempo nature of the song, the vid moves well and the fast-paced elements (battles, violence) never outpaces the music because of the gradual but steady increase of pace.
For me, this vid pulls the elements out of BSG that I as a fan wanted from it: this grand space opera, as it were, but one with a powerful human core and emotional component. I think the canon often struggled under its own weightiness and got bogged down in philosophical debates, but this vid pulls all the powerful emotion and drama out and leaves the viewer with an astounding sense of hope that despite all the horrible things that happen, humanity will be able to prevail.
The instrumental introduction to the song consists of close-up images of the character’s faces, interspersed with images of the fleet, the dark clouds of space, and the wide scope of the series (up to 0.37). The movement between shots here is just as slow and seductive as the bass line:
The camera rolls from the closing hatch of the Galactica during a massive funeral, up through the floor of the prison, back into space, showing the lights of the fleet, and across to Adama pacing through the rows of corpses - fantastic transitions here.
There is some distance from the characters here at first, but not for long. The bass line repeats, and we get even closer to the faces of those soldiers and individual people who are involved in this massive event:
These kinds of connections are what the vid is all about for me: looking at the big events, but always remembering the individuals, the humans involved at every step of the way.
Here is one of my favourite transitions throughout the whole piece (0.49-0.51):
Notice how the focus of each of the shots is a piercing white light - bringing all of these events together from the initial attack on Caprica to an FTL arrival in space, to the close-up of the individual eye to Saul imprisoned on New Caprica. The images flash forward through the timeline from the early shots of the vid, which dealt generally with the opening episodes, to the Season 3 episodes of the new colony and the resistance.
The connections between the lighting I also really thought were amazing here: moving from the last screenshot of Saul in prison, the vid transitions to the persistently grey skies of New Caprica (with the brightest section of the shot here just over Saul’s shoulder in line with the previous shot), and then widens to the open field, and then the light source subtly switched to above in the shot with the Cylons inside, and then to a directed light coming from above with shot of the President’s hands on the book, to shining directly in Saul’s face, and then to Baltar as a gun is held to his head.
This flow from shot to shot, with such consistency, is what really makes this vid speak to me. It’s also telling to look at the lyrics here.
Another dream is shattered / Another day has begun: The dream of the colonists finally having a home on New Caprica has been shattered, and they have to move on yet again to find a place to settle.Throughout the vid, Buffyann matches the cymbal crashes to flashes or explosions in space - I just love this one at 1.04-5:
The vid then moves to scenes of the Vipers and the Galactica fighting off the Cylons yet again, forced to keep battling - this is their “new day”. Despite the general downer of this idea, the lyrics of the song are hopeful:
As the Vipers breeze past the camera the lyrics are “This world is still afloat”. This connection gave me a feeling very similar to that of the Browncoats general motto of “keep flying no matter what happens”. Here at the chorus (starting around 1.05 at the previously mentioned cymbal crash) we have scenes of the crew of the Galactica fighting off yet another Cylon attack, and despite the misery of shots like this one...
…the lyrics lift the vid from becoming too mired in self-pity as they again repeat “This world is still afloat”.
The smooth transitions and use of movement across the shots is just stellar throughout. It would be impossible to screen shot every single fabulous transition throughout the vid, and indeed not even necessary as the still image cannot possibly do them justice. I would rather say just watch the vid, and enjoy them yourself.As the song begins to pick up intensity, the shots also increase in speed at a measured pace.
Starting at 1.34 is what I consider to be the core of the vid, with a montage of scenes of violence: Vipers fighting Cylons in space, humans fighting humans face-to-face. The darkest moments of the series are strung together here. But throughout, there are recurring shots of hands reaching out to each other or clutching each other in support. Here, from space battle to human intimacy.
Right around the 2.00 mark, just as the song hits the emotal climax, the footage slows down immensely, suspending the moment just that much longer for these particular scenes of extreme emotional intensity (ie: Sharon shooting Adama, and then getting shot herself on her way to prison).
(On a random and less serious note, man, I love some of the ridiculous faces in these screenshots. Lee FTW.)
The footage speeds up again by the second chorus to a more fast-paced movement between the images of violence: humans again fighting the Cylons, and each other, with the intimate shots of hands touching and close-ups of facial expressions. The repetition in this vid really drives the message home, as the chorus sings over and over:
This world is full of love - Short cuts from battle to battle.
On the second line of the chorus, the cuts slow slightly to linger over the intimate moments with the words: We still have hope.
Finally, the string line in the song spirals up and out of the repeated chorus, accompanied by the Vipers swirling up and out of the clouds. The crescendo in the vocal line helps the visual of the ships flying across the screen.
Lee and Starbuck hug it out. Aww. This image dissolves into the cloudy expanse of space, tying the imagery back to the opening shots. Amidst the shots of space is this one, that just encapsulates the whole vid for me:
The complex expression on Starbuck’s face here just speaks volumes about what this vid is trying to say: fear, awe, and most importantly, hope.
The shots now move in reverse: from close-ups of the central characters (Lee, Adama, the President, etc.) the camera pulls back, drawing away from the intensity of the extreme close-up to breathe again. The intensity of the music has also calmed, and the camera flies back through space. The crew of the Galactica prepare to jump, get back to their daily lives, and fly on to live yet another day.
BSG is extremely bleak, but despite all the horrible things that happen, Buffyann pulls out the thread of hope and the possibility for things to improve and brings it all together in a powerful package. The space dogfights are well-represented, but it always returns to the emotional toll, the physical toll, and the toll in lives of soldiers and civilians. Despite the smooth, down-tempo nature of the song, the vid moves well and the fast-paced elements (battles, violence) never outpaces the music because of the gradual but steady increase of pace.
For me, this vid pulls the elements out of BSG that I as a fan wanted from it: this grand space opera, as it were, but one with a powerful human core and emotional component. I think the canon often struggled under its own weightiness and got bogged down in philosophical debates, but this vid pulls all the powerful emotion and drama out and leaves the viewer with an astounding sense of hope that despite all the horrible things that happen, humanity will be able to prevail.