jehnt - fanvid rec month: must-see mix (many fandoms included)

jehnt

fanvid rec month: must-see mix (many fandoms included)

8th-Apr-2008 06:57 am

I am declaring this month FANVID REC MONTH in my journal. Most recs will be grouped by fandom, but today I'm reccing outstanding vids that I think you should watch regardless of which fandom you're in. They should be enjoyable even with only minimal knowledge of the fandom because they all have artistic merits you don't need any show context to understand. Some are pure fun and some offer heftier commentary, but they're all excellently done.

I recommend that you download the big version, turn the volume up, and fullscreen it. And when it's over, watch it again so you can catch the things you missed the first time.

If you don't watch fanvids or don't think you'd like them, I encourage you to at least give the first two on the list a try. The reason I compiled this post is to show you how flat-out AWESOME fanvids can be, because I often feel that many people don't know this (although maybe they do and just don't talk about it?).

Title: I Enjoy Being A Girl
Vidder:

absolutedestiny
Fandom: multifandom
Comments: This is one of the first good vids I watched and it's still a favorite. Superfun kickass girliness. I'm reccing it first because 1. multifandom, 2. GIRLS KICKING ASS, and 3. it's extremely well done, so it sets the bar pretty high.

Title: Piece of Me
Vidder:

obsessive24
Fandom: BRITNEY SPEARS
Comments: So, the previous video was about girls kicking ass, and this video is about... Britney Spears. YES. This is the first real-person vid I've watched... and I really like it. A lot.

Title: Women's Work
Vidder:

sisabet and

sockkpuppett
Fandom: Supernatural
Comments: In case you thought fanvids were all fun shiny... This vid deals with the treatment of women in Supernatural. I hadn't given much thought to the issue before watching this vid (well, vaguely, but I don't think I really knew what the problem was)... but after watching it I think about it every time I'm watching the show. The vid does an amazing job of showing the problem.

Title: Origin Stories
Vidder:

giandujakiss
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Comments: And in case you thought Joss's shows were perfect... This vid shows how the stories of basically the only minority characters in Buffy were frequently given short-shift in favor of Spike's story. I think this is the vid here that relies heaviest on context, so in case you've never seen Buffy before, here's some information: Spike is the blonde guy. He's a vampire, and ostensibly the enemy. He killed Nikki (the woman with the leather coat and the afro -- she was a vampire slayer in the 70s), who is the mother of Robin (the black man). Both Robin and Spike are helping Buffy, but they obviously have some personal issues. Buffy is involved with Spike, and Robin thinks this is causing her to ignore the threat he poses to the potential slayers (all those girls all over the place). The girl in the last third is a mentally unstable slayer who is having memories of previous slayers and doesn't know what they mean. She breaks out of a mental institution and Spike helps hunt her down and she recognizes him as having fought Nikki.

giandujakiss's commentary linked in the vid post has a lot more information, but I think that's probably enough for it to make sense. There are so many little touches in this vid that make it a joy to watch. It really makes me wonder why people don't vid to rap more often.

Title: Battlestar Inferno
Vidder:

super_kc
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Comments: WATCH IT OH MY GOD. If you've ever sat through one of Papadama's slow-clapping sessions, it's worth it. If you've never even seen the show, IT IS STILL WORTH IT. We all know BSG is full of hard-partying thugs, and this video does a better job of showing it than any other. Favorite parts: SLOW-CLAPPING, the shot of Starbuck on "50 in da house," Anders and Lee all dirty-sweaty on the "so gully, so grimy" lyric, ANY time something happens on that loud accent note (pyramid ball gets thrown, Starbuck winks, Galactica jumps away, Ellen trips, etc), Sharon on "I ain't new to this and true to this" or whatever that says, anytime Lee looks unexpectedly badass. Haha, this vid is so, so how BSG is in my head.

Title: Goodnight Moon
Vidder:

bradcpu
Fandom: Heroes
Comments: I'm going to go ahead and say that, of all the vids I'm reccing, this is probably the best technically. Or in terms of vidding artistry, or whatever. You'll see what I mean when you watch it. Nothing happens on screen that doesn't go perfectly with the music. The colors are perfect, the editing is perfect, the narrative is perfect. If you haven't seen the show, the video is all about how the "current" generation of heroes was kind of screwed up by their parents, and how they in turn are kind of screwing up their children. I've seen this vid at least twenty times (probably way more) and I'm STILL picking up on awesome little details every time I watch it.

Title: The Tree
Vidder:

newkidfan
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Comments: This is the least traditional vid I am reccing. I must admit I don't watch it all that much because I prefer high-energy vids, but this is definitely worth watching for its artistic merit. And hell if I know what it's about. Apparently Rodney is like a tree, and he loves John but John doesn't love him? Chuck comes into it somehow? OR SOMETHING. All I know is that it is outlandishly pretty.

Title: All These Things That I've Done
Vidder:

halcyon_shift
Fandom: Angel
Comments: After watching this vid, I'm pretty sure The Killers wrote that song for Angel. It fits freakishly well. Favorite part: how the "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier" bridge is used to show the times Angel has intentionally hurt humans despite his soul being in place, and how after that we see how everything kind of goes to falls apart. For the fucking win, man. I also like that she used the scene where Angel kicks that guy and the gun goes off and it pans to the blood on the wall, I am irrationally fond of that clip. I also love all the footage of Angel running down alleys, and whenever he hugs anyone. Also, oh god, CORDELIA. And really, just the lyric "while everyone's lost, the battle is won with all these things that I have done." This vid totally captures the essence of the show.

Title: God is a DJ
Vidder:

dualbunny
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Comments: Starbuck is god. I've seen this vid so many times that I'm actually confused when I watch some of the scenes that are playing and don't hear Pink singing. Favorite parts: ALL OF IT. I love the way

dualbunny intercuts between scenes -- it frequently draws parallels where I would not have thought there were any, and always makes me think about the show in a slightly different way. This is the gold standard for Starbuck vids. Incidentally, this vid is what made one of my friends who thought BSG was "probably the lamest show ever" decide to give in and watch it (it's now his favorite show).

Title: Cuz I Can
Vidder:

dualbunny
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Comments: I made it my mission to rec only 12 vids today, but THIS ONE SLIPPED THROUGH. I justify it because it's the sequel to "God is a DJ."

Title: New Frontier
Vidder:

heresluck
Fandom: Firefly (Serenity)
Comments: This is another one of the first few vids that I saw. Everything is so beautifully timed. I still go crazy over it every time I watch it.

Title: Ragged Ass Road
Vidder:

f1renze
Fandom: Prison Break
Comments: This vid is an overview of the first season of Prison Break. I don't really know what else to say about it.

Title: Snakes on a Plane
Vidder:

dualbunny
Fandom: Harry Potter
Comments: This vid combines two things I adore: cracktastic ideas and

dualbunny's vidding. I think the original summary describes it best: Harry has had it with these motherfucking snakes. If that does not make you want to watch it, there is no hope for you.

Tags:fanvids, recs: vids

Comments

8th-Apr-2008 07:06 pm (UTC)

So okay, I don't think I'm picking up the deeper meaning behind these or something. I watched the first one, and Origin Stories, and here's my take on it: you need to be invested in either the fandom or the song - ideally both - to really enjoy these. I'm not the biggest fan of music vids in the first place, although I will happily watch FOB's 'Sugar We're Going Down' vid three times over because I love the story in it. But these? When the music does nothing for me and I barely recognise the characters ... not so much. Sorry?

(The actual vid for Snakes on a Plane - if that's the Cobra Starship/Academy Is/Gym Class Heroes/Maya Ivarsson version - is hilarious on its own, btw.)

scoradh.livejournal.com

9th-Apr-2008 02:13 am (UTC)

See, I totally disagree with the idea that you need to be invested in the fandom and/or the song to really enjoy them. Some of my favorite fanvids are for fandoms that I have NO knowledge of, or are multifandom with me only having knowledge of a few of them (and sometimes not even enough knowledge to identify the others, lol). I saw about a third of the ones in this post before I had watched the show they were about, and I've shown most of the other ones to people who have no/minimal knowledge of the shows (haha, specifically to see if they were alright for including in this post). I always thought the technical and artistic aspects (use of motion [pretty awesome in the last third of "I Enjoy Being a Girl," though IMO not as awesome as in "God is a DJ"], cutting, re-timing of events so things fall on the beat or musical accent, color-editing, transitions [the most excellent one here is probably at the 2 minute mark in "Goodnight Moon"], etc) were enough to sustain interest even if you have no knowledge of the story. And there are only a handful of these songs that I like on their own and some (esp. Disco Inferno, I Enjoy Being A Girl, Snakes on a Plane, Ragged Ass Road) that I find actively annoying when they're not attached to the fanvid.

I also find it funny that the two you picked to watch were in no way, shape, or form the ones I thought you specifically would like most and instead went to the one that is most difficult to understand without having seen the show (I had actually considered not putting any of the Buffy or Angel vids in this post because there's so much material in the shows and the fandom is so mature that I don't often see vids that aren't centered around thinky thoughts, but ultimately I thought they had enough technical merit to warrant inclusion). And then there's the first one -- you really didn't like it? Even with all the kickass girliness? I mean, I think you've only seen one of the shows in it, but seeing awesome heroines running around and blowing shit up doesn't just make you happy? I find that strange!

I think the ones you might like most are Britney Spears one and then either Battlestar Inferno or Snakes on a Plane. This isn't really based on anything though other than like, a hunch. WHO KNOWS.

But maybe you just don't like fanvids because you're more interested in story, whereas I'm inclined to like things for way shallow reasons, like that they are pretty. But iirc, you don't read fanfiction from fandoms you're not in either, which is another apparently strange thing I do (lol, for a really long time I thought John and Rodney were brothers thanks to an AU SGA fic that I read before I knew anything about the show).

Also, near the top of the post I said it was best to watch them twice... and I really meant that. I don't know if you did that or not. For me, at least, the first time through works only to familiarize me with the song and clips used and so I don't pick up on the details until the second (or even third, if I don't know the source or the song at all) time through.

jehnt.livejournal.com

10th-Apr-2008 08:07 am (UTC)

I always thought the technical and artistic aspects (use of motion [pretty awesome in the last third of "I Enjoy Being a Girl," though IMO not as awesome as in "God is a DJ"], cutting, re-timing of events so things fall on the beat or musical accent, color-editing, transitions [the most excellent one here is probably at the 2 minute mark in "Goodnight Moon"], etc) were enough to sustain interest even if you have no knowledge of the story

I suppose now is the time to say I never, ever watch films because of their artistic merit? :D I mean - the story is everything to me. I went to see 27 Dresses rather than In Bruges simply because I knew which story would appeal to me more. Total pleb, that's me.

I don't really agree with anyone blowing up anything. The kickass girly song was fun, but the explosions made me o.O a little. Years to create, seconds to destroy mentality, and all that.

I agree with watching/listening to songs more than once. Most of the songs I really love didn't catch me at all on first listen. How's this for a question: do you watch fanvids every day? Search recs and reputable websites? Because that's what I do with fanfiction. I've just never been a terribly visual person. Like I said elsewhere, I haven't kept up with SGA. The effort involved in obtaining media -!

...don't hate me. :(

scoradh.livejournal.com

10th-Apr-2008 10:08 am (UTC)

Most of the songs I really love didn't catch me at all on first listen.

Me too. Except pop and dance songs. Have you heard the Madonna single "4 Minutes"? It's frighteningly catchy -- I bought it from itunes yesterday and have listened to it like a zillion time since, I swear. It makes me want to daaaaaance. Which does not work out so well when I am writing a paper on early christian political commentary, let me tell you.

I don't really agree with anyone blowing up anything. The kickass girly song was fun, but the explosions made me o.O a little. Years to create, seconds to destroy mentality, and all that.

But they're not blowing reaaaaaal things up! idk, action movies are my favorite genre. I like to watch people running around with guns and driving fast cars and blowing shit up (I'm not at all down with people doing that in real life though!). I thought those things were universally liked in movies! HOW CAN THIS NOT BE?! YOU HAVE JUST DESTROYED MY WORLDVIEW. SMASHED THIS PARTICULAR PARADIGM. ETC.

How's this for a question: do you watch fanvids every day? Search recs and reputable websites? Because that's what I do with fanfiction.

I don't really have a single preferred fannish medium -- I like fanfic, graphics, vids, and meta pretty much equally. I spend more time on fic and meta, I think, but that's probably simply because there's more of it. I didn't get into vids until last year when I saw some on youtube and thought they were THE WORST THING EVER except Wesley from Angel looked really hot in one, right, and so then I was trying to find more of hot!Wesley and somehow I found "I Enjoy Being a Girl" and "God is a DJ" and I was sold on the concept.

I think vids are often a lot closer to meta than they are to fic or graphics. I think I actually tend to avoid story-ish vids precisely because they have a tendency to be less meta-ish. Like, the Prison Break vid is straight-up "let's summarize the first season" thing, and it works well for what it is, but it's basically like watching the entire first season in 3 minutes... it's interesting to see how the vidder managed that coherently, but it doesn't bring new interpretation to the story, which I feel even the wacky "wow, Britney Spears has really lost it, let's recap" video does. you do know that now I'll be watching these vids all for the strength of the story so I can make a "fanvids: the ones

scoradh might like" post or list when I'm done with the others, right?

But yeah, if you're not a visual person I can totally see why you wouldn't find them interesting. It's like people trying to get me to listen to podcasts or audiobooks (or talk on the phone!)... I mentally tune out after about the tenth word because I find it completely uninteresting.

I'm sure you're probably sick of reading my epically long comments by now, lol. I swear I try to make them shorter but it doesn't work out so well and they get longer instead.

jehnt.livejournal.com

10th-Apr-2008 10:25 am (UTC)

I suppose I'll youtube it because you said so, even though I have a thing against modern!Madonna. In return: you should youtube Keep an Open Mind (Captain). It's so awesome! I could watch him play guitar forever.

... you liked Transformers, didn't you?

I think the word is 'cerebral,' although it comes off as insulting. I'd happily watch a film where nothing happens but they sit around and talk a lot. Like Oscar Wilde without the stupid plots.

I'm sure I've seen fanvids - I remember a Gravitation one for What You Wish For by Guster - but I listen rather than watch. What usually happens is that I youtube a song I can't find elsewhere and for which the artist hasn't released a video, but for which someone has made a fanvid. Chance rather than pointed interest, yanno?

hee, i'm speshul. Hmm, I mean story in the sense of telling the vidder's story, rather than the actual facts. As in, if you're a shipper, putting together clips that support your ship and adding a FANTASTIC SOUNDTRACK. I can get behind that. Of course, my current fandom is music. There's nothing to beat watching Joe Trohman play the gee-tar, or Brendon Urie be Brendon Urie.

Audiobooks are too slow! Those three days when I got laser surgery and couldn't read (or OPEN MY EYES) were the worst of my life.

Bring it on! At least this way it looks like I'm doing something in class when I'm actually replying...

scoradh.livejournal.com

11th-Apr-2008 02:24 pm (UTC)

Okay so I'm PRETTY SURE you're psychic or something because I had been going to use Transformers as an example of an action movie that I DIDN'T really like because the plot and characters were so effing LAME. Then it took up like a whole paragraph and I was like, "eh, I need to shorten this epic" and deleted it. AND THEN YOU MADE ME BRING IT BACK. But yeah, while I like the whole CARS THAT TURN INTO ROBOTS THAT FIGHT aspect of the movie, pretty much everything that was not that was stupid. I doubt I'd watch it again voluntarily unless they cut most of the plot out and just showed me cool robot cars.

I think the word is 'cerebral,' although it comes off as insulting. I'd happily watch a film where nothing happens but they sit around and talk a lot. Like Oscar Wilde without the stupid plots.

Have you seen that Hitchcock movie "Lifeboat," where it's just some people sitting around on a lifeboat? It's PRETTY AWESOME. Well, granted, most people I know don't agree with this assessment, but I mean. They're ON A LIFEBOAT. And there is SERIOUS DRAMA.

What usually happens is that I youtube a song I can't find elsewhere and for which the artist hasn't released a video, but for which someone has made a fanvid.

lol, that's how I found them initially.

and sometime not today I will continue converting you to fanvids. It will have to wait because I'm very sleepy and I still have to stay awake for class and then the NEW EPISODE OF BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. Which I predict will have awesome revelations in it that will impact THE FATE OF HUMANITY. etc.

jehnt.livejournal.com

9th-Apr-2008 02:18 am (UTC)

oh also... have you ever seen

strangefandom? They have people watch fanvids from fandoms they're not in and then summarize what they think the show is about. It can be PRETTY HILARIOUS. Here (http://community.livejournal.com/strangefandom/12297.html) is the SGA one -- my favorite summary is the one that calls the wraith evil old ladies.

jehnt.livejournal.com

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