Community! Vid Recs!

[kiki_eng]

Community is a show that I don't watch but has a fandom that I really dig, because the best parts that its fans pull out of the show and then shine up a little with their fannish love are really, really, incredibly shiny. So, shiny vids:

Sex and Reruns by trelkez
This is an extraordinarily joyful vid. It's about being embarrassed and making mistakes and life sometimes not going your way and also about life being ridiculous and learning to understand people and making friends and supporting each other. The video follows along with the lyrics and cycles through everything as the lyrics repeat, ending with the characters dancing and hugging and smiling and laughing together. It ends with togetherness. It's really exceptionally charming and it's a wonderful voyage.
(Song: Sex and Reruns by Matt Duke)

Folding Chair by sisabet
Annie Edison, aka Little Annie Adderall, aka Caroline Decker from Corpus Christi, Texas (but only that one time) grows up. Hard.
I'm not sure that it's possible to watch this vid and not fall madly in love with Annie. It is about Annie growing up and figuring things out and the ups and downs of that. It does a really excellent job of showcasing what makes Annie awesome; I've been doing this really embarrassing besotted chin-handsing thing watching this. (Go, watch, fall in love.)
(Song: Folding Chair by Regina Spektor)

That Awkward/Awesome Moment by wistful_fever
It's a vid about Troy and Abed's relationship from Troy's perspective, and the song that it's set to is really bouncy. (It's a Fall Out Boy song, so, coming to this vid from bandom and The lyricist really digs the vocalist! Happy people! adds another layer of fannish happiness to this for me; it's nice.) The end of it is really well used; the song has a pretty ridiculous ending and it's really well-matched in this. There's a lot of joy here; it starts with Troy running and making victory arms and touches on a lot of different bits of their relationship.
(Song: G.I.N.A.S.F.S. by Fall Out Boy)

Comments

[calvinahobbes]

OMG can you ACTUALLY read my mind??? I have just been getting into Community! As in, cresting on late s1 Awesomeness these very last few days \o/ And I have not seen the last vid!

And possibly this is part of what I meant by vids that shouldn't work. I was definitely thinking of vids I love in fandoms I know next-to-nothing about, and I love how good vidders can make that lack of canon knowledge completely irrelevant in the face of joy. But I've also been made aware that possibly I don't watch Star Trek vids the same way someone who has, y'know, actually watched the show does XD But that is part of what fascinates me with vidding: how its still a common language, through clipping and setting scenes against each other, that kind of transcends paltry Canon and makes it into a Fandom Story instead. Um, possibly it's too early in the morning for me to be attempting Deep Thoughts.

[kiki_eng]

I wasn't going to mention it, but... No, I feel like Community is gaining fannish momentum right now because of this season. It's exciting. :) [I made fanart a couple months ago! (Spacetime confession.)]

Yeah, the way vids work without canon knowledge is interesting. I often do fandom without canon so it's not something that feels that strange to me, and I do think that good vidders make vids that stand up without canon knowledge - viewers without that knowledge will miss things, but it will still be interesting to them.

I have vids that I've fallen in love with with very little canon knowledge and then watched the source material for later. It's unsurprisingly changed the way that I view those vids. It's interesting, because I really enjoy my adventures in fandoms that I don't know, because I get to figure things out - it's like a mystery! - and it's interesting to go back and see what I got right and what I didn't. There's a Supernatural vid where I assumed that two obviously different actors were playing the same character and that they weren't gives that a different tone.

I started writing that entry about knowing why vids work last night, though it'll probably be a while before posting happens. (So many vids to watch!)

[calvinahobbes]

It's true. Everybody talking about it -- and the whole Inspector Spacetime phenomenon -- definitely made me finally give it another chance. How cool you've made a confession! I haven't been following along on that.

I definitely do fandoms without consuming canon, but mostly I'll attempt to familiarize myself with at least some of it and eventually get a working knowledge of it. Shiny vids are definitely a big lure, and I will happily watch those without knowing anything about the fandom at all.

I must admit, one of the things I've enjoyed the most since hanging out with fans in meatspace has been to bring them vids for their fandoms, fandoms I don't know. It is a totally selfish process, watching them get bowled over on first watch and then making them explain all the stuff I'm missing XD

I'm looking forward to your entry, but don't feel you have to rush it!

[kiki_eng]

Yeah, the Inspector Spacetime thing is really interesting. It's one of those meta things, and there's an aspect of Look! The writers are playing with us! involved and there are people on the tvtropes forums making up the canon for this imaginary show and there's just such a lot of fannishness in it and that has come out of it. (It's exciting!)

Community's fandom routinely does things to pull me in; writing and vidding the things that I like in stories, and I've had meatspace friends mentioning it recently. I feel like it has a lot of different hooks; I get lured into watching a couple episodes periodically.

I love getting to show off shiny things to people; it's a lot of fun. :)

I started that entry with something like "so I started writing this a while ago" because I am apparently realistic these days. I know that I'm going to get really distracted while writing it. :)

[calvinahobbes]

I think when the Spacetime first became a thing, I sort of willfully stayed away because I was afraid of being sucked in completely. Because yes, I do believe that is one of the coolest things that's spontaneously happened in a fandom in quite a while. It's sort of like I'm saving it for last? Like, I know I will love it, so I'm savoring the anticipation a little :oP

Hah, I love your foresight! It's a really interesting concept, writing something anticipating that it will be old by the time you post it... I've never tried it! :o)

[kiki_eng]

Yeah, I think that's strongly influenced by the part where I posted two entries I started over two years ago last month - it will, um, probably not be two years before I finish the vid post - and know that I have yuletide this month.

[calvinahobbes]

Haha, that is great -- it is never too late to post! And yes, I totally understand about Yuletide. I am sort of avoiding my own Yuletide fic :o/

[nemonclature]

Haha, I've literally just got into Community as well, saw the pilot yesterday. Thanks for these!

[kiki_eng]

Hah! You're welcome. :)