wanderings

When rageprufrock published Drastically Redefining Protocol in 2008-2009 I gleefully read it, and when zoetrope posted their Drastically Redefining Protocol Trailer (2009, February 2) I made everyone I knew who had seen at least the first episode of Merlin and had some idea what fanfiction was watch it.

It ate my brain.

It's a minute and fourteen second long vid that uses a very small selection of footage from the show itself - it's mostly DVD extras, I think, and other sources that I've never seen. The footage has been worked with, worked into other footage, overlaid with other images. There's an ongoing theme of lights, which is such a nice match for the tinkly-ness that Badly Drawn Boy's Once Around the Block has. Like rageprufrock's fic, zoetrope's trailer follows the conventions of its genre, and it has the kind of endearing indy-ness to it that a mid to late noughts queer story has, with darker colours and soft focus in places.

Trailers are love:

• Realm of Dryads by newkidfan (2006, April 3) for Realm of Dryads by trinityofone (2006, January 18)
  
• Hindsight by zoetrope (2006, December 11) for Hindsight by rageprufrock (2005, August ?)
  
• No Parachute by newkidfan (2008, July 20) for No Parachute by aesc (2006, December 21)

Fanworks for fanworks fill me with glee - they're such a wonderful expression of creative community and I love the shorter format that trailers tend to. I cut my fannish writing teeth on drabbles and the focus of short formats is something that still appeals to me - I feel like it gives you the freedom to work and re-work as a creator without jeopardising completion, so you can spend time playing with and manipulating footage, and there's something breathtaking about a short work that gets it right.

The only vid mentioned in this post that I still have access to is zoetrope's Drastically Redefining Protocol Trailer, but I still remember how newkidfan's Realm of Dryads made me feel, something like fifteen years after my first watch and over a decade since my last. I remember trees and the suggestion of fog and the music like a knife. I remember a kind of breathlessness.

newkidfan's work continually threw me. I'd watch it and think to myself it's 40 seconds long - how are they doing this? And it was with instrumental music from soundtracks and working source footage, and I think integrating other footage (it's been a long time since I've seen a newkidfan vid), and building for emotion.

newkidfan's vids and fanwork trailers more generally have been foundational to how I understand and approach vidding.

The vids that have lived in my drafts have been set to instrumental music and all about building feeling. The vids that live earmarked in my imagination have a really annoying multi-source aspect. Some day, if I live long enough, I am going to crack, go on a Hewligan binge, and make that McShep AU fanvid, and it's going to be because I learned how to watch fanvids in SGA fandom.

(This post has been living in my drafts for fifteen years and popping back into a draft that's nearly old enough to vote is an experience. It's been a reminder to save the fanworks that I love when I can, of the precariousness of file hosting arrangements in general, and of the value of metadata. Sometimes metadata is the only thing you have left. Sometimes metadata is all that fans leave behind. They stop updating somewhere and don't leave behind their new address, so you wonder if they're still out there being fannish, if they're still out there at all.

I feel like it's a weird thing to be posting about fanworks that are inaccessible, that I don't have copies of, but I still care, so I am. I know that there are other people out here who will remember these vids, and I also know a kind of archivist's delight of sifting through pieces of the past that you will never know.)

Mechanic!Gwen by yue_ix
SFW; art; Gwen
So, this is not a picture of Morgana. There is a distinct lack of Morgana. It is gorgeous, though, so I am reccing it. It's made up of these wonderful warm colours and features steampunk!mechanic!Gwen. It's lovely. I love the sketchy poster background and the dragon. I love how clearly Gwen this person is.

On Swefnum, Incuthra Eorthan by srin
Rating: PG; 1,300 words; Gwen/Morgana, hints of Arthur/Merlin, various
Summary: Morgana sleeps, and sees other facets of the archetypes in her life.
Morgana dreams of the Arthurian multiverse. It's fun and funny and touching and wonderful. It's this great mix of things, silly and serious, joyful and sad. (There's some good critique in it, too!)

Remember Me As A Time Of Day by such_heights
Rating: PG-13; 1,400 words; Gwen/Morgana
In an open field, under a morning sky, two women sleep.
Gorgeous amnesia!fic, elegant and moving. It's kind of ridiculously pretty, like a quiet sad song. There are some really fantastic lines in this; it's excellent fic.

Blood Makes Noise by avendya
This vid is a really fantastic look at Morgana and the place that she finds herself in. The song choice is excellent. I have a lot of love for the message of this vid, what it portrays and the way that it explores Morgana's motivations; it does an excellent job of getting its message across.
(Song: Blood Makes Noise by Suzanne Vega)

10,000 Nights of Thunder by mamoru22
Merlin gives everything Arthur throws at him right on back ('cause he's just ace like that). It's a wonderful, happy, flowy vid that bounces right along with its incredibly happy song. There are a lot of "Arthur's face! It is wonderful!" moments for me in this (0:23, 0:57, and 1:45 are especially nice). Overall reaction to this vid, is generally: *squishes them*
(Song: 10,000 Nights by Alphabeat)

Unsteady Ground by cherryice
It's the more sinister side of Camelot, the danger and darkness that are all tangled up with magic and morality there. It's gorgeous, and quite casual in it's beauty. The transitions are fascinating to watch, and the interplay of the visual and audio is nice. "Haunting" is a good word, and I've quite fallen in love with the song at this point.
(Song: Unsteady Ground by Catherine Feeny)

Red by obsessive24
Like Unsteady Ground it's another shot of the legend proper, and a reminder of what that legend is. It's gorgeous, and for a while that was all I knew about the vid; I had this sense that there was something it was trying to show me beyond the little snatches I was getting. It does not lend itself to the sort of tongue in cheek summaries I'll sometimes do of books and films. I took notes through one of my many viewings, (because, yes, I am that person,) and, among everything else, I've got "Merlin" written down multiple times and repeatedly underscored to add emphasis to the one word sentences it kept popping up in.
(Song: Red by Elbow)

Tear You Apart by bradcpu
Firefly
The happiest ship in the world made bloody disturbing. It explores a very interesting idea. I love the use of secondary footage in this vid.
(Song: Tear You Apart by She Wants Revenge)

Handlebars by flummery
Doctor Who
The video synchs with the lyrics of the audio in all sorts of wonderful ways. It is, by turns, wonderfully amusing and frigheningly true in the story it tells. It reminds me of a number of the doctor's more scary aspects and the ending is perfect.
(Song: Handlebars by Flobots)

The Bitch Prince by wistful_fever
Merlin
Arthur is such a bitch. The vid's incredibly pretty and rather well structured. Much of what I like about the show is here.
(Song: Bitch by Meredith Brooks)