new vid: big guns, firefly/serenity

[schmerica]

So, I seem to have actually finished a vid. I don't know about you, but I am both shocked and excited over this development! (Technically, I guess this is my second one? I did make a short Wilby Wonderful vid back in March, but that was basically me going "Whee! Clips! You can set them to music! WMM does stuff!" So I'm a bit less newbie now! And also have left behind Windows Movie Maker, yay.)

"Big Guns" by Jenny Lewis
Firefly/Serenity.
Why are we still chasing our own tails?

2:34, divx, 15.5mb. Right click and save. [Currently offline]

ficbyzee and mimesere both are wonderfully helpful and generally awesome, and I can't thank them enough for their advice and support.

Any and all feedback is eagerly welcomed and beloved, either as a livejournal comment or at my email at schmerica@gmail.com.

Well you praise him
Then you thank him
Til you reach the by-and-by
And I've won hundreds at the track
But I'm not betting on the afterlife

Then you kiss his lips
He forgives you for it
He forgives you for all you've done
But not me
I'm still angry

What have I done?
Why am I always messing with
The big guns?

First I'll build a sword
Get some words to explain
It's a plan, brother, at least
And I'll pretend that everybody here wants peace
Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on me
Cause we're tired and lonely and we're bloody

What have we done?
Why are we still running
From our own failing bodies?
The big guns, the big guns

Sing mercy, sing mercy, sing mercy on me
Let's pretend that everybody here wants peace

What have we done?
Why are we still chasing our own tails?
The big guns, the big guns, the big guns

Comments

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's lovely! And the song is perfect. Thanks for sharing this!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really glad to hear you liked it.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

Oh no-- my browser can't find it! I guess your server is overloaded.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

How very odd; it's working fine when I try to download now! The link is to http://www.renigweder.com/vids/bigguns.avi; are you still having trouble?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_swallow/]

It's back! Thank you.

[etben.livejournal.com]

I'm not a vid person, as a general rule - I mean, I like 'em, but I can never come up with anything more to say tha 'oooooh, shiny!'

That said?

Oooooh! Shiny!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*grins* Thank you very much!

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

I love this vid! I'm so impressed that it's only your second one. The song was excellent, just the right sound for Firefly and had a great beat - you kept pace very nicely. I'll have it in my head the rest of the day. :) The vid opened in a really catchy way; right off I was with you and ready for more.

I couldn't get the POV right away on the first viewing because of the "you kiss his lips, he forgives you for it" section. For some reason that shot of Inara didn't click for me as part of what had come before, and so I was thinking the "he" was Mal and I got a little lost, but on watching a second time it's clear, so it's likely entirely my issue. I say all this because I love the use of her and the Shepherd at 00:36 as reflecting back on that, making the "he" a "He" in Mal's eyes. It's really a fantastic, biased point of view, through the whole vid, but this section is actually my favorite, because it gives extra poignancy to the "What have I done?" - and everything else - that comes after it.

I love the computer map turning on 1:03; it fits the drumbeat there so well. I love both of the "I'll pretend everybody here wants peace" sections, with the first one being so violent and the second one actually being peaceful. It works best that way (instead of peaceful, then violent), because it makes the peaceful one at the end mean more.

And the "have mercy" sections! I really love those. And the words flash onbeat at 1:44 - that makes me happy. *g* And then you end with Serenity, which is clearly the most important thing in Mal's life, and having Inara painting her name continues the connection you started the vid with, bringing them together for Mal. Lovely! Thanks for sharing this!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Oh, dude, you have no idea how amazed I was to get this comment -- both because it's so thoughtful and indepth, and also because I really admire your vids. So, yes: huzzah!

I'm guessing the POV thing wasn't just you -- actually, I think establishing the POV from those first verses was probably the biggest challenge of this vid for me; I lost count of how many drafts I went through there, really. So I'm really pleased to hear that on the next viewing it all came together.

Both the computer map and the words flashing onbeat were happy accidents -- I would have tried to have that happen, but they did it on their own! It was a little moment of joy in the middle of all the work. *g*

Again, thank you so very much for your lovely comment; it really made my day!

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Ooh, shiny. The song was perfect for Firefly.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Yay! I know you're not a big vid person, so I'm glad this worked for you.

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

Great song choice for the show and you really did a great job with the pacing. :D Sweet, poignant, and a little rough-and-tumble--great recipe for a Firefly vid, thank you for making it!

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Eeee, thank you so much! (I just rewatched "Nervous Breakthrough" tonight, by the way; I don't think I ever gave you feedback for it, but I really love that vid.)

[moireach.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like this! Good song choice and they're all so pretty. I like "I'm still angry" for Mal's face in Serenity Valley, and how mercy is each other, all the little affectionate bonds. Am I correct in reading this as a Mal/Inara vid? I like the end, too, with Serenity doing her thing. And Saffron dancing to the cadence of the song for a moment is great.

If you're looking for concrit, what jumped out at me was that the beginning is kind of unfocused and hard to follow -- a little jumpy between the quick shots and I'm not sure what's supposed to be going on. But it evens out later on, so.

(Does this mean you're gonna write more Firefly fic???? ;))

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Hee, I am bad at classficiation -- I would describe as partly a Mal/Inara vid and partly a Mal-vid-with-Inara, but I think however you read it probably works.

I'm really glad you liked the vid! And the concrit seriously is helpful, so thanks. Yay.

(Heh. Um, I am doing really badly at writing anything lately, but I do not hold out more Firefly fic as, you know, impossible. What about YOU?_

[bitterbyrden.livejournal.com]

Came over here from SDWolfpup's link.

I LOVE that you used a Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins song. That's so awesome. Seriously, more musical choices like that. Less Michelle Branch.

I enjoyed the video a lot. I would have liked a little more lead-in, as VLC started it off kind of choppy and it took me a second to catch up. But in general, I thought it was sweet. I'm not a big Mal/Inara fan, either, but the pacing of the vid really sold it.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad to hear the vid worked for you, even if it's not your usual thing -- and the choppy beginning bit is really good to know.

Get some words to explain

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Perfect song. And I'm not just saying that because I love Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins. You blended the series footage with the movie source very well. Great pacing. I like your use of POV, espeically with the He forgives you for it, He forgives you for all you've done section. POV was murky for me, but watching again helped and make me appreciate what you did with it.

I love the first And I'll pretend that everybody here wants peace with the guns. It makes me think of that phrase, "Bombing For Peace Is Like Screwing For Virginity". What you did with the lyric is awesome. The second occurance of the lyric is a nice constrast and is beautiful. The Sing mercy, sing mercy, sing mercy on me is lovely too.

The whole vid has a meloncoly sweetness to it.

Re: Get some words to explain

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much; I'm glad you liked it! I'm especially glad the POV worked for you, even if it was murky at first. It was lovely to get your comment!

[eva-mac.livejournal.com]

Here via SDWolfpup...

Really lovely job, and I agree that the musical choice is awesome. (When the drumbeats come in at "first I'll build a sword", it's fantastic.) I love that the first appearance of Serenity - their salvation, their mercy - comes with that lull/pause in the music, before everything kicks back up again. Some moments, like that one, and at "he forgives you for all you've done", literally made me catch my breath.

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

*beams* Thank you very much! I'm really pleased you enjoyed the vid.