bradcpu ([info]bradcpu) wrote,
@ 2006-02-13 14:13:00
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Entry tags:vid

New vid: Personal Jesus - Firefly relationships study


Vid Title: Personal Jesus
Band/Artist/Song: Depeche Mode
Duration: 3:51
Character/Pairing: Pretty much all pairings, conventional and otherwise
Episode/s: All TV series and movie
Format: WMV
Notes: Book offers faith, salvation, an anchor in a chaotic life - but he comes to see that everyone's already found it in each other. Almost everyone. This is the most complex message I've tried to tell with a vid, so it's heavy on the metaphor and symbolism. It's really about... well, I'll let Book tell you what it's about.

51.7mb zipped wmv


Enter password: belief

Personal Jesus (Firefly) from Vimeo. (Download available)


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[info]wily_one24
2006-02-13 10:19 pm UTC (link)
Holy Crap!

This has to be, I'm thinking, your best vid ever. It was just so great. I was trying to picture it as you described it and really couldn't do it, but this... this was... brilliant.

I am in awe.

You did everyone on the crew so much justice.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-13 10:42 pm UTC (link)
*grin*

"Best" is subjective, but it certainly took more knowledge of vidding to make this one than any of my others. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done this one a few weeks ago.

I was trying to not play to certain 'ships (and not leave any out), but some just worked better in this narrative and some didn't. Plus I was using River as my Christ figure, so that made it really tough to do any River pairings. Except River-Simon, because Simon was kind of her Mary Magdalene. (bizarre comparison ahoy)

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[info]yourlibrarian
2006-02-23 01:14 am UTC (link)
Came over from a rec by [info]femmenerd and have to say I read it as more an ode to Book, which I found really great because there's been so much discussion about the other character death that I feel his has really been overlooked. I enjoyed seeing this look back at the character and the role he played in the ensemble.

And technically the vid was just marvelous, great cuts and use of effects. Loved it.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-23 03:24 am UTC (link)
Thanks so much for watching and sharing your thoughts. I very much appreciate the compliment. A lot of the story was not directly about Book, but the glue that held it all together was how he sees (and comes to see) himself and the other crewmembers. One person described it as like a story with an unreliable first-person narrator.

I love all the characters, but Book is definitely near the top of the list. He was a huge part of what made the TV show so special.

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[info]twilight_krista
2006-02-13 10:53 pm UTC (link)
Oh.my.god.
May i create your fanclub?? :)

This was soooo great!
The old movie effect works here amazing - it gives that western feeling along with fitting the song. And transitions to color are gorgeous and very well timed.
For a strange reason i mentioned Kaylee at 00:27 - she is on her place :) And Simon right after her. The telephone moment at 1:06 - you are genious! And Book at 1:24 - he... i forgot the words :) He's wonderful.
01:45-02:14 - what a great stuff! Though i've made something similiar about 4 days ago in my vid, in yours it works better.
And how did you get this effects at 3:08, 3:16, 3^24 and so on? the zoom-thing? I mean - i don't know how to get it in WMM.
Oh, i'll just go and watch your id for the fifth time - it's extremely powerful.
You're my hero :))

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-14 12:18 am UTC (link)
You're just the sweetest! Thank you so much.

i mentioned Kaylee at 00:27 ... And Simon right after her

I picked those clips because they both looked like they were searching for something.

The telephone moment at 1:06

Most of the video was symbolic, not literal "telephone" or whatever, so I wasn't going to use the telephone shot unless it worked within the vid's story, but I thought this did.

01:45-02:14 - what a great stuff

Thanks! It took a while to figure out how to do that the way I wanted.

And how did you get this effects at 3:08, 3:16, 3^24 and so on? the zoom-thing?

I placed the whole scene on the timeline, cut it where I wanted, then took a picture of the final frame. Then I dragged the picture onto the timeline where the scene ends and added the following effects to the picture: brightness increase, zoom in (or out), fade out to white.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! It was tough to get the right mood and emotion in the vid, but I tried to do it as well as I possibly could. I wanted it to be "powerful," so thank you for saying that. :)

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[info]lvs2read
2006-02-13 11:49 pm UTC (link)
This was simply stunning! I loved the sepia tones, with sudden shift to color whenever someone "reached out." The movement of the characters matched the music so well you would have thought it was originally filmed that way. Too, too many things to comment about individually. Fabulous! Well worth the time it took you to do!

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-14 12:21 am UTC (link)
I'm glad you liked. Hopefully I did the Pretty Fits crowd proud. The idea of sepia-tone-to-color was my first basic concept for the vid (reality sort of coming into focus when people connect and find faith in each other).

Well worth the time it took you to do!

My wife would probably disagree.

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[info]rinalin
2006-02-14 03:28 am UTC (link)
Oh. Oh my.

That was brilliantly done. The sepia tones were beautiful fading to color. I loved the connectiveness between the crew, and how Book so subtly seeped into their lives. I never would have thought this song would work with this crew and it does.

I'm so very, very impressed.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-14 05:14 am UTC (link)
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Rinny. I think my whole motivation for making vids is to show why I associate certain songs with this show, and that's definitely the case here. It's so rewarding when the vid comes close to showing what you've always seen in your head when you heard the song.

I guess you caught the Jaylee stuff? :)

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[info]rinalin
2006-02-14 05:25 am UTC (link)
Hee!! Of course I caught the Jaylee stuff! I just didn't want to go all Squee-y over my reply and annoy the hell out of you. But I watched it a third time (the second was to really absorb it all) just to watch that little section again.

I was so impressed with imagery over all. River's breakdown in Shindig superimposed over the shootout in Heart of Gold stuck out at me as example.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-14 05:39 am UTC (link)
:)

The River breakdown/window shattering part was my favorite part too. I was trying to mirror that later in the vid with Book repairing the window that keeps exploding (him trying to keep out his need for a human connection and comfort).

This was a really delicate vid to try to make because it was three themes - shipper moments, Western chaos, and Book's journey - that had to be told with the right balance, and through the right images at the right times. Book had to progress from saviour to seeing the others as saviours, and if that message didn't work then the video would be worthless. I probably re-did every 30-sec section a half-dozen times before I was satisfied with both the images and the narrative. That's why it took so long.

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[info]rinalin
2006-02-14 05:41 am UTC (link)
It was well worth the time and effort you put into it.

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[info]wedjateye
2006-02-23 10:31 am UTC (link)
Hi again. I recced this vid to two friends - neither of whom were able to get it from your links above, so I uploaded it to YSI for them. It is the big (52MB) version.

Here's the link - http://s14.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3A18E7GHD1VN003OHZGNWOFFAE

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-23 09:54 pm UTC (link)
Wow, thanks so much! I've tried all sorts of solutions for uploading vids, but everything has its unique problem. The last time I used YSI to post a vid, the download limit busted in like 30 minutes. Megaupload is just plain difficult to use. Got my own site, but the bandwidth limit makes me reluctant to debut vids there.

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[info]wedjateye
2006-02-24 09:06 pm UTC (link)
You are very welcome. I can't believe you have only made 5 vids - both my friends used the link above, and were very impressed - one misread my e-mail, and thought it was an [info]obsessive24 vid. She commented "she just keeps getting better and better". I'll correct the error, but I thought it might leave you feeling chuffed.

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[info]emeraldsedai
2006-02-24 09:27 pm UTC (link)
*raises hand*

That was me. Sorry for mis- (or not) reading the credits. See my comment below.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-24 10:53 pm UTC (link)
I'll correct the error, but I thought it might leave you feeling chuffed.

Hardly! I honestly can't imagine a higher compliment.

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[info]wedjateye
2006-02-24 11:21 pm UTC (link)
I thought you might feel that way - I love [info]obsessive24's vids - I'm not a vidder, but her editing and technical skills blow me away. But best of all, her vids pack an emotional punch, one that keeps me coming back for more - even when she's vidding something I usually wouldn't watch. I've only seen this one vid of yours, but it had the same sort of emotional impact on me (as well as looking technically fantastic to my untrained eye).

You have a great feel for clip choice. Watching it made me miss my BDH's, I think I'll sit down and rewatch the series(for probably at least the 20th time) soon. So that is the highest compliment I can pay you - you made me miss them!

BTW, may I friend you?

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-25 12:36 am UTC (link)
[info]obsessive24 is not just a great vidder, she's an insightful and helpful vid critic. Plus she's just a great gal. Her encouragement has meant the world to me.

Friend away! I'll do the same. Glad I made you want to rewatch the series. (The best reason to revisit Firefly: it's Firefly.) By the way, if you ever want to see any of my other vids you can find them here.

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[info]wedjateye
2006-02-25 01:01 am UTC (link)
Great, I'll check them out. And I have friended you.

Probably the closest I'll ever come to making a vid, was begging [info]obsessive24 to vid to an idea of mine - she did it beautifully. She is a great friend.

Love the icon - I loved the way you used that shot in the vid too.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-25 01:33 am UTC (link)
Thanks about the icon. By the way, the site lists the vids from oldest (my first, Bring Me To Life) to newest, but they were all made in the past two months. Hope you enjoy.

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[info]after_thought_
2006-02-24 06:42 am UTC (link)
Really loved this vid. Yet another song you've stuck in my head, lol! My favorite parts were the moving (zooming) stills - I love the effect it gives. I'm sure there are levels of meaning built into this vid that have just escaped me (I suppose multiple viewings are required.) but on a purely superficial note, nicely done.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-25 12:48 am UTC (link)
Glad you enjoyed it. I tried to make something that can be enjoyed on many levels, including superficial ones. And all my life I've wanted superficial beauty. :) Thanks.

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[info]emeraldsedai
2006-02-24 09:25 pm UTC (link)
[info]wedjateye recommended this vid to me, and wow, am I ever impressed. Great song choice, great use of sepia, brilliant layering of ideas, and I've rarely seen such excellent clip choices put to such good use.

I've only watched it once and will be rewatching many times to get all your nuances. I heard you were new to vidding, and that you're using less than optimum tools, which makes this vid a regular tour de force.

Brilliant work.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-02-24 11:09 pm UTC (link)
I really am humbled by the compliments. I am (very) new to vidding, but I feel like I'm learning vast amounts with each new vid - as in being constantly amazed by the depths of my ignorance. I've actually come to like the limiting software because it forces me to get creative in expressing concepts since I can't rely on great tech tools.

Love your icon, btw!

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[info]emeraldsedai
2006-02-25 04:41 am UTC (link)
Interesting point of view, and one that I completely agree with and relate to. For one thing, "beginners" with "inadequate tools" very often do astoundingly creative things because they don't know they can't. And learning to create something with simpler tools just makes getting the fancy ones all that much sweeter!

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[info]txlsplash
2006-03-11 11:20 pm UTC (link)
I really love this video, great work! The coloring effects were beautiful.

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[info]bradcpu
2006-03-12 03:00 am UTC (link)
Coming from you, that's a huge compliment. I started vidding less than 2 months ago, but I'm trying to learn and improve as fast as I can... Faster. Thanks so much for letting me know you liked this.

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[info]txlsplash
2006-03-12 03:18 am UTC (link)
No problem :).

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