Once in a Blue Moon: Exceptional Vids.

The Blue Moon Vid Awards

I'm very, very picky about vids. Once in a blue moon, I find one that I like.

While my fanfic tastes are, oh, about as discerning as a goat, I'm on dial-up. Slow dial-up. Vids take an agonizing two to three hours to download.

After waiting that long, it had better be Great.

But I'm even pickier than that. I don't like a lot of slash in my vids -- I know, I know, it's ironic. For some reason, slashiness in vids makes me wince in sympathy for the actors, despite the fact that I have no qualms about writing explicit underage non-con parent/child incest AUs. (The sole exception is the Star Trek Kirk/Spock set to "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. I stake no claim to logic here. Perhaps William Shatner makes such a fool of himself willingly that I don't mind people playing with him in vids.)

But I'm still pickier than that. Otherwise decent vids that use a lot of fade-throughs so that the characters are briefly superimposed on each other (flattening the three-dimensional effect of television), drive me nuts. (The exception I make here is starrylizard's Out Of Bounds vid. By superimposing skating over extreme rollerblading, she emphasized the physical challenge of both.)

Even pickier, when there's a lot of lip-flapping and obvious dialogue that I'm missing, I feel as though I should be watching the vid on closed captions for the hearing impaired. I sigh in frustration, though I'll probably finish watching it. And then delete it from my hard drive.

Still pickier, vids with endless close-ups that aren't balanced with wide panoramic shots make me feel claustrophobic. I, invariably, two hour wait or no, shut down the vid without finishing it.

Pickiest of all, no matter how good the vid is overall, if it's too long, or the pacing grows sluggish -- *click* -- I'm gone.

Interestingly, I'm not picky about the music. If the music fits the vid and the character, I don't mind if it's a song I'd spin the dial on the radio to escape.

I lean towards Gen character dissection vids. I like to know a little more about the character after I've watched. Particularly if you've told me about Sheppard.

Thus far, I've only kept a handful of vids:

"Hello" by Merry (like fine lobster, this one is only available upon request)

Merry distills the essence of season one Stargate Atlantis, that sense of disconnect and lonely wonder. Sheppard-centric, it gives a well-rounded team feel with clips of battle scenes and the desperate struggle for their lives. But most of all, this vid taught me something I didn't know about Sheppard: that more than anyone else, he wasn't ready. Everyone else was doing the job they were trained for. John? Not so much. He walks through the scenes of this vid like a child in a haunted house, brave and full of adventure, yet bracing himself for the next blow.

"Stress" by Rache and Sandy

Rodney is funny. His facial expressions, his diva routine, his melodrama, the whining and complaining, his caustic wit -- when I started watching Atlantis, it was the Rodney Show for me. Full of fun and light-hearted bounce, this vid matches a suitably funny song with Rodney having (as usual) a trying, workaholic day. What I found most interesting was the insight that, yes, Rodney is hyper, terrified, melodramatic, and a terror to his staff. He also wouldn't have it any other way. Underneath it all, Rodney senses a fat little happy puppy in himself that would gladly snooze through life. He pushes himself to keep his innate laziness at bay.

"I Am/Lamb" by lim

This is a very difficult vid to interpret. Usually, I'm no fan of miasmic messages. But here, lim's vid is dense because she's added so many layers of meaning. On the surface, we have the story of Sheppard's many close calls and (possible death?) at the end. Scratch the surface one layer, and we have an introspective interrogation of Sheppard: why does he put himself in danger? When we see a heroic rescue, what does Sheppard see? Here we come to his many failures, his guilt, and see him running from his own mistakes, trying to make good even as he doesn't face them. Not the actions of a hero but that of a man chased by his own demons, with his biggest demon waiting for him at the end of the line. Scratch a little deeper, and we catch glimpses of his regrets -- and Sheppard throws himself into the path of danger again. But he can't hide. Scratch a little deeper... well. You decide.

And now... finally another I can add:

"Welcome To The Black Parade" by kitakatzz

Every little boy wants to be a man, and his father is his first hero. From this, the little boy defines manhood. Sheppard's father, it's implied here, was a soldier. In kitakatzz's vid, Sheppard remains that little boy stepping into the role of the soldier-hero. Starting slow with the formation of his character, as the vid blasts off, Sheppard finds himself in fire-fights in Afghanistan and the Pegasus Galaxy, risking his life for his friends. We see why he does it, and why he calls himself just a man.

(And of course, starrylizard's vid for Out Of Bounds, but that's cheating because it's for my own story.)


ETA: On hunting down links for you guys, an FYI -- all searching is turned off for this LJ.