[SGA vid] Welcome Home

[permetaform]

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Welcome Home | .wmv (624x346, 36.1mb) | .avi (624x346, 43.9mb) | mirror here (thank you paranoidangel_!)
_{Source: Stargate Atlantis (Spoilers up to The Siege III)
Song: "The Blood of Cu Chulainn", by Mychael and Jeff Danna
Summary: Her, city}

Thanks: Much love and thanks to aurora_84, nel_ani, and sisabet for the feedback and advice, and also to lierdumoa and absolut3destiny for audiencing! =D

"Let us resolve that she shall dream dreams deeper than the sea and higher than the clouds of heaven, that she shall come forth crowned and transfigured with her statesmen and wizards and saints and sages about her, with magic behind her and miracle before her."

_{-Vachel Lindsay}

Notes: It's been awhile since I've let myself cut loose on the cutting, partially because I've been experimenting in style and effect and partially 'cause I was testing my threshold of pain/irritation with not molesting every beat. This vid felt like a sigh of relief after all that, what with the massive beat-whoring, finally getting the RAM able to handle the type of vid I've been wanting to make, and finding SGA. Which, just...::waves vaguely at old meta posts:: yeah.

Oh, and there's like huge numbers of things I tried to say about Elizabeth and Atlantis in the vid, all mixed up together, so there are a very many equally valid interpretations of the vid. Hell, I'm not even sure of all the things I put in there, but I'm very curious as to what themes or stories or impressions that those watching the vid might get, so don't be afraid to tell me what you think!

(I would recommend using VLC Player to play the vid, it's free, or you can look at this guide. Also, apparently there's a compatibility problem with playing the vid in Quicktime.)

Notes part 2: The wierd and uncomfortable feeling that occurs before the music starts? That's on purpose; it was my goal that Atlantis is creepy and uncomfortable and wrong...until the expedition came, woke it up, and let it breathe.

Notes part 3: Wow!



::bounces and glomps everyone::

Thanks to everyone who'd nominated and voted for me at the Stargate Fan Awards, it won for Weir's catagory!

Comments

[refracting.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was lovely, just what Elizabeth's character should be.

[permetaform]

=) thank you, I'm glad you liked the vid!

[floridapeaches.livejournal.com]

Here on a links from shallot and seperis. Downloading now, and I'll be back for comments in a bit!

[permetaform]

cool =)

[eretria.livejournal.com]

Lovely from beginning to end, and the song choice is just an added bonus (and goosebumps-inducing, especially since I already knew it and never would have considered it for Atlantis. Works very, very well, though.). This showed an Elizabeth I've been missing on the show as of late: Warm and still tough, caring and strong.
It appeared as if the city knew her, as if everything revolved around her. And the relationships between all the people, the trust and the wonder came through beautifully.
Excellent, thank you so much for creating this. This is something to give me back my faith in Elizabeth.

[permetaform]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[marici.livejournal.com]

I keep waiting for them to find her journals -- after she put in the third ZPM, I'm convinced she spent years wandering around Atlantis exploring anything she could without using power.

Also, your vid made me get a little choked up. She's put so much in, given up so much more than John and Rodney to be here, and I love the way the sequence made that easy to remember and respect. Thank you for this.

[permetaform]

I keep waiting for them to find her journals -- after she put in the third ZPM, I'm convinced she spent years wandering around Atlantis exploring anything she could without using power.

o.o whoa, cool image...


Also, your vid made me get a little choked up. She's put so much in, given up so much more than John and Rodney to be here, and I love the way the sequence made that easy to remember and respect. Thank you for this.

::nods::

::hugs:: thank *you* for feedbacking.

bookmarks the page and sends email to self as well

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

I can't actually watch that right now - much as I want to - but I do have a stray ten seconds to ask if you can remember, at all, where you got the musical notes in your gorgeous icon? They are just the right feeling for something I am working on.

Re: bookmarks the page and sends email to self as well

[permetaform]

I'd had it posted here:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/permetaform/313764.html

but I suspect that the link ran out. I found it in my Adobe Premiere fonts folder, it's called Sonata, and you might already have it but if not just poke me again and I'll upload it for you.

[anashi.livejournal.com]

Lovely, I thought it was very interesting how you had the shadow coming through Atlantis and then showed Weir blindfolded and captured, many layers of mythology there. Reminded me of how in some myths when the King is ill the land feels it, as well. There are other things I could say, I probably could babble for an hour, but I think the word 'beautiful' just about covers it.

[permetaform]

Lovely, I thought it was very interesting how you had the shadow coming through Atlantis and then showed Weir blindfolded and captured, many layers of mythology there. Reminded me of how in some myths when the King is ill the land feels it, as well.

::GLOMPS:: yes! =D

And thank you! I'm so glad you liked it!

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. Wonderful.

And now I have yet another CD to purchase...

[permetaform]

Thank you!

(here's a link to the song if you'd like:
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07OAS9X0WBMN924WU8KX90TDX8 )

=)

[nel-ani.livejournal.com]

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*ogles the lovely quality of the .avi file*

*envies the quality of the vid itself*

[permetaform]

awww ::GLOMPS:: thank you!

.avi file encoded with avisynth, I'll have time during x-mas break if you want me to guide you through it, though the amv.org site details the process well.

[cimness.livejournal.com]

just wanted to let you know i'm downloading!

[permetaform]

cool! =)

[cereta.livejournal.com]

Oh, that was really, really lovely, and I think I need to watch it about five more times to figure out everything I'd have to say about it, because right now, I'm stuck on "Wow."

[permetaform]

=D thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[walkingshadow.livejournal.com]

this is gorgeous, so gorgeous. i had an incredibly physical reaction to this vid: i sat up straighter and leaned closer to the monitor as it unfolded, holding my breath and widening my eyes and slapping my hands over my mouth. gorgeous, gorgeous music, and i love the clips you chose—not just that they're different ones, clips we don't see all the time in vids, and not just that they were all fantastically appropriate to and symbiotic with the music they matched up with; but that you used the most interesting visuals and camera angles and movements that were in the episodes already and made them work seamlessly for you: the movement of the camera from elizabeth checking on the athosians, to rodney and radek building the bomb, to the aerial swooping around the city, to john and rodney in the chair room—and then back to the athosians again; the opening of the doors with the first drumbeats, the lights going out in the city, ford running, rodney gesturing, john grimacing and flying. i loved your repetition of the eyeblink and the stutter-shots like heartbeats. so far i've watched it six times all the way through and i'm more awed every time, i see more and i understand that there's meaning—beyond the mere beautiful—in every selection and every juxtaposition.

i sometimes have trouble following narratives in vids, but this one is so clearly and perfectly about elizabeth and her relationship not only to atlantis and the expedition, but to her sense of self and to every single member of that expedition: how much she loves them and what she's willing to do (and often *has* to do) to keep them all together and alive. plus it was beautiful. did i mention that? it bears repeating again and again.

[permetaform]

This feedback I---::gape:: thank you. wow. thank you. ::glomps:: The eyeblink was one of the first things I'd laid down, it 'drove' the rest of the vidding and it's still one of my favorite things in the vid. I'm so glad you like the movement because I'd loved playing with the movement in this vid and I'm so glad you felt the narrative was clear because I struggle a lot with narrative.


but to her sense of self and to every single member of that expedition

YES. ::GLOMPS:: YES. And she just, she tries so hard and sometimes her hands are tied but she does what she can and just...yeah. Thank you. =)

[mad-jaks.livejournal.com]

Something that pretty and powerful deserves something more than cookies but they are all I have. (and by the way how do you manage both at the same time?) My daughter stoppped and got enthralled and she doesn't even watch SGA.

[permetaform]

::is *delighted* with cookies:: =D

It makes me happy that it's got non-fans enthralled 'cause it's always a toss-up whether or not I'm relying too much on context and letting me know that warms me greatly.

And well, my personal philosophy is that the pretty makes the powerful more powerful, and that powerful things make things more pretty. =)

Also, explosions; a vid is always improved by an explosion or two (especially provided they have adequate lead-up).

[kiezh.livejournal.com]

I love Atlantis - the show, the city, and my God, the fandom. I'm a little wary of watching instrumental vids, because I always have a hard time finding a narrative thread to pull it together, but this one felt more like mood than narrative and it worked BEAUTIFULLY. It was a love song both to and from the city of Atlantis.

Every time we get one of those aerial shots of the city in the show, my heart skips a beat - this vid was like that feeling cranked up and relentless, the sheer WOW of the Lost City being found and loved and gloried in. I had tears in my eyes for the second half and I don't even know why. Emotional overload, I guess.

I kept having to play bits over and over. The city rising from the deep! (I adore the music shift just as the city is breaking the surface - like the instruments are breaking out into sunlight too.) The ashes! (Definitely one of those tearing-up moments.) The puddlejumpers coming out of the city! (Whoosh! Wheeeeeee!)

Also, I love that song, and I loved your portrayal of the characters, especially Elizabeth. But it's all about the city for me. :)

Heh. I have the perfect icon for feedback on this vid. There really is no place like Atlantis.

[permetaform]

::HUGS::

this---eeeeee, wow. ::HUGS::

okay, bit by bit:

I'm a little wary of watching instrumental vids, because I always have a hard time finding a narrative thread to pull it together, but this one felt more like mood than narrative and it worked BEAUTIFULLY.

::nods:: I knew going in that it'll be difficult to catch some people 'cause instrumentals are hard to get a handle on. I'm really glad that it worked for you, then, especially because you mentioned that you usually have a hard time with them. I think you might be right about organization around mood, I think I'll go back and take a closer look at the vid to figure out what I actually did.


It was a love song both to and from the city of Atlantis.

::NODNODNOD:: yes! I just...the city itself ::waves arms:: I can't explain it, but that feeling about the city, that, is a major part of why I fell so hard for SGA. It's home and freedom and danger and lighted ceilings and darkened spaces and breathless air and dark water. It...::flails:: yeah.


this vid was like that feeling cranked up and relentless, the sheer WOW of the Lost City being found and loved and gloried in.

ohgod ::GLOMPS::


I had tears in my eyes for the second half and I don't even know why.

::hugs:: I...wow. Thank you, for letting me know such a compliment.


The city rising from the deep! (I adore the music shift just as the city is breaking the surface - like the instruments are breaking out into sunlight too.)

::nods:: that continues to be my absolute favorite bit of timing, it just...I still get shivers from those scenes, personally. And Letters From Pegasus, when Zelenka was talking, I just, I *cried* and I never cried like that at a tv show before...


The ashes!

::nodnodnod:: Before I Sleep made me choke up...just...her and the ashes...::shakes head:: ahh, SGA, how do you do this to me? ::tragic::

There *is* no place like Atlantis and I'm glad that you like the song, I've loved it ever since I'd heard it on Boondock Saints and was just SITTING on it forever...and then I'd discovered SGA and I'm like, "But it doesn't fit any character! ...wait. Wait...it fits the city." And then it just ate my brain until I'd vidded it. =) I'm glad that it seems to be so well recieved, 'cause I know that the source has been a bit overvidded and an instrumental is always more difficult. Thank you for letting me know how you felt about it, it energizes me and made me smile all evening.

[til-midnight.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was just beautiful! I'm very ambivalent about Elizabeth's character, but this vid really captured what I do like about her.

[permetaform]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked this vid, that it worked despite your reservations, so thank you for letting me know because that's an awesome compliment to me. =)

[shala.livejournal.com]

"The Blood of Cu Chulainn" is actually a song I listen to sometimes when I'm homesick; there's such a powerful pull in it, whispering about home and people who love you and just wanting to be there so much.

So it's entirely possible I may have cried a little bit just now. Because Atlantis is home, and Elizabeth really is such an integral part of it, and people forget that so often. (Including the writers on occasion. *eyeroll*) But in four minutes you've shown us this huge part of who Elizabeth is, deep down in the very bones of her. Maybe it will help people to remember how awesome she is.

[permetaform]

::hugs:: dude, I just...the first time I heard the song in Boondock Saints my breath just *caught*. I'd got into vidding later and I just still sat on the song 'cause nothing was...enough, I guess? I fell into SGA and wanted to vid it to something and I'd listened to the song again and it wasn't ::flails:: a character, y'know? But then I listened more and realized it was *Atlantis*. And then it was like, "oh, yes".


So it's entirely possible I may have cried a little bit just now

::boggles::

::hugs::

::is extremely complimented::


Because Atlantis is home, and Elizabeth really is such an integral part of it, and people forget that so often.

::nodnodNOD:: And it's just...I mean sometimes people get homesick but with Atlantis and Elizabeth I just know that they sometimes want *so* badly to be out there too, helping somehow. somehow. but they can't, because they're *Atlantis*...but if nothing else they have the arms to greet their protectors and their children and their people and they have a few tricks up their sleeves. I just regret that I couldn't show the ruthless side of Atlantis and Elizabeth in the vid, the song didn't support it at all, but I'll need to vid that in the future because I think they'll go there in the show, mother bear with her cubs endangered and all.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I wish I could, but this is too big for me to download, like, ever. *sigh*

[permetaform]

::wry grin:: server's down anyways...and it's one of those vids that I'm reluctant to release at lower quality...

[cheights.livejournal.com]

This is an absolutely gorgeous vid. It has such a rich, epic feel to it. I love the way you worked in the bits of Elizabeth from "Before I Sleep." Stunning work!

[permetaform]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com]

I am in love with this -- what beautiful, beautiful work you do. Thank you so much.

[permetaform]

thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[kimberlite.livejournal.com]

Wow -- this is truly gorgeous. Love this Elizabeth and her Atlantis and her people.

[permetaform]

thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

[meelie.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a great vid! Just, wow!

[permetaform]

thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

Pimping successful!

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

In addition to being a great vid on its own terms, this is a very good SGA Pimping vid. I've been trying and trying to get my kids to watch my shiny new SGA DVDs with me, but they'd been kind of meh. I showed them this vid and the Distant Future of Fandom (age almost 10) said, "Oh! It's so pretty! I'll watch it!" while my Future of Fandom (age 16) said, "Who's the dark-haired woman? Can I be her when I grow up?"

Mission accomplished. I have deeply mixed feelings about showing the actors vids, but if anyone shows any fan product to Torri H. it should be this one. This is Elizabeth as she should be: our hero.

I don't find the vid very Sheppard/Weir shippy, BTW: John is her right hand, but this vid conveys how much she treats him like her teenage son, not her lover.

Re: Pimping successful!

[permetaform]

Oh wow! Thank you for letting me know that the vid was a successful pimping vid! I always worry about my vids being accessible enough so I'm grateful that you told me.

And yeah, I find Weir and Sheppard to have a very mother-son dynamic. I'm glad that that was what you got from the vid too, 'cause at times I wonder if it's possible at all to vid a platonic relationship. I knew that some people might inevitably find the vid 'shippery for Shep/Weir, so your impressions of the vid made me feel awesome. Thank you!

[wistful-fever.livejournal.com]

I'm finally getting a chance to download this.

You have no idea how badly it's been taunting me.

[permetaform]

heh, sorry, server troubles. ::flaggelates self::

[wistful-fever.livejournal.com]

Holy shit.

I just watched it for the first time, and all I can think is...

epic

This was amazing. Your use of movement, and openess and Elizabeth as Atlantis, or vice versa, or wow. I was just struck by how right Elizabeth is to lead Atlantis. Struck by the beauty of this vid. I'd like to say more, but yes, struck.

[permetaform]

=D Thank you! I'm so very glad you liked it 'cause I'd admired your I-Man vid.

If you don't mind, and only if you have time, could you explain "epic"? Others have mentioned it but I was wondering as to it's specific use, is it because it covered a lot of episodes or is it because it's semi-ensemble while being a character study? Or is it because it has war and death as one of it's subject matters? Or is it 'cause I'd tried vidding Atlantis?

[wistful-fever.livejournal.com]

Okay, time for some proper feedback:

00:08->00:15 - I liked that you started the music here, with the lights turning on. It was just a nice touch, especially followed by the repeated opening of Elizabeth’s eye, and the wonder on her face as she sees Atlantis for the first time. And then all the others discovering it as well.

00:16 ->00:19 - The doors moving here to the music was like... argh, I can’t think of the name, but he’s always on television, tap-dancing with a line of other people, moving only his legs. Anyway, it was awesome, and one of the best clip choices I’ve seen in any video.

00:25 -> 00:29 - I like being able to follow the characters from one side of the screen to the other here, your attention to movement.

00:31 - Loved the bubbles in the water on that burst of sinister sounding music. Really moves the video from first wonder, to ‘Oh shit!’ I also liked that you continued on with the possible alternatives, the possibility of drowning for Rodney, the shots of the water coming in.

00:38 - I liked the constellations changing with the music, and then how the dart appeared right there where it had, and then those men vanishing into it at the start of the next note.
00:48 -> 1:19 - The shaking of the footage throughout was awesome, especially with the start of it being on that startling drum beat. And then another shot of Elizabeth’s eye, implying her watching over everything, setting it happen, and how Atlantis bursts gloriously from the water, what I meant by ‘epic’ before, just cutting right through there air, this whole block beautifully timed.

1:20 -> 1:35 - Elizabeth watching over everything, the close up of her blinking eye, and the way she sits up implying here going into that world fully, as she starts taking over, watching over her people. Her not quite sharing the moments so much as witnessing them. This really draws a connection between Elizabeth and Atlantis that I’d never made before.

1:42 -> 1:43 - I loved, *loved*, the burst of the entity through the halls and then the outward movement from a blindfolded Elizabeth. The city goes dark, its energy eaten, and she’s bound, unable to see. Beautiful.

1:44 -> 2:05 Where the previous shots of Atlantis, before the entity made everything go dark, had been of stillness and beauty, during the day, now they’re all at night, or on the cusp of night, adding another layer of meaning to that transition. I didn’t pick that one up on my first viewing, not until my third actually, because it’s so smoothly done. It also makes a lovely metaphor for the wraith emerging, and the fighting between them, the struggle.

2:05 -> 2:36 - I liked the shots of a blind Elizabeth fighting for her city cut between shots of more literal fighting, and then the following block of Elizabeth looking after her people, cut between the continuing struggle of other characters, putting her at a distance again, caring deeply, but unable to share too much because she has to lead. I think Elizabeth looking at her frozen self drives that block of narrative even, from start to end, like Elizabeth is separating from her emotional self out of necessity. And it’s all done with this wonderful movement that again makes me thing of... water dancing? Is that it? Argh. I’ll figure it out eventually.
[cont.]

[wistful-fever.livejournal.com]

[cont.]


2:49 - The wraith dart exploding here was excellently timed, and at 2:51 the grenade going off was also great timing. What I like best is that you use the drum beat for the explosion, where your internal motion of soft things, like the movement of lights on censor scenes or the galaxy changing colors, are done on softer beats.

2:57 – I like how the second ship appeared on the second drum beat here.

3:02 -> 3:35ish - Elizabeth covering up Atlantis, protecting her, but at the same time taking a risk, and as she’s doing that, spilling the ashes, and her people hurting, the self-destruct code being entered... just wonderful parallels being drawn here. And then the shield coming up, seemingly under the palm of her hand, and the city being protected, fought for... You know, I liked Elizabeth before this video, but she always left me vaguely dissatisfied, as if there was more to her character we weren’t allowed to see, but now I feel like I have seen it.

3:37 -> end - I like the slowing of the clips, the softer quality of them, calm after the storm, and the movement of Elizabeth hugging John on the beat as the city is again shielded and beautiful, like she’s putting her arms of protection around him. And that slow pull out from her, set in light as the previous clip of the towers had been set in light, all by herself in the city, with the slow transition to the city from far away, as if she IS the city.

This entire video was just stunning. And yes, definitely epic.

[heylittleriver.livejournal.com]

*gape*

That was... was... wow. I really don't know what to say - you've left me speechless. It's just so beautiful and *right* about Elizabeth and Atlantis and I just love it. I also feel absolutely spoiled because there's just so much clipping to match the beat - I absolutely love it because the movement feels so much more natural and comfortable (though that may just be the musician in me talking).

And the story itself! Elizabeth and Atlantis and just, just, eeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You have made an incredible, wonderful, stunning vid here that I think just topped my previous favourite. Thus, I must fangirl. *fangirls*

[permetaform]

=D thank you! I'm glad you like the vid and you thought it moved naturally! I usually try for an organic feeling to the movement, leading the eye as it were. =) It's good to hear that in context of you're being a musician because it's always good to get a second opinion on rhythm and beat because people hear it differently (or is watching the vid on different sound systems).

I'm glad you liked the story! Narrative is always a struggle for me and especially without lyrics this time, so I'm glad it worked for you!

And ::wry grin:: heh, whenever I hear someone say that I always want to do vid recs. (go check out astolat's work, she's *awesome*)