[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

[permetaform]

oh wow, thank you! I'm just glad that it seems to be working for so many people despite the song choice!

[amalthia]

I loved this vid! the editing, the song, Elizabeth! what a great vid for her character. I loved the fast forward effect and I think you mirrored? some shots beautifully. I also loved the timing...um overall great vid! :)

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so beautiful! It's like a love song to Atlantis. I love Elizabeth's POV on everything. And I would really like to try and find a copy of the music somewhere.

[permetaform]

=D thank you! and thank you for the comment about the Rising footage, I knew going in that the footage was used a lot and I'd have to work to make it fresh again, so I'm glad that it's use in this vid worked well.

And yay for the Elizabeth love! ::highfives::

[luthien.livejournal.com]

This was really wonderful, exactly what I always want a songvid to be. You've got the images working seamlessly with the music, rising and falling and stopping and starting and changing mood together. But, really, while I admire the technique that went into creating it, it's the overall feel of it that I'm left with. This is a great character study and... situation study. I love the way you've presented Elizabeth in the context of her place and her people. Thanks.

[permetaform]

Oh, that was marvelous. I'm always impressed when people can tell stories without lyrics, and yet you do.

Thank you, I'm glad that it worked so well for you! I knew going into this is that the music would throw people off because it's instrumental and because it goes so ear-breakingly high-pitched at certain points, but people seem to like it. Would you like me to yousendit the music file?


Elizabeth and her strengths and her choices--her trust in and her care for her people. And yes, the way she should be, the way they keep telling us she is (even if they're not that good at showing it to us).

::nods:: yes. ::glomps::

[permetaform]

::highfives the Elizabeth love:: =D


I think you mirrored? some shots beautifully.

::ponders:: are you talking about that last sequence with Elizabeth welcoming John home mirrored with Atlantis welcoming John from The Rising?


Thank you! I'm glad you liked the vid! ::hugs::

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely! I adore the music (though I don't remember where I first heard it), and I really like what you've done with the editing and timing. Beautiful.

[permetaform]

=D thank you! And yeah ::wry grin:: it sorta *is* like my sappy love letter to Atlantis. I was worried initially that the music might be a turn-off for some people 'cause it's an instrumental, but the commenters seemed to like it.

I've uploaded the song on yousendit:
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=07OAS9X0WBMN924WU8KX90TDX8

It's one of those that I'd heard and loved even before I'd started vidding and was just *sitting* on forever. I'm glad I'd saved it for SGA. =)

[kalikahuntress.livejournal.com]

The best Elizabeth video ever, thanks so much for this:)

[cofax7]

Actually, I'd love a copy--I adore high-energy Celtic stuff, so this is right up my alley.

Thanks again for the lovely vid!

[permetaform]

=D ::highfives the Elizabeth love:: Thank *you*.

[cofax7]

Woops, I got it from your YSI link below, so thanks!

[permetaform]

thank you! The editing for this was just ::flails:: I can't describe it, it just went so abnormally smoothly. It sorta fell together...

Perhaps you heard the song from the movie Boondock Saints? That's when I first heard it, and then I ran to a computer to find and download it. I've been sitting on the song for a looooong time, and am so glad I'd waited until SGA to vid it.

[permetaform]

wow, you're fast! I was about to copy-paste it, but I'm glad that you found it

[permetaform]

it's the overall feel of it that I'm left with. This is a great character study and... situation study. I love the way you've presented Elizabeth in the context of her place and her people.

Thank *you* for leaving such lovely feedback! I'm glad that it connected with you emotionally.

[kalikahuntress.livejournal.com]

Hee, I also wanted to say that I've been rewatching eps like Conversion and Aurora that earned her some criticism and I was just amazed at how professional yet caring she came across, just like how she is in your video. Once again thanks for this:)

[jenlp.livejournal.com]

Here via astolat's rec:

That was just gorgeous - the music and the clips were so beautifully woven together. I have to use the word flow again, same as everyone else, because it really does flow beautifully. There's just so much there - the wonder of discovery with its attendant danger, triumph, loss, (more danger!), their developing interconnectedness with each other and with the city. And the city is a character! I love it when that shines through. Elizabeth firmly at the center of it all, with Atlantis, as everything whirls around (events of the show, and the movement/music of the vid) - perfect.

It's so rich, that I feel like I shouldn't even start to pick out specific moments, but... the part with John coming home as Elizabeth comes down the stairs, and then the cut to John in the same place, looking around for the first time, and then back to Elizabeth with the "welcome home" hug - is lovely (and transcends any shippiness) - Atlantis from strange new place... to home. And then the second to last shot of Other Elizabeth as she's looking around after shutting down the city so that she can try to save them all and allow for everything that we just saw to play out. Yeah. That was fabulous.

OK, I should stop babbling now. Loved it. Thanks for sharing!

[amalthia]

some of the shots looked like they were flipped around (like looking into a mirror)...I'll have to go through the vid again but I know the effect in WMM is called mirroring. I could be wrong some of the shots went by quickly. I think other programs can create the same effect but it's called something else.

but um btw I really loved how you did that shot with Elizabeth welcoming John back and him coming through in the Rising.

[themonkeycabal.livejournal.com]

pointed here by cofax7

This is a really, really fantastic vid. The editing was so well done. And the music? Perfect. Well told, truly.

[sage]

Fantastic. *watches again*

I don't think I can add anything to what they've already said--it just works SO well! I love how you show her as the hub of the operation. Everyone else can fly off the handle, but she maintains a level of quiet steadiness in the face of it all. I think you've captured everything I respect most about her, and that's what I would love for the show to do better. :D

[tigs.livejournal.com]

I think I've watched this three (or is it four) times now, and I totally love it. I don't normally have totally strong feelings towards Elizabeth, but this--I think someone above said it, how you showed all of the best of her here, and you did. It's so totally an Elizabeth I want to see more of, more moments like these. Absolutely wonderful.

And this song, omg. I am so totally in love with it. I have a feeling it's going to be on repeat for a few days. :)

[jenlp.livejournal.com]

Er, not that I think shippiness is bad; just that that particular moment, in this vid, came across to me as much more than a simple J/E moment. If that makes sense. Did I say I was done babbling? I really am this time.

[astolat]

I also (have been rewatching this over and over all evening) really love the ashes sequence, and the lovely echo of having Rodney pull away the sheets from the control panels that Elizabeth later spreads over them. The piece with the city under attack starting at 1:36 is another favorite, that zoom in to her blindfolded is just perfect.

[ship-recs.livejournal.com]

This is gorgeous. I love it.