Festivids Reveals: "Collage" for bingeling

[joyo]

Title: Collage
Source: Homeland, S1
Song: Collage by James Gang
Warnings:  No standard warnings apply
Summary: Carrie and Saul pick up the pieces.

Streaming: (password: nurseryrhyme)

Download:
http://www.joyovids.com/media/video/collage_final_signed.avi (56.3MB)



Blue for the blue I feel when I'm feelin down on the ground
Feelin' down
That could be most any day
Green for the eyes, take look around
When the sun goes down and the sun goes down
In the strangest way
Red for the light, got to stop this thing
Find a song to sing that is everything
That I meant to say
Meant to say

Three for the mice that are blind like the world
Never see the good that is done, just the bad
It's too late to see
Two of us make it easier to read the signs
Memorize the lines
Will you play with me?
One for the road, I'll be on my way
Come another day, when the things we say
Find a way to be
Way to be

Autumn calls for a change of year, bringing winter near us
Green to brown and the sky's a sign
Wintertime is a razor blade that the devil made
It's the price we pay for the summertime
Spring days come, it's hard to know
Where the rain comes from, where the children go
It's a nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme

Well, here we are!  I first got this idea back in the summer, when I did crazy things like *go running* in the *out doors with air and sunshine*.  I got turned on to James Gang by my guitar-happy brother, and the song made my running/walking playllist.  By the time I got my assignment, the main structure of the vid was already clear in my head.  AND THANK GOD. Because this was far more ambitious than anything I've released to date.  I'm kind of surprised it exists, and that I do not hate it.  I am CHUFFED TO BITS that its recipient loved as much as they seem to.  That wall of text made my DAY.   It's just so grafitying to have put effort into details and have people say not only "I see what you did there" but also "AND IT WAS GREAT".

I have a complicated relationship with Homeland.  I feel like I got into S1 basically in spite of myself, for various lefty and hypercritical feelings about TERRORISM and media portrayals of...most of the things portrayed in Homeland?  I was blown away by the first season, but nonetheless was concerned for how in the hell they were gonna pull off future seasons without succumbing to a few pratfalls I saw in the wings.  Just...how do you keep that tension going indefinitely without absurdity?  I never was a fan of 24 :P

But Saul and Carrie, man.  Man...SAUL and CARRIE.  That relationship is my favorite thing about the show.  And my recipient asked for it!  It wasn't even last on the list of angles they resquested!  Obviously this was serendipity.

The other landmark for me is that I had to prove the concept.  absolutedestiny  was, at first, unconvinced. He couldn't really see how the idea was going to work.  I got some intrigue and supportive noises from fan_eunice , but was really intimidated by putting it together....but it was SO CLEAR IN MY HEAD.  And he was across an ocean at the time, so what did he know? Still, I needed to prove to myself the idea was tenable.  Maybe "COLLAGE IS A METAPHOR FOR A REAL COLLAGE AND ALSO RELATIONSHIPS AND ALSO DEPRESSION" wasn't actually gonna pan out.

I cobbled together a "proof of concept" draft.  It was just the basic framework of the idea: a few clips at the beginning, I think the "3 for the mice" segment went down at that point, a tiny bit of the collage sequence and then an early version of the ending.  I exported it 

Ian's reaction was actually, all-caps "OMG THIS IS AWESOME" which is basically the strongest reaction he has ever had to something I've shown him.  Also just a strong reaction for *him* about ANYTHING.  Seriously.  Dude is reserved.  fan_eunice  and renenet  were strong cheerleaders as well.

And so...here we are.  I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I'm pleased to have had to learn new things, like how to use crossfades effectively (and when to hold back).

Wheeee.