Vividcon challenge vid (Children of Men)

[hazelk]

Title: Quantum theory

Artist: Jarvis Cocker

Fandom: Children of Men

Format: DivX

Size: 49.3 MB

Summary: “Just as in a stormy sea that unbounded in all directions, raises and drops mountainous waves, howling, a sailor sits in a boat and trusts in his frail bark.”

Download from shiny new website here

Feedback gives me hope


Last night I slipped through time to a parallel dimension
You were alive and happy
Our children played in trees
were strong and wise
and knew no fear
We watched them play together

Somewhere everyone is happy
Somewhere fish do not have bones
Somewhere gravity cannot reach us any more
Somewhere you are not alone

This morning, when I awoke
God was dead but I lived on
I cannot move
but I am free
I found the source of gravity

Somewhere everyone is happy
Somewhere fish do not have bones
Somewhere gravity cannot reach us any more
Somewhere you are not alone

Somewhere in a parallel dimension
Happening now but not within your sight
The force that binds the universe together
Everything is gonna be alright

Everything is gonna be alright




This one came about by a rather tortuous route. It began with downloading the Jarvis album and falling instantly in love with Quantum Theory, the final track. Around the same time I also happened to be re-reading Phillip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darklyand finding it hitting the same post-apocalyptic kink (it runs deep, I think it all began when I was six years old with The Death of Robin Hood). Dick is a visual enough writer that I began viding the book in my head and planning to acquire the Linklater adaptation in the vain hope that it might look the same (I hadn’t watched the film). Then when the dvd came out it was on special offer with Children of Men, which I’d also read good reviews of, so I ordered that as well. A Scanner Darkly-the movie sadly didn’t work out, it was at once too close to the book and too different from my brain vid, too brown. But I was blown away by Children of Men (I still am) and it had exactly that “hope amidst the ruins” quality that had hit me about the song in the first place. So the solution was obvious really.

It took long enough to put this vid together that at some point I realized it might be finished around the time of the Vividcon deadline. I thought about putting in for the premieres show but changed my mind when I realized that the challenge theme was “Faith.” It's an atheist’s vision of faith, ephemeral and probably illusory - the one thing I knew starting out was that the song had to end on the doubting reprise of the climatic “Everything is gonna be all right” and the vid had to end with the rescue ship and signal fading away leaving nothing but a small boat alone in choppy seas. For the rest it follows the movie, I hope not too literally, but I wanted to celebrate it not re-write it.

ETA: The online version has a slightly different beginning to the con vid. I’d reworked that part so much it needed time away to see what wasn’t right and by that time the deadline was past.

Comments

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

You know, when i finally saw who had done this vid on the list of vidders, I said out loud (as loud as i could havng lost my voice), "I should totally have known!"

Because it was everything I think of with your vids -- an original, deeply thinky way of looking at something, beautiful to look at. When it played, I was just "whoa" throughout. This was one of those vids that made me wonder why I even try, it was so good.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

You made a Children of Men vid!!!! *flails* I cannot download it yet as I'm at work but I can't WAIT. I love that movie. :) And I was making a Children of Men vid before my vidding program crashed, but now I don't need to because YOU HAVE! *more flailz* And it's to Jarvis! *boggles a the awesome*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh, oh, and it is so wondrous indeed! *marvels* I love it. It's exquisite. The movie's aesthetic is incredible, isn't it? I hope you had fun working with--I loved the cross-cuts and fades you did and the work at the start with the boat. It looks gorgeous! That 'hope amid the ruins' thing is something that totally pings with me too, and an atheist's vision of faith is the kind of faith I can relate to. ;-)

I even have an appropriate icon! *squees*

Aha! That was you!

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I should have guessed -- it definitely looks like your work, but my brain was completely fried by then.

This vid is wonderful. I haven't seen the film, but I was able to follow what was going on and to be moved by the imagery. Lovely work as always.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this.

[yasaman.livejournal.com]

This was lovely. I especially liked the closing and opening frames. Overall, I think it really reflected the fragile hope and faith of the movie, even with all of the violence.

[jarrow.livejournal.com]

Absolutely beautiful job! I really enjoyed this at VVC.

[przed.livejournal.com]

This is a marvelous vid. The pairing of a Jarvis Cocker song with this movie is perfect and I think the way you've underplayed certain scenes (like Michael Caine's demise) makes it all the more powerful. Lovely stuff.

[killabeez.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm so glad I found the link to this! I can't express how blown away I was by this vid. It made me cry, and was one of the most powerful and affecting vids of the con for me. The moments of joy that you captured just broke my heart over and over, and I love everything about this, from the song choice to the inevitable, beautiful unfolding of hope and despair. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Somewhere fish do not have bones

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

The quiet, somber beginning really works to create a lulling sort of feeling. The images are harsh, but the music and the editing style project a sort of calm. Your editing also builds as the song gets stronger. The clips have more weight to them as it goes on.

[keewick.livejournal.com]

This was one of my very favorites from the whole con. Gorgeous, simply gorgeous.

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

Hi! I downloaded this ages ago, watched it for the first time yesterday. It took me ages to find your LJ again to leave feedback -- you didn't put your name in the titles! Thankfully I remembered, so I can tell you how much I adore it.

Purely in terms of visuals Children of Men is one of my favourite films. It just seems crying out to be pulled closer, cut into pieces, reassembled -- you really distill its essence. I especially loved the way you used the school footage to set it up, and the emotional punch of the scenes with theo and Julian. But all of it, really -- the song and your editing capture the film's mood perfectly.

Also, the titles are beautiful.