vid - Ding! Dong! - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

[kiki_miserychic]

vid title: Ding! Dong!
music: Sufjan Stevens
source: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
duration: 2:59
summary: Sarah Connor should be dead.
notes: Thanks to heyiya and cathexys, who are better betas than they think. Also, this is the most depressing Christmas vid ever.

download:
mediafire

One mother rises
Pulling the sheets from the crib
All the disguises
Wandering stars, what she did
All the king's horns
All the king's men
Saddled and worn
Raise the dead
Holy, an infant
He came to raise up the dead

Wandering wise men
What did you bring to his bed?
Shapeless surprises
Incense to bring to the dead
Nothing is wrong
It's what she did
All the king's horns
And the king's men
Nothing is wrong
It's what she did
All the king's horns
And the king's men

Nothing is wrong
It's what she did
All the king's horns
Raise the dead
Nothing is wrong
It's what she did
All the king's horns

Comments

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

How badly do I suck? I was JUST THIS MINUTE writing you an apologetically late email saying that I loved the new draft. *shame*

I guess you can have edited highlights of my additional comments as feedback instead. :)

I think the textured effect really strengthens the vid, there's something about the feeling of age it adds that brings the burial imagery and the sense of distance between Sarah and those close to her right into the medium of the vid.

You make fabulous use of the clips from 213. The episode was really just made for your vid, no? The spinning knife... *shivers*. And the timing at around 1:40, with all the heads turning, is absolutely stunning.

I love depressing Christmas vids. I love Sarah in this vid; I love how you take the distance that's developing between her and the people she is supposed to be closest to and protecting and show how central to her character it is and has always been. I love the looming danger of John and Cameron, in John's brooding resentment and Cameron's smiling violence. I love how close Sarah lives to death, how this vid is the answer to the question Eileen asked in 213 about whether she feels the fear any more. I feel privileged to have had however small a hand in it.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

You are too sweet. I'm a sucky vidder when it comes to betas. I was pretty much done and wanted to let you see how I changed it. *head desk*

In my earlier draft, the grave and death imagery wasn't hitting the right notes, so I added a tinytiny 3% color burn layer over the whole vid of the grave in the first clip. I hope it meshes better with the tone of the music.

As I said before, I'm positive that tptb gave me the last episode because they knew exactly what my vid needed. My eyes went huge during some scenes because I knew the perfect place to lay certain shots in.

I can't make a happy holiday vid. I tried last year and it didn't work either. There's always next year!

Sarah is such an amazingly layered and complex character. I still can't get over how the vid can be nearly summed up by the quote from Eileen in the trailer: “You’re a mother. You’re a seeker. You’re a soldier. You’re everything but you’re nothing.”

You and cathexys had a great hand in bringing the focus in more and helping me to be less opaque. Seriously, the 2:13 moment wouldn't have happened at all.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Dude, that's beautiful.

I'm missing some of the nuances because I'm about three or four episodes behind on TSCC (I plan to catch up over Christmas and definitely rewatch this vid when I am) but even so, you capture like...everything about Sarah's character so deftly and creepily.

It might be a Christmas song, but the messiah/mary parallels are so riddled through the show it actually just fits regardless of the time of year. And wow, this is an amazing song.

I think one of my favourite things about it is how it manages to blame Sarah for everything that's happened, while not blaming her at all? Is that even clear? "It's what she did." Which it is. All of this is because of what Sarah did. But nothing is wrong either because what else could she have done?

My personal response to it was also that I liked how John was kind of absent. I mean, he wasn't because everything Sarah does is about him. But he's the "infant" the future promise. He's going to come back and raise up the dead. But that's distant and abstract and he's not really real yet; he's just an idea Sarah has. That compels her into doing...what she did.

And I really need a TSCC icon...

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You'll enjoy the last few eps. I'm in love with how creepy Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album is.

So much of Sarah's world is influenced and dictated by her relationship with John, yet it was so easy to have John not in the vid unless I needed him.

And I really need a TSCC icon...
I need a good Sarah one.

[beerbad.livejournal.com]

Um, BEST HOLIDAY VID EVERRR. You win at life. \o/

Also, I really liked what you did with clip speed. :)

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks.

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I love this so much!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Goes well with your icon too.

[talitha78.livejournal.com]

First of all, Sufjan Stevens=automatic win.

Second: I think I just spoiled the hell out myself, but I can't bring myself to mind because that was terrific. Scary and brilliant and strong.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Sufjan Stevens is too awesome.

Thank you. Too bad it spoiled you though.

[bloodygoodgirl.livejournal.com]

Very haunting and discombobulating. I really like the effects and just the way everything comes together.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I was worried I couldn't bring everything together.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

what a great character study of sarah! i'm impressed to see clips from this week's ep in it already. food for thought until the show returns!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I had a first draft before last week's episode, so it was more a matter of knowing where they needed to go. I was amazed at how they fit so perfectly.

[counteragent.livejournal.com]

arg, can't wait to watch, but I want to catch up on SCC. Soon, soon!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

They're some great eps. :)

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

The right-wrongness of a Sarah Connor nativity story is brilliantly realized. Cameron the wise man. I love the way the movement first hesitates then pushes you forcibly from clip to clip. There’s something almost Brownian about it, which really captures the uncertainty of Sarah just at the tipping point. All the pieces on the board but the game not quite started. I love the ending intercutting seeker, mother, soldier. All that she is.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I always enjoy reading your comments, so thank you very much for your words. I love how you pick up on the little things I barely hinted at.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

No! It's wonderful! Ok, well, it may not be very uplifting but since I've spent the last couple of days (sick) rewatching Season 1 of SCC, this vid could not have been better timed for me. I was just thinking 'I wish there were more SCC vids...'

I find this vid very powerful at charting the uneasiness with which Sarah views Cameron but also her own self--and the reflections on self that Cameron triggers. I loved your use of the dream imagery (which I found kind of tedious on the show, I admit!) and thought the song was an inspired choice. The semi-religious tone encourages reflection on all the religious metaphors in the show, and the lyrics (like 'kings' men') remind us of John's future role.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

There needs to be way more T:TSCC vids out there. I think I can count all of them on two hands.

I have a major thing for dream sequences in shows and movies. Some of my favorite episodes are the dream ones, like Buffy's Restless. I think I'm drawn to the idea of mucking about in someone's brain.

Listening to the song, it bordered on perfect and absolutely wrong, so I'm glad it worked for you. I was really debating if it worked or not.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I usually love dream sequences very much. Adored Restless. It is odd that I did not like the T:TSCC one (or not that one in particular). I guess I just didn't get a lot out of it or I didn't get the point of it? Or I found it too empty or something. *frets at it*

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I read really far into Sarah dreams, like the penis cacti, the dresses made pre-industrial age before fabric was machine-made, Cameron nursing babyturtle!John, Sarah climbing down into the grave. I think what made me like it so much was the sheer weirdness of it and that it worked for my vid. It certainly isn't one of the best dream sequences, like the Smallville one of Lex in the sunflower field.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

My card! It has Lafayette!!! \o/
It is FAVOURITE.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Oh goodie. I'm glad you liked it. After I sent them off I had a split second thought of "oh, I hope she won't be offended that I called her hooker." So yay! I love Lafayette.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

HEE. Who could be offended by Lafayette? It's fab! \o/

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

YAY! I adore Lafayette. Probably the life of a Christmas party.

[projectcyborg.livejournal.com]

YOU VIDDED SARAH AS CHILD MOLESTER FTW!

wait, did I say that out loud?

it's just that you captured so viscerally the perverse family dynamics of a show about Sarah Connor as mother. SO MUCH WRONGNESS. the vid is mesmerizingly edited and also difficult to watch because it immerses you in Sarah's deranged fantasies. I love when she looks at herself! perfect perfect song and mythology for this.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

EHhehehe, I didn't mean the child molesting in a literal scene, but a creepy and messed up family. But it's open to interpretation. :)

Thanks. I'm very into Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album because it's more creepy than anything.

[serrico.livejournal.com]

Yay, SCC vid! But that's by no means the only reason I really, really like this--I love the perversion of the family unit here; the use of Sarah as mother *and* warrior/protector *and* soothsayer *and* pawn of fate *and* actor of destiny. You manage to hit every aspect of her character within such a short amount of time, and it ends up *awesome*. :)

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:) Thank you. I really wanted to bring together the different aspects of her character in the vid. I'm super happy that worked for you!

[ana-jo.livejournal.com]

This is a beutiful, beautiful video! *downloading*
Everything fits together perfectly. I love how you show so much of Sarah Connor and how you used the three dots and interpreted them.

So again, wonderful job. You're a true artist and i love your work!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I love being called a true artist. That's one of the nicest comments I've gotten on a vid.\

Sarah is an amazingily interesting and layered character. The three dots are part of the arc this season, but I wanted to use them in a more personal way for Sarah.

Once again, thank you.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I loved this.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[chaila.livejournal.com]

What a layered and complex picture of Sarah. I read this as a tableau of Sarah's nightmares and how she can't seem to stop them though she tries so hard. I can really feel her on the edge in this vid. The song and editing really builds the tension to all of it being too much and Sarah losing it a little. And then the ending is just beautiful, backing off and showing her in all the different roles she plays.

The intercutting of Sarah not going in and walking away from John's door with Cameron going into John's room was my favorite part. There's such a sense of foreboding about Cameron and John in this that I love. Okay I just love the whole thing. Gorgeous job, as always!

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks for the feedback.

I owe a lot of the tension to the music itself and the way Lena Headey holds herself when she's in character. There's so much in her face and body language.

The intercutting of them in the hallway felt like the perfect visual way to show how their relationships evolved.

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

Awesome. Grim and freaky and uncomfortable. Just like Sarah Connor. Thanks.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm glad the tone of the vid worked for you. :)

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

Just watched it again after reading thuviaptarth's commentary. I am impressed again by this vid, which sums up the bittersweet paradox of TSCC - that to win, by any measure of that word, Sarah has to lose the only thing she cares about, either to a terrible future or to adulthood. Brilliant. Thanks again for sharing.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Couldn't get the streamed version to work but downloaded it and it's actually the first SCC vid I've seen thinking about it and it wasn't a disappointment. :)

Love the pace of the editing, feels right for the song, and the interweaving of her nightmares and the nightmare reality of their mission. Great job. Also great to see focus on Sarah.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Imeem, the streaming site, stopped hosting videos. I'm in the slow process of reupping vids to another site.

Thanks for commenting. The song felt right for Sarah. She's such an interesting character on an amazing show.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, that was just gorgeously creepy. Oh, Sarah...

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thanks. ;)

[spankulert.livejournal.com]

I just found this, wanted to let you know I enjoyed it muchly. I can feel it tugging at my brain, but it's late and I can't seem to put it into words. But good stuff!

*memmed*

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love, adore, and miss Sarah Connor.

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

Very interesting vid. It's definitely tugging at my brain in terms of Sarah and her interactions with others. :)

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the comment. :)

[laura47.livejournal.com]

the mediafire link doesn't work anymore, is there a current download link?

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

Yep, yep.

mediafire (http://www.sendspace.com/file/qkx6x4)