New Vid!! Battlestar Galactica!

[sisabet]

I finished another vid! Massive thanks and kudos to renenet for the machine gun beta performed well into the wee hours.

Fandom: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Song: When I Paint My Masterpiece
Artist: Emmylou Harris
Starbuck, character study
Format: WMV, 20mbs
Oh, the streets of Rome are filled with rubble

WMV version - 19 mbs here


All thoughts, criticisms, recipes, whatever - it is welcome. Feel free to link to this page (not to the vid) on LJ, webpages, and communities/mailing lists.

A rough outline done in the hours before I started laying clips and was itching to vid, but stuck at work, can be found here . At that time I said I was not up for discussing the vid, just process. Now, now that I have done all that I can do, I am up for discussing the vid. Whew.

ETA: 1-11-10 the vid is now available (wmv only, sorry) for download again.

Comments

[cosmic.livejournal.com]

Yay for BSG vid! In the very first seconds, especially because of your song choice (which fit perfectly, I later realized), I felt completely dioriented. For a few seconds, it felt like Firefly. Then it was Starbuck, Starbuck, Starbuck, and perfectly so, and this vid shows and highlights just about everything I - and you and everybody else, I imagine - love about her. Lovely work!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm glad the song worked out for you. It didn't so much scream BSG at me as it did Starbuck.

[f1renze.livejournal.com]

Whee Starbuck!

As usual, you make me feel like I know the character more than I do. I can't wait to watch more of the show.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Watch!! Finish the mini and the first ep and tonight I'll send the Atlantis pilot and you will be all set for Friday Night Geek-A-Thon!

[par-avion.livejournal.com]

Argh! I'm at work with no sound.

::sad::

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

You need sound!

::bides time::

[permetaform]

awwwwwwwwwww! dude, I don't know the fandom but I feel like I know HER now. good stuff!!!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Great! You should watch the fandom cause there is space stuff and people stuff and things blow up a lot. All really good stuff there.

And there are robots who use sex to proselytize because they are whacked out religious robots.

[astolat]

Dude, this is awesome. Starbuck! Starbuck! Starbuck! Eee! Also, goddamnit, I have to finish catching up with the show, argh. I love the bounce effect of those zoom in and out clips, the short sharp cuts, and just how you capture the sort of loose easy way her whole body moves, throughout, from her body to her smile. Yay!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you!!

just how you capture the sort of loose easy way her whole body moves, throughout, from her body to her smile

I watched "Zebra" the other night and I was thinking almost the exact same thing.

[absolutedestiny.livejournal.com]

Adorable.

Also, a very very excellent use of the cheesy zooms that the show has everywhere (totally ripped from Firefly but hey).

Also also, some great honorary-daddy/daughter moments in this vid. Of all the loving connections that's certainly the strongest right there.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

DADDY! Um, sorry - but I just love their relationship, even the messy bits of their relationship. The Adamas don't just have issues -- they have periodicals. They have piles and piles of microfiche!

::loves::

Also, a very very excellent use of the cheesy zooms that the show has everywhere (totally ripped from Firefly but hey).

I think Firefly lifted some of the jump cut techniques from Homicide: Life on the Streets and also... COPS (and whoa, just made that connection) but I do like the immediacy the nausea-cam gives us (although they totally go overboard on the zooms - not that I am complaining cause that worked in my favor here, just observin'). I have a weakness for cheesy zooms and special effects (::pats Smallville fondly::)

[myriad69.livejournal.com]

So let's say some n00b wanted to try her hand at vidding... and let's say her only experience was a semester of TV production almost ten years ago. Where should said n00b go to a) find an easy yet effective vidding program and b) a fabulous tutorial?

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, there is no such thing as an easy yet effective vidding program *although* most of the nonlinearediting programs are not as challenging as they first appear to be. There is a steep initial learning curve, but that is because they don't work on an intuitive level.

Windows Movie Maker and iMovie *do* work on an intuitive level although my opinion about WMM is that it is a piece of trash. iMovie is stable, but not ideal for making a music video where timing is everything. iMovie is linear (as WMM) which means any change in one clip will affect the place on the timeline of all the clips).

I would suggest, for a PC, Adobe Premiere as the editing software and VirtualDub for clipping/capturing. For a Mac - Final Cut Pro is where all the bells and whistles are, but I have seen some really great vids made with iMovie (although I would think the timing thing would be frustrating) and Final Cut Express.

But for a PC - Premiere is pretty much the way to go. The dude commenting above you, absolut3destiny, has written several wonderful guides over at the AMV re: getting set up to make a music video. He's taught me more about Premiere than I thought possible for my brain to contain, so I know his write-ups are easy to follow. permetaform has also compiled, in her memories, and incredibly extensive collection of links re: getting started to various vidding meta discussions.

[just-eunice.livejournal.com]

STARBUCK! YOU! I love you. I love Starbuck. I have no further coherent thoughts.

[piper47.livejournal.com]

I don't know if the video was supposed to cute... but it was. Probably because I didn't really know what was going on and because the song is really well... it's really cute. So it just made the whole thing kinda cute and I have no idea is that is what you were going for or not.

The show looks interesting though. And the video was really good. As always I love the motion you use in your work... which was definitely in play here because of all the spaceships flying and things like that.

I'll have to watch it a few more times... but I its really good and now I see why you've been so busy lately... this video was worth all the time and energy.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

This vid came together in less than a week. I have no idea how *that* happened. I think I made it faster than the Chloe vid.

Thank you so much for watching and trying to understand what has to be a buncha gibberish ("And then she cries and stuff happens! and then they are in space! With More Stuff!") and I really appreciate the effort and support.

::hugs::

[kathyh]

Followed elz's link here and just wanted to say that was a fascinating look at Starbuck in all her many facets. I can't comment on the technical aspects of the vid, but the character really shone through.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

Thanks to MissM (and Kes) I am finally getting on track with watching BSG, and my mouse cursor was hovering over the little red X on WMP the whole time I was watching this, just waiting to save me from too much spoilage.

Of course I couldn't do it. Spoilage be damned, I wasn't waiting *days* to watch this. :) Your posting of that outline had me all excited, and it was neat to keep that mind while watching the final vid. Which I really liked. I liked how the energy of the whole was so good at uniting all of the different aspects of her character.

And I loved the way you played with the movement and the zooms. As usual. :)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

ACK!!! SPOILERS!

You are too sweet and I can't wait until you see this show and get all roped in with the chains of Miss M. You will have so much fun!

Psst - but be careful not to disturb Kes before noon. She can be awfully cranky.

[gobi-rex.livejournal.com]

Whoa!
Other people already mentioned the zooms and the fluid movement and I second that. I also appreciate that you didn't go literal, and good vidding rarely does. The song choice did bring to mind Firefly, at first, but the more I watch, the more I think it fits the character. Plus, it's Starbuck is all but conventional, so why should she have typical music.

And thank you for sharing your vid outline, I love to read this behind-the-scenes stuff.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. Yeah - I know the song is a bit of a stretch at first but I haven't felt this way about a character and a song since "Cowboy" (which makes sense, since they have a similar structure) so I just went for it. She was my last best hope to vid this song and the more I put it off, the better it felt.

[elz.livejournal.com]

I think your Inner Starbuck is a little more Country than mine. :) I enjoyed that, though, looking at the character from a different perspective. I loved the way you traced her relationships, and the sweet little moments with her 'family'. And it does come across as very loose and hopeful even with all of the torture and genocide. *g*

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

See - can't you picture her with a pickup truck and a dog? She'd rock!

Seriously, for the longest time I didn't even notice Emmylou's accent in this song cause I am all "What accent? She sounds normal." but I am such a hick.

Thank you for the lovely feedback.

Re: Neat!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[deaver.livejournal.com]

I'm normally not a huge fan of vids, but this was very good. Excellent view of Starbuck and all of her adventures.

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

What they said. And? You used the waggling! Yay!

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

How could I *not* use the waggling?! YAY!

[rydra_wong]

I am way too much of a newbie to comment in an intelligent way, and can only say "wow" and "yay".

But I implore you to do the masterclass thing and talk about how you got from the outline you posted to this, 'cause I'd be totally fascinated to see how the whole process worked out.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Rydra! *waves at fellow Scaper*

You're here, too? Hee. Small world, ay.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Just wanted to say, normally, I dislike country music. There are exceptions to everything, though, so I took a chance and DLed this vid. While I don't like the song *grin* I very much like the vid. I'm a sucker for a good story, what can I say? And the song'll grow on me. ;)

Thanks for sharing this.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

See, this isn't *just* country music, and it certainly isn't country pop.

This is a Bob Dylan song - a song I really liked - but when Emmylou Harris (a truly angelic voice regardless of genre) covered this song it went from being one of my preferred Dylan songs to being intensely personal and my favorite Dylan cover of all time (which is saying A LOT).

I see Starbuck in this - from the theme of searching for inspiration in the ruins of the past, striving for some nebulous goal - to the lilt in Emmylou's voice and the mischevious spin she puts in her voicing the lyrics. She is having fun here and she isn't trying to act as if she isn't.

That and I am a sucker for a good steel guitar.

[snowshoegirl.livejournal.com]

I've only seen Ep.1 and 4 (? - the backstory about the boyfriend/Adama's other son) but Starbuck's character -- someone trying to enjoy the present while not forgetting the past -- comes through for me in this vid.

Really enjoyed the imagery/clip choices - the lyrics of the streets of rubble over the scene of the coffins and "he promised he'd be there with me" over the funeral especially.

And from the Looks-Simple-But-I'm-Sure-It's-Not technical category: loved the sequence where she winks and it goes into blackout in time with the music. Those little moments are some of my favorites in vids.

I'm looking forward to the miniseries arriving from Netflix even more now!

RE: my imagery comment

[snowshoegirl.livejournal.com]

Thought I should add: because it shows that everything isn't just fun and games for Starbuck. She's had to deal with some heavy issues.

[smashsc.livejournal.com]

Emmylou! Starbuck! I don't know you but I think I love you for this vid. Seriously. I'll try to come back later and leave actual commentary but right now my favorite thing about the vid is that everything happens in the vid and then in the end you use that clip of Starbuck in her bunk, which is the moment I really feel for the character. But since it is at the end of the vid it is like the beginning is now informed with everything and it means more. And this is totally why I have a hard time feedbacking vid because I probably just made no sense but I wanted you to know I love the vid, alot.
Thank you.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Emmylou is GOD.

Thank you so much for your feedback - I knew the moment I saw that scene (in the mini) of Starbuck in her bunk that I would vid it. I knew the moment that I decided to vid this song to her that I would end the vid on that scene. It is a very evocative moment for her.

Masterpiece is right.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I hardly know where to begin. I'm in awe. I can't remember the last time I felt quite this emotion while watching a vid: I am pure YEE-HAW!

What you do with movement here, using all the gorgeous stuff the cinematographers are giving us plus your own internal ballet, is a lesson to vidders everywhere. It's everything a vid *should* be, visually, and my heart is still beating really fast.

And then you make such a perfect portrait of Starbuck, showing all the different facets. Relationships are there, and important, but it's not a shippy vid (unlike, seemingly, every other Starbuck vid out there). It's a passionate exploration of Starbuck and all of her wonderful colors, the fabulous and the flaws.

I worship you right now. I'm not terribly coherent, either.

Re: Masterpiece is right.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Yay! You saw and liked! I am so pleased.

::glows::

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's taken me so long to catch up, but I finally got a chance to watch and I just really liked this. It's interesting to see how many people qualified their comments -- don't like country, don't like this, don't usually watch vids, etc. I find that kind of distancing sort of amusing, but it seems as if you've managed to overcome a lot of that qualifying, so I think that counts as a definite success.

I loved the way you had the almost forced jauntiness of the song, which sounds very positive and happy in that Emmylou way yet is hiding a kind of wistful sadness at what's yet to come and the regrets of the past, backed up with that almost forced jauntiness that's so often evident in Starbuck.

When I first started watching the show, I was really not buying her at all -- it was too forced, too manufactured: oh, look, the tough chick who smokes cigars, blah blah. it felt comicy and like such a *boy* wrote her -- this is a cool chick to a teenage boy sort of thing. But they really won me over midway through the season, about the time she admitted to Cmdr. Adama about her son and her role in his death. Then I could finally see the real person, not the teenage boy sketch of a cool chick.

For me, what you did here was to capture that real person again -- you've hit the core of what makes her that cool chick, but also that haunted one, and that one who is struggling with her own demons and masks them with bravado and arrogance. That's what really makes this vid shine. Thank you!

[voleuse.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. This is a gorgeous vid, and you always seem to find the perfect song for a character. Yay, Starbuck! Thanks for sharing this, and for introducing me to yet another wonderful song.

[tallisen.livejournal.com]

This is great! The first BSG vid I've watched and one of my favourite characters too! Someone recced me to this, and I'm really glad they did. Also, you hit on one of my guilty pleasures - country music. *happy sigh* I'll be watching this over and over now! :)

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked it.

[nitebird.livejournal.com]

Kewl! vid! Loved it! I was not familar with the song, but as I was watching, it screamed Starbuck at me! I was one of those people who was originally pissed they Starbuck a woman, but Katee Sackhoff made me change my mind. Starbuck rocks.

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Yay! I am glad you liked the vid. Starbuck rules me.