I finally got around to commenting on disc 3, nearly four months after the fact! It would be much fail except for the fact that I console myself with, that four months is still better than no feedback at all. :P
This was one of my absolute favourites at the con. I don't think I managed to find you and tell you as much and I'm sorry to have missed the chance to tell you in person. I just loved this vid SO much - the message, the execution, the delicious "fuck you" - and was so impressed with it. And when you revealed yourself to be the vidder it just felt like such an "of course" moment.
I'm not sure what I took away is down the path of what you intended, but reading your notes it seems like you would probably like to hear my interpretation whether or not it fits in with your view of the vid, so here goes.
From the start with the scientist looking at his creation onscreen, to the men sliding a knife down her thigh, to her lying hopeless on the operating table, the whole first half is such a succinct exploration of the male gaze. While there's not a lot of overt violence, there is a lot of blood and images that are reminiscent of domestic violence and other aspects of men in authority exercising their dominance.
Second half - Alice gets her shit together and brings the violence back to the men. To me, this is both a proud vengeful moemnt but also a sad one because she seems to have been driven to this; she does it because she has to, and even while we're watching this in a feminist interpretation we are still mindful of the original films' intention, which presents the female protagonist's violence primarily for the enjoyment of male viewers. Sure enough, we get the payoff at 2:40, where the man is *still* watching her onscreen.
I didn't get around to seeing the third instalment in the trilogy, so I'm not exactly sure of what happened plot-wise in the ending. The sentiment, however, was clear: she may have won the battle, but she hasn't won the war.
My favourite thing about this vid is that it runs through a narrative (weak woman becomes empowered) but then a meta-narrative on top of that (but men are also watching that progress and gleaning their enjoyment out of that) and, just. Wow. I love the sophistication of what is being said and, as usual, your editing is simply faultless. I find with respected vidders lately that I jump straight into commenting on their concepts with the expectation that they'll automatically understand that I think their editing is top, but of course that sort of thing should never be not-said just because you think it'll be mutually understood. Here's how it is: your concept hits exactly the sweet spot, and the execution is so good that it manages to carry off the concept perfectly, render the vid immensely musical and watchable, but never shove it in the viewer's face so far as to become the main focus point.
This is a brilliant vid, and definitely one of my top picks out of the entire con. Lots of love!
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-12-08 08:00 am (UTC)This was one of my absolute favourites at the con. I don't think I managed to find you and tell you as much and I'm sorry to have missed the chance to tell you in person. I just loved this vid SO much - the message, the execution, the delicious "fuck you" - and was so impressed with it. And when you revealed yourself to be the vidder it just felt like such an "of course" moment.
I'm not sure what I took away is down the path of what you intended, but reading your notes it seems like you would probably like to hear my interpretation whether or not it fits in with your view of the vid, so here goes.
From the start with the scientist looking at his creation onscreen, to the men sliding a knife down her thigh, to her lying hopeless on the operating table, the whole first half is such a succinct exploration of the male gaze. While there's not a lot of overt violence, there is a lot of blood and images that are reminiscent of domestic violence and other aspects of men in authority exercising their dominance.
Second half - Alice gets her shit together and brings the violence back to the men. To me, this is both a proud vengeful moemnt but also a sad one because she seems to have been driven to this; she does it because she has to, and even while we're watching this in a feminist interpretation we are still mindful of the original films' intention, which presents the female protagonist's violence primarily for the enjoyment of male viewers. Sure enough, we get the payoff at 2:40, where the man is *still* watching her onscreen.
I didn't get around to seeing the third instalment in the trilogy, so I'm not exactly sure of what happened plot-wise in the ending. The sentiment, however, was clear: she may have won the battle, but she hasn't won the war.
My favourite thing about this vid is that it runs through a narrative (weak woman becomes empowered) but then a meta-narrative on top of that (but men are also watching that progress and gleaning their enjoyment out of that) and, just. Wow. I love the sophistication of what is being said and, as usual, your editing is simply faultless. I find with respected vidders lately that I jump straight into commenting on their concepts with the expectation that they'll automatically understand that I think their editing is top, but of course that sort of thing should never be not-said just because you think it'll be mutually understood. Here's how it is: your concept hits exactly the sweet spot, and the execution is so good that it manages to carry off the concept perfectly, render the vid immensely musical and watchable, but never shove it in the viewer's face so far as to become the main focus point.
This is a brilliant vid, and definitely one of my top picks out of the entire con. Lots of love!