Vid: Quantum Theory [Once Upon A Time]

[beccatoria]

Man I have not made a vid in ages - like over two months. I'm vidding so slowly lately, it's annoying. However:

Title: Quantum Theory
Video: Once Upon A Time // ABC
Audio: The Quantum World! // Symphony of Science
Summary: The irreconcilable differences between two worlds have not yet been explained in physics, either. [Ensemble vid]
Notes: With thanks to cyborganize and metatxt for the wonderfully helpful beta.

Direct download available here. 68 megs approx. RightClickSaveAs.

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Cross-posted to vidding and abc_onceupon

Other vids available here.

Comments

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's stunning! Just when I think I'm running low on caring about this show, you make a vid of everything I want it to be. What an interesting song choice and I love the meaning you gave to the words, and perfect visual parallels of course. <3

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Aww, yay, thank you! This show is just so gorgeous and so...potentially beautiful on a narrative level (even if I don't think it's quite there yet), that I couldn't resist vidding it when I found the song. I'm so glad people are responding well to it because I was worried only I would see the perfection of it!

[castalianspring.livejournal.com]

Loved this! I adore the Symphony of Science anyway, so seeing this song paired with such a great source is just wonderful. I love how you examine the connection between the two worlds here. Your continuing theme of the "four forces of nature" is terrific.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Symphony of Science are pure uplifting awesome - I'm glad you enjoyed the mix of source and song. The "four forces of nature" was the first strong visual idea I had for the vid that made me think I could actually finish it and it wasn't a pipedream due to the unusual song choice!

[chaila.livejournal.com]

I have almost no idea what's going on--though the visual connections between the two worlds, and the storybook are really effective, as is the "four forces of nature" refrain--but you make this show look gorgeous and thinky and layered, and it makes me wish I knew what was going on in the clips so I could decipher it on a molecular level. <3

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

What's going on is SCIENCE. FAIRYTALE SCIENCE. ;) I'm really happy it comes across as layered; I really do think that this show has a lot going on under the surface, but I also think that it sometimes shies away from that to concentrate on the more disneyfied surface layer. I think...I guess we'll see, but it was fun to indulge and play around on the molecular level for a while.

I'm thrilled you think it works even though you don't know the source so well. I was actually going to try and kidnap you for a last minute playthrough before I posted it because you are a vidding security blanket, but then I got all, no, it must be posted NOW PRECIOUS so you were spared. :p

[blue-lantern.livejournal.com]

That was absolutely fantastic to watch! A beautiful use of the song, and editing was amazing, definitely the best OUAT vid I've seen so far! I like the contrast between the two worlds, the use of action scenes, and the bits in the video where the clip plays and then slides backwards. And, really, just a perfect marriage of song and subject matter!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so happy you liked it, and wow, what praise! You flatter me, sir. :p

I'm really glad that the song is working for people since it's a little unusual - I was worried that would be offputting to people but it seems like the opposite is true.

Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you enjoyed it.

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

This vid is very Becca! Why do I say that? Because you pick such unusual songs to go with your visuals! Like Jesus Walks and Laura. I really love the focus on Emma and Henry here because they are at the heart of the show for me.

Regina in the mirror! Tiny baby Emma! Candy houses! Wow, the cuts are so fast I'm dizzy! But in a good way. :-)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Hee! I'm glad I have a recognisable style. ;) I have to admit, I was a little nervous the song choice would throw people, but also kind of glad to be back doing something a little offbeat. It feels like it's been a while since I picked a left-field song, so it was nice to get back to that.

Emma and Henry are one of my favourite things about the show too. I think the fact that they don't have fairytale doubles adds to the sense that the show revolves around them (but then I suddenly think of Peter on Fringe and feel daft, because we ALL know how I feel about him! :p)

Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it. <3

[meddow.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, this is wonderful! The visuals are stunning. I love the repeating of the 'four forces of nature', and I absolutely love that you've used a song about science for a show that runs on magic, there's on the one hand a delightful mismatch, but at the same time, it's just utterly perfect for the show.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really happy that the song is a hit with people. I had the exact same reaction - it was so unusual but so perfect at the same time I had to do it. The "four forces of nature" was one of the early sections to come together in my head, so again it's nice to hear that played strongly.

Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you liked it.

[mithborien.livejournal.com]

Everyone else has pretty much said what I am thinking but I absolutely love the parallels you have drawn between the two worlds. And how fantastically you have used such a different choice.

*downloads*

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! Very glad it's worth a download and thanks for letting me know you liked it! :D

[kerithwyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is just super cool. Great song and fabulous choice of visuals.

(Although sort of shocked you didn't use the song for a Fringe vid. Too on the nose? *g*)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's awesome to hear you liked it and thanks for taking the time to let me know!

I did briefly consider it for Fringe but it was too perfect for Once Upon A Time. I think it's partly that it'd be too on the nose, but also there's something specifically fascinating about the way quantum physics describes a world that exists at the same time as the newtonian physics of the rest of the world, like they coexist and influence each other and yet seem to run on fundamentally different rules. Like science vs magic. And the way it's a binary system whereas Fringe is only binary by virtue of choosing to tell a story about two worlds? But now I'm babbling about the song choice and OUAT's worldbuilding when you asked me about Fringe!

My apologies, but also thanks for the jumping off point, it was interesting to articulate specifically why I thought it such a great metaphor for OUAT.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

This was really awesome. What a great and unusual song choice, but you used it beautifully. I love the repetitions on 'four forces of nature' especially.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very happy that the song is being well-received as I was worried that it would be too odd or that I was shooting for something too high concept to be clear or enjoyable. It's so fantastic to hear everyone responding well.

Thanks so much for taking the time out to let me know you enjoyed it!

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

How awesome is this!!! I admit I've sort of been neglecting the show lately because it was teetering on that brink between really cool and a little bit frustrating, and I felt it was going more in the frustrating direction. Not that I've given it up, necessarily, but I've not quite cared enough to watch for the past few weeks. But this vid! This is what I wanted the show to be--what it totally has the potential to be, if it will let itself: something deeply concerned with the nature of storytelling, with agency and choice, with what it means for these characters to be living the lives they're living. I love the way you've pulled out those threads and that potential and put it front and center here: very nice! (Also, yay for a Becka vid!!!)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad you like it. I honestly kind of agree with you about the direction. I'm sort of fine with it as long as it doesn't get actively icky (which a few times it's bordered on but I'm basically still happy) because I adore modern fairytales and modern myth - they're just...I don't want to say a bulletproof kink because when they're done terribly I do get pissed because I like the idea so much, but...what I mean is I like this show more because of what it is not how well it does it.

I'm glad, at least, I could display some of that in the vid. I think that I probably see more of that than others in the actual show, but I'm aware I'm taking a gentle approach with it critically.

Yay for vids! Can't believe that this is the first vid I've released this year - that's nuts!

[lady-with-cats.livejournal.com]

This was beautiful. :)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[grimorie.livejournal.com]

You did a OUAT vid!

I see all the things you've put together and those are the things I want the show to focus on so bad but the show seems so afraid to go with especially with their 'good' characters. I love how the fairy tale world and the 'real' world paralleled and played off each other. It's really really fantastic!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I did! YAY!

Yeah, it was really nice to put all this stuff together the way I want it to be on my tv screen, though it did make me a little sad to reflect on the ways the show isn't quite reaching its potential. That said, and I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, I tend to be less harsh on this show for its failures just because it's in a genre that I adore and very rarely gets live-action play (the last thing in this vein I recall was The Tenth Kingdom, though I think the Snow White and the Huntsman movie looks interesting).

Anyway, now I'm babbling, but the point is, I'm really thrilled you liked it and that I managed to convey the connections between the worlds. ♥

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

I really, really liked this. I mainlined OUAT recently, and this was really fun to watch and a brilliant song choice.

I especially liked the way Emma and Henry were sort of the anchoring characters at the start; I like that it's an ensemble vid but it's also a really great showcase for Emma, whom I'm growing very fond of.

I did occasionally wish the cuts weren't all quite so fast; there were a few moments where I felt the source could have been held for a moment longer because it was a powerful image in its own right. (It's also a joy to watch a vid for a show one likes that hasn't been vidded that much, I have to say. I don't mean to say that often-vidded shows shouldn't be vidded, far from it, but it's kind of awesome to see cool moments and scenes in a vid for the first time! /random)

Very cool vid! Thank you for sharing!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

LATEST REPLY EVER! So sorry for how late this is: I got totally eaten by playing Mass Effect 3 and spent about five minutes a day online all last week *facepalm* I don't even usually LIKE computer games!

Emma is just fantastic and I definitely wanted her to be sort of the anchor in many ways which is why it kind of begins and ends with her and Henry as they explore the universe.

I know what you mean about the speed of the cuts; the autotuned voices ended up being a lot faster than I thought they'd be, but I'm a greedy vidder who wants to get everything in and I always tend towards speed and frenetic cutting when the alternative is losing out on footage. In some vids that works better than others... ;)

Thanks so much for letting me know you enjoyed it!

[thuviaptarth.livejournal.com]

This is really amazing. I loved it.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

And sorry it took so long to reply - got eaten by playing Mass Effect 3 this week *facepalm*

But I'm really thrilled you liked it, and thanks for taking the time to let me know. :D

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

This is so fantastic!! <3

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Sorry this is so late! (I got eaten by Mass Effect 3 this week and was online for like zero time this week and COMPLETELY MISSED that I had a load of new comments *facepalm*)

Anwyay, thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it and thanks for letting me know. :D

[goodbyebird]

Oh very well done you! I'm on a bit of a break from OUaT - waiting to see what people say about is(whether it improves), but this was an excellent overview over what's happened to far, superbly edited as always. And I do adore your song choices <3

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I'm a little behind with it as well, though I'm still largely enjoying it but I think that's because it hits a bunch of my modern mythology/fairytale kinks so I'm a bit more lenient than I would otherwise be with other stuff. I do wonder what I'll think of it a year from now?

I'm so glad that song choice worked for you, I was a little worried it'd be too weird but people are responding really well to it which is very gratifying.

Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it! <3

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

That was amazing! I loved the unusual song choice and especially the "four forces of nature." It really brought out every great potential of the show. By the end I was grinning uncontrollably.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D I'm so happy you enjoyed it and that you liked the slightly unusual song choice. I feel this show has so much potential I hope it fully realises. Thanks again for letting me know you enjoyed it. :)

[mumblemutter.livejournal.com]

Wow. "A Glorious Day" forever remains one of my favourite things in the world (and I really need to check out what this dude has done since then), and the combination of what is basically a transformative fanwork in itself and a show that is one big transformative patchwork of stories IS JUST SO COOL. SO COOL. And the editing is just beautifully done; the entire bit between 2:00 and 2:40 left me mesmerized and full of feelings and the crumbling heart together with the stuttery breakdown was SO GREAT. By which I mean lots of feelings. :-(

*downloads immediately*

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, that's another amazing song - I'm also very fond of We Are All Connected (which is probably my favourite). I confess that one of the primary reasons I liked the idea of using the song was the combination of myth/science in the source/song, but the fact that it was a song made up of other people's voices for a series made up of other people's stories did cross my mind (though you put it better!)

The idea of using the heart at the point you mention was one of the earlier images I settled on so it's very gratifying to hear that you enjoyed that.

I'm so thrilled you think it's good enough for a download! :D

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

SUPER cool vid. It really encapsulated everything that fascinates me about the show.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D I'm so happy you liked it and thought it was a good representation of the show. Thanks for letting me know!

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

That is wonderful. Such a fantastic song for the show, though if you said "look, I'm going to vid this fairy tale show to a song about physics," I would have been... let's say dubious.

[cyborganize.livejournal.com]

*heartpupils*

I'm so thrilled that you made this without me even ordering you too! it's just gorgeous. I adore the evocative concept and your amazing editing. especially the roads, and waves/particles! I love it about as much as I could possible love a GEN vid for this show. :)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Well I feel it's only fair since I'm way behind in doing what you ordered me to do (though I haven't forgotten about Electra Woman & Dyna Girl!)

I'm so happy the concept comes through clearly and you enjoyed the editing. Plus it's always entertaining to force you to enjoy GEN. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. ♥

[metatxt.livejournal.com]

GAHHHH THIS VID IS SO AMAZING!!!

I really feel like you captured the sense of science expansiveness, but also that sense of mystical order that threads through quantum physics and Once Upon a Time. You KNOW how much I love that part with Snow and Charming fwd<->rev kiss, but also, Henry at the mine during "suppose little things behave very differently" just KILLS ME every time.

There's also such a wonderful sense of Emma as a stabilizing force. Even though she's protagonist pony, sometimes I think the fact that she doesn't have a grown-up Fairytale-self (yet) means she gets less fannish love. But the clips you chose for Emma really highlight how she's this grounding force (even though she's um ...not supersmart), which is what I absolutely love about her.

TATTLE: Julie just used the thesaurus for her comment on this vid, btw. "I always use the thesaurus on comments for Becka" super cute (and complimentary :)

edit: check out my queer family icon :DDDD

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!

I'm so happy you feel I managed to capture that feel of science expansiveness (BEST DESCRIPTION EVER). That was really important to me. I'm also glad the fwd/rev kiss worked as I always knew it was awesome in my head but wasn't ever - until I got feedback from you on it - totally certain it was working in the vid or if I was just in love with the idea. I'm also THRILLED WITH GLEE that you enjoyed my very obvious (but awesome right?!) play on Henry as the little thing.

Emma is brilliant - you're so right about her as a stabilising force, which is interesting since she is upsetting the order of the entire town, but also, as you note, she's from both worlds but has only one identity, which makes her a lot more stable than most of them. She's the only one from that world who's not cursed.

TATTLE: Julie just used the thesaurus for her comment on this vid, btw. "I always use the thesaurus on comments for Becka"

HEARTPUPILS. <3333333

(My icon lacks an adorable child. Sadface.)

[tearful-eye.livejournal.com]

this is really cool.
i love your song choice & the quit cutting <3

[such_heights]

oh man, this is awesome and so layered and well put together. :D

[counteragent]

Wow! That was freaking awesome! Your use of visuals was amazing, and you were very coherent, repeating just enough to get your point across.