BSG Vidlet: Traditional Cylon Lullaby

[beccatoria]

Here is my sixth response to thearchive2's challenges.

Title: Traditional Cylon Lullaby
Video: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Audio: The Call - Regina Spektor
Summary: Athena sings a traditional cylon lullaby to her daughter.
Editor's Notes: Thanks to the multi-headed cylon vidding cabal, and in particular cyborganize for her great beta work. This is in response to thearchive2's sixth challenge: hybrid.

Direct download available here. 20 megs approx. RightClickSaveAs!

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Cross-posted to thearchive2, galactica_vids and vidding.

Other vids available here.

Comments

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, this gave me chills! Awesome video! I came here simply to watch and left with a new keeper video on my harddrive. :D

And you should seriously consider posting this at hidden_elysium - the Helo/Athena people will enjoy it.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm really pleased that you think it's good enough for harddrive space (an increasingly rare commodity on my computer at least!)

Maybe I should cross-post to hidden_elysium. I'm actually already a member though not one who really participates much, I just didn't want to spam too many places with it since I'd already posted to three comms. But, I'll think about it! :)

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

Oops, sorry I didn't reply before! I thought it was perfect, anyway, and I still do. Marvellous and chilling depiction of what motherhood has meant to Athena; and of course the 'traditional Cylon lullaby' part adds a whole nother dimension that makes me mourn for the possibilities of resurrection all over again.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Hey, no worries! :) It an entirely optional invitation! I'm really glad you like it also that you appreciate the sort of dual tone with a) Athena and motherhood and b) Cylon ressurection in general.

I think I mostly mourn because some of the really, really fascinating parts about the process - that others can share memories and the visual shock of having Helo confront the fact that any one of those Eight bodies on the Hub could be his wife and now never would be, all that stuff that breaks down identity to experience and then shares it, without somehow allowing us to question its authenticity - we now have no time to explore it.

raincitygirl made a fascinating comment on another post about the Leobens and how she wondered if they'd start developing different personalities now that they would no longer be able to share their experiences as one co-operative entity. /tangent.

Anyway, thanks for the lovely feedback!

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Um, WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!! So scary-awesomecakes!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

I'm glad that the scary factor came through!

Also, your icon: HEE!

[kathynancygirl.livejournal.com]

amazing


(one tiny crit -- the logos are a little annoying -- I know season 4 isn't out yet but this would be great remastered once you can)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! And thank you for taking the time to leave feedback.

I appreciate your point about the logos, but I doubt I'll be remastering it because it's insanely boring fiddly work and I always end up failing to cut the clips at the exact frames I did last time and it looks subtly different and it bugs me. So, with apologies, my neuroses will probably prevent the remaster! ;)

[kathynancygirl.livejournal.com]

LOL I understand I once was a vidder

pick a star on the dark horizon

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

The Cylon lullaby idea is extremely cool and adds many levels. The beginning and end of her humming for the raider and Hera is lovely. Regina Spektor's voice has such an odd and powerful quality to it. Her songs work for so many characters, shows, and themes too.

I dig the narrative too. The line that continues through the vid. The vid builds and ebbs along with the music nicely.

pick a star on the dark horizon - From here until the end is my favorite part. The darkness of the material bubbles up through the surface of the lullaby concept and makes it violent and creepy. Which works because Cylon lullabies are probably vaguely creepy. There's such maternal power and strength along with the Cylonicity.

Re: pick a star on the dark horizon

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you like it and enjoyed the idea! I'm so with you on Regina Spektor's voice. I'm really pleased that you found it growing creepier as it went on. My goal was always to start with something deceptively simple both in terms of emotion and editing and then introduce the darker themes as it went on. I think that Spektor's singing is a huge part of that. It's so...simple yet so, yeah, odd and powerful is a good way to describe it.

I think maybe part of the reason her songs work so well is that they're very broad-and-specific at the same time? (Wow, that was non-generic of you, becca...) I can't think how to say it except that I (perhaps weirdly) find it easier to vid to really odd images because either something specific and unusual from the show jumps out at you, or when you put something that 'clashes' with it, it can mean something even more interesting. And Spektor (kind of like the Flobots?) is full of weird and wonderful imagery but leaves the meanings of the songs much more generic than the politically pointed Flobot-style stuff, so it's easier to 'bend' to whatever you want to vid?

Bah, I don't know!

I'm really glad that I managed to convey this sort of creepy violent cylonicity alongside Sharon's motherhood though!

Re: pick a star on the dark horizon

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

The slow build/reveal of the creepier meaning really comes through with the simplicity growing with the music to something so powerful.

Her musicality and lyrics are so odd that the interpretation can be so board and fitting for many things. I get the broad and specific at the same time idea. I just finished a vid to one of her songs and I have many in my "to vid queue" because her lyrics are one thing on the surface, yet their meaning is minute with a deeper look. The Flobots have the same quality in that they're specifically broad.