BSG Vidlet: Saul Tigh: A & B

[beccatoria]

Here's my ninth response to thearchive2's challenges!

Title: Saul Tigh: A & B
Video: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Audio: A & B Song - Tom McRae
Summary: Colonial officer or Cylon infiltrator: which is real? Is the difference only a projection?
Editor's Notes: My thanks to cyborganize for giving me an easy ride on this one because changing anything would have been heartbreaking. This is in response to thearchive2's ninth challenge: projection. I'm using it here in a more psychological than technological sense.

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

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Oh Saul!!!!!!! What a perfect song for him, too! Lovely!!!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it, and the song choice. This was one of those vids where I had to go hunting for a song and I was totally, totally stuck until I remembered this one and BAM. :D

It's so weird that he's now one of the characters whose story I'm most excited about watching. o_O

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

Tigh isn't my favorite character but I really enjoyed this vid. I especially liked your use of black-and-white versus color. It felt very artful.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! If Tigh's not your favourite and you still enjoyed it, that's a wonderful compliment to receive. I was a little worried about being repetitive since my Tory vid was B&W vs color too, but decided it was too perfect for the vid not to use it, and this way it sort of linked both of the "OMG I'M A CYLON!" vidlets in the series. So yeah, thanks for commenting on that. :)

Also, your icon = win!

[callmeonetrack.livejournal.com]

They're so cute, I couldn't resist. (I think it's my only non-Starbuck icon!)

Ooh, since you say series, does that mean there are Anders and Tyrol BW to Color vids too? I would love a Tyrol vid. There's not enough love for the Chief. And my appreciation for Anders has grown of late too.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Alas, no, there are no B&W vs color vidlets for Chief or Sam in the series because the prompts didn't really move me to do so. I was actually against using the BW&Color thing initially because I'd just done so for Tory, so it wasn't a deliberate decision from the outset.

HOWEVER, one of the reasons I wanted to do Tigh is that I realised there were already vidlets that dealt with both Sam and Chief (and Tory, obvs) in the context of season four and their cylon identities but separate from the mass of "final four!" And I liked the idea of having a vid that gave space to each of the FF independently. So I wanted to do one for Tigh too.

Tyrol's vid is probably the least focused on him, sorry, but it's about the parallel journeys of Natalie, Kara and Tyrol (human, cylon, final five cylon), to a famous Mario Savio speech that BSG actually used nearly verbatim for Chief in Lay Down Your Burdens.

Manifesto (http://beccatoria.livejournal.com/62563.html).

Sam's vid is actually Kara/Sam/Scar the Cylon Raider OT3 from Scar's POV! But I promise, Sam and his cylonicity is an important part of the vid (at least from my POV), and it's the first one of this series.

Scar (http://beccatoria.livejournal.com/60566.html).

If you're interested (though please don't feel interest is required!) all the vidlets (there are nine so far, and I'm working on the final one) are . (http://beccatoria.livejournal.com/tag/thearchive2)

[yokiem.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying your vidlets a lot! Really great song choice for Saul, he's been through a lot!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying the vidlets and that the song choice worked for you! :D

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

Very nice! Wonderful job exploring who Tigh is now. :}

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very glad you liked it and thought it did a good job exploring Tigh's situation.

everyday above ground is a good day

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I knew you would do something interesting with Tigh. I like how your vidlets seem to have common themes and styles, like the black and white with color. It really ties the series together for me. As always, the short time frame didn't hold you back from getting deep into the character.

You used the music well with the pacing and the speed changes. There was a knowing change in the editing style as the music changed. The slow opening to make the black and white different from the color for the character is great. The lyric interpretations fit extremely well

It makes me wonder about the duality of the sleeper Cylon. Do they see themselves as two different people? The person before they knew they were Cylon and what they were after the knowledge? With Tory, it feels like she sees herself as "becoming" her real self with the knowledge of her true nature. You vid explores the idea that Tigh sees himself as two people, like in your summary. He probably would go so far as to think of himself as a traitor, except it wasn't a choice because he's always been Cylon and just didn't know it. I'm totally rambling.

Love the chasing storms, good day, life is great. Ellen's movement jump starts the vid. Ohhh, great hard drumbeats on the four of them. Adama yelling on cue is chilling and sad. Aww, the mail order bride section is also incredibly sad. The black and white Tigh against the color Tigh makes the haggard look of pre-activation Tigh stand out.

Re: everyday above ground is a good day

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you for such awesome and detailed feedback! I'm also super pleased that the series is coming together with a sort of...seriesy feel. I wanted to be diverse but also be aware that it was a sequence, somehow, even if I can't quite sum up how.

Thank you so much for sharing your favourite moments; it's gratifying that many of them are my favourites too and OMG yes, I find the mail order bride section very sad. It was one of the lyrics that sold me on vidding to this track, actually.

You bring up interesting points about the cylon sleeper agents' dilemmas. I think that Tory, you're right, copes with it by seeing herself as 'becoming' her real self. But still there's a sense that whoever she was before 'wasn't real'. And Tigh, I think, completely compartmentalises the two, even now that he is a cylon. So it's not exactly the way the vid presents it "I am two different men," but more...he is Saul Tigh and he refuses to acknowledge that 'other' cylon as part of his identity, even though...that's living a contradiction since his cylonicity now informs basically all his actions? Eh, I'm totally rambling too now, but at least it's interesting rambling, right? :)

Re: everyday above ground is a good day

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I'll certainly be lining vids up to watch the whole series when it's completed.

I viewed your use of color versus black and white as Tigh's own perception. He doesn't want to be Cylon and he views it as the worst possible thing in his world.

I love reading your "ramblings". Feel free to ramble to me all the time.

I'll download this and watch it...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

later, okay? I'm at work at the moment...

Probably I'll do the great vid watching orgy when I'm done with the catchup, come to think of it. And comments may have to be restricted to something like 'squeeeeee!', because commenting articulately on vids is something I find difficult and extremely time-consuming, and time is something I don't have much of, at the moment.

Re: I'll download this and watch it...

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Any and all comments in any timeframe are welcome. :)

I understand time constraints and the difficulties of articulately commenting on vids.

If you get around to the vidwatching orgy obviously I'd love to hear your thoughts. If not, then whenever I finally see you again (next year, hopefully?) and probably force you to sit through the last half of BSG S4, I can also force you to watch all my vids (again). ;)

In sum: chillax - it's all good. :)

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Hey there! This is the night where I've been going through my vid-watching queue and finally checking out all the vids I know I should've commented on ages ago. *g*

OMG THIS VID. I can't even. It's just beautiful, one of your best vidlets ever I think. I knew this song already so I was really intrigued by the idea of using A & B as Tigh's dual identity. The use of the lyrics and clip choices is unexpected and profound as always.

The editing of Ellen to the rhythm starting at 0:25 absolutely killed me. I love the simple fade-pause-fade effect you used on the radio/Final Four shot and the overlay with the suicide bomb. I loved the irony of "A knows he's headed for salvation / B's afraid to die." I loved it all.

Must go watch "Televangelism" now. ;)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad you like it. I was really pleased with it too, so I'm glad (and flattered!) you think it's one of my best.

Plus OH ELLEN *heartbreak*

Anyway, thanks so much for the comment. :)