BSG Vid: Trapdoor Trigger

[beccatoria]

Ironically, my first occasion to use my shiny new icon for a vid post and it's not even about the Cylon. I'm sure the subjects of this vid would disapprove mightily. ;)

Title: Trapdoor Trigger
Video: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Audio: 90-mile Water Wall // The National
Spoilers: Through 4x14 Blood on the Scales.
Summary: The arbitrary brutality of civilian life.
Editor's Notes: As always, my thanks to cyborganize for the beta. Also I used Pinnacle to edit this, which was an...interesting experience. I'm still trying to work out how I feel about it.

Direct download available here. RightClickSaveAs. 33 megs approx.

Password: vidses

Watch on Vimeo

Cross-posted to galactica_vids and vidding.

Other vids available here.

Comments

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Ooooohhhhh!!!!!!!!! I love this!!! The senseless violence, the lives of the few sacrificed for the many, to the point where there's hardly a "many" left. This show has never been terribly good at telling the stories of the fleet, yet they're such a key part of what is going on in this show. I utterly adored all the cutting between Laura and the violence, because just...yes. I'm not feeling very thinky this morning. But this is wonderful!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you like it! Don't worry about not feeling thinky, I will take multiple exclaimation points in place of thinky. ;)

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

I still love it! It's really wonderful to see BSG from these neglected perspectives when the show is so much about justifying/explaining the behaviour of those in power. As I said to you before, the inclusion of Gaeta and Dee works really well. It's telling that we don't have a nongovernment civilian character that we have the level of empathy we do with them, but their fates are really part of the fate of the civilian fleet anyway, I think. I loved the way you presented the mutiny. And the last shot really packs a punch.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very glad I managed to get the POV across since as you say, we don't really have many characters who operate from that POV. I agree that Gaeta and Dee stand in well because they function in many of the same underappreciated/ignored ways.

The last shot was one of the first things I locked down, so I'm glad it works.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful vid so powerful and surprisingly moving given it's focus on minor characters. I love the way the violence is spinning around Laura and her obliviousness/indifference to the "everyman" and "woman" characters of the fleet the ones who do all the work in oppressive and shitty circumstances while the military and government types get all the glory.

I think you worked Dee and Gaeta into this really well because although they are part of the military they are so utterly taken for granted quietly getting the job done until they just can't take it anymore.

Like I said, wonderful vid.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you so much! It means a lot to me that you liked it.

I'm actually a real Laura Roslin fangirl and don't think that she is indifferent to the fate of the Fleet, but I bet she sure as hell seems like it from their perspective, so I'm really glad I managed to get her across as the, well, "villain" of the piece?

Thank you again for taking the time to leave feedback. :)

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so powerful.

I'm impressed that you got so far into the perspective of the everyday people in the Fleet, (or pre-Fleet, counting that first shot of poor dead-baby daddy), particularly because you managed to make me temporarily hate all your favorite characters!The shot of Caprica and Boomer from the civilians perspective is haunting, following those scenes from "Sacrifice."

I'm a little in awe of how you made "The Woman King" so poignant. ;)

Raia! The thing is that all (or at least many) of the incidents you focus on, when we saw them initially from the main characters' perspectives, we could sympathize with Helo shooting the civilian off the raptor-wing or Laura issuing the blanket pardon or banning abortion, but to the people on the ground it all seems so heartless. Similarly, I still think there's at least some difference between the Galacticans and the Pegasoids, to the their victims, maybe not so much.

Everything with Dee and Gaeta from about 2:00 on is just... ouch. And that final image of the whiteboard.

Oh, and thank you so much for showing me Seelix having one of my favorite characters pulpified and making me, like, approve. ;)

SO well done!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really glad I managed to make an emotionally affecting vid. I knew I thought it was a good idea at the time, but I really wasn't sure I would be able to pull it off with such limited footage and minor characters.

And yeah. What's wrong with me? First I make a vid about Adama which isn't entirely unsympathetic and now I make a vid where Laura and the Cylon are the bad guys? WHO AM I AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH MYSELF?!

I completely agree though, that most of the things I used I...still understand why they were done. I think that's kind of why I wanted to make the vid? Because I think that Laura cares, and there's a difference between Galacticans and Pegasoids (OMG I love those names!) and the Cylon are awesome and the ship should be integrated and all that shit. But like you say, maybe not so much to someone stuck in Dogsville?

Anyway, thank you very much for taking the time to leave feedback. Although I think we should both wait on seeing things from Seelix's point of view until we find out whether Sam ever wakes up again. MEEP.

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

Civilians! Yay! I love civilians.

*sucker-punch*


It's a gorgeous vid, especially how you've used Laura and all my favorite Cylons, who I now want to inflict violence on. Apparently the mutiny didn't cure my bloodlust, since none of this has ever, and probably now won't ever, be resolved. It makes me so angry. They keep bleeding away, and Roslin marks their passage as just numbers on the board.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I'm really glad you like it, and to be honest, I'm not sure ANYTHING will quench my bloodlust at this point, short of EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE SHOW (except Caprica Six and maybe Starbuck and Anders) DYING IN THE FINALE. Oh bloodlust *cuddles it*

I love the whiteboard thing in the show. Because on the one hand, I actually think it's a sign of how much Laura does care; this is the only way she can express how much she cares for and how much she loves them all, but at the same time, from the perspective of those numbers, it must seem terribly cold and mechanical.

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

*circles whiteboard comments*

Yes, exactly.

And your list of who should be left standing is fairly close to mine. It's like, Sam can probably jump the ship now, right? So they should just take off and leave Adama holding the bag on his big cathartic finish, pick up D'Anna, and go careening around the universe. I would maybe save Chief too, but he'd be kind of a downer right now.

[chaila.livejournal.com]

SQUEEEEEEE!!!! YOU DID NOT VID THIS SONG!!!! I have been wanting a BSG vid to this song for-ev-er and here you've gone and made it! Okay, initial flail over so I'm going to go, er, watch it now. . . [saves space]

As always, this is gorgeous. Really, really fabulous use of the song and the metaphor of the arbitrary violence as a tidal wave is really kind of awesome. I also love how you've used Laura here, as others have said, maybe not as oblivious to the indiviudal members of the fleet, but certainly apparently so, seemingly less concerned for them than as the fleet in the abstract. It's hard to show the Roslin cabal from the POV of the fleet, as we get so little from the fleet's eye view in the show, but the way you've edited this deftly gets that across. From many of their points of view, I imagine she IS a straight-up dictator and your intercutting with her and the violence gutted me for that reason. Really great tie-in with Gaeta and the mutiny too. I have a feeling that I'll love this more every time I watch it.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

OH RELIEF. When I first read that first part, I thought you meant you wanted to vid this song and I'd stolen it from you, and I was like, NOOO MAKE IT ANYWAY! But apparently not and I can just be happy I made something you wanted appear in the world AS IF BY MAGIC. ;)

I'm really glad you like it and yeah, I'm completely on the same page with you about Laura (SHOCKING, NO?) She's not oblivious at all, but I'm sure that's how she seems. I mentioned in another comment, one of the reasons the white board fascinates me so is that to me, it's clearly such an expression of her love for her people, the only way she can care for them all at once. But at the same time it's such a coldly mathematical thing; so many terrible things have been done in service to it. What does it look like from the perspective of the numbers?

Anyway, thank you for your feedback. It's always wonderful to receive!

[chaila.livejournal.com]

Oh dude, no not at all. (How do you steal something you don't know about?! Silly!) I'd only ever thought "that should be a vid." But I think that about half of the songs by The National. Clearly I had no brilliant idea like this one.

I THINK YOUR BRAIN MIGHT ACTUALLY BE MAGIC.

[cylune9.livejournal.com]

Thank you. You just hit a sore spot I have about BSG and that's the people's point of view is ignored and dismissed so easily. It must be so hard on those poor civilians to live with the consequences of other people's decisions without having any power to change anything. You live in tiny prisons and your faith is completely at the mercy other people. You have no say. Your video perfectly showed their pain and suffering.

Great, great video. Thank you so much for making it.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you. I'm really glad that you enjoyed it. I mean, I adore Laura Roslin much of the time, but you're right - living in the Fleet must be terrifying. You write much more clearly about it than I do, but there's a fundamental lack of power and the stakes are your life.

For a show that strives to deal with the post-9/11 issues of how far into dictatorship you can stray with the justification of keeping people "safe" (and I say this thinking it generally does a good job of that), there's definitely a shocking lack of time devoted to those actual people.

Thank you again for taking the time to leave feedback.

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

This is lovely and very poignant. I especially liked your attention to the changes some of the smaller regular characters have undergone. And I thought the end was just perfect. :}

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm very glad you enjoyed it and that the vid was successful. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.

[chamalla.livejournal.com]

Very powerful. My feelings are really conflicted right now. Even though you had almost every storyline in BSG about people in the fleet in this vid, instead of making them, their lives and deaths look important, it made me feel their despair and futile effort to find a meaning and purpose in their lives.
One thing is for sure, I'm going to think about it for some time.
And the editing is perfect!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. I hate to say it, but the pointlessness and futility was exactly what I was going for. I mean, they are important because there's nothing more important to the show than the numbers on the white board. But at the same time, they're just...numbers on a white board.

I wanted to get across the despair that the civilians must feel, and why they do such crazy shit like die for coffee, or demand peace with the enemy, or blow themselves up to prevent peace with the enemy, or mutiny, or decide to convert to Baltarism.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. :)

[malfeasanceses.livejournal.com]

The civilians! I've wanted this level of caring for them for so long on the show. Thank you!

Now I just need someone to care about the Centurions...

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :D

As to the centurions, you might enjoy this vid:

http://heyiya.livejournal.com/171378.html

It's not specifically about them, it's about all of the Cylon, but the centurions and raiders are treated as equally important as the human models and have quite a lot of coverage here.

The only other things I can think of that might fit the bill are actually vidlets I made, although again, neither of them is specifically what you're looking for I don't think.

http://beccatoria.livejournal.com/60566.html - That one's from the perspective of a Cylon raider (and its relationship to Kara and Sam.)

http://beccatoria.livejournal.com/63686.html - This one is dialogue from The Matrix masquerading as the broadcast that incited the centurions to revolt in the first cylon war. So that's OldSkool Centurions.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment!

[daybreak777.livejournal.com]

Yay, secondary characters! I love when people vid them. They've seen such violence too. Such people Laird, Seelix, Jammer. Look at them now. Even people like Kendra and Felix. It makes me wonder how such events can ever, ever be reconciled.

My favorite part was the freeze frame explosion. I haven't gotten freeze frame to work like I've wanted it to yet. How is it using Pinnacle? Any thoughts yet?

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it! And absolutely, they've seen horrific violence. Their story is so sad. I'm not entirely sure it is possible to reconcile that, the same way I'm not sure it's possible to reconcile what the Cylon did to humanity. But I do hope it's possible for these people to learn to live with their lives. Although, as I hope the vid shows, it's a fine line between the ones who can and the ones who can't. And if they can't, well, that's brutally understandable?

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to leave feedback.

I have to admit, I'm not sure which explosion you mean; there are a few in there but neither of them use freeze frames so it may just be an accidental trick or your playback?

As to using Pinnacle, it's...okay. A little weird, but I'm persevering. At the moment the thing I like most is the ease with which one can use overlays whereas in WMM it's very hard if you want any sort of fades included.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Oh, beautiful and heartbreaking and OUCH. I love the minor characters (Gaeta is my especial pet, and that shot of Lee walking right by him without a word was just... OUCH.), and I wish the show gave a little more weight to their perspective. I also loved the Kendra and Laird sections- that was just heartbreaking. and the cyclic aspect... funny in a not-haha sort of way.

Gorgeous stuff!

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm really glad that it's connecting with people. The view of the civilian characters and minor characters like Gaeta and Dee and Laird are severely underrepresented. I kind of liked the chance to delve into that and show all my favourite character (Laura) as someone terrifying and distant. I also feel I have a real new appreciation of Gaeta after having vidded this.

Thanks again for taking the time to leave feedback. I really appreciate it.

[falafel-musings.livejournal.com]

This is such a unique and powerful vid. The suffering of the little people. *sniff* I agree with everyone who said it was appropriate to highlight Felix and Dee. I think those two are very representative of how this journey took its toll on the best of people, how life in the fleet can push the powerless to desparation. Very thought-provoking work.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I'm so pleased that people are connecting with it; I was worried it'd be a little too obscure. But it seems that it's really resonating with people.

I'm especially glad that Dee and Felix work. I never paid them as much attention as I probably should have, and never really realised how awful their lives were and how much I loved them until they were gone. I agree that they're the characters who most closely represented the civilians and deck gang and other forgotten hoardes, I think. Always overlooked until one day, it's too much.

[nicole-anell.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is a weird vid to suddenly stumble onto years later - like, I don't even know what I thought it was before and what made me not watch it then. But OH MY GOD, I'm so glad I found it now. Perfectly done and somber and poignant (even The Woman King! even Sacrifice!) and I love the use of the whiteboard because for once it almost feels dehumanizing to have these suffering and dead reduced to numbers. Just love the overall POV of this and how these minor characters blur together but also seem like real individual people to mourn. (Plus SEELIX, my heart.)