The last Vividcon post, I swear

[gwyn]

This is the info about the Literalism vs. Metaphor panel and vidshow that I moderated and VJed. Because, d00d, clearly I don't understand the concept since I have a vid that has all these lines about water and no clips of actual water.


I don't have the line speed and the patience to try to rustle up these vid URLs, so if some of these are online somewhere, feel free to leave a comment. Where I don't know the vidder's vid availability, I've used the e-mail address in the booklet if you want to contact them, or an address for their site. Whether they have these specific vids in some cases, I cannot say.

Someone You Might Have Been for Dead Zone by Lynn and Sandy (sherrold@wordyfolks.net)
This was suggested for the panel during the write-in, and I thought it was a good choice because it has a theme of multiple levels -- what Johny's life is now, and what it once was, and what it could have been if he hadn't had the accident. Not to mention all the lives of the people he sees in his visions. So its metaphor and literal interpretations are heavily intertwined. Plus, the truth is, I hadn't seen it in a couple years, and I wanted to see it again on a big screen since I have no copy of it (I still want a copy of my show!)

Someone Keeps Moving My Chair for X-Files by Carol S. ( http://www.triptychvids.com/)
One of the hard parts of VJing this year was competing for good vids. I lost a couple vids I wanted that were humorous because humor is usually quite literal, since that's what brings the funny -- the juxtaposition of the near-literal interpretation of clip choice to lyric. I had wanted to avoid another XF vid in this show, but when I had a space to fill, this was the first one I thought of, because its hilarious Mr. Horrible lines... and so much else ... has perfectly juxtaposed clips that are, quite literally, funny as hell.

Are You Out There? for Contact by Rachel (http://www.fangirl.nu)
Yes, this a metaphor vid -- the song is about the music industry and the movie is about getting in touch with aliens. I'm kind of stunned by how many people seemed to have issues with this, but... that's why it was here. I thought it worked really well as a sustained metaphor, I loved the vid when astolat suggested it, I thought it was really well-made and I look forward to seeing more of thatfangirl's work. And yes, some of the vid was reedited before the show; thatfangirl was kind enough to let us know she'd redone it, and we put the latest version in the show, I think.

Passion for Highlander by Shalott (http://www.intimations.org/vidding/)
As I mentioned in the panel, I used this one because this pretty much blows the metaphor concept right out of the water, boom. This goes quite a few steps beyond metaphor to create an entirely new universe based on the Krell's WIP Seduction of the Desert Prince, and while there may be fanfic-based vids now, at the time it came out, I remember it being a very new and unusual idea. I really loved how it pushed past even something as boundaryless as metaphor.

In the End for Farscape by LithiumDoll (http://www.alter-idem.com)
I needed some good literal vids for the show. It's really easy to find good metaphor heavy vids, but not so easy to find ones that are very literalistic and good as well, probably because for most sophisticated vid watchers, super heavy literalism feels thuddingly stupid and dull unless it's done well. I'm not much into Farscape, but I was cruising though some discs that a fan had sent me of online vids, since I can't really watch them at home, and stumbled on this. I know enough of the fandom to recognize that a lot of this is quite literal-heavy, but it's done deftly and without feeling forced, and the literal interpretations don't detract from the story.

Detachable Penis for Professionals by Media Cannibals (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
This one is the rare all metaphor comedy vid, with the metaphor being that guns equal penis. Pros couldn't be more perfect for this.

Bleed to Love Her for Star Trek by Killa and T. Jonesy (http://www.frankworsley.com/vidland/protected.asp)
I have such intense and abiding love for this vid. It was the second vid I thought of when I got handed this show, because I love how it balances such literal clip to line matches so elegantly and deftly against a larger, overarching metaphor. The song is about a man who'd do anything for the love of this one woman; and so the metaphor is what Kirk is willing to sacrifice for his beloved Enterprise. I wish that literalists could take their cue from this wonderful vid -- here's how to do literal without making anyone groan. Every clip that matches a line propels the story forward; they are never there just because the line says stars and so I need a shot of stars!

London Rain for The American Embassy by Still Reeling (laremyb@aol.com)
Apparently Leslie and I are the only humans who ever saw this short-lived Fox show! But that isn't the reason I love the vid -- it's also another fairly literal-heavy vid that is deftly handled, where the shots of London rain don't feel like they're there just because the vidder felt she had to put London rain on the lyric. The clips are there for a reason. A couple people expressed dismay that it was literal, like they'd forgot that this was what the show was about -- spanning the spectrum! But for me this worked nicely to tell a small, intimate story without asking the audience to go way heavy into the metaphorical world.

She's Moved On for Buffy by Jill, Kay, and Lynn (silverleaf@graffiti.net ; I don't know if they have these tapes available anymore)
This was the first vid I thought of when I got the show. This is one of my favorite literal vids -- Oz is literally having to realize that Willow has moved on, many of the clips are literal matches to the lyrics, and never once (not even in the moon shot, so you guys just shut your mouths!) do they feel forced or strained or simply there because by god we have to match the moon to the moon. Elegiac, eloquent, beautiful, and heartbreakingly lovely.

Rook for X-Files by Laura Shapiro (http://www.laurasha.com/)
I had a number of suggestions for this for the show, and though I couldn't remember it easily, I remembered enough to know it would make a great metaphor piece and I was right (duh!). It carefully balances the metaphor against the lyrics and clips without getting too far away from the general theme of the show. (BTW, I am the one who wrote many of the blurbs for this show in the program; I wanted to have blurbs that matched more what the theme of the show was, rather than the more generic blurbs some of the vids had had in the past. Though not all the vids had the new blurbs attached.)

Night Vision for Second Sight by Gwyneth (this is not online but my site is at http://www.gwynethr.net , you can request the DVD that this vid's on)
I hate putting my own stuff in things I do, but I've always been really proud of this vid because it takes a show very few people are familiar with (a British cop minseries), a short, highly metaphorical song, and makes a completely metaphorical vid that seems accessible to all the guinea pigs people I've tested it on. This one is all about the metaphor of seeing -- seeing in the dark, seeing other things, losing one's vision, struggling with seeing what's in another's heart.

It's All Been Done for Highlander by Alex (mediacannibals@hotmail.com)
A true classic that goes meta on HL fandom. We'd put two tapes out filled to the brim with HL vids, and people were getting well and truly tired of the hundreds of vids that used the same clips -- the paintbrush on the nose, the sword fight in the dojo, the four horsemen -- because there weren't many other clips to use for Duncan/Methos vidders. As besotted as the vidders were with the show, it was hard for them, and this was a little literal and metaphorical fun with the whole issue, and in some ways, with vidding in general.

And here is the handout I made for the panel part. While I'm being facetious about the Bridge part for the extreme literalist's take, the point of it is that with a lot of vidders who don't really understand metaphor and always choose the heavily literal route, their vids can be perceived as boring or uninteresting or worse because the clips aren't often there in service to a greater story. In this you'll see that all of the clips are random and don't do anything except illustrate that exact lyric; in the metaphorical possibilities part, I've chosen a story about Giles and his job with Buffy, so all of the possibilities are open to keeping the story about them. If you have to illustrate a lyric about brushing tears away with a literal action, you won't be able to find that with Giles, really, but you could shove a clip with Angel in there -- only then, you have violated the focus of your story if Giles and Buffy were your subject.

The big thing I talked about was communication -- what are we trying to communicate in our vid? Does the clip we choose communicate the story? or does it just help illustrate the lyric, or move us on to something else more important? I think it's nearly impossible to teach someone to be artistic or aesthetic, though we can teach timing and mechanics; this is something that we are either born with, or we learn through time and experience and understanding. Seeing and thinking in metaphor is something that an artistic person takes for granted. Some people, though, may never be able to move past literalism, and they will always choose the obvious clip-for-lyric path; this may be okay for other metaphor-impaired folks, but you have to be prepared for mockage from people who do have that more metaphoric mindset.



Metaphor
1. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” 2. One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol

Middle English methaphor, from Old French metaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Greek, transference, metaphor, from metapherein, to transfer : meta-, meta- + pherein, to carry

Literal
1. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words. 2. Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation. 3. Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.
5. Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.

Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litteralis, of letters, from Latin littera, litera, letter.


Metaphor doesn’t narrow possibilities. It points out possibilities.


The Extreme Literalist’s Take on Bridge Over Troubled Water

When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy asleep in her bed from Passion
Feeling small — Clip of the fear demon from Fear, Itself
When tears are in your eyes — Closeup of the single tear on Buffy’s cheek when the Master kills her in Prophecy Girl
I’ll dry them all — Scene of Angel comforting her in When She Was Bad
I’m on your side — Clip of Giles standing beside Buffy in Helpless
Oh, when times get rough — Any shot of any battle in any episode with any characters
And friends just can’t be found — Scene where Buffy is blindfolded and searching with her hands in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Buffy jumping off the tower in The Gift, because there are no real bridge shots in Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Metaphorical Possibilities

When you’re weary — Clip of Buffy and Giles talking about the upcoming battle in The Gift
Feeling small — Any clip where Buffy has unsuccessfully fought Glory in S5
When tears are in your eyes — Scene when Giles confronts distraught Buffy in The Body
I’ll dry them all — Giles and Buffy discussing love and showing feelings in Intervention
I’m on your side — Scene from the final battle in The Gift
Oh, when times get rough — Clip of Giles and Buffy after he has been speared in Spiral
And friends just can’t be found — Buffy feeling alone and beaten down in Checkpoint
Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down — Clip of Giles killing Ben so that Buffy doesn’t have to