Final Vividcon premiere, Dream

[gwyn]

Here's the first of the two vids I made with collaboration for the final Vividcon. It's basically my love letter to the con, to vidding, and to fandom.

"Dream" (Watch on YouTube)

First of all, I want to say that I could not have made this without the help of anoel, especially, and killa and sdwolfpup, who all helped me with clips, especially in fandoms that aren't my own and I'd have had no hope of getting source for. Anoel went above and beyond and cheerled to an extreme degree, and I also have to thank minim_calibre, who gave me the original, restored-to-their-glory Star Wars movies a while ago, and gave me the Martian as well. I only ended up having like maybe half the source on my own, and getting so much crowd-sourced and just the collaborative spirit made a huge difference (particularly when I found out that the deadline was ten days sooner than I thought it was). The fact that this came together in essentially less than a month is entirely due to their help.

I've had this song from my longtime fave Angela McCluskey for years, and I would play it for people and they'd all agree it would be a fantastic vid song. But I could never figure out a way into it, what the theme was, and when I'd ask what they thought the theme was, they'd tell me something and I'd listen and nod appreciatively, but it was never quite right. When the VVC con comm announced this would be the last con, I thought "oh, that's what it is" and finally knew what it had to be about: this group of crazy people who get together and sit in the dark to watch vids, and make vids, or discuss them and analyze them and gush over them. It's us.

I intended to start it last year, but there was cancer, and other lifestuff, and then I began the process of talking myself out of it. Only, in the back of my heart, I couldn't stop wanting to do this. Fortunately my friends are evil enablers, and they sent me clips and talked about it, and I'm so glad I made it, even with all the hardship. It was a lot of pain and suffering and hard work, but worth it in the end.

If anyone's interested in the list of fandoms, I could add that to this post later--let me know. I managed to injure myself rather severely today and am running at half power right now, but if there's interest I'll happily come back and do that.

ETA: Now with list of fandoms (not in alphabetical order)
WALL-E
Star Wars (original trilogy and sequel)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Doctor Who
Battlestar Galactica
Contact
Stargate SG-1
Wonder Woman
Black Panther
Lord of the Rings
Thor
Firefly
Stargate: Atlantis
The Good Place
Parks & Recreation
Supernatural
Xena: Warrior Princess
Up
Star Trek (reboot)
Harry Potter
ST: Discovery
Iron Man
Farscape
The Martian
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Magicians
Chronicles of Narnia
Frozen
Pacific Rim
Captain America
Sleepy Hollow
Moana
Game of Thrones
Maleficent
Smallville
Angel
Supergirl
Heroes
Leverage
Due South
Z Nation
Star Trek TOS (movies)
Glee
Merlin
Lilo & Stitch
Agent Carter
Sense8
Veronica Mars
Finding Nemo
Yuri on Ice
Avatar the Last Airbender
The Incredibles
Community

ETA 2:
People have asked me about the song--I'm not sure if it's still available on iTunes, but it was. I've been a fan of Angela's for a while, and (everyone gets wigged out when I tell them where this song comes from, but I'll say it anyways) I was watching TV once when a commercial came on and I thought, wait, is that Angela McCluskey? It is! The ad was for the Pampers/UNICEF program to end maternal and newborn tetanus, represented by Salma Hayak, and I wondered if they'd have a full length song available, hunted around, and found it. So it says Pampers/UNICEF on the song metadata--I don't know, I always thought that was kind of cool, a song for a super valuable vaccines campaign and it also fit perfectly with fannish feels. It's a hopeful song, and has that sense of wonder I think we're always looking for.

ETA 3:
There are no official lyrics anywhere, but after listening to the artist for years, I am familiar with her phrasing, and I think this is what they are.

Dream, there's a whole world out there
See it in front of you and
Stare at the sky
Believe in your life, believe in the world out there

Dream, far away, dream of today
And fly away

Dream, feel your heart breathe
Rise high above and
Shine like a sun
Hold your head high and fly

I can see for miles, a million hearts on fire
And we need it to rain all night, we need it to rain all night
To let tomorrow shine to new life
To grow our flowers without a fight
And love like we need it to live, love like we need it to live

Help me find you, take my hand
We'll walk this land together
Show me your heart, take my hand
We'll shine forever

Comments

[dine]

oh god, hon - this is awesome, such a terrific love letter. I found myself smiling irrepressibly throughout, without even meaning to a happy soft smile kept creeping onto my face. I've watched it several times tonight, and will likely watch it more in the following days.

congrats to you and your able assistants for finding great clips to build such an amazing vid.

I'm not familiar with all the canons, and if you get around to it would definitely be interested in a list of the fandoms - but no rush. take care of yourself and feel better - and enjoy the con!

[gwyn]

Aw, thanks! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. If you haven't checked back, the list of fandoms is included now.

[sperrywink]

That was so lovely and heartwarming. What a celebration.

Like Dine I ended up with a big smile on my face.

[gwyn]

Thank you so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

[blueswan]

You have created such a happy-making vid. I loved the song choice; it was perfect! Thank you for making me smile first thing this morning.

Take care of yourself,rest and recover.

[gwyn]

Thank you very much--that's really kind of you to say.

[aerye]

This is marvelous!

[gwyn]

Thank you--I missed you this weekend, but I'm really glad to know that you weren't there because of something positive and hopefully helpful coming up in the future!

[elz]

That was soooo great, and such a perfect capper for the show. And made me weirdly emotional, too, especially with some of the older fandoms - Hiro in Times Square, and Keith and Veronica, and John and Aeryn.... It's like a shared language of all the things we've collectively loved over the years. Anyway, <3, and I'm also glad you were able to make it for this year.

[gwyn]

I know what you mean--working on the older fandoms was the thing that tended to stab me in the heart, bringing up all those feels from the past... It was good to see you, one last time there. I'm so glad you liked this.

[marginaliana]

Surfing on my DW network and came across this - it made me cry. Wonderful.

[gwyn]

Thank you so much!

[muccamukk]

Holy shit. I'm not crying. You're crying.

[muccamukk]

Okay, if not more coherent thoughts, then certainly more thoughts! I just watched this five times consecutively and really wish a I had a copy to dl so I could put subs on it and make my wife watch it like 500 times. However, failing that, allow me to scream at you about it.

You start with Wall-E, and the joy we have at showing our friend the thing, and the connections we make through media. Unintentionally (maybe), it's also a call out to Murderbot and its powerful ode to storytelling, in what is basically This Vid, the Novella Series. ETA: Also finding creaky old tech and old things that are cheesy as hell and clapping like a seal and loving them unconditionally.

You also start with Luke, a first fandom for many of us, and it's impossible to see that double sunset without hearing the John Williams theme which is both the saddest and most hopeful music I've ever heard, and of course through that theme, and through Luke: Rey, and our connection between generations, and the fact that I can't hear that theme over Rey without crying, because she means so much to me, and so does Luke. And I LOVE that you've woven the two together, and by the two I mean our old fandoms of our cranky old hearts, and the joy of the new generation and spending twenty years in fandom and still loving new things. And as we love and life and find new things, finding ourselves and our own stories told by people like us more and more.

I didn't even like season 7, but I will never in my life be over that look on Buffy's face, the idea of her having hope after all those years. SMG absolutely nailed that moment of understanding new possibility, and its so perfect for the start of this vid. I am not going to review every single clip choice, I swear. I just really love this.

Okay, but I really love Martha. I swear, I'll stop, but the whole looking at the stars and finding home and adventure at the same time, the stars as possibility and also the future. And also a place that we actually go. I love the stargate clip of going from looking at the stars to stepping out into space. Yes. Good.

Also (I lied that I was going to stop), but XENA AND GABBY! THE LESBIANS HAVE BEEN HERE ALL ALONG. Also that clip is them looking at the stars and telling each other stories, and it's so perfect for this vid.

And Jim Kirk of the new generation, seeing his new ship and believing for the first time in his life that he could be something greater, like Harry with his wand, and there are so many steps into new worlds and I love them all. Oh, God, Rey. I'M NOT CRYING! I'M NOT!

Because Rey tips us into a new generation, and those are movies about us. They're Diana and T'Challa, and they're so fucking beautiful. May have punched the air at T'Challa = Aragorn. Of course he does. We keep stepping into new worlds and finding new friends there, and what the hell else is fandom if not that. LOVE THE SGA CLIP.

And tying it back to our narrator, Wall-E. Because what is fandom if not crazy dancing together in space surrounded by magic and looking like dorks and not caring. I think the Martian scene was when I started crying the first time around. Also, I admire your devotion to lesbians.

And I love all the different kinds of love in this video: parents and children, sisters, friends, lovers, self discovery, a man and his space ship.

I saw Shuri and screamed. That is all.

REY! I'M NOT CRYING! Rey to Leia is just... I can't. Sorry. Nope. "hold your head high," indeed all of those brave amazing girls taking flight and having their own stories and being queens, and I love them so much.

And just the thing with one person flying, and then it leading to every one who is part of making that happen, and everyone who cheers for them when they do, and everyone who takes that and starts to fly themselves. "A million hearts on fire." WHAT IS FANDOM IF NOT THAT!?

Also, it's raining right now, for the first time in months, and we needed it so, so badly, and my garden's been struggling, and everything's been on fire. So... good timing on that.

I can't with Spike being the one to raise his hand. "Mostly it taught us that there are always second chances, even for people like us."

Supergirl! Especially Supergirl flying and her and Steve being tomorrow and shining. And I cannot tell you how much I love your clip choices for "shine." overall. ABBY! (Also the movement transition between Kara and Steve is wonderful. I'm not commenting on the technical side because I'm not viddy and have a tin ear, but just take it as read that I think it's amazing movement with beat happening.)

I can usually make it pretty far on rewatches without crying, but "And love like we needed to live" for PARKER! Jesus, just shoot me in the heart? Learning to love again, learning that you can trust and be trusted, putting your heart right out there and joyfully running flat off a cliff and taking your friend with you? What is fandom? I ask you.

Again, a million times, I love the mix of old fandoms and new and of every kind of friendship and love and connection. Clips I've seen in a million vids and fandoms I don't even know. It's just... it means a lot.

Fuck. Mako Mori and Stacker Pentecost. I'M NOT CRYING! (ETA: Especially on "I can see for miles" because of Mako looking up and seeing hope and her future. And it's a wonderful pair with the last clip of T'Challa.)

Diana stepping up and into battle! Okay, I'm totally crying. I very viscerally know what rain after a drought is like, and it's the same damn feeling as a new fandom after you've been down and in your head and feeling like the world is pointless. It's the shield against the shrapnel of the world, and it's the friends arms around you when you think you're dying. ETA: And, and, and the mix of old and new fandoms as new people falling into old fandoms as well. How many new people have you seen fall in love with Star Trek or due South?

I just, I really, really love the tomorrow with T'Challa and Okeyo and fucking PARKER again, and happy too. God, she's just like the embodiment of tomorrow. I can't stand how much I love her and love watching her discovering both herself and that she can be her weirdo self and still be happy and loved.

ETA: I forgot to mention Moana putting the heart back in the world! How is every single clip so perfect?

And back to Luke, and older Luke who's suffered and lost and found his family, and is still looking up at the stars. Like the first captain and the newest captain on Star Trek (ETA: and the first captain telling us to go forward and see what's out there). Like a kid looking up and seeing himself as a king (ETA: And a king looking at a child and seeing a second chance).

ETA: I SWEAR I'M DONE!

Okay. The vid's over. I'm done. Hi. It was a good vid. Thank you for sharing :)

[kass]

This vid made me WEEP. I love it so much. I will say more at lunch. :-D

[gwyn]

I'm so very very glad you enjoyed it (and that we got to spend a little time together).

[kore]

I wish I could be more eloquent, this is so fantastic. I loved it.

[gwyn]

Thank you very much! I'm really thrilled that you enjoyed it so much.

[goodbyebird]

Well I'm crying. This is so beautiful <3

[gwyn]

Thank you so much! <3<3<3

[thisbluespirit]

I also saw this while randomly reading around friends' friends lists and I'm so glad I did - it's just so gorgeous! Beautiful work! <3

[gwyn]

That's wonderful to hear--I'm really pleased you enjoyed it so much. :-D

[misbegotten]

Absolutely LOVELY. All the kudos to you.

[gwyn]

Thank you so much! I appreciate them all!

[persiflage_1]

Came here via a rec from lost_spook. I'm not a big watcher of fanvids - fic's more my thing, but I loved this, and it made me cry. I didn't know even half the fandoms, but the ones I did got to me. Thanks for making it and sharing it.

I wish good friends and much fandom love.

[gwyn]

That's really sweet of you to say, thank you so much. I'm thrilled that you enjoyed it enough to take time to leave a comment.

[cathexys]

I already said it on your other post but OMG I'm in love with this vid. Just showed it to my son and he's all, "I knew all the fandoms and love most of them." EXACTLY. I get goosebumps like 30 seconds in and then just become a puddle of goo. So much love!!!

[gwyn]

That made me laugh out loud--thank you! I really needed a laugh, too. It's just so great when people who aren't necessarily in our little circles have the same kind of feels, and it's wonderful to know something you had a hand in did that. I'm really happy you enjoyed it so much--I wanted more than anything to just be able to convey what I love about fandom, and so it means a lot to hear that I achieved that result.

[spikedluv]

This is amazing! It also made me smile all the way through, and I got little bursts of joy whenever I recognized a fandom. I love how you managed to make the scenes match the song especially with the dancing and the flying. Gorgeous vid! I'm so glad you decided to finish it. Thank you so much for sharing it.

[gwyn]

What a lovely comment--thank you so much, I'm really so happy you enjoyed it that much. Back in my VCR vidding days, that matching was a thing the group I vidded with sort of developed, and it's kind of this ingrained thing in me now, to always see patterns and matches, or hear the way music might map to a visual. It's made me so happy that people have enjoyed that.

[sakana17]

That's so lovely!! And a great closing vid for the final VVC premieres. I'm glad you finished it, not glad you were in pain, though! *hugs* Time for a well-deserved rest - I hope you feel a bit better before the flight home.

[gwyn]

Thank you so much--I was so sad that you couldn't be there. Klia told me that they didn't know the bed situation had improved, and I wish so much I'd known, I could have said something! But you were there in spirit--and I'm so glad you enjoyed this vid. {{{hugs}}}

[swordznsorcery]

This is amazing. Thank you so much for making it, and posting it for the rest of us to see.

[gwyn]

Thank you very much--I'm so glad you enjoyed it!!

[bironic]

So impressed that you made something this good this quickly. Looking forward to watching it again when not 3/4 asleep. :)

[gwyn]

I felt a bit like back in my VCR vidding days--when we broke an editing deck making a vid with super short cuts, only I think I kind of broke myself. :-D I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[scintilla10]

Oh wow, I love this so much. I'm crying over here as well. "A million hearts on fire" is such a perfect fandom line, and the way you wove so many moments and feelings throughout this vid and this song is masterfully and beautifully done.

[gwyn]

Isn't that such a great line? It's funny, I kept trying to figure out what the theme of the vid should be, and it was there all along in that line. I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and thank you so much for taking the time to watch and comment.

[naye]

Oh this made me smile while my heart broke a bit at the beauty.

[gwyn]

That is such a sweet comment, thank you -- I don't want to break people's hearts, but if there's a smile in there, that's good.

[mackiemesser]

This was really lovely, and hopeful, and yet a little sad underneath because it's both a love letter and a farewell. I absolutely love it (and hope you have it available for download eventually so I can add it to my collection of your vids).

[gwyn]

Yeah, I knew there'd be a sadness element to it, but I wasn't quite expecting how many people say they cried and cried--I wanted to make it hopeful, but you can never really predict what an audience will do, you just have to make your art and put it out there in the world. I'm really glad to hear you liked it so much. I got pretty banged up at the con, but at some point here I'll have a downloadable file on my vids site.

[cesperanza]

Vid of the con, baby - a worthy successor to Data's Dream, except it's our dream. The flow of this was incredible, the echoing of images, the hope and optimism. I'm so happy you made this!

[gwyn]

Thank you so much--I'm so glad you liked it, and I was especially gratified by your comment in vid review about the videotape, preserving the old things. I'd wondered if people would grok that aspect of the opening clip, and of the joy of sharing the thing with your friends, and I'm really happy that it came across.

[musesfool]

This is such a beautiful love letter to fandom. <333

[gwyn]

Thank you so much! ♥ ♥

[dariaw]

This is just so brilliant and amazing. And it gave me SO MANY feels about fandom and community. Stupendously good <3 <3 <3

And this is probably a fine time to mention that you've been one of my most favorite vidders for a long time and I appreciate all your vids so much <3

[gwyn]

That is so incredibly sweet of you to say--I can't tell you how much that means to me. I've been a little sad because I feel like this huge chapter of my life is over, and your comment makes me feel a lot better.

[alchemise]

That was beautiful. ♥

[gwyn]

Thank you so much. :-D