Ok, so I should have done this on Golive day like everyone else, but I was too overwhelmed with squee. Is that an ok excuse? I received TWO amazing and wonderful vids this year, and I am THRILLED and DELIGHTED by both :-D \o/ I really love the way the treats culture seems to be growing every year in Festivids. It's such a warm, generous exchange. So, without further ado, I received:
Always 1895 by
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dkwilliamsThis is a
beautiful, nostalgic, layered look at Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson in the Granada TV series. I say 'layered', because not only does it make lovely use of the Granada series footage - Jeremy Brett's breathtaking physicality, the subtle, tender looks and gestures passed between Holmes and Watson, the alternately quiet and chaotic moments of their lives together in Baker Street - but it it is set to a recording of Basil Rathbone reading Vincent Starret's famous poem, over the top of the music from the Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. In addition to which - as if that wasn't enough - I started to notice on multiple repeat viewings that a lot of the chosen clips are moments when the series deliberately recreates the original illustrations by Sydney Paget - see for example the moment in the train carriage which recreates
this illustration from The Adventure of Silver Blaze. The vid also uses some perfect clips to represent the more evocative moments in the poem - the yellow fog, Holmes' mischievous reveal of the papers at 'England is England yet', the 'view-halloo' out on the moors. I especially love Watson's faint on 'Only those things the heart believes are true.' (Like he never really believed in his heart that Holmes was gone. Like the fans didn't.)
But as well as the multiple versions of Holmes and Watson that are conjured in this vid, the use of external footage from real-world recordings of the First World War adds a whole additional layer of pathos. The vid summary is '
No matter what changes occur in the real world, for Sherlock Holmes and his Watson(s), it is always 1895' which reflects the message of the poem - and the inspired use of the real world footage really *does* give Holmes and Watson the very timeless quality that the poem talks about. And at the same time, it seems to insinuate them even further into the real fabric of our world. If that makes sense? It's not at all jarring to see Holmes and Watson juxtaposed with back and white images of the WW1 battlefields. It just makes them seem more real. I don't know, I'm not being very coherent here. What even are words. Just watch the vid. In conclusion, I love this. It is everything I love about the enduring mythos of Holmes and Watson <3
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I also received a treat in the form of
Flash Bang Wallop by the very sneaky and wonderful
cosmic_llin.
......
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*flails incoherently*
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WHAT CAN I EVEN SAY. THIS IS A VID ABOUT MICHAEL PALIN AND HIS FACE AND IT'S UTTERLY PERFECT AND I LOVE HIM AND I LOVE THIS VID AND I LOVE
cosmic_llin. The song choice is
amazing - absolutely full of JOY and and a very British kind of wry humour. Ideal for the lovely Mr Palin and his Pole to Pole adventures, particularly as the whole song is about recording awkward moments on camera. But more than that - the vid just dances along, showcasing all the adorable, gentlemanly dorkiness that I love about Michael Palin (my first ever celebrity crush, age 12). I particularly love the shot of him casually strolling amongst the camels, and the kissing shot over 'When Juliet fell for Romeo'. I love him veiled in a mosquito net ('in a wedding group'), dressed up as a Roman ('in a Shakespeare play') and covered in mud and jumping naked off a boat and all the other clever lyrical matches. I love his face. I love his dancing. I love his reactions to everything, and his friendliness to everyone. I love the people he meets on his journey all befriending him and watching him interact with the world with some combination of delight, fondness and perplexity. I love his game expressions as he bravely submits to whatever indignities he has signed himself up for next, all the while filmed by his crew. Have I mentioned that I love his face?
I actually can't watch this without a huge, ridiculous grin. I will watch it every time I am sad, and I suggest everybody else does likewise <3
THANK YOU LOVELY FESTIVIDDERS \o/
