purplefringe | I did my best, it wasn't much

Crossposts: https://purplefringe.livejournal.com/69814.html

Entry tags:

I did my best, it wasn't much

guys, I...I made another Good Omens vid? A third one? I don't know what has happened, I don't understand anything any more, apparently Good Omens is my whole life now. (Which is good, I guess, because I have well and truly noped out of engaging with the Real World in quite a serious way, so it's nice to have something else to think about.)

This one has...Feelings in it. Many Feelings, which I absolutely did not know I had. But there we are. It's also to a piece of music about which I (along with approx. half the world) have Many Feelings, although I did know about those, because I once wrote a 2,000 word email-essay containing some of them. (it's NOT Queen, I promise)

I think I had a lot more to say, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind. Er. Have a vid, I guess.

Thank you to the wonderful

soupytwist,

such_heights &

raven, who are lovely and thoughtful (and patient, and long-suffering) betas. If you haven't already, you should watch the Good Omens vids such_heights and raven have made recently, which are both breathtaking in very different ways.

Hallelujah
edited by

purplefringe
fandom: Good Omens
music: Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, covered by Pentatonix
summary: there's a blaze of light in every word / it doesn't matter which you heard / the holy or the broken hallelujah. On faith, and falling, and freedom.
content notes: a shot of a snake at 00:18; a brief shot of a nail being driven into someone's wrist at 2:08. (I also have a version without the snake, if anyone would like that one)

ETA: I strongly recommend you go and read

elisi's extraordinary Good Omens meta - the first section is a wonderful commentary on Aziraphale's journey as presented through this glorious vid by promethia-tenk, and the second section (about two thirds down the page) is about Crowley, and ties into this vid! YAY, INTER-TEXTUAL FANWORKS \o/

download: 169MB @ mediafire

Also on tumblr and the AO3

stream:

"Good Omens | Hallelujah" (Watch on YouTube)

Lyrics

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

This vid gave me chills, and it's super-appreciated today, the hottest day of the year(so far).

Also it is very good, and each time I watch I notice something new, and the whole thing is so moving, and it works so well.

0.04 — Crowley’s slow blink on “chord”, nice

0:10 — this is the moment where I knew this vid was going to be great and I was in safe hands, with Aziraphale bricking up the hole in the wall of Eden. And it also introduces the AMAZING USE you are going to make of Michael Sheen’s AMAZING FACE

0.20 — “the minor fall, the major lift” — I feel like this is your stating your opening case for THIS SONG BELONGS TO “GOOD OMENS” NOW, and it’s a strong one

0.25 — “the baffled king” with Aziraphale resurrecting the dove (and of course he taps its chest exactly on beat) — I LOVE this because it’s a change from the book (where it’s Crowley who resurrects the dove), which annoyed people, and which was apparently done for practical reasons because of blocking issues, and you make such perfect use of it here; here is a being who has divine power to bring the dead back to life, and he is using it on a bird that he accidentally killed by shoving it up his sleeve in order to do pretend magic

0:33 — his radiant face reacting to the food, and I love the idea that that’s holy, because it really is part of his profound love for the world

0:42 — including books (and magic tricks, and wine, and snacks)

0.50 — and his little dum-dum-dum as he hangs up his coat, and into that sequence of gestures, so delightful

1.01 — “you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you” — these are the big money moments that get used in so many vids, but you tell the holy water story so deftly (and the “oooh-ooh-ooh” vocal embellishment as the thermos is handed over, you are SO GOOD at this)

1.12 — “she tied you to the kitchen chair” — all the little facial expressions and glances exchanged, with the coin thrown and caught woven in, as Crowley seduces him into the Arrangement and then into agreeing to godparent the Antichrist

And it’s so perfect with the David-and-Bathsheba/Samson-and-Delilah lyrics, because those stories are traditionally about being tempted/seduced into sin, but the song reframes them in terms of succumbing to vulnerability, to being “human” and flawed and frail in a way which is itself holy

1.133 — and oh, the hallelujahs are getting very harsh and lonely now, his faaaaace I can’t bear it, being judged and rejected by Heaven as a consequence of all the “softening” he’s done

1.39 — this close-up shot of Aziraphale losing his faith in heaven is one of the most impressive bits of acting in the show, and you place it perfectly in the vid and earn the space it holds, beautiful, especially with the cut away to the light in the portal dimming, and him averting his face from God’s light during their awkward conversation about the sword (and again the light dims), then returning to his face again

1.52 — the voice change and the POV change, I SCREAM; this is such a lovely shock for anyone who doesn’t know that this cover of the song has two lead singers, and you give Crowley such a power entrance with that little jump cut, I’m sure he’d appreciate that

2.05 — this is all so perfect for the song and you know it

2.09 — “I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch” — YOU USED THE CRUCIFIXION FOOTAGE YES GO THERE, AND THE ARK

2.12 — “and love is not a victory march”, with the two contrasting wall slams, and there’s a really interesting segue from the kind of performative-but-not-actually-scary violence of Crowley’s wall slam (which is nonetheless throwing “nice” back in Aziraphale’s face) to the real violence of the "bad angels" and the emotional nastiness of Gabriel’s little mock gut-punches

2.22 — all the little eye raises to heaven

2.24 — the softening “hallelujah”, and the chains fall away

2.28 — all the glances, you’re so good with glances, Aziraphale silently flirting his way into “Hamlet” being a hit, the paint being blown away is in every damn vid but again you earn it

2.40 — Az looking up as the bomb comes down, another unused moment, that’s someone watching his world about to come crashing down around them

2.42 — “how to shoot somebody who outdrew you” — all Crowley ever learned of love is rejection and abandonment and taking out your traumas on your houseplants, and yet he manages to love so deeply and so kindly anyway

2.56 —“a cry that you hear at night” — Aziraphale’s FAAAACE as he rejects him

3.12 — the slow beats that you’re cutting on behind the “hallelujah”s, the levitating and the fire, and then into the more subtle moments, the two of them stepping up to flank Adam and argue about whether the great plan is also the ineffable plan, before we’re into “come up with something or I’ll never speak to you again”

3.28 — Aziraphale getting sucked into the globe and then Crowley throwing his arms up to stop time as the music SWELLS, fuck yeah, and into the revelation of their wings

3.44 — Lucifer pounds his fists on the ground perfectly on the beat, Crowley getting yanked to the ground as he emerges is an overlooked moment

3.48 — Aziraphale gets ready to fight with his flaming sword as Adam gets ready to protect Eve with the same sword

3.53 — Aziraphale reaching to grab the scrap of paper with the “choose your faces wisely” prophecy as Eve reaches for the apple, lovely

3.58 — passing the scrap of paper on the bench

4.05 — the slow wing beats as the song settles and the narrative resolves and everything falls into place, the Ritz (and the piano echoing the wing covering) and the final callback to the wing covering on the walls of Eden

FINALLY REPLYING TO COMMENTS katy i am overwhelm help /o\ I AM SORRY FOR YOUR FACE ORBS AND HAPPY YOU HAVE AN EMOTIONAL SUPPORT CUSHION. The management has noted your complaints and will consider them in future!

oh my goodness, Laura /o\ I have taken a few days to reply to this because I am a bit overwhelmed by such kind words. What a truly wonderful comment. Thank you so much - I'm so, so happy this vid spoke to you as this whole journey speaks to me.

you have used This Song and you have used the Pentatonix cover and I might cry from the very idea
This was so nice to hear - a lot of people have commented that they enjoyed this *despite* reservations about the (overused) song choice - it is nice to hear enthusiasm for the song from the outset! I just...it's so perfect??

My heart feels huge and warm and I want to sing and cry and embrace you
a;'aksd;'ajfljaslfhKAHShf;ls <33333

When Crowley breaks the chains, that moment is everything. This vid is doing so much with metaphor and storytelling and meaning-making
I am very proud of that moment! I am so glad the metaphor comes across. I LOVE METAPHORS \o/

If you've posted on Tumblr, can you link me so I can rec there?
Thank you SO MUCH for your DW and TW enthusiasm! It means a lot. I have actively resisted tumblr for the most part until now, but GO has caused me to spend WAY too much time there, so I finally caved and put all my vids on a blog. It's definitely the start of a very slippery slope. Anyway, it's here: https://purplefringe-vids.tumblr.com - please rec away, if you still would like to! <3

Thank you again! This has made me so happy.

HAI PROMETHIA, I am so delighted you eventually enjoyed this! :D I need to comment on your DELIGHTFUL second vid too (why is this happening??? we are making SO MANY THINGS???) I am sorry for all the FEELINGS!

I am *fascinated* that you would not have picked Aziraphale for a vid about struggling with faith...for me, that's what his whole journey is about? He spends 6000 years trying to reconcile the warring parts of himself, which love God, and love Heaven, and love Earth, and love Crowley, and how they can't all fit together. He spends 6000 years fretting and trotting out the party line (the sheer NUMBER OF TIMES he says 'I'm an angel' or 'you're a demon', as if that explains everything??? which, if you're eg. Gabriel, I guess it does) and his whole journey is realising that giving away the sword was RIGHT, and that Heaven Doesn't Care and that God is probably Not Listening or at least Not Intervening and that he had faith in entirely the wrong things. Is that not what you see?

<33333333 no coherence is required, friend! I am so delighted and flattered that this is the first thing you watched, and am so happy (/sorry) that it gave you all the feelings. I didn't know *I* had these feelings?! But once I did I HAD TO SHARE THE PAIN.

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for this wonderful comment! I just /o\ I'm so delighted that you watched and enjoyed this, despite doubts about the source and the song! Michael Sheen's faces is indeed a GIFT and honestly it's amazing I made this at all, I kept just getting distracted looking at his expressions. Thank you again!

I HAVE READ YOUR META EMAIL AND I LOVE IT but I am too tired to respond to anything properly tonight (got home later than expected) - BUT am not doing anything tomorrow so replies forthcoming!

I am so glad you time-stamped this, rydra, because I have been wanting to do this work and have been not doing it (writing all the A/C fic instead) and now I don't have to, I can just come here and point and make inarticulate moaning sounds. THANK YOU.

HAI PROMETHIA, I am so delighted you eventually enjoyed this!
I DID I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH. THIS SONG HAS NOW REPLACED MY VID SONGS ON ENDLESS LOOP IN MY LIFE. (Don't really know if I should thank you for that one, but it's sure a change of pace, so that's nice.)

I am sorry for all the FEELINGS!
GOOD, YOU SHOULD BE.

<3

I need to comment on your DELIGHTFUL second vid too (why is this happening??? we are making SO MANY THINGS???)
*stares at the endless accumulation of tabs of things I need to reply to* *laughs weakly* Don't worry about it.

How's your mania doing? I think I finally managed to crack the fever a bit. Not enough to, you know, be a productive human being. But I have gotten a decent night's sleep once or twice this week.

I am *fascinated* that you would not have picked Aziraphale for a vid about struggling with faith...for me, that's what his whole journey is about? . . . Is that not what you see?
*ponders* You're not wrong. Obviously, you made a whole vid of it. I think the thing is that Aziraphale, being the one with, you know, an actual arc, there are many potential lenses through which one might look at his journey and find fruitful things to say. Such as, just to pick a random example, kinky sexual power dynamics. Now Crowley, on the other hand, doesn't really have an arc, per se. He's actually in a fairly stable configuration. So all there is to work with, with him, is 1) his devotion to Aziraphale and 2) his festering cesspool of God issues. Now, his devotion to Aziraphale, while truly epic and terribly sweet, is also terribly, terribly straightforward. (There's a reason that vid got made first.) Which means, if you really want to dig into Crowley, it's got to be the festering cesspool of God issues. I am reasonably certain I'm done with vidding this show *knocks on an infinite amount of wood* But if I were to make another go at it, it would almost certainly be to try to tackle Crowley and his festering cesspool of God issues in proper depth (in connection to the deeply humanist message of the show, natch.)

But, hey, now if I never make that, I have the middle verses of your vid! And magnificent verses they are. (Also all the rest of it, but when you brought Crowley in, that's when it slammed me in the gut. And I was telling elisi, I don't feel like I've seen nearly enough meta/discourse/works about the fact that Crowley has been through this particular wringer already, essentially, and is there to see Aziraphale through it. And you show that, as I said, dialogue, just so achingly beautifully.)

Wow, this is gorgeous.

you are going to make my seven year old Good Omens superfanchild burst into noisy tears. This is SO BEAUTIFUL

a lot of people have commented that they enjoyed this *despite* reservations about the (overused) song choice - it is nice to hear enthusiasm for the song from the outset!

Apologies if I sounded negative about the song choice, because it's completely PERFECT for this canon and this particular story that you're telling (and the two-voiced nature of this cover makes it especially apt here).

(Some discussion going on here here about some of the resonances of the song which make it especially appropriate, which may or may not have been in your head consciously but are awesome anyway.)

But it's so over-used that the only way to get away with using it is to do so with supreme skill and confidence -- "when you shoot at a king, you better not miss". It's a very high-risk activity! And you NAIL it and it's glorious.

I hope it was semi-coherent, at least! I'm sure there's so much more to pick out and comment on, but I wanted to at least make a first pass at what I'm seeing in it after [REDACTED] number of viewings.

Ahhhhh thank you for this lovely comment! I am delighted this vid served a VERY PRACTICAL purpose on that absurdly hot day! XD

Thank you so much!

Awwwwwww, I am delighted! Thank you! :D

Very coherent! I'm up to six viewings now, I think? Some days it's too much and I can't take it so I have to build myself up to it again. It's Just That Intense.

Just recced on Tumblr, thank you! Also followed you, of course. I don't use it much except I am all GO all the time now, just reblogging everything and flailing all over myself. (:

There is so much I want to say about this vid, still. The thing I keep coming back to lately is "love is not a victory march" and how you show that to mean that the war between Heaven and Hell is a fool's errand, violence is wrong, Heaven does not love you, Heaven will not protect or save you -- so much meaning packed into that little sentence. And it's shattering.

Thank you, again, so much, for making this great and beautiful work.

This show is a freaking miracle.
IT IS. Between us, Promethia and I have created four WILDLY DIFFERENT vids about Aziraphale and Crowley, from the same six (6) hours of footage. wtf. As I think I said in another vid post, the only other sources I have vidded more than twice are Doctor Who and Star Trek, both of which are...considerably longer. wtf.

'Secret chord' = Ineffable Plan?
Yes!

'But you don't care for music' I presume this is noting that Aziraphale does not want to question anything?
This is...a bit more complicated. Because obviously A *doesn't* want to question anything, doesn't want to speculate about the nature of the Plan...but at the same time, the *very first thing* we see him do is disobey God and then lie about it to God and that's even *before* he starts chatting to a demon. I liked that clip of him blocking up the hole in the wall of Eden after he's let Adam and Eve out because it sort of shows both -it shows that his ability to question and disobey Heaven was always there, but that he is trying so desperately to quash that ability, to hide it from God and Heaven and anyone else (including himself).

Aziraphale with the dove is just heartbreaking. And that's all you & the music, cause it's fine on the show. (Although 'Baffled king' is perfect
Thank you! I was pleased with that bit! He's just so soft and kind and I love him.

You saw her bathing on the roof' - again, exquisite clip matches, and Azira carrying his heart in his hands
<3 This is also Crowley being Vulnerable (asking for the holy water because he is afraid of Hell's reprisals)

The uncomfortable notes of The Arrangement all laid out, and (something that is often overlooked) but Crowley is very good at his job
Oh, I'm so glad you like this bit - it was one of the very last bits of the vid to come together properly. Weirdly, it's hard to make the timing work well when you're just using a bunch of pretty static face shots! (Answer: add some ZOOM). And YES Crowley IS good at his job, when he wants to be.

OK, so it's all about Azira's disappointment with, and dismissal by, Heaven, but his FACE.
I mean, ok, yes 90% of it is about the crushing loss of A's faith in Heaven, his dawning realisation that really, truly, nobody is listening…but it is also 10% about HIS FACE. (Specifically, it was me vidding this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/CharCubed/status/1141531169839886337?s=20)

'Well, maybe there's a God above/But all I've ever learned from love/Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya' THIS. This killed me
<333 I am VERY EXCITED for you to post your meta! But yes, exactly, it was That Tumblr Plant Meta that is behind this bit (there was a moment when I included the shot of him holding up the empty plant pot, which I loved for the SYMBOLISM of the moment, but ultimately I took it out because the actual moment in the show is *so ridiculously extra* that it made my betas laugh when they watched it, which was Not what I wanted)

Especially like Crowley's helpless gesture (on 3.01), which just matches things perfectly. How he is trying to communicate, and it's just not working
I also loved this gesture because it is one of a string of times Crowley gesticulates *upwards*. I included a few others (the bomb in the church; holding up the empty bottle for a refill in the Bar of Sadness) and I like it for the helplessness of him raising an outstretched hand towards something that he knows won’t reach back for him.

Hallelujah'. Aziraphale going up into the light and Crowley down below in the flames is just a gorgeous, gorgeous juxtaposition, and I haven't seen anything like it elsewhere
Thank you! I am v pleased with this. I especially like the last two shots, when A dissolves into light, and the flames cross the screen to obscure C’s face.

Especially loved the parallel between grasping Agnes' prophecy and the apple, although I'd love any further insights into clip choices
So this is about…making a choice. Aziraphale reaches for the prophecy and plucks his destiny from the air, as Eve reaches for the apple that will change the course of human history. But it’s about what’s ON the prophecy - it’s what I was saying in my email earlier, about Heaven and Hell not actually, in the end, knowing the difference between Good and Evil. Aziraphale grasps the prophecy and that leads directly to the whole bodyswap thing. He and Crowley have chosen *knowledge*, and freedom, have chosen to really understand the meaning of Good and Evil, in a way that neither Heaven nor Hell do. That’s why the apple shot is followed by them both at their trials - C-as-A defiantly raising his hands (again!) when his bonds are taken off, and A-as-C joyfully flicking holy water at the watching demons. I get that that’s….a lot to try and express in like 4 clips! /o\ I am, if I am honest, not entirely happy with it and do now have an idea about a way I could have done it slightly differently, to make it all clearer, but hey ho.

ANYWAY. THANK YOU <3333

Thank you,

elisi!!!

Thank you for linking, Elisi! Yes, that is indeed the meta that inspired that bit of the vid :)

Don't really know if I should thank you for that one, but it's sure a change of pace, so that's nice
Ahahaha, I know that feeling! If it's any consolation, I've listened to Read My Mind more in the past few weeks than in the last few years combined, so it's entirely mutual.

How's your mania doing? I think I finally managed to crack the fever a bit. Not enough to, you know, be a productive human being. But I have gotten a decent night's sleep once or twice this week
Same! THANK GOD. Sleep is happening, and every now and then I am able to think about other things! \o/ Though it's actually weird to...NOT be working on a GO vid right now?? I'm not sure what to do with my time. ALTHOUGH I still do have the thing where literally everything reminds me in some way of GO. I've moved from 'every Queen song is about GO' (which was the first three or four weeks of my post-GO life) to 'every Leonard Cohen song is about GO', so that's FUN.

Which means, if you really want to dig into Crowley, it's got to be the festering cesspool of God issues
(a) Good point! Which is interesting, because I feel like in the book it's really Crowley who gets more of a focus than Aziraphale. and (b) 'festering cesspool of God issues' is an amazing phrase, which I now have stuck in my head. If you do make that vid sometime, it will be wonderful! Apologies for nicking a really great song.

I don't feel like I've seen nearly enough meta/discourse/works about the fact that Crowley has been through this particular wringer already, essentially, and is there to see Aziraphale through it
True! I haven't seen much of that either. But also I feel like there's SO MUCH meta on tumblr that I can't really keep track of it all. Speaking of meta, am now off to re-read elisi's masterpiece and hopefully find some coherent words to flail with.

<3 I am deeply enjoying your 'azirafeels' tag! Both fo the content and also for the word 'AZIRAFEELS', which I'm pretty sure my phone is going to learn to autocapitalise really soon.

that the war between Heaven and Hell is a fool's errand, violence is wrong, Heaven does not love you, Heaven will not protect or save you
aaaargh I love it when people are able so so clearly and eloquently articulate what I can only say by flailing my arms around and mashing some clips together \o/ This bit is...it's as you say - Heaven will not protect or save you. It's about *God's* love, and the incomprehensible violence with which she shows it (the ark, the crucifixion), and the violence that her followers commit in her name (the other angels). And it's also about Crowley's love for Aziraphale, as he already *knows* all about Heaven's 'love' but can't make Aziraphale understand what he knows.

Ok, first of all, I just, I can’t, I don’t even know how to start thanking you for the wonderful things you have said about this vid - thank you for all your comments, and for your recs, and just *flails incoherently*. As Crowley would say: NGK. I don’t think I’ve ever had someone respond this enthusiastically or in this level of wonderful detail to one of my vids before, and it’s so gratifying to see, on something I worked so hard on, and I am SO OVERWHELMED WITH JOY which is why it has taken me a while to get back to you /o\ So, um, I’m sorry for being faily at replying, and thank you so, so much for all of this <333 I keep re-reading your comments and melting inside. (I’m going to go and comment on your rec post too, because people there have said lovely things!)

To respond to some of the things in your glorious timestamped flailing:

0:10 — this is the moment where I knew this vid was going to be great and I was in safe hands, with Aziraphale bricking up the hole in the wall of Eden. And it also introduces the AMAZING USE you are going to make of Michael Sheen’s AMAZING FACE
HIS FACE IS SO AMAZING, I CANNOT DEAL. 90% of this vid is trying to make interesting points and arguments, and 10% is just LOOK AT HIS FACE. I’m glad you like this clip! I was v pleased with it - I talked a bit more about it in a reply to Elisi, above: https://purplefringe.dreamwidth.org/23708.html?thread=368796#cmt368796

0.20 — “the minor fall, the major lift” — I feel like this is your stating your opening case for THIS SONG BELONGS TO “GOOD OMENS” NOW
Oh I’m so glad! (Incidentally, please please don’t worry about your comment about this song being overused - I was not thinking of you at *all*! And I don’t really mind those comments, it’s actually quite flattering, it’s just also nice when people do like the song you’ve picked!) I am actually now feeling a bit weird about this moment, as I have an idea for how I could have done it slightly better, and the part of me that wants to obsessively tweak everything I make FOREVER is itching to change it. But I won’t. I do like how Eve closing her eyes as she bites into the apple is echoed in the shots of Aziraphale enjoying his food at 0:33.

0.25 — “the baffled king” with Aziraphale resurrecting the dove (and of course he taps its chest exactly on beat) — I LOVE this because it’s a change from the book
I’m glad you like this! I was a bit worried about using it for exactly that reason - it’s supposed to be Crowley. But I reasoned that even if it is supposed to be Crowley, we know it’s a thing Aziraphale is *capable* of doing, so it seemed ok. And it was just too perfect a moment - him being a soft, gentle angel, using his miracles in the only way he knows how. (In my first draft, I used the clip of him tossing the dove in the air - one of my betas very sensibly pointed out I should focus more on the actual moment of resurrection, and she was totally right)

0:33 — his radiant face reacting to the food, and I love the idea that that’s holy, because it really is part of his profound love for the world
YES. I was worried this might make people laugh…but this holy reverence for small earthly pleasures is such an important part of who Aziraphale is, and I hadn’t seen it explored seriously in any other vids.

1.01 — “you saw her bathing on the roof, her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you” — these are the big money moments that get used in so many vids, but you tell the holy water story so deftly
Thank you! This is Crowley being Vulnerable and Kind and I just feel like there’s such a strong through line between those three exchanges - the holy water request, the salvaged books, the thermos. It was VERY HARD not to use a longer shot of A’s beautiful face at the end of the church scene, because it’s just *so good* but I consoled myself that I had used basically all of it in my first Crowley/Aziraphale vid XD

1.12 - And it’s so perfect with the David-and-Bathsheba/Samson-and-Delilah lyrics, because those stories are traditionally about being tempted/seduced into sin, but the song reframes them in terms of succumbing to vulnerability, to being “human” and flawed and frail in a way which is itself holy
I love the way you’ve put this. Thank you for being so much more articulate than I am! One of my other betas described this as ‘Aziraphale, letting Crowley turn him into something an angel shouldn't be - someone with agency and free will - but willingly’.

1.133 — and oh, the hallelujahs are getting very harsh and lonely now, his faaaaace I can’t bear it, being judged and rejected by Heaven as a consequence of all the “softening” he’s done
This, and the first set of ‘Hallelujah’s, were the very first bits of the vid I put down, and they didn’t really change at all throughout the process.

1.39 — this close-up shot of Aziraphale losing his faith in heaven is one of the most impressive bits of acting in the show, and you place it perfectly in the vid and earn the space it holds
<33 omg I completely agree about the acting here. This moment was inspired by this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/CharCubed/status/1141531169839886337?s=20

1.52 — the voice change and the POV change, I SCREAM[…] you give Crowley such a power entrance with that little jump cut, I’m sure he’d appreciate that
Ahahahaha, I hope so! HE IS SO EXTRA, I LOVE HIM.

2.09 — “I’ve seen your flag on the marble arch” — YOU USED THE CRUCIFIXION FOOTAGE YES GO THERE, AND THE ARK
YES, two moments when Crowley is horrified at God/Heaven’s violence, and Aziraphale is trying desperately to justify them, when it’s clear he secretly agrees with Crowley. ‘Your flag’ is both Heaven’s and Aziraphale’s, here.

2.12 — “and love is not a victory march”, with the two contrasting wall slams, and there’s a really interesting segue from the kind of performative-but-not-actually-scary violence of Crowley’s wall slam (which is nonetheless throwing “nice” back in Aziraphale’s face) to the real violence of the "bad angels" and the emotional nastiness of Gabriel’s little mock gut-punches
I really, *really* wanted to contrast those two moments. I wanted to get more of Aziraphale’s reactions to both of them - his fear when faced with the angels, and his total chill when it’s Crowley. But alas, the footage didn’t work. This is…the violence of God’s love, and the violence Her followers enact in Her name, and the general hypocrisy of Heaven.

2.22 — all the little eye raises to heaven
I hope this moment breaks people as much as it broke me when I made it /o\

2.24 — the softening “hallelujah”, and the chains fall away
WHAT A GREAT METAPHOR, THANK YOU SHOW

2.28 — all the glances, you’re so good with glances, Aziraphale silently flirting his way into “Hamlet” being a hit, the paint being blown away is in every damn vid but again you earn it
Ahahahaha, like ALL my vids can be broken down into either ‘shots of people gazing at each other’ or ’shots of people’s hands’. That is all I vid. Oops. But yes - I wanted these Hallelujahs to be Crowley’s gentle demonic miracles for Aziraphale - the chains, Hamlet, the paint, and finally the church. As a nice contrast to the angelic violence of the previous clips.

2.40 — Az looking up as the bomb comes down, another unused moment, that’s someone watching his world about to come crashing down around them
It’s that, and also supposed to echo all the eye-raises at 2:22 - except this time, he’s looking heavenwards because of *Crowley*, rather than because of God - Crowley, who actually comes to his aid, unlike God.

2.42 — “how to shoot somebody who outdrew you” — all Crowley ever learned of love is rejection and abandonment and taking out your traumas on your houseplants, and yet he manages to love so deeply and so kindly anyway
At one point I actually had the shot of Crowley holding up the empty plant pot, which was DEEPLY SYMBOLIC and had some great motion…but also was just a bit too ridiculous and made my betas laugh, so I took it out (always listen to your betas)

3.28 — Aziraphale getting sucked into the globe and then Crowley throwing his arms up to stop time as the music SWELLS, fuck yeah, and into the revelation of their wings
I loooooove that wing clip. I love that Aziraphale has almost the same expression of reverence as he unfurls his wings as he does with the sushi! And Aziraphale going into the globe and Crowley stopping time - these are their big, Dramatic moments of Defiance, and I like putting them together.

3.53 — Aziraphale reaching to grab the scrap of paper with the “choose your faces wisely” prophecy as Eve reaches for the apple, lovely
More defiance! Eve and Aziraphale both make their choices wisely, to break free of what has been holding them back, and choose to truly *understand* the difference between Good and Evil. Which - ironically! - it turns out that NEITHER Heaven nor Hell understands. (They have no idea about the bodyswap - literally can’t tell ‘good’ or ‘evil’ when it’s tied up in front of them) (This is the other moment I am itching to tweak; I know how to do it better, but am RESISTING /o\)

4.05 — the slow wing beats as the song settles and the narrative resolves and everything falls into place, the Ritz (and the piano echoing the wing covering) and the final callback to the wing covering on the walls of Eden
I love that shot at the Ritz, because it’s Aziraphale taking delight once more in earthly pleasures, and also in CROWLEY - look how he doesn’t take his eyes off him! (In the next frame he starts to blink, so I cut before that). And ended with that shot of the wing covering because it’s Aziraphale’s second act of rebellion/compassion, after giving away the sword. (Well, perhaps his third act of rebellion if you count LYING TO GOD as a separate act) - this potential was always in him.

Um. So. That’s the vid commentary you didn’t ask for! *hides*

Edited 2019-07-27 21:26 (UTC)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 3 of 5

I did my best, it wasn't much

no subject

SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Re: SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS