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
SCREAMING WITH TIME-STAMPS
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