A Sherlock companion vid

[purplefringe]

Unwritten Letter #221
edited by purplefringe
fandom: Sherlock (BBC)
characters: Sherlock/John
music: Unwritten Letter #1 by Vienna Teng
summary: everything reminds me
content notes: Spoilers for both series
notes: This first came into existence because I always intended to make a companion to my John vid, (22)1BR/1BA, set - predictably - to another Vienna Teng song. I promise I did not just choose the song because the title was so perfect*. I also promise that my next vid will be set to someone other than Vienna .....aaaaanyway, this was initially going to be just 'Sherlock wanders round London and thinks about John', but somewhere along the line it became the early part of The Adventure of the Empty House, from Sherlock's POV. I don't know how clear the story will be to anyone not familiar with ACD Holmes canon, but I hope it makes some sort of sense - basically, if (22)1BR/1BA was set within the first few months of Sherlock's departure, this is set three years later... (If you're not familiar with ACD Holmes, I suggest you get acquainted. It's WONDERFUL stuff.)

* "Several times during the last three years I have taken up my pen to write to you, but always I feared lest your affectionate regard for me should tempt you to some indiscretion which would betray my secret." - Holmes, The Adventure of the Empty House

Apologies to such_heights who had to put up with me complaining about this vid for the better part of a month, and as usual managed to resolve all my many and varied technical issues. I really shouldn't have been let loose on this whole 'vidding' thing. I need a less technological hobby. MY COMPUTER HATES ME.

download: 57MB @ mediafire

password: return

stream:

Lyrics

Nightfall we're brushing past your town
Destination not you my one
And the driver doesn't know way down
How deep these bright-eyed feelings run
I've no intention of confessing today
I need to make distance a while
But miles don't make your image fade
They don't erase this secret smile

Everything reminds me
Wet grey gold-lit streets
Shop displays near-lovers meet
I feel the grasp of your hand still
This your face now in the glass
Breathing whisper what is this
Bent so close we nearly kiss
Although we never will

Strange that there's no hurtful need
Used to be my only sign
On my mind would make me bleed
Why is it that I'm feeling fine
Why is it this warmth within
No candlelight that causes burn
Memories of you begin
Well welcome friends
Glad you've returned

Everything reminds me
Music surging bedroom dance
Crazy spinning sultry glance
I inhale your presence still
These your arms of daring grace
Encircle me, what pact is made
Desire is your masquerade
Want me you never will

You gave me truth
I chose illusion
Now we are used to this confusion
But I know
Yes I know
This story has to end
Never groped for a connection
Never hoped for more affection
For I know
I know I am your friend
Only your friend

Comments

[endeni]

Wow, another brilliant vid! The parallels of Sherlock being alone after Reichenbach and him being with John are fantastic, I loved the way you used the existing footage and gave it a new out-of-context meaning. I especially loved the mirror scenes at 1:28-1:30 and the glass ones at 2:19-2:21. *_*

[purplefringe]

Thank you very much! I'm really pleased you felt it worked! Taking things our of context is tricky...you're never sure if the person watching (who isn't you!) is going to be able to relax and go with it, or whether they're going to be thinking 'but I know what's *actually* going on in that shot!".

[frayadjacent]

Wow, I just discovered (22)1BR/1BA today and get treated with a companion vid! These are great; I love the concept and execution.

Something that stands out immediately is how you used shots in each respective vid whose tone so well match the characters. John is lonely in a quiet, empty room, sitting still. Sherlock is lonely in out in the bright lights and activity of the city.

"You gave me truth/I chose illusion." What a great line for Sherlock.

Also, you're not alone in wanting to vid the same artist. I get well over half my vid ideas from Neko Case songs, and I know someone else who always wants to vid Arcade Fire. :)

[purplefringe]

such_heights (my flatmate) and I both have this massive ridiculous need to vid ALL THE VIENNA TENG SONGS EVER. I'm sure we will manage it one day, between us. I'm glad you understand! I am most excited about discovering your vids - but I see they are mostly for Buffy, which I am currently working my way through (yes, yes, vvv late to the fangirl party. Better late than never!) and I am REALLY ENJOYING IT so don't want to be spoiled! But I look forward to watching your vids!

Ahem, anyway, thank youuuuuu! I'm really glad you felt the tone in each vid worked - this song (along with another Vienna song) was on my shortlist of songs for John's vid, but I decided the emptiness of 1BR/1BA worked much better. This is jazzy and nighttime and was obviously Sherlock :-) The line you mention - that moment in the song was always really clear in my head. I love the intense awkwardness of that whole conversation, and how many layers you could read into it.

Oh, and - thank you again for the lovely rec! I have been suddenly getting lots more comments on my other vid, which I think must be down to you!

[frayadjacent]

Thanks for your kind reply! And sorry for the late response -- I'm still figuring out Dreamwidth notifications, evidently. One of my Buffy vids, Under Stars, doesn't have any plot/character spoilers, though it shows footage through the whole series. But the others most definitely do. Glad you're liking Buffy! It's such a joy to watch. I saw it mostly unspoiled and I'm glad for it.

And I'm glad I could help you get more exposure -- more people should definitely see your vids! :)

[revolutionaryjo]

Ooh, love this!

[purplefringe]

Thank you very much!

Unwritten Letter #221

[yourlibrarian]

What a wonderfully paced vid, this was like watching a dance go on.

Re: Unwritten Letter #221

[purplefringe]

Eeep, thank you so much! That's a lovely thing to say.

[sideris]

Beautiful work!

[purplefringe]

Thank you!

[sanguinity]

Oh. God. I have feelings. Can I just flail for a little bit, please?


That is such a different vid that 221BR/1BA. Which it should be: the Great Hiatus is a completely different thing for each of them. But I've always envisioned the Hiatus as a difficult time for Sherlock, that he'd come back looking battered and scraped thin from being on the run for three years, and this vision of him... Composed, in control, disciplined, mostly unaffected. Urgent, sure, sometimes agitated, and thinking of John more-or-less continually, but not bleeding out inside like John is. (Because why should he be? He knows John is alive, and he knows he is coming back. Just because John's bleeding out inside is no reason for Sherlock to be.) I just. God. It's so very him.

(And that he's spending all this energy on thinking about what their relationship was and wasn't and what he'd like it to be when they're reunited! Sherlock, honey, given where John's at right now, you might be putting the cart before the horse a little bit.)

And going back to what a different vid this is than 221BR/1BA, it's such a different place in each of their heads. It is busy inside Sherlock's head. Five tracks running in parallel (and one of those tracks constantly thinking about John). His actions mostly composed and on-task, but every once in a while, one of those John-thoughts makes it to the surface. For Sherlock, that's extraordinarily distracted. (I especially love the bitten lip at 1:07, and touching the wallpaper at 1:26.) It's a busy vid, and that's exactly as it should be. You do a really nice job of keeping it within the realm of what a non-Holmes can follow, while not sacrificing the Holmesian POV to our limitations.


Taken as a pair, these two put me in so much anxiety about their reunion. Oh, but that is going to be tumultuous. And difficult. Thank you for these two vids; I've been enjoying them a lot.

[purplefringe]

Well YOU just made my day :-D I just came up out of the tube at the end of my commute home from work, saw this comment on my phone, and walked home in the rain grinning like a loon :-D THANK YOU. FLAIL ALL YOU LIKE. THIS IS A FLAIL-WELCOMING ZONE.

Some ramblings of my own: You are right about the Hiatus, I think. Sherlock surely *does* come back rather battered and scraped thin (literally, in the ACD canon: 'Holmes looked even thinner and keener than of old, but there was a dead-white tinge in his aquiline face which told me that his life recently had not been a healthy one.') but his experience of the past 3 years has been totally different from John's , as you say - he's been systematically tracking down and eliminating his enemies, and also travelling the world learning things. He's kept up with John's doings and always knew that one day, when the time was right, he would come back. It's been difficult too...(the line I quoted in my notes shows that, I think) but when he comes back ultimately it's because he's on a mission and he has to stay focussed and disciplined as ever.

But I don't believe, for one second, that Sherlock would just be able to waltz back into London and not have his Mind Palace go into overdrive, and conjure up every memory, every reminder, every visual link to his time with John. He is the most controlled, tightly-wound person in the world, but John can unwind him. Sherlock's two closest, most meaningful relationships are with John and with the city of London. It makes sense that one love would remind him of the other.

I'm really glad you enjoyed the contrast between the emptiness of John's vid, and the business of this one - I was really trying to capture their emotional states. Their reunion is going to be AMAZING. I actually cannot wait. It will have ALL the feelings.

Um, anyway, long comment is long...thank you again!