purplefringe

LOOK IT'S A VID AND IT'S NOT ABOUT THAT DWEEB ANGEL AND HIS DISASTER SNAKE BOYFRIEND!! (don't worry, another of those is coming /o\)

So, in case you were unaware, Children in Need have recorded an album this year, featuring many awesome actors singing favourite songs. Such as David Tennant singing 'Sunshine on Leith' by The Proclaimers :D (I love him. Have I mentioned that recently? I *love* him)

Anyway, the BBC released Jodie's contribution a few weeks early. I listened to it, then listened to it again, then listened to it about seventy thousand more times, then texted such_heights to say 'shall I vid the thing' and she said 'vid the thing' and so I vidded the thing because I do what she tells me. <3 And then I made her and the wonderful usuallyhats watch it and give me feedback and encouragement, for which I am, as ever, profoundly grateful.

It would be fair to say I had...mixed feelings about this season of Doctor Who. And I had mixed feelings ABOUT having mixed feelings, because god forbid I should just not overthink things for once. I don't want to get into any of those feelings now, and I possibly don't *ever* want to get into them here on this journal. But whatever my feelings about the writing and the episodes and the season as a whole, Jodie as the Doctor was COMPLETELY WONDERFUL. And re-watching this season to make this vid just confirmed that. I love her, I love her beautiful face, I love her total dorkiness, I love her enthusiasm for things, I love her kindness and I love everything about her that makes her the Doctor, just as I have loved every Doctor before her. I love Ryan and Yasmin and Graham. I love the new Tardis. Making this was a joy and a delight and I wish the song was about five minutes longer because there's so much more I wanted to include.

The vid is below - but MORE IMPORTANTLY, you can buy the song (and, indeed, the whole Got It Covered album) on the Children in Need website, and all the money goes to their very excellent cause <3

ALSO you can watch this ADORABLE CLIP of Jodie being surprised by Coldplay as she recorded the song. It made me cry /o\

Yellow
edited by purplefringe
fandom: Doctor Who (series 11)
music: Yellow by Coldplay covered by JODIE WHITTAKER for Children in Need
summary: look how they shine for you
content notes: quite a lot of flashing lights throughout (many explosions in this show)

Also on tumblr and the AO3

stream:

"Yellow | Doctor Who (Thirteen)" (Watch on YouTube)

Lyrics

So I did a lot of shrieking yesterday. A lot of capslock on my phone to my friends. I don't even know how to begin writing about it, but I wanted to say something here, that I can look back on.

The thirteenth Doctor is a woman!

Yes, she's still White, and yes, that is absolutely something that we should address. There is still a way to go. But also: she's a woman. After 54 years! And a really wonderful woman at that. I didn't know Jodie Whittaker before Broadchurch, but she was absolutely mesmerising in all three seasons of that show, and I know she's going to be completely amazing. From the bits and pieces I've read from her so far, I know she *gets* the show, and the Doctor, and we are in extremely safe, capable, brilliant hands.

I knew Thirteen wasn't going to be another White Dude. With 100% certainty. And whilst Jodie Whittaker hadn't been particularly on my radar as a contender, I knew that it was not unlikely that they'd cast someone Chibnall had worked with before. But still - that first moment in the trailer when we saw her hand, and then her eye - I felt all the breath knocked out of me. Then I think I may have screamed? It's all a bit of a blur. I certainly screamed a lot for the next hour or so.

I'm going to miss Twelve a LOT. I love him, and I love his beautiful, subtle, expressive face, and his absurd inability to run in a dignified manner. I love his prickly, difficult kindness, and I love his easy forgiveness. I love the way he's grown and evolved as a person more than any of the other Doctors before him. I'm going to miss him terribly, the way I miss them all. But if there was one thing that could make me able to deal with him leaving, it's this. I can't wait. <3

I don't know what the show will look like under Chris Chibnall. Whether it will be closer in tone to Moffat's vision or to Rusty's, or something completely different. As probably anybody who knows me or has read this journal knows, I'm a huge fan of both Moffat and RTD and would fight bears for them both. Yes, even Moffat. I don't think his seasons have been perfect by any means - but I also don't think they have been any more problematic than RTD's seasons. Just differently so. But in both cases, the problematic elements have been, for me, completely outweighed by all the joy and wonderful things they have done. With that in mind, here are a few things I would love to see going forward: ( Read more... )

...in other news, I already have a vidsong for the Regeneration and I have to wait until Christmas to make it /o\

I don't have the brain at the moment to say anything about Doctor Who, except that I am loving Bill and everything she is, and I continue to adore Twelve, and the chemistry between them is glorious, and this latest episode in particular was everything I dreamed of and more. I will hopefully have meta thoughts soon (certainly The Pilot was crammed full of all of the usual Moffat tropes, about which I have already written copious words) but at the moment I have no energy for anything more complicated than "look at their faces!" (they are REALLY good faces.)

But speaking of 'look at their faces' - I received the most wonderful Doctor/River vid from jetpack_monkey as my equinox_exchange gift, which you should go and watch. It's really fun and dynamic and emphasises the playful nature of their timey-wimey relationship. And the lyrics are perfect, and used to great effect!

AND I was very, very lucky and also received a treat in the form of a DS9 Sisko family vid by the wonderful cosmic_llin, which made my cold robotic heart grow about sixteen sizes, and made me cry. I just. They are SUCH a perfect space family, I don't know what to do about it. And this vid captures that brilliantly.

I defaulted on my own assignment. It was the right decision - I had very stupidly offered a big fandom that I only belatedly realised I wasn't really equipped to vid, and then obviously matched on that fandom, and that fandom only. I gave it a shot, and put off defaulting for a really long time, but gave up in the end. I feel really bad about it - even though I know it happens all the time and that's what the 'default' option is there for, and some amazing picnh-hitter stepped up so my recipient still got a great gift, blah blah blah - and am probably not going to sign up for the next equinox exchange. I have come to realise that I just can't vid to a time limit or to other people's specifications. But I'm glad the exchange exists, and can't wait to see the next outpouring of new vids in the autumn.

I AM TOTALLY WORKING ON MY FESTIVID, I PROMISE. /o\ Absolutely definitely. Yep. I just got a little...distracted...by the DW finale.

Kansas
edited by purplefringe
fandom: Doctor Who (Season 9)
characters: Clara, Twelve
music: Kansas by Vienna Teng (yes, I vidded Vienna again. No, I don't care)
summary: It's not regret / Just an unexpected accounting of debts
content notes: Major spoilers for all of Season 9

Thank you to such_heights and elisi for beta-ing and general reassurance :-)

NB. The music doesn't start for a couple of seconds into the vid. Do not adjust your set.

download: 86MB @ mediafire

stream:
( Spoilery ramblings )
( Lyrics here )

Wow, never have lyrics from the vid I'm working on been SO RELEVANT to the act of working on the vid.

So, er, I started this one in February /o\ And to be fair, I did make fully two thirds of it in less than a week. It was just the remaining third that took, um, six months. I think that's a new record. (My last Clara vid was a mere two months late.) Most of that time was spent opening FinalCut, shuddering, and closing it again, so perhaps it only really took one month, spread over six months. ANYWAY, it was not supposed to be posted a mere 3 weeks before Series 9, but I'm too excited about it being A MERE THREE WEEKS UNTIL SERIES NINE to care much.

Pompeii
edited by purplefringe
fandom: Doctor Who (Season 8 with bits of Season 7)
characters: Clara, the Doctor
music: Pompeii. by Bastille
summary: does it almost feel like you've been here before?
content notes: Contains some fast cutting, and also spoilers for Season 8



download: 98MB @ mediafire

As usual, thanks go to the lovely such_heights for watching a millionty drafts of this, and making soothing noises at me when I complained at her about it. (I'm sorry I do that so much <3) And also for providing the last-minute technical support I still need, despite this being my 31st vid. Oops.

(Speaking of which - if anyone knows how to deal with those FUCKING SQUARE PIXELS that are marring their beautiful faces, please let me know. I don't know why they're there, I've never had this problem before, I want to throw my laptop out the window /o\)

ALSO on this occasion, huge thanks to the amazing elisi, without whom I would definitely never have finished this stupid vid. She went waaaaaay above and beyond the call of vid-beta-ly duty, and sent the most *incredible*, detailed, encouraging, thoughtful, analytical emails, in response to my somewhat pathetic call for help. She also helped me to clarify just what I was actually trying to say - there are one or two parts of this vid that were constructed clip-by-clip with her, via email. I hope you really did enjoy the process as much as you said you did. <3 This vid is for you! :-)

( Ramble ramble )

Lyrics ( here )

In The Forest of the Night airs tomorrow - the last standalone Doctor Who ep before the two-part season finale. At this point last season, just before Neil Gaiman's Nightmare In Silver graced our screens, I posted my summary of Clara theories, which has now once more become relevant in light of the end of Flatline. This time, I was intending to write a succinct summary of all of the main themes and motifs of Doctor Who S8, along with speculation as to where they might be leading. Instead I got carried away thinking about Eyes, and so discussion of Soldiers, Robots, Naming Things and other themes will have to wait until my brain has recalibrated. Also, I am sure that there will be a LOT of meta to ponder after tomorrow's tree-filled episode. So in the meantime:

( Eyes! )

Tonight I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the Royal Television Society event 'Sherlock: Anatomy of a Hit'. It was awesome - Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Sue Vertue, Amanda Abbington and Ben Stephenson (controller of BBC Drama) were all there, and all had interesting, funny, insightful things to say.

They talked about the making of the show - obviously - but also a bit about Conan Doyle, and fandom, and their writing process. They showed and talked about some of their favourite clips from all 3 seasons. There was a lovely atmosphere throughout, and they all came across as hugely warm, talented and very humble people. Steven Moffat was particularly enthusiastic on the subject of fic (and fan art), and defended it - expressly including slash fic - wholeheartedly. Every probing question from the interviewer or the audience about the negative side of running a phenomenally successful show was deftly handled and turned into something positive. Is it terribly pressured and stressful having to keep up with ever heightening audience expectations? Well, mostly it's brilliant and exciting, and much better than having to cope with running a show that's a complete commercial failure! Are there awful fans who complain loudly and incessantly about how the show has gone downhill? Inevitably, yes, a few, but the vast majority are full of love and passion and creativity, and when they dislike a direction the show has taken they write their own fic to fix it. I had a great time.

Afterwards, there was unexpected mingling and drinks. I was by myself, but as I had a ticket for a free drink I went to loiter in the bar and see what was going on. After about five minutes, Steven and Sue and Mark and Amanda showed up. It was the most perfect opportunity you could possibly imagine for talking to them - relaxed and pretty casual, not too many people, and yet an environment where they expect people to talk to them about their shows, so you don't feel like you're being obnoxious when you ask them to sign your book of academic essays on Sherlock Holmes.

I was still hopeless though.

Much like that time I met Jewel Staite a couple of years ago, (and, in fact, like every other time I have met one of my heroes) I was completely shy and awkward and tongue-tied and rubbish. I managed to stammer out a thank you to Sue Vertue for getting Sherlock off the ground (seriously, it would still be a Moffat/Gatiss pipe dream without her), and I said about one sentence to Mark Gatiss as he signed my Vincent Starret book.

Amanda Abbington was wonderful - she was kind and smiley and gracious, and very fervent on the subject of female characters in the media and the unjustified hate they get. A subject, incidentally, that comes up nigh on daily in my flat and amongst my various fannish friends, and yet when it came to talking about it with her, my mind went completely blank. Everything I've ever thought on the subject, and everything I've ever heard anyone else say, went completely out of my head. All too soon, there were other people wanting to talk to her and take photos, and that opportunity was gone. But she was fabulous and delightful and totally the kind of person I would like to invite round for tea. :-)

I also spoke to Steven. Now, I've met Steven Moffat in a few other contexts - there was the time many years ago when such_heights and I, along with a couple of other friends, randomly saw him in the pub, just a few months before it was announced he was taking over as DW showrunner. Then there was the time he and Mark Gatiss were at a work party I was at (and I, having no idea they were going to be there, was wearing Dalek earrings….oops). Both times I was with groups of people, and was unprepared for the occasion. This time, I should have been prepared. AND YET. I actually cannot even begin to count the number of things I would like to say to Steven Moffat, if I could just get my brain in order. His influence on my life as it is at the moment can't really be overstated. And yet all I could think of to ask was 'do you think there might be more female writers in the next series of DW?' Which, of course, sounds like a personal attack on him and is probably the kind of thing he has to put up with all the fucking time from journalists. At first he went on the defensive a little bit, but I managed to reassure him that I wasn't going to quote him anywhere, and that I was a huge fan of his work and was not about to write some angry rant about what a misogynist idiot he is. And so he gave me a proper, genuine answer, and once again that could have turned into a really good conversation, except that whilst I was dithering and trying to turn my brain on, the conversation was hijacked by someone else. (He was really nice about that, by the way.) But anyway, the whole thing only served to reiterate two things for me: 1) that Steven Moffat is exactly the brilliant, wry, funny, intelligent, slightly sharp but thoroughly lovely human being I have always thought he was, and I will continue to defend him and his writing forever against all of the people who hate on him. And 2) that I will never, ever get any better at meeting my heroes :-(

You've Got The Love
edited by purplefringe
fandom: Doctor Who
characters: The Tardis, The Doctor (Nine, Ten & Eleven...and was that Twelve for a moment there?) and associated companions
music: You've Got The Love by Florence and the Machine
summary: The Box and her Boy, off to see the universe
notes: An eleventyfest gift for glaukopis, who asked for a Doctor/Tardis vid. I know it's not the song you had in mind, but I do hope it conveys the same ideas. Whatever he looks like and whatever she looks like, it's always the same man and the same blue box - the Doctor and the Tardis, together, long after everyone else has gone. <3

Thanks, as ever, to such_heights for watching eleventy-one versions of this, and making sure it had enough Martha in it!

download: 44MB @ mediafire

password: bluebox

stream:

You've Got The Love from Phoebe on Vimeo.

Lyrics ( here )