Deadwood video - Bloody Mother

[charmax]

Video Title: Bloody Mother
Song Title/Artist: Bloody Mother (Alternative title) - Martha Wainwright
Show: Deadwood
Summary: This video follows Trixie's story through the first two seasons. Al, Sol, Alma and Doc have all been influential but at the end of the day Trixie relies on herself.
Length/Format: 3.14, (Xvid)
Notes: This is quite a simple video with no real bells and whistles because the editing reflects the song on that matter imho. It might also not be as accessible as some of my other videos are. It is character/arc driven and some knowledge of the show is probably needed to really understand it. Also, there is bad language in the song. If you know the show then that shouldn't be a problem for you at all.

Feedback loved.

Please do not upload to Youtube or MySpace Thanks!

Download Xvid (720x416 - 32.7MB)

Comments

[grey-bard.livejournal.com]

Downloading

[martoufmarty.livejournal.com]

I downloaded the first few episodes of season 1, but I haven't gotten around to watching them yet.

Though I had no clue the context of the clips, I could just tell that the song went along with the clips (and vice versa).

I really liked the lack of effects and the simplicity of it.

Very nice.

Took till the end of the vid for me to realize that I heard the song before in a Starbuck vid lol.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I was curious about the Starbuck vid and I finally found it on youtube. There was me thinking I had finally found a song nobody else had done or was likely to do. Oh well I may as well vid Arvin Sloane and Jack Bristow to "Bring me to life" lol

Thanks for the feedback Steph I am glad you got something out of it even without knowing the show.

[martoufmarty.livejournal.com]

Oh, you can never really know for sure that no one has used the song you're using (unless you just wrote it and recorded it yourself, all the while letting no one hear it until after you post a vid to it).

Don't let it get ya down or anything :P

The thing is, you didn't know. You didn't go and purposely copy them. And your vid was so much cooler.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm not beating myself up over it but it would have been nice to get there first.

[astartexx.livejournal.com]

Why must you joke about Jack/Sloane 'Bring me to life'? Because now I wanna see it... *face palm and hides face in deep shame*

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I know, can't you just see it?! Seriously though I would love to do a Jack/Sloane vid one day just not to that song. But you could always give it a go. *grin*

[colour-me-sassy.livejournal.com]

To do it 'tongue-in-cheek' would be wonderful hehe. I'm not sure everyone would get it though :D

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I tell you now, It's not happening! lol

[prairiedaun.livejournal.com]

This was just wonderful. Thank you.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much for commenting!

[sol-se.livejournal.com]

This was really beautiful. I loved it! It was really interesting to see those early scenes again. You did a great job of showing Trixie's evolution from where she started from, and of how she both effected & was effected by those characters around her. Just beautiful. Thank you!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I really wanted to show Trixie's development as a character and to make it quite a positive video.

I was touched by Trixie's strength of character and I wanted that to come across. So for you to have found it beautiful is the sort of response I was looking for.

[thedothatgirl.livejournal.com]

Ooh It's up!!

I'll download and hubs & I will watch together tonight. Will feedback tomorrow.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I hope you and hubs like it Andrea. :D

[astartexx.livejournal.com]

The video is beautiful, if only seen the two eps Kirsten Bell was in, so I had little to none knowledge of the show, still I think you got Trixie’s strength impressively across. I don’t want to speculate about clips and what they might stand for or what I interpret in them, but the one where she is laying on the bed, wiping away the violation is so very visual telling the same way when she gets grabbed by the crotch.

It’s not a good time to be a woman and even worse with no money or husband, so her fate is something out of her hand and she knows it and still fights it, the only way she can – by taking advantage of no expectations. The slower pace of your vid is also something I love about it, as viewer you have the time to take the pictures in and the show is shot wonderfully. I really had no problems following the video and I found it accessible, maybe not on the deeper level and meanings I would take away, if I would watch the show, but on a universal ‘no woman is born a whore’ truth. One technical question, did you tweak a little with the colours? Because I can’t remember the show being shot in such a golden light…

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks Astarte. It is great to know that the gist of the vid comes across to the uninitiated. Well to you anyway. The whole point of this video was to show Trixie overcoming and proving herself. Like you say, no woman is born a whore it was just the circumstances she was in.

I definitely enjoyed doing a slower paced vid for a change not that I ever do really fast vids but this is definitely one of my slower ones. On the colours, yes I tweaked them a bit. There is a vignette lighting over the whole piece which is really just a radial gradient set to hard light blending mode in after effects. I think all my videos these days have colour tweaks etc. I find them quite fun to play with.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

:00-:11 - Great use of the beats to start the vid off and center in on Trixie.
:18 - I still cringe when Al throws her into the wall, especially when you emphasized it with the beat.
And I'm young and I'm strong But I feel old and tired - For me, that lyric is the central point of the beginning of the vid. I'm pretty sure it's in the subtext that Al got Trixie from the same orphanage that he was in, like all of his whores, but I'm not completely sure. Either way, that lyrics works so well for Trixie in many ways, not just how her life started out.
You say my time here has been some sort of joke - That scene always makes me sad in a deep way, when Al makes Sol pay for Trixie. You used the scene well to get across the emotion.
1:32-1:36 - I love the way you have her hitting Al, then use those seconds of stillness.
Oh I wish I wish I wish I was born a man - Great editing in that section and I love the lyric in relation to Trixie partly because I love her: "Fuck every last one of you. I wish I was a fuckin' tree."
To a different beat - It's that right there in the vid when I realized just how far she had come.
2:06-2:12 - Once again, an amazing scene that you got the emotions of across wonderfully.
2:20 - Beautiful shot.
2:55-2:57 - I love that you included that moment of Al's slow smile and recognition of what's she's become and what she can do.

Overall, it's an amazing and inciteful look at Trixie. It has a beautiful glowing warmth to it that radiates. This is the first Deadwood vid I've ever seen, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's also the best. As with the show itself, there's so much meaning behind it all.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks Kiki for the thorough feedback. I'm really pleased that you think I captured Trixie's character.

You are absolutely right the "different beat" part is the turning point of the vid. The point at which she takes some control over her life. I also love the way Al's relationship with Trixie evolves. What begins as a standard pimp/whore relationship complete with violence and intimidation evolves into a relationship based on a much deeper mutual understanding. I love that arc because they both seem more rounded characters by the end of it.

Thanks again for commenting. I am really pleased that you "got" it because I was worried that people wouldn't.

I haven't seen many Deadwood vids but the ones I have seen have all been really good. I think smaller fandoms are better served in that respect than the huge ones like BtVS etc.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

What begins as a standard pimp/whore relationship complete with violence and intimidation evolves into a relationship based on a much deeper mutual understanding.
I love that about their relationship too. The way she still goes back to him, but he doesn't always take her back because he knows she can do so much more. Al and Trixie are such different people by the end of season two from the beginning of season one in terms of their relationship with each other and other people in the camp. And they're still evolving and changing more in season three.

I haven't seen many Deadwood vids
Me either, but I just remembered sdwolfpup's Woman King, Killa's Blue on Black, and Gwyneth and Jo's Come to Jesus, which are the only ones for Deadwood I've watched and they're all amazing.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I agree that the Al and Trixie at the end of season two aren't the same as the Al and Trixie at the beginning of season one. I've only watched a couple of season 3 eps so far but I'm glad their relationship keeps evolving. There is no way that Trixie would stand for Al beating her now and I don't think Al would really consider it.

And yep those are the Deadwood videos I meant. All different and all amazing.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

There is no way that Trixie would stand for Al beating her now and I don't think Al would really consider it.
Yeah. I think, from what he's said, he wants to push her out, have her be on her own, and realize she's moving up and on. I love how disfunctional their relationship seems, but when you look at it and how it affects them, it's actually one of the more functional relationships in the camp.

I must have spaced when I forgot abuot the other Deadwood vids.

[colour-me-sassy.livejournal.com]

I've never seen the show but your vid got the point accross well. Very well made of course and I could see the obvious struggles and emotions that Trixie goes through. I'll have to get round to watching it one day :)
I finally watched Mambo Italiano and Your Woman as well(slaps wrist for being so slow!) I didn't know how you were going to improve these videos as they were 2 of my favourite videos anyway. Not just of yours but of all my favourites. Mambo is just a masterpiece! Very clever editing. I love it's fast paced action and I'd defy anyone to watch it and not want to watch all of Alias through again. You woman was wonderful also. Bigger and better than before. Even sexier too. Which I also didn't think was possible :D Great stuff hon :)

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks hun.

You should definitely watch Deadwood. I found it a bit difficult to understand at first but it is really good once you get into it.

You have got behind haven't you! Three vid comments in one.lol. I'm pleased you think that Mambo and Your Woman were improvements. I always worry that in remastering things I might be losing something that people loved in the original.

*big hugs*

[sweetestdrain]

I've only seen the first two episodes of Deadwood, so I don't have much story/plot context for this vid, but I still found this vid absolutely lovely and moving. Perhaps I didn't understand what was going on part of the time, but I still found it very accessible. The look of the vid, the song, the cutting style, the emotion -- very cool.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm so pleased that what I was trying to say about the character seems to have come across even to people who haven't watched the show and so don't know all the finer plot details.

Thanks for commenting.

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

I think her struggle and her strength, and especially her sense of self-reliance, come through brilliantly, even with no show knowledge. I thought the song was an amazing match for her story (as I read it). And I really loved what you did with the lyrics.

It really makes me want to find out more about her character so that I can read even more into it. :]

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much bunny. I was pretty sure Deadwood was on your fandom list but I guess not! It's a really, really great show, you should catch it some time. [./pimp]

I'm really pleased that the essence of Trixie's character came across, even with you not knowing the show. (No one is watching the show! *sulk* :P) I was hoping the video would show her in an empowering light and people while watching it would see her resilience and her growing strength as a character.

I heard the song some time ago, before I began watching Deadwood and loved it. I think it's perfect for Trixie so I'm very glad you agree.

[thedothatgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm back with feedback, sorry it took so long- I've watched it about 3 times now and love it more each time. We both enjoyed it on the first viewing - the song choice is fantastic - with inspired lyric matches 'the poked & stoked' at around 30 seconds - in fact the whole early Al/Trixie sequence, and all the 'bloody m/fkrs'.

It's been a while since I saw the first season so I tend to forget the intense brutality and violence in that weird relationship. I love how you showed her growth and self reliance, and the final scene at the end was wonderful.

There was some lovely subtle internal motion and the the clips seem to have a wonderful radiance. I know the 'colour/cinematography' (for want of a better description) of show itself is very tonal and almost borders on sepia but did you add to that?

And are you watching S3 on Sky or d/loading at US level?

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks Andrea. I'm glad you liked it. The aim of the vid was to show Trixie's growing independence and I'm glad that people are picking up on that. It is quite a grim vid in many ways and I wanted it to have a positive side to it as well hence the decision to end it on a high point.

Oh and the colours were tweaked a little bit. I just can't help myself in that department. They are supposed to be subtle but I don't feel I've finished a vid until I've done it. As I said to Astarte it is a vignette lighting.

I am dling the season 3 eps but so far I have only watched the first 3.

[carla-scribbles.livejournal.com]

Yay Trixie vid! *bounces* (The bloody file's still downloading, but I can tell you this right now -- your song choice is perfect.)

[charmax.livejournal.com]

The song choice is perfect in my eyes too. I hope you enjoy the vid.

[carla-scribbles.livejournal.com]

And now I have viewed it, and it is lovely. Ah, Trixie.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's taken a while for me to get back to you. Thanks so much!

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

Despite not knowing the show at all, this came over really well - beautifully done.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I am glad you got something out of the vid despite not knowing the show. Thanks very much for taking the time to tell me you liked it.

[chasarumba.livejournal.com]

What a perfect song for Trixie...her defiance and strength come through so beautifully. And you strike such a great balance between Al and Sol, giving them both their due -- they do not mean the same things to her, but they are of equal importance to her character (if that makes sense).

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I just love this song for Trixie. Like you say it has a defiance to it that really reminded me of her. Well that and the foul mouth. I agree that Al and Sol both figure heavily in the development of her character.

I'm glad you liked the vid.