VVC 08 Premiere Vid: Tanglewood Tree

[charmax]

Video Title: Tanglewood Tree
Song Title/Artist: Tanglewood Tree - Chris & Meredith Thompson
Show: Fingersmith
Summary: Forbidden fruit, tangled webs and betrayal.
Length/Format: 4.00, (Xvid, Stream)


Notes:
Premiered (non-attending) at Vividcon 08. Beta comments from foomatic, bradcpu & astartexx. Many thanks!

Fingersmith has a complex narrative structure that proved quite difficult to get across. All the ways I thought of to convey a dual POV (split screens, rewinds, colour coding) just didn’t sit well with the period setting. As a result I think the details of the plot are probably not going to be clear to anyone not familiar with the source. Hopefully the general themes of longing and betrayal are strong enough to make the vid accessible.

Music. I love the tone and imagery of Tanglewood Tree and finding a version of it with two female vocals gave me exactly what I wanted. The key scene with the carriage at the asylum at the point where the vocals split was my jumping off point and in effect splits the vid into two distinct parts which I hope I managed to convey visually.

Narrative. A tale of three metaphors!
The cards: Used by Gentleman as a device for explaining the plan but most closely associated with Susan. The meaning of the 2 of hearts is fairly apparent (hopefully.) It’s probably also helpful to remember that the jack used to be referred to as the knave which makes it much more appropriate for Gentleman. The cards are used to tell a story to Susan but she herself uses them to lie to Maud. The card is as much a symbol of deception as it is devotion. In picking it up Maud takes on the role of deceiver (though that’s not really clear until later.)

The gloves and the hand: Associated with Maud and symbolic of her constrained life. Crossing the line metaphorically by stepping over the line physically. Noticeable that when Susan has the glove it is her turn to be confined.

The windows: Gentleman is never who he appears to be. Although he is the first character to appear in the vid his face is revealed last and when it is, it is through a window. The glass may appear transparent but is slightly distorted and that is very much true of gentleman. This device is repeated several times. It also represents the separation of male and female worlds with both women seen looking out at a larger world.

Effects and colouring: I added some external motion to improve the flow and to add emphasis. Transitions are all just good old reliable cross fades. I did some relighting in after effects, mostly to enhance what was already there and in a couple of instances to direct attention. The second half of the video has a grittier grainier feel as befit’s the subject matter. Also I added some fog to the street scenes. I know it’s a cliché but Victorian London should be foggy dammit.


Tanglewood Tree

love is a tanglewood tree in a bower of green
in a forest at dawn
fair while the mockingbird sings, but she soon lifts her wings
and the music is gone
young lovers in the tall grass with their hearts open wide
when the red summer poppies bloom
but love is a trackless domain and the rumour of rain in the late afternoon

love is an odour that creeps through the meadows of sleep
when the long shadows cast
thin as a vagrant young vine, it encircles and twines
and it holds the heart fast
catches dreamers in the wildwood with the stars in their eyes
and the moon in their tousled hair
but love is a light in the sky, and an unspoken lie
and a half-whispered prayer

I'm walkin' down a bone-dry river but the cool mirage runs through
I'm bankin' on the fables of the far, far better things we do
I'm waitin' for the day of reck'nin countin' down the hours
I burn away, I yearn away, I turn away the fairest flower of love, 'cause love . . .

love is a garden of thorns, and a crow in the corn
and the brake growing wild
cold when the summer is spent in the jade heart's lament
for the faith of a child

love's garden of thorns, how it grows
black crow in the corn hummin' low
brake nettle so pretty and wild
and thistles surround the edge of the
dim dark hour as the sun burns away
lamenting a lost summer day
who nurtures the faith of a child
when nothing remains to cover her eyes?

my body has a number, and my face has a name
and each day looks the same to me
each hour the light unfolding
this longing is a voice on the wind
she cultivates the wages of sin
in a tanglewood tree


Links: Download Xvid (720x400 - 50MB) | Download Xvid (480x272 - 25MB) | Stream@Imeem | Stream@Youtube

Tanglewood Tree from Charmax on Vimeo.

Password: iheartvidz

Feedback loved.

Comments

[bradcpu.livejournal.com]

Hey there! Just wanted to make sure you got my request to show this at Bascon.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Hi, I sent you an email with the vid links and info on the 27th of last month... I'll send it you again now!

[embroiderama]

Oh, wow. I just stumbled over this on YouTube totally randomly and even not knowing the source material at all I was just stunned by gorgeous and powerful the vid is. Awesome!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I am so sorry it has taken me so long to thank you for this lovely comment.

[angstbunny.livejournal.com]

Hi! I saw your vid at Bascon this past weekend, and I wanted to let you know how much I loved it. I'm not familiar with the source at all, but you presented such a coherent narrative that wasn't just a summary. I felt... moved, by your use of song and editing. I got such a knot by the presentation of longing then love betrayed. I really want to get my hands on the mini-series. Your vid is, like, an appetizer that has me hooked for more. I love the symbols. The card-playing, then the card crumpled. The dressing of one girl by the other, intimate. Then the brutal stripping down later. The gloves. And the dancing, joyous in the beginning, then a painful memory in the end.

I read your notes, and I really do love your choice of "simple" edits for this vid, because it really suited the period nature of the source. Anything too overt would have jolted me out. Instead, I felt like you let the imagery and the song speak for themselves, and the vid is all the more powerful for it.

Thank you very much for sharing.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

It's always great to get feedback from a con! I love that you describe the vid as an appetizer and obviously I can recommend the main course, the mini-series is a personal favourite of mine.

It was absolutely the right decision to stick with a more simple editing style and although I worried that it might cost me some clarity in the narrative I definitely think that the feel I wanted comes across much better this way.

Thank you so much for taking the trouble to leave such wonderful feedback..

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

I finally got around to writing feedback for disc 3 of the VVC set, nearly four months after the fact.

I remember watching this vid at VVC and getting completely immersed in it that I forgot to watch for the editing. As I've said in the past, I think that's the benchmark for a really great vid - that it presents everything so smoothly that vidder input isn't the first thing you see. I especially loved how it built up to such an emotional climax in the last third, and the pacing changes to reflect that, but when watching you hardly ever notice. It seems like such a sad, emotionally complex story and I thought that narrative was just brilliantly carried out in this vid.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you so much. I think that's a huge compliment because this vid definitely called for invisible editing and the biggest challenge was getting the balance between narrative and emotion right.

[azdaja-dafema.livejournal.com]

I've not seen the film/series, but I've read the book (albeit a long time ago). I really liked this- the way you used the motifs of the Cards throughout, and the outdoor scenes. There was a good flow through the vid, with a strong progression. The music fit very well as well.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Sorry for my late response. I'm so pleased you enjoyed the vid and that you liked the card motif. I'm particularly happy that you thought the music worked well.

[inarticulate.livejournal.com]

I was just linked this and it's absolutely gorgeous-- it's as beautiful and haunting as a Fingersmith vid should be and more. Thank you so much for sharing this. ♥

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you discovered the vid and that you felt it did justice to the source material. Thanks for commenting. *g*

[aurumcalendula]

I really enjoy this vid and I loved reading your notes about it (the symbolism works really well throughout)