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.

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Comments

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I was hoping this vid would be an appetiser for the mini-series. I condensed the narrative a lot, wanting to say as much as I possibly could in 4min but also leaving enough of the story for people wanting more.

It built up this feeling for me of them being tied together in an ever-changing but continual pattern.
Exactly! There is a sense in which, during the middle third of the vid, the characters are involved in this sort of intricate dance of deception.

I love the original version of this song but this one with the two female vocalists just works so well for this subject.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I just wanted to let you know that on the basis of this vid, I watched Fingersmith this afternoon. Wow! What a strange, complicated, clever story. I was so worried the ending was completely going to destroy me, because despite the clues dropped in your vid, I couldn't tell how it would end exactly. And I was amazed how much deeper the secrets and layers lay than I'd realised from the vid. I think you did a marvellous job of leaving the vid viewer with a lot to discover from the mini-series, and I thank you for introducing me to it.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Fingersmith has such a convoluted plot I'm pretty sure I couldn't have given everything away, even if I'd wanted to. :D I'm so pleased that you enjoyed discovering exactly what was going on and I'm particularly proud that you decided to watch on the strength of this vid!