Vid: Unnatural Selection - Battlestar Galactica/Terminator: Sarah Connor

[charmax]

kiki_miserychic & zombiep0rn were the inspiration behind the vid.


Video Title: Unnatural Selection
Song Title/Artist: Pussycats Gone To Heaven (Pixies vs Pussycat Dolls) - DJ Lobsterdust
Shows/Source: Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: Sarah Connor, Terminator movies.
Summary: That body was made to look like a person. We were made in God's image.
***Images of apocalypse and violence that some may find disturbing.***
Length/Format: 3.36, (Xvid, Stream)
Notes:
OK so first off this is so far outside my comfort zone as to be in another continent. This vid is one big experiment designed to help me evolve (geddit?) as a Vidder. Everything from the song (first time using a mashup) to the physical editing process (storyboarded in Premiere but mostly edited in AE) to the tone and themes (my dark side, let me show you it.)

The inspiration for the vid came from the fact that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the publication of "The Origin of Species" and the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth. I've always been struck by the similarities between T:SCC and BSG and I tried to show some of that here. As humanity teeters on the edge of extinction they slide down the evolutionary tree of life whilst the machines evolve into better beings.

kiki_miserychic has written an insightful commentary for this vid over at vid_commentary. A little more of my choices is discussed in the comments.

Unnatural Selection - Battlestar Galactica/Terminator: Sarah Connor - Charmax

Links: Download Xvid (720x400 - 40MB) | Download Xvid (416x240 - 20MB) | Stream@Imeem | Stream@Youtube

Comments

[oltha_heri.livejournal.com]

Um wow. That is all I can say, this was really amazing, I think your idea got through really well, and I am just impressed by the skill it must have taken to have executed this really good idea, this well. I especially love the text usage, which I don't usually in vids, but here it worked perfectly. I- just- wow.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. There was such a lot of stuff in this vid that I was anxious about and the use of text was definitely one of those things. It's good to know that you think I pulled it off.

[mresundance.livejournal.com]

As per usual, you leave me without ability to quiet express the intensity and awesomeness of this vid. I loved how you incorporated the text and Darwin into this vid. Holy frakk. It was a truly amazing piece of work.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm so pleased that you would say such lovely things about the vid. I feel I should give some credit to kiki_miserychic whose fearless approach to vidding inspired me to attempt something this ambitious.

[acari.livejournal.com]

This vid is incredible. I am in awe of your skills.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the feedback. \o/

then god is seven

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I needed to post this comment twice, the vid is that good. :)

Hell yeah if I inspired this. I love it when you go dark, it's amazing. There's so many things that I love like robot apocalypses, human nature, Darwin, and religion. This is a mashup that's been on my rotating playlist since it was released.

It's BSG and Terminator! I can't believe how well integrated you've made these two shows, including the movie footage as well. They have different looks, but you make them seem like one giant frak party.

The quote text is great too, using the BSG look.

I love how the blast wipes out the skeletons at :31-:36. The piles of dead skulls, the rows of dead bodies, the smashing of the :47 skull. Love the added shake on the BSG footage of the Earth planet. The coloring on the BSG photograph at 1:33 is so beautiful. I love the hammer hits and how they suggest so many things. The bodies, the death, the humans.

Your pacing is stellar throughout, especially the settling on Starbuck and into the devastated humans. ROBOTS and snakes!

OMG, the screaming religion is probably my favorite part. My god, that is so incredible. I can't even start talking about it because I don't know where to start.

The fantastic use of the flaring goes a long way in creating a look and bring the sources together. The source audio is layered in perfectly. The additional audio and text are so well crafted.

The blood, the hands, the death. Ohhhh, I want to have this vid's robot babies. I can't even begin to express how much I adore this vid. It's so many things I love all rolled up in a Charmax vid.

Re: then god is seven

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and yes, you absolutely inspired it. I hadn't really listened to many mashups before but now I'm addicted. Something else I have you to thank for.

Getting BSG and T:SCC integrated wasn't too hard but my copy of T2 left a lot to be desired and also there was no way on earth Arnie was finding his way into the vid.

It is entirely possible that I overused the skulls but I did enjoy it. There's rewatch value in playing "count the skulls" if nothing else.

The Starbuck clip was a bit of a gamble but with the way it transitions hopefully it'll still work if she turns out to be Daniel or Daniel's daughter or whatever.

I'm glad you approve of the "god is seven" section because that only really came together at the last minute when everything else I'd tried to inject some urgency into it had failed.

Robots, blood, body parts, death these are the things that make your heart beat a little faster, are they not? :D

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

wow.
Thank you. hypnotic rhythm and darwin's words and destruction and ...wow :)
thanks!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks back atcha'. :)

[talitha78.livejournal.com]

WOW. Wow. This is a stunning vid. I mean that literally--it's a bit overwhelming to watch, but in a really, really good way.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Aww, thank you for such a nice compliment.

[elz.livejournal.com]

This is just fascinating and really well done.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow... I loved this more than I can express properly. I want to play this over and over and just soak it in, then tell everyone I know about it.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting and I'm definitely not adverse to you telling everyone about. :D

[bananainpyjamas.livejournal.com]

Holy shit that was incredible. I just...have no words. The use of text overlays and external source was perfection. And the ending sequence gave me chills. Really really fantastic.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks, DC. A compliment from you always means such a lot. I'm really pleased with the strength of the ending section even if I do say so myself.

[tripoli8.livejournal.com]

So. freaking. cool.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

YAY! \o/

[cofax7]

WOW.

That was just.... awesome.

\o/

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Awesome is such a good word. Thanks for using it.

[rose-griffes.livejournal.com]

*brain explodes from general awesomeness of vid*

[charmax.livejournal.com]

*face hurts from general happiness at comment* :D

[danegen.livejournal.com]

I can't get beyond muttering "Dude. Duuuude!" So unbelievably awesome.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Well that in itself speaks volumes.

[fahrbotdrusilla]

Wow. I'm speechless.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Yay, for speechlessness.

[yokiem.livejournal.com]

It is not the strongest of the species that survives
but the one most adaptable to change
So true! I really enjoyed this vid. I'd never thought of comparing those two shows and I love the ties with Charles Darwin!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I was always struck by the similarity of the shows with their themes of robots evolving beyond their masters. Which is quite a common sci-fi theme, I know, but these two struck me as particularly coming from the same place. Using Darwin to tie it all together was a natural progression from that theme.

[roving-rez.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid you set the standard for vids too high, Charmax.
This was amazingly awesome and it made all the other vids I'd downloaded tonight look bad by comparison.

You have wicked skills.

Congrats!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

There have been some fantastic vids released in the last week so this is very high praise indeed. Cheers!

[taragel.livejournal.com]

Wow. So amazing. Mind-blowing, original. Spectacular editing and great storyline structure that, well, truly EVOLVES from start to finish. Very impressive.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Wow. Thank you for saying such lovely things about the vid.

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

Oh. My. God. I mean, I'm echoing everyone else here, but that was amazing! Gorgeous and mindblowing, and you do such a brilliant job weaving together the themes of the two shows. The Darwin is a perfect touch, and I LOVE the Ellison voiceovers at the end.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you. The response to the vid has been very gratifying if a little overwhelming. I am so pleased that you enjoyed it so much.

[coffeejunkii.livejournal.com]

whoa! i love both bsg and scc, and to see them being brought together in such perfect synch is truly amazing. i have to watch this a bunch more times to get all the nuances.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I wanted to highlight some of the strongest themes of both shows primarily the evolution of the machines but also the moral ambiguity of the people and the continued references to religion that runs through both BSG and T:SCC.

[pollyrepeat.livejournal.com]

That's absolutely gorgeous. Wonderful song choice and editing. I'm often a little dubious of speech overlaid over the audio, but it really added to the experience, here. Well done!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I know that the use of soundbites is not generally popular with vidders and I would usually agree but in this instance I really feel it adds power and emotional punch to the tail section of the vid. I'm glad that you felt they worked well, too.

[sache8.livejournal.com]

Vids like this make me never want to have the audacity to vid again... haha.

If you watch the vid in a certain way, it almost plays as the events of SCC being the ancient Earth-based history of Galactica. I don't know if that was your intention or not, but whether you choose to watch it with that mindset or just as a compare/contrast of two stories with a similar premise, it's still pretty mind-blowing. Thanks for sharing. :-)

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I definitely did feel that the events on earth in T:SCC were happening in the same universe as those in BSG. Unfortunately the revelations about Earth on BSG have rather put a dent in that particular notion. If it still works that way in the vid then I am happy to bypass canon.

Cheers for the feedback.

[txlsplash.livejournal.com]

This is amazing! Great work!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

YAY thanks!

[obsessive-a101.livejournal.com]

That vid was just brilliantly good.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Glad you think so, thank you.

[anexiana.livejournal.com]

Here via coffeejunkii's rec.

And zomg! Darwin. I'm was just writing a paper about him and took a break...and found this. Freaky. But very cool video. I love the music and the text you had in some places? Loved it. The whole thing was a disturbing invitation to think a little. xD

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Oh that is freaky and probably not the best thing to find when taking a break from Darwin. Nevertheless I'm glad you enjoyed it and that it was thought provoking.

[auroraprimavera.livejournal.com]

This was just great. Wow. Really does make you think. The religious aspect mixed in with everything else was brilliant. And the song perfect. Thank you for sharing!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks! The song was just perfect for what I wanted to say. I'm glad you thought the religious aspect was well integrated into the vid.