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

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's great to know that adding stock footage worked so well.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

Oh very cool. Awesome song choice.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

That shot of Sarah and the turtle was so perfect for the vid.

There is a pretty high bodycount in the vid. I love the pool scene too, it is so well shot it lends the violence a balletic feel.

I am absolutely intrigued by the interactions between Catherine and Savannah and I choose to think that this is Catherine developing an emotional bond rather than simply imitating one.

There is a fair bit of T2 in there along with a few shots from T3 and even a quick clip from the T4 trailer. The playground scene was the thing I remembered most from the T2 film and I just had to have it in the vid.

Thank you so much for commenting.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked the song choice, it's definitely got me hooked on mashups.

[woolly-socks.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm in awe. This is STUNNING.

The music absolutely blew my mind, and the vid finished me off.

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

WAY COOL. Our eventual death by the hands of our robot oppressors has never been so fun.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm so pleased you enjoyed it.

[life-on-queen.livejournal.com]

OH my god, that's freaking amazing. Great work.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure fun is exactly the word I'd use, but I'm happy to know you enjoyed it.

thanks for commenting.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure fun is exactly the word I'd use
Well, that dance beat is addictive.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Yes it is!

[spectralbovine.livejournal.com]

But despite the beat, it's very creepy...and then the ending makes me think very different things! Because the whole video is mostly about robots destroying humans, but then at the end you have a bunch of humans killing humans and robots holding hands. It makes you think, like Adama does, about whether we deserve to be saved at all.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was pretty much what I had in mind. That the robots change and evolve and the people become increasingly aggressive and in failing to evolve are doomed.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

OMG BRILLIANT!!!!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY FRAKKING BRILLIANT. I am just... totally blown away. BEST FANVID ALL YEAR, for sure! Just... WOWWWWWWW!!!! *mind explodey*

I promise to be back with more thoughtful thoughts when I come down from the squee.

Give me a few days? :)

[iseult-variante.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, that was amazing - I hope that you are happy to have gone outside of your comfort zone, because, wow, seriously. I really liked how the outside sources were integrated into the vid - the fire sweeping over the schematic of the skeletons, and the various ways the text from the Origin were worked in - and the mashup seemed a really perfect fit for the ideas you were working with. I totally jumped at the start of the guitar solo-y bit, where the terminator and the centurion sort of jump out! And the turtle made me cheer for humanity, heh.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Wow, I just don't know what to say. Best fanvid of the year! Admittedly it's only March but nevertheless go me! :D I just want you to know how insanely happy that makes me. I do love to get squee.

More thoughts would be fantabulous.

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm really glad that I forced myself out of my comfort zone too. Every aspect of this vid forced me to look at what I would normally do and see if there was something else I could do that might work better. It was a bit of a gamble on my part but I have been blown away by the response to the vid. I do love the Terminator and Centurion breaking the fourth wall.

Thanks for the feedback.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

That was ASTONISHING.

I need to go away and think about it. I hope to be smart at you later. (:

[charmax.livejournal.com]

Oh thanks, Laura!

YEUH

[gega-cai.livejournal.com]

Whoa. Pixies meets Terminator meets BSG. Slike you read my nerd brain.

I'll be honest, I've never watched a frame of BSG, but this vid was awesome. Sgoing in my memories, ondelay!

Mucho kudos for the hard work that went into it!

Re: YEUH

[charmax.livejournal.com]

I guess all nerd brains think alike. It's a relief to know that you enjoyed it even though you don't watch BSG because I did worry BSG might be taking up too much space in the vid.

Thank you for commenting.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

I think it's a strong contender for my favourite vid of the year--but obviously I can't quite say that yet or people will think I've given up watching other vids. ;)

OK, so THOUGHTS!

It's hard to move past my initial fangirling of your insanely great editing and the smooth way in which you mesh the different fandoms together in a coherent argument. There was no moment I found jarring and I felt such a strong consistent argument through the whole piece--it feels so 'unified' aesthetically, from the font choices through to your control of movement.

Your use of other source material was really exciting too. I sometimes find that a struggle in vids, but not here. I particularly loved the worm on the branch intercut with the Cylons swooping in on New Caprica. I love the strength with which you show that humans are reduced to helpless insects in the face of predatory machines.

I also love the sequence where you show the lone humans (Derek and the BSG cast) in the desolate future.

And despite the disturbing subject, this is a FUN view! Is that bad? ;) I really loved a couple of insertions of humour (or what I found humorous) in the 'rock me, Joe!' moment and the little in-joke about 'Six'. I absolutely adore that that was thrown in there as the very last 'the devil is Six'--almost like an afterthought. The subtle downplay made it funny.

Then I love the way you tie BSG and T:SCC together. I love both shows but am biased in finding Terminator a more succesful/interesting exploration of killer machines. That's just me. But this totally worked for me because the parallels between the two made it not about specific canons (and their limitations) but about the commonalities. At a visual level, I loved moments like the cut from Kara bowing her head to John comforting Charlie.

One of the interesting parallels is the aspect of religion--I hadn't really thought deeply about the way that both shows also draw on classical Christian imagery and references. Both Gaius and Ellison looking towards monotheism.

The final stages where the line 'the one most adaptable to change' comes up are where your argument lifts to a new level, taking it even further. I love that you show human self-destruction in the face of the conflict between man and machine, humans killing themselves, humans killing other humans. And then machines taking over their role: reproducing themselves. Also love the way you use the turtle imagery, showing the Terminators holding the turtle now, not humans.

Cool shot to end on--the ultimate way that machines become 'human' by becoming mortal.

Just: SO MUCH AWESOME!

[charmax.livejournal.com]

If it's still one of your favourites by the end of the year I'll be more than happy.

I really appreciate that you describe it as unified because in a lot of multi-fandom vids the compare and contrast aspect is to the fore and I do love that but not for this vid. I wanted this vid to be about the comparison of humans and machines not the source they were from.

The remorseless and relentless march of the machines intercut with the worm footage is probably the bleakest point of the vid for me and ties into the most painful aspect of the nature of evolution.

I have to admit I did wonder if I'd undermined the whole vid with "Rock me, Joe" but I just couldn't resist it. Likewise I just had to have Six in that section even though it was obvious, I'm glad you thought it was funny rather than jarring.

The religious aspects of both shows can be a little unsettling but I think the most disturbing thing for me was a devout man like Ellison being prepared to use a church as a trap. To commit such an act of violence in a place of worship felt like it posed the question as to whether humans deserved to survive.

I share your preference for the way T:SCC handles its themes but there is just so much more footage of BSG and the human characters in it are so self destructive that the end section of the vid is skewed towards that show. Fortunately, the turtles and Ellison's voice-overs help redress the balance. I'm so glad you picked up on the baton passing element of the turtles because I loved what that imagery says in this context.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on the vid!

[luzula]

Oh wow, that's creepy but awesome. I'm definitely going to watch it again, to catch everything that's going on.