charmax | New Supernatural Vid

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New Supernatural Vid - Deus Ibi Est

Video Title: Deus Ibi Est
Song Title/Artist: Deus Ibi Est by Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Show/Character: Supernatural - John Winchester
Length/Format: 2:51, (Xvid, Stream)
Summary: John Winchester single minded soldier.

Download Xvid (720x400 - 35MB)
Download Xvid (480x272 - 25MB)
Low stream @ imeem

Thanks

astartexx for the awesome essay. So, when you posting your vid then? ;)
This vid was made to premiere at

winchestercon 07. The notes are quite lengthy so you may want to read them after you've watched the vid. I don't usually do notes and on the odd occasion when I have they certainly weren't this long but I thought, what the hell, go for it.

Credits/Titles/Effects
I’ve been leaning more towards simple ones lately and I really wanted to flex some of my muscles in After Effects. I did a lot of playing around with cameras in 3 dimensional space for this vid. Most of the ones in the body of the vid are meant to be invisible but the titles are supposed to be a nod to the fact that they are there.

Narrative
I felt it was important to get John’s back-story out of the way as soon as possible so that we know where he’s coming from without having to go over it all. So the intro is a montage of misery for poor old John, leading to him becoming a single minded man with a mission. Find gun! Get gun! Kill YED! If ever anyone were “Leaving Salvation” it’s John (the sign even has his initials) His sons are reminders of the past and also have become hunters in their own rights, something the sad man holding his kids close to him would not have wanted but he made them soldiers anyway. How can those not be sad shores?

There really isn’t “an unknown force” as such. He always knows what he’s doing and why even if it is against his will. The colt was made for demon hunting and over the years bullets have been used by John’s “ancestors”, his predecessors. The colt as the key to the Hell Gate is kind of a leap in logic that frankly, I still don’t really buy it but what the heck, it looks cool.

Even before he’s dead and in Hell, John is underground in the darkest, dankest places, trying to protect his sons from the worst that can happen whilst still being fully prepared to put them on the frontline.

The montage of mythology shots leads us to the colt as the solution. And here we have Dean looking at the gun with greedy eyes but its Daddy’s gun and he can’t have it, not yet. There are other hunters and they have families and they get killed and that’s really not John’s concern because there’s only one death that really mattered to him. Dean is surrounded by dead things and yet he’s still better off than his dad because yet again John is in the bowels of the earth trying to fix everything on his own.

It’s around the line “soldiers come and soldiers go” that John’s attitude to Dean changes he will sacrifice himself for his son so that he can complete the mission. So now Dean gets the colt. A gun and a mission isn’t much of an inheritance but it’s all the eldest Winchester son can expect. Sam is not necessarily to be trusted and certainly is not the right man for this job. John’s not there, in fact he’s never there he’s in a tatty old photo, a reminder of a life that got burned away.

The deal is struck, Dean is saved and John is damned and yet when you make a deal with the devil for the right reasons “God is present” or at least John thinks so. (I think Bobby would disagree.)

So it’s time for John to bow out and leave his eldest son to fight the battle. He leaves with a sense of calm, not so the YED who seems to wonder if he’s made a mistake. History repeats itself so Dean will sacrifice himself for Sam even though he knows what it is like to be on the receiving end of that particular chunk of guilt.

John breaks out of Hell and uses that one last chance to do just enough to give his son time to complete the mission. Dean learned love and sacrifice from his dad and now it’s payback time. The fact that the YED never saw it coming proves that John made the right decision that Dean was the man for the job. And we get the nearest thing to a happy ending that the tragic Winchesters are ever likely to have.

I think the decision to not show Mary but to choose clips that showed her absence was the right decision. She has left a void in their lives and so she is kind of the same in the vid, she’s a tombstone, a photograph, an empty space.

So this is a vid about John the soldier as much as it is John the father. The marching beat of the song emphasises this as does the matter of fact, determined delivery.

Deus Ibi Est by Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan

Against my will to these sad shores
An unknown force has drawn me
Bound unto a future shaped by ancestors before me
Day on day I march the beat to someone else's drum
I have searched far foreign lands there's nowhere left to run

Impending storm rise up rise up
Oh demons I shall shame you!
Look down the barrel of my gun and one by one I'll name you
Day on day my brothers leave go marching off to war
Yet we never understand for what we're fighting for

Ubi caritas et amor
Ubi caritas
Deus ibi est

Worldly desires and worldly gains
Designed for worldly men
I'm a master of the heart with ears and hands to lend
Soldiers come and soldiers go some changed by love for thee
A circle in the chain of life all fighting to be free

Ubi caritas et amor
Ubi caritas
Deus ibi est

So come my lord and we shall dance
To God's own private drum
Sweet Jesus and the holy vine
The afterlife to come
Day on day I march the the beat to someone else's drum
I have searched far foreign lands there's nowhere left to run

Ubi caritas et amor
Ubi caritas
Deus ibi est
Latin translation: Where there is tender care and love, God is present.

Feedback in all shapes and sizes is very much welcomed.

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Wow...that was pretty much perfection on just about every level.

That was lovely. I love the song choice with the beats and the John Winchester sounding voice, but the ethereal female vocals to give it something more. And you got my heart too with John and his goals and his sons and how it all fits together.

That song could have been made for John and you put it together so perfectly. You really captured his entire character.

Oh, FUCK.

That was...man...*clings to vid*

Perfect song, great job with this vid.

I know I've asked before if you want to be listed on The Imapala (http://the-impala.co.uk/) but I have a question mark next to your name so I can't remember if you said yes or no.

So...

Just wondering if you'd be interested in being listed as an editor on The Imapala (http://the-impala.co.uk/), a new Supernatural vidding archive which

_gater_ and I have set up to run alongside our existing Stargate vidding archive Kawoosh! (http://www.kawoosh.co.uk/)?

If you would, you can submit your vid HERE (http://the-impala.co.uk/submit/).

We do have a hosting policy which you can read about HERE (http://community.livejournal.com/the_kawoosher/25189.html).

We also have an LJ comm running alongside the site if you're interested:

impala_kaz2y5

Thanks, and apologies for the repetition.

Wow, this has such a great tone and such incredible pacing. Great view.

This is such a fantastic vid - I saw it at Wincon and loved it beyond all words. OH JOHN. Just gorgeous.

Oooooh. This is amazing. The song choice, the editing... it's just perfect. I loved the way you edited to the strumming, and the effects are just awesome.

It's a beautiful vid, simply told but with so much thought and complexity behind the (more or less) linear narrative. I think what I liked the most was that you didn't try to overtell canon narrative; you know your audience is likely to get what you're trying to say with just a few judiciously-placed clips. My favourite example of this is 2:20-2:23 - obviously a huge plot arc, but you hardly spent any time on it, knowing your audience will get it and feel it despite the short duration. That sort of knowledge, the trust in your viewer, has always been something that I've associated with great film directors, and it's no less valid here. You awe me with your constant progress and innovation.

Just saw this at the vid show at WinCon and thus I now need to download it badly. I really did love this so much.

Also, I may be a tad in love with this song now, would it be too much if I asked for an upload of the song alone, too?

LOL Not anytime soon... And I won't bore you again with my praise - Just repeating one phrase: This is for me the ultimate John Winchester vid - You captured him so fucking perfectly!

I love this vid! Saw in at Winchestercon, and downloaded it as soon as I got home. The song is perfect for John, and I love how both the beat of the song and the pacing of the clips convey John's drive and the relentlessness of his (and then Dean's) mission.

Wow hon, talk about impressive. Your editing/effects are so flawless and complex and pretty much beyond my understanding, that I'm sure if I didn't watch the show I would think that is all done by the pro's. I really enjoyed this. I love the song, it went so perfectly for John. This one is my new favourite of yours :) I'm really really really impressed :D

You just knocked me flat on my ass, that's what you did. Wow...This is, in my opinion, your best work so far.

The titles are gorgeous, I dream of the day I can do anything even ressembling that. And then when the singing picks up, it gave me chills, because that voice sounds just like John, it's insane.

0:16 'my ancestors before me' with the colt is brilliant
0:20 The combination of the gun pulling back, the repercussion and the railroad tracks glowing is so visually striking I had to pause and go back on the first watch, which I really very rarely do.
0:36 Was that the other 3D work you mentionned? I noticed it on the first watch more in a 'I don't remember that footage at all', then I read your notes. If it is...whoa. And if it's actual footage, then you used some kind of Charmax magic trick on it cause, again, whoa O_O
0:53 ending with dead and the beautiful voice, constrating what we should saw both in sound and lyrics, picking up on flowers, but especially, love. I don't know if it was your intention, but that first chorus felt a bit like a doubtful read on the lyrics, that 'Where there is tender care and love, God is present', with Dean's pain while looking at his mother's grave. And before even reading your notes, I felt it was Mary's absence that had more space than who she was in the vid, which in truth, is also the same as in the show. John's quest was not because of who she was, but how she went.
1:15 The rosary on John's shoulder is just *gorgeous*, then picking up the motion of the bullet by completing the rotation to the other side...
1:26 I love love love how the position of the shadow through the window is the same as the following shot, and then he turns and the door opens
1:33-1:37 I really like that sequence, and the lamp flashes on the beat!
2:05 Listening to a man narrate his own death (and I like to think, challenging God to take him on, in a way) is out of this world, but this is really the impression you left me with. Especially with the woman vocals over the man's words.
2:19 'There's nowhere else to run', with the grave overlayed with the fire is so gorgeous beyond words, in such a sad way.
2:30 That 'Deus Ibi Est' sounds like such a cartharsis, with Dean shooting the bullet that finally kills the YED. Then followed by the various shots of Dean and John through time, Dean becoming his father in a way and completing he's father's quest.

I can only imagine how batshit insane the people at WC became after watching this, because it must look so effing incredible on a big screen.

Beautiful work! It's a vid that I can watch over and over again. It's pretty and emotional and captures John's journey perfectly. Love it! I'll definitely rec your vid to my friends.

Happily downloading (only it takes ages *kicks connection*)

Will it be okay to post a link to this in the papawinchester comms on LJ and JF?

I really loved this! That song was so perfect and I really was moved by the whole thing. I must go back now and inspect your AE work with the cameras. I've never really done much of that and your end title totally blew me away. I just got AE CS3 so I'm going to study this! As always, great vid!

phantomas told me to come see this. I'm ever so glad she did.

Wow.

The quality here is amazing. It whisks through the story so smooth and completely. This is a great vid. Thanks for posting it.

Ok it's John Winchester AND Mark Lanegan together... and my God what an amazingly perfect video.... The editing and timing are just incredible...

Brilliant.

Fiona

I loved this vid. The song does seem so fitting!
Thank you!

That was absolutely AMAZING!! I loved your song choice and the timings were perfect!! I'd never heard it, but I quite like it!!

AND I totally watched your Nikki one.. lol I saw "Wreckoning" and I had to watch! One of my fav songs, but just curious who did that remix that you used??

The odd song choice is so perfect, it's distrubing. Very cool titles too. The layering and movement is beautiful. Your use of stillness, like in the hospital basement and the use of objects, is wonderful. It's great to see still objects used to come together to paint a picture of John. The transition over to Sam from John with the parallels is skillful and so is the way you brought in Dean.

i saw this at wincon and it's fabulous. i love that it's a john vid, and the music and clips and overall tone and everything go together beautifully.

Hey there. Just commenting to let you know that your vid was rec'd on

crack_impala. Thanks again for such a great vid!

Brilliant vid! Everything fit together perfectly.

~ sera

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Look down the barrel of my gun and one by one I'll name you

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