gratuituous vid rec

[hth]

Gratuitous because if you're the sort of person who reads my journal, you're likely to be the sort of person who reads all the other journals where this has been recced. Still and all, given how many times I've bitched and whined because there aren't enough Ronon vids in general and Ronon/John vids in particular, I just can't let it pass that

POSSIBLY THE BEST VID EVER VIDDED IN ANY FANDOM BY ANYONE EVER HAS RECENTLY BEEN POSTED AND IT IS RONON/JOHN!

The second half of it is pretty much the vid I was imagining in my wildest fannish dreams, with all of the sweetness and humor and dorkiness and compatibility at work and at play that has always *defined* slash for me -- that is what slashy means, in my head -- and that John and Ronon have always had coming out their ears. (Seriously, even if you don't watch SGA -- if you've, I dunno, followed me here from old fandoms or whatever, I think anyone with the slightest slashy bent would enjoy this vid.)

But what's particularly impressive about "Red Moon" is the way that the *first* half juxtaposes their separate arcs and makes them look even more similar than I realized they were -- the litany of dead friends and lost wars. She finds shots where even their posture is similar -- there's one cut where each of them grabs to catch a comrade who's about to topple off his feet that just says so much about the kind of leaders they both are. There's also a brilliant move around the 1:30 mark where several shots of them passing by each other are cut quickly together, and it gives the impression of them circling each other -- like exactly what they are in the narrative of this vid (also, my brain): two wary, isolated people who are seeing something that makes them wonder if it's worth the risk again.

I couldn't possibly do it justice. It's beautiful on every level: in the artistry of its construction, in the interface with the song, and in the vidder's aesthetic eye for what images really hit at the center of who the characters are -- their pain, their resilient love of life, and their affection for each other.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I tried. I really did. But I can't get past the fact that I don't like the song.

[apatheia-jane.livejournal.com]

I think the "and dead friends can't come back" line works amazingly well in the vid with both character arcs, and then I get to the end of the vid unable to remember any other time the lyrics or music worked together with the footage, or even what any of the lyrics are beyond oo oo if you try... something. Which usually isn't how I like my vids. But I don't care because the vid shows us John & Ronon, who they are & what they become to each other, in condensed glee form.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my not liking the song pertains to neither the vid nor subject. That line sounds perfect. I had to click out of it 15 seconds in.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

*points at you* Yeah, that's what I meant to say in my rec! Let's pretend that's what I said! (I'm so incoherent when I'm talking about vids, it's sad.)

[dessert-first.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for reccing this! I hadn't seen it, and I can't even *tell* you how much I adore it.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Hey, I came over to your LJ on a rec to read your excellent reviews of Dr. Horrible & the recent Batman flick, then looked down the page and saw you reccing this vid... I have a SHORTCUT to the vid on my desktop so that I can watch it over & over & over again. It's amazing; it showed me things about the characters I never saw before, and it did it with cleverness & style. It changed how I saw the characters.