Vid help?

Mar. 5th, 2017 06:10 pm
bironic: Neil Perry gazing out a window at night (Default)
[personal profile] bironic
One of the vids I'm making for the Fandom Trumps Hate auction, requested by [twitter.com profile] sigridellis, is a celebratory snapshot of characters of color in current SF/F & horror film and television. It is a neat project, although it means I've gotten myself into a pickle with the scope! I haven't quite figured out how many sources will be feasible, but we've started a list off the tops of our heads and flagged characters who are Sigrid's favorites and/or who feel particularly important to serve as the core set.

If you're willing, I could use some help on two things, outlined below. I hesitated to post about it because I don't want to be That Person Who Keeps Making Big Vids That Require Other People To Do Work, but then a friend said that she finds contributing fun, and I do believe this will be a better (and more efficiently produced) vid with a little help from some friends, so here we go.

(1) Flagging important characters and identifying major gaps in the character list. I don't want to turn this into an encyclopedia entry, and in fact don't even know if I can include everyone who's already on the list, but I don't want to miss someone significant either.

General guidelines as things stand now: non-white characters, who are not covered in makeup (i.e. Gamora) nor are only voices (i.e. Maz Kanata), in live-action SF/F & horror sources from the last 3ish years. Prefer them to have a significant role of some sort in their canon. There may be more space for women than for men. Am not sure yet how the vid will handle villains. Feel free to pitch me an argument against these limitations if you think they unfairly distort the portrait we're trying to sketch.

How does the Google spreadsheet look so far? Is someone not marked as "important" (bold font) who should be? (Female characters are in the top half, dudes below. Don't mind much beyond columns A and C.)

(2) Volunteering source knowledge. I've never made a vid before with so many unfamiliar sources where clips from those sources need to be appropriately contextualized with the lyrics and narrative flow. i.e. This isn't like the electricity vid, where visual parallels took precedence over needing to know characterizations and plotlines. The song we're using will work best if I can tell stories about these characters' struggles and triumphs.

Now, I've already begun to watch some of the sources I don't know (Sense8, Suicide Squad), and there are more in the queue, but others I can't handle (American Horror Story, The Walking Dead), and still others are big and/or not super interesting to me and I could use some pointers on key episodes for the characters in question.

With that in mind, is anyone willing to serve as a consultant on the following sources?

Poll #18066 Auction vid help
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12


I can advise you on these (probably) major sources:

View Answers

American Horror Story
1 (9.1%)

The Walking Dead
1 (9.1%)

Z Nation
0 (0.0%)

The 100
6 (54.5%)

Agents of SHIELD
2 (18.2%)

Supergirl
5 (45.5%)

The Flash
3 (27.3%)

I can advise you on these (probably) minor sources:

View Answers

Grimm
1 (14.3%)

The Magicians
1 (14.3%)

Timeless
2 (28.6%)

Teen Wolf
2 (28.6%)

Falling Skies
0 (0.0%)

Travelers
1 (14.3%)

Cleverman
2 (28.6%)

Crazyhead
1 (14.3%)

Gotham
1 (14.3%)



Thank you. <3

ETA: Follow-up poll.

Date: Mar. 5th, 2017 11:24 pm (UTC)
longwhitecoats: Captain America in his uniform and soldier's helmet, walking away from the camera with his old shield on his back (Cap Old Shield)
From: [personal profile] longwhitecoats
I may be not seeing the listing, but I think Maeve from Westworld is not on there? To me her story is the most important part of the show, and Thandie Newton's performance in the role is just beyond amazing. I've watched the series multiple times & would be glad to advise if you like!

I also volunteered to advise on The 100 but have only seen up through mid-S3; others may therefore be more useful to you than I am. But I can be backup!

Date: Mar. 5th, 2017 11:38 pm (UTC)
longwhitecoats: Captain America in his uniform and soldier's helmet, walking away from the camera with his old shield on his back (Cap Old Shield)
From: [personal profile] longwhitecoats
Oh, whoops -- yes, i see her, sorry! I was looking at a different little block of Westworld characters I think, and I just assumed they would all be in the same place. mea culpa!

Date: Mar. 5th, 2017 11:27 pm (UTC)
violace: (tlou } ellie)
From: [personal profile] violace
I'll happily help with anything related to The Walking Dead. (Does that include the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead too? Either way, can help with both of those.)
Edited Date: Mar. 5th, 2017 11:28 pm (UTC)

Date: Mar. 5th, 2017 11:34 pm (UTC)
violace: (Default)
From: [personal profile] violace
As for the character list - other than Michonne, characters with big roles in the last few seasons were Sasha, Morgan, Glenn, Rosita, Gabriel and Ezekiel.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 12:17 am (UTC)
violace: (tlou } ellie)
From: [personal profile] violace
Hah yes, Talking Dead is the aftershow with Chris Hardwick. Fear the Walking Dead is the story of a different group of survivors that starts before the breakout. It has main characters of colour but I'd say they're not as interesting or deep as in TWD; the most significant might be Victor Strand who owns the boat that the group finds shelter on. But his story so far concludes with the first LGBT death in the series (his partner), so... maybe not super great for this particular vid.

Michonne is definitely the most iconic of them all, along with Glenn. :)

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 12:47 am (UTC)
eruthros: Martha Jones smiling! (DW - Martha Jones is awesome)
From: [personal profile] eruthros
One gap I see (unless it's too old) is Pacific Rim - if you're doing other 2013 sources I'd expect to see Mako!

From Killjoys I'd also like to make a case for Pree, since men of color getting to be femme is so rare in scifi - he's a secondary character, but in a lot of eps.

Not things anyone would miss or a gap or anything, but if you're looking for more footage for any reason, I loooooved Advantageous, a 2015 near future film starring Jaqueline Kim. Also, Chiwetel Ejiofor in Z for Zachariah (also 2015), which has some great footage of him.

I clipped the 100, Killjoys season one, Advantageous, Z for Zachariah, and a bunch of other recent apocalypse-y scifi last year so I may be able to answer questions about footage if there's anything in particular you're looking for.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 01:53 am (UTC)
eruthros: Delenn from Babylon 5 with a startled expression and the text "omg!" (Default)
From: [personal profile] eruthros
Yes, Pacific Rim being that recent is astonishing to me too! I noticed the date recently, because of wikipediaing something about the sequel :)

Pree is the owner of the bar on Killjoys - he later gets more to do, but in the eps you saw probably the only thing he did is pour drinks and toast people so he would be easy to miss :)

And yes, for Dance Apocalyptic - so my sense of the 100 is a little specific! But I can point you towards good Raven and Lincoln eps if you want.

I hope you enjoy Advantageous! Z for Zachariah on the other hand is not a good movie, but it has SUCH great Chiwetel footage in it and it's filmed really beautifully. (In Dance Apocalyptic it's the shots where he takes off a biohazard suit and cries at breathing fresh air.)

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 12:56 am (UTC)
monanotlisa: symbol, image, ttrpg, party, pun about rolling dice and getting rolling (Default)
From: [personal profile] monanotlisa
Great concept idea! Please ask me anything.

Just out of curiosity, have you watched the sci-fi shows with female (!) leads (!) of color (!), Killjoys and Dark Matter? I guess The Flash does have Cisco, and Supergirl has Grumpy!Space!Dad J'onn, but these are still shows suuuper-focused on their white leads (to say nothing of The Walking Dead, which I had to stop watching).

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 01:56 am (UTC)
topaz_eyes: (Martha Jones)
From: [personal profile] topaz_eyes
You might want to consider adding Two/Portia Lin from Dark Matter to the spreadsheet?

I don't know if Mickey in Doctor Who is significant enough; he has a bit of an arc in season 2. And there's Bill this upcoming season, though no eps have aired yet.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:00 am (UTC)
ghost_lingering: Minus prepares to hit the meteor out of the park (today I saved the world)
From: [personal profile] ghost_lingering
(On a phone so not adding this to the spreadsheet because my phone doesn't always play nice with them and I will forget if I don't comment now.)

Art Bell (male) -- Orphan Black
Luke Garroway (male), Magnus Bane (male) -- Shadowhunters (specifically thinking of the TV show)

...aaaand we have now exhausted my current film/tv knowledge



Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:14 am (UTC)
ghost_lingering: a pie is about to hit the ground (Default)
From: [personal profile] ghost_lingering
I'm haphazardly clipping Orphan Black for a vid so definitely can advise/provide footage for that. FYI, Art is an African-Canadian cop who ends up eventually allied with the clones; mostly there is investigative type footage with him. There are some other characters of color on the show who I would suggest you avoid. OB is amazing in most ways, but not really about race.

Shadowhunters I can kind of suggest stuff for, but I mostly fast forward watched it, sooooooo my knowledge is less. But I think I watched most scenes in the first season with them -- I was fast-forwarding through other characters. FYI Luke is an African-American cop who is a werewolf who used to be a shadowhunter and is in love with the main characters' mom. Bane is played by Harry Shum Jr and is a bisexual warlock in love with a male shadowhunter. Fandom loves him.

Date: Dec. 11th, 2017 10:11 pm (UTC)
ghost_lingering: a pie is about to hit the ground (Default)
From: [personal profile] ghost_lingering
E-mailing you now!

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:16 am (UTC)
cinco: Spock looking doubtful: "O RLY?" (Default)
From: [personal profile] cinco
I too LOVE helping with this sort of thing. <3

I'm current on The 100; its approach to its characters of colors is very problematic and the first 2 seasons are not necessarily representative. I also watched Teen Wolf through season 3 but quit maybe 3 episodes into season 4.

I love the suggestion upthread of Art in Orphan Black!

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:23 am (UTC)
deelaundry: man reading in an airport with his face hidden by the book (Default)
From: [personal profile] deelaundry
Does Sleepy Hollow count (Abbie and Frank and probably others)? I've never watched it but it's got a time travel premise.

This may be too new, but I've been hearing good things about The Great Wall, a monster/dragon flick which has a primarily Chinese cast.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 06:26 am (UTC)
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
From: [personal profile] sanguinity
Sleepy Hollow: time travel premise, the baddies of the week are nearly always supernatural, and the solution of the week was nearly always occult. I'd think it counts in fantasy and horror, no?

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:56 am (UTC)
mific: (Default)
From: [personal profile] mific
Great project!
Almost Human, Dorian the (black) android cop. I have the series, can upload vids. Also, I have Killjoys vids I can upload if you need sources.
Offered context help on Teen Wolf - happy to try but not really expert on later seasons.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 03:32 am (UTC)
happydork: A graph-theoretic tree in the shape of a dog, with the caption "Tree (with bark)" (Default)
From: [personal profile] happydork
Gemma Chan's character in Humans is pretty central, though it's an ensemble show. She's a robot with complex identity issues, so obvs I love her.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 05:15 am (UTC)
jetpack_monkey: (Default)
From: [personal profile] jetpack_monkey
Oh man, I'd be all over this if I was following anything current. But if you need anything in the way of a beta, I am at your service.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 06:32 am (UTC)
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
From: [personal profile] sanguinity
Supergirl: Maggie Sawyer is a Latina character, but is played by a white actress; I don't know if that matters to you. M'gann M'orzz has her own arc threaded through the front half of S2.

I haven't watched Cleverman yet, but I have the episodes and was planning to. I could move it up my watchlist if that would be helpful, especially if it leads to there being more (any!) indigenous characters in the vid.

Oh, and another for the list, Kelly from the San Junipero episode of Black Mirror.

Date: Mar. 7th, 2017 02:46 am (UTC)
sanguinity: woodcut by M.C. Escher, "Snakes" (Default)
From: [personal profile] sanguinity
Maggie's casting was a disappointment to many of us, I'm afraid.

M'gann M'orzz has three distinct morphologies in the show. She wears the human face most often, with the white latex or green paint appearing only at highly dramatic moments.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 06:36 am (UTC)
par_avion: collage of intl air mail stickers (Default)
From: [personal profile] par_avion
I'm not watching most of these shows but can advise re: Killjoys and Shadowhunters. I very much agree with @eruthros that Pree is worthy of consideration. It's a bit of a slow reveal but he has a lot of heart. (And a secret past that we learn more about in S2)

Harry Shum manages to be amazing and grounded even when surrounded by nonsense, he is absolutely my favorite thing about Shadowhunters.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 06:51 am (UTC)
elipie: (Default)
From: [personal profile] elipie
I see you have Black Mirror listed, but Kelly from the San Junipero episode is a queer female of color who is central to that episode!

Will let you know if I think of others you don't have yet. :)

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:05 pm (UTC)
rionaleonhart: final fantasy x-2: the sun is rising, yuna looks to the future. (don't cross me)
From: [personal profile] rionaleonhart
I'm glad to see so many great characters from Sense8 on that list! I'm not sure about including Lito, though; I love him dearly and I'd be sad to exclude him from any project, but the actor is Spanish and, as far as I know, white.

(EDIT: Also on the subject of Sense8, Sun and Kala should probably be bolded as important!)
Edited Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 02:08 pm (UTC)

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 03:31 pm (UTC)
seekingferret: Two warning signs one above the other. 1) Falling Rocks. 2) Falling Rocs. (Default)
From: [personal profile] seekingferret
None of them are the most central characters, but I'm fond of some of the POC characters in The Martian- there's Donald Glover's Rich, Benedict Wong's Bruce, Michael Anthony Peña's Rick, and Chiwetel Ejiofor's Vincent.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 03:52 pm (UTC)
cherry: (Default)
From: [personal profile] cherry
Continuum has tons! Sonya Valentine, Travis Verta, Matthew Kellog, Lucas Ingram, Betty Robertson, Curtis Chen, and Catherine. I'd be more than happy to advise, if you're using the fandom.

Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 03:55 pm (UTC)
cherry: (Default)
From: [personal profile] cherry
The first five are main cast for three or four seasons, and the last two are recurring. There's also Elena and Maddie -- but they only show up in three or four episodes each -- and a character named Carlos Fonnegra whose family is from Columbia, but I'm not sure what Victor Webster's background is.
Edited Date: Mar. 6th, 2017 04:06 pm (UTC)

Date: Mar. 9th, 2017 01:20 am (UTC)
kiki_miserychic: A Dinosaur and Kate Spade Shoes Fairytale (Default)
From: [personal profile] kiki_miserychic
I was going to volunteer for Z Nation but I'm not good at remember what episodes things happened in or even what season really. It's such a wild show and excellent for your project idea though. So if you end up with no one, I can try to help, but I didn't want to put it in the poll in case someone else can be more knowledgeable.

Tags

Style Credit