New vid! "Boy with the Bubblegun," The Hunger Games, Katniss-centric (WisCon premiere)

[bironic]

Hope LJ stays up long enough for this to work...

Title: Boy with the Bubblegun
Fandom: The Hunger Games
Characters: Katniss, allies, representatives of the Capitol
Music: Tom McRae
Length: 2:58
Summary: The leaders of the Capitol think there's nothing to fear from a rural girl with a bow and arrow. Katniss makes them think again.
Content notes: Brief graphic violence against minors by minors and implied child death (1:30-1:41). Moment where male authority figure brushes hair off girl's shoulder in a threatening way (2:37-2:39). Spoilers for the first movie; thematic spoilers for the books.
Beta: Many, many thanks to cincodemaygirl for comments on three drafts in seven days, and to alpheratz and corbae for joining in the second round. This vid is significantly better because of them.
A/N: Made for WisCon 2013 (wiscon_vidparty), the feminist science fiction con which this year had a theme for the premieres vidshow of "gender and technology." I didn't make the connection between the theme and this vid idea, which had been percolating in my head since festivids signups, until the day of the deadline, *facepalm*, but futuransky was awesome about it and let me turn this in a week late. Hope you enjoy it.


Streaming at YouTube (captioned) and Vimeo | Download mp4 (29 MB) and srt file

"Soccer Practice" (Watch on YouTube)

Lyrics:

Welcome to the second reel
Glad that you could make it
We thought your fate was sealed
It's not what we expected

But you punch above your weight
And you're stronger than you look
And the ending's not the same
They changed it from the book

I'm the boy with the bubblegun
I'm taking aim
I cannot hit to hurt
Or cause you pain
If words could kill
I'd spell out your name

It's time to kill the king
It's written in the scripture
See what tomorrow brings
Gotta get a bigger picture

So forgive me
Forgive me
For I am born to be what I must be
And I must be

The boy with the bubblegun
I'm taking aim
I cannot hit to hurt
Or cause you pain
If words could kill
I'd spell out your name

I'm the boy with the bubblegun
The boy with the bubblegun
I'm the boy with the bubblegun
With work to do
If songs could kill
This one's for you


Comments and concrit are always welcome as I try to improve my vidding.

x-posted to vidding (LJ) and vidding (DW)

ETA: Neat recap of WisCon vidshow discussion
And post by chaila

This vid has since shown at: WisCon 38/2014 ("What Women Want: Control, Agency and Desire in SFF" vid show)

Comments

[obsessive24.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that was so intense! I loved it. I particularly loved how you brought out this sense of gaining power from symbols and ideas rather than any specific action at this point. And I love the parallels/contrasts between the idea of the boy with the bubblegun versus the girl with the rudimentary bow and arrow. (I know she got a nice prefab bow and arrows in the games but it's more the idea that you can fashion one out of basic found materials that fascinates me here.) The "bigger picture" bit in the middle I especially loved for the brief flare in scope and violence, and how well the tense quietness in the rest of the vid offset that, with a promise of things to come. And hee, Katniss lying in wait in the bushes for President Snow.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I read the second two books after watching the movie the first time, and when I went back to re-watch it for this vid I was pleasantly surprised by how much footage was included that hinted at what was to come and what was going on outside Katniss' immediate awareness. It was hard actually not to skip straight to showing the berries at "the ending's not the same" and Snow's face at the first "taking aim," making the vid a story about the whole trilogy, but given other visual constraints, with beta help managed to create a more coherent emotional & narrative arc that suited mostly just the first movie. The visuals for "bubblegun" needed to similarly evolve as the vid goes on, too - I took it to mean a weapon with no ability to do real harm, so wanted to show how Katniss took a tool and an attitude the Capitol rolled its eyes at and made them take notice. "Bigger picture"/"Forgive me" felt to me like the emotional peak of the song, so it's excellent to hear that the scope-out and the depiction of how Katniss is forced to become what the Capitol wants all its tributes to be (& does it well, whle not being irredeemably changed like Peeta was worried about) worked for you. And, heh, yeah, I think we went through six different final clips before I threw up my hands and went with the bushes one; glad that worked (ish?) for you too.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Holy wow. This gives me shivers. Totally gorgeous, honey.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you - I'm so glad you enjoyed it. <3

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Marvelous! Only critique is in your summary: "The leaders of District 1 think there's nothing to fear..." We never met the leaders of District 1, only the Capitol.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Whoops! Fixing - thank you.

[kiki-miserychic.livejournal.com]

I love the small things that you were able to pull together in this vid. It's glorious.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad. The movie was tough to clip sometimes because of the shaky camerawork and a few key moments that occur off-screen, so it's great to hear that some of those pieces that ended up in the final cut worked for you.

[revolutionaryjo.livejournal.com]

Oof. That second to last shot with the "this one's for you" lyric certainly packs a punch. Fantastic vid!

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That almost ended up being the final shot, but I felt the vid needed to end on Katniss, especially because the previous shot of her showed her swallowing and looking more intimidated than the rest of the vid had built up to. (TBD whether that was the best choice! Am learning more about vidding with each one.)

[revolutionaryjo.livejournal.com]

It's Katniss's vid, only fitting that it should end with her. :)

[heyiya.livejournal.com]

Yay! This is such a great vid. We had a great discussion about this at the vid party panel... I am working on posting the notes from it now.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

It sounds like a fantastic discussion. Count me among those who are appreciative of your having taken and posted such extensive notes—it's almost like having been there, without the pressure of needing to say something smart on the spot. :)

WisCon 37: vid party discussion panel

[livejournal.livejournal.com]

User heyiya referenced to your post from WisCon 37: vid party discussion panel (http://heyiya.livejournal.com/231017.html) saying: [...] Boy With the Bubblegun [...]

[lorax.livejournal.com]

This was fantastic. The mood just built so well throughout. The shots of the bow and arrows against the "bubble gun" and that brief, perfectly timed explosions of violence in the middle were perfect.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much—I'm glad you enjoyed it. The middle and the last "boy with the bubblegun" sequence are my favorite parts, so it's cool to hear that they worked for you as well.

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

It's a rare thing when a movie vid can give me something different, something more, than I'd get from rewatching the movie. I love the tight focus on this, Katniss vs. the system (and those who represent it). The details of the actual games are not nearly so important as the statement she is making, the revolution she will lead. I love how it foretells what's to come.

Gorgeous work.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

That is interesting and neat to hear, because when the idea first clicked to use this song for this movie and as I was putting the vid together, it felt very much like I was just telling the story the source was telling, albeit using the first movie to cover or at least foreshadow more of the arc of the three books. Which perhaps is what you are talking about. :) It was a nice surprise when going back to watch the movie a second time for this vid to find that there were enough visual cues of that larger arc to support the project. And I agree, the games themselves ended up taking a backseat even though they are the main representation of what is wrong with the whole societal structure.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the books, so all my knowledge of future developments comes from fannish osmosis and Wikipedia. But I found it a very effective way to tell Katniss' story in the first movie, and I love the vid as a moment in time, before those other things (movies) have happened.

[fray-adjacent12.livejournal.com]

Oooh, love the foreshadowing, and your tight focus on what I find to be the most fascinating aspects of the story -- the uprising itself. Very cool vid.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was happy to find that there was enough footage in the first movie to tell more of the story of the trilogy, including events that happen outside Katniss' awareness. Glad you enjoyed.

[sixbeforelunch (from livejournal.com)]

Wow! So well done. I just recently watched the Hunger Games movie, and I think you captured both the movie and the book here. Great choice of music, and really nice editing. Thanks for posting. :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed it.

[sabaceanbabe.livejournal.com]

AMAZING vid. It gave me chills.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hey, cool. Thanks so much—glad you enjoyed it.

[theoret.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, this is excellent. I love how you've balanced showing Katniss's story from the first film with her role in the whole trilogy (with the limited footage available to you, as well!). Lines like "But you punch above your weight, and you're stronger than you look", could easily be vidded to the concept of 'people's initially not expecting Katniss to do that well in the games' vs 'Katniss winning the games', but you've managed to make it simultaneously about that and also about 'the Capitol initially expecting to be able to contain Katniss within the symbolic space of the games' vs 'Katniss taking on a much more significant political role'.

I love how you've drawn out the way a lot of Katniss's power comes from the fact the refuses to neatly occupy the roles she is given. She is continually breaking from the script, which gives her the upper hand when the Capitol assumes that because they wrote the script they are in control. It's so powerful that you've paired your only clip of Katniss explicitly killing another tribute with "forgive me", because it's such an illustration of the ways that even when she's forced into a certain role (competitive murderer) she does so in a way that undermines the intended significance of that role (by grieving rather than celebrating her 'win').

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes! There were opportunities in different verses to use clips of, for example, Katniss cutting down the tracker-jacker hive, but the vid needed to be about her anger toward the gamemakers and the politicians, not the aggression she was forced to enact upon fellow tributes. I liked the idea of pairing not only her failure to protect Rue but also her instinctual shooting of Rue's killer with the feeling of guilt/need for forgiveness. The movie, I thought, made a stronger argument than the book that Katniss was aware of her rebellion/transgressiveness and of the effect she was having on other districts.

simultaneously about that and also about 'the Capitol initially expecting to be able to contain Katniss within the symbolic space of the games' vs 'Katniss taking on a much more significant political role'. […] a lot of Katniss's power comes from the fact the refuses to neatly occupy the roles she is given.

Ooh, neat point. I don't know that I had it explicitly in mind when putting the vid together, but it fits (starting from the surprise of her volunteering in Prim's place), and it's absolutely true in the books right through the end.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Glad you enjoyed the vid.

[netweight]

Yeah, I cried.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Sorry about that. :) Thanks for the comment!

[tenar.livejournal.com]

gorgeous vid. i loved this.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm so glad.

[mswyrr]

Gorgeous! The pacing works beautifully.

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[chaila.livejournal.com]

I love this! You can really tell how carefully constructed it is, and it's really powerful. I love the straight up gender flip of it, that Katniss is the "boy" and her bow is her gun, at least until the end when she has other tools she's learned to use too. It feels lonely and stoic and sad and angry, but in a very targeted way. I like how this positions a lot of Katniss's actions in the first movie as long-range weapons, at least partly based on how they are perceived or seen by others and the consequences they will have down the line, which adds an interesting layer onto the meaning of the song and makes Katniss seem more aware of the larger context and the effect she is having--makes it really feel like she intends those effects. On rewatching it, I was really struck by how many reaction shots of other people there are and how well you've used them; it's Katniss's POV but the audience is always there. There's a really strong sense of Katniss defying everyone's expectations--disappointing them, defying them, exciting them, interesting them--and just messing with the plan they've neatly laid out for her.

[tearful-eye.livejournal.com]

oh W O W, this is absolutely stunning. i had shivers down my spine while watching it. i love everything about this!
... and erh, you have you posted this on tumblr by any chance? i would love to reblog it on my vid-rec blog :)

[bironic.livejournal.com]

Hi! So glad to hear your reaction. Thanks so much.

I suck at Tumblr and can't even figure out how to find out when stuff gets recced/posted over there other than trying Google and relying on tips from friends. :) To my knowledge it's not there yet, but either way you're welcome to rec it! If you wouldn't mind linking back to this post from the Tumblr one, that'd be great.

[tearful-eye.livejournal.com]

yeah, i get that tumblr is a bit confusing for people who aren't used to it ... (but once you've started using it it's awesome!)
& yes, of course i'll link back to this post here, that's the whole purpose of reccing, isn't it :) i'll be posting it on this blog (http://mmhm-vids.tumblr.com/), if you're interested.

[metatxt.livejournal.com]

I love how you connect Katniss resisting expectations of her gendering and rejecting the power dynamics of the Capitol and the Games. You also avoided conflating these things! For which I was very relieved and impressed; too often a female character's more masculine gendering becomes coded as a "reason" she is so badass, etc.

Echoing some of the other comments, I also enjoyed how this vid stays within its specific moment, but connects so beautifully to the story still ahead...

um, and yes, there were delighted lolz at "they changed it from the book" :D

[rae1013.livejournal.com]

This video is amazing. The music choice was spot on and the way you used it was incredibly skillful. Just wonderful.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

This is fantastic, and that last line/shot is chilling. Wonderful job.

[usuallyhats]

Oh, wow, this is perfect!

[lokifan]

This is UTTER GENIUS. The song is perfection.I love the use of the theme and it gets into the class elements of The Hunger Games and the technological differences so well. Plus it’s just a really excellent encapsulation of so many of the themes of the whole trilogy - I'm really impressed at how you brought them out using (obviously) only the first film.

*dead of Katniss feelings*

[lady-with-cats.livejournal.com]

oh wow, this was really amazing. loved the use of the cuts between various capital figures and katniss's death stare!

[profshallowness.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. I love how you're framed the conflict between Katniss and the Capitol here, most embodied in Snow, but great use of Effie and others too. And the lyric, and the reminder of the girl playing what's so often the boy's role, foregrounding one of the most interesting things about The Hunger Games as part of today's culture! Thought-provoking and gripping stuff.