Favorites from this year's Festivids

[bironic]

My memories of this round will be:

• Impressive vids of atypical source material (comics, paintings, theatrical performances, social movements)
• Lots of space-centric vids -- at least 14
• Being happier with the vid I received than with the vids I made

There are some I haven't watched for spoiler reasons (Pride, Push, Gone Girl), and some I didn't get far into for purely subjective reasons like music choice and cut/transition style. But in general here are my top 20.


Beautiful-hopeful

Galaxyrise by starlady (multifandom space travel). Science + space travel, RL + fiction, one of my two favorite Symphony of Science songs: a joy. Two people at the "Guess the Festividder" post wondered if I made this, which indicates how close the material is to my heart and is also a lovely compliment. ETA: starlady's post about the vid

Ready for the Storm by scribe (Song of the Sea). This is how you make a summary vid. This is how you make a vid flow with a song.


Beautiful-mournful

Sound the Bells by jetpack_monkey (Godzilla series - Toho). Takes a source that's all too easily viewed nowadays as funny or simply action-packed and strips it down to the human fear and grief that has echoed through the years since WWII.


Slashy

They Are Afraid of Us Together by franzeska (A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia). Yes, I am reccing my gift again. ♥


Current events

Say Her Name by absternr (Black Lives Matter movement). Powerful and engaging and enraging and hopeful and relentless and just full of the spilling-over emotion and action that is happening inside us and around us. Name after name after name.


Still sources

Bayou by livrelibre (Bayou). This is how you vid still source: Choose a perfect, haunting song and cut from comic panel to comic panel with rising anxiety, then manufacture an ending out of an unfinished work.

Show Me Your Teeth by leanwellback (Hieronymous Bosch). This is how you vid still source: Choose a perfect, hilarious song and put simple motion effects on paintings until you're tapping your foot and grinning at the morbid appropriateness of lines like "Got no salvation."

Your Mother by ghost_lingering (Saga). This is how you vid still source: Choose a perfect, moving, spoken-word performance, do razor-sharp cutting, and animate the hell out of the comic panels until you feel like you're really hearing Alana talk to Hazel. ETA: ghost-lingering's post about making the vid


Cute

All In Together by nancyblackett (Great British Bake-Off). So British, so sweet -- pun intended -- so happy, and so resonant by the end for all of us fans who've felt like weirdos in our lives and who've found like-minded weirdos in our online communities.

Bonus related rec: Headphones by anoel (Pitch Perfect), for the way it speaks to the empowering feelings of fannish creativity.

Runners-up: Love Will Always Win by Little Heaven (Planet Earth/BBC), You're My Best Friend by such_heights (Patrick Stewart/Ian McKellen RPF) and Closer to Me by silly_cleo (Fly Away Home).


LOL

Army of Me (live, die, repeat) gag reel by himundergreen (Edge of Tomorrow). Remember ghost_lingering and sanguinity's magnificent tiny vid extravaganza last year for dozens of Festivids requests that hadn't yet been filled? This is a little like that: little snippets of funny Edge of Tomorrow vids Anon didn't make for their recipient.

Bitch Puddin's Fuckin' Theme Song by terajk (Robot Chicken). You might have to know the character to appreciate the special messed-up genius of this vid? TBH I wince when Bitch Puddin' shows up on Robot Chicken but this song was freaking perfect for her and I laughed and laughed at the result.


WTF

Anthem for the Already Defeated by shinealightonme (Over the Garden Wall). Creepiness + brilliant comic timing.

Runners-up: Rock Lobster by absolutedestiny and Great White Cat by terajk (Hausu). Surreal horror vidded to great comic effect thanks to editing and song choices.


Space drama/action

Under Pressure by violace (The Martian). What a delight. Snappy and well constructed, with lots of clever cuts and lyric matches along the way.

Relations of Life by starlady (Europa Report). Nice buildup of tension as the team tries to handle its encounter with something beyond human experience. ETA: starlady's post about the vid


Action & dance

Full Metal March (Cambreadth to the Edge) by himundergreen (Edge of Tomorrow). Excellently done, emphasizing the beats with cuts and motion.

Alive by anoel (Pitch Perfect). Starts with happy femslash and builds energy through the a capella performances.

The requisite Hamilton recs: Lose Yourself by grammarwoman on one end of the tone spectrum, and Jefferson Funk by heresluck on the other.


Editing especially

I Awake by usuallyhats (Wonder Woman)

The ending in particular of Elliot by valoise (Mr. Robot)



And the annual list of movies/shows I was reminded or informed I wanted to see:

• The Mummy - 1932 (Love Lockdown by sol_se)
• The Way Way Back (Bright Lights by leanwellback) - and I'd thought I was not interested in it.
• Byzantium (reminded by Least Favorite Life by ohvienna)
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (reminded by All That's Left Are Your Bones by frith_in_thorns)
• Legend (Run by cupidsbow)