bironic | Two thoughts about the vid

Crossposts: https://bironic.livejournal.com/403953.html

(1)

"The Greatest" did really well in its first week, and that's both a joy and a relief. Many times over the more-than-a-year while I was watching or skimming shows, or cataloguing clips, or processing footage, or not working on the vid but thinking about it, I asked myself what I was doing—whether it was worth spending so much time on a single vid—whether its "value" diminished with each month if you compared hours worked to amount of original donation—and how much I was deluding myself that consuming and transforming media content about characters of color was going to make a difference in the world, compared to more concrete forms of assistance and activism.

So, first, I am over the moon that people accepted the invitation at the bottom of the vid posts to donate to organizations that help at-risk groups. We are now up to almost $700, or about $500 more than the original amount donated for my vidding services. Thirteen donors, thirteen organizations, three countries and counting. That's more than I'm able to give in my standing monthly contributions, for sure. I hadn’t thought before about how a fanwork could serve as an amplifier in that way. This translation of fannish love into real-life support makes me really, really happy. Thank you to everyone who weighed in on that decision.

Second, there have been a handful of commenters on various platforms who've expressed what the vid means to them personally, and those have gone straight to my heart. People saying they'd been down in the dumps about current events and the vid lifted their spirits. People describing the depth of their response to the vid as fans of color and/or children of immigrants. I can't describe the meaning this has added to the vidding experience. Of course, all credit to Sigrid for asking for this vid in the first place.

Tens of hours of editing and re-editing meant I had almost zero emotional response to the vid by the time it was done, but making friends and strangers happy, and having resonance, and raising those funds—that has brought tears to my eyes. It proved to me after those months of angst that vidding isn't always or only a frivolous hobby.

(2)

It didn't occur to me until I was chatting with

sanguinity after the vid was posted, but there could easily have been a third captions track naming the people who helped find certain clips.

When I watch the vid, there's not only the meaning of the sequences paired with the lyrics, and not only the second layer of meaning/emotion that comes from knowing the context of the original sources being highlighted, but also this series of memories of corresponding with people about who to look for and which episodes to try and which plot points were the best and worst for those characters, and taking notes on printouts of their cheat sheets with the TV remote in hand, and the flash of triumph when landing on moments that would make just the right clips.

When I watch the vid, it's not only Allanon --> Ozzie --> Kaia --> Penny --> Grant, it's lurrel & no_detective & serenade_strong --> sol_se --> aurum_calendula & kiki_miserychic & sisabet --> (fan wiki) --> dr_glam & cathexys. It's not only Dorian --> Fernando --> (Bobbie) --> Glenn, it's mific --> sdwolfpup --> (me) --> violace. Those Supergirl clips are overlaid with the memory of sanguinity's emailed descriptions of what was going on in the show. The 100 took a village. Legends of Tomorrow is enriched with sholio's enthusiasm, American Horror Story with Sigrid's request and dr_glam's willingness to guide me in writing through three seasons while I peeked through my fingers. Over there is thedeadparrot finding me a replacement dance scene; over there is nicasio_silang and lurrel recommending swapping out the original shot of Gabourey Sidibe in AHS for a better one. The fannish resonance comes from further out and longer ago, too: Advantageous is eruthros and thingswithwings pitching the movie for Festivids; The Magicians is par_avion sharing her disappointment/fury at where the first book and season took certain characters; Abbie and Lincoln and Darwin are fandom in an uproar.

It's my hope that those who volunteered along the way feel those moments of personal connection when they come across the clips and characters they helped make possible. But it's also sad that no one person will have that complete experience—like seeing a communal quilt and knowing who stitched each square.

tl;dr It is a multifan vid as well as a multifandom one.

...

(a) Er, I really hope I don't sound full of myself; I am just having some feelings.

(b) After this post, we return to our regular programming!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

monanotlisa

You sound exactly as proud as you should be! This vid is beautiful. It's the best in a long, long time.

And, you remind me of something... *toddles off*

From:

Two thoughts about the vid

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