New Vid: Dive (Doctor Who)

[grav_ity]

I'll admit it, when series five of Doctor Who began, I was nervous. I was on my last nerve with the show. I didn't even watch "The End of Time". The only thing that made me think about tuning in was the fact that The Moff was taking over (okay, and that Tennant was gone).

But I did tune in. And as I watching, I realized that I had a feeling welling up inside my chest that I wasn't used to feeling. It was GLEEE. Not happiness, not joy, but GLEEE. Capital G, capital L, capital triple E, GLEEE! I hadn't felt like that since "The Doctor Dances". AND IT WAS AWESOME.

Shortly afterward, I heard the song "Dive", by Steven Curtis Chapman. In addition to the things I could see in myself on a personal level, I could also see Eleven and Amy, and how much I loved watching them. And yes, there are 10 seconds in the very centre of the song that don't work at all, but I've worked around that to the best of my ability (ie. left it blank).

In terms of process, this vid was a bit funny. I had a perfect picture in my head for the "story" of the vid...but the story ends with two minutes left in the song. I was able to shed 30 seconds, but still, quite a bit of shifting on my part.

The good news is that Eleven practically vids himself, and Amy is beyond cute 99% of the time. The bad news is that they DON'T STOP TALKING, so this vid suffers a tiny bit from "talking head" syndrome.

Basically, this is the story of how I met Eleven, how I met Amy, and how much I loved watching them in that first episode. I did cheat a bit and use other episodes, but I tried to stick primarily with scenes from "The Eleventh Hour" where ever I could. There are six or eight clips that I was absolutely set on, and I think they've worked out. The song makes me happy, the vid makes me happy, the show makes me happy! Good times all around.

And notice that this time I tried for short clips! Nothing over five seconds (except for the 10 second black clip, which is on purpose)! ;)

Or you can download it here.

Comments

[fahrbotdrusilla]

That was cute! But did you know that there are like 10 seconds in the middle that the clips don't show up?

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Er, yes. I know. That would be the "living it blank" I mentioned. The lyrics were just not workable (I didn't want to make it a joke or anything like that), but the song was too perfect otherwise to leave the vid idea alone.

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

[sorry for butting in!] Had you thought of just putting another clip of the TARDIS flying through space -- something really neutral? Then you'd have it at the beginning, middle and end? [/sorry for butting in!]

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I did, actually, but I wanted to be very clear that there is nothing within the context of Doctor Who that I am comfortable equating with God. I also thought about taking clips from the Amy/Rory bits of Amy's Choice, but in the end, decided that blank was the way that made me the most comfortable.

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. :) Didn't mean to question you or anything -- I was just trying to randomly spout off suggestions. Hope I didn't offend too much!! :/

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Oh, no worries! Believe me, I took a poll and asked a bunch of people. ;)

[fahrbotdrusilla]

but I wanted to be very clear that there is nothing within the context of Doctor Who that I am comfortable equating with God.

ah, that makes sense.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

It was a bit awkward, because I love the song, and it's nearly perfect. This was how I met myself in the middle. ;)

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome -- what a catchy song! I think short clips make the most amazing videos, so I am in awe of your editing skills. :D The tempo and your editing (and the clips you chose) made it a perfect representation of Eleven and Amy and all the fun they had this season. :)

(Please say you're posting this to some comm so other fans can enjoy it besides your Friends list? :)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I was just about to go looking for comms, actually. Any suggestions?

THANKS!

[eolivet.livejournal.com]

I can't keep up with how fast comms pop up for fandoms (especially this one), so I usually go to doctorwho (I think) and check out their affiliates. ;p But I'd post it in the Eleven and Eleven/Amy ones for sure. :D

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I posted it at doctorwho. ;)

[travels-in-time.livejournal.com]

I've always loved that song, and the mood of it does make for a perfect S5 vid, doesn't it? I enjoyed this very much, thanks for sharing it!

(Hi, random person here from doctorwho. *waves*)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Hello and welcome! ;)

Thanks for the review! I think one of the reasons I was able to wrestle this song into working so well was that the mood was a perfect match, even when the lyrics were not so much.

Glad you liked it!

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

I like the song. :)

I have no context for the clips, but this Amy person looks like she's fun. There appears to be much goofiness?

Yay you!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

:) Glad you liked!

(Amy is a BALL. I love her so much.)

[qwi-xux.livejournal.com]

That was SO MUCH FUN. I know NOTHING about Dr. Who AT ALL, (except that it's insanely long) but this made me want to find out. It was very catchy and the flow of the clips matched the bounciness of it, if that makes any sense.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Wheee, this vid was all about the bounciness.

You could just watch series five. I have a short list of suggested episodes before, but series five more or less stands on its own. ;)

[sache8.livejournal.com]

But series five more or less stands on its own. ;)

What she said. You can definitely get away with picking up Dr. Who at that point. And feel no pressure to bother with the rest of it, if you didn't want to. I've never seen any classic Who. *shrugs*

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I really like the song choice - very bouncy and happy, and YES, Amy and Eleven just goof about all over the place. I do empathise with the talkyface problem - believe me, it's even worse vidding River, but it's pretty bad with Amy and Eleven and their talking obsessions too, but I think you did a pretty good job keeping it under control here. Even when you do have people talking in clips, if you're aware of it, you can often jig the timing a bit so their speech looks slightly less annoying.

If you're interested in concrit, I do think that the blank space in the middle of the vid is distracting. My general tactic when confronted by an unsuitable lyric is to ignore context and put something that fits with the general thesis of the vid there, but I also understand second-guessing what people will take from lyric associations. Generally my personal opinion is that it's better to have something that nothing, but if you really were unhappy with any option, had you thought about cutting down the song to get rid of the line entirely? It's a little tricky sometimes, but if you stick to the beats it's definitely do-able and is something I rely on more and more when confronted by really long songs or ones with unsuitable sections.

My personal opinion is that an awkward song splice is preferable to blank vid space, but kudos for coming up with a solution you were happy with - just trying to throw alternate future solutions into the mix!

Anyway, the vid is bouncy which pretty much sums up my reaction to season 5 too!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

So bouncy and happy, just like the season! *hearts them*

I am not sure how to edit a song and take out the middle. I assume there's something in Audacity, but I didn't know, and I kind of just wanted to get it done.

I think if the lyrics had been anything else, I would have been okay with it, but this one I just had to leave.

[emmiere.livejournal.com]

(I was just popping by to ask if I could check it out with 3 episodes to go?)

Also, if you're interested for future options, this is the best Audacity tutorial I've found for basic removing. Nifty stuff. Not that I've gotten much use out of it. ;)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

(Uh, no. No you really can't.)

*files away for later*

[colej55.livejournal.com]

Mega MP3 Splitter (free download) is much easier to use than Audacity if all you want to do is part out a song. I use it all the time for videos. Very simple and extremely precise. Also a tiny program that isn't "installed". It's just an itty bitty executable. I can send the program to you in an e-mail if you want it.

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

Frak, pressed the backspace and went back a page. ::sighs::

I've never heard this song before, but I do think it's a good choice. I also notice your editing/scene cuts are getting better. Practice and all!

I get why you didn't want to vid that line, but it also looks a bit strange. I think it's better to put *something* in rather than leave it blank, because I found I was more consentrating on the fact that there was nothing there than listening to the lyrics. I watch vids for the clips just as much as the song. In DW there are plenty of instances that go outside the Doctor's control. It's one of the things Ten learned in spades that there are things more powerful than he is (God, if you will). Eleven has more than one instance of this too and not just in Amy's Choice. Ep 2 was a big one for that, even if it came down to Amy, you might see a higher hand in it (if you go for those sort of things). Something from Vincent maybe even? You don't need much for 10 seconds. It just seems incomplete to skip that line when in fact encountering 'God' is part of DW. The lesson for the Doctor has always been that he may think he's God sometimes, but he's not that powerful.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I think I spent almost as much time thinking about that section as I did clipping the rest of the vid. Ultimately, I stand by my decision, but I think of all the suggested alternatives, I like your idea the most. Ten would have been easy. I just...haven't reached that stage with Eleven yet. ;)

EDITING FOR THE WIN!!!

[eldanna.livejournal.com]

The editing is the reason I don't vid; I don't have the patience!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

It is kind of annoying! At least when I started fanfiction, I could speak English. So often with vids, I know how I want it to be and just can't make it!

[dm-lunsford.livejournal.com]

FUN!!!

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

SO MUCH FUN!!!

[amethyst-key.livejournal.com]

That's a very good song for Doctor Who. :3 Awesome vid. I'm not much into vids, but this was fun.

Also, I keep meaning to ask you, why did you dislike Tennant so much as the Doctor? Is it a dislike for him in general or something else?

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

My dislike of Tennant is a complicated situation, and it's probably more a dislike of RTD when you get right down to it.

As an actor, I found Tennant on the creepy side.

As a character, Ten and I got off to a very bad start, because pretty much the first thing he did was ruin Harriet Jones for no particular reason other than he could. Then he and Rose were mean to Queen Victoria, whom I also adore. Then the whole Rose/Ten thing happened, and I found that extremely distasteful.

In the Martha year, we got Emo!Ten to the MAX, and I found him to be desperately uninteresting. It was okay for a bit with Donna, but then the end of her storyline just made me SO ANGRY.

I hate the way Ten was always "I am so much better than everyone, because even if you're about to kill someone I like, I won't kill you. And the fact that someone else would use a gun in a defensive way makes them the worst person alive."

When Adelaide killed herself, I was happy, because for once someone had stood up to him and said "No. This is the way I want my story to go. You do not get to write it."

I haven't seen the End of Time because I have no interest in any more angst and stupid loss.

Um...that's the short version, if you can imagine. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

hiya! butting in with some vid appreciation! I loved it, and completely agree with your blank-leaving... I'm a Christian too, so I appreciate your thoughtfulness about it!
And I really agree with your thoughts about DTennant... I actually had a lot of other likes about him to balance some of the dislikes, but everything you said above, I agree with. I tend to palm off a lot of that stuff on RTD... but emo!ten and IAMAGOD!ten really irritate me no end. eleven really was an absolute breath of fresh air for me.

[colej55.livejournal.com]

What a great video! It totally suits Eleven, Amy, and the overall manic tempo of this doctor. Definitely my favorite incarnation and companion - you've done them justice!

I agree with your leaving the blank space, but I might have used a white effect instead of a black screen because God is described as pure light that conquers the darkness. Just another idea.... Talking heads? I never noticed them because your clip selections and timing are so good. I love this video!

More, please!