Vid: Don't U Eva

[bop_radar]

If anyone's been wondering why I've been a little quiet of late, it's partly because Final Cut Pro ate my life. Although its ways are still 99 per cent mysterious to me, I've somehow managed to dredge something out... though it's not what you might expect. I must say that in all my daydreaming about being able to vid one day, I never pictured myself making a claustrophobic, oppressive Kara/Leoben vid. However, with limited footage on my harddrive at the time, I started working on this as a learning exercise and then it kind of grew and grew... and I also realised that there was at least ONE person on my f'list who would like it, if only because it contains CKR! That's right--I'm looking at you, little k! ;-)

So, as a very very early Christmas present for the lovely kristiinthedark:

Title: Don't U Eva
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Pairing: Kara/Leoben
Spoilers: up to 3.04
Rating: NC-17 (violence, adult content--duh!)
File format: .avi, 23MB
Download: direct download
Feedback: yes, please! :-)
Disclaimer: BSG is Ron Moore's, the song Sarah Blasko's
Beta thanks: A million trillion thanks and credits to supacat, without whom this vid would not have progressed past the (completely reworked) first chorus. Her three-stage beta kept me going and she prodded me to work on alternating cutting to the beat and cutting to the lyric, which was scary but I do think the final version is better. ::hugs::

If you have trouble with the files or links, please let me know and I'll try and help. Also, I should warn you that if you didn't like the Kara/Leoben plot in early Season 3, you probably won't like this vid... Oh, and I'm sorry it's so dark--blame my lack of skillz as well as that drab BSG cinematography.


Don't U Eva
By Sarah Blasko

You've got a way with words
You've got a way that makes me feel so complicated
Your message meets the floor
The horizon meets your horse and you're deliberating
I'm only clearing my throat

Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never see
Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never know
You might never know

You've got a way with words
You've got a way that makes me feel so complicated
A wall keeps you from me
You'd raze the doors down just so you could find the key
The wolves are waiting

Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never see
Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never know
You might never know

I'm underground
As the world's just spinnning around
And you hunt them down
Try to pin them to the ground
There'll be no sound as the words just tumble out
And you won't be found by the time you've hit the ground

You've got a way with words
You've got a way with words
You've got a way with words

Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never see
Don't u eva wish for
Just one thing that you might never know
Oh you might never know...
Don't you eva wish for...
You might never know...

Sarah Blasko is an Australian singer/songwriter who I am greatly enjoying at the moment. I chose this track for its musical qualities as much as for its lyrics--there's an underlying tension and sense of frustration in the music that is almost at odds with the wistful lyrics. I thought that tension would play well with Kara/Leoben.

Now that that's over with, I can get on to vidding the Pretty Shiny Show, aka Smallville! ;-)

Comments

[moonwitch.livejournal.com]

I love Sarah Blasko. :3 D'you have her other songs?

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

*nods* I have both albums. Have you got them? She's got such a gorgeous voice!

[kristiinthedark.livejournal.com]

Merry Christmas to meeeeee!!!!!!

I am so happy right now, I don't even know how to say it. THANK YOU! This is so freakin' AWESOME! eeeeeeeee! You've captured all of the good parts, I didn't think it was too dark (lighting-wise. Theme-wise, it was perfectly, wonderfully dark!) and I loved the speed picking up near the end. Great job, Boppy! I can't wait to see what you make next!

Love the song, too. :)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Eeeee!! *throws arms around you*
OMG, thank gods you likes it!! (I confess I crept down to check my mail at 1am to see if you'd got it yet *blush*)

I really enjoyed making this (although I've been ready to throw a brick at it for the final few days of tweaking) but I've always been terribly anxious making things for people... so relieved you like it!

Oh and you like the song! Yay! (that was always a risk--if the song's off the whole thing's off...) She's got a gorgeous quality to her voice that I really liked. I was worried it would seem wrong for Kara--that people would assume female singer = Kara's voice, whereas the lyric's about both of them, not just Kara). But if it worked for you then very very yay!

So glad the end worked--the vid got restructured a couple of times but by the time I got to the end, this just flowed out--it kind of had a lie of its own by then.

Ok, I blabble. I sleeps now.

(Oh and thank you so much for DS vid reccing! they were both brilliant)

[talitha78.livejournal.com]

Eeeee! I just discovered Sarah Blasko, thanks to dingogrrrl, and now you've gone and vidded my favorite song of hers. You really are a genius!

Sadly, I have to wait many, many hours to download, as I'm at work now. :(

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! Well, um, you might be a bit freaked by what I've vidded her to. *warns* But yes, Sarah is awesome! I wondered if you'd discovered her yet--so glad you like her too. :-) (scroll up in the comments for dls of two of her albums if you don't already have them)

[acampbell.livejournal.com]

*pulls up a chair to the terminal and waits for Boppy's SV vids*

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

:-) Thank you! I hope they will not be tooo long in coming. I am very excited about getting started on SV now that I've got a larger harddrive, but five and a half seasons of footage is kind of daunting!

[bloodygoodgirl.livejournal.com]

Yay! Dude, this was awesome. I loved in the begining where you matched the music with Kara playing with the fork. And speeding up the tempo during the end was awesome. I can't believe this is your first vid, and I'm looking forward to seeing more from ya darlin. YAY BOPPY!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, thank you so much for the comment! I'm so glad you liked the fork moment! That was fun to make. And the end seems to have been a fave, so yay--I was running on instinct by then. *hugs* Thank you for watching!

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

Oh! I really liked that. The song was beautiful but sharp and edgy. Thought it fit the pairing very well. You captured the way Leoben really did... break Kara, in some ways. And you really showed how, even though she kills him over and over, she can't escape him. Excellent vid!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Wow, what a wonderful comment! Especially from another vidder! I'm delighted you thought the song fit the pairing, and you've grasped exactly what I was trying to do with it. Oh, I'm so delighted! Thank you, thank you!

[nehellania.livejournal.com]

Holy hannah. That was dark and edgy and awesome. The song fit really well and I'm just very very impressed. Great job K!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Eeeee!!! JEN!!! *glomps* Jen watched my vid! Jen watched my vid! *dances* Oh, I'm so glad you liked it and thought it fit well. I am extra motivated to make more vids now--and hopefully ones of a more universally liked pairing! ;-)

[talitha78.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'm back. First of all, let me say that the vid looks gorgeous. Your method of exportation produced excellent image quality. Very nice!

Overall, I'm just so impressed with this vid. If I didn't know you, I would never, ever think you were a newbie vidder. You have such great instincts, and I really confident grasp of visual vocabulary. Your big, Boppy brain is clearly evident in your clip choice and use of the music.

Not really knowing the source, I still got a lot out of it: the vid is extremely creepy; there is an almost suffocating sense of tension and anxiety throughout it. I don't know how you watch BSG--it seems to be utterly fraught with High Emotion and Drama.

Moments of genius:

0:04 Brilliant first shot (she looks like a prisoner, but not like a victim)
0:41 Juxtoposing the lyric "I'm only clearing my throat" with Kara wiping her bloody hand on the carpet. Eep! So creepily effective.
1:12 Love the zooms on the lyric. What a great way to make the source do the work for you!
1:37 Lyrics "find the key," and then the Leoben comes in with the kid. Again, creepy, yet highly effective
2:16 I love that the light come up on the down beat of the lyric "underground"
2:43-2:58 Absolutely perfect matching of the moods of the clips and the music. You have the drum ticking in the background, while Kara is pacing frantically in front of the window. So, so smart, and such a great buildup to
3:08 where Kara literally kicks us into the next fast-paced section of the music.
3:46 The cut from the cute little kid's face to the bloody knife was so jarring and good!

This was fantastic, K. I cannot wait to see what you make of Smallville. Brava!

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh! Oh! *bounces*
It's so exciting you watched it! Though honestly I didn't expect it to make much sense to you as you don't know the source. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the detailed feedback! So motivating! YAY!

the vid looks gorgeous
I found a new way of exporting! I found it on the mac_vidding_101 comm and have gone back to thank the poster as it was sooo much better than my old way.

there is an almost suffocating sense of tension
*nods* Yes, supacat's word was 'oppressive'. I'm glad because that was deliberately what I was trying to capture--her trapped in that room with him and reliving the experience over and over again. (She kills Leoben several times but he comes back because he's a Cylon.)

she looks like a prisoner, but not like a victim
That's perfect! That's exactly Kara--it was a fabulously iconic shot and I had to use it. In vidding this I discovered just how much the show had already done to create this sense of tension/anxiety already--their shot construction and framing and juxtaposition were all very deliberate--and I learnt a lot just from pouring over it to find what I needed.

"find the key," and then the Leoben comes in with the kid
I played around with that--having him come in before or after the lyric. I was afraid it would be too obvious, but it's not actually literal, and it was a big moment, so I was happy with it in the end.

where Kara literally kicks us into the next fast-paced section of the music
Ha! Kara is so great to vid! She's so physical and she's got a really expressive face. She's a delight. Leoben was much harder--but I think that worked ok because he's sort of insidious in the vid as he is in the show... you think Kara's totally on top, but he gets under her skin after all.

The cut from the cute little kid's face to the bloody knife was so jarring and good!
Oh good! That kid is SO cute. Seriously, I don't even like kids and she cutes me out. She crept into this vid more than I'd intended, but I thought she was actualky useful as a witness in the final sequence.

Yes, Smallville next!! I've just got to come to grips with 5 and a half seasons of footage.... *gulp*

[dualbunny.livejournal.com]

The synthesizer sound in this song fits the creepy charisma that Leoben has perfectly for me. And I thought you did a great job living up to that sense of inevitability that he buys in to. Like Butterfly said, how she can't seem to escape him no matter how many times she kills him. It reminds me how even now, as she tries to get back to "normal", you know he's still in her head somewhere.

And I love how you use that coffee mug footage just before the beat picks up again with her kicking him away and then come back to it at the end. Works beautifully. :)

And it's not so much BSG's cinematography that's lackluster, it's the downloaded (and Skiffy aired) eps. They look *awful*. On the DVDs and the HD broadcasts everything is soooo much prettier. If only they'd broadcast something besides reruns in HD. :P For what it's worth I thought the vid looked good quality-wise. Considering what you had to work with. ;)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

OMG you watched my vid! *falls over dead* Oh, wow! I love your vidding so much! Ok, ok, I'll try not to hyperventilate...

It reminds me how even now, as she tries to get back to "normal", you know he's still in her head somewhere.
Thank you! I really tired to capture that! I'm glad the coffee mug footage worked--I wanted to build in a sense of recurrence and never truly escaping, having lost a part of herself to that experience... Kara is such a strong person and I certainly didn't want to portray her simply as a victim, but I did want to show just how creepy the experience had been and how insidious an opponent Leoben is.

it's the downloaded (and Skiffy aired) eps
Ah! Yes, that would explain it. Alas, a long wait for the DVDs, I suppose... and thank you--I'm reassured about the quality. I'd tried a few exporting methods but I'm very happy with the result now.

Thank you SO much for watching and taking the time to give feedback!

[supacat.livejournal.com]

You rock! This version nails it, it's exactly what you were going for. The cutting is smooth and invisible, but at the same times links the intensity of the vid tightly to the music. Find the key, yes, yes, YES! All the lyrics are really hitting home. Weird but true: I was especially creeped out by creepy kid opening its creepy eyes in the hospital bed. No clue why this of all things got to me so much, but I suppose this is the kind of vid where something different gets to you each time. I'm off to rewatch and get creeped out all over again. Awesome! :DDD

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am much reassured that despite how 'over it' I got by the end, the final editing was worth the effort. (Note to self: listen to your beta!)

The creepy kid opening creepy eyes crept in in the final edit, so I'm glad it worked. I think the kid definitely adds to the creep!

[brandil.livejournal.com]

wow, stunning vid.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much! :-)

[transtempts.livejournal.com]

Hon, I just wanted to let you know that I saw this and let out a squee. kara and leoben are two of the most interesting characters in that show, and their whole arc is so interesting to watch - esp. b/c it's not over- leoben will come back at some point and he will complicate things with kara just by being himself.

Vid=awesome. I thought the song choice was lovely, and creepily perfect. Leoben just *insinutes* himself around Kara, and that's shown well in the way you put this together. There's attraction, repulsion, and just. ::flails:: chemistry between these two that is wonderful to see, and you showed that.

Now I have all these *thoughts* about the two of them. ::waves hands:: Eee!

Thanks so much for sharing that with all of us.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

*beams* Oh my! What a lovely comment! *blush*

Thank you so much! They are a fascinating pair and I await Leoben's next move with equal parts excitement and dread! He's so creepy! Oh, and the vid gave you *thoughts*?! Eee!! ::waves hands in air:: That's very yay!

Vidding them was fascinating--there's so many repeated patterns and images and shot set-ups in their encounters... wiping blood, water, connection, distance, capitulation, reflections of each other/mirroring, projection... it's all so thinky and good! :-)

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

World's slowest feedbacker checking in.

I love the way you capture that dark undertow in the music, perfect for this relationship. And watching just made me think how one reason the whole thing was so creepy was the sense that Kara believed she deserved it. And after Unfinished Busisnesshow what she might feel about what she did to Lee makes all the ways she killed him take on a new meaning. Especially the final stabbing just after she had expressed what looked like some feeling in the kiss.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

*bounces* Oh, oh! You watched it! Thank you for feedback. :-) I enjoyed your 'Babies' vid so much, and I've been meaning to go back and look at your other vids, so don't worry about slowness--I have it too!

Especially the final stabbing just after she had expressed what looked like some feeling in the kiss.
Mmm... that's so true! I haven't revisited this vid myself since seeing Unfinished Business, but I can see how that final stabbing is more profound now. I think unconsciously I was tapping into that aspect of Kara that attacks when/where she experiences real emotion.

Oh, and 'dark undertow' is such a good way of describing the musical quality that led me to choose this song for them. Thank you!

[goth-sweeting.livejournal.com]

Hi! It took me a while to catch up with everything going on on Battlestar and wow, I foundnd what I thought could be a great vid (according to responses it got) and the link has expired - pleeease, could you upload it for me? :)

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Hi there! Thanks for leaving a note: I know what it's like to be playing catch-up! I've uploaded it again here (http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=batch_download&batch_id=RcLNfQ2mkY95TA==). Let me know if there are any problems with it. And I hope you enjoy it!

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Ooh, good stuff. How did I miss this the first time around? Can I have a download link, pretty please? (puppy dog eyes)

P.S. Sarah Blasko is now on my 'to buy' list.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

Here you go! http://www.sendspace.com/file/pc75lj

I'm delighted you liked it. It was my first full vid, so it felt clunky to me, but I'm still fond of it. And Sarah's fantastic! I highly recommend both 'The Overture and the Underscore' (where this track is from), and the more recent 'What the sea wants, the sea will have'. Such a beautiful voice!

[(Anonymous)]

Could I please have a download link for this & for Like a friend. I enjoyed them both very much. Thanks.