schneefink

For the Fandom Appreciation Challenge I finally wrote something I've been planning for months: recs for my favorite vids about Elizabeth Weir. It was through these vids that I fell in love with Elizabeth (at least the version in my head; headcanon > canon)

Just as a warning, I always feel that I'm very bad at describing what I love about vids. All of these are gorgeous and make me want to flail a lot, point at the screen and say "that! Did you see that? Isn't it brilliant?", and I've seen each of them easily more than ten times. Just imagine a lot more exclamation marks.

1. Welcome Home by permetaform
Summary: Her, city
Did I say ten times? I must have seen this one close to fifty times, I love it so much, and it's one of my favorite vids to watch when I had a bad day. It's a bit like dancing - the scene with the doors opening, just like the beginning of a dance, brilliant. The song has no lyrics, but the clips are perfectly chosen to fit the music and tell a story effortlessly. It's so beautiful when watching, and then there are the connections you discover, and just – wow. This is Elizabeth Weir as heart and soul of the Atlantis expedition.
(More and more eloquent recs linked here on fanlore, if you need more convincing.)
ETA: This one currently seems to be unavailable as well :( I hope it's only temporary, it was working fine yesterday.

2. Static by kitakatzz
Summary:The relationship of Elizabeth and McKay, from Elizabeth's POV. & fast-forwarded.
For some reason there are very few Rodney/Elizabeth or Rodney&Elizabeth fanworks, even though they were clearly very close. This wonderful vid shows their mutual affection, and it's also a great look at Elizabeth, with some lines that hit the nail on the head and perfectly fitting music and everything. The parts about Elizabeth and everyone's expectations about her and "I've been listening" because she cares and she wants to be found and just, yes.
(The old download link is invalid :( I asked the vidder if they could provide another one, but in the meantime it's unfortunately unavailable. I love this so much that I still recced it, though, just in case.)

3. Stand in the Rain by obfreak
Summary: A Leader must stand up against anything that comes at them, even when everything is falling down around them.
Oh, Elizabeth. This vid shows how strong she is, the enormous pressure she's under and how she's fighting to stay strong and keep standing. Sure, Elizabeth makes a lot of mistakes, but that's not surprising considering her position. Many great clips of her face, and then the ending.

4. Digital Ghost by hollywoodgrrl
Summary: A eulogy for Elizabeth Weir...Just take a closer look at what it is that´s really haunting you.
The key word for this vid is "haunting": Elizabeth and Atlantis and John, all haunting each other. A beautiful vid with a lot of delicious meta about Elizabeth and her relationship with the city and her people, especially John, with some simply brilliant transitions and a perfectly fitting song. The kind of vid that makes you dig deeper and find treasure.

(Coming (hopefully) soon: Vid recs for Teyla, John, that one Ford vid I found, and hopefully many more. There are so many great SGA vids.)

I had all the best intentions to go to bed early, but my roommate decided to host another "informal gathering" that included too much alcohol and bad singing and it is now past midnight.

Have some vid recs! These are all vids from fandoms I don't or barely know, but enjoyed anyway.

We Rule the World, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, by cherryice
Ponies! Awww. This vid made me want to watch colorful ponies having fun and adventures. Cheerful and bouncy.

We Go Together, multifandom, by thingswithwings
As I said in my comment, I would never have thought that a kink bingo vid for watersports would become one of my favorite cheer-me-up vids. (Actually this rec list is part of my cheer-me-up list. I'm saving the less cheerful and/or fandom-specific recs for another time.)

Seven Nation Army, multifandom, by charmax
Humans fighting against evil robots. But they are shiny robots!

Paul McCartney, Will&Grace, by jarrow
This was an actual show? On TV? Hee. Lots of people doing silly things to cheerful music.

Get the Party Started, Leverage/White Collar, by rhoboat
People having fun doing illegal things to cheerful music.

Snakes on a Plane, Harry Potter, by dualbunny
GO, HARRY!

Vogue, 300, by luminosity
Great editing to the music (the colors and occasional slow-downs are very effective), a wonderful sense of movement, and many pretty men with not much clothing on. (A lot of violence, not surprising considering the fandom.)

Can Delight, multifandom, by jescaflowne
Dance! Cheerleaders and fighters and sparkles. It is very hard to sit still or not to smile while watching this vid.

Help, I can't stop adding vids! But it's finally quiet now, so maybe I can get some sleep.

ETA: Okay, one more: I Swear, Smallville, by dualbunny.
Pure crack. Lots of it.

Getting interested in vids now might not have been such bad timing after all. After I recently found out that vids are awesome (note to self: rec! Or just point people at kuwdora's SGA vid rec list.) I started thinking that there should be a place to discuss them - what does this image do here, do you think this part was meant to be taken seriously, what is this part supposed to do, how does that image fit the line from the song and all that stuff - and I've found one!

vid_commentary hosts a Vid Commentary Challenge where viewers or vidders post about a vid and how they saw it. Quote:
The original objective of this challenge was to write or record commentary for a vid that is not of your own making. Vidders LOVED them, and viewers got to flex their powerful *cough*geek*cough* analytical muscles. This community was and is still not looking for reviews, critiques, or recommendations, we want to know what you, the viewer, believe the vid is doing. How a vid works, and why it works for YOU is what we are curious about!

I'll sign up as soon as I decide which vid I want to do. :D

To be honest, it's a little bit intimidating: most of the comm members seem to be experienced vidders and I've only started regularly viewing vids about a month ago. But there's no wrong way to talk about how I see a vid, so. :)

Sign-ups are until September 10th, Saturday. Apparently not a lot of people have signed up so far, which is sad, because vid comments are fascinating. There's no way to do it wrong, the opportunity to talk about a vid you love and, in the process, watch it many times and discover old and new things - you could try it, too!