Tafadhali

Festivids reveals have happened! I made 6 vids this year — not as outrageous a number as last year, but still quite a lot. I'll link them chronologically and share a few notes about each of them.

We Can't Be Friends (Crashing): As soon as I heard this song, I knew it would be a perfect Lulu/Anthony vid song, so I was thrilled when citruses requested this fandom and specifically mentioned that relationship as an interest. (I knew Periru3 would probably request Crashing as well but would be really hoping for a Fred/Sam vid, and I already had an idea in mind for them; see below.) This song just captures all the messy yearning of a longtime friendship that is masking deeper feelings and sexual chemistry. I can get pretty fed up with these two and their self-involvement and self-delusion, but this vid really helped me tap into my empathy for them and to remember what I do find touching and relatable about their whole situation. (Mostly Lulu, tbh. Anthony is a bit of a scrub.) This vid also helped me get a bit of my vidding mojo back while I looked for an idea for my assignment...

Friendship (Only Murders in the Building): My goal for my assignment this year was to make a vid that pushed me out of my assignment comfort zone of het movie vids (which somehow seems to be what I make every year...). I matched with distant_fox on a few fandoms, but was really excited by the idea of making a vid that captures all I find most charming about this show. The hardest part was finding a song that fit the vibe of the show, but classic Broadway felt like a good match for a fandom so steeped in The Theatre! I particularly enjoyed that this version of "Friendship" is a trio, not a duet as it often is, and that the song is completely ride-or-die but not too earnest and saccharine. It was a blast highlighting the show's physical comedy and playing with showy transitions that I thought fit the era and style of the song.

Boyfriend (Crashing): I nearly made this treat for Periru3 last year, inspired by the vid they made to "Boyfriend" by Schoolyard Heroes — the only Crashing vid on AO3 and the vid that convinced me to watch this show and made me totally obsessed with this messy-ass pairing. Tessa and I have a shared playlist of queer songs with boyfriend in the title, so this track by Tegan and Sara sprang immediately to mind as presenting Fred's perspective on the dynamic that they had explored from Sam's POV previously. Where Sam is all deeply not self-reflective jealousy, Fred is living the classic queer experience of having a very confusing relationship with a "straight" friend. I did know that Periru3 would clock this as being made by me IMMEDIATELY, because truly who else would make this, and I just had to accept that.

the killing moon (I Saw the TV Glow): I had started a draft of this vid for Fall Equinox before "Searching for a Former Clarity" took over my brain. "Former Clarity" was the vid I needed to make, the urgent emotional vid that captured everything this movie made me feel, but I still thought this song was a lovely fit for the film. I appreciated the opportunity to make a more lyrical, dreamy vid for this source, focusing on color and mood. This song feels like being lost in the woods at night to me, and with only one or two exceptions every clip in this vid is set at night — I was working to create my own version of the Midnight Realm in this vid.

Bad Day (Dimension 20): Fandom of my heart! After watching (and crying through) a particularly disastrous episode of MisMag in the fall, the Adventuring Party afterwards where all the players starting cracking up and cathartically/hysterically singing "Bad Day" made me think: this would be a fun vid! Those days where all the dice rolls go wrong can be funny or heartbreaking or embarrassing, and they're a big part of the fun of watching an improvised story. After making "Teenagers" last year, I knew I had a style for vidding D20 that worked for me, so this was a blast to vid. The biggest experiment for me was using so many audio clips from the source, but I think they helped bolster the theme for people less familiar with each featured episode and also added to the overall humor of the vid.

Wet Tennis (Challengers): My final, last-minute Festivids treat (Periru3 made several more that week while I was sick in bed watching MasterChef Australia, lol). Thank god for wintry weekend trips to New York, a fertile Festivids co-vidding setting for me and Tess! I had been dying to make a Challengers vid since seeing it in theatres and had brainstormed songs all year, but unfortunately the second Tessa discovered this song it was all over for me — I only wanted to play wet tennis. I'm grateful they let me make this vid with them, because it was so much fun to work with this source, and I think the final result is funny and sexy and just a bit gross! (What is wet tennis????)