Warblings of a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Holay fuuuuuuuhhhhh

blithesea — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 17:55:11 GMT

Let me direct your attention to this momentous occasion:

Do My Thing is about to hit 100,000 views on YT in the not too distant future.

Now, to lots of people this may seem like no big deal, but believe youse me, for someone whose vids have always been just on the fringe of general perception (my last vid posted in March pulled all of 91 views to this date, yo), it is A VERY BIG DEAL. And yeah, okay, the vid was finished 4 years ago. But still, ZOMG, almost 100k! I get palpitations just thinking of it!

The path was stony and hard, duckies. Just remember when (I think it was sometime in 2017?) NBC started having transformative content blocked on the Tube. Ever since, darling viewers in the US and Canada can only watch Do My Thing through a proxy (or, you know, on vimeo). Now I wish I had made a screenshot to see where the vid was at when it got blocked, hits-wise. Something around 80k? Ah well. The hits didn't add up as quickly as they once did, after that, but apparently the rest of the world still watches SVU and enjoys a little fanmade silliness. Phew.

And there was that person who pulled the hi-res version of the vid, took just the Barba section and posted it as a vid of their own. I'd still like to kick their shins someday. (Yeah, I admit it. Not zen about this. Still bitter.)

But, wow. 99,666 views. I know you're supposed to love all your children equally, and I do, mostly, but I love this vid so hard, and I love love love that so many other fans enjoyed it, too. I can still put this thing on and squee over Raul Esparza's face, and still love the upbeat message of the music, and I love that it's a duet and that Carisi gets his own voice in it, and I love the cheeky look of his it ends on. Just. Love my little baby.

So much love. *falls over ded*

still bingewatching

blithesea — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 11:34:59 GMT

I try to watch all vids, regardless of whether or not I know the source they are based on, because sometimes they are so amazingly good they make you want to watch a show or movie just on the vid's own merit. But there are so many! Yay! (not even remotely through...)

Here are some more flyby Festivids faves:

Shake it off (Slings and Arrows)
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/267988.html
A redeeming and hilarious take on Darren Nichols

I am what I am (Batman)
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/264917.html#cutid1
Kinky Neighbors (Batman)
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/264976.html
Yes, you read that right, Batman. The version with the shiny satin mask and ridiculous bat-gadgets and hilarious foes and ludicrous fight scenes. :-D

I'll be there for you (Pitbulls and Parolees)
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/262479.html
Puppies. And feelings. I cried.

Slow-Mo Trippin (The Slow-Mo Guys)
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/254278.html
Gotta love the SlowMo guys

EEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Festivids

blithesea — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 17:25:44 GMT

Festivids is LIVE, finally!

I didn't get one, but TWO awesome vids this year! XD Based on The Emperor's New Groove and Jack Holborn, they made me grin and cackle and rewatch and grin and cackle some more!

Besides my two gifts (which are the best, obvs), there's a ton of vids to check out, so run, don't walk!

http://www.festivids.net/festivids/festivids-2014

Tina and Cathy, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one:
Us against the World, German Soccer team

Fallallallalla - Festivids Treat! (Gone Tech, Almost Human)

blithesea — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 06:53:55 GMT

download link (right click, save as, unzip, rename to .avi)

Fandom: Almost Human

Music: Fembot, by Robyn

Recipient: lunesque, Festivids 2014

Synopsis: Once you gone tech, you ain't never going back.

Why this vid: I had the music in my head first, half considered suggesting it in my Dear Festividder letter. Bug bit me after finishing my original assignment and wouldn't let go. Blame it on Urban and Ealy's mad chemistry.

* *

Festivids: Fall behind me (Faking it)

blithesea — Sun, 04 Jan 2015 07:54:57 GMT

https://vimeo.com/115872436

download links: .avi, 300 MB / .mp4, 82 MB (right click, save as, unzip)

Fandom: Faking it (MTV)
Music: Fall behind me, by The Donnas
Recipient: luvtheheaven, Festivids 2014

Synopsis: There were never such devoted sisters.
Or: The story of a girl's struggle to retain her grace, style and vivacity in the face of peer hostility, unfair bias and sibling rivalry. Chin up, little show pony!

Why this vid: Because, sisters! And Lauren is the cutest little blonde conniving self-absorbed tempest in a teapot since Draco Malfoy.

* *

Festivids letter 2014

blithesea — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 19:26:10 GMT

My dear Festividder,

Thank you for making a vid for me! You are fabulous and can do no wrong in my eyes. No matter which of the fandoms I picked you may choose, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Here are a few thoughts and stuff. (edited to add pictures, because, eyecandy!)

Regarding music, I'm really open to anything. For me the choice of song is one of the most important things when I make a vid, and I'd hate to hamper you in that regard. Feel free to baffle and amaze me with whatever music speaks to you.

As for the fandoms! I shall go by the order I picked them in, since the Festivids website always seems to order them ~~randomly~~ alphabetically (and I really want to put Jack Holborn at the very top).

Jack Holborn (1982) [TV, DVD]
I know requesting this fandom is a very long shot, as Jack Holborn is a German TV miniseries filmed in the early 1980s, and I don't think it's known much outside of the German-speaking countries. However, since it seems to be available on DVD through Amazon pretty much anywhere now, I am throwing my pitch, crossing fingers, toes and eyes and hoping for the best.

The series was originally a Christmas special and I must have been too young to watch it when it first aired, but I can't remember a time when I wasn't in love with the show. I've only rediscovered it very recently, and it has taken me fully by surprise how well it has stood the test of time. The swash-buckling, the scenery, the harpsichord-playing, the pirates, the Charming Molly, the mistaken identity plot, the good and the bad twin! 18th century England-as-a-naval-power, Matthias Habich, so dashing he makes my knees wobble. In the last few weeks, I've been running the Jack Holborn files until my hard drive ran hot.

If you take up the challenge to make a Jack Holborn vid, my already humongous adoration of you will have no bounds, my festividder, even if the vid is only a minute long and focusses on the different types of shoe buckles worn by assorted cast members. My very favorite thing would be a Sharingham vid (the captain, the judge, or preferably both!), but really, anything Jack Holborn-related will do!

lookit this split-screen! movie magic! XD

Things They Don't Warn You About In Judge School

The Emperor's New Groove [Movie]
This movie is one of my happy places, I can just put it on and I know it's going to make me feel good. So much love! My absolute favorite in this is Yzma (I am a sucker for purple, it's true), and sulky self-absorbed Cuzco, and all the scenes in the palace for their stunning visuals.

Almost Human (2013) [TV]
How can this show be already cancelled? I was so ready to get to see more! Damn the ratings. Dorian and Kennex had such beautiful chemistry together... I think Michael Ealing, Karl Urban and Mackenzie Crook all shine in this, so anything with either (or all) of those will make me a happy bunny.

Queer as Folk UK [TV]
I seem to like Season 1 better than Season 2, but other than that, anything goes with this one. Nathan's my favorite, but only by a very slight margin. I think almost any character in the show would lend themselves to a great vid. Vince! Donna! Hazel! Alexander? I'd eat up any of those with a spoon!

Malcolm in the Middle [TV]
One of my all-time favorite shows. Again, so many possibilities! My favorite character is Dewey, closely followed by Reese, closely followed by Lois, and so on. They all rule! I love the relationship between Lois and Hal, the way they face the world together hand in hand, no matter how much shit gets thrown in their way. Hal on his own isn't that much my cup of tea, unless he is teaching his boys how to rollerskate or taking them on a day of playing hooky at the racetracks and comes back with "Nascar" (or somesuch) sunburnt on his forehead.

Monsters Inc movie series [Movie]
Pixar keeps surprising me with how much I end up liking their movies. I think Monsters University rocked, and Monsters Inc is a total classic. It's hard to pick favorites with this fandom; after watching MU I have a soft spot for Randall, and the assembled misfits of Oozma Kappa.

Ratatouille (2007) [Movie]
I still get shivers when I get to the scene where the food critic tastes the Ratatouille and it makes him think of his mum. *snif* I love anything and everything about this movie (really helpful this, I know...). Remy overcoming all obstacles, Linguini coming into his own, Skinner being a conniving little twit, Colette all bad-ass... can't pick a favorite!

Galaxy Quest [Movie]
Best Star Trek movie of all times! ;-) I'd love to see a team vid for this, or something centered around Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman FTW!). Also, tentacles!

I finally saw the finale of How I Met Your Mother

blithesea — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 18:39:51 GMT

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK???

I can't believe they did this to us, I feel almost too angry to type. Tina already had to bear the brunt of my outrage on the phone, thanks for that, sweetie.

I have no words for how betrayed, how utterly let down this piece of shit made me feel. It makes the FUCKING LOST FINALE seem like puppies and roses in retrospect. In less than an hour, they revoked everything the last season was about. Barney turning over a new leaf and growing more mature? Like it never happened. Instead, he gets a chick pregnant whom we never meet and suddenly his life has meaning (GREAT callback to the fact that Robin can't have kids, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK???) Everyone grows apart, the mother gets killed off, and they actually throw Robin together with Ted in the end.

SOMEONE HOLD MY HAIR OUT OF THE WAY WHILE I VOMIT, PLEASE!

If only I had never watched this piece of garbage, I could have remembered this show with the fondness it deserves. Instead, I never want to see it again, knowing how it ends, and I never want anyone else to watch it and go through this, either.

http://jezebel.com/people-are-so-so-pissed-about-the-how-i-met-your-mothe-1555886544

http://wolfinagorillasuit.blogspot.de/2014/04/about-how-i-met-your-mother-series.html

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/celebrity/news/how-i-met-your-mother-series-finale-recap

http://www.thegloss.com/2014/04/01/culture/worst-how-i-met-your-mother-season-finale/

http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2014/04/barney-stinson-how-i-met-your-mother-finale.html

Moar REX

blithesea — Sun, 02 Feb 2014 14:24:01 GMT

Still not done with all the Festivids, such a treasure trove this year!

Have a look at these beauties:

Moves like Jaeger (Pacific Rim)

A Night Like This (The Marx Brothers)

What I Like About You (Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin)

Get Me Bodied (The 5th Element)

All We Got (The Great Gatsby)

The most wonderful time of the year

blithesea — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:22:32 GMT

Festivids time!

Gorge yourself on all these beauties!
http://fv-poster.livejournal.com/228516.html

This year I got not only one, but two vids! I searched the vid list for myself and saw the awesome Blues Brothers vid someone made for me, and then slowly scrolled through the list watching this vid and that, like an idiot almost missing the Maurice vid I also got! Both are wonderful, go and check them out.

Other fly-by recs of vids I enjoyed so far:

Such great Heights (Wall-E)

Banging Them Together (Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

All Star (Lego Lord of the Rings)

9 to 5 (Lego Star Wars)

Wherever You Will Go (Wallace and Gromit)

Festivids 2013 -- By and by [Pride and Prejudice]

blithesea — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 19:57:25 GMT

Alrighty, here's my contribution for Festivids 2013: By and By, for rokikurama, based on BBC's Pride and Prejudice miniseries of 1995. The music is Superfly by Curtis Mayfield.

The vid was great fun to make, as Mr Collins grew on me with a vengeance. I am now convinced that he has been monstrously misunderstood.

Download the vid here (94 MB zipped, password festivids)

previous comment love here and here

005. Blackbird, fly

blithesea — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 19:47:27 GMT

I can't believe I actually did it! Start early, finish vid ahead of time, check! Make an actual treat, CHECK YEAH!

This request was too sweet to pass up. Here's Blackbird, from the movie "Nowhere Boy", a treat made for elipie.

Enjoy!

Fandom: Nowhere Boy
Music: Blackbird by Paul McCartney
Length: 02:00

download zipped .avi, 40MB

Lyrics:
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Black bird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
all your life
you were only waiting for this moment to be free

Blackbird fly, Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

anonypost 1 anonypost 2

004. Good timelord, this is early!

blithesea — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 17:49:46 GMT

Can you believe I've finished this baby not on January 6, 11:59PM, but actually two months early? HUZZAH!

Fandom: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Music: L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole
Length: 02:30

download zipped .avi, 41 MB

Lyrics:
L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore and

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

L is for the way you look at me
O is for the only one I see
V is very, very extraordinary
E is even more than anyone that you adore and

Love is all that I can give to you
Love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it
Take my heart and please don't break it
Love was made for me and you

Love was made for me and you
Love was made for me and you

anonypost 1 anonypost 2

I can't break away, Festivids 2011

blithesea — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:46:22 GMT

This is my vid for the 2011 Festivids, made for tearful_eye (with a username like that, how could I not pick Cry-Baby, I ask you?)

Title: I can't break away
Fandom: Cry-Baby, 1990
Recipient: tearful_eye
Music: Breakaway, by Tracey Ullman
Length: 1:32 min
Download zipped .avi (48MB)

Put a RING on it

blithesea — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:59:54 GMT

Because I am a sucky lazy twat with a snotty flu, this post has been horribly delayed. Also, I think there might only be about 2 people left on my friends list who haven't seen this yet... Anywho. Here is my contribution to the Ring*Con 2010 video contest:

My first and hopefully last Twilight vid, with a twist.
Stream and download here.

I really have to give lots of thanks and smooches to Lutz, tinaskywalker, bunnysworld, Chad and Roo who beta'd the thing in various stages of production and patiently listened to me whine. A lot.

For those who are interested, I worked with After Effects CS3 to create the effects, and cut the whole vid in Sony Vegas 9. With the latter, newkidfan's tutorials and tips were a huge help. *snuggles*

As usual, I feel that with a bit more time (half a year would have sufficed), I could have tweaked it a bit better, but I am quite happy with the way it turned out, really. and by now I am so sick of working on the thing I never want to have to open the project files again

Sweet Charity vid - Beyond Words

blithesea — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:35:29 GMT

I'm probably one of the latest, slowest Tarts, but brighteyed_jill has been very sweet and encouraging and patient as a buddha.

So here it is, my Sweet Charity vid:

Beyond words, Peter/Nathan (Heroes)
Song/artist: “In a Manner of Speaking” by Nouvelle Vague
Length: 2:40, divx avi/wmv
Download:
Large and pretty: 53 MB (rightclick, save as)
Small and convenient: 6.5 MB (rightclick, save as)

The vid is based on the themes from Jill's Nathan/Peter story Where You Lay Down, There's My Bed.

A big hug to anothersuperboy and newkidfan for lending their eyes and cheering, and to brighteyed_jill for being awesome.

Enjoy!

Finis! Falalalala, lala lala

blithesea — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:22:33 GMT

I never thought I'd finish this sucker before Christmas, but there you go. It's unbeta'd, because I ran out of time. Many thanks to Roo for listening to me bitch and whine. <3 <3 <3

Download big, shiny version from my website * Download tiny, economical version for dial-up users * watch on iMeem

On Christmas Eve, I bring you the Heroes Christmas vid of extreme cheesiness. Enjoy, and be merry, and happy holidays!

There's one bit meant for wisecracks and newkidfan especially in there, let's see if you can spot it. ;-)

Boom!

blithesea — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:03:03 GMT

This is the trailer I made for the story assigned to me over at Heroes Big Boom. It has cost me quite a lot of hair torn out in frustration over the last few weeks, but I'm happy with how it turned out. The music I chose for it is Damon Albarn's Closet Romantic.

The story's premise intrigued me: What if Nathan actually had Peter committed to a mental institution, way back in Season One, before Peter had any chance to run around saving cheerleaders and dazzling people with his emo bangs? I rewatched all the Petrelli scenes in Season One to get a feel for the material (oh, the hardship! XD), and it turns out that most of the time, Peter does look like a trip to the loony bin isn't that absurd a suggestion. I applaud Nathan for his restraint. And love. Lots of brotherly love.

Find the story here: Into the Living Sea by brighteyed_jill

Jill has been busting her arse to get the Big Boom happening, and she deserves naked Peter jumping out of a giant cupcake for that. :-*

Lots of thanks go to my own personal hero anothersuperboy, without whom I'd have been utterly lost in the foul bog that is my Chinese Internet connection. He's the only reason this vidlet is up and running in time.

Hope you enjoy. <3

Pick your poison:
Large and gorgeous .avi on my webspace, 56.4 MB, Right-click, save as

Small and pretty .wmv on my webspace, 8.8 MB, Right-click, save as

Acceptable size and prettiness on imeem

Fast and dirty on Youtube

Big Boom - wheee!

blithesea — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 11:17:47 GMT

T'is done! Here comes my trailer for Lin's gorgeous story on heroes_bigboom:

Lethe's Shore (.avi, 18.5 MB or .wmv, 4 MB)

Also on Youtube, if you're so inclined.

Many thanks go to newkidfan and wordhouse for aiding and abetting. <3

It was great fun making this vid, you'll see why. I'm glad the premise of Linaerys' story let me play around in my toybox a lot. It's a wonderful read, make sure to check out Lethe's Shore!

200°, that's why they call me Mr Fahrenheit

blithesea — Mon, 21 May 2007 11:03:33 GMT

Huzzah! The Vid That Ate My Brain is finally finished! Rodney and Ronon in Too good to be true, a shameless 2 minutes and 22 seconds long. I was starting to doubt whether or not it would ever get done, really -- nine months I've been tinkering with this thing, on and off. o_O

Get it here or just watch it here.

T'is done, yay! A huge thank you goes out to Mel (newkidfan); I'd have been lost without her insight and encouragement. And to Lutz, who let me angst and babble over it at work. And Roo, who let me badger her into watching the show so that I'd have someone to squee with.

I hope you enjoy it! Feedback would be lovely. ♥ ♥ ♥

O captain! My captain!

blithesea — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 03:20:22 GMT

I've been working on a Rodney/Ronon vid since September. It's tough going, because I need to beat After Effects into submission, and I want this video to turn out the best I can. Lately I've gotten a bit sick of the puzzling, though, so when the urge kicked in to just finish something already, I put Ronon's smoldering looks aside and cranked this vid together.

It's an episode-related team vid. Beware of spoilers for The Return 1&2. I hope you enjoy.

O captain! My captain! (SGA team vid, The Return, with Tchaikovsky's Ouverture 1812, 2:32)

Would you look at that...

blithesea — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:37:14 GMT

I'm not ashamed to admit it, I have succumbed to the lure of vidding. I know, I know, yet another thing to squander my free time on ~~instead of doing my bills or studying Chinese~~, but it's been sweetly entertaining and frustrating in equal measures so far.

So here's my first video:

I get a kick out of you, SGA, McKay/Zelenka, silly fluff.

Next, After Effects, then, the world!