in slow motion the blast is beautiful.

Merlin - Season Four Trailer

wakingworld — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 03:44:23 GMT

Title: Season Four Trailer
Spoilers: one casting spoiler, other than that it's all speculative. ;)
Length: 1:49

Summary: A full-length trailer for the upcoming season with a particular focus on Arthur/Uther, Merlin/Morgana, and Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot. And a whole bunch of other dark, pretty, angsty things.

Comments are love as always and I hope you enjoy watching! :)

Merlin - Series Four Teaser Trailer

wakingworld — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 00:07:59 GMT

Title: Series Four Teaser
Spoilers: It's all speculative, so no real spoilers. ;)
Length: 0:48

Summary: A little teaser that hints at Morgana's vengeance, the end of Uther's reign, and a darker side to Merlin...

Notes: This was made in a day -- I've sort of wanted to do a trailer for a while now, and it was one of those things where I had this idea that basically wouldn't go away until I got it done, so here it is! ;) I'd love to do a full-length trailer at a later stage, too. Comments are love as always and I hope you enjoy it! x

mix: we have a thing in common (merlin/morgana)

wakingworld — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:22:28 GMT

Title: we have a thing in common
Fandom: Merlin
Notes: includes zip file and accompanying gifs. If you'd like a specific song, let me know and I'll be happy to upload it for you. :)

Featuring Phantogram, Death Cab For Cutie and Elsiane.

1. LUDOVICO EINAUDI | lady labyrinth
(instrumental)

2. BIRD YORK | remedy
But when it's all over,
none of these things will matter,
and you'll ask yourself, "did I love?"

But I found the remedy,
I found the cure for everything,
take me into your hands,
help me love a world that I don't understand.

3. MIKA | over my shoulder
Over my shoulder,
running away,
feels like I'm falling,
losing my way.

Fog out my daylight,
torture my nights,
feels like I'm falling far out of sight.

4. ELSIANE | hybrid
How did this begin and turn into such inhumanity?
I'm hoping for myself to escape the insanity,
I'm open.

What if I choose to live,
and what if I killed you?
Inhumanity.

5. MUSE | sunburn
I'll feel a guilty conscience grow,
I'll feel a guilty conscience grow.

She burns like the sun,
and I can't look away,
she'll burn our horizons,
make no mistake.

6. JOSE GONZALEZ | how low
How low
are you willing to go
before you reach all
your selfish goals?

Punch line
after punch line,
leaving us sore,
leaving us sore.

7. SNOW PATROL | somewhere a clock is ticking
Every second
dripping off my fingertips --
wage your war,
wage your war.

I could do almost anything to you.

8. UNKLE BOB | one by one
And you couldn't see
the wood from the tree,
your eyes are unkind
so don't look at me.
And all that you know
is written in stone.

One by one,
I suffer you badly,
one by one,
you're all I don't need.

9. THE KNIFE | marble house
The moment we believe
that we have never met,
another kind of love
it's easy to forget.

When we are all alone,
then we do both agree,
we have a thing in common,
this was meant to be.

10. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE | the ice is getting thinner
We're not the same, dear,
as we used to be,
the seasons have changed
and so have we.

There was little we could say,
even less we could do,
to stop the ice from getting thinner
under me and you.

11. PHANTOGRAM | when i'm small
Take me underground,
take me all the way,
bring me to the fire,
throw me in the flames.

I'd rather die,
I'd rather die than to be with you.

.zip

Comments are love as always! Enjoy the mix :)

mix: in the hush, remember us (merlin/morgana)

wakingworld — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 05:45:44 GMT

Title: In the hush, remember us
Fandom: Merlin
Notes: includes complete zip file + individual cover art. If you'd like a specific song, just let me know and I'll be happy to upload it for you. :)

Featuring Aqualung, Bat for Lashes, Katie Herzig and Civil Twilight.

I really love the idea of Merlin and Morgana in a modern setting with the two of them being either immortal or reincarnated, it's such a fun concept to play with and I was initially just going to make a canon fanmix but I just thought this would be more of an interesting challenge! After doing it, though, I don't think I want to do it again for a very long time x__x THIS WAS REALLY HARD GUYS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA. *grumbles at the lack of photoshoots by Colin and other films and shows by Katie*...

Anyway, this mix! I don't know where to begin! It sort of goes between the two of them finding each other again to finding the bond between the two of them again; there's attraction, a little bit of forgiveness and redemption, and a little bit of a sensual/sexy/flirty tone to it as well. BASICALLY, A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. The song choices are more Indie than anything else, I think, because that stuff dominates my music library like you have no idea.

I really hope you guys enjoy this because this was such a thrill to make! Exhausting, but definitely worth it in the end. :) Please comment if you're downloading, just so I know who's checking it out! ;)

1) Aqualung - Remember Us
And then as one we come undone,
we find that there’s a soulful mind intertwined,
and we find
that in the hush, remember us.

2) Bat for Lashes - Sleep Alone
A lonely spell so you’ll be seen,
do you hear me coming in my blue dream?

Lonely, lonely, lonely,
‘cause my mama told me
the dream of love is a two hearted dream.

3) I Am Oak - On Trees and Birds and Fire
Fire, oh fire,
I can still feel your warmth
like before.

4) Coldplay - The Scientist
Come up to meet you,
tell you I’m sorry,
you don’t know how lovely you are.

I had to find you,
tell you I need you,
tell you I set you apart.

5) Civil Twilight - On the Surface
This is where they come in
where some lives end and some begin
and this is where I like to stand
and watch the swirling ways of man.

6) The Fray - Say When
I see you there,
don’t know where you come from,
unaware of a stare from someone,
don’t appear to care
that I saw you, and I want you.

7) Ellie Goulding - Little Dreams
You’ve got me caught in a place,
panic for a minute,
got my brain a daze,
I wish you weren’t in it.

8) Katie Herzig - Sumatra
And when I wake up in the morning,
there is a twinkle in my eye,
that maybe someday you will meet me
in the light.

9) Joshua Radin ft. Maria Taylor - When You Find Me
Can’t you see
that when I find you I’ll find me?

Oh, I need you to know
today
I’ll wait for you always.

10) James Yuill - This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit)
Nights,
cold nights wrapped in ecstasy,
those times still perplexing be,
they just be.

11) The Album Leaf - Falling From the Sun
And here we are, locked together,
and here we are
falling from the sun.

.ZIP

I know a couple of people had some problem with the first download link, so if you did, try this link and it should be fine :)

Comments are love as always, comments after listening to the mix are even better; please don't post or use these graphics elsewhere, most of them have already been posted at my tumblr. I've also included the playlist file (.m3u) which you can just import so you can listen to all of the songs in order. ;) Other than that, enjoy! ♥

Vid Commentary - When I'm Small (Merlin/Morgana)

wakingworld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 23:37:42 GMT

Or, lots of thinky-thoughts about a video I've clearly thought too much about.

Warning: this is very, very image heavy. Well, more specifically, gif heavy.

----

"She is the darkness to your light, the hatred to your love. I fear that your futures are now joined forever."

I suppose the first thing to talk about is where the idea from the video came from. May 2010 -- the last season of LOST was coming to a close; I'd go through some fanmixes and then I stumbled upon this stunning song by Phantogram, "When I'm Small." It was unlike any other song I'd ever heard and I was just dying to vid it. Once I actually started looking at the song, it became very obvious that these lyrics were perfect for Merlin and Morgana. However, I didn't have the inspiration to start this video until series three began. Between May and September, this video was just an idea. Series three then gave me the kickstart I needed to get this video going and now it's finally done. :')

WHEN I'M SMALL

What I wanted to capture at the start of the video was this sense of loneliness for both characters, with the two of them being magical but having to hide their true selves in Camelot. There are so many parallels between Merlin and Morgana, and I wanted that to be very clear throughout the video. Then the chilling vocals kick in and it's gorgeous and haunting and I really felt that there was a sense of foreboding to it all, especially with the key change half way through.

I also wanted to experiment a little in terms of visuals, which I did through the parallels as well as the use of textures (which I haven't really done much of) -- coupled with close-ups and the split-screen with Merlin and Morgana in greyscale. The split-screen was also done to reinforce that idea of the parallels between the two; the characters could almost mirror each other in some ways. This song definitely builds up, so it was also important for me to start off with some longer beats, and I thought the contrast between the slowmo shots and the beats of the song would help in terms of the structure of the video.

AM I UNDERGROUND OR AM I IN TOO DEEP?

For some reason the first verse is always one of the last things I ended up vidding. I was really struggling to come up with an interpretation, and this is not a very well-known song which has never really been vidded to before (actually I don't think it's been vidded to at all) -- and after vidding it, I completely understand why! ;) I loved the ambiguity of it, though. Like Merlin and Morgana's relationship, there's so much subtext, so many different interpretations and ideas you can take from the lyrics. This is probably why I felt like doing this commentary, actually. In the end I decided this first verse was really about the secrets between Merlin and Morgana -- not just in terms of their magic, but also the distrust that began to creep in towards the end of the second season ("Am I underground / or am I in too deep?").

YOU'VE GOT YOUR HAND ON THE BUTTON NOW

After the hard beats of the first verse, all of that falls away and we're left with a few subtle beats throughout the bridge. This I interpreted as basically being the "calm before the storm." It's a moment of connection for both these characters as they try to reach out to one another; but they don't ever truly unite.

"You've got your hand on the button now."

I thought this line perfectly symbolised all the chances Merlin had to help Morgana, for the two of them to perhaps take a different path than the one they're now on. What I always wonder about Merlin and Morgana is whether or not it was all really destiny, or if there was -- as Merlin says -- another way. Every choice they made escalated and led to Morgana's poisoning, and pushing that "button" was the event that would change their entire relationship.

The hard beats violently kick back into play, with the poisoning scene intercutting with more parallels between Merlin and Morgana -- contrasting what unites them against what has pulled them apart. The vocals were also perfect here because they almost sounded like Morgana's gasping as she was being poisoned with the breath slowly leaving her body. I was almost tempted to use some of those gasps in the video; but I tried it and it just... didn't work. ;P

"I thought -- she has magic, I thought... we were the same."

I'm so in love with that line. Again, it was perfect for my entire "parallels" concept that I had throughout this video, so I had to incorporate that somehow.

AM I STILL ALIVE OR HAS THE LIGHT GONE BLACK?

This time I interpreted "underground" more literally -- Morgana was, as far as Merlin was concerned, dead. She was never coming back; but she did. However, she's no longer the same person. ("Am I still alive / or has the light gone black?") I thought this definitely captured Morgana's descent into darkness -- and can I just say, THANK GOD FOR THE DELETED SCENES. While the first verse was focused more on the first two seasons, from this point onwards it's predominately based on the events of series three. And the lyrics for the second verse were ludicrously appropriate for what we got in series three, like Morgana literally throwing Merlin against the wall and into the flames. I MEAN. If this song wasn't perfect for them before this, then...

I really love all the "fire" shots, and I just thought it was an interesting way to sort of reference the fact that as people who use magic, both of these characters could end up being executed and burnt at the stake. So the little bit from 2:40 - 2:45 was my way of doing that and luckily it also turned out looking very... well, pretty. :D

I'D RATHER DIE THAN TO BE WITH YOU

This time, when we revisit the bridge, the beats still carry on -- and there's an extra synth in the background adding another layer to the song. And again, Merlin has a chance to perhaps change Morgana and fix their relationship; but of course as Morgana says, "there is no other way" this could've happened.

Then comes the line that absolutely sealed the deal for me with regards to this song being the official Merlin/Morgana song:

"I'd rather die / I'd rather die / than to be with you."

If that single line doesn't capture Merlin and Morgana's antagonistic relationship, then I don't know what does. The entire song builds up to this one moment, and then we reach the climax of the song, and the synth goes mental in the background -- the song spins out of control just as Merlin and Morgana have. But even then, even within the complete disarray of their relationship, there is still something that unites the two of them, so I closed the video with the final line from the dragon: "your futures are now joined forever." While there will always be forces that will pull them apart, there's no denying that both of their fates have been intertwined.

Now, I have to say, I was honestly expecting some sort of epic confrontation between the two in the last episode, so after the finale the ending of this video suddenly became extremely difficult purely because I thought I would have more footage to work with. In the end, I think it turned out okay -- Morgana's final line, "this has just begun", ended up fitting very well for this video, and I thought I'd throw in something that was a little more AU with Morgana watching Merlin place Excalibur in the stone (because I was seriously waiting for her to pop out behind a tree or something ;P) -- I'm really excited about what could happen with these two next series; Morgana's clearly going to hate Merlin even more than ever and I really cannot wait. ;) And of course, keeping with the "parallels" theme throughout this video, there was no way I wasn't going to throw that into the ending as well, so I thought it rounded off the video nicely.

Well, that's it really! If you managed to get through all of that, then thank you for reading! :D

Merlin/Morgana - When I'm Small

wakingworld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Title: When I'm Small
Artist: Phantogram
Pairing: Merlin/Morgana
Spoilers: up to and including the series three finale.

Summary: A look at Merlin and Morgana's relationship -- their differences and similarities; the past, present, and a glimpse of their future.

Notes: I have -- honestly -- a lot of thoughts on this video. I've spent an insane amount of time thinking, planning, and editing it, so there's a separate vid commentary for this video which you can read here. In the meantime I really hope you enjoy this and comments are love as always! ;)

Dear LJ,

wakingworld — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 21:38:37 GMT

I know we've drifted apart; but I'm determined to make things work this time.

SO LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN, ALRIGHT?