It was an innocent enough pop reference, one that’s been made in many circles for, oh, probably about 30 years or so. My friend didn’t realize the fanvid idea it would plant in my a-bit-off-kilter mind, though one appeared quickly, and I told her so. I sat on the idea for a little while — much longer than I’d thought, it seems, when I now check my archive of e-mails and see it’s been four months?? — until just a couple days ago. It’s a long film from which to pull footage, you see. And a rather short song. And while I didn’t even realize myself, a short song with very few lyrics from which to write a “script” for the video.
Ah. A challenge.
So it was. I set up a timeline in Sony Vegas with the music and words that have inspired revolutionaries and comedic writers alike for decades. I marked key points — baselines, time signature changes, the entry points of new instruments and vocals. I thought about the story I would tell and which direction to take with it — a dramatic look at one man’s struggles in a world engulfed in madness…or a parody aimed to tickle the funnybone. I hope it’s clear which route I chose, for I have much to learn about editing if the final work is interpreted as the other.
Then I began the task of carefully looking through the footage to tell my story. As I said, it’s a long film. Really long. I-can’t-believe-they-found-more-material-for-the-DVD long. A difficult task to find just the right actions, expressions, and scenery, but as I said…a challenge. One I was up for, as was our hero. I considered the risks, weighed the stakes, and knew there was only one conceiveable course of action. Accept the challenge, stand up to the oppressors, and do the right thing. Because that’s what he would do.
If you think me melodramatic for talking this way about a simple fanvid, let me paraphrase the words that inspired me to create it, and then see how you feel.
“Gandalf’s one bad mother–
Shut your mouth!
But I’m talkin’ about Gandalf.”