VID REC: LotR - The Mountain

[catatonic1242.livejournal.com]

Vidder: Melina & Shalott
Musical artist: Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
Pairing: None
Vidder on LJ: Shalott is astolat and I'm fairly certain Melina is melina123, but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Vidder's website: Shalott's vid website
Why this vid kicks ass: Okay, first of all, this vid is *gorgeous*. I'm something of a source snob when it comes to music videos, and the DivX encode on this means that the source is just lovely. Second, the song choice is divine-- I'd never heard it before I watched this vid, and now I can't associate it with anything except LotR. The clip choices are almost perfectly matched with the lyrics (with a few "talking head" exceptions that aren't really notable). The vid itself focuses on both Frodo and Aragorn and, through the metaphor of "the mountain," addresses how each character deals with the obstacles before him. Even though I don't usually enjoy vids with shifting POVs, this one works very well because the switch is made clear-- It's never left up to the viewer to "interpret" which character is being examined. There's even a transition in POV during a lyric-less section that works better for me than some lyric-based transitions in other vids. In short, I really just adore this vid and think it should be preliminary viewing for anyone who is just sticking their toes into the LotR fandom.

The Mountain (Second vid in the left-hand column.)

Comments

[seraphcelene]

I'm so glad that this has been recc'd it's an awesome vid.

[catatonic1242.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I pretty much love it, myself. *g*

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

This is my favorite, no seriously, I mean my FAVORITE, music video of all time. The song choice for the source is perfect. The metaphors balanced with the literalism is perfect. The parallel journeys and their endings are perfect. I don't see any "talking heads" sections - to me "talking head" must mean something different than it does to you :) Every clip is meaningful, nothing is filler, and I can't get over how carefully crafted this vid is, how many layers it has, what I see in the movement and color in addition to narrative every time I watch it. When it debuted at Vividcon on the big screen I couldn't tear my eyes off the screen - if you can ever watch this on something other than a computer monitor, my god, it's amazing.

/gushes self to death

[catatonic1242.livejournal.com]

I don't see any "talking heads" sections - to me "talking head" must mean something different than it does to you :)

The only real "talking heads" section that bothers me is the Gandalf bit at 0:24. Other than that, I honestly adore this vid-- I've never seen anything like it from LotR, which has always struck me as kind of strange, given the availability of 11+ hours of DVD source.

[boniblithe.livejournal.com]

From the perspective of a vidder, the clip choice there is a static shot because there's strong lyrical support for the association of the clip, so nothing is needed but to see Gandalf's face. Any activity would distract from the impact of the lyric.

I hope more vidders explore LotR as a visual and narrative masterpiece instead of just a source for making hobbitslash :)

[catatonic1242.livejournal.com]

Any activity would distract from the impact of the lyric.

And that's what I'm saying-- I see Gandalf speaking there, and the movement of his lips detracts from the tilt of his head that reveals his face.

instead of just a source for making hobbitslash

Heee. Or as commentary on how Aragorn and Arwen are in twoo luv (as those are the only vids I ever seem to stumble upon, and I'd take hobbitslash over that most days).