Youtube Fanvids, Part 1
So Piper brought to my attention two well-done Buffy fanvids, by N0ReturnPr0ductions. The cuts between shots are a little faster than what I’d prefer, but the shots are so well-timed and well-chosen that I deem the videos to be well-done. And since I can’t come up with anything else to write about just now, I thought I’d pick out some of the well-chosen shots and perhaps say a little about where they’re from, their backstory, and what makes them good picks. So yes, there will be spoilers.
The first video is one set to “You Found Me” by The Fray. Interestingly, it’s in a different key and there are some differences in phrasing from the more common version that the official music video is set to, which I also like. So here goes:
I found God: Buffy and Spike, in a church, where Buffy first realizes that Spike, who had disappeared for some amount of time, has returned with a soul (”Beneath You”, season 7). It’s a church, has imagery of a cross, and Spike has found…well, perhaps he hasn’t found God, but he has found something spiritually deep, for a demon, and it’s going to save him.
On the corner of First and Amistad: Buffy and Angel’s first meeting (”Welcome To The Hellmouth”, series premiere), when Angel gives her a silver cross as her welcome to the Sunnydale Hellmouth. They’re in a dark alley, which kind of fits how I envision this line of the song — a dark night, mostly alone — and the cross, of course, fits the “I found God” part of the line.
Where the West was all but won: these are different shots of the desert, which are associated with the First Slayer and the beginnings of the Slayer line. The latter shots in this set are from “Get It Done” in season 7, when the first watchers, who were just men, picked a girl to infuse with demon powers to fight vampires and demons. They had set something big in motion, to fight their war, but they haven’t won it yet.
All alone, smoking his last cigarette: The first three shots are just shots of some of the main characters alone (perhaps the shot of Angel is from season 3, when he first gets back from the hell dimension?), and the later shots in the set are of Spike, smoking one last cigarette before he drives off to fight for his soul to be returned to him (end of season 6).
I said, where you been? He said, ask anything: Oz and Willow (”A New Moon Rising”, season 4). What more can I say? Oz left for a while in the middle of season 4, and the shots during “ask anything” are of when Oz reveals to Willow what he’s been up to; namely, learning to control his wolf-side.
Where were you when everything was falling apart?: Joyce’s death, when she leaves Buffy to fend for herself and Dawn (”The Body”, season 5), followed by Buffy’s stint as a mind-reader (”Earshot”, season 3) when she started to lose her mind because she couldn’t control her power and started to hear everything, which was slowly driving her mad and was going to kill her. The last shot is of Anya, immediately after she wreaks havoc on a fraternity house as a vengeance demon (”Selfless”, season 7). The only problem is, she spent several years as a human, learning compassion and love, and the weight of the destruction she’s caused at the frat house is numbing.
All my days were spent by the telephone: Faith entering the jail’s courtyard, alone, repenting (season 4 of Angel, I’m guessing), followed by a set of shots, not all of which I can place, but, containing the notable shots of Xander drinking in his apartment, alone, after he left Anya at the altar (”Normal Again”, season 6).
That never rang when all I needed was a call: A series of shots of various characters crouched in pain and/or tears, beginning with Angel in misery in the alternate timeline where Cordy never received the visions from the Powers That Be (PTB) and Angel inherited them instead, which drove him mad with grief and resulted in Wesley and Gunn fighting the demons on their own and Wesley losing an arm (”Happy Birthday,” season 3 of Angel). Next, Spike crouched in the basement at the beginning of season 7, wallowing in the guilt that he feels as a result of just having regained his soul. The next few shots are too quick to identify with any sort of real meaning, since they’re more generic shots of characters being sad, but the last shot is from “Selfless” again, and Anya is looking at the carnage she caused at the frat house.
That never came to the corner of First and Amistad: Wow, the changes start going fast towards the end of this line, so I’ll point out the notable shots. Cordy in the hospital after she fell on a piece of rebar, having just discovered that Xander was cheating on her with Willow and consequently feeling heartbroken (”Lover’s Walk”, season 3). Dawn cuddling up to the Buffybot (probably at the beginning of season 6, before they bring Buffy back?) and the closing shot of season 5, of Buffy’s tombstone. The beige jacket Buffy’s wearing seems likely to have appeared in season 7 when she was voted out of her leadership position and is wandering the streets, but I’m not entirely certain. The distinctive shot of Faith wearing the red sweater that she took from the girl she beat up, though, is definitely from “This Year’s Girl” (season 4) when she first recovers from her coma and breaks out of the hospital. The shots of Anya and Xander are post-breakup, though it’s hard to say when (sometime in the latter third of season 6, obviously, but season 6 kind of meshes together in my mind).
Well, that’s nearly the first minute, and I should post this before the 6AM deadline. To be continued…
Tags: buffyverse, Music, The Fray, YouTube
Music, Whedonesque | Zek | 
September 27, 2010 05:58 | 
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