Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Lights, camera, fanvids

One of the most amazing things about this crazy series of tubes we call The Internets is the creativity it can foster. And one of the easiest places to see this creativity in action is still our old friend YouTube. It’s also one of the easiest places to lose four hours of your life getting sucked into a fanvid black hole. But, oh. what a wondrous black hold that is. What has impressed me more and more recently is the quality of the fanvids. Seriously, you guys are getting damn good. Certainly, there’s a lot of just OK and possibly not so great to slog through too when searching for the really great stuff. But the great stuff is freaking great. Sophisticated color filters and cross cuts and dialogue overlays. Take it from a person who just now figured out how to make simple video clips, never mind any of the advanced-level fancy stuff. That takes skills. It’s like watching a whole future generation of cinematographers and film editors and director grow up before your eyes. And, most impressive of all, these hours and hours (if not days and days) of work is done not for the money or the glory – because heavens knows neither is readily attainable on the internet – but for the sheer love of the characters. Fanvids (and its close cousins fanart and fanfic) are fan love in its purest form. Fine, they’re also mildly obsessive. But, Jesus, isn’t all love?

A few recent favorites from a few of my favorite ships.

Brittana/Faberry, “Glee”

See, Brittana and Faberry fans can get along. In fact, we can help each other.

Rizzles, “Rizzoli & Isles”

Rizzoli & Isles as Cagney & Lacey. Just try not to smile.

Emily/Paige, “Pretty Little Liars”

Gwyneth Paltrow isn’t the only member of her household who mixes well with lesbian drama.

Naomily, “Skins”

Another slice of loveliness by the prodigiously talented Rin of Rophy Does.

Willow/Tara, “Buffy”

You never forget your first real ship.

Calzona, “Grey’s Anatomy”

Don’t even pretend there’s something in your eye except big, fat tears.

So, hit me with your fanvid favorites. Let’s see those budding lesbian Spielbergs so someday we can say, I remember when she was just making Brittana fanvids to post on YouTube.

21 comments:

anat said...

Oi i looove fanvids & the ppl who make them are awesome for all the reasons u listed. There are diff styles out there, each one great in it's own way..

Some combine gorgeous affects with a great song just for the pleasure of pants-dropping:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UUMCooyPFw

Some use their great editing skills to tell a story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zT0syRWTXM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxCp02Bjm4E

Some build story lines so well they make up new ones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQBNyUMw7YQ

And some just make u laugh.. Out loud :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eV4K1NMCQU

Bent Fabric said...

I love Lucy Lawless!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9T3R7I2Jc&feature=fvst

BlahRobot said...

My favourite fanvids are from the awesome people in the Legend of the Seeker fandom. Cara/Kahlan shippers are so damn talented and creative.

For the emotion and storytelling aspects, two of my favourites are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu_13VZhSa4
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCAhltNYS-4

And for the shippers who just want to see Cara and Kahlan make out, my favourite is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBqHvdbCK_Y

Anonymous said...

Xena Bad girl friend =p4TaHT0uzMI
Helen and Nikki Her Strut =c8heiq-[uW]
and anything by Sazzyagain along the Janeway seven lines. I love the ones that bring humor into it

Emily said...

I LOVE the Brittana/Faberry one you posted. So awesome. Also the Naomily one is brilliant (plus it uses an Ellie Goulding song which makes it even better). I love the person that made it; they also made what is possibly my favorite fanvid of all time (which I'm pretty sure you've posted before):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKEssLKBB0g
This one is by the same person and it's also quite amazing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5qPlhAMq54&NR

Heather Anne Hogan said...

I mean, you know this about me, but I LOVE FANVIDS. And my God, I miss Naomily.

Kirsten said...

i loooove fanvids. they've seen me through times when i needed to be an emotional ostrich and just stick my head in the sand for awhile.

all of this person's vids are awesome but i particularly love this summary of xena season 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8dwM9DZ6xs

and the valkyrie episode arc:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqE85lpFm9o

and for a potential love that passed out of the storyline too soon there's babylon 5 talia/ivanova
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu-5JKK61z8

so many more and all thanks to the creative folks out there. it's a good thing i'm at work and so won't lose several hours just yet watching all the shared vids.

Danielle said...

*FABERRY FANS*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu5U6_jluEc&feature=related

Anonymous said...

Here are some of my favorites:

Naomily:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKEssLKBB0g

Brittana:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwKdOlB7x2I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg5AQ9s5FGY

Emily & Paige:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r5BNaOMEXg

Harry Potter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWKEXvtsWRE

Calzona:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhDE4zC-1E0

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cAb1OAb93w&feature=related

This isn't strictly for a fandom; it's more of a general lesbian celebration of recent films. So! Good!

Anonymous said...

it's wasting time.

have a nice summer~~

Kirsten said...

in the vein of subversive-kiwi's video link, this mashup of classic dames in suits...is all kinds of awesome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQxcXItMtjE

chantgirl said...

I love fanvids! It takes huge amounts of time and thought, well it did for me on the one and only I made for the L-word.

I have great appreciation for all those budding directors out there!

Anyway, Brittana and HeYa are my current obsessions, so here is my favorite Brittana video to date.

Sadly it is download only because Fox and/or Youtube seem to ban a lot of the Glee videos.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mr4xao

And here's a fave just because the clips and the song are so fun. HeMo is my girl!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT7FraW1Fzo

theredbaron said...

I'm completely showing my age here, but the Cagney & Lacey treatment of Rizzoli & Isles was awesome! Exactly how those intros were done in the 80s. And the timing with the music -- especially the ending -- was perfect! Oooh! Can you picture them redone with the "Moonlighting" intro? I feel like I've stepped into a time machine...

Anonymous said...

alex cabot and olivia benson videos are always pretty fun

Anonymous said...

I had a whole list of Brittana vids I wanted to link you to only to go to my youtube account and realize Fox had pulled them all! I think it's a bit ridiculous (vidders don't make any money off this stuff). But out of all the ones I had bookmarked, here's the one I have left for Brittana

http://youtu.be/7-se0G04jz0

And one for Quick (you forget how much happened in season 1):
http://youtu.be/o4hCojWltKg

Classic: Edward vs. Buffy
http://youtu.be/RZwM3GvaTRM

Best fanmade Skins trailer ever - the Naomily part (which I ADORE) starts at 1:15 and goes for about a minute and condenses their storyline so well it made me ache:
http://youtu.be/CyveuqtCR4k

Morcegos no Sótão said...

That Calzona vid is amazing...

MJNuts

Sasha said...

Tara /Willow; Caroline and I still go all gooey watching them together on BTVS.

Unknown said...

Dear Ms. Snarker,
I'm not sure if it is of your taste, but I'm really pround of this fanvid I made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJNJoCsUx78

Rizzoli & Isles + Alanis Morissette ;) No "advanced-level fancy stuff" though. Sorry.

If you feel like watching it, I hope you enjoy!

PS: My favorite fanvidders are @onlyjustwhisper (she is fantastic!!) and @ohsoleil. <3

Elfie Sparrow said...

Buffy: http://youtu.be/RZwM3GvaTRM

BEST EVER!

Gives me goosebumps every time.

Anonymous said...

Just these. I browse youtube sometimes and there's some great stuff out there but these are my go-to sources:

http://www.iment.com/maida/tv/index.htm
http://thehagwiththemoney.wordpress.com

Buffy vs Edward is a classic, though.