VVC Premiere: Stay Awake (multi)

[laurashapiro]

Title: Stay Awake
Vidder: laurashapiro
Fandom: Multi
Artist: Music by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, performed by Suzanne Vega
Summary: Don't close your eyes
Violence against women, implied sexual violence, strobing effects

elynross, destina and thuviaptarth provided thoughtful, extremely helpful beta that I really appreciate.

Download (25.7 MB DivX AVI) | Download subtitle file | Download Spanish subtitle file

Comments

[kass]

This vid knocked me out. It's amazing and creepy and gorgeous.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you!

[musesfool]

Eep! That is very creepy!

[laurashapiro]

"Creepy" was the word used by over a dozen people at Vividcon (after that I stopped counting). So you are in good company. (:

Thanks for the feedback!

[lotesse]

Damn. That was an impressive punch - and so beautiful at the same time.

[laurashapiro]

Yay! Thank you so much. I hadn't thought of it as beautiful, but it's very good to hear.

[jetpack_monkey]

This vid hurts. But in a way that says, "laurashapiro is quite brilliant."

[laurashapiro]

::beam:: Thank you so much! \o/

[paxpinnae]

Fwoar. I thought this was going to be another standard "violence against women" vid, and then, quite suddenly, it wasn't. I'm not sure I've ever come that close to screaming because of a fanvid before. *shivers* Now I'm trying to think if you could do a vid about body horror for men that would pack anywhere near the same punch. This is amazing.

[laurashapiro]

Wow, thank you. What a terrific comment.

[crypto]

Ooh -- this one's going to haunt me. The restraint makes it especially evocative and chilling.

[laurashapiro]

I am so pleased to hear that! It's funny, I didn't consciously think about restraint while I was making it (except in the double-entendre sense!), but the brevity of the song definitely forced me to keep this smaller and subtler than it might otherwise have been.

[rivestra]

Haunting and beautifully made.

::shivers::

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much.

[heresluck]

Note to self: Never get knocked up on TV. Especially SF TV.

The song choice here is inspired, but it's the way you've cut together the different sources into a remarkably seamless narrative that really makes the vid (and freaks me out -- and I mean that in a good way).

[laurashapiro]

Note to self: Never get knocked up on TV.

So, so true.

It has a narrative? Really? ::boggle:: Well, I suppose if it does, you'd be the one to find it. (:

Thank you so much for liking this and telling me so. Your praise means the world to me.

[f1renze]

Sooo chilling and well done.

PS: I'm glad we got to spend some time talking! It was good to see you. :)

[laurashapiro]

Yay! Thank you!

And yes, me too. It was great to re-connect with you. (:

[norah]

UGH CREEPY. Awesome. but CREEPY. And totally what paxpinnae said about how you could never make something like this for men - the images of pregnancy were especially CREEPY OH MY FUCKING GOD.

[laurashapiro]

Everybody said "creepy" at the con! Like, seriously, a dozen people in a row. Although I did get one "scarred for life". ::pumps fist::

Seriously, thank you. The demonic/alien pregnancy storyline is one I've loathed for years. I finally had to make this.

[skywaterblue]

This video points out the disturbing number of Rosemary's Baby plots in genre television. Eep. Very well done.

[laurashapiro]

You should have seen all the ones I didn't have room for! It really is sadly common.

Thanks for your feedback.

[rheanna]

Creepy and terrifically effective. A punch to the gut, you might say.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much.

[china_shop]

This is brilliant and chilling, and oh so disturbing! Ugh! Shows! Why do you dooo this?

Did I mention brilliant? I only know about half the sources, but it was still really powerful.

[laurashapiro]

The scary thing is the number of sources with this plotline that I didn't use. Yeah.

Thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it.

[annaalamode]

I'm never, ever watching this again and I mean that in the best way possible.

[laurashapiro]

::laugh:: Well, thank you very much. (:

[livrelibre]

This was amazing and creepy and I'm very glad you made it! It was great to get to meet you at VVC.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much! And yes, it was great to meet you, too.

[sdwolfpup]

Well that was unbelievably disturbing. Heh. Really well done, but, yikes. Gave me the oogies.

I definitely don't feel like this is just about demonic/alien pregnancies, with your inclusion of Teyla and Aeryn, since they both got pregnant the old-fashioned way (heh), and Starbuck was never pregnant. For me it is a very damning commentary on how SF treats women's bodies and the way that so much of the attack of women is on their specifically physically female attributes. Which...ugh, showrunners. UGH. We are more than baby-making machines!

Anyway - loved it, in that way that means I was horrified by it. *g*

[laurashapiro]

Gave me the oogies.

You know, it occurred to me belatedly that I probably should have given a heads up to my friends who are pregnant/new moms, about all the oogy. I hope ya'all can forgive me!

I like your analysis. Once I began gathering source, it was clear that the vid was less about alien/demonic pregnancy and more about reproductive terrorism. That would include characters like Scully and Starbuck, who had their ova stolen, and Teyla and Aeryn, whose pregnancies were both wanted and natural (but who suffered for them nonetheless because TV hates us like that).

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad the vid worked for you -- that you were able to love it despite/because of being horrified by it. That means a lot to me.

[lorax]

Oh this was incredibly gorgeous and skin-crawlingly disturbing, at the same time. Beautiful job!

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much!

[sasha_feather]

Wow. Creepy, and a surprising amount of varied source. Very effective.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you very much! I'm glad to know it worked for you.

[maevele]

horrifying. and awesome

[laurashapiro]

Thanks. (:

[gchick]

Oh, wow -- this was incredible. The combination of the very quiet, constrained audio source, and all of those dark shadowy shots of UTTER CREEPINESS. I want to watch it again and again, but at the same time, it's much too disturbing to try to absorb.

(I too kept realizing just how terribly many sources there are for this particular trope, and then around the next bend, there they'd be. Ouch. And again, holyshitWOW.)

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much for your comment. Yes, there are zillions of sources that use this trope, unfortunately -- more than I could fit into the vid, in fact.

I'm really glad you found this so effective.

[somnolentblue]

This is gorgeous and incredibly unsettling. Seeing the consistent objectification and manipulation of women, women's bodies, and reproduction was deeply creepy, especially in conjunction with the music.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much for your feedback. I'm really glad to hear the vid had such an impact.

/here via paxpinnae

[jenwryn]

This... is really chilling.

Re: /here via paxpinnae

[laurashapiro]

Thanks very much for commenting. I'm glad the vid made an impact on you.

[tearful-eye.livejournal.com]

ugh, i agree with everyone.
that was haunting & creepy, but so very gorgeous as well!

[laurashapiro]

Thank you! I'm glad to know it worked for you.

[seraphcelene]

This is haunting and packs one hell of a wallop. The commentary on women and reproduction in sci fi rings loud, clear, and very true. I'm having all sorts of fannish thoughts as a result. Brava.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you so much! That's high praise indeed.

[(Anonymous)]

Powerful and creepy. Well done.

[laurashapiro]

Thank you!