zimshan: (SPN - Those Kickass Harvelles)
zimshan ([personal profile] zimshan) wrote2010-01-18 12:15 pm
Entry tags:

VID: 'Roller' [The Women of SPN]

Turning fandom frustrations into projects is how I roll. This was my way of dealing. I can’t swear this is exactly how it happened. But it is how it felt.

This one, folks? Is for the girls...

’ROLLER‘
THE WOMEN of SPN
Song/Band: ‘Roller’ by April Wine
Vidder: [livejournal.com profile] zimshan
Length: 3:58
Summary: "To give it everything that she's got". A tribute to the kickass women we were never allowed to keep.
Characters: Jo, Ellen, Tamera, Bela, Pamela, Mary, and a number of other single-episode female characters from the last five seasons of Supernatural [NOTE: Spoilers for all aired episodes]
Links/Size: MPEG (640x320) (56 MB) | AVI (640x304) (37 MB) | BAM Vid Vault (Streaming)
Disclaimer: All clips property of Eric Kripke, WB, & The CW. I claim no ownership of anything in this vid other than the editing I have done myself.


Find more videos like this on BAM Vid Vault



QUICK CONCEPTUAL NOTES
I’ve been dying to vid a kickass classic rock song to this show since the moment I started watching. So it’s slightly hysterical that, three years and four vids later, when I finally found the right song, it was with this concept. I restumbled on an old April Wine album this summer, and the moment I heard this song again, I thought, 'Man, that'd make one kickass women of SPN vid'. So I threw it in my iTunes playlist to join the pile of other songs whose vids will probably never see the light of day.

But the morning of 'Abandon All Hope, as I finally admitted the near 100% chance that both Harvelles would not survive the night, I stumbled on [livejournal.com profile] spnroundtable's Women of SPN post. And suddenly had this inexplicable drive to start this. There’s plenty that's been handled wrong concerning the female characters of SPN over the years. But this was not that vid. Initially, my idea was a simple celebration of what had been done right, showcasing the potential these characters had and what they ultimately wasted by throwing them out way before their time.

Then I saw the episode, took another look at the song, and quickly realized I couldn’t just leave it there.

If I did my job, the result should be sorta self-explanatory. It’s part celebratory tribute, part argumentative/political meta, part one bitter middle finger. Mostly, while trying to write this up, one phrase kept running through my head: "I can’t swear this is exactly how it happened, but it is how it felt." I think that sums up my intentions here best.

[NOTE: I chose Jo, Ellen, Tamera, Bela, Pamela, and Mary to walk with through this vid, in addition to bits of number of single episode female characters we‘ve seen over the years. I did however deliberately keep Ruby out of this, feeling strongly that this was not the vid for her to be in. I wanted this specifically to focus on the human women of the show who faced their struggles with a strength that could match the Winchester boys' any day. The complication of this show’s use of women as evil has been covered already in expert fashion, and therefore was not something I wanted to include here.]

ETA: Crazy Score Girl that I am, I could kick myself for forgetting to include a music credit for this vid's opener. If it sounds familiar, it should. The piece is Christopher Lennertz's 'And So It Begins' score, first heard in the opener of the 'Pilot' as Mary gets out of bed to check on baby!Sam.

Special thanks to [livejournal.com profile] smilla02 for offering to take a look at this early on, being so fabulous in listening to all my 'oh-so-long-and-rambly' emails, and giving vital feedback to help me steer this thing in the right direction!

Also thanks to [livejournal.com profile] dotfic whose words inspired the summary. To [livejournal.com profile] spnroundtable for their impeccably timed Tribute to the Women of SPN post. And to all the fic writers who over the years expanded these women's stories far past what the show ever gave us, enabling them to live on far beyond their initial exits.

Hope you all can enjoy! :)

Any and all comments are coveted, loved, and adored! XD

For those who might be interested, I'm offering up a vid of your choice at the [livejournal.com profile] help_haiti auction HERE. Bidding's up to $30 now. Auction closes Wednesday at 12pm EST!
ext_11786: (spn:jo:onegirlarmy)

[identity profile] dotfic.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my god. *flails* This is the vid I have been wanting to see since In the Beginning aired, and then the added bitter middle finger too. THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS. ♥

Also, the summary! It also means a lot to know that what I said resonated with you.

EDIT: oh, and I rewatched the avi in full screen and noticed what image you ended it on. Yes, exactly.
Edited 2010-01-18 19:39 (UTC)

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, I'm SO GLAD to hear this works for you! I've always felt the girls needed an ensemble vid of their own, and the kickassness of Mary and later the Harvelles' return just cemented it. But as much as I loved them, I just couldn't bring myself to do this and ignore what ultimately happened to them. So I'm happy to hear it works on both those levels.

As for the summary! Ah! You must know, I tried for DAYS to think up something else! But ultimately, I think it really does capture so much in such a short space about why it hurts. Brevity really does go a long way. :)

And YAY for noticing the last image! I might have done a semi-flail when I first found it myself, 'cause it was so exactly what I wanted for this. Glad you thought so too!

[identity profile] pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
this is brilliant! here via [livejournal.com profile] dotfic

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks so much for commenting! Glad you could enjoy it! :)
embroiderama: (Ellen & Jo)

[personal profile] embroiderama 2010-01-18 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Also here via [livejournal.com profile] dotfic, and this is incredibly kick-ass. Great vid!

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Hey, the girls brought the kickassness all by themselves! XD

Glad you could enjoy! :)
cofax7: Three women: Leia, Starbuck, Zoe (Three Women -- Body)

[personal profile] cofax7 2010-01-18 08:30 pm (UTC)(link)
BRAVA.

\o/

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 11:14 pm (UTC)(link)
YAY! \o/

Happy to hear you could enjoy it! :)
ext_13391: (Jo Harvelle)

[identity profile] smilla02.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Wheeeee! It's posted!

I'm so very excited seeing it going public. You did a wonderful job and I've been so happy to have been part of the process. Thank you for allowing me to do it and most of all for the amazing vid.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
Allowing you? No, no, thank you for volunteering! XD

♥ ♥

[identity profile] quovadimus83.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 09:38 pm (UTC)(link)
fantastic. those are/were some amazing chicks. I heartily approve of your selections, women & music. yay :D

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 01:49 am (UTC)(link)
We were lucky enough to have some awesome ones, weren't we? I only wish that after five seasons, I had had more moments to pick from, but the ones we got, were kinda priceless.

Glad to hear you could enjoy! :)

[identity profile] blahbaby.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:12 pm (UTC)(link)
This was awesome. I always wanted to do a women of SPN vid for fun, because I think a lot of them are kickass, but the women are apparently very controversial in this fandom. But SPN definitely has kickass females, and I know they exist in the SPN verse even if they're not featured heavily.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:23 am (UTC)(link)

Women are kinda controversial in this fandom, it's more than a little strange. But I do tend to think its come a long way from the Great Jo Spoiler Flip-out of 2006. (Which oddly enough, is what first turned my attention to the show in the first place!) I think a lot of fandom's and the show's women issues are sorta a 'chicken-or-the-egg' conundrum. The show's treatment of them seems horrible in a post-Buffy world. But then I still get chills remembering the amount of unabashed, blood-thirsty, GLEE I saw the night of Bela's death. A lot of those writer and fan issues I have got injected into the meta here as a result. :/

But mostly, it's yes, this show HAS had some kickass women. We just, because of a myriad of factors (from the show's inherent structure to fandom's criticism and the writer's willingness to bend to that criticism) aren't ever allowed to keep them.

At any rate, thanks so much for watching! I'm glad you could enjoy it! (And hey, there's still far too few SPN women vids around, you should totally do one yourself! :D)

(no subject)

[identity profile] blahbaby.livejournal.com - 2010-01-19 03:59 (UTC) - Expand
settiai: (Original Cindy -- warrior_soldier)

[personal profile] settiai 2010-01-18 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, this was awesome. =)

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:25 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for commenting! Glad you could enjoy! :)

[identity profile] philomel.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Wonderful vid! Thank you for sharing it. :)

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:48 am (UTC)(link)
It was a slightly therapeutic exercise on my part, but I'm happy to have shared it! Glad you could enjoy!

[identity profile] tehlime.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
UHM YES. This vid is really quite excellent, great job.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, well, thank you! And thank you for downloading and watching! I'm glad to hear you could enjoy it!

[identity profile] greyowl88.livejournal.com 2010-01-18 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
WOW!!! *applauds*

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
HEE! Your icon made me sputter with laughter. OH SAM.

Aw, but thanks for the applause! This thing wasn't without its headaches, but I'm pleased to hear the final result was able to 'wow' you. :)
yourlibrarian: Angel and Lindsey (Default)

[personal profile] yourlibrarian 2010-01-19 12:05 am (UTC)(link)
Initially, my idea was a simple celebration of what had been done right, showcasing the potential these characters had and what they ultimately wasted by throwing them out way before their time..."I can’t swear this is exactly how it happened, but it is how it felt."

::nod, nod, nod::

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad you can agree! Thanks for watching and commenting! :)

[identity profile] blueswan9.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
If I did my job, the result should be sorta self-explanatory.

Oh, you absolutely did. It's a job well done. *applauds*

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, it's such a compliment to hear that you think so. Thanks so much for watching!

[identity profile] calicokat.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Absolutely excellent video! There's been some fantastic actresses and wonderful characters written out of this show time and time again, but you captured both the good and the bad.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
Poring over the footage, it really struck me just how much my favorite components were due to the top-notch job of the actresses. The show really was lucky to have them. It's just too bad they couldn't have been given more to do. :(

At any rate, thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed this!

[identity profile] seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 01:53 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, my poor girls.

Thank you.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
I'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt poring over those ending clips time and time again. I had my moments where I had to physically walk away from it 'cause it made me so queasy to think about. This was a therapeutic exercise, no doubt, but I'm still not sure I'll ever be truly over my frustrations about how it ended for all of them.

But thank you for watching. :)
fufaraw: mist drift upslope (Default)

[personal profile] fufaraw 2010-01-19 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
Here on [livejournal.com profile] dotfic's rec. This is an amazing piece of work, and I applaud you for it. Thanks for the dl link. I'll be watching it for a while.
Edited 2010-01-19 02:25 (UTC)

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, you're wayyy too kind, but thank you. I'm glad you can enjoy it. :)

[identity profile] labseraph.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Love the pacing and editing of the vid. It embodies the gritty gutsiness of the women in SPN and their pedal to the metal approach to life.

Awesome.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Gritty gutsiness! Hey, I like that description for these girls! And the "pedal to the metal approach to life". I think you could say that about the whole show, actually, and the fact that it also applies to these characters shows that they did have the potential to fit in this show long-term.

At any rate, I'm delighted to that the vid showcases that for you! Thanks for watching! :)

[identity profile] kijikun.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
Holy shit that was awesome.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee, well, I'm glad it was able to illicit a 'holy shit' reaction. XD

Thanks so much for watching! :)

[identity profile] serrico.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
Ooo, *nice.* I especially like the turn at the end--after all the kickass, a clear illustration of SPN's inevitable Death Of The Female.

*Nicely* done.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
I got really attached really early on in making the end a distinct and pointed turn, but I sorta beat my head against the wall trying to make it work as such, so I'm overjoyed to hear you found it to be clear!

So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for watching!

[identity profile] obsessive24.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:29 am (UTC)(link)
This is great! I was bopping along happily and going "yay! Kickarse women of SPN win!" until the last 20 seconds where my :D rapidly turned into a :( x 1,000,000. It really packed a punch in the gut and I love how you managed to swing the mood around from ecstatic right down into the gutter, which is sort of true in SPN in particular. Great work.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 03:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, I have to say, I’m SUCH an admirer of your vids, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that every one I've seen has BLOWN ME AWAY. So it really means a heck of a lot to hear this worked for you! The quick mood swing and punch in the gut was definitely what I was gunning for, but I’m overjoyed to hear you think it functions as such, and can illicit that kinda emotional reaction.

Thanks so much for watching and commenting! :)

[identity profile] secretlytodream.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 07:24 am (UTC)(link)
Oh boy!.. I mean...GIRL!.. This vid sooooo what I needed, but I bet a lot of people already said this to you :)

Beat use, clip choices - was great! I love how you put all the "faces" in this video - something I adore in vidders, when they can find the right smirk or the right smile on face for the right beat, you know? I can't do this for shit xD

And I LOVED the ending! You started the vid with opened doors and first time meeting characters, and you ended the vid just right.

Amazing work here hon! \o/

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-21 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Wow, thanks so much for the glowing comment! It's FABULOUS to hear that this functioned as something you needed to see. Vidding always ends up being sorta canon/fandom therapy for me (despite all the other headaches it might cause!), but it's wonderful when it overlaps to work for others too.

I had so much fun laying in all the faces and eyelines so I'm glad you enjoyed them! Even though I do confess I had it easy finding them for this one. As little source as we have of female characters, there is even less of them with active roles. Most of the times, their only action was a dialogue quip, which is useless visually. So technically it started out of desperation for more clips, taking the smirks and smiles after the deliveries. Necessity is a mother and all. :)

Thanks so much for watching! I’m so glad this was able to work for you.

[identity profile] x5vale.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 08:21 am (UTC)(link)
Great great video.

I have always loved almost all the female characters in SPN so I am happy to see a video like this one.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, we did have some fabulous moments with them.

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you could enjoy!

[identity profile] spiderweb-wine.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 09:12 am (UTC)(link)
Here on a rec from Dotfic and this is really great!

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 01:41 am (UTC)(link)
Dotfic gives quite a great rec, eh? Glad to hear you enjoyed!

Thanks for watching!

[identity profile] slartibartfast.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, wow. I love this so much I have no words. ♥ You've done right by the fabulous women of SPN. :D

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-25 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Aw, you're wayyy too kind, but I'm so glad you think it did them some justice. :)

Thanks so much for watching. And love the SPN-Women-Centric Icon! Seeing all them together like that is kinda awesome in and of itself.


[identity profile] oschun.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Great vid! I love the way you book-ended the entrances and exits. Intercutting those two very different scenes of possessed!Sam with Jo made me grin.

[identity profile] zimshan.livejournal.com 2010-01-25 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Hee, I might just have a bit of an unhealthy fixation on bookends. But they are my friend. :)

I’m glad you noticed the comparision of those two Jo & Sam scenes! When I first saw 502, I was wholly delighted by that little Jo bit, it was a nice response to how horribly she had exited before, giving her some chance at retribution (even if it wasn’t really evil!Sam). And so when I started this, it was one of the first things I wanted to include here. So I’m glad to hear it gave you a grin!

Thanks so much for watching! Happy you could enjoy!

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