VID: 'Roller' [The Women of SPN]

[zimshan]

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: 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 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 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 dotfic whose words inspired the summary. To 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 help_haiti auction HERE. Bidding's up to $30 now. Auction closes Wednesday at 12pm EST!

Comments

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

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.

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

this is brilliant! here via dotfic

[embroiderama]

Also here via dotfic, and this is incredibly kick-ass. Great vid!

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

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!

[cofax7]

BRAVA.

\o/

[smilla02.livejournal.com]

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.

♥

[quovadimus83.livejournal.com]

fantastic. those are/were some amazing chicks. I heartily approve of your selections, women & music. yay :D

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for commenting! Glad you could enjoy it! :)

[blahbaby.livejournal.com]

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.

[settiai]

Oh, this was awesome. =)

[philomel.livejournal.com]

Wonderful vid! Thank you for sharing it. :)

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Hey, the girls brought the kickassness all by themselves! XD

Glad you could enjoy! :)

[tehlime.livejournal.com]

UHM YES. This vid is really quite excellent, great job.

[greyowl88.livejournal.com]

WOW!!! *applauds*

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

YAY! \o/

Happy to hear you could enjoy it! :)

[yourlibrarian]

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::

[blueswan9.livejournal.com]

If I did my job, the result should be sorta self-explanatory.

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

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Allowing you? No, no, thank you for volunteering! XD

♥ ♥

[calicokat.livejournal.com]

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.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

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! :)

[seanan-mcguire.livejournal.com]

Oh, my poor girls.

Thank you.

[fufaraw]

Here on 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.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

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)

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting! Glad you could enjoy! :)

[labseraph.livejournal.com]

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.