VID: 'Kill A Man' [The SPN Fandom]

[zimshan]

Made in benefit of the help_haiti charity auction for wonderfully generous counteragent who was crazy enough to bid on me, think up this idea, and hand it my way. I hope I've been able to do it justice! *crosses fingers*

'KILL A MAN'
The SPN FANDOM
Vidder: zimshan
Length: 3:35
Characters: Sam'n'Dean from a fangirl POV [NOTE: Spoilers up to 5.16]
Song/Artist: ‘How I Could Just Kill A Man’ by Charlotte Sometimes
Summary: "And you can‘t understand, how I can just kill a man" Kripke might have created Sam & Dean, but it's fandom that knows how to play with them. [Otherwise known as, 'Fandom Power, FTW!' :D]
Links/Size: AVI (640x320) [40 MB] | ALT LINK: AVI (640x320) [40 MB] | BAM Vid Vault [Streaming]
Disclaimer: All clips property of Eric Kripke, WB, & The CW. All fanwork and posts included in this vid are linked and listed HERE. 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
In the wake of the Haiti Earthquake disaster, the multi-fandom power exhibited in the fan-organized help_haiti charity auction was BEYOND amazing to witness. When counteragent came to me with some ideas, this song and prompt struck me as a unique opportunity to showcase that power. The fourth wall breakage on Supernatural has been a sore part for many fans, amongst other complaints, in the last year. But I wondered, what if we took those characters Kripke & Co. created for the purpose of joking on us (the fangirls), and turned it back around on them?

This idea sorta took on a life of its own as the season progressed and more and more fans became upset, disheartened, or just fatigued by the show itself, whether it was the state of the brothers, the treatment of women, or the pacing of the apocalyptic storyline. And while personally, I've been able to salvage my show love to keep watching, I've gotten past the idea that the show owes us something anymore. After five years, take what pieces you can still love, and the rest, well, that’s what fandom is for. No matter what Kripke does, he can’t take back what he’s already created. It’s out there, and in the words of killabeez, ‘Sam and Dean are ours, now’ too. We can take the canon we like, and make our own happy ending. Whether that’s through fic, drawn/digital art, vidding, picspam or another medium, we all enjoy the pieces we enjoy in our own ways. And inevitably there will always be other fans out there to enjoy it with us, as is the magic of fandom.

In fact, sorta unintentionally, this vid ended up becoming very ‘Life of a Fangirl’, and honestly, while all the details are very metatextualized to the SPN fandom [focused on the corner of fandom concerned with the brothers relationship, for storyline purposes], its general scope truly could have applied to any long-term fandom. We come to fandom to squee and flail and get more of the best parts (like, say, when "strong" men cry? XD). Inevitably in time, canon disappoints us, and we turn to fandom to fix it. Until canon gets so unbearable you either leave, or get passed its flaws and live out your show love in fandom where the best parts of the show live on. For those of us multi-fannish types who’ve been in and out of fandoms for years, it’s a rinse, wash, repeat process. (WHY DO WE DO THIS TO OURSELVES AGAIN?!)

Not to say this vid is intended as all SERS BZN FANDOM, by any means. REALLY! It’s all just meant as very tongue-in-cheek meta fun and I had a blast making it! Y’all are so talented in this fandom, and it was a JOY sifting through all this ridiculously gorgeous art and pouring back over favorite classic fics that have contributed just as much to my love and enjoyment of these characters as the show itself. Kripke doesn’t give you all enough credit! Half the time, you’re doing his job! Only to get mysteriously Kripk’d down the line, right? HAHHAA, keep making me laugh, SPN, keep making me laugh.

Tremendous thanks and appreciation to counteragent for slogging through all my horribly rambling emails the last couple months, putting up with the multiple ways in which this thing has morphed over time, and for treating my first draft to a thoroughly fantastic betaing job! Hope you can enjoy the final product! :D

Thanks also to the lovely dev_earl and roniabirk for taking a quick last minute look at the last draft and easing my fears that I'd turned this into an incomprehensible mess overnight. :)

Because some missed the link above: RESOURCE LIST of all FANWORKS used in this vid (Linked and credited accordingly)


No matter what Kripke decides to give us tomorrow night? This is my S5 finale, folks. Created by all of you.

Hope you all can enjoy! :)

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

[ETA (12am EST): Sorry, my internet has been a horrific nightmare today, I'm working on trying to figure out what happened with the corrupt zip, since it worked before I uploaded it. In the meantime, I put up an alternative download link, which worked on my end. But please let me know if there's a problem with that too. Sorry about the headaches!]

Comments

[anniehow.livejournal.com]

Any chance of an upload? Bam wants ppl to log in to view :(

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Yea, I was just noticing that. Went and edited in an embedded link in the post like normal, in addition to the download link. I'm scrabbling to find a replacement for BAM still before it gets torn down, but for now, hopefully that works for you. :)

[proofpudding.livejournal.com]

Oh my. You are incredible.

Longer feedback to come, after my flailing has subsided. ;)

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Way to give a first comment that leaves me all !!!! Seriously, coming from you especially, that reaction means the WORLD. This ended up being such a convoluted THING, that I worried many hours over no one even being able to understand, so I am all *flails* back at you that you can enjoy it!

And yes, SOOO very interested in your feedback, once you get the chance. :)

[july-july-july.livejournal.com]

This is wonderful! The music is perfect. Thanks for letting me be a part of it!

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for letting me use your post! :D

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it! The music was an absolute joy to work with, much thanks to counteragent for seeing its vidding & meta topic potential.

[giandujakiss.livejournal.com]

This was gorgeously edited - and so clever! Yes, they are ours now!

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Oh, my! Thanks so much! I'm thrilled to hear you could enjoy this! :)

[lita64.livejournal.com]

Oh my god...there are no words. Seriously, that was brilliant. I'm going to need to watch it again and again in order to pick up all those little details. Amazing! :D

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Hee, well 'no words' is always a good reaction!

Thanks so much for watching! Glad to hear it was something you could enjoy! :)

[emonyjade.livejournal.com]

holy damn. that moment, where the fangirls died at about 2:00, that WAS MY EXACT REACTION. i wanted to just sit down in a corner and cry.

lovelovelove this video.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

That was a very very late addition, I already had planned the 'key of rust' line on the amulet, but when I saw the drop, I just couldn't resist. Because yea, that was my reaction too. And countless others on my flist. If there ever was a moment where fangirls' staked hearts could be heard all around the globe, I think that moment might have been it. So it's excellent to hear you thought it echoed the reality of your experience!

Thanks so much for watching! :)

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

So, so, SO WONDERFUL. \o/

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

\o/!! YAY!!

So happy to hear you could enjoy!!

[dotfic.livejournal.com]

This is brilliant, thank you for making this. <3<3<3

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

YAY!!! I'm SO THRILLED you could enjoy this! :D

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

That was very cool! And so very, very meta. *g*

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you could enjoy! :)

[girlmostlikely.livejournal.com]

Hey there! I'm really excited to watch your vid, but I've tried d/loading the AVI twice now and each time I try and unzip it I get a "file is corrupt" message.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Sooo sorry about that! I have no clue what happened, a file getting corrupted during upload sounds beyond bizarre, but everyone else has been having the same problems it seems, so I've added an alternative download link to the original post. I tested it, looks like it should work fine. *crosses fingers*

[marciaelena.livejournal.com]

Loved it! <3


ETA: I downloaded the zip file but it's corrupt, hon. Same thing with another vid of yours that I downloaded the other day, "Home".

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Whoa, it happened with 'Home' too? That is so strange, that link used to work fine. That makes me all suspicious that that it's mediafire doing something funky with my files. Hmm. Thanks for letting me know about that.

I've added an alternative download link for this one above, I tested it so it should work for you now. *crosses fingers*

Sorry for all the trouble. But glad to hear you liked what you saw! :)

[vikki.livejournal.com]

So I started to watch this with great trepidation, because I'm actually surprisingly uncritical of Show - I'd rather acknowledge the problems and move on, you know? But man, this was just such a fun celebration of fandom and how fans interact with shows, and I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed this. Wow. I was totally making happy noises at the end. So perfect.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's fabulous to hear you came into it wary on criticism and still was won over by the celebration aspect. It definitely was vidded with the critical side in mind but it's nifty to know it works with both perspectives.

Thanks so much for watching & commenting! :)

[fufaraw]

Here via dotfic.

This is fabulous--what a load of hard work getting all those bits in there! Thanks so much for the dl link.

ETA: Like ancastar, below, I wasn't able to open the file. Halp?

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much! I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed what you saw!

So sorry about the faulty dl link. I'm still trying to work out what happened, but I've got an alternative link in the post now, hopefully that will work for you. :)

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

Aw! It's been rough around fandom the last few days (both in SPN and elsewhere), so this came like a breath of fresh air. I loved it. It reminded me yet again why I love these characters and why I hang around here obsessing over them. :-) Thank you.

(Edited to say--I just downloaded your zip file and when I tried to extract it, I got a message back saying the file was corrupted. Could you give us a new file? Thanks!)

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

It reminded me yet again why I love these characters and why I hang around here obsessing over them. :-)
That is an absolutely WONDERFUL thing to hear. It hasn't exactly been the most pleasant week for fandom, but I'm glad this was able to give you that shot of fresh air. Thanks so much for commenting!

Sorry about the faulty file, something wacky must have happened with the uploading process. I've got an alternative dl link up in the post now, which should work for you. :)

[xaara.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this, how it morphed from a celebration of the show to a celebration of how fans come together over it, how we fawn and argue and squee and quibble and create, because that's such a fundamentally human form of love.

(Plus, this is almost certainly less traumatic than whatever Kripke's got in store for us tomorrow. :) )

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

how it morphed from a celebration of the show to a celebration of how fans come together over it, how we fawn and argue and squee and quibble and create, because that's such a fundamentally human form of love.
Wow, that's such a wonderfully concise yet meaningful way to think about it. I love that.

Thanks so much for commenting! Glad to hear it was something you could enjoy, especially in the wake of the finale, 'cause yea, you gotta figure the man's gonna go for the jugular. :/

[lnhart.livejournal.com]

I've never been into a show before the way I'm into SPN. I almost can't believe I understand the show and the fandom concepts well enough to appreciate this video, but understand and appreciate it, I do. The video was terrific--great song, great editing, great celebration of the joy of this show and our connections to it. (I even liked the angry parts...)

The concept was terrific. Thanks so much for sharing.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Oh, well, thanks so much for watching! That's great to hear that the details came through to you even when you thought they might not! It's hard to measure the level of what can be spoken through visual means to an audience, especially when it's such meta like this one is.

So happy to you could enjoy it! :)

[ash48.livejournal.com]

WOW!! Fabulous work. Awesome concept - wonderfully executed. :D

(and perfect timing with everything that's been going on lately). Just what we all needed I think.

Power to the fans!! \o/:D :D

xx

ETA: I just watched it again and picked up a heap more stuff. Such a meaty vid. Loved the "fangirls" reaction to moments in canon - especially the necklace dumping. :)

Also, that fan art was wonderful. I'd love to know where to those..

xx

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

THE NECKLACE DUMPING.

[counteragent.livejournal.com]

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

IT'S SO FUCKING GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM SO IMPRESSSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111

God, it's just wonderful. GREAT JOB GREAT JOB GREAT JOB GREAT JOB

I have to go back to work for the next ONE MILLION YEARS but KNOW THAT I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

ps: fix the dlable file, please! I want to hug it FOREVER.

[counteragent.livejournal.com]

and dude you're giving me way too much credit for the idea! :D

[ariadnes-string.livejournal.com]

That is awesome! (here via july_july_july)

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Glad you could enjoy!

[boom-queen.livejournal.com]

Holy cow, that was beyond brilliant. What an amazing execution of your idea!

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks so much! I nauseated probably more than necessary about the execution, but happy to hear it worked for you! :)

Kill a Man

[yourlibrarian]

I loved the repurposing of Becky. Great idea, and very timely too.

Re: Kill a Man

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm happy to hear you thought the repurposing came through! Thanks so much for watching!

[girl-wonder.livejournal.com]

<3 FOREVER.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Glad you could enjoy!

[pinkphoenix1985.livejournal.com]

I got recced here and I have to say that not only is the actual vid brilliant but I love the meta! definitely snagging to watch over and over again LOL

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! Rewatchable-ness is what I strive for!

So happy you could enjoy this! :)

[cryptoxin.livejournal.com]

I really liked this, especially the use of the Becky clips. (here via counteragent

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you could enjoy! Thanks for watching! :)

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

OMFG that was so amazing, I am actually crying a little bit. SERIOUSLY, TEARS.

I'm sorry for reacting with fear when you asked to use my "fuck you" post, I noticed you didn't credit me but YOU CAN BECAUSE THIS WAS SO HOPEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL AND I FEEL SO DUMB FOR THINKING IT WOULD BE NEGATIVE AAAAAAAH.

I am off the rec this like mad.

[zimshan.livejournal.com]

I noticed you didn't credit me
Ohmygoodness! No, that was not intentional, just a stupid little oversight on my part! I had so much problems with these files, I didn't get to double check the html on that one like I'd planned. But after reading you said about it, I felt sorta disingenuous using your vehement reaction to misogyny issues as a follow up to the amulet drop. Then it dawned on me I already had on 'Fuck you' post already, so I refocused on your 'not sure how much more of this I can take' which in retrospect fits much better. So I should be thanking you! :)

At any rate, your capslock enthusiasm is ABSOLUTE LOVE. Especially knowing it was after you came into it with apprehension. AND HOPEFUL TEARS! News of inspiring hopeful tears makes these kinds of things all worth it! Though, ileliberte's drawn Sam in the Impala at the end there, when I found that, *I* cried a little bit. So, you know, credit where credits due.

Thanks so much for allowing me to use your post! And watching! And commenting! :)