Aeronautic Primates and Other Delights

Festivids Reveals!

2023-02-04T18:52:58Z

It can now be told! I made two treats this year:

Weapon of Choice (Busby Berkeley movies) for fairestcat
Hold On (Floor is Lava) for thingswithwings

I know, I know... TWO vids in a calendar year? Wild.

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Vid: Weapon of Choice (Busby Berkeley movies)

2023-01-27T22:22:07Z

Title: Weapon of Choice
Song: Weapon of Choice by Fatboy Slim
Source: Busby Berkeley movies
For: fairestcat, Festivids 2022
Length: 2:32

Just Busby Berkeley Vibes

Vimeo Password: rubykeeler

Download the 33.4MB MP4 (right/ctrl-click and "Save file as...")

Archive of Our Own link

Notes: Busby Berkeley was the top choreographer in 1930s Hollywood. His sequences were often the finale for a "let's put on a show" film, although sometimes he would have sequences in the body of the film as well. He was known for inventive staging, kaleidoscopic bodies, and sheer ambition.

I've had this vid in my head ever since I saw my first Busby Berkeley movies on Filmstruck (RIP). The idea centered on a visual that turned out to not actually exist, oops. I was delighted when I saw that fairestcat requested these movies because it was the perfect excuse to put this long-gestating idea down on a timeline.

Not all Berkeley sequences are represented -- Shanghai Lil was avoided for racism/yellowface reasons, for instance. However, the sequences stretch across ten different films. Clipping was handily assisted by the existence of a bonus feature in the first Busby Berkeley box set which was literally just the choreographed sequences for the included films, plus a couple extras. All killer, no filler.

Sources:
42nd Street (1933)
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
Footlight Parade (1933)
Fashions of 1934 (1934)
Wonder Bar (1934)
Dames (1934)
Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
Varsity Show (1937)
Gold Diggers in Paris (1938)

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Vid: Hold On (The Floor is Lava)

2022-12-10T17:49:45Z

Title: Hold On
Song: Hold On by Animal Logic
Source: The Floor is Lava
For: thingswithwings (Festivids 2022)
Length: 1:31
Warnings: Some flashing lights.

Summary: ...or don't.

Vimeo Password: dontfallin

Download the 44.8MB MP4 (right/ctrl-click and "Save file as...")

Archive of Our Own link

Notes: This has to be in the top five silliest vids I've made. I love this ridiculous Netflix show and I was pleased when thingswithwings requested it. I've been looking for an opportunity to use the song "Hold On" (from the Borderlands 3 soundtrack) and this was deliciously appropriate. All footage is from Season 3 because that's the only season I could get my hands on. Even with that limitation, I had a lot of fun making this.

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Fandom Catch-up: Festivids and Equinox

2017-02-27T00:12:17Z

Hey guys! In all the personal hub-bub (bub), I forgot to post some fannish things of note.

I made one vid for Festivids this year -- Stronger (Re-Animator series)

I am participating in Equinox Vid Exchange: Vids in Space! Here's my letter.

I'm requesting Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), Star Trek: DS9, No Man's Sky, Flash Gordon serials, Rocky Jones Space Ranger, Vorkosigan Saga, and a multi-fandom vid about hope and optimism in space (because I want to believe we're going to survive and do better).

Hope that your fannish endeavors are going well!

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Some quick Festivids recs

2017-02-05T06:01:48Z

I'm a terrible participant in Festivids this year for a variety of reasons. One of them is that I really haven't put the time and effort into watching many of the vids. I will do better! Maybe! Life is crazy right now. However, a few shout-outs for vids I have seen and loved:

Vienna (The Third Man) -- This was made for me this year. Not just like, somebody made a vid and said it was for me. This was MADE FOR ME. It is everything I love about the movie at a breakneck pace, up to and including the use of setting to increase tension and suspense. You rock my world, Festividder.

Default (Drunk History US) - I've seen a couple of episodes of this show in passing, but this is kind of a brilliant take on the whole thing.

Get Better (Hawkeye v4) - Okay, this looks... damn good. Clint! Kate! Pizza Dog! Music choice that's freakin' on point. FEEEELINGS.

500 Miles (Pokemon GO) - Loooooooool.

A Better Son/Daughter (Carrie and Gary Fisher RPF) - I'm not crying. You're crying. Maybe we're both crying. I miss her.

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VID: Stronger (Re-Animator) [Festivids 2016]

2017-01-27T11:28:55Z

Title: Stronger
Song: Stronger by Kanye West (for all intents and purposes with Daft Punk)
Source: Re-Animator / Bride of Re-Animator
Length: 1:58
For: terajk, Festivids 2016
Warnings: Physical triggers (e.g., epilepsy or migraine: strobe lights, bright lights, "stuttery" cuts between 2-3 stills), implied animal harm, comedic gore.

Summary: Herbert Kanye West

Password: reagent

Download 18.4MB MP4 (right/ctrl-click + "Save link as...")

Notes: For personal reasons, I had trouble getting a vid put together this year. This was my first major attempt at a vid for my recipient but it wasn't my only. There are like three other incomplete timelines for other vids for a different fandom still on my computer. One of them may actually get finished someday. Anywho, I just find the arrogance of Kanye West and Herbert West to be weirdly simpatico and the driving refrain of "Harder, Faster, Stronger" spoke to Herbert's obsessive desires (not just to reanimate flesh). Many thanks to jmtorres and thirdblindmouse for encouraging/enabling this weird addition to my vidography.

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Dear Festividder 2016

2016-10-18T02:35:23Z

Hello Festividder!

You are completely awesome and I am so stoked to see what you come up with this year! My requests this year are a mix of classic cinematic treasures with some cult flicks and one newer source. Hopefully among this eclectic mix, you've found a vid you're excited to make!

My music preferences are the same as always: if it works, it works. Trust your instincts!

Here are my requests for this year:

( Alucarda (1978) [Safety] )

( Critical Role (web series) )

( Frankenstein (1931-1948) )

( The Raven (1963) [Safety] )

( The Third Man (1949) [Safety] )

( Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain [Safety] )
Anyway, thank you so much again! I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Jetpack Monkey

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Festivids revealed!

2016-02-13T09:59:42Z

I made three vids this year:

I predicted that I would get guessed for the first two (so much that I ended up making a second vid for tbm so I would still have some secrets). However, I was a little surprised to see that bessyboo guessed me for both at the same time (in, like, the fifth comment to the Guess the Festividder post). I kinda wish I was still offering vids for guesses, because you would have earned it, Bessy.

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Yay Festivids!

2016-02-07T01:42:16Z

Festivids 2015 dropped a week ago, but I haven't had a chance to make a post. So here it is.

First of all, I received *FOUR* vids this year. Honestly, I'm absolutely flummoxed and gratified that these even exist. That they are all amazing in their own way is just f**king sweet.

What's especially awesome is that there are now THREE vids for the 1977 what-the-eff-did-I-just-watch masterpiece Hausu that didn't exist before, and they all come from different angles:

Great White Cat (unexpected instrumental music choice works amazingly well)
A Happy Song Where Everybody Dies (bulletproof music kink + dark humor = EEEE)
Rock Lobster (lyrical resonance makes everything MORE WTF, not less)

None of the vids are safe-for-work and they all contain copious amounts of blood (well, red water). Also your brain my never be the same again.

Last but under no circumstances least is a vid for The Mummy (1932);

Love Lockdown

Oh my heart. This is exactly the kind of vid I was hoping for when I requested the source, but it exceeded all of my expectations by using a Kanye West song that dug to the eternal soul of the material. Plus more Boris Karloff vids are never a bad.

I haven't had a chance to do as much viewing as I'd like, but here are some of the vids that I really dug this year:

They Are Afraid of Us Together (A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia)
Motivational Speaker (Edge of Tomorrow)
Relations of Life (Europa Report)
See You Again (Girl Meets World)
Blow (Gone Girl)
All 9 Hamilton vids for convincing me to give the musical another. Shot!
Show Me Your Teeth (Hieronymus Bosch)
Legs (Kingdom of the Spiders)
Under Pressure (The Martian)
He Drives Me Crazy (Night at the Museum)
Bitch Puddin's Fuckin' Theme Song (Robot Chicken)
Your Mother (Saga)
Centuries (Wayne's World)

For the sake of ongoing mystery, I am not reccing anything that I have been guessed for. We'll see how those guesses turn out in a week.

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Dear Festividder 2015

2015-10-16T23:49:22Z

Hello!

Thank you so much for being part of Festivids! We're going to have so much fun this year! This year's theme is apparently "classic horror movies with a dash of action and puppet shows."

Music-wise, I am easy-going. The right song is the right song for a vid. I do have a bulletproof musical kink for Celtic-infused folk and/or rock music, but in general, my tastes are cast far and wide -- rock, pop, folk, bluegrass, dance, alternative (whatever that means), singer-songwriter, rap, metal, emo, punk, New Wave, etc. I've found that genres I don't care for become amazing when they are the right choice for a vid, so there's nothing you should really avoid, as long as it's appropriate to whatever you're making.

( Alucarda (safety) )

( Frankenstein (1931-1948) )

( Hausu (1977) (safety) )

( The Mummy (1932) (safety) )

( Mystery Science Theater 3000 )

( Spy Smasher (1942) )

Whatever you end up making, I'm sure I'll love it! Treats are also always welcome.

Love,
Jetpack Monkey

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Fighting is stupid

2015-10-11T21:49:29Z

On Thursday I broke one of my personal rules for continued sanity and got into a heated debate on the Internet. It was pointless and mainly fueled by the fact that all involved parties were/are extremely passionate about the subject of contention (Festivids), but held strikingly different viewpoints on what that entailed.

The reason I don't get into fights on the Internet (or really, arguments at all) is that I spend the next two weeks living in an echo of the debate, considering how I could have responded better or more cuttingly or more kindly or when I could have extricated myself earlier.

To speed the process, I declared a Festivids-free weekend. Both the roommate and the spouse were instructed to gently flick me if I started talking about Festivids and to escalate the response if I didn't relent. Only one flick happened, thankfully.

Instead, I spent the weekend doing some LEGO scale-building experiments, playing through LEGO Dimensions (which is becoming a $$$ suck), and rewatching Grey's Anatomy with jmtorres. Last night, echan and I went to the Pasadena Symphony for Dvorak's "From the New World", which was lovely and fun. It's nice to expand your horizons sometimes.

I am very much looking forward to Festivids and I hope the rest of you are as well.

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Festivids reveals!

2015-02-15T00:19:20Z

I made two vids this year:

White Telephone (Halloween series) for terajk

Moves Like Yaweh (Prince of Egypt) for settiai

The posts are pretty barebones right now. I'll get notes up soon. I have plenty, as usual.

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Festivids!

2015-02-01T01:39:23Z

Since I'm in Phoenix for an extended period of time for a family emergency, I said "fuck it" and bought myself a cheap laptop so I would be able to watch Festivids and stay in touch with you fine folks. Windows is weird. Are weird? *shrugs*

Anyway, I still have to come up with more coherent things to say about them, but both of the gifts I received are AMAZING. One is a Gamera vid set to an 8-bit rendition of music from My Neighbor Totoro. It's called Tonari no Gamera, which Google informs me is "My Neighbor Gamera" in English. So cute. It's an amazing overview of the "friend to children" era of the series that warms the heart. Plus, it has monster fights and fire-breathing.

The other vid is a stupendous match of source and footage. Space Mutiny + Survivor's The Moment of Truth = The Call. It's an exciting, fast-moving, lovingly cheesy overview of the 1980s South African space epic. Plus, as a bonus, the vidder really took the overall MST3K theme of my requests to heart and took their clips from the show, including the silhouettes of Mike and the Bots (and added a bit of their riffing at the end). Loved it.

Vidders who made vids for me, I am sorry I am late telling you I love your vids! I will leave comments once I've watched them both a couple hundred more times.

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VID: Moves Like Yaweh (Prince of Egypt)

2015-01-25T08:42:47Z

Title: Moves Like Yaweh
Song: Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera
Source: Prince of Egypt
Length: 3:35
Warnings: Physical triggers (e.g., epilepsy or migraine: strobe lights, bright lights, "stuttery" cuts between 2-3 stills), sacrilege.
Made for: settiai

Summary: A love story. With plagues. (sorrynotsorry)

Vimeo Password: iamthatxtina

Download SD MP4 (28MB)

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VID: White Telephone (Halloween film series)

2015-01-17T08:09:15Z

Title: White Telephone
Song: Charlotte Gainsbourg - White Telephone
Source: Halloween / Halloween H20
Length: 03:29
Warnings: Physical triggers (e.g., epilepsy or migraine: strobe lights, bright lights, "stuttery" cuts between 2-3 stills), violence, stalking.
Made for: terajk

Summary: Portrait of a survivor.

Vimeo password: lauriestrode

Download HD MP4 (81MB) - highly recommended
Download SD MP4 (16MB)

( Notes under the cut )

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Welp

2014-12-19T03:56:38Z

I got defaulted on in Festivids. Unfortunately, I put all of my request notes in my Dear Festividder letter, so the pinch hit post seems suuuuuper-empty.

I called in sick to work today for separate reasons. I'm distracting myself with LEGOs and the D&D Monster Manual.

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Dear Festividder 2014

2014-10-20T03:53:33Z

I'll try to keep the pre-amble short this year, because the requests themselves tell a story. This is a Festivids request list that is as much for my mom as it is for me, as we'll see in a second.

( Mystery Science Theater 3000 )

( Gamera (Shōwa series, 1965-1980) )

( Rocky Jones, Space Ranger )

( Ed Wood's Kelton Trilogy (Bride of the Monster / Plan 9 from Outer Space / Night of the Ghouls) )

( Manos: The Hands of Fate )

( Space Mutiny (1988) )

( Danger: Diabolik (1968) )

As for music: go with your heart. Or your head. Or your spleen. Whatever you feel works best. Nothing is off limits.

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Pre-Festivids Fandom Rec Festival (2014 Edition)

2014-09-08T01:41:41Z

Festivids is nearly here! Now is the time for all good vidders to start looking at their favorite small vidding fandoms and say, "Man, I hope somebody else has seen this thing."

That's where the Pre-Festivids Fandom Rec Festival comes in! Get the word out now and you might get someone else to become obsessive about your favorite thing! Or just find that there are others who love it too, so you can feel encouraged that you won't be the only one requesting/offering it.

How It Works:

Leave a comment in this post (either the Dreamwidth or Livejournal variety) with the name of a fandom you're thinking about offering and/or requesting. If there's multiple possible versions, be sure to be specific (leaving a link to an IMDb or Wikipedia page is useful).

You can also leave a quick description (1-2 sentences) of why the source is awesome and I'll add that to the fandom's entry in Festival master list. If there's a longer description, I may pluck out a short teaser and then link to the rest of the comment.

Example:

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010) -- In this wacky comic book adventure set in the 1910s, intrepid writer Adèle Blanc-Sec faces pterodactyls, mummies, and the patriarchy with equal measures of irritation and determination. Director Luc Besson provides the exhilarating and vivid visuals for this hilarious and weird caper.

So comment away and I'll add your recs to the list behind the cut below.

( THE MASTERLIST )

Leave your own fandom suggestions in the comments!

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Festivids reveals!

2014-02-09T21:45:34Z

I made four vids this year!

Battle Without Honor or Humanity (Danger 5, for seekingferret )
Raise Your Glass (Space Cases, for elipie )
Radio (Hey Ash Whatch Playin', for bradcpu )
The Ballad of Wesley Crusher (Star Trek: The Next Generation, for thirdblindmouse )

All posts have streaming. Downloads coming later, but if you're impatient, Vimeo's download option is enabled for each vid.

Also, thank you to valika56 who made The Good, The Bad, The Ugly And The Other Guys (Space Patrol Orion) and thirdblindmouse who made me TWO vids -- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Space Patrol Orion) and I Was Made for Sunny Days (The Thin Man series)

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Festivids! Really late!

2014-02-07T03:03:44Z

So! Festivids have been up for nearly two weeks now. I've been slowly picking through and I have some recs.

First I want to talk about the vids that were made for me and why they are examples of everything I love about Festivids. In the lead-up to GoLive, elipie and I would try to guess what the other would receive. She and I agreed that I'd probably end up getting a vid for one of the more modern fandoms and that I might, might, might get a single vid for either The Thin Man series or Space Patrol Orion.

I didn't get one vid. I got three. One Thin Man and TWO Space Patrol Orion. Only in Festivids, folks. Only. In. Festivids.

The two SPO vids have atypical music choices that just really work.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger by thirdblindmouse - 1966 German sci-fi to 2001 French electronica? Hell yes! Daft Punk have always had a weird future-past streak in their music, a tinge of the 1970s as interpreted from the 2070s (or vice versa). So as strange as the pairing might seem at first, it is absolutely appropriate to the subject matter. This vid really takes advantage of some of the more creative camerawork in the series while using rapid edits to cut through some of the more static sequences and enliven them. Awesome use of transitions and musicality.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly And The Other Guys by valika56 - Now we move to era-appropriate music (1967), but a complete genre-bender. Ennio Morricone's theme for The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is iconic and conjures images of wide-sprawling deserts and a dust-covered Clint Eastwood chomping on a cigar. Putting it to Space Patrol Orion seems almost sacrilegious, except that it makes a lot of sense. Space shows, especially in the 1960s, were just as much about the frontier as anything. There are still fistfights, showdowns, heavy drinking, and exciting chases. Oh and the "bad" guy gets the "good" girl. Some really great cutting here, some of which is appropriate and some of which plays with the song a bit and subverts expectations. I really dug it.

And last, but in no way least, the Thin Man vid: I Was Made for Sunny Days by thirdblindmouse. This is an entirely appropriate and lovely music choice for a vid that really demonstrates just how freakin' adorable the chemistry between Nick and Nora really is. A charming love song for a charming series, with lovely moments of the two leads strewn throughout. This vid is an utter delight and it's so good to see some love come to these movies through Festivids.

Some other recs from this year (limiting myself to 20 or so):

Feeling Good by Mithborien (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
Run The World by elipie (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)
How Does It Feel? by Joyo (Almost Famous)
This Could All Be Yours by fan_eunice (Big)
Never Seen the Light of Day by vi0lace (BioShock Infinite)
Ah Ha by sol_se (Deep Blue Sea)
Who Are You, Really? by obsessive24 (Dredd)
Waterfall by Gianduja Kiss (Gattaca)
Who Shall I Say Is Calling? by Trelkez (Ghostwatch)
All We Got by Anoel (The Great Gatsby)
Ride With Me by elipie (The Heat)
9 to 5 by eruthros (Lego Star Wars)
A Night Like This by thirdblindmouse (Marx Brothers)
Dirtee Disco by Nancy Blackett (The Muppets)
Love Can Move Mountains by Nancy Blackett (The Muppets)
Feel The Love by echan (Portal series)
Toxic by Rhoboat (The Red Shoes)
What I Like About You by Deirdre C.(RPF - Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis)
(You Drive Me) Crazy by CherryIce (Sharknado)
Wherever You Will Go by Rhoboat (Wallace and Gromit)

There you go! I also made some Festivids this year. Not running a guessing game, because I think my vids are fairly obvious (OR ARE THEY) (they are).

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I am still alive

2014-01-20T01:01:03Z

So Festivids was eating my soul. It's not now. I have a few vids in and I'm contemplating one more (possibly two). I also have a Hannibal vid for Escapade I need to finish (listens as mresundance's ears perk up).

Been struggling with a depressive jag that's making working on any of the above difficult. Been spending a lot of time playing Borderlands 2 or this Marvel Comics-based gem matching game and feeling like a lump while doing so. Cheered myself up a bit with some Marx Brothers last night (Monkey Business), but still fighting.

Beyond that, starting to look forward to Vividcon season. Kind of lost on potential Club Vivid and Challenge vids. I may be taking "Gift" too literally... will have contemplate. I have way way way way way too many potential Premieres.

Informal poll -- would you prefer to see:

A multisource, slightly bitter vid about post-apocalypse?
A mournful, slashy Spartacus vid set to modern pop?
A dark, brooding femslash vid based on an Ingmar Bergman film?

No, there are no happy options. Comment and let me know!

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Day 13: [redacted]

2013-10-15T03:14:34Z

The great Festivids redactening has begun!

I'm not actually sure I'll make a vid of the film I saw last night, but I want to leave my options open. Also, it makes writing this post super-easy.

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Dear Festividder 2013

2013-10-10T22:06:21Z

Once again, incredibly early, but I love Festivids and I get very excited.

Dear Festividder,

Here we are again. This is my third year in Festivids. This could be your first, your fourth, or somewhere in between. If it is your first time, I hope my requests do not terrify you in their verbosity. If you've been doing this for a while... I hope my requests do not terrify you in their verbosity. In any case, thank you for being awesome and adding to the Festivids experience!

Festivids is probably my favorite time of year, because vidders get to share the things they love with each other!

I hope that you have fun making whatever vid you make and that you love the end result. Festivids is about sharing love and squee and feelings and I will be happy with whatever you make for any of these seven fandoms, especially if you love them even one-tenth as much as I do.

Music-wise, I am easy-going. The right song is the right song for a vid. I do have a bulletproof musical kink for Celtic-infused folk and/or rock music, but in general, my tastes are cast far and wide -- rock, pop, folk, bluegrass, dance, alternative (whatever that means), singer-songwriter, rap, metal, emo, punk, New Wave, etc. I've found that genres I don't care for become amazing when they are the right choice for a vid, so there's nothing you should really avoid, as long as it's appropriate to whatever you're making.

The shortlist:
Almost Famous (2000) [safety]
The Body Snatcher (1945) [safety]
Gravity Falls (2012)
The Howling (1981) [safety]
Raumpatrouille / Space Patrol Orion (1966)
The Thin Man series
Vertigo (1958) [safety]

( Almost Famous (2000) )

( The Body Snatcher (1945) )

( Gravity Falls )

( The Howling (1981) )

( Raumpatrouille / Space Patrol Orion (1966) )

( The Thin Man series )

( Vertigo (1958) )

Thank you so much for taking part in this amazing time of year. I just know that you're going to come up with something great!

Hugs and squee,
Jetpack Monkey

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Day 9: Haven - Real Estate

2013-10-10T18:06:31Z

This is cheating, but I had to go to bed early last night and I'd already watched the haunted house episode of Haven. So, um, yeah. Enjoying my watch through of Haven. Sometimes it's a fun distraction/background noise and sometimes I get really invested... mostly in Duke Crocker. Duke is the best.

--

Festivids sign-ups open today! I'll be signing up just as soon as I figure out what I'm requesting/offering.

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Day 5/6: Two Films, No Waiting

2013-10-08T03:42:33Z

I forgot to post yesterday and I, um, neglected to watch a horror film because Spartacus. Blame sweetestdrain . Anyway. Luckily for everyone, on Saturday I watched two horror films, so I can post about both now.

The Howling, watched via DVD.
I have a lot to say about this one, but I'm saving it up for my Dear Festividders letter. Man I love this movie, though. Good stuff.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, watched digitally.
An entirely appropriate film to watch after Night Vale Live. There's a lot of Twin Peaks in Night Vale, just amped to 900. Anyway. This is a weird capper on the series in that it's (mostly) a prequel. Most of the events in the film are familiar because Dale Cooper already found out about them in the course of his investigation in the series. However, that doesn't rob them of their nightmare quality as Laura Palmer's last days are laid out. It's a David Lynch movie, so there are moments of exquisite weirdness and overplayed mundanity in equal share. I love this movie even as it irritates the ever-loving s**t out of me.

A few of my next few entries may be brief as I may be watching some horror movies for secret Festivids purposes. Shhhh.

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