Fanvid: "Grapevine Fires" (Star Trek)

[skywaterblue]

I couldn't think, of anywhere I would have rather been, to watch it all, burn away...

Fandom: pan-Star Trek (movies, 24th Century Prime timeline)
Characters: Spock, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway...
Song: "Grapevine Fires" by Death Cab for Cutie
Length: 4:19
Downloads: 60.6 mbs in .mpg / 76 mbs in .avi (best)

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Star Trek - death, rebirth, death again.

It took almost nine months to make, though I did scrap a first draft when I switched from Premier Pro to Sony Vegas. I could have made a human being in that time. Special thanks to sarken who I forced to watch, cheerlead, and suggest Voyager clips where my knowledge ran dry. Couldn't have done it without her.

This video may seem like I'm deeply ambivalent about the new canon - I am not. Overall I appreciate the effort made by the Supreme Court of Bad Robot to ensure that the Trek I grew up with still 'happened' and matters. That said, I feel a deep sense of finality and regret about the movie: in redefining Star Trek to only be about the original crew, we're both saying goodbye to all the other characters and their journeys, and in some ways limiting the palette of what Star Trek can be about to the mass audience.

Here's to the journey, though! The Undiscovered Country! There really is no place I would have rather been, to watch it all burn away.

Comments

[stellar_dust]

Oh my goodness, that was just lovely. ♥

[skywaterblue]

Thank you so much. *beams*

[sabaceanbabe]

This really is an excellent video, all of it, but when Spock shows Kirk all that exists for him but will never be for this version of Kirk, I cheered and cried at the same time. Beautifully done.

By the way, in case you're wondering why I'm here, it's from a rec on Live Journal by inlovewithnight.

[viciouswishes]

That was awesome. *sniff*

[skywaterblue]

Thank you! *tissue*

[skywaterblue]

Thanks so very much - I'm glad you got an emotional response from the flashbacks, as it is very much the crux of why I made this video. Also, thanks for letting me know about the rec so I can go thank her. :)

[serrico]

...oh. That is bittersweet and lovely.

And *bittersweet*.

[skywaterblue]

I'm glad it moved you. Thanks so much for the comment.

tehlime @ lj

[(Anonymous)]

Uhm. I am maybe in love with this video right now.

First of all. A Death Cab vid! !!! Perfect song choice, really. Uhm. Second. You did a jaw dropping job of incorporating a universe of canon into one video. More than that, into one "flash" if you will. And framing it with the mindmeld is just perfect. I didn't read the description very carefully, because I only saw the part about it being a Star Trek vid, and so when the characters from the various shows appeared, I was surprised and delighted. It works very well. The narrative of the video is very sound, even without the mindmeld sequence. You interwove the old and the new footage together in a seemless, yet new way. I love how it starts with both of them, and then moves to the new footage, and then lingers for a while with the old... I don't know quite how to describe it, but it's very much unlike an previous old/new Star Trek video I've seen. And I mean that in a good way.

Anyway, enough rambling. Fantastic job, I'm saving this to go back to, because I know I'm going to end up watching this multiple times! :)

[settiai]

Oh, wow. This was absolutely gorgeous.

[fenellaevangela]

This was very touching, I think is the word I'm looking for. I, too, came out of the new movie with a lot of thoughts on how it impacted all the canon that came before it, and this vid captured that feeling while still allowing for a "Here's to the journey!" at the end, so. Brava!

[some_stars]

I love, love, love the formatting of this--the mind melds opening up this whole amazing universe that we only see in flashes as it's disappearing. That is just an amazing inspired idea and it's totally almost making me cry.

[stultiloquentia]

This is very beautiful.

[sixbeforelunch]

This is just fantastic. I actually am ambivalent about the new canon, but that's because I grew up on TNG/DS9, so this really hit home as to why I left the theater more than a little sad. Very well done. Thank you!

[skieswideopen]

Oh, this is gorgeous! I love the framing of the mind meld, and the array of scenes from the other shows, and just, oh wow. And fantastic choice of song.

[redbrickrose]

Oh. That's just gorgeous. I loved the flashback sequence - perfectly done.

Re: tehlime @ lj

[skywaterblue]

Hey there, don't know if you'll stop back to see this response. I'm glad you liked the song choice! I admit to being a bit of an indie snob, so from time to time I would look up from the work and be like, 'OMG a Death Cab song, really?' But it is such a good song, and such an appropriate choice, I had to run with it.

I debated if I should spoil their appearance or not - finally decided to do it because it's the reason I made this vid and you might as well advertise that up front. Glad you didn't read too carefully and it came as a surprise though! :D I'm also glad you think the narrative stands on its own without the flashback. I'm always very concerned with strong narrative on the rare occasion I make a vid.

If you watch it again, definitely download the .avi version as I think it has the best picture clarity.

And thank you again for such effusive praise. It warms my soul.

[skywaterblue]

Thank you. :)

[skywaterblue]

That's what I wanted it to say to people, and so it's always really gratifying to have people getting your intended reading. Star Trek is dead, long live Star Trek.

Also, LOL, your icon.

[skywaterblue]

Well, first, thank you so much for the compliments.

Obviously I thought it was a clever enough conceit that it deserved a video - I was really terrified as the video took longer, and longer to make, that someone would get to this idea first and do it better. Fortunately while I've seen some people do the mind-meld to travel back to Prime!Kirk and Spock's relationship, and one which used it as a bridge to show the fanlove, no one ever got around to Kirk-Spock-PICARD.

What I found myself wishing as I placed the last clips in the montage was that the song was longer, or that I was a better editor. There's so much about the Prime Trekverse that I didn't have time to fit in - I wanted a clip of O'Brien and his family, of Guinan's adventures, of Neelix and Kes, of Quark's bar and Vic Fontaine and all of it...

[skywaterblue]

Thank you. LOL at your icon. :D

[skywaterblue]

Thanks. I made this video for people like you and I. I just can't quite believe that we'll never ever see any of them again, but I am slowly coming to terms with it.

[skywaterblue]

Thank you! :) I'm especially glad so many people think the song was an appropriate choice.

[skywaterblue]

*claps hands over heart* Thank you. "Gorgeous!" Thank you.

[dragojustine]

This is amazing. There really has been so much Trek with so much emotional resonance for so many people, and even as I absolutely adored coming full circle, the idea that this new Kirk lives in a world where these people will never be- at least not quite like that- that the only one to remember them and love them the way we do is... well, Spock Prime and us- wow. Nicely done.

The cut to the mind meld with Picard? PERFECTLY chosen. I really did not expect it.

Oh- and I don't know enough about vidding tech to know how you did it, but you made the very different production values/look-and-feels of the different shows/movies really *feel* like they belonged on a screen together, where in other vids the differences can seem jarring.