Scooby Road

[selenak]

luminosity posted, for a short while, her magnum opus Scooby Road online. For the uninitiated, that's the Beatles' album Abbey Road, all of it, providing the musical background to some of the most brilliant vids made from the show Buffy The Vampire Slayer - all seven seasons - I've had the pleasure to watch. About 43 minutes, and everyone worth seeing. some details that particular stuck in my mind, and bear in mind I'm not a vidder, so there is no technical analysis, just audience reaction:


Come Together as an exploration for Restless and Get It Done (with some Intervention thrown in), aka the Slayer myth and its impact on Buffy & Co, the opening song. Restless is probably my favourite BtVS episode, and after what sisabet did with Clint Eastwood, I didn't think it was possible to make another vid using it as well. Clearly, I was wrong.

Something as the song for the Spike/Drusilla relationship. Dru with her swaying and dancing moves is just perfect for this song, and it has all the sexy elegance of that pair of vampire lovers. From William meeting his destiny to their visit to the Bronze and last shared dance (and meal)...

Oh, Darling, on the other hand, is used for the fascinating and deeply dysfunctional relationship between Buffy and Spike in season 6, between Smashed and Seeing Red. It makes the point of why this was (always imo, and of course in that particular time frame of the show) both great to watch and screwed up, with both characters hurting each other.

Here Comes The Sun as the song for Buffy's relationship with her friends, Willow, Xander and Giles is perfect. Loved that the intro is Buffy dreaming of vampires and then leading to her meeting the three, who provide a counterpoint to her Slayerness, if you will, not because they aren't connected to it as well (they help her, after all, and she would not have survived without them), but because they are her human ties.

I Want You, on the other hand, is primarily Buffy and her three main vampire foes, the Master, season 2 Spike and Angelus (though later enemies show up as well). Very much a predator-prey-turning-predator dance.

You Never Give Me Your Money: considering that as a good Beatles fangirl I know this song is supposedly inspired by Paul MacCartney's frustration about Allen Klein, it never would have occured to me to pick this for the B/A relationship, but you know, now I won't ever be able to hear it again without thinking of Buffy and Angel. The melody suddenly had a melancholy wistfulness, and the sudden change of pace and beat was of course when Angelus came in. I never give you my number/ I only give you my situation as we cut from Angel with the cross burn on his chest in Angel the season 1 episode to him and Buffy on the bed in Surprise seemed to me to a profound truth about the relationship from Angel's point of view, because retrospectively, with the canon of both shows in mind, what he showed to Buffy was a part of himself - and I'm not talking about the Angelus factor. Angel (souled version) coming across as far more complex on AtS than on BtVS has to do with different narrative perspectives - on BtVS, we mostly see him from Buffy's pov, as her romantic lover, whereas on his own show he's the main character with a variety of relationships what bring out different sides in him. But this necessary pov change also works when you think of Buffy as sixteen/seventeen/eighteen during their romance, and Angel, who sees her as his inspiration (among other things) to drag himself out of the rock bottom Whistler found him in, not wishing her to see anything but the best he thinks he has to offer.

(The short re-use of this song later in the final mix works perfectly for Angel's cameo in Chosen of course.)

Some of the match-ups of songs and characters were very, very witty and reminded one that humour was a key element of the show along with the darkness. Maxwell's Silver Hammer for Faith (asking Joan for a date, indeed), Mean Mr. Mustard for Warren (who else?), and Polythen Pam for the Buffybot (great, great transition via Spike ordering the 'bot from Warren). This one also reminded me (for the nth time) what a great job SMG did with these Buffy alter egos. When you think she played the cheerful Buffybot in the same episode she was also nearly autistic Buffy risen from the grave.

Jonathan was in the Mean Mr. Mustard section, together with Andrew, but he also got his own song, based on his own episode, Superstar, Octopussy's Garden. Now if anyone was Ringo (who sings this song), Jonathan was, so that alone made me smile in approving delight, but the vid did justice to that whimsical and meta-ish fun episode.

The final mix Golden Slumber/Carry That Weight/ The End centered around Buffy and the Scoobies again. Starting with a series of images of Buffy and Joyce, and Buffy and Giles to lines like "once there was a time you got back home" and later leading to what you could call Buffy's burdens - from hearing she has to die in Prophecy Girl over the Angelus mess to the resurrection from the dead and various battles in between to "boy, you've got to carry that weight, carry that weight a long time" was perfect, and as I'm among the fans who love the end of Chosen, I was very happy with the image that closes the show closing this fantastic vid as well - Buffy post-battle, friends at her side, with a tiny smile of hope and in possession of a future again.

"And in the end/ the love you make/ is equal to the love you take."

Comments

[thalia-seawood.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the vid rec! I'm downloading it right now, but will not watch it until I've finished watching Buffy.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Wise of you. It does have spoilers, and scenes just have more resonance if you know where they come from.

But it's absolutely fantastic.

[superplin.livejournal.com]

Yes! I'm so glad people are finally watching and talking about these vids. I've had my DVD for a while, and I'm still trying to think of something to say about it to do it justice. Meanwhile I'm really enjoying reading other people's remarks.

The song/subject choices are really inspired, aren't they? I'm also really fond of Dawn in She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, which is just the perfect song for her. I love that no one is overlooked, everyone makes an appearance, and Buffy is the Slayer at the core of it all. I really did both laugh and cry watching these--and I'm not normally much of a vid person.

as I'm among the fans who love the end of Chosen, I was very happy with the image that closes the show closing this fantastic vid as well - Buffy post-battle, friends at her side, with a tiny smile of hope and in possession of a future again.

Beautifully put, and I couldn't agree more.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Dawn entry was inspired. I also forgot to mention I loved what they did with Because and Willow/Tara.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec - downloading now.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

You're welcome, and enjoy!

[red_satin_doll]

I discovered this video a couple of months ago (and like much else in fandom, had no idea it was so "old" - newbie here), and I specifically recc'd the "Oh Darling" section to another new fan because it's very honest about the dysfunction of Buffy and Spike in S6, and how of them hurt each other deeply, sometimes while attempting to be kind. I can't get into the one-sidededness of the "Saint Spike" arguements - everytime I come across something online where someone says they hate Buffy - or any character in the verse - and want to hit her, it chills me. Maybe that person wouldn't hurt anybody in real life, but that amount of anger, and over fictional characters - is pretty toxic.