Remember in April when I announced the first in a series of Battlestar Galactica season 4 crack vidlets? ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
beccatoria and my Plan was to mashup each episode with audio from the Prelinger Archives of mid-century sponsored films, thereby creating our own archive that chronicles the season against the backdrop of our own cultural and technological history. Months later, the project is complete! Part one, at least, with the rest to come when BSG returns in 2009.
Length: 9:20 (10 parts, mostly under 60 seconds each)
Stream: youtube or imeem (embedded under the cut)
Download: 61MB AVI
Links: original posts @ beccatoria or @ thearchive2 / xposted @![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
vidding + bsg_crack
I'm absurdly proud of how these vids emerged as a collaborative artwork, and I think you can witness our skills improving as the series progresses.
For a more sober portrait of season 4.0 (or as a reference point for anyone who might be arriving at this post without a sense of what a more typical fanvid looks like), let me recommendbeccatoria's Tricks (to Bruce Springseen's "Magic"). In addition to its elegant distillation of S4's key moments and themes, this vid is notable for contrasting them with a heartbreaking montage of earlier BSG scenes, and for an ingenious use of the final episode's final shot (interspersed throughout on the refrain). It's also technically dazzling, and could be taken as an exemplar of Windows Movie Maker vidding. WMM offers a very limited palette of capabilities, but Becka pushes them to their limits, perfecting the rhythm with extensive time toggles. I had the pleasure of doing some light beta duty on this.
Finally, one of the perks of selecting concepts for Tomorrow was having an excuse to plumb the depths of the remarkable Prelinger collection. Here's a sampling of the sort of deranged gems found therein. They may be of special interest to media studies professors, as many would make excellent teaching tools. FYI, the archive also includes myriad promotional/educational narrative films and musicals, which I skipped over.
five amazing films used in vidlets
A Communications Primer (1953)
This film was made by Charles and Ray Eames, which makes it more intelligent and visually striking than most educational films. It deals with the semantics of communication, breaking down the concept into a flow chart of choosing, coding, sending, receiving, decoding, and understanding messages.
The Story of Television (1956)
Shows efforts of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the creation, development and introduction of the all-electronic TV system; explains how science made television a working reality. David Sarnoff tells of the early research and experiments... Actual scenes from TV "firsts" are included -- President Roosevelt opening the 1939 New York World's Fair, the visit of the King and Queen of England, and the 1940 Republican Convention in Philadelphia. Animated diagrams demonstrate how a TV camera converts electronic beams into a picture.
Television Tomorrow (1945)
Part of a series of post-WWII job recruitment films aimed at soon-to-be ex-servicemen. Of great historical interest and reasonably accurate about television behind the scenes and in the future.
In the Suburbs (1957)
This is the movie about suburbia as it is widely imagined in pop culture: a place where educated white middle-class couples moved after World War II in an escape from crowded cities, seeking a patch of green and a better life for their children. And In the Suburbs is in fact an accurate film about this singular place and time in American history... Produced as an audiovisual aid for Redbook magazine ad salespeople to convince national advertisers they could deliver them the suburban market, it's also a rich evocation of postwar affluence and the suburban "market-in-place"... "In the Suburbs" is one of the most remarkable and unusual sponsored films ever made. It escapes the triteness for which advertising films have ever been criticized, and its own values look a lot like those of the avant-garde.
Stop Driving Us Crazy! (1959)
Rusty, a spy from Mars, pays a visit to Earth and discovers how its inhabitants disrespect one another by driving poorly. The film espouses a Christian viewpoint on safety, stating that "reckless driving is a sin." The 1950s-style animation is great.
five amazing films not (yet) used in vidlets
To New Horizons (1940)
Definitive document of pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General Motors. Documents the "Futurama" exhibit in GM's "Highways and Horizons" pavilion at the World's Fair, which looks ahead to the "wonder world of 1960."
The Challenge of Ideas [part 1] (1961)
Edward R. Murrow hosts this early-60s film, which seems to be designed to explain the Cold War to service personnel, though there is also some implication that it may have been shown to the general public as well. A motley assortment of stars, such as John Wayne, Lowell Thomas, and Helen Hayes also appear at various points to explain the ideological differences between the capitalist and communist systems.
Round and Round (1939)
This short film employs fluid stop motion animation to present the inner workings of a manufacturer. While aspects of business such as product sales, wages, and the purchase of raw materials are explored, viewers are never told of how profits are generated and used to benefit the company. David dubbed this "capitalism for tots!"
A Welcome Guest in the House (1957)
Once upon a time the FCC required TV stations to air news, public service, and public affairs programming, and limited advertising. This 1950's film from the National Association of Broadcasters tries to explain why by way of the education of a boy. Because of these requirements and the marginally stricter code of the NAB, TV "will always be a welcome guest in the house." We are told that TV is a free system, based on the free flow of goods and ideas, based on quality and taste.
Leave It to Roll-Oh (1940)
Tongue-in-cheek film showing a domestic robot freeing housewives of their chores (and intimating that their work is hardly necessary); actually a promo showing how relays and switches function in the modern automobile. Shown at the New York World's Fair in 1940.
beccatoria and my Plan was to mashup each episode with audio from the Prelinger Archives of mid-century sponsored films, thereby creating our own archive that chronicles the season against the backdrop of our own cultural and technological history. Months later, the project is complete! Part one, at least, with the rest to come when BSG returns in 2009. Stream: youtube or imeem (embedded under the cut)
Download: 61MB AVI
Links: original posts @ beccatoria or @ thearchive2 / xposted @
vidding + bsg_crackI'm absurdly proud of how these vids emerged as a collaborative artwork, and I think you can witness our skills improving as the series progresses.
For a more sober portrait of season 4.0 (or as a reference point for anyone who might be arriving at this post without a sense of what a more typical fanvid looks like), let me recommend
beccatoria's Tricks (to Bruce Springseen's "Magic"). In addition to its elegant distillation of S4's key moments and themes, this vid is notable for contrasting them with a heartbreaking montage of earlier BSG scenes, and for an ingenious use of the final episode's final shot (interspersed throughout on the refrain). It's also technically dazzling, and could be taken as an exemplar of Windows Movie Maker vidding. WMM offers a very limited palette of capabilities, but Becka pushes them to their limits, perfecting the rhythm with extensive time toggles. I had the pleasure of doing some light beta duty on this. Finally, one of the perks of selecting concepts for Tomorrow was having an excuse to plumb the depths of the remarkable Prelinger collection. Here's a sampling of the sort of deranged gems found therein. They may be of special interest to media studies professors, as many would make excellent teaching tools. FYI, the archive also includes myriad promotional/educational narrative films and musicals, which I skipped over.
five amazing films used in vidlets
A Communications Primer (1953)
This film was made by Charles and Ray Eames, which makes it more intelligent and visually striking than most educational films. It deals with the semantics of communication, breaking down the concept into a flow chart of choosing, coding, sending, receiving, decoding, and understanding messages.
The Story of Television (1956)
Shows efforts of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in the creation, development and introduction of the all-electronic TV system; explains how science made television a working reality. David Sarnoff tells of the early research and experiments... Actual scenes from TV "firsts" are included -- President Roosevelt opening the 1939 New York World's Fair, the visit of the King and Queen of England, and the 1940 Republican Convention in Philadelphia. Animated diagrams demonstrate how a TV camera converts electronic beams into a picture.
Television Tomorrow (1945)
Part of a series of post-WWII job recruitment films aimed at soon-to-be ex-servicemen. Of great historical interest and reasonably accurate about television behind the scenes and in the future.
In the Suburbs (1957)
This is the movie about suburbia as it is widely imagined in pop culture: a place where educated white middle-class couples moved after World War II in an escape from crowded cities, seeking a patch of green and a better life for their children. And In the Suburbs is in fact an accurate film about this singular place and time in American history... Produced as an audiovisual aid for Redbook magazine ad salespeople to convince national advertisers they could deliver them the suburban market, it's also a rich evocation of postwar affluence and the suburban "market-in-place"... "In the Suburbs" is one of the most remarkable and unusual sponsored films ever made. It escapes the triteness for which advertising films have ever been criticized, and its own values look a lot like those of the avant-garde.
Stop Driving Us Crazy! (1959)
Rusty, a spy from Mars, pays a visit to Earth and discovers how its inhabitants disrespect one another by driving poorly. The film espouses a Christian viewpoint on safety, stating that "reckless driving is a sin." The 1950s-style animation is great.
five amazing films not (yet) used in vidlets
To New Horizons (1940)
Definitive document of pre-World War II futuristic utopian thinking, as envisioned by General Motors. Documents the "Futurama" exhibit in GM's "Highways and Horizons" pavilion at the World's Fair, which looks ahead to the "wonder world of 1960."
The Challenge of Ideas [part 1] (1961)
Edward R. Murrow hosts this early-60s film, which seems to be designed to explain the Cold War to service personnel, though there is also some implication that it may have been shown to the general public as well. A motley assortment of stars, such as John Wayne, Lowell Thomas, and Helen Hayes also appear at various points to explain the ideological differences between the capitalist and communist systems.
Round and Round (1939)
This short film employs fluid stop motion animation to present the inner workings of a manufacturer. While aspects of business such as product sales, wages, and the purchase of raw materials are explored, viewers are never told of how profits are generated and used to benefit the company. David dubbed this "capitalism for tots!"
A Welcome Guest in the House (1957)
Once upon a time the FCC required TV stations to air news, public service, and public affairs programming, and limited advertising. This 1950's film from the National Association of Broadcasters tries to explain why by way of the education of a boy. Because of these requirements and the marginally stricter code of the NAB, TV "will always be a welcome guest in the house." We are told that TV is a free system, based on the free flow of goods and ideas, based on quality and taste.
Leave It to Roll-Oh (1940)
Tongue-in-cheek film showing a domestic robot freeing housewives of their chores (and intimating that their work is hardly necessary); actually a promo showing how relays and switches function in the modern automobile. Shown at the New York World's Fair in 1940.
