Festivids Reveal: Fire Door (Friday Night Lights)

[frayadjacent]

Title: Fire Door
Fandom: Friday Night Lights
Song Title: Fire Door (live)
Artist: Ani Difranco
Length: 3:14
Summary: "I started to feel like I was on the inside instead of the outside"
Content notes: A few brief instances of non-graphic domestic violence. Song has some ableist language.  A couple spoilers for the series.
Youtube | Download (102 Mb H.264 MOV) | Subtitles file

Password: door

Notes:

When chaila first posted her Dear Festividder note, I thought about making a treat because I really wanted an excuse -- or, more accurately, a motivational push -- to vid Tyra.  I decided against it because I thought I wouldn't have time, but when the pinch hit came up I just couldn't resist.
 
I've actually long had this song picked out for a Veronica Mars vid -- the Season 1 AU-ish VM vid of my heart where she never gets back together with Duncan and decides not to date Logan.  But I also knew that might not be terribly popular, and besides I just had a lot of other ideas I was excited about.  So it had been filed away under "vids I'd like to make but likely won't."  I'm glad I found another use for it, and now I can really put that vid idea away.  The second verse didn't really work for Tyra, though, so it had to be removed.  Plus the song was too long.

It was really fun to go back through the show and watch Tyra's scenes, and I occasionally couldn't resist watching other scenes, especially Tami's.  One of the most difficult aspects of making this vid was avoiding temptation to watch ALL THE SHOW.  Now I really want to vid Tami too.  I love Tyra's arc, and I was so happy to be able to show it and hopefully show why it works so well for me.

I did stuggle some with how to include Landry in the vid.  For one, my own take on Landry and Tyra's relationship is that it's really well-done (murder plot aside), but I also spend a significant part of it really frustrated with Landry and his Nice Guy-ness.  My favorite example is when he yells at her and talks over her about how she deserves a guy who'll listen to her.  Ugh.

But from Tyra's perspective, it's a bit more complicated, because there's a lot that she gets out of their relationship as well.  He can be a jerk sometimes, but in many ways he *is* more supportive than a lot of people in her life, especially other boys.  And he represents what she wants, her desire to get out of Dillon and make something else of her life.  That's the future that's always been there for Landry, and I think his friendship gives Tyra hope and inspiration that she can do it too.

But all that was pretty tough to represent in a vid, especially with lack of strong visuals.  So I basically didn't even try to include it.  Also, this vid is for chaila, and I don't know what she thinks of Tyra and Landry's relationship, so.  Besides, it was a lot more important to me to focus on Tyra's relationships with Tami and her mother.  They are, for me, the real emotional centers of her arc. 

I re-purposed a couple of clips from the night of the sexual assault.  I was a little unsure of that, but I liked the visual of her walking into the empty diner to study while everyone else is at the game.  And picking up her books in the rain felt like too good a metaphor to pass up, given the lack of visual cues given to Tyra's arc.

Speaking of, I discovered pretty quickly that, if I'm not focusing on romantic relationships, there's  not a ton going on in Tyra's arc visually.  The most obvious is playing sports, mostly volleyball but also flag football.  Besides that, I eventually concluded that one of the most visually interesting things Tyra does involves doors: knocking on them, opening them to let people in, going through them.  It makes sense to me as a metaphor for her struggles, so I went with it. Plus, what with the title of the song and all, it kind of works?

By the way, I made this vid in a matter of weeks -- lightning fast by my standards!  And I'm pretty happy with it.  It's really good to know that I can do that -- and stay caught up with work, and not kill my wrists -- even when vidding a multi-season show.  (Though Tyra's arc is of course more limited in its footage than a lot of characters' would be.)

Lyrics (I've edited the song; these are the full lyrics)

I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
kissing
tightened my belt around my hips
where your hands were missing
and stepped out into the cold
collar high
under the slate grey sky
the air was smoking and the streets were dry
and I wasn't joking when I said
Good Bye
magazine quality men talking on the corner
French, no less much less of them then us
so why do I feel like something's been rearranged?
you know, taken out of context I must seem so strange
killed a cockroach so big
it left a puddle of pus on the wall
when you and I are lying in bed
you don't seem so tall
I'm singing now because my tear ducts are too tired
and my brain is disconnected but my heart is wired
I make such a good statistic
someone should study me now
somebody's got to be interested in how I feel
just 'cause I'm here
and I'm real
oh, how I miss
substituting the conclusion to confrontation with a kiss
and oh, how I miss
walking up to the edge and jumping in
like I could feel the future on your ...
amazing grace, how sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now I'm found
I was blind but now I see
Now I see [2x]
I opened the fire door
to four lips
none of which were mine
I wasn't kidding when I said goodbye
I wasn't kidding
I opened the fire door [x 4]

Comments

[chaila]

Downloading to keep forever and ever and watch a million times. Secretly a Tyra vid is the thing I most wanted from festivids, but I didn't even dare to hope it would happen, especially after it went out for a pinch hit. And then this happened! I feel I have probably already been overwhelming with commentary, but I love all the little moments and connections in this. Every time I watch I feel like I see a little deeper, all the little visuals and connections and details that you worked in, stitching it all together into most amazing character study. I love the use of the doors, walking away from certain doors and to certain other doors, and Tami and Tyra's mom, and Tim and Landry and That One Night Stand Dude, and Julie and Landry making her happy, and that long first fade in of Tyra, and the football imagery on the crowd noise parts, and the books in the rain, and her faaaaace. The use of her expressive face, alternately angry, vulnerable, determined, fierce, totally counts as strong visuals!

Your Tyra/Landry thoughts are essentially mine! I'm not super invested in it, but (murder plot aside) I mostly like it, despite Landry's Nice Guyness Finally Landing the Girl He Deserves, and like what it represents for Tyra in terms of Landry's future and goals and support opening up some of what she secretly wants for herself. And yet I also really liked that it faded away once Tyra was gone, and wasn't a Julie/Matt style true love forever when she came back. So the way you used it totally works for me!

You are the best! This is the best! I am so happy! :D

[raven]

I don't know FNL, but I love this vid. It's beautiful and it gives me the good kind of chills: the way it builds up, detail by detail, into this enormous picture. I really really love this.

[frayadjacent]

Wow, thank you so much! What a lovely comment to wake up to, and I'm glad the vid worked for you even though you don't know FNL. (I highly recommend it! It's a lovely combination of achingly honest and heartwarming and it loves and respects its characters and is just beautiful.)

[violetemerald]

WOW this is such a PERFECT Tyra character study. I love how much thought and careful editing went into this video, and the song is lovely and a great artist/song to be introduced to, and just in general I love everything about this.

[frayadjacent]

Thank you so much! And if you're interested, the song is off the album Living in Clip (a collection of live recordings; the studio version of this song is much mellower).

[violetemerald]

Thanks for letting me know!

[metatxt]

TYRA!!! Oh I love love love this vid. She was one of my faaaaavorites (second only to Tami) on FNL. I love how you capture the tension of Tyra always being somehow both outside Dillon and yet completely shaped by it as well. I also love this idea that "to four lips, none of which were mine, kissing" applies not only literally, when she is cheated on, but also in the way that her peers can find belonging in Dillon in a way that she doesn't want or can't have.

I also love the way you vid her perspective by cutting from her watching to what and who she's watching? it's super effective.

but now for the super flails -- OMGSSSS TAMI UNDERSTANDS HOW SHE FEELS JUST BECAUSE SHE'S THERE AND SHE'S REAL AND TAMI AND TYRA IS THE BESSSSSTTTTTTTTT. I could rewatch this a zillion times just for how you capture their relationship <333

p.s. when it comes to Ani DiFranco, I just ~cannot~ for so many reasons, but you make it work so effortlessly here!

[frayadjacent]

Thank you so much! I'm sorry it took me a few days to reply -- I was off computer as much as possible due to RSIs -- but I'm keeping this comment to treasure forever. I'm glad you like the vid and also TYYYYRAA AND TAAAMMMMI.