New BtVS vid: Partition

[frayadjacent]

Title: Partition
Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Vidder: fray-adjacent
Artist: Beyoncé
Characters: Buffy, Angel, Riley, Spike
Relationships: Buffy/slaying, Buffy/Angel, Buffy/Riley, Buffy/Spike
Content Notes: show-typical violence. Sexualization of violence. Fast cuts, one white flash at 0:41. Some anti-Buffy/Angel and anti-Buffy/Riley content.  Feel free to contact me with questions about content.
Thank you to goodbyebird for some much needed cheerleading on an early version of this.

Download | AO3 post | Direct Youtube link
 

Watch on YouTube

 

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

That "I just wanna be the kind of girl you like" resonates so much with the Riley section, but the progression also works really nicely from Angel to Riley to Spike with the song.

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! I was always struck by the tonal contrast between the verses and the chorus(es) in this song, and it was fun to amplify that in the vid.

[sol_se]

Aaaaah so good!!! I love this

[frayadjacent]

Thank you!!

[laurashapiro]

This is great! I particularly loved the transition from Angel drinking Buffy to Buffy as a bride bursting into flames. Way to sell everything wrong with THAT ship. (:

(brief pause to hate Angel)

The Spike verse is fascinating. Is that a POV shift? Or did you just take a few beats to note Spike is trying to be the kind of girl Buffy likes? Either way: loving it.

[frayadjacent]

Thank you!

(Pauses to hate Angel with you)

I definitely wanted to convey that Spike was being the kind of girl Buffy likes -- I thought of it as a POV shift but it's a messy one, since the POV shifts back to Buffy by the end of the vid. (I actually thought about including clips of Spike, e.g., dressing in khaki trousers and sharing jokes with Joyce as part of trying to be the kind of girl Buffy liked, but it didn't work with the tone of the vid.)

I thought of Only a Lad a few times while making this vid. Partly because I think of this vid anytime I find myself having Spike Apologism (which is not often).

[laurashapiro]

I think you made the right call there, in terms of tone.

Thanks for saying that about Only a Lad! It's one of my least popular vids so it's great to know that you still think about it.

[calvinahobbes]

This is so great. I really love the contrast between all three (four?) of her relationships, and I thought the brief POV shift to Spike was very easy to follow - and actually quite effective. I thought this song would be too specific to work well for a fanvid, but boy was I wrong.

[restfield]

Oh, poor Buffy has such a messed up relationship with sex and you did such a great job highlighting it. Love how the song works here, especially the switch in Spike's part.

[frayadjacent]

I suppose I can see why Only a Lad is less popular than some of your other vids, but also that's a shame because it's great.

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! I'm really happy to hear that the POV switch was easy to follow, I kept moving clips around to try and make it as sledgehammery as possible. :)

[frayadjacent]

Ugh, I know. Truth be told I had to stop partway through making this vid because it was making me mad at canon and that is such a demotivating feeling for me.

(Actually I stopped a number of times for a bunch of different reasons -- this vid took me nearly two years to complete.)

Thank you for the comment, and I'm really glad you like the vid! I thought of you a few times working on it, wondering what you'd think of it and hoping you'd like it!

[laurashapiro]

<3

[tei]

Here from your end of year post! This was incredible!

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! (Awesome icon.)

[deird1]

You're very talented.

I feel like I'm going to have to watch this five or six more times before I can gather my thoughts enough to say anything else. It was quite... complex. And very interesting.

(Why yes, I have had this post open since November, waiting until I had time to watch it...)

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! And sorry for the very slow reply...

[kuwdora]

i need a cigarette after watching this vid!

but for real though, the way you balance each of their relationships with the song is really focused and tight, I tip my hat to you because it's a LOT to deal with. I know how much hard work it is to pull this kind of thing off and you do it so WELL!

you always make me see shows in such a new light in some way. you are very gifted at storytelling. :)

[frayadjacent]

Oh, what a kind, thoughtful, wonderful comment! Thank you so much! I really appreciate you pointing out the work involved, because damn this vid was a lot of work! :DDD

<333