Elementary vid: A Thousand Miles

[frayadjacent]

Name: A Thousand Miles
Vidder: Fray-Adjacent
Fandom: Elementary
Song: "East Harlem" by Beirut
Characters: Joan & Sherlock
Content Notes: Spoilers for S1.
Duration: 3:47

Vimeo | Youtube | Download (147 Mb H.264 MP4)

"A Thousand Miles (Elementary)" (Watch on Vimeo)

password: miles

Wow, I haven't posted a vid since Festivids.  As Vividcon -- and moving -- approached and I realized I was never going to have more time, I finally just buckled down, drank some coffee, and stayed up to finish this, sans beta.  

I was hoping to vid more in 2013, and a lot of why I haven't -- RSIs, PhD defense, moving -- are external circumstances with varying degrees of temporary-ness.  But also, I just need to let go of the difference between the gorgeous perfect vid I vaguely picture when I start and the final product.  It's OK.  Because when I vid more, I learn.  For example, I feel like I got a much better hold on dissolves with this vid.  I now have a much better sense of when to dissolve and when not to.  And I realized that I can gradually ramp-off dissolves near the end points to make them look cleaner.

OK, so is this a het vid?  I dunno.  I might have gotten some shippery feelings from the act of making this.  Especially in that part with the phones.  Overall I am still mostly committed to the partnership and open to a number of different interpretations of their romantic and sexual lives. 

Comments

[revolutionaryjo]

Sherlock and Joan! Joan and Sherlock! This is beautiful. I really have the biggest, dumbest grin on my face after watching it.

[thingswithwings]

aw, this is lovely! They become FRIENDS and COLLEAGUES and LET GO OF THEIR PASTS and then make MORE FRIENDS yes. Excellent. I love some of the parallels that you chose to highlight (like Joan's photos and Sherlock's letters). <3

[starlady]

That was great! I thought the song choice was really good, and the way you showed them learning to work together and work through things together.

[lilly_the_kid]

That was great! I don't know show at all, but I still enjoyed this.

I'm reminded of the time we talked about how some sources work really well on a visual level and I think this is one of them. The deleting of the photos and the already written message were really strong images and I got a sense of the characters and their relationship.

[jb_slasher]

Haven't seen the show but this vid makes me want to watch it!

[ghanimasun]

This was gorgeous; awesome editing. Thanks for sharing!!

[umadoshi]

Eeee! I liked this a LOT.

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! Big-dumb-grin response is awesome! :D

[frayadjacent]

ha ha ha, that is pretty much the summary! I'm glad the short little part with MORE FRIENDS came through -- I was a little worried it would look tacked-on and the meaning wouldn't be clear. :D Thanks for watching and commenting!

[frayadjacent]

Yay, thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for commenting.

[frayadjacent]

Heh, it seems we are always watching each-others vids in fandoms the other doesn't know!

I'm so glad that visual worked for you. You know, I feel like in some ways this show is not great for vidding -- some key aspects of characterization don't have clear visual cues -- but then other times there are great parallels just waiting to be vidded. So I'm really glad that it worked for you!

Thanks for watching & commenting!

[frayadjacent]

Yay! Thank you for watching and commenting even though you don't know the show! It's a good one. :D

[frayadjacent]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for commenting!

[frayadjacent]

\o/ I'm glad you liked it!!

And our icons are scene-twins. :D

[purplefringe]

Heeeee! This is LOVELY! I've watched it a few times now - I wanted to get my thoughts straight before I said anything.

What I really love about this vid is how it's this really gentle, warm study of Joan and Sherlock's blossoming friendship and working relationship - how at the start of the vid they never make eye contact, and are always walking in opposite directions, or are physically separated, or turning away from each other. They have their solitary interests (running, lock picking) and are slightly confused by the other person (that shot of the honey drip is great!)..but gradually they get closer, and start to give each other things and share interests and look each other in the eye, and move together in the same direction. I love the intercutting of them doing the exercises together, and them dining with Joan's family, and all that succinctly conveys about their intertwining lives, and the things they offer each other. I also love the parallels of Joan deleting her old photos, and Sherlock shredding Irene's letter, and then all the wonderful symbolism of Joan learning to *observe* and turning on the light, Sherlock tearing the fake picture to get to the real thing beneath, all leading up to the lovely moment when he opens the door on the beat to let her in. And the way you intersperse Joan writing and rewriting her job description throughout the vid is perfect :-) And then at the end, when they meet all their other friends, and become a community, just like Sherlock's bees!

In conclusion: lovely vid. I hope you're having a fab time at Vividcon!

[goodbyebird]

Oh my gosh, this vid gave me so many feelings, butterflies even, the whole package! ♥_♥

[frayadjacent]

Thank you so much for your wonderful comment, which I am totally fangirling right now. :D I came back to my room after Club Vivid and read this and it was the perfect topper to a fantastic evening! Sorry to be slow responding; I didn't have my computer with me.

I'm so pleased with how much you got out of this vid; the response is totally what I was going for and it is great to know that I was able to communicate that! Yay!!

[frayadjacent]

Aw! Yay! Thank you!!!

[ghost_lingering]

Ahhhhhhh! JOAN AND SHERLOCK.

I love this vid, I love their friendship and the arc that this vid takes them on -- from being lonely and not quite connecting, to connecting, to working together and defeating Irene, to letting other people in their lives! And it's not a romantic vid (at least as I read it), it's just this beautiful friendship and partnership, which I am 100% behind. It reminds me a bit of heresluck's dS vids (without the implicit slash), because it has that same progression of not being partners to being partners that her vids have.

But, basically: JAON AND SHERLOCK BFFS.

Oh and p.s. I really love what you did with the intro and how everything changed so suddenly (but perfectly) when the lyrics came in.

[frayadjacent]

Hooray! I'm so glad you liked it, and that the progression worked for you. Also, I will take any comparison to here's luck any day. ::dies::

And thanks for specifically mentioning the intro! I couldn't decide whether to keep that part of the song or not. It felt like a bit of a risk, since it makes the very start of the vid so slow. I'm glad it paid off for at least one viewer. :)

OK, I'm off to squee all over your journal about your Shepherd Book vid.

[kaberett]

aaah you pulled out parallels I hadn't even noticed :D

[frayadjacent]

Oh that's awesome! Thanks for commenting!