discoveredinalj | Discovered In Thirty Days And Thirty Nights - May 18th

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discoveredinalj

My entry today is a vid recommendation: The Gambler by Mary Van Deusen.

(To watch this vid on YouTube, click here. To download it, visit its Circuit Archive page.)

This vid was created in the late 80s or early 90s, and it is available in The Circuit Archive, so there have been many opportunities for people to see it. On the other hand, it has been viewed very little since it was uploaded to YouTube, which is one reason I chose it for a recommendation from among my favorite Pros fanvids. (Another reason is that this challenge definitely needed more Cowley. *g*)

One of the characteristics of Mary Van Deusen's fanvids is their good workmanship. You can find her other Pros vids in this playlist.

All of the Pros fanvids that I've been able to find on YouTube (all 839 of them) can be found in this playlist.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

cim3745.livejournal.com

....that this challenge needed more Cowley *g*
You're right! Where would the lads be without him.
And he's worth getting some entries as well.

From:

jinkyo.livejournal.com

Ah, thank you for this! I love the idea of Cowley as The Gambler. I really like some of the shot choices, like "win" = B/D saving the old Joe Public from Heros, and "lose"= the newlyweds. Sometimes Cowley's gambles don't pay off :(

I've been slowly working through your mega playlist - huge thanks for creating that, by the way!

From:

tinturtle

I like the idea of Cowley as the Gambler, too. He takes big risks, and he depends on his wits and his knowledge of human behavior to succeed. And, as you said, sometimes that's not enough.

Also, I see that you went and commented on the video on YouTube. That was well done. :)

From:

byslantedlight.livejournal.com

Interesting post - thank you!

I think Mary van Deusen's vids came relatively late to YouTube (and thence to lj). I found them first on the ProsLib Fanvid dvd, and then a few were posted to the Circuit Archive, but iirc by the time Mary got them posted up, there'd been various faffs in fandom/livejournal/social media, and things were breaking up a bit, so there wasn't the big hurrah there might have been a few years before. Which I'm just saying might account for the relative lack of views. I think she posted them all up pretty much at once too, which was alot to look through at one time - I know I didn't manage it.

As for this vid... I like the way it started out as a Cowley-focused vid, and I like the idea of him as a gambler But then it seemed to be a B/C vid, which is not my jam. And then there were some Doyle clips too, and it even ended on Doyle clips, but I couldn't quite fit them into any story that the vid was trying to tell. I mean yes, they're all gamblers and Cowley gambles with them both, and it might just be that I'm looking for more where more doesn't exist, but I think I've got used to doing that with Pros vids, and so it's throwing me that I can't see it here. Or maybe I'm just missing something - what's the story of the vid?!

From:

tinturtle

Huh. I do not read it as a B/C vid at all, though rewatching it with your comment in mind, I see that there is more interaction between Bodie and Cowley in the first part of the vid than there is between Doyle and Cowley. I would guess that that is a matter of clip availability.

As for the other, I've heard you mention story before in the context of vids, and I'm not entirely sure what you mean by it (even though it is evidently something you find in some of my vids). Besides likening Cowley to the Gambler in the song, I'd say that the thesis of this vid is that Bodie and Doyle have chosen life paths similar to Cowley's, with many parallel experiences, and that they can learn from his ability to maintain a measure of detachment amid the wins and losses they encounter.

(Of course, there is another side of Cowley that is not detached at all, but passionate about what he is doing and about his organization. The tension between the passion of the fighter and the detachment of the strategist is one of the things that is interesting about him.)

From:

jinkyo.livejournal.com

Ah, thank you for this bit of fannish history. LOL, every fandom I've been in has had that fracture moment at some point, and personal grievances aside, the fanworks suffer most of all, I think. That which came before got a ton of views and engagement and that which comes after may struggle to find an audience.

I've noticed this a lot when I read on AO3. It's a newer platform, fics were uploaded in bulk, I'm guessing most of the fandom already read the story when it was published in a zine, etc. So I come across these absolutely masterful novels, stuff that would be 500-1000+ kudos in any modern fandom, and it only has 10 kudos and no comments. That's the before and after.

For Pros fanvids, I've watched some of the original videos from the VCR days. I absolutely admire the trailblazing but I was a child in the late 70s/early 80s and the softer music of that era doesn't generally resonate with me. (There are many exceptions though, a good beat or discordant guitar - the sort of musical themes I enjoy- transcend time). "Detachable Penis" stands out for me because it has that discordant sound that I love and it tells an amazing story. The vid holds up just as well for me today as it did for fans in 1997. The beauty of the older vids, for me, is in fleshing out my understanding of the characters, if that makes sense. I've never seen an alligator up close, but if I've read about them, and really studied videos of them, I'd eventually build up a pretty clear image for myself of what is an alligator.

I've also, in this fandom, discovered one of my all-time favorite vidders ever, zzebeddy, who tells these incredibly dense and lush stories through songvid. The whole trajectory of my (pretty firmly established) vidding style has been altered after seeing the magic they've breathed into this 1977 tv show footage.

For me, The Gambler is a great, cohesive story for the first two minutes, then it becomes an enjoyable clips video. The story for the 2nd half of the video reverts back to the song lyrics. Cowley *was* the Gambler, now all 3 are gamblers in their own way.

Ok, finishing up now because there is a vid for Condition of Employment, an amazing fic which I must have read off-AO3 because I don't see a kudos or comment from me listed. Must rectify.