Discovered In Thirty Days And Thirty Nights - May 18th - a Vid Rec

[tinturtle]

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.

Comments

[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.

[tinturtle]

You two have almost the same user pic and it's confusing. :p

[jinkyo.livejournal.com]

I know - I need to sit down and make myself some icons, LOL!

[tinturtle]

Maybe. Maybe I just need to learn to look at people's names.