[SCC] VID: Riot Act

[thuviaptarth]

Title: Riot Act
Fandom: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Music: Alina Simone, "Riot Act"
Length: 2:35
Beta: Thank you to geekturnedvamp, laurashapiro, par_avion, and rivkat for beta.
Feedback: All feedback welcome. Thank you!

Summary: Riley character study. "Sweetie, there is no out."

"SCC - Riot Act" (Watch on YouTube)

Download: AVI 848x480 (47MB), AVI 640x360 (33MB), Subtitles (2KB)

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Lyrics
Upper West Side, Central Park view,
But you don't feel quiet inside
Suddenly conscious of just how high up we are

Now it's so loud it's quiet
Ready or not
They're shouting, "Quiet, quiet"
into the starry night

Did you believe the hype, the lines?
'Cause we could foresee the fall, the crash,
the crowds, the crowds, all the crowds

Now it's so loud it's quiet
Ready or not
They're shouting, "Quiet, quiet"
into the starry night

Can you tell me tell me
where's the safe house
tell me tell me
where to hide out
tell me tell me
where's the safe house
tell me tell me

Comments

[shati]

I love this so much.

[thuviaptarth]

Thank you so much! (How goes the Jesse vid?)

[shati]

(Hah. Slowly! I sort of tucked it into bed to rest while I mourned the show. But now I feel reinspired!)

I was going to say "More feedback later" last night, but since I always say that and never manage to actually leave more feedback later, I didn't. Apparently that was the key! Because I'm back.

I'm really impressed with the editing and musicality in this -- I love Low Red Moon too, but the editing here feels even more sophisticated (and organic). Love the varying clip length, and long clips can be tricky, but the shot of Jesse brushing Riley's hair works beautifully, with the camera moving up with the singer's voice. Some other favorite parts:

:48 The cut that keeps the motion of Riley turning her head at the music changing key (is that what it was doing? well, whatever it was doing). And that whole section of Riley (and the music) relaxing, and then you bring in the crash.

I love that the music kicks into gear at 1:54 with Jesse kissing Riley (Jesse hitting Riley), bookending the first clip of the mirror shot. And 1:56 with the motion of the dance following into Riley and John. And, well, all the flashes after that. The toy robot she made John to Cameron's broken hand to Jesse's gun, the snarling bear from "Allison from Palmdale" and Riley's fish poster, the flashes of dead families between the scenes in the present, the weird symmetry of starting the vid with a shadow and ending with Jane Doe.

I mean, I am kind of biased I guess because I loved Riley from the start, but -- all the closeups of Riley's happiness whenever someone shows her a little affection, ahhh. The vid reminds me why I liked her even before the reveal, because she was so emotive and bubbly (well, or so emotive and upset) when everyone else on the show is a cipher (I love them all too, but it was refreshing), and with all the different lines of fire she's in lined up like that -- well, now I'm kind of amazed she lasted as long as she did.

*combs Riley's hair, feeds her soup, does not kill her*

[thuviaptarth]

(Feel free to ping me if you need a beta. And yeah, I think one of the reasons I ended up doing the Riley vid first, instead of one of the SCC vids I've been planning longer, is that I didn't have to rewatch the last three or four episodes with the knowledge there wouldn't be any more. Because it still breaks my heart.)

That is such delicious feedback! I am thrilled. Thank you so much.

I felt very protective of Riley from the start, because I was convinced the audience would hate her and John would break her heart; and he did, too, if not in the way I expected. She is so brave (I go back and watch her facing off a terminator with John Connor on her hands and no weapons at all and I am amazed), and she may be the most alone of a really lonely bunch of characters, because no one is on her side at all. There is nobody in the world who puts Riley's well-being first--especially the people she cares about most.

She does talk a lot! I wish I could have used more of that, because there are all these great bits where she's saying one thing and looking another, or her mouth and hands do one thing and her eyes do something else, or where she does lightning-quick changes depending on who can see her or where she's looking; but alas, talky-face. :( The only character in the series who has that problem so much, I think, because they are generally a closed-mouthed lot.