astarte: (Deadwood Alma - Not bait)
astarte ([personal profile] astarte) wrote2008-01-03 12:54 am
Entry tags:

Deadwood-vid: Alma - Take me home + 10 icons



Artist/Song Title: Thea Gilmore – Take me home
Subject: Deadwood, Alma PoV
Summary: ‘I heard there's a warrant out for my arrest - ’ Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.
Format: stream and download at stage6 33 MB, permanent download link 720x400 – 33 MB AVI or watch on imeem



Reasons to vid ‘Take me home’? I love Deadwood fiercely for complex characters and unique relationships, so I didn’t need to search for any specific message for a storyline I wanted to fathom. I just needed a song which sounded right and made me think of a character. ‘Take me home’ had me from the first few notes and instantly Alma came to mind.

Lyrical interpretation: The lyrics are graceful and yet restrained, perfect for Alma on every level. Circumstances and her father pushed her into the position of a spouse and then the dumbness of her husband made her a widow. A beautiful jackdaw - Alma is held down in a time in which she couldn’t be independent and strong on her own without inspiring contempt even in a godless place like Deadwood. She struggled with addiction, overcame her habit with Trixie’s help – still not being able to hold the same power as a man in those pioneer times kept her on her guard. Her need for two marriages of convenience speaks volumes about the limitations of her life as wealthy woman. Again making the best out of circumstances she found in Ellsworth the one of the very few kind and sensible men in Deadwood – okay, maybe the only one. Of course happiness never lasts long – first her miscarriage and then relapse into addiction strained her wedding. She overcame her troubles with Ellsworth’s support and even had the strength to dissent Hearst at first. Alma never wished any harm on her second husband - Deadwood still claimed his life.

The Journey? Again short and exciting. I love vidding with [livejournal.com profile] xandra_ptv pushing me to get shit done. I didn’t even need to restrain myself from using transitions; they just didn’t feel quite right this time around.

Technical notes worth mentioning? I am the first one to admit that Deadwood is beautifully coloured as whole series. But I wanted the final to look very bleach and hard - on the edge of uncomfortable without losing all colour. Not beautiful was the goal, but harsh and unforgiving. So I will make the lack of colour up in the next vid – Hopefully.

Final note: Not a happy vid, so totally up my alley.


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Want? Take, but no hotlinking!

[identity profile] galathea-snb.livejournal.com 2008-01-03 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
That was very beautiful! The song was wonderful . I really loved the dynamics between Ellsworth and Alma in the show and I love how you put so much focus on their relationship here. I love especially the transition around 2:46 with Alma being shot at and her jerking around and then Ellsworth getting hit by the bullet and falling down, the movement of both bodies just complements each other. That's a great visual connection for Ellsworth being used to 'hit' Alma. Lovely work! ♥

[identity profile] astartexx.livejournal.com 2008-01-04 06:13 am (UTC)(link)
First of all thank you so much for the huge compliment and second I had entirely Alma/Ellsworth in mind while vidding this project. Like you, I really adored their changing relationship during the show. While Alma certainly didn’t see him as love interest, their growing respect and her valuing his opinions, not only professional but also personal set them soon on equal footing. Plus Ellsworth became such a sweet father figure to Sofia and his death defeat any further defiance Alma had in store for Hearst. I was heartbroken that they killed him and I wanted him to be a focal point for Alma’s journey because he was at her side from the beginning. Even when that meant seeing her first husband being murdered by Dan. Needless to say, I’m very happy to see Jim Beaver as Bobby on SPN.