Title:
Gemini (download here) Fandom: Jekyll; S1
Music: Darkness by Peter Gabriel
Stats: WMV (47.1MB) or DivX (47.1MB), 4:03
Beneath this skin these fragments caught.
Crossposted to
jekyll_bbc and
vidding.
Note: spoilery remarks in the notes under the cut. If you have any intention of watching Jekyll (and right at this moment, I am focusing all the feeble energies my brain can muster to COMPEL you to watch it...does it tickle?), then you should avoid this vid for a bit (but, you know, COME BACK afterward) as there are some excellent twists served up by Steven Moffat and it's a ride best taken unspoiled.
The vid progresses thematically in much the same way as the series -- there's internal conflict between two warring personalities (mild-mannered Jackman/Jekyll and menace-monster Hyde), each of whom would ideally like to shut the other one out and be in control; but a greater external threat presents itself and in order to face that, the two must co-exist (and face their respective fears about what it means to become "we"). There are POV shifts throughout the vid and I had considered doing color work to distinguish that...Jackman and Hyde don't look dramatically different (one of the things I *love* about the show, really, because it's all about Nesbitt's performance -- but it did give me something to ponder when planning the vid). Ultimately, I decided against color manipulation and used the extreme closeup "eye" shots as a transitional device. If you haven't seen the show, it's still potentially confusing as there's a lot of the same actor running around in the vid with slightly different hair and chin and eyes...but that was kind of a given no matter what sort of technique I considered employing.
As per usual, I did extensive surgery on the song. Well, even more than usual, as Darkness clocks in at almost 7 minutes long. I love Peter Gabriel's Up like mad, but nearly every song on the album is incredibly long. This one was fairly easy to cut without butchering the structure. I also did a tempo adjustment, which shaved off a bit more length. Oh, and this is one of those songs with really LOUD sections and really quiet ones. The worst of this is the quietness of the intro, because if you adjust your volume upward in the first 15 seconds, you're in for a rude surprise when the first loud section kicks in! I boosted the volume of the intro (in addition to the overall normalization I always do) to try to even that out bit...it's still quiet, as it should be, but the volume gap isn't as big now.
Lyrics:
i'm scared of swimming in the sea
dark shapes moving under me
every fear i swallow makes me small
inconsequential things occur
alarms are triggered
memories stir
it's not the way it has to be
i'm afraid of what i do not know
i hate being undermined
i'm afraid i can be devil man
and i'm scared to be divine
don't mess with me, my fuse is short
beneath this skin these fragments caught
when i allow it to be
there's no control over me
i have my fears
but they do not have me
i'm afraid of being mothered
with my balls shut in the pen
i'm afraid of loving women
and i'm scared of loving men
flashbacks coming in every night
don't tell me everything's alright
when i allow it to be
it has no control over me
i own my fear
so it doesn't own me
walking through the undergrowth, to the house in the woods
the deeper i go, the darker it gets
i peer through the window
knock at the door
and the monster i was
so afraid of
lies curled up on the floor
is curled up on the floor just like a baby boy
i cry until i laugh
Comments are always gorgeous! I know there's probably not a huge audience for this vid, so you can be doubly sure I'll treasure every word of feedback :)