We're one-third of the way through the project! Woo hoo! Yesterday I was at an emotional low but today is going much better, and I have source ripped for the next two days at least. I'm hoping to be able to rip one day's worth every day so that I'm always two days out, until next weekend when I hope to finish everything up. Ripping is boring, though. Boring and tedious and time-consuming.

Today's vidlet was suggested by the insidious theamyrlin, who has now gotten the song implanted firmly in my head. :) Fortunately, I really like the section that I ended up using. She asked for a Darla/Angel vid to "I've Got You Babe."

I've Got You Babe (5.5 MB)


Lyrics
So let them say your hair's too long
'Cause I don't care, with you I can't go wrong
Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb
Babe
I got you babe
I got you to hold my hand
I got you to understand
I got you to walk with me
I got you to talk with me
I got you to kiss goodnight
I got you to hold me tight
I got you, I won't let go
I got you to love me so
I got you babe



My Thoughts
I wasn't sure how to structure this vid at first. Should I just throw any old Darla/Angel clips at the timeline? Should I use a specific episode/season? I decided that in order to save my sanity I would focus on just the historical Darla/Angel(us) scenes and use those. I was going to go with those in their entirety, and then I thought that if I worked in that Lullaby footage, it would hopefully give the vid some emotional resonance, instead of just being a fun, light piece. And this is Angel we're talking about, there has to be some drama. :) Other than that, nothing too complicated narratively, again. Some ironic interpretations of the lyrics as well as some sweet ones. I like an array of emotions.

I used the sepia tone for the historical clips only, and I actually lowered the saturation of the Lullaby clips, except the very last one with baby Connor, because he is the embodiment of the two of them being together "forever," so I wanted it in "real" colors. I think maybe I should have de-saturated the Lullaby clips a bit more to get that across, though.



What I Learned
I learned how to use & abuse the sepia tint (make sure you raise the brightness in that filter). I also used a Soft Edges filter set to Gaussian and 10 for each side for that last overlay of Darla. And I moved the clip down and to the right a bit so she wasn't completely over baby Connor. She was also at about 80% opacity and had a slight brightness filter applied. I wanted to add old-film noise to the historical sections but couldn't figure out how to do it. That will have to be a "try again later" trick.


Thank you to everybody who has been supporting me and the IDVP so far. Knowing that you guys are excited and are keeping an eye on me has helped get me to the computer every day. I've already been really pleased with my own growth, and I can't wait to see what the next 10 days brings.

I'm using my LT icon today to celebrate the Chargers' win over Denver. WOOOO!