Elemental
You may be looking for the Sapphire and Steel zine, Elementals.
| Vid | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Elemental |
| Creator: | fabella |
| Date: | 28 December 2008 |
| Format: | digital vid |
| Length: | 3:21 min |
| Music: | Stay by Michelle Featherstone |
| Genre: | slash vid, angst |
| Fandom: | Merlin |
| Footage: | S1 |
| URL: | Elemental (LiveJournal) |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Elemental is a Merlin/Arthur vid by fabella (3:21 min). In the Camelot Music Video Awards 2008 it won second place in the category Drama/Angst and third place in the category Merlin/Arthur.
Summary: Merlin is of nature, Arthur of man. Enter conflict. Merlin, Arthur, Merlin/Arthur.
The vid was available as a stream at imeem and YouTube but imeem is no more and YouTube has terminated fabella's account due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement.[1] The vid is still available as download.
From the vidder's notes:
- The thing about Merlin, is that it is not a source all by itself. There is such a wealth of history to the legends, so many interpretations, that it's almost impossible not to tie that in with the canon they're giving us. And the most striking legend, to me, is that of Merlin as a man of the forest. That concept caught me. I knew I had to vid it. When it comes down to it, I made this video for the end clip, the money shot if you will. Merlin, as a tree. And maybe, maybe not (depending on your interpretation), Arthur is actually culpable, in a allowing it to come to pass kind of way, of entrapping Merlin in the tree. You can't touch a butterfly with your fingertips without risking its death. A fairly dark concept for me, of late.
- This video incorporates a lot of outside source, which isn't something I've done too much of since Hemorrhage. There's far more of it here. I couldn't get enough of outside source with this one. I did manage to cut myself off when I felt I was distancing the audience from the heart of the story, but you never know how well that works until you get your reaction from the public.[2]
Commentary
tearful_eye did a long and insightful vid commentary on Elemental in 2009.[3] It features many screencaps and a wonderful analysis of the vid. Excerpt: "merlin is a magical fantasy fandom - it's about teenage boys and magic, it's about a legend. everyone sees something different in it, cause the arthurian legend is VAST and no one can say they know exactly which version is 'true' [...] when you first watch the vid, there are some things that become immediately apparent: the title, the colours, the outside sources, the song. the colours. they are bright"[3]
Recs and Reviews
This seems like one of the most commonly recced vids. It's lovely, sad. Merlin is of nature, Arthur of man.[4]
This is a strange one for me because I feel that there is a disconnect between the song and what the visuals are doing, almost as if the vid was created for another song and then placed with this one, but I find the tension between the two fascinating and that the vid as a whole completely matches the intent behind the song. The way fabella has played with colour and the use of scenery remind me of 80's fantasy movies like Legend, and I desperately want to see the imaginary movie that this vid actually came from. The vid shows Merlin's connection with nature and how that plays against his relationship with Arthur, and I really like the use of two shots in particular: the overhead shot at 1:50 where the camera moves over the bush walls of the labyrinth to reveal Merlin and Arthur on either side of it, and the shot of the boys running down the hall at 2:30.[5]
Let me talk about the vids for a second, too. Artistically they are amazing. Fabella always does these things with thematics and color and and and you just have to see it. The tagline is Merlin is of nature, Arthur of man. Is there any end to this that does not involve tragedy? Man vs. Nature and TRAGEDY, omg that was all I needed to hear. But like all of Fabella's work, this vid blew me away visually and artistically and I think everyone should see it if you haven't seen it.[6]
References
- ^ fabella. YouTube: Elemental. (Accessed 13 February 2011)
- ^ wistful_fever. New Vid: Elemental (Merlin, Merlin/Arthur), 28 December 2008. (Accessed 13 February 2011)
- ^ a b tearful_eye in vid_commentary. 'elemental' by wistful_fever, commentary by tearful_eye, 09 August 2009. (Accessed 13 February 2011); WebCite.
- ^ loftily. Just another Merlin rec list. 03 March 2009. (Accessed 13 February 2011)
- ^ deathisyourart. Vid Recommendations: The Merlin Edition, 25 February 2009. (Accessed 13 February 2011)
- ^ bonibaru. on fannishness and sparks and also THIS IS YOUR FAULT., 07 January 2009. (Accessed 13 February 2011)