Escapade/Escapade 2003

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Escapade 13

There were multiple covers for the 2003 program book. This one has art by X. On her website, it says the title is "Braid."

Escapade 13 was held February 21–23, 2003.

Programming

Program Book (PDF)

Friday:

• Sex, Schmex. Give Me a Story! by Gazebo Jae Gecko, tzikeh (Jessica) (Remember when fanfiction used to be 'the further adventures of' and not just the bedroom adventures of? When and how did so much of fanfiction become pom for pom's sake? If what makes us love these characters is who they are (and if who they are comes from where they work, what they do, and how they live), then doesn't removing those elements from fanfiction eliminate the very things that made us love the characters in the first place? Bring your soapboxes, pulpits, and/or debating caps, and let's talk story)
• HL the Gay Blades by Sharon Cumberland, Melina, Ashtyn Donnchaid (Of Of Course They've Done It They're Older than Dirt) Highlander fanon tells us that anyone who's been around a few hundred years has tried everything under the sun, so getting horizontal with another male Immortal should be no big deal. Doesn't that take a lot of the tension out of the slash? Is that fanon actually likely, given the context of homoerotic relationships in various periods in history, and the nature of Immortals? Discuss possibilities.)
• Who are these guys? by Melina, Gloriana (We get the same characters again and again using different media - films, books, comics, TV - and after all that, we rewrite them in fanon. In such a muddle, what provides a slasher with the true essence of her characters, and how does she negotiate between *her* ideal, and the demands of fans drawing on contradictory sources?)
• Smallville—Secrets and Superpowers by Mog Decarnin, Elka Tanze, tilla (Metaphors for closeted homosexuality? Is X-ray vision a metaphor for gaydar? Is Roger Nixon of The Inquisitor really threatening to "out' Clark Kent? Is (he emergence of the heroic secret identity over the last century or two a barometer for public tolerance of gays? Secrets and power and superpowers: who's got what, who knows what, who's trying to figure it all out. Come chat about weaknesses and strengths and confidences: the ins and outs of the gayest little town in Kansas.)
• Cabals Conspiracies and Conflict by Megan Kent, Cassandra, Ins (The Myths And Realities of Fannish Status. A discussion of fannish status and how it affects (and doesn't affect) fandom. Open to everyone, from the grand dames to the dispossessed, the secret conspirators to the blissfully unaware.)
• Star Wars! TPM: Soldiers or Priests? by Briony, Gloriana, KatBear, Gail Riordan (Superheroes, or ordinary people doing extraordinary things? Who are the Jedi anyway, and how do the lovers we create in fanfic clash with or complement the canon vision?)
• Photoshop Manip Demonstration by Tina Carter
• Don't Know Much about History by Laura, Lisa Weston (Ancient Roman prophylactics? Renaissance Venetian male brothels? A "three-penny upright" in Regency London? Come share suggestions and resources for creating more accurate and believable plots, settings and characters in historical slash fiction.)
• M 7—AUs! Crutch or creative lifeblood? by Jo Schlekewy, Megan Kent (Are ATF stories a creative extension of the universe or a cop-out by folks too lazy to do their historical research?)
• Writing Workshop 1 by Joan Martin, Sharon Brondos (So you want to write a story? Some basics of the writer's craft.)
• Honey, I Shrunk the Canon by Christy Fish, Zoe Rayne (What can you do with a show that lasted a season or less. What about a two-hour movie?)
• Due South: Small Fandom or Monster in the Closet by Alice in Stonyland, Sharon Marais (This panel will discuss both viewpoints; audience is encouraged to share their stories and opinions.)
• Critique Workshop by Gloriana, Lucy (Forget writing—it's reading that's hard! Hone up those fiction-ripping muscles in a discussion of three or four selected stories.)
• Real Person Slash by padawanhilary, Ruth Gifford, Ins (Taboo or old hat? A discussion of RPS and how it differs from FPS. What makes RPS fic canon? What makes it AU? What are the genres?)
• Firefly: Spoiled for choice! Too good to survive? by Zoe Rayne, Lisa Weston (Too dark and angsty for mainstream television? Too subversive and intellectually challenging? Too many slash possibilities? Gorramit! No wonder it couldn't survive...)
• The generation gap between old and new slash fans by Jae Gecko, Megan Kent (It's no long as simple as the distinction between print fans and net fans, and maybe it's not even a matter of age. What, if not those factors, is splintering/dividing us into separate cultures?)
• Buffy: Queering the Hellmouth by Sandy Justine, Agnes Tomorrow, Ins (Metaphors of otherness in BtVS.)
• Friday Night Video Show: Viewer's Choice hosted by Katharine and a cast of thousands, compiled from requests from viewers like you.
• The Escapade Party hosted by Jennifer, Misti, Raven (Drop in for the free food and margaritas, stay for the scintillating conversation. No, really, the food and drinks are free.)

Saturday:

• Is the Personal Political? by LaT (What role to race, gender, and class differences play in slash fanfiction?)
• Slashing Student!Harry v. Adult!Harry by Gloriana, Thalia, Smaragd (How best does he fit in Severus' arms, or is it all very wrong anyway? Age-tinkering in the Potterverse explored.)
• Getting slash onto your PalmPilot for computer free reading by Linda Yu, Zoe Rayne
• Fannish Entitlement by Megan Kent (No, actually "Write more!" doesn't count as a Letter of Comment.)
• Hornblower: Sodomy and the Lash by Killa, Sharon Cumberland (Got a thing for heroic, manly men doing manly things together while wearing tight pants and funny hats? This is the panel for you. While focused on the Horatio Hornblower series, we'll also talk about the upcoming film Master and Commander, and other related manly men. The ups, downs, ins and outs of slashing the Age of Sail.)
• Recs Databases! Creation and Commiseration by Elke Tanzer (Do you run a recs database and want to commiserate? Do you currently have a recs page and want to become database-driven? Want to talk about the relative merits of using PHP, MySQL, or Access to organize smut?)
• Slashy and Gay Movies by Christy Fish, Kady Mae (Are you flummoxed every time you walk into your local video store, knowing there are good gay or siashy movies out there, but have no idea where to look? Or maybe you saw a movie which was soooo slashy that no one else is talking about. Come and discuss what's out there, from the classic to the modem, the mainstream to the obscure.)
• Smallville: Lex Luthor! Is evil a foregone conclusion? by Anne Wirtz (Have the comics and past shows already written the canon for Smallville? Must Lex become the arch villain or can anything still happen? Discussion.)
• How to Set Up and Maintain Fanfiction Archives by Calysta Rose (If you're thinking of running an archive, or already do and need some help, this is the panel for you. We'll cover everything from choosing a method of archiving, handling fandom growth, dealing with troublemakers, and just how much time, webspace and money are we talking, anyway? Come pick the archivists' brains.)
• Same Shit Different Fandom by Lucy, elynross ("We've talked about this before'" The same old topics recur over, and over, and over—are we argued out? Do old topics become new when new fans ask the same old questions? And if they're so old, why do we keep asking them? Where'd the excitement go?)
• Starqate! What's Wrong With This Universe? by Kathy Martin (When Bad Fanon Overcomes Good Canon. Do you ever wonder just what show some people are watching? Why people hate Jack? How Sam lost all her personality? When Teal'c became a professional yenta? And who is this pathetic guy going around calling himself Daniel? After 6 years the disjunct between who we see on screen and what we read in fanfiction is as bad as ever. What are the reasons that fans ignore the canon reality of the characters?)
• Writing Workshop 2 by Joan Martin, Sharon Brondos (So you want to write a better story—More about the writer's craft.)
• I'm Not Dead Yet... I'm Just Resting! by Killa, Carson Kearns, Rachael Sabotini (Alex Krycek. Archie Kennedy. Boromir, Son of Denethor. Sonny Steelgrave. Daniel Jackson (a nasty rumor, we hear), Oui-Gon Jin, Tara Maclay, Connor MacLeod, Kronos—and lest we forget, Haldir of Lorien. Ah, we loved them well, and then they left us. But just because they're dead, it doesn't mean we can't slash them! How do you cope when your guy (or girl) is no more? Resurrection fie ideas, canon "fixes," and shared sympathy for anyone whose pairing must overcome the ultimate obstacle to happily ever after.)
• Sentinel: Realism by Lanning Cook, Kass Rachel (Given the fact that The Sentinel's protagonist has canonically raised someone from the dead, what, if anything, would reasonably be considered unrealistic in TS fan fiction? Are there any plotlines that are beyond the pale, or is it open season on the laws of the universe?)
• Whose Fandom is it Anyway? by Megan Kent, Sandy K. Herrold (The rights of the individual vs. the right of the group (such as it is).)
• Professionals! What Killed Pros fandom? by KC, Sharon Brondos (Is Pros fandom really dead or about to die? Most of the really good fiction is still off-line and in some cases hard to get. Why are there no fiction lists for Pros and no 'net writers writing in it? Has the lack of internet presence for stories doomed this fandom?)
• How to Vid on the Computer by Carol S, Killa, Lum, Shalott (A brief intra vidding on computers. It will touch on hardware requirements, software options, and basic concepts of non-linear editing and what makes for a good vid, and, time and tech permitting, it may also include a demonstration of some of the editing basics. There will be handouts.)
• Slash: Feminist political act or really good porn? by Ruth Gifford, Gloriana, The Emu
• Buffy: Crazy Soulful Spike: Yay or nay? by Emma, Agnes Tomorrow
• Gay Boy Tells All by Minotaur (Ever wonder what goes where, or just how much can go there? Well, now's your chance to ask - and get an answer from a real, live gay boy.)
• LOTR: Legolas! Slut Cypher or Everyelf? by Meg Garrett. Melina, Brenda Antrim (Of the Fellowship, Tolkien provided the least canonical background on Legolas. He is a placeholder for "Elf" and essentially a cypher. Does this leave us free to place any face we wish onto his character and onto elven sexuality? And if the only way to slash him is to turn him into Slut!Legolas, where does that leave canon?)
• Saturday Night Video Show (The product of hours of slaving over hot VCRs (or computers these days). A display of excellence not to be missed.)

Sunday:

• Art Auction (Time to buy all those lovely drawings you've been eyeing all weekend!)
• Vid Show Review by Jo Schlekewy, Shalott (A discussion (and literal re-viewing in some cases) of some of the vids from the Saturday night show.)
• Lit-slash vs. Media slash! Does the medium matter? by Glass Houses (What is the "morality" of writing litslash if the author is opposed to fanfiction? Should an author's wishes matter more that those of TV or movie creators, and if so, why? What are the unique challenges of litslash v. media slash? Should you follow the original author's style? Can you be a strict interpretationalist and still write AUs?)
• X-Files—Is the truth still out there? by JiM, Agnes Tomorrow (Is XF fandom 'really' dead? Has Scully done the autopsy? Or did CC mess up canon so badly that there is nothing left for us to work with (except some great characters, some of whom might be dead)?)
• The Loyalty Kink - Devotion as Aphrodisiac by tzikeh (Jessica), Dorinda (What is it about one man being willing to do anything for another that makes so many of us melt? Why does unwavering fealty draw us into a relationship? What makes staunch allegiance so damned *sexy"?)
• HL Slash Fiction: The New Classics by Sharon Cumberland, MacGeorge
• One True Pairing to Rule Them All—Who says? by elynross, Lanning Cook (In a fandom with several plausible pairings, what makes one pair more True than others? What if the character or pairing you love with all your heart isn't the star, or the OTP? What if your beloved OTP has become "vanilla." and everybody else is after something "new" and "original." If you really love the show, how do you play and find happiness in a fandom that's marching to a different drummer than you are.)
• Has Escapade Run Its Course by Megan Kent (Scuttlebut says: It's not like it used to be. My old friends don't come any more. My new friends can't get in. It's too big. It's too small. Oxnard, for god's sake? I'm getting sick and tired of the same shit year after year. Is Escapade old and tired? Does it need to be retired?)

Alternative Programming:

• Gwyn/Jo Vid Tape by Gwyneth Rhys, Jo Schlekewy
• Pimping Jeremiah by Killa (This show has everything going for it that a slasher could want. It's written and created by J. Michael Straczynski. it's intelligent, imaginative, atmospheric and often funny sci fi, and it features two young, handsome costars who ride around in a jeep together trading banter, risking their lives for each other and testing one another's loyalty like a sensitive, post-apocalyptic Starsky & Hutch. Intrigued? Come find out more.)
• Pimping Extravaganza by JenCat004 (Shopping for a new obsession, here's a chance to sample the wares of several different fandoms. Drop by and be converted.)
• West Wing: State of the Union by Susan (Where is the slash in season four?)
• ST: Voyager by Britta
• Also Premiering Vid Show by Shallot (The "Also Premiering..." vid show is for vids premiered in the last year that aren't going to be shown in the Friday or Saturday shows. This will be an informal setting and we'll go by participant preference—if folks want to see a vid a second time, or want some time to chat about it, or if a vidder wants some feedback on it, we can decide to do that on-the-fly. If you'd like to show any vids in this show, just bring them to the show itself. There are no hard-and-fast limits on number of vids; we'll just go with what shows up and take turns until we run out of time. Afterwards, consider going out to lunch with other participants to talk about the vids!)
• Mutant X by JenCat004 (How do Mutant powers stretch the limits for sexual gymnastics? What can and can't be done? And just how big does a script plot hole have to be before even the prettiest boys in the world can't fill it up?)
• The Wonderfulness of Slashing I Spy by Dorinda (I Spy discussion and clips.)
• Slash Writers Who Write Het by Ruth Sadelle Alderson (Cutting edge revolutionaries or traitors to the cause?)
• Eddie Izzard's "Dress to Kill" by Raven Dunn (The world's finest transvestite comedian covers world history, organized religion, and much more in a fabulous outfit and *fantastic* makeup. Don't attend if laughter will tear out your stitches. A great lead in for The Dead Dog.)
• Highlander Sonqvids by Melina (An hour of Highlander music vids, both new and old favorites. All viewers and HL vidders welcome.)

Quotes Overheard

Every year, I write about the con experience in three stages - favorite con quotes, then the general con experience, and then panel notes. So, round one. Many smart, insightful, funny things were said that I didn't write down. These are just the ones I remember. *g*

"I've always said I'm a fan of fandom. It's my favorite show; it's like a soap opera or an interactive game." - geekturnedvamp

"My idea of a BNF was someone who attaches their real name to their fic." - Khaleesian

"One thing about being a BNF is that your life has to kind of be about fandom - you have to put in a lot of time." "Or you have to like to talk." - geekturnedvamp and tzikeh

"This is the cabal. So - if we could ever agree on anything, we could rule fandom." - elynross, referring to the fact that the 'cabal' is all fans attending the con

"I didn't get the memo that we're now admitting there are private lists." houseofsnark

"I have a harder time writing Fraser because I have to Google everything he should know." - shrift "PWP should mean point - what point, not plot - what plot." tzikeh

"Chris Carter and his bloody exposition...if I have to hear that phrase one more time -'They're afraid of the truth' - no they're not! They're afraid of dead air time!" - Emma

Vid Show Playlist

Vid Title	Vidder	Fandom	Artist
The Vids of Escapade 2003	Jessica (tzikeh)	N/A	N/A
A Morality Tale	Clucking Belles (rache & Sandy)	Smallville	Green Acres theme
Crazy Baby	Carol S.	Stargate (film)	Joan Osborne
Hornblower	Killa	Horatio Hornblower	Clandestine
R-E-S-P-E-C-T	Diana Williams	Multifandom	Pink
A Swim in The Ocean	Kelpie	Stargate SG-1	The Call
Nightmares Beneath The Sea	Luminosity	Angel	Jeff Buckley
Loser	Taselby	Magnificent 7	Matchbox 20
Out of My Mind	Carol S.	Stargate SG-1	Duran Duran
I Kissed A Girl	Smut Cutter	Multifandom	Jill Sobule
My Beautiful Reward	Gwyneth Rhys	Firefly	Bruce Springsteen
Acceptance	Jill and Kathy	Stargate SG-1	Ryuichi Sakamoto
Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo	Thalia	Harry Potter	Cinderella soundtrack
Someone You Might Have Been	Thalia	Dead Zone	Oysterband
Next To You	Sockii	The Police	The Police
Something to Talk About	Carol S.	Stargate SG-1	Bonnie Raitt
Learning to Fly	Luminosity	Smallville	Pink Floyd
Spooky	Killa	Jeremiah	The 3Ds
Wind Beneath My Wings	Xanthe	West Wing	Bette Midler
3 Libras	Gwyneth Rhys	Buffy	A Perfect Circle
Ability to Swing (streaming version at Critical Commons)	Luminosity	Highlander	Thomas Dolby
Tonight is Just for Us	Remi d'Brebant	Sentinel	Marion Bradfield
Closer	Sisabet	Angel/Buffy	Nine Inch Nails
The Water Carrier	Kelpie	Stargate SG-1	Ian Anderson
Voodoo	Clucking Belles (rache & Sandy)	Invisible Man	Godsmack
You Wanted More	P.R. Zed	Lord of the Rings	A-Ha
Never Left	Jo & Gwyneth	Tombstone	Oysterband
Bawitdaba	Melina	The Shield	Kid Rock
Money for Nothing	Debchan & Laura Shapiro	Firefly	Dire Straits
Salome	Killa	Xena	Cousteau
Ouch!	Jill, Kathy, Kay	Stargate SG-1	The Rutles
If You Were In My Movie	Jackie K.	Multifandom	Suzanne Vega

Vid Show Reviews

Flummery's comments after watching the DVD in January:

Escapade 2003 DVD, Part 1

The Escapade dvd has arrived! Okay, it arrived a month or two ago, but I've been working on this for a while, and I'm just plain slow.

I did not get to go to Escapade last year, so I’d been waiting for this for some time, and a good number of the vids on the dvd were completely new to me. I’d already seen a few in various shows at VividCon, but since they weren’t premieres, they weren’t included on the VividCon dvd, and I haven’t had a chance to re-watch most of them until now.

So, that said, here is my attempt at a review of the Escapade 2003 dvd. I’m a little hesitant to do this, for a number of reasons. The first? I feel like I often suck at putting into words my thoughts about a vid. “Hey, that was amazing! Because it was… amazing! And did you see that, uh, amazing part?” And, because it often takes me repeated viewings of a vid to understand it completely (while all around me people are going “Holy crap, did you get the metaphor in lyrics seven through twelve?” I’m going “pretty pictures! Color! Huh?”). And finally, of course, because there’s always the fear that if you are honestly critical, even those who say they want honest criticism are going to be hurt. And some of those people are amazing vidders who I respect more than you would believe, or are beginning vidders, who I would not want to deter from continuing on, and learning, and getting better, or even just saying, “She totally missed the point. She’s got a screw lose. Screw her." So, please take all of that into account when reading these.

Please also do not pay merryish to come after me with a lead pipe. She’s just been looking for an excuse.

This is, in case you hadn’t guessed, full of spoilers. Don’t read it if you don’t want to know.

Onwards to The Escapade DVD!

1. Introduction, by Jessica

Finally I get to see the damn introduction I kept hearing about! I had some ideas as to what it was, and I didn’t realize I’d been so thoroughly spoiled as to one of the main punch lines -- “I can’t believe I learned how to say ‘turn off your cell phones’ in Elvish”. I was thoroughly unspoiled as to the opening of it, however, and any Monty Pythonish traits. And yes. It’s possible that in this house, the doors are locked and the phones unplugged as soon as any LoTR dvd starts to play… I enjoyed this hugely, as I knew I would.

2. A Morality Play, Smallville, by Rache and Sandy

One I’ve seen before (VividCon, possibly?) and enjoyed. Light-hearted, fluffy, and fun. It’s a good joke, and uses some great images to pull off the gag. It’s short, and doesn’t wear out its welcome. I’m not sure what the moral of this story was, however. But I think it involved choosing the city, next time *g*.

3. Crazy Baby, Stargate, by Carol S.

This Stargate vid, unlike most, was entirely movie based. First off, I’m glad that she stuck with just the movie. Mixing clips between the show and the movie does not work for me in general, and while I’d be unlikely to ever make a movie SG vid (it’s all about the series, for me), it was interesting to see someone else tackle the task.

There were a number of reasons this vid didn’t work for me as much as I would have hoped. A big, and admittedly fairly personal reason was song choice. I’m not particularly fond of Joan Osborne, and felt that her tone of voice, and the tone of the song, was somewhat too shrill and grating for me to properly feel the darkness that I associate with the character of movie Jack, and the scenes being presented.

The next problem I have, however, is where the vid goes, or rather, doesn’t go. It starts off with a fairly close match up between the lyrics and what we’re seeing on the screen. Jack’s desperate frame of mind, his depression over Charlie, his choice to go back to take the mission for the Air Force in part because of his troubles with Sara, are all fairly well matched up, and explicitly laid out.

The next section, taking place in the SGC, and concerning Jack’s lack of communication with those around him, is a little shakier, but I’m still with the vid. The third section, set on Abydos, and having to do with Jack’s interaction with his team members, and the inhabitants of Abydos, loses me. The vid ends too abruptly. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to take away from it. I believe it’s meant to end on a disquieting note, with Jack still at odds with those around him, and unsure about what steps to take regarding the mission he’s been given -- but given that we’re not shown any progression, and the abrupt ending, and how quickly his team and Skaara are introduced, and then vanish, all in the third act... it’s hard to make a connection to what’s happening. I think the length of the song may have limited the vidder in what she was trying to convey, and it left me feeling like the vid had more to say.

4. Hornblower, Hornblower, by Killa

This is a gorgeous instrumental vid, and manages to be a narrative vid without a single lyric. Killa has taken three different pieces by Clandestine and knitted them together into a single piece. I had to be told this, I admit; I would never have even caught where she did the editing. The intro section is a beautiful buildup -- here are the characters, here is their ship, here is their situation. It starts off as a grand adventure, and then segues (brilliantly) into war. My favorite chunk is the sneaky darkness in the middle as they board the ship. It's amazing how she managed to fit the music to make it seem like an actual voice of events.

5. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Multifandom, Diana Williams

So I just don't like this one, I'll admit it. I’ve been trying to figure out if I just have no sense of humor, or what. I know it's meant humorously, but the song came off to me as just sleazy. Maybe if the vidder had gotten in and out with the joke a little quicker… I'm not sure. But by the 17th rendition of “girls” my teeth were on edge. I wasn't seeing the humor, I was just sort of skeeved out. It was the song that did this one in for me.

6. A Swim in the Ocean, Stargate, by Kelpie

This starts out so strong that I was really into it… and then it lost me, fast and hard. It took several viewings to realize the format she’d put in place here, but once I had it, it still wasn’t strong enough, and this is a pity, because this is a vid that really was going places. It has a good, strong piece of music, that built nicely. The opening, with Jack, Daniel, and Sam preparing for their day, really kicks it into gear and gets it moving (although it would have been nice to see Teal’c included more in this section, I can see how he could be difficult footage to find).

She’s cut the rest of the vid into sections – a chunk about Sam, a chunk about Daniel, a chunk about Teal’c. She has each of the three having a hard day, having to fight a battle, getting hurt, being comforted. In between, there are bridges that have everyone. Jack has no particular section to himself, but he’s well represented in the bridges. I think I didn't catch that she'd done a section for each of these three at first because these sections are actually the refrains, while the group chunks are on the main lyrics. The randomness of the scenes in between these sections, though, lost me. I couldn't follow what was going on. There was too much literal matching of shots to lyrics, and in some cases, the scenes, when put in context, just didn't match those lyrics at all.

In the end, this had a strong strong start, but just left me in a very confused place.

7. Nightmares Beneath the Sea, Angel, Luminosity

If you ask Margie how to spot a Luminosity vid, she will tell you, “brilliant special effects.” And she’s absolutely right. It was easy enough to spot Lum’s vid in the VividCon Challenge show this year. I would add to that, however, “complexity.” This vid isn’t particularly big on special effects, but it was complex enough that I felt like I should be taking notes. Or possibly attending a seminar. I say that as a huge fan of Angel, who was very familiar with the storyline represented in this vid. This was not a vid I was going to get on the first pass, or the twelfth, or you know. For a while, yet. This vid worked for me more on a purely mood visual level. This is why I love vid dvds. Because when you’ve got an amazingly complex piece of work going, you can sit there all damn night with the reverse button. And, since it’s amazingly put together, you’re not going to get bored rewatching, and you can get more out of it with each pass. The amazing visuals and and the flow of the vid keep you watching. I loved the dinner scene, and the bridge/fight scene. It's hard to pick out particular scenes, though, with that much going on.

8. Loser, Magnificent 7, by Taselby

I’m presented with several obstacles to understanding this vid -- the biggest one being that I’ve never seen a single episode of Mag7. I'm sure this is a standard complaint for anyone who is watching a vid of a show they've never seen, and more often than not, the vid can overcome the watcher's ignorance. But in the case of this particular show, I admit that I just can't seem to visually clue in, a lot of the time. With the exception of Eric Close, almost all the male leads look alike to me. I find them to be disturbingly similar between the hats and the dusters and the color scheme of almost entirely reds and browns. So right off the bat, I felt sort of hindered going in.

Next, I have to admit, I’m not big on seeing chunks of episodes included before the beginning of a vid. That chunk of exposition had really better earn its keep, in some way. After all, this is a music vid, and I’d hope to be presented with the story within the vid itself, and not a preface to the vid. Taselby starts this vid without about 30 seconds from an episode of the vid, presumably presenting us with the main player(s) of the vid: Ezra, and an older man, and a main key to understanding the vid -- a leather bag. I’ve been given these items to take with me into the vid, and indeed, they do show up several times over. By the time the vid is over, I still didn't know what the bag is, or what it's meant to represent, and I was frustrated. The lyrics are fairly repetitive, so the viewer relies more on the visuals – and the visuals just didn't mean that much to me. I suspect that many of them may have been context dependent. And again, I felt like there was just too much brown and red and grey, and I couldn't focus on individuals, or actions, to get a grip on what was happening. With the exception of the bridge, there was not a lot to break up and distinguish the scenes.

The vid did end well though, with a nicely chosen grim shot.

9. Out of My Mind, Stargate, by Carol S.

This was an interesting story. I thought for the most part, it was well put together… but it didn't quite hook me completely, and I think that's because it seemed to bounce around a lot in terms of the sequences. I couldn't find a reason for much of the ordering of the vid, a framing system, or a reason why certain scenes were presented when they were.

Lately, I've also seen a lot of vidders using an effect that's used several times in this vid -- a fast zoom in on a face, or scene, and then zoom out to the next scene. While I've seen this used effectively, here it jarred me badly when it happened. It may be that this was what Carol was going for, to slap her audience around a bit.

And, this is going to be an extreme nitpick, but this is the second vid where I’ve seen a vidder use the clip of Jack, sitting and looking through files for a replacement for Daniel. While I understand that it’s the context they’re going for, all I can see when I watch the clip is… Teal’c, with his enormous tray full of fruit. It completely eclipses any emotion I might get out of the scene, and I have to wonder what viewers who aren’t knowledgeable about SG are taking away from that shot.

10. I Kissed a Girl, Multifandom, by Smut Cutter

Okay, so this one was pretty damn fun. I liked the opening setup, and I was seriously impressed by some of the effects that were used at the very beginning to indicate electricity around the computer. Not to mention, it must have been a bitch and a half, putting scenes inside scenes as was done in spots during this vid.It is, of course, the reaction shots that make this vid (and sometimes the choice of kisses), and the fact that the vidder knows perfectly well that she’s just playing to people who will get the joke.

The end of the vid felt a little weak to me (mainly the choice of the Sentinel clip to end on), considering the beautiful set up and beginning, but this was partly made up for by the Sugar Plum Sith Lord credits.

11. My Beautiful Reward, Firefly, by Gwyneth Rhys

I had seen this one previously -- in fact, I came close to putting it into the Narrative Show at VividCon this year, for the rather lovely simple story it was telling. I hesitated, because I couldn’t be sure how context dependent it was for someone who had never seen the show. It goes along nicely -- These are the things I thought I desired; I thought I wanted money, I thought I wanted the girl, I kept searching for my treasure, turns out I had it all along in the form of my ship, and the family on it. It’s a lovely, slow paced vid.

It had a few weak spots -- I wasn't sure about the use of torture for "valley floor" although I took it to mean a low point in his life. Also, Inara showing up during the section of the vid where the search still appears to be for material goods was a little confusing -- as though a clip from her section had been slightly misplaced, a little too soon in the vid. It would have felt stronger if her chunk of the story had started without a reference to her as a reward earlier on. I wanted a slightly stronger delineation of sections, I think.

The show itself provided some beautiful visuals that were used along the way -- the two escape pods swinging away from the ship, and the ship itself flying, were used at nice points in the music that helped give the vid a languid feel overall.

12. Bibbidy-Bobbity-Boo, Harry Potter, by Thalia

This mainly seems to have been an exercise is matching music to certain visual cues. I’m guessing the vidder was just trying to go for cute, which is fine, as far as it goes, but there wasn’t much else to get out of it, and it wasn’t all that strong for what it was trying to convey. There was no story, or even much of a general theme being presented. On the other hand, it got in and out fast, and wasn’t some long drawn out sequence, so you didn’t have time to get too annoyed or bored, and it provided some mild amusement for me.

There was also a jerkiness to this vid -- I wasn't sure if it was intentional, or a result of the source, and given that I couldn't tell, I don't think it worked out.

This may have been a stronger vid for HP fans, which I’ll admit I am not.

13. Someone You Might Have Been, Dead Zone, by Lynn & Sandy

Why yes, I do love The Dead Zone, and yes, I do love this vid. I’ve seen this one a number of times already, in fact. This is a gorgeous vid, and hopefully one that will help suck in a much needed fan base for a show that seems to be slipping under the radar of most folks. (I could write an entire book on how much I don't understand where the fandom is for this show).

The show itself provides footage out the wazoo, for those of you who are wondering about the effects in this vid. Amazing, incredible shots, full of color and details and, a lot of the time, effects. The vidders here are presenting much of the story of the show, and telling you about the character himself. His life has been taken from him. He is constantly living the lives of others, seeing what might have been, knowing exactly what it is he has lost. There are some great shots in here -- shots exchanging Johnny and Walt, focusing on Sarah, showing how essential she is to what Johnny was all about.

The sense of isolation and loss conveyed in this vid was palpable. A lot of the scenes are of Johnny alone, lost, confused, in places that seem cold or desolate or hidden in some way. He's surrounded by death and loss, and just on the other side of that, he can see a happy life that was almost his. There's a beautiful use of a kiss that should make him happy, while he's actually crying, because he knows he can't hold on to this moment.

The parts where it felt a little weaker for me? Despite the fact that the scenes are beautiful, Johnny and the shaman together felt out of place. I believe this was probably a scene that was used because the character of Johnny and the shaman are basically carrying out the same roles, each in their own time. Despite this, it felt like this scene took Johnny somewhat away from the core of the vid -- his wanting to reconnect with what should have been his life and family. The other shot that didn't quite do it for me was the standoff outside (not inside) the bank with the police -- the context didn't work for me. And, one more -- the small, half crooked smile at almost the beginning of the vid, when Johnny is amongst a crowd, seems out of place, because it gives him a more confident, self assured feel, when much of the vid is about how lost he feels.

There's a fantastic use of the opening instrumental to give you the happiness that was his life, before things became bleak.

14. Next to You, The Police, by Sockii

I’m not really sure what to say about this one. I was fairly surprised – by what it didn’t do, which was to tell a story of any kind. While I’ve seen other vids about singers & bands, most of them seemed to be presented more in the form of an actual tale. Not always one I cared about all that much, but there was always a definite history of events concerning the members, or something of significance being conveyed. If there was a story here, I missed it. This seemed more just a selection of clips from… a documentary? Footage of the band on the road clowning around? I honestly couldn’t tell if this was one source, or many. Perhaps part of the problem here was that other vids about bands that I’ve seen have had movies to work with – this was restricted to footage of the actual band, which I can see might be extremely limiting.

If it was meant in a lighthearted way, then I guess I can see that, but for someone like me, coming at the vid cold, with very little knowledge (okay, complete ignorance) about this band, I’m not leaving the vid with anything more than I entered.

15. Something to Talk about, Stargate, by Carol S.

The song has been used to death, but not quite this way before *g*. She got in and made her joke, and made me laugh, even as I was going "Noooooooooooooo….." so it pretty much worked for me.

Morgan Dawn posted a review of the vid show in 2003 to the Vidder mailing list:

The vid show was excellent. A big cheer of appreciation to the people who worked so hard on putting it on. Both the sound and visual quality paid off to make it an enjoyable viewing experience.

There were some considerable technical problems, which delayed the Friday night so I only had enough energy to watch the first half of the show. I personally did not like the Viewer's Choice format for the Friday show. While I loved a lot of the older vids (including one of ours which was shown) I really wanted to focus on the vids that were new in the last year and that I had missed at other cons.

The Saturday show went much more smoothly. On to the vids. I will only mention a few vids – I was pleased and thrilled by many more vids than I will discuss here.

Lum's "Ability To Swing" (HL) and "Learning to Fly" (SV). The HL vid had a fluid and breathless sense of motion that I loved. It prompted Constance Penley to lean over and ask: who is this Lum? (This is a question many of us have been asking for years…) I had seen "Learning to Fly" online and to be honest it didn't move me on first viewing. However on the larger screen with the excellent sound I was able to see the nuances and immerse myself into the story more clearly and really enjoyed it. It made me wish the show captured the "young man on the edge of manhood" feeling more often. Note to Lum: keep putting your vids out on tape and/or DVD and showing them at cons.

The Invisible Man vid "Voodoo" by Godsmack: I didn't watch IM regularly, but the intensity and the relentless forward movement of this vid swept me away. I felt I was watching a dark & gritty story. It kept me on the edge.

sisabet's Angel/Spike vid – I was hesitant when I saw the song choice (Nine Inch Nails – "I Want To Fuck You Like and Animal"). But I loved the parallel story telling – the use of similar and complimentary scenes of both Angel and Spike to illustrate that the two men are very much alike. The use of the voiceover/sound in the middle of the song as jarring at first and hard to hear. But by the time we got to Angel's repeated line: "I am not an animal" the voice over worked very well – both technically and, of course thematically. I agree with Sandy Herrold who yelled after the vid: "I think I need a cigarette."

A special mention to the funny Firefly "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits vid done by Debchan and Laura Shapiro. At first I wished this vid had come earlier in the show before some of the more emotionally intensive vids because it was hard to shift gears to comedy. Now, I think it offered lighter tone that was needed to help pace the vidshow. (As a side note, I love the fact that the Escapade vid show organizers try to create a "show" by alternating intense and angsty vids with more relaxed and/or fun ones. Good job). Back to the vid: I liked the juxtaposition of today's lines against the Firefly world: "we've got to move these color TVs" against the repeated dumping of the bodies, hauling of space cargo. Many of the lines were laughed over by the audience (guess I didn't know my Dire Straits lyrics as well as I thought), but watching the vid here at home, I also loved other lines: ""little faggot with the make-up" – cut to the doctor etc. It truly was a song straight from Jayne's heart and he convinced me by the end that the rest of Firefly's crew were yo-yos. I also liked the matching of sound and movement throughout the vid. But I didn't understand the credits at the end – I felt like I was missing something in how they were used.

And while we're on Firefly, Gwyn's Firefly vid "My Beautiful Reward": another good example of storytelling. The song starts you in Mal's POV (the beautiful reward is money and possessions), then gradually opens you to the understanding that the ship and his crew are the real rewards. There is an key sequence in the middle of the vid where you actually see this shift -- Mal lying injured on the ship floor with a pan back to his first memories of seeing the ship and how he felt. Good use of an internal cut in the show to transition to the character's new understanding.

I also have to admire the Mystery Vid ("I Kissed A Girl") by SmutCutter, which illustrated how to use some of the more esoteric vid software techniques appropriately in a comedic song. The vid seemed to me to be a meta comment on some slash fans negative attitude towards male/female or het relationships. The horrified reaction shots from the many actors to scene after scene of men & women kissing set to "I Kissed A Girl" was wonderfully ironic.

For pure personal reasons (I love the fandom and want to see more of it), I liked Killa's Jeremiah vid, "Spooky". I found the last few minutes of the vid very intense and compelling. Hope it helps pull in a few more fans into the show (Plug: Jeremiah starts up again in April on Showtime with a new cast addition: Sean Astin from LOTR). I also loved Killa's "Salome" vid for Xena –a fandom and show I never watched. It had a sweetness to it and a sense of longing. From the fans that were at the con, I gather the show itself was never as thematically focused as the vid, which speaks well of Killa's skill in extracting the images to create the mood.

Killa posted a review of the vid show in 2003 to the Vidder mailing list:

For some reason, I seem to have written a really long con report. I guess that's what happens when I have no email access for a few days. Anyway, here's the part about the Saturday night vidshow. I'm going by the list that Jo posted here.

• Intro: The Vids of Escapade 2003 (by Tzikeh). This got huge laughs -- the brilliant and twisted Chicago Loop denizens introduced the vidshow (and guidelines for courteous vidwatching) via a parody of the Fellowship of the Ring intro, with Jessica playing the part of Galadriel. Much insane giggling, especially over the Elvish version of "Turn off your cell phones."
• Crazy Baby, Joan Osborne, vid by Carol S, Stargate (movie). I'm not generally a fan of Joan Osborne at all, but this song is an exception. JMHO, and I know I'm in the minority, but I find the Kurt Russell version of Jack to be infinitely more compelling than the TV show version, and this song really echoed his despair. Very much appreciated by this Stargate movie fan.
• Instrumental, Clandestine, Killa, Hornblower. One of mine. Things go boom.
• RESPECT, Pink, Diana Williams, Multi-Media. A fun con vid of the garbage-can variety. I'd be hard-pressed now to remember much about it, but it played well in a crowd.
• Epiphany, Staind, Bunniqula, LOTR. Ack, my memory is failing me. I think (??) this was the Legolas/Gimli vid? There were two LOTR vids in the show, and neither of them worked very well for me, and I'm having a hard time remembering now which was which. I'm pretty sure this was the L/G one, in which case I liked the lyrics for the relationship, and yet had a very hard time with the visuals matching the song. I just think LotR is very tough to vid, because the scenes have such incredibly specific (and ingrained since childhood) context that I can't wrap my mind around any other story the vidder is trying to tell. The only LotR vids I've seen that really worked for me were ones where the context of the song actually matched the story of LotR (Brothers in Arms was one, and I believe Bunniqula did another vid that I liked quite a bit, though I'm drawing a blank now on the song.)
• Out of My Mind, Depeche Mode, Carol S, SG1. I'm a huge fan of Depeche Mode, which drew me into this vid. I thought it was quite compelling at first, then drifted a bit long, but I liked the ominous feel of the music with Jack's splintering perceptions. I stopped watching SG1 a while ago, but enjoyed this mostly for the song choice.
• Nightmares Beneath the Sea, Jeff Buckley, Luminosity, Angel. I'd seen this one a few times previous to the show, and though I thought it was gorgeous, and I loved the song, it didn't mean much to me as a non-Angel-watcher. However, the sound system and big pretty picture made it easier to understand lyrics and pick out details in the images, and I found it carried a lot more meaning for me in the vidshow. I love the emotional intensity of this song and the images, and especially the incredible ominousness of the chorus, "All young lovers know why/Nightmares blind their mind's eye" with the gorgeous slow-mo images Luminosity chose. This is one that I'm sure Angel fans find very affecting -- for me, it's a one-step-removed "wowwww, pretty" experience. Beautiful pacing, IMO.
• I Love L.A., Randy Newman, Luminosity, Angel. This got played by "accident," so it's not on the vidshow list, but I adore this vid. Totally approachable for a non-fan, very funny, very endearing, great timing. I love the big laugh that the jousting knights sequence gets, and the seatbelts bit is so great. Showcases the fun and absurdity of Angel, and makes me want to watch the show.
• Loser, 3 Doors Down, Taselby, Mag7.Well, as a whole-hearted Ezra fan, I've watched this vid more times than I can count. I love the building pressure of the song, the great kick-ass sequence on the bridge, the subtle inclusion of Vin on "I need this every time," (even though I'm not actually a fan of Ezra/Vin, it's owie in a good way) and the way everything fragments at the end, when Ezra is at both his best and his worst. Many individual clip choices that make this vid a happy, happy thing for me.
• Swim in the Ocean, The Call, Kelpie, SG1. God, I totally do not remember this vid. Apologies!
• I Kissed a Girl (The Slasher's Nightmare), Jill Sobule, Smut Cutter, Multi Media. Bwahahahaa!!! Frickin genius, and testament to the comedic power of the great reaction shot. This has to be seen to be appreciated. Great use of a vid intro, filmed by the vidder, to set up the joke. The fact that there's an infamous (in K/S fandom) story about Kirk and the Gorn is just a bonus.
• My Beautiful Reward, Bruce Springsteen, Gwyneth Rhys, Firefly. I can't stand Bruce Springsteen and only ever got mildly interested in Firefly, but this vid strikes me as a perfect song choice and a perfect Mal tribute anyway. The song really says everything wonderful I can think of to say about the wistful, slightly jaded veneer that made Mal's understated idealism so appealing. It's got a lovely, achy feel that evoked the best of the show for me.
• Acceptance, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jill and Kathy, SG-1. Of all the Stargate vids I saw over the weekend, this was my favorite. I was slowly drawn in by the first half, in which Daniel's life unfolded, and really felt the gut-wrench of the second half, when the music hits a minor note and the vid turns to the reactions of the team to Daniel's 'death.' Knowing that was coming, I found it even more absorbing on second viewing at the vid review.
• Bibbidi-Boddidi-Boo, Cinderella, Thalia, Harry Potter. Video quality was really bad on this, unfortunately. Hagrid as the fairy godmother was rather twisted for me, as well, I have to admit, even though it makes a sort of sense.
• Someone You Might Have Been, Oysterband (?), Lynn C. & Sandy Herrold, Dead Zone. If there was a standout vid in the show, for me, this was it. DZ is a gorgeous production, and these vidders made the most of the beautiful visuals, building a compelling, mesmerizing tapestry of light, color and movement that kept me riveted on all three viewings. The song is also incredibly evocative, and the throughline so powerful and layered with meaning about the character of Johnny that it moves me nearly to tears. This is a show I've wanted to love, and haven't, but the vid was everything I could have wished for. The dual meaning of the title phrase, in relation to Johnny, is genius, and the deep, powerful undertones of the song are an amazing underscore to his incredible inner strength.
• Next To You, The Police, Sockii, The Police. Well? It made me laugh. I know nothing about the history of the Police except for vague memories of childhood MTV addiction. Didn't really know what to make of this one. Is it RPS? I was clueless. What else is new?
• Something to Talk About, Bonnie Raitt, Carol S, SG1. Carol, you are sick, sick, sick. And sadistic. Loved the long delay on the joke's punchline. And elyn putting her hands over her head. *vbg*
• Learning to Fly, Pink Floyd, Luminosity, Smallville. Another one of those, not-wild-about-the-song, not-wild-about-the-fandom vids that worked for me anyway. I really wish the show gave us such a bittersweet and subtle portrait of growing up. I love the sequence on the last verse, and especially that last clip.
• A Morality Tale, Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, Sandy Herrold & Rache, Smallville. Clark and Lex sing the Green Acres theme song. I am scarred for life! But hey, at least now I know it's Eva, not Zsa Zsa. (Sorry, Sandy!) Much giggling.
• Spooky, The 3Ds, Killa, Jeremiah. The song title does not match the song. What's up with that? No, this is not the same "Spooky" that someone did that great Mulder vid to a few years back. Anyway! Moving on.
• Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler, Xanthe, West Wing. Ow, ow, ow, ow. My God, but I hate this song. That said? The lyrics work okay for Jed and Leo, and the vidder chose wonderfully meaningful scenes to show their relationship. But, ow, please make it stop.
• 3 Libras, A Perfect Circle, Gwyneth Rhys, Buffy. The throughline of this song is "you don't see me," but on first viewing, for some reason I heard it as "you don't save me." I have to admit, I was disappointed when I realized I was mishearing it! The first is a little whiny, whereas the second had very interesting implications for me. Hmm. I don't really know Buffy that well at all, but the verses of this song worked better for me than the chorus. I love the strings (cello?) at the beginning, with that cool scene where they're on either side of the door to Spike's crypt.
• Ability to Swing, Thomas Dolby, Luminosity, Highlander. Well, A++ for song choice, and yay, it's my guy!! I like this vid a lot, and it's got some parts that really groove for me, like Duncan clapping to the beat and the clips she chose for "Everybody's workin, workin pretty hard." I love that it starts at the beginning of the series and goes all the way through Endgame, and that it starts and ends with Connor. The beheading of Connor at the end really jars for me, and I don't understand that choice -- in fact, there are several clip choices for "the ability to swing" that I don't understand contextually, but that is probably just me missing the point. Overall, this vid is beauty to watch, and the pacing is great.
• Tonight Is Just for Us, artist?, Remi d'Brebant, Sentinel. Hum. This vid was done in a style similar to the vidder's earlier TS vids to Possession and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Of the three, Possession is the most effective for me, and this one the least so -- the song didn't do much for me at all, and it was hard to keep my attention focused on the vid. Ultimately, I was having a really hard time imagining either Jim or Blair ever saying, "tonight is just for us," and that tripped me up a bit.
• Closer, Nine Inch Nails, Sisabet, Angel/Buffy. Guh. Angel/Spike. HOT. Guh. Genius. And more than the sum of its parts. I would personally have preferred it without the voiceovers just because DB's voice is kind of goofy and makes me snicker, but I liked the way they added to the parallelism.
• Water Carrier, Ian Anderson, Kelpie, SG1. I feel badly, but I really don't remember much about this vid either -- Stargate sometimes makes my attention wander, I'm afraid. I do like the juxtaposition of SG imagery and any kind of 60s/70s psychedelic music, and I remember thinking Ian Anderson was a good choice from that standpoint. Mostly, I remember thinking that I would love to see a Jethro Tull/LotR vid to something.
• Voodoo, Godsmack, Rachel & Sandy, Invisible Man. Yowza. Trippy, powerful, sexual, compelling vid goodness. Made me want to watch the show, like, yesterday. Darien. Drool. Made me pre-verbal.
• You Wanted More, A-ha, P.R. Zed, LOTR. Okay, I'm pretty sure this was unintentional, and I wouldn't have noticed it if a certain someone hadn't drawn my attention to it, but... there is something about the placement of certain clips that makes this vid quite hysterically funny, where I don't think it was meant to be. That's all I'll say. I wanted to like this, because I like A-ha and I like Aragorn/Boromir, but it wasn't quite clicking for me. I imagine some A/B fans quite liked it, though.
• Never Left, Oysterband, Jo & Gwyneth, Tombstone. I bought the DVD last night, even though I already had it on tape, and it's all their fault. Gorgeous, beautiful, painful. I've watched this dozens of times and never get tired of it.
• Bawitdaba, Kid Rock, Melina, The Shield. I'm pretty much left with, "wow, cool!" as a reaction to this one. I like the song, actually, though it got old by the end, but mainly I liked that she told me a completely coherent, powerful story in the space of the vid, pretty much without help from the lyrics. And pretty. This show has a great look, and she made the most of it.
• Money for Nothing, Dire Straits, Laura Shapiro/Debchan, Firefly. I really liked this! I kept laughing all the way through, and though the "break for credits" towards the end puzzled me for a moment, it didn't really bother me and it seemed like a cool way to keep that repetitive ending from dragging on. I thought this was really fun, and I didn't have the issues with it that some did. I didn't care that they used two different characters for "little faggot" and I thought all the trucking around of cargo stayed funny pretty much all the way through. Could be because I've always thought this song is funny anyway, and it's one of those super-nostalgic songs of the 80s, but I thought it was clever and successful. Jayne also cracks me up, and I loved the focus on him.
• Salome, Cousteau, Killa, Xena. Hmm, maybe a good spot to say that one should always listen to Lum's ideas -- she was so right about this being a Xena song, I just had to figure out for who. Thanks for the song, Lum! {}
• Ouch, The Rutles, Jill, Kathy, Kay, SG1. ROTFLOL! Adorable. Inspired idea. Still giggling.

Of course, all of the above very much JMHO, YMMV, etc.

tzikeh posted a followup report to the Vidder (mailing list) which is posted here with permission. It is an example of how multiple reviews of vids/vid shows could build on one another:

"Well, Killa got the ball rolling, so I'm gonna belly up to the bar (ballet up to the barre?) and put in my thoughts on the Saturday night vid show.

• Intro: The Vids of Escapade 2003 (by tzikeh). Won't comment on my own vid, except to say that snoo created the fabulous textured title a la LotR, not me.
• Crazy Baby, Joan Osborne, vid by Carol S, Stargate (movie). I'm not a fan of Stargate - movie or tv series, so I don't know much context, plus I was walking back to Command Central in the vid room during this one, so I don't remember it well.
• Instrumental, Clandestine, Killa, Hornblower. I was very fond of this vid - I told Killa after the show that I really felt she'd done three separate little arcs in the vid, and was pleased to discover she'd actually cut three pieces of music together for the vid. While she deprecates it as "things go boom", it was beautifully timed and not unlike a dance.
• RESPECT, Pink, Diana W., Multi-Media.

<killa's comments>

A fun con vid of the garbage-can variety. I'd be hard-pressed now to remember much about it, but it played well in a crowd.

<me>

I enjoyed it well enough as a crowd-pleaser, but even a garbage-can vid can be made up of clips chosen with a little more care for timing and feel than I felt these were (c.f. Media Cannibals' "Hair"). I guess what I'm saying is that it was fine, but it could also have been more.

• Epiphany, Staind, Bunniqula, LOTR

<killa's comments>

Ack, my memory is failing me. I think (??) this was the Legolas/Gimli vid? There were two LOTR vids in the show, and neither of them worked very well.

<me>

I had the same reaction to both LotR vids - song choice made my head hurt. For me, the song has to walk the tightrope of being both entirely applicable and yet entirely non-specific - that is, if the music is too stylistically associated with, say, the 80s, or dance clubs, or whatever, it just falls down on the job. I fully expect to see LotR vids in future that I like, but I haven't yet.

• Out of My Mind, Depeche Mode, Carol S, SG1. I remember enjoying this vid, but I'd need to see it again before I could comment with any kind of real thought.
• Nightmares Beneath the Sea, Jeff Buckley, Luminosity, Angel. This vid made me sorry I'd stopped watching Angel. I thought that this was a gorgeous song choice for mood and pacing, and I want to see it again.
• I Love L.A., Randy Newman, Luminosity, Angel

<killa's comments>

Totally approachable for a non-fan, very funny, very endearing, great timing.

<me>

And even more hilarious for a fan. The timing is exquisite - each "We LOVE it!" gets me giggling. The timing and the soft <snick> on the four seatbelts is just one of those things that makes it all worthwhile.

• Loser, 3 Doors Down, Taselby, Mag7. I wish I had context for this vid, but I never watched Mag7. I was taken by the character study that I got out of it solely from the lyrics and the images without knowing source, and I wonder what I'd have thought if I knew the show.
• Swim in the Ocean, The Call, Kelpie, SG1

<killa's comments>

God, I totally do not remember this vid. Apologies!

<me>

I think this is the Teal'c one? I only have a vague memory of it as well.

• I Kissed a Girl (The Slasher's Nightmare), Jill Sobule, Smut Cutter, Multi-Media. Oh. My. God. This was a brilliant piece of work. Here's (one way) how to do multi-media comedy. As Killa already said, the reaction shots are what give you your pay-off, whether they be of other characters' reactions, or of the character who's done the kissing holding his head in his hands in a "what have I done?" pose.
• My Beautiful Reward, Bruce Springsteen, Gwyneth Rhys, Firefly. Ah, how I loved this vid. The song couldn't have been more perfect for Mal's journey (what we got to see of it). I'm only a casual viewer of Firefly, but I adored what the vid had to say about what it was he was really looking for, and what it was he really found. The music worked with the tone of the show and the feel of the story, and the singer's voice was exactly right for Mal's interior monologue.
• Acceptance, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jill, Kay, Lynn, SG1

<killa's comments>

Of all the Stargate vids I saw over the weekend, this was my favorite. I was slowly drawn in by the first half, in which Daniel's life unfolded, and really felt the gut-wrench of the second half, when the music hits a minor note and the vid turns to the reactions of the team to Daniel's 'death.' Knowing that was coming, I found it even more absorbing on second viewing at the vid review.

<me>

I agree with Killa on this one - there is a definite turning point in the vid where I got pulled into a different, sadder place. This stood out for me among the several meditations on Daniel's death.

• Bibbidi-Boddidi-Boo, Cinderella, Thalia, Harry Potter

<killa's comments>

Video quality was really bad on this, unfortunately. Hagrid as the fairy godmother was rather twisted for me, as well, I have to admit, eveBold textn though it makes a sort of sense.

<me>

This didn't work for me much at all - even forgiving the video. I didn't think the clips were particularly well-timed, and I didn't feel that the vidder had any sense of what to do with all the fun, swoopy time signature changes in the instrumental bridge. It wound up being that weird dissonance you get when you're watching a vid that has really interesting music and nothing much happening on the screen. It's viscerally confusing because your body wants to be be taken along with the rhythms, but your eyes are telling you to sit still. Kinda dull and dissatisfying.

• Someone You Might Have Been, Oysterband (?), Lynn & Sandy, Dead Zone. Holy guacamole. I have to see this again right away. As Killa said, the dual meaning of the title lyric within the series was brought into high relief brilliantly. The vidders used the show's gorgeous visuals to great effect and, occasionally, to even better effect than they are used on the show. Brilliant and sad vid.
• Next To You, The Police, Sockii, The Police. The only thing I can say about this is that I am 100% not the audience for it.
• Something to Talk About, Bonnie Raitt, Carol S, SG1.

<killa's comments>

Carol, you are sick, sick, sick. And sadistic. Loved the long delay on the joke's punchline. And elyn putting her hands over her head. *vbg*

<me>

I'm going to find you and kill you, Carol. Beware. But seriously, on second viewing (God, I saw it more than once), I was pleased that it wasn't just clip clip clip joke - that there was, in fact, a set up with a gossip chain that was subtle (if one can say that about this vid) and amusing.

• Learning to Fly, Pink Floyd, Luminosity, Smallville. I think this is one that I need to see again before I say anything other than "huh". I'm with Killa on not wild about song or fandom, but I can't say if it did or didn't work for me just yet.
• A Morality Tale, Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor, Sandy & Rache, Smallville

<killa's comments>

Clark and Lex sing the Green Acres theme song. I am scarred for life! But hey, at least now I know it's Eva, not Zsa Zsa. (Sorry, Sandy!) Much giggling.

<me>

Evil. Evil. Evil. This was *very* funny. And the song is exactly the right length to carry a joke like this one.

• Spooky, The 3Ds, Killa, Jeremiah

<killa's comments>

The song title does not match the song. What's up with that? No, this is not the same "Spooky" that someone did that great Mulder vid to a few years back. Anyway! Moving on.

<me>

Ooooh, how much I adored this vid. And it was pimptastic, too - people who had never seen/heard of Jeremiah were looking for tapes afterwards. Terrific song for the show, and a very carefully built intertwining of the two leads' stories.

• Wind Beneath My Wings, Bette Midler, Xanthe, West Wing

<killa's comments>

Ow, ow, ow, ow. My God, but I hate this song. That said? The lyrics work okay for Jed and Leo, and the vidder chose wonderfully meaningful scenes to show their relationship. But, ow, please make it stop.

<me>

I... yeah. The lyrics are okay, I guess, though a bit treacly, and the scenes chosen did convey the story being told by the song, but the music... Someone in the vid review said it best - it's an extremely subtle relationship being conveyed by an extremely unsubtle song. There was a comment made that the climax of the vid is one character putting his hand on the other character's shoulder, and that it wasn't *enough*, that the viewer wanted *more*. But that is a direct result of the song choice - it is a song of bombast and great, blatant crescendo, and so leads you to expect a bombastic, crescendoing story. The visuals which tell the story of this particular relationship are the exact opposite -- within the show, a hand on a shoulder *is* a high-note moment, because everything surrounding it is described in minimalist strokes. A quiet, introspective piece of music would have served this story much better.

• 3 Libras, A Perfect Circle, Gwyneth Rhys, Buffy. I was out of the room during this - luckily I have my own little copy and can watch and rewatch at my leisure.
• Ability to Swing, Thomas Dolby, Luminosity, Highlander. I know next to nothing about this fandom, but I really enjoyed the vid on a surface level. Even if you don't know the fandom and don't know or don't like the song, at the very bottom you can always count on Luminosity's vids as very very pretty to watch.
• Tonight Is Just for Us, artist?, Remi d'Brebant, Sentinel

<killa's comments>

Hum. This vid was done in a style similar to the vidder's earlier TS vids to Possession and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy. Of the three, Possession is the most effective for me, and this one the least so.

<me>

Ditto. Maybe it's because I feel "Possession" works so well, that this vid feels like a pale sequel - plus I wasn't fond of the song.

• Closer, Nine Inch Nails, Sisabet, Angel/Buffy

<killa's comments>

Guh. Angel/Spike. HOT. Guh. Genius. And more than the sum of its parts. I would personally have preferred it without the voiceovers just because DB's voice is kind of goofy and makes me snicker, but I liked the way they added to the parallelism.

<me>

Wow, wow, wow. The highlight of my evening. Terrific parallels, and at the same time showing us that, Good God, Spike is *more mature* than Angel is. Plus, you know, hot. I think the voice-overs could have worked better if there had been a filter applied to bring them into the dynamic range of the rest of the audio on the vid. Not always doable - worked okay for me just the same.

• Water Carrier, Ian Anderson, Kelpie, SG1

<killa's comments>

I feel badly, but I really don't remember much about this vid either --

<me>

The only thing I remember is not really getting it, but then it could be context-dependent.

• Voodoo, Godsmack, Rachel & Sandy, Invisible Man. Again with the guacamole from me. Terrific story of Darien's relationship with Arnaud and just really brings forward the dark in Invisible Man. It's a wonderful bookend vid with Seah and Margie's "Kryptonite" of the two people who have the most pull in Fawkes' life.
• You Wanted More, A-ha, P.R. Zed, LOTR

<killa's comments>

there is something about the placement of certain clips that makes this vid quite hysterically funny, where I don't think it was meant to be.

<me>

Yeah.

<killa's comments>

I wanted to like this, because I like A-ha and I like Aragorn/Boromir, but it wasn't quite clicking for me. I imagine some A/B fans quite liked it, though.

<me>

I like A-ha okay, but I just don't see it working with Lord of the Rings.

• Never Left, Oysterband, Jo & Gwyneth, Tombstone

<killa's comments>

I bought the DVD last night, even though I already had it on tape, and it's all their fault. Gorgeous, beautiful, painful. I've watched this dozens of times and never get tired of it.

<me>

One of the comment sheets said simply "I'll be your Huckleberry". I think that says it all.

• Bawitdaba, Kid Rock, Melina, The Shield

<killa's comments>

I'm pretty much left with, "wow, cool!" as a reaction to this one. I like the song, actually, though it got old by the end, but mainly I liked that she told me a completely coherent, powerful story in the space of the vid, pretty much without help from the lyrics. And pretty. This show has a great look, and she made the most of it.

<me>

I'm with Killa on this one, though I didn't feel it getting old by the end. Perhaps on repeated viewings it might drag, but in that initial viewing I was so caught up in what I was seeing and feeling that I was right there all the way to the end.

• Money for Nothing, Dire Straits, Laura Shapiro/Debchan, Firefly. I've already given comments on this vid on the list.
• Salome, Cousteau, Killa, Xena

<killa's comments>

Hmm, maybe a good spot to say that one should always listen to Lum's ideas -- she was so right about this being a Xena song, I just had to figure out for who. Thanks for the song, Lum! {}

<me>

I was less than taken with this vid. I'm not a Xena fan and my mind wandered. I also had a weird moment where I remembered that it was last Escapade when we learned that Kevin Smith had died, so that jarred me out of it, but that's just a personal thing.

• Ouch, The Rutles, Jill, Kathy, Kay, SG1

<killa's comments>

ROTFLOL! Adorable. Inspired idea. Still giggling.

<me>

Heee! <snrk> Heee!

Vid Show Agenting Controversy

Note: Originally, copies of Escapade vid shows were mastered, duplicated, and mailed directly to convention attendees on behalf of the concom by staff member Kandy Fong. At one point, she supplied some of these high-quality tapes to Mysti Frank to sell at cons Kandy herself wasn't attending, but after learning that Mysti had inflated the prices and kept the profits, Kandy rescinded any permission for Mysti to copy, distribute, sell, or in any way be associated with Escapade con tapes.

In April 2014, it was discovered that Mysti had been making and selling lower-quality tape copies without the concom's or vidders' knowledge or permission, and also without including any of the vidder credits that Kandy had originally provided. Concom member Charlotte Hill then contacted Mysti and asked her to stop distributing tapes in order to protect the quality and reputation of both the vidders and the vid show.

The original information added to this page offering tapes for sale via Mysti's website is below:

The vid show was released on a songvid VHS tape and sold by Agent With Style. From the description: "The wonderful song vids shown at the Escapade convention in Santa Barbara, CA, each year are collected and presented here for your enjoyment through the auspices of Kandy Fong. Capturing every fandom you could think of -- and many you couldn't! -- these tapes are amazing and not to be missed! Available only in VHS tape."

Con Reports

• Take me on an Escapade, panel reports by rsadelle
• tenaya's convention reports (a combination of personal and panel notes): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4, dated March 10, 2003
• shrift's escapade con report (also includes a review of the vid show, dated March 3, 2003
• kassrachel's Escapade report WebCite, dated Feb 24, 2003.
• Killa gives a 4-day report titled Escapade 2003 Con Report of the Killa variety
• Escapade 2003 Highlander Panel Report - New HL Classics, ^{Archived version}, dated March 10, 2003

Gallery

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  inside page from the program book

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  inside page from the program book

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  inside page from the program book