Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh

Vid
Title:	Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh
Creator:	lithium doll
Date:	2005
Format:	WMV
Length:	2:41
Music:	Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh by Allen Sherman
Genre:
Fandom:	Lost (with references to MST3K)
Footage:
URL:	streaming version at the Internet Archive
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Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh is a humorous Lost fanvid by lithium doll. It was a popular favorite on the Lost Video Island site.

Vidder's Commentary

In 2005, at par avion's request, the vidder posted detailed commentary to her blog:

It's pretty easy to see how much I like a show: the number of vids I've made mocking it every possible way not involving outrageous French accents. It's a strange compulsion, but there you go. I liked Lost.

I'm also reasonably sure the devil made me do it.

Here's some trivia - there is apparently another HMHF Lost vid out there in the wilds of the internet. Possibly it's turned feral and is now chief of a clan of nomadic MPAA bots. Or perhaps it's quietly waiting. In the shadows. Biding its time. I have no idea where in either case or I'd link to it. But, you know, it's out there. If you happen to know, shout and I'll put on the fantabulous pimp hat.

The instrumental part at the beginning is traditionally a gnawingly agonising experience for me, but just once or twice it's been blindingly obvious what has to go in there. In this instance, it was clearly the perfect music for Sayid falling into crazy lady's man-catching trap. Oh it was. Its alternate name is "Sayid Falling Into Crazy Lady's Man-Catching Trap, scored for violin".

Plus I wanted to use the repeated images of him just hanging around throughout the vid 'cause that's kinda hilarious, so it needed to be set up. The timing isn't as on as I wanted it to be, I went through a phase of having trouble exporting the vids with the audio set right, but you can probably see where the times were meant to be. Go with imagination, it's a beautiful thing.

I should probably say something about the MST3K figures in the foreground, but do I really have to? I mean, if you know who they are they don't need explaining and if you don't, Google is right there.

Most of this is kinda meant to be from Jack's PoV so the opener had to be of him. The next run of clips, with them all gathering around at the campfire like Salvador Dali's happy campers, was the second mental image that immediately sprang to mind when I heard the song. So that's what you have to blame. Aside from Satan. And the first mental image that sprang to mind, but that's later.

Plus I can't think of less appropriate expressions for "camp is very entertaining" and a lack of proprietry is all important in such things. Also, other things.

I didn't like going straight from Jack at night to Boone and Locke during the day, from a purely visual perspective it jars and if I had it to do over ... I'd do it exactly the same, because the vid was so not about the eye candy. But, you know, in case anyone was worried there's a milk carton with a picture of my sense of aesthetics on the side out there somewhere.

It's a little hard to see that's Sayid hanging upside down there on the drive by clip, but it is, it is!

One of the fun things that I remember, through the haze of time and opiates, was trying to hit all the little sharps in the music with appropriate things in the clips. So Kate's shriek was my happiness for more than the simple reason I don't much like Kate. Although that helped. Same again with "the lake has alligators" - the double take from Jack tragically made my night.

Another one of the fun things was finding clips that complimented the lyrics. The incongruity of the song almostsortakindaworking when it's about Summer Camp and the footage is from an Island of Mystery that wants them DED is really what I was trying to make the most out of. Locke as the coach, Hurley's fainting - matching the lyrics in a completely surreal way so if you squint and look sideways they work.

And now we hit the 1:10 mark and the clip that sprang fully formed in my head when I heard the lyric "and my bunkmate has malaria". Stop looking at me like that. It was the first clip down and down it stayed.

Back to Jeffrey Hardy Sayid and his final descent. We skip over the subsequent torture footage - not because I think it's inappropriate but because I think the episode hadn't come out yet. Then again falling out of trees is massively funnier than torture. Unless it's Kate, that would be pretty damn funny. Stop looking at my issues.

Jack! See Jack run! And run and trip and fall and kinda ... hang. Every Island of Mystery should have a hanging Jack somewhere, tres chic. Thiiiis is where the POV starts to get murky. Shannon is kinda meant to be on the phone to Muddah and/or Fadduh but as a bit of an extension of Jack as he's hanging for, like, "one whole day". The clips inbetween follow the lyrics. Possibly they shouldn't have but, come on, BEAR. BEAR.

In retrospect, I should probably have tied Shannon in with Jack earlier to make that clearer but, on the other hand, BEAR!!.

Anyway, forwards not backwards and always twirling, twirling towards vic- never mind. Yadda-yadda clip matching cakes ... and on to the final part, yay!

The lead in on with scantily clad / artistically soggy women was a must have and there was no small amount of glee at the fact it matched the lyrics perfectly while matching them in no way whatsoever. Oh, c'mon, that's always fun. The "guys are swimming" clip makes me giggle and I have no earthly clue why. Is it bad taste to laugh at your own vid? "guys are sailing" - heh.

Now the last part was meant to be Jack realising he's got it pretty good, what with the soggy and the scanty and the chance to act on his long harboured GOD COMPLEX, and running through to try and stop Sayid getting the signal working. At the time it wasn't known who clubbed Jeffrey Sayid so, yes, I was trying to imply it was Jack. I have no idea how well that actually translated, never mind.

Evil palm tree joy! It seemed like a good idea at the time.

As part of the reason I'd stuck the MST3K guys in the front was to alleviate the laugh track a little, it had to end with the curtain. These things are necesary.

Whoa, all done. If you managed to make it this far, I salute you - I barely did.

Reactions/Reviews

[Hobbes] L M A O Curtain call right at the end was the cherry on top, I laughed myself silly.

[JakeNRoland] That was great. Don't really know why the Mystery 3000 guys were there, but okay. LOL.

[LAURA4LAD] Unlike Jake--I LOVED the mystery science 3000 guys being there! That was just one of the details that made this video unique and funny as all hell. I've liked everything from this vidder and can't wait to see more-l.

[Kat!] This MV was hysterical... I had no idea you could link LOST footage with that song... and actually make it work... Well done!

[MarieWP] I loved the Mystery Science Theatre silhouette too. Funny, creative, loved it.

[MoreLight] MST3000 silouette was very funny.

I enjoyed this look at Camp Lost (aka. Camp Granada). My favorite part was the continuation of the descriptions while Jack was dangling off the cliff then other clips and back to Jack still dangling off the cliff!

Another favorite Lost vid for my collection. Thanks LD!

[k4x] Something that added to the funnyness was that the song itself wasnt that funny, but the people laughing at the non-funny jokes made it flippin' hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! w00t that was sooo funny.