It's Not Over

Vid
Title:	It's Not Over
Creator:	bananainpyjamas aka Dragonchic
Date:	January 4, 2007
Format:	wmv, XviD
Length:	32.9MB, 03:33
Music:	"It's Not Over" by Daughtry
Genre:	het, Clark/Lana, character study
Fandom:	Smallville
Footage:	Clips: Season Four Finale, Season Five Episodes 1-3, 12
URL:	Download and Streaming Links on Vidder's LiveJournal
Vid Banner
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

It's Not Over is a Smallville vid by bananainpyjamas aka Dragonchic. It was posted to the vidder's LiveJournal on January 4, 2007. It is a het vid with the pairing of Clark/Lana. It is also a character study that explores Clark's relationship with his parents.

Vidder's Note: "I never thought I'd actually vid Smallville, but the lyrics of this song really evoked this particular story arc in my mind. The vid has a distinct Clark/Lana tilt, thanks to the central role she plays in that storyline. I did, however, make sure that Clark's relationship with his parents had a significant presence as well."

Vidder's summary: "Canon narrative chronicling in a semi-linear fashion the events that led up to the inevitable death of one of Clark's loved ones in the season five episode, 'Reckoning'."

It won the "Vidding Achievement" award in Round 8 and a "Visual Artistry" award in Round 12 of the No Frontiers Video Awards.

No Frontiers Video Award for "Vidding Achievement" (Round 8). Features an image from Disney's Snow White and animation with frames from the vid.

Reactions/Reviews

This vid was reviewed by Jebbypal at the reel vidding community on March 16, 2007:

Overall impression: I qualify this by saying that I've only seen the core arc episodes of Season 5, so if I seem to be missing something, it may be that I am. That said, this vid provides a very pretty recap of Clark's journey through season 5 and the various obstacles and losses that he faced. It also holds up well as its own story for those of us who haven't seen every episode.

ETA -- my lack of knowledge showed a little, Dragonchic corrected me on which episodes were used: clips from five episodes (the season four finale, first three eps of season five, and the 100th episode)

Titles: White on Black at the end of the vid.

Music choice: Daughtry is destined to become the new Fuel of vidding, I think. The song has enough beat to time to, but it's really the lyrics that echo with Clark's journey and the losses of Lana and his father. The lyrics truly capture the season and make this a compelling vid.

Narration, Tone and Movement: Narratively, this vid is exceptionally strong. Dragonchic provides enough context for all the clips that it makes it's own story and it's easy to see that we're watching Clark come to grips with the cost of his powers, as well as their benefits.

The tone is desperate yet determined. Time and again we watch as Clark's world is rocked by the loss of his powers, the loss of his loved ones, and meteors. Through it all, Clark has to go on.

Overall the movement is very fluid and cuts are well timed with the drums -- on and off beat. However, this does become somewhat distracting at times when the cuts are overly rapid and the images change almost disorientingly (which may be the direct purpose). It's a minor flaw and the strength of the visuals and story overcome it.

Cuts, Transitions, Effects & Colouring/Coloring: Most of the cuts are direct cuts with very few actual transition/effect uses. It works very well this way due to the sheer number of clips used to tell the story. Offhand I didn't notice any specific coloring effects, but this may have been due to my own ignorance of the source.

Specific vid & music notes:
0:01 - We open with a voice over by Kalel's father about his destiny which sets up and defines the vid for us. Good pairing with Clark waking from a dream to set up a prophetic tone. The life of someone close to you will be exchanged for yours.
0:16-The music opens with a space shot of the meteor shower that starts off the conflict in season 5.
0:30- "I try to see the good in life" lyric is paired with normal, average every day Kansas boy activities. The normalcy that Clark hopes he'll manage to capture when he gives up his powers for a time in season 5.
0:38 "Blown Away" paired with the meteor shower hitting earth and destroying the Kent farm as well as a good part of Smallville.
0:50-- Lois crawling to the top of a hill -> Essentially, this vid is about Clark and Lana as a love story, as well as the loss of Clark's father when he saves Lana's life with magic rewind crystal. Yet, here we have a shot of Lois that feels to me like nothing but filler. Visually, it works, but on repeated viewings, it starts to nag a little and seem out of place.
0:59-- Chorus of "It's not over" over the images of Lana crawling bloody out of wreckage and Clark watching the meteors rain down.
1:00-- "This love is killing me" starts with the image of Lana and Clark kissing andn then goes to Clark being shot while he's lost his powers. Then we see Lana losing it emotionally. Very well done and powerful.
1:15-- End of "It's not over" chorus shows us Clark reviving in fortress of solitude and then Lana's reaction to him being alive again. Hits just the right note emotionally.
1:30-- First, the section before this of cutting on the beat and on the down beats worked beautifully and I loved the images. But again, we get a picture of Chloe, who really doesn't play much of a role in this vid's story. I like the image, but again, it distracts from the story on repeated viewings.
1:40-- Nice visual of Cloe's eye that is impressive, but again, what does this have to do with the Lana&Clark story (let alone the larger one of death).
1:45-- We see the road sign that plays a role in the big switch of Johnathan dying for Lana. The music changes here which matches with the slight change of theme from straight love and rebirth to a bigger one of sacrifice. New characters that didn't play as much of a role before enter with Lex and Clark's parents as well as Lionel.
2:52 Beautiful clincher scene for "dead and in the ground" on the casket. Amazing. Leads in to shots of Johnathan while "This love' plays and then he drops to his knees.
3:22 the vid ends where the season did, with Johnathan dead and Clark and his mom embracing in grief.

Final notes: Overall, a very nice vid hitting the main themes of season 5 and telling the story in a way that is intelligible even to a casual viewer. The song viscerally hits the emotions of the clips while at the same time narrating. The biggest flaw would be the few small instances of filler clips of characters that don't play a role in the vid's story directly.