Possession (Sentinel vid)

Vid
Title:	Possession - Remi d'Brebant
Creator:	Remi d'Brebant
Date:	2002
Format:
Length:
Music:	Sarah McClaughlin
Genre:
Fandom:	The Sentinel
Footage:
URL:
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Possession is a Sentinel slash vid that premiered at Escapade 2002. After its premiere, it was featured in Vividcon's "Breaking the Rules" and "Experimental" vidshows, among others, for its use of still shots combined with video, creating what some fans at the Escapade Vid Review panel called a "video painting". It also used a song, "Possession", that was strongly associated with another fandom, due South.

Reactions and Reviews

Sandy Herrold engaged the creator of the vid in an online discussion on the Vidder mailing list in 2002.

"I had very complicated responses to the vid; despite my fear when I hear the song choice <g>, I was immediately caught by the first few beautiful images, and getting more drawn into it, until with each chorus, for the 'money shots', there were just stills of the loft, and I felt confused and let down each time. Then each verse would enroll me again, and then drop me at the next chorus. It wasn't until the very last chorus with the rise up to Jim's bedroom that I finally understood the metaphor of the empty loft. (On the other hand, the second time I watched it, knowing all of this, I loved the chorus shots - and I completely accept your explanation [that]: "The lyrics of this song tend toward the graphic. "..hold you down"... "..kiss you so hard.." It would be very easy to get ... tacky with lyrics like that if direct, obvious shots were used."

"Yes, instead of overreaching - filling a line with bad approximations of the shots that don't really exist in most shows - just going for an emotional reference to the line is a very cool idea.

"My other issue was, once you showed the shot of Jim's truck in the rain (context: he's driving to the fountain where we know Blair has drowned), I'm expecting to see Blair dead, either there, or at the end of the vid. At that point, I was distracted until the end of the vid, both anticipating and fearing shots of Blair dead. So, while agreeing that the end shot of Blair maybe didn't do quite what you wanted it to do...*I* really did expect Blair in the fountain at the end, and had a small, "she led me to expect this, and now she's breaking that contract with me" feeling.

"Overall, I thought the vid was beautiful and engaging and rich - I'm glad you sent it! I'd love to see it again now, to remind myself of it before making more comments..." dated March 4, 2002, quoted with permission."

"This vid made a huge splash in 2002 because it did some very different things -- it used a lot of still shots, particularly on the choruses. But it didn't premiere at VVC; it premiered at Escapade earlier that year, and showed at VVC in the Experimental show, I think. *checks database* Yes, Experimental.

It was incredibly hard to get hold of; Remi never put it up online that I know of, and I didn't think it had made it onto any tape collections. I had completely forgotten it was on this one. \o/ It aired a couple more times at VVC, but it hasn't been shown since 2004.

.... IIRC, the still shots weren't just artistic choice (although they worked well that way), but also limits of the source and technology."

"I recall watching that vid for the first time, and initially being a bit too much "...what's the deal with the LAMP OF LONELINESS :-/ " , but I did eventually learn how to watch it, if you know what I mean--like looking at any piece of art, really, and figuring out how to flex my perceptions or let myself relax into what the art itself is saying/doing, instead of me trying/failing to cram my pre-existing filters over it."

"I went digging back through Vidder posts to see what people were saying about it, and found Remi talking about some of those stills having had people and other things painted out of them, so clearly all of that slow, drifty emptiness was deliberate. But still; somewhere in my head is a memory of something about the source itself being so iffy that she had to find a way to work around it. Maybe I'm thinking of someone else, though...

"Boy, Possession is one of the most polarizing vids I can remember. After it premiered at Escapade, Sandy and others cheerleaded it for all they were worth, while I and maybe one other person felt that it failed completely, mainly because of the song choice. It'll just always be the Emperor's New Clothes of vids for me. Never liked it, never will, don't get the appeal at all."