Someone you might have been (Dead Zone vid)

Vid
Title:	Someone you might have been
Creator:	Lynn C. & Sandy Herrold
Date:	2003
Format:	Digital Vid
Length:
Music:
Genre:
Fandom:	Dead Zone
Footage:
URL:	Clucking Belles site
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Someone you might have been is a Dead Zone vid by Lynn C. & Sandy Herrold.

According to one review: "This is possibly the first Dead Zone vid ever made; it's definitely the first I ever saw. It's gorgeous, and completely heartbreaking. Johnny's life would have been so different, if he hadn't been in the accident and coma -- and he *knows* it. He can see every day who he might have been. Man. The ending here is just a gutpunch."

Gwyneth wrote in 2004:

"This was suggested for the Vividcon panel during the write-in, and I thought it was a good choice because it has a theme of multiple levels -- what Johny's life is now, and what it once was, and what it could have been if he hadn't had the accident. Not to mention all the lives of the people he sees in his visions. So its metaphor and literal interpretations are heavily intertwined.

The vid premiered at Escapade 2003. Following its premiere it was the subject of an in-depth DVD review by flummery:

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.