This Is How It Works

Vid
Title:	This Is How It Works
Creator:	Lim
Date:	July 1, 2006
Format:	digital vid
Length:	3:21 minutes
Music:	"On the Radio" by Regina Spektor
Genre:
Fandom:	SGA
Footage:	Stargate Atlantis
URL:	http://www.kekkai.org/lim/, link to original posting
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

This vid is based on the story Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left to Lose by synecdochic.

Lim is an unusual vidder in that she tends to work on her vids nearly frame by frame with programs like Photoshop and After Effects. In addition to the highly-worked visuals, and the integration of text phrases both from the song and the story (e.g. "And In The End, It's Enough" and "Every Year, A Few More Flowers Bloom"), This Is How It Works is also notable for a percussive ongoing animation of pulsing numbers. This is the music being expressed through numbers, which may be a comment on the double nature of Rodney McKay, the POV character of both story and vid: a scientist who wanted to be a pianist. (The song the vid uses, by Regina Spektor, is also notable for its use of piano.)

The vid was selected by the OTW to part of its Test Suite of Fair Use Vids before the Library of Congress.

Reception

This Is How it Works was included in the OTW's Test Suite of Fair Use Vids as a vid which demonstrated how "vidding promotes both technical ability and creativity," saying that the vid displayed "not only technical skill but also artistic sensibility."

• "I think this vid manages to perfectly reflect the sentiment of the story - it conveys the same conflicting emotions of sadness, loss, hope, and love... making the best of your life, without regrets, without letting the fear of loss stop you from loving, from living. The lyrics match the story beautifully and the visuals grip you. It's hard to shake this one off but then, I didn't really want to."