"The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader." ~ Paulo Coelho

Thursday, May 4, 2023

May the Forth 2023 // Some videos appreciating the art behind my favorite Galaxy Far Far Away

Greetings, rebels, jedi, and generals alike!


May the fourth be with you! I'm alive! I will come back more once finals are done, but yes, it's that magical day where we celebrate one of the best story universes of all times. Also known as one of my favorite days of the year. We're not getting into /stuff/ today, but I thought I'd take a math break and celebrate (Which reminds me that I need to find chocolate milk...I already had blue milk today...mwahaha hot chocolate will do). I also did my hair like Rey--this is a tradition, but I recently cut 10 inches off, so it didn't completely turn out. But it was faster than usual. Last year it took me 17 minutes (which I know because I was watching Clone Wars) and this year only about 3. I also wore my Star Wars gear, and watched some with my past+future and present roommates. We watched two Clone Wars episodes, one Droid Tales, and then the four Rebels shorts. (Y'all, I know I'm going to LOVE Rebels when I finally get there. But I'm only in season 4 of CWs).

All in all, it's been a great day. But time for a post! Last year I released my first YouTube fan video, so it's hard to top that. Over spring break I was trying to crank out another one but it didn't get done in time. Instead, I'm going to celebrate other artists and creators! Fan videos are some of my favorite things, so in no particular order I'm just going to be sharing 10 Star Wars themed ones that I like. This is going to be like when I reacted to the Rise of Skywalker trailer, with comments on why I enjoy each one.

I would love to watch more, so if you have recommendations, let me know! The thing is, I mostly focus on the movies for the fan videos I watch because I'm really far behind in the series. I'm trying to avoid spoilers. It's not really working, especially when my best friend is a huge fan and TERRIBLE when it comes to spoilers. So. Which, speaking of:

SPOILER ALERT: If you watch the following videos or read my comments there are spoilers for Star Wars episodes (films) I-IX.

I tried really hard to embed all the videos here because I think that's easier for the reader. But some--most--of them wouldn't work. But I love them, so I didn't want to just not talk about them, you know? So I linked to them. Do any of you have the searching for videos be weird here on Blogger? Anyway, I hope you enjoy!




-Of all these videos, this is the one I've watched the most. So I have it almost memorized, yet it never fails to amaze me.
-The climax of the song?? When it's going "It all, it all, it all" with the "tears are gonna fall" in the background and the choreography of the lightsaber movement is PERFECT and with the on-beat flashbacks?? This is the fan video artistry that I strive to be.
-It tells such a full story from beginning to end. It's these videos that make me think I love this romance. The second I start watching the movies I remember that I hate it, but this turns it into something so raw and powerful and painful.
-I love the Obi-Wan arc. I will always be here for the Obi-Wan stuff.



REYLO: Rolling in the Deep (The Rise of Skywalker) 
- by LouellaWilla: xennial-sw-fan


-The drum beat with the marching?? (I'm trying not to stop the videos to make comments but I couldn't help it. (note that I will stop trying later))
-Ack, it makes me cover my mouth with my hands because I love it so much. And that's something I don't usually do.
-I think it's so cool that it is basically purely Rise of Skywalker only with flashbacks from the other movies. It's such a cool take. There's such a hard balance in creating these videos with having too much material and not enough so I admire it!
-I love having it especially with the other Rolling in the Deep video because I get COMPLETELY different vibes. Padme and Anakin had something good and then lost it in the attempts for power. Here, it's the pull away from power and towards each other--Rey and Ben--that leads to the union. With the other video it's more of a tragic story and with this one it's more of a bittersweet victory. It just flips the meaning completely and I DIG IT.




-The first "And just one mistake" is timed SO perfectly. It makes my heart ache.
-Going from "mummified my teenage dreams, no there' nothing wrong with me" to Anakin. As a teenager. Who's angry. Brilliant.
-"Broke my heart" with Qui-Gon? And the faces?? *chef's kiss*
-I'm just going to stop talking now because it's flawless. Like, "Bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints with Anakin force choking Padme? It guts me.
-"I never meant for you to fix yourself" with Obi-Wan just looking away from Anakin's burning body? It probably is not helping that I LOVE this song and have it memorized.
-"Scream forever" is making me scream because I love it so much.
-My one complaint is that it's too short. They cut down the song and I want the whole song. 




-I'm trying to hold it back on comments but I can't. "Vulturous" with the fighters??
-"Prodigal son" with Luke is such a cool choice because I've been trained to think of Anakin with those words, but YES, Luke!
-The adrenaline is surely in my veins because it's so fast paced. Because of that, it's kind of hard to find a focus, but I like it. And I didn't realize I was such a fan of Rogue One until it made me ridiculously happy to see it included, too.




-14 seconds into this video and I'm already almost crying with "and your dreams all fail" just being of tears falling out of Anakin's eyes.
-How it's all about the mentor, the saints we see, being Palpatine and falling away. "And the ones we hail are the worst of all". Even when it's obvious to everyone else, we've built up a level of trust that cannot be breached.
-"I want to hide the truth I want to shelter you." describes Anakin to a T. Again, this makes me go, "aww!" when it shouldn't.
-"Look into my eyes" is so important here with Anakin because his eyes change color. Which explains why I was so confused watching Clone Wars today because I didn't think his eyes were blue.
-"Don't wanna let you down, but I am hell bound" is basically the motto of anyone who thinks they can't be saved from the dark side.
-This is the level of phenomenal that I'm speechless. I love how the first verse is the prequels, the second is the originals, and the last is uniting the two.
-Luke lying on the ground with Anakin's flashback to Padme on the ground? I hadn't made that connection but I'm probably going to cry the next time I watch the movies. (I'm usually crying there already, but, you know. More so. And for new reasons! Yay!)
-This is the problem of having to go back to link them all because I start watching them all again...





-SHUT UP THE BUILD UP. That is all, folks.
-"Revolution I suppose" with the rebels, as you do.




-This one is so short. I want more. 
-I love how the lyrics match so perfectly to both. And especially because it's the duet you feel like they are both singing.




-I had to watch this one twice because it's so cool. This style of "edit" is fantastic and I eat it up like candy. It's an absolute vibe.
-...I'm a Billie fan if you can't tell. So of course I like it.
-Lining the first "when we all fall asleep where do we go" with Ben waking up is a great play on words.
-"Why aren't you scared of me? Why do you care for me?": The questions Rey and Ben are asking the whole trilogy.
-Keywords like glass and drown with corresponding visuals and sounds? It is the details like this that truly make a video shine.

 


-This cannot end like that!! Ah!! My heart is not prepared.
-But, talking about the other end, I love the beginning. I've been working a lot with sound overlays for the music and this is so well done for the intro.
-I'm a Twenty One Pilots fan all the way (If you couldn't tell from my Star Wars fan video using one of their songs...plugging myself...). I LOVE this song because it represents so many stories. Especially of morally grey characters or redemption arcs. It's the belief that you can't do anything else but be the person people have made you to to be, and then changed to realizing you create who you are.





star wars || enemy - by ms.mxrvelle


-The beats? This is the kind of fan video that resonates with my soul. Especially with the cloak shrugs. And with the light saber ignition.
-How it looks like Anakin's fighting himself with Vader? Dope.
-I think this song was my introduction to the other version of Enemy of just Imagine Dragons? Both are some of my favorite songs. Actually, so many of my favorite songs were introduced to me through fan videos...



I also want to throw a HUGE shout out to one of my favorite YouTube channels: Cinema Therapy. I have been wanting to talk about them here for SO LONG because their videos make my week. Alan and Jono are fabulous. Star Wars means the world to me, and I have opinions on it that are not shared with most of the world.  This is no surprise, because I've talked about how I relate to Luke Skywalker. It can be really depressing (guys, it put me into a spiral for a while) when people say my favorites are horrible and bad and all that jazz. So it has been so affirming and amazing to find Alan and Jono, because they appreciate it the way I do!

Especially, because they just released a video on Luke! Watch that HERE. That lines up so much with my post! It made me so happy and fulfilled and seen that I cried while watching it today. So thank you, my Cinema Therapy dads.

I also love their episode on Anakin Skywalker (I think this was the second video I watched on their channel? It was early on) and this is making me realize that I haven't finished the Leia one. It says I started it, but I don't really remember? That was at the end of last spring semester. Like, one of their first videos was about Rise of Skywalker. You don't know how happy that makes me.
They have the two on Kylo Ren, then.

Just check out all of their Star Wars videos HERE.


I made this for my friend today....


Okay, I'm done. What did you do to celebrate? What are some of your favorite Star Wars media? Art appreciation, you know?

God speed, rebels.


Chloe the MovieCritic
"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, where you stop your story." -Orson Welles