I didn't expect the mainly "Eggads! Make it STOP!" reaction to the vid "Deep Kick" (from the movie 15) would have the legs to
still be a topic of conversation in fandom almost a week after it was shown in Escapade. It was a weird vid show this year, shorter than usual, and even less happy than 2007, which has been described as dark. 2006 was excellent BTW, or at least that was my reaction, with funnier, happier vids shown. This year included "15" by
absolutedestiny, and it's the most disturbing vid I've seen of the 3 vid shows I've attended.
I believe I'm not the right audience for this vid. My own tastes stretch into what I think of as "disturbing content LITE." I love Cronenberg, Lynch and Fincher, and if I'm in the right mood I'll watch something like "The Audition," but not "Irreversible." Just, no way.
I haven't seen the movie "15", but I'd seen the vid before the con. It was recced, maybe by
slodwick or
laurashapiro??? Someone in my flist. Oh, I can't remember now.
My reaction was sort of "meh" when I downloaded it, even if it was filled with beautiful, striking images. It has teenage boys inflicting a lot (or what seemed like a lot) of self harm and it's all sort of right in the face of the viewer. The vid itself is very long, or just felt long, around 5-6 minutes. My main thing, the reason I didn't keep it in my vid folder, is that I didn't feel connected to the characters. So, I didn't care that they were cutting/piercing/punching themselves, even if done in glorious saturated colors.
I watched it online and forgot about it, until I realized I was watching it again at the con, but this time with exactly the wrong crowd to sit through all that goriness. I kind of had an attack of nervous laughter, as there were shouts of "OMG! What IS THIS?!" and "Ewwwwwwww!!!". People were covering their eyes, waiting for it to be over.
So yeah, I just went through my flists and people are still talking about it. For good or ill I know I'll remember this vidder's LJ name for a while.
ETA: Whoa! I just watched 2 of his
other vids that were new to me, Rodeohead and Revenge. I had seen the excellent (and from what I remember controversial) Gold Digger before, but Revenge in particular is amazing. Rodeohead was more like sweet nostalgia (yeah, even with that kind of editing), combining my love of Firefly and Radiohead and weirdness.