[vid] Hospital Beds - Generation Kill - Vividcon Non-Attending Premiere

[krickets]

title: Hospital Beds
song; artist: hosptial beds; cold war kids
length: 3:56
fandom: generation kill
description: Once more into the great good night. Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war. [Ensemble vid.]
warnings: spoilers for the entire miniseries
download links: ~24.5Mbs, MP4 [Right-click and save-as.]

If this doesn't work for you, please view at vimeo. [ Password: silentcricket ]


Hospital Beds is really more of an ensemble piece that just serves to highlight some of the best parts of this miniseries. But I thought I'd talk a little bit about why I picked this song.

Generation Kill was not all about the horrors of war, although it definitely has its fair share of that. For me, it was more of a story about the connections soldiers marines make in that kind of environment and the way that they have to disarm themselves with good humor and friendship in order to escape from what they're going through -- whether that be a lack of belief in the conflict itself, the realities of what that conflict means on the ground, the mistakes they might make, the physical discomfort they have to endure day in and day out, the boredom that comes from the endless waiting for something (anything) to happen, and often a general distrust of their less-than-competent superiors (the very people they're supposed to be able to trust). It's about the weird, dysfunctional, pseudo-family they create in order to escape, the way they take care of each other even if it's in a hyper-masculine sort of way, and the dichotomy of emotions that they experience in each others stead. For obvious reasons, there are several passages in this song that convey those relationships, and those feelings of, well... joy and misery.

(Wow, that was even cheesier than I thought it was going to be.)

A word on the boring post-vidding technical stuff: So this is the first time I've ever vidded anything that was going to premiere at a vidshow before premiering online. Apart from being super nervous about this fact, I was also completely clueless about the difference between a web-ready vid and a show-ready vid. Any vids of mine that have played in shows have already been web-ready, and I was used to dealing with the show-ready stuff afterward. So that was a bit of an embarrassing learning experience. As for the size/quality of the download? It's not what I hoped it would be. I could not get a blemish-free AVI to render in Sony Vegas. Something to do with codecs, maybe? Eventually I just had to give up on perfection and abandon the whole AVI idea altogether. Which is funny and very unlike me, because I'm usually so stubborn about technical problems. I always find a way. (And if I can't, I find another way.) But as it turns out, even my stubbornness has its limits. I still did my job, vidding-wise, so I'm happy either way. And that's a little bit of a win right there.

Thank you so much to the fabulous milly for beta watching. And to gigglemonster and slybrunette for all of the support.


there's nothing to do here, some just whine and complain
in bed at the hospital
comin' and goin', asleep and awake
in bed at the hospital

tell me the story of how you ended up here
i've heard it all in the hospital
nurses are fussing, doctor's on tour
somewhere in india

i got one friend layin' across from me
i did not choose him, he did not choose me
we got no chance of recovery
sharing hospital joy and misery
the joy and misery
the joy and misery

put out the fire boys, don't stop, don't stop
put out the fire on us
bring your buckets by the dozen, bring your nieces and your cousins
come put out the fire on us

vietnam, fishing trips, italian opera
vietnam, fishing trips, italian opera

i got one friend layin' across from me
i did not choose him, he did not choose me
we got no chance of recovery
sharing hospital joy and misery
the joy and misery
the joy and misery
the joy, the joy, the joy
misery

put out the fire boys, don't stop, don't stop
put out the fire on us
bring your buckets by the dozens, bring your nieces and your cousin
come put out the fire on us

Enjoy!

Comments

[workswithwords.livejournal.com]

THIS IS AWESOMEEEEEEEEE! It totally makes me want to rewatch it again!!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Always a good plan, no matter what. Haha. Thank you dear!

[alethialia.livejournal.com]

Oh, lovely. I particularly liked all the moments you highlighted with the lyrics "i got one friend layin' across from me" - Brad-Ray, Poke-Wright, Rudy-Pappy, etc. This so wonderfully lays out the dynamics among the guys and why we love them so. Well done. And thanks so much for sharing!

[oxoniensis.livejournal.com]

I think what I loved so much about this was that it made me feel so much. All that joy and misery. Wonderful!

[iwillrememberu.livejournal.com]

Wonderfully done! You managed to capture the camaraderie and the misery of this war and make it a very homogeneous vid. That's the spirit of GK, right there.

[pommederis.livejournal.com]

This was very cool. I really liked the moments you captured and the rhythm of the piece. Thanks for sharing, I for one really enjoyed it!

[be-cum.livejournal.com]

Wow, for the first time it's really very good! I didn't understand the plot and some muisc's lyrics because of my English-language retardeness, but anyway! This is really very good.
1. Try to render in *.wmv, it has better quality
2. Pacing and timing? Seems that you need to speed up a video a little bit, but it's just IMHO.
It's a good video anyway! Thank you for sharing <3

[luzula]

Oh my god. I think this is my favorite GK vid ever. I loved the way you focused on details in the beginning, and then expanded to encompass all of them. And there's just something about the shots you use and the motion of them that made me see it all in a new way.

[timewithers.livejournal.com]

Awesome video! You've officially introduced me to both Cold War Kids and Generation Kill the later of which I'm definitely going to try to find a copy to rent somewhere!

[nigeltde]

this is really great! loved the sense of momentum and the connection between the guys. Great work!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I think that was the lyric that kept making me want to vid this show to this song. It always made me think of these guys. Thank you so much for watching!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Well thank you so much for saying so! Also, thank you so much for the caps! I used them for my vid graphic!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

I love that theme in the show and I'm glad you think I captured it here! Much appreciated!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! :)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Well I'm not sure it has a plot. It's more of an ensemble piece that just highlights the show and its characters in a very general way. So I don't think that the language barrier is hurting you much there, hahah!

Thank you very much for your feedback! I appreciate it! Thanks for watching. ;)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Hee! That makes me super happy to hear!

I haven't seen many GK vids, but I get the feeling they're kind of hard to find? (At least ensemble pieces, which is generally what I look for.) I'm going to have to go scour the internet and find some more! If you have any other favorites I'd love to know about them!

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh yay! I really love introducing people to new things. I would definitely recommending checking out Generation Kill. (If you have HBOGo with your cable package, you can watch for free online.) It's fantastic. (And it's only 7 episodes, so it's a short commitment.)

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!

[amoama.livejournal.com]

Oh so gorgeous! This captured so many things about the series that I love. <333

[a-slow-descent.livejournal.com]

Loooove it!!

I've always loved this song and of course GK makes it that much better.

I think my fave part is with Ray's emo moment. Great juxtaposition with lyrics in that part of the song (omg I used a big word on teh internets).

Totally saving, thanks for giving us a dl link :D

[oviedo.livejournal.com]

So great! I think the beginning is my favourite part, how you first focused on little details to build anticipation and only then we get to see their faces. Ugh now I want to watch GK :D

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you! I'm glad.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Thanks for liking it enough to download it! Haha. Also, yay for big word usage! This was very much a culmination of things I am madly in love with. This song. This show. Boom.

[crickets.livejournal.com]

Oh you must! Because... Their faces!

[dlasta.livejournal.com]

Great vid, thanks.:)