Gift for nicole-anell by obsessive24 (Mad Men)

[fv_poster]

Title of vid: Smoke and Mirrors
Recipient: nicole-anell
Vidder: obsessive24
Fandom: Mad Men
Music: Smoke and Mirrors by Gotye
Summary: A temporary bandage on a permanent wound.
Content notes: I prefer not to give content notes (viewer proceeds at their own risk: could be anything)
Signed length: 03:38

Link to signed vid post.

Lyrics
http://www.metrolyrics.com/smoke-and-mirrors-lyrics-gotye.html

Comments

[gorgeousnerd]

WOW HOLY CRAP THAT WAS AMAZING. I feel like I could write an entire book's worth of essays on all the themes you covered in here: all of the hypocrisies, the dualities and mirroring (the build-up to the hangings at the end gave me chills), the way the men depend the women to give them something they can't be responsible for. And the song! I honestly thought the title was going to refer to the episode, so that's another duality that was skillfully done.

TL;DR - wonderful job!

[goodbyebird]

Rock solid narrative here, really effective build-up. Definitely coming back to snag ♥

[zulu]

Ooooh, I like this, anonyvidder! Wonderful juxtapositions, terrific song choice--the repetitions of "mother" on all those caretaking (or stuffed into caretaking roles) women was especially powerful. And I loved how dark it got at the end, so we knew that these are bad choices by dissipated men. Really awesome.

[marina]

Yes! The "mother" section was perhaps my favorite part, it was such a perfect upping of the stakes in the vid, right before the crescendo.

[skywaterblue]

Wow. Holy shit. On the one hand, I knew a lot of these parallels and interplays were in there - it would be hard to forget Don's brother's suicide in s1 and how that interplays with Lane's death in the most recent season. But wow, way to visually tie it together with lyrics. That section hit me like a brick in the gut.

Rewatching: this beat has a great period feel for this show. "It's a shame to throw it all away," I feel like that whole sequence really captures Don's ambivalence about his family. And I really like the way you've tied Megan and Betty in with the black/white Marilyn/Jackie ad, and the comparisons between Don and Pete's suburban houses.

My favorite of Festivids.

[cupidsbow]

So gorgeous. I love the mannered cutting you've used for the majority of the vid, it really evokes the era and makes the chaos of the climax so much more effective.

[littleheaven]

I've never seen the show, but nonetheless this was a really impactful vid. I loved the way the tension was slowly ramped up and spiralled in towards the end. I also especially liked the little bits that flickered back and forth between two clips to echo what the music was doing.

[lithiumdoll]

WOW. Just. WOW. Holy crap, vidder, how even?! That's amazing and, yeesh. I've never even seen the show and I'm *HANDS*

[blithers.livejournal.com]

AMAZING. Just... amazing.

[tabaqui]

Absolutely brilliant, really. I loved all the smoke-and-mirror lives, all the things that looked this way but were actually *that* way, the perfect veneer (Betty in the Coke add) and the true, grimy underneath of raw emotions and bruised lives....

Really just incredible.

[petra]

This is gorgeous and makes my heart hurt like canon on fast-forward, with all the great themes of pain and self-inflicted wounds underlined.

[felis]

This fits the show perfectly. The ending is especially brilliant, it just had to go there. Great job.

[laurashapiro]

That was stunning. I don't know the show at all but I was enthralled. Terrific song choice, wow, and such deft cutting. Great musicality, and I'm so impressed with all the themes you brought to the surface. Terrific work.

[frayadjacent]

What a beautiful vid. I love the combination of pity for and critique of these very messed up dudes.

Smoke and Mirrors

[yourlibrarian]

OMG, utterly brilliant look at the series. The comparison of the women was just eye opening.

[ghost_lingering]

Oh, interesting! This vid is great at both eliciting sympathy for the men while also criticizing and critiquing their choices. Very cool.

[schiarire]

This is great, such a thoughtful vid. The connections you've drawn are really resonant. :)

[fan_eunice]

Wow. This is just *incredible*.

[franzeska]

I love the part on 'fraud'.

[gnattery]

Oh wow, I was holding my breath through so much of this vid, especially the ending. So many connections in this show, so many parallels, visually and otherwise. This was fantastic, and the music was perfect.

[alizarin_nyc]

Amazing. Well done!

Three men.
Three lives.
And the walls come tumbling down.

Thanks for such wonderful artistic insight.

[verity]

What gorgeous editing. I really love this.

[sistermagpie]

Wow--someone just recommended this to me and it's really fantastic. And I know after only one viewing I'm just skimming the surface.

[recrudescence]

WHAT IS THIS SORCERY.

[echan]

I loved so much about this vid, I've never seen the source and I'm sure I missed so much but what I saw was brilliant. All the first verse with the life that's both a house of cards and a hoard of gold, "anyone would do the same" to keep it; the slide carousel of family photos, as though all the family moments are light and smoke and nothing solid. The younger dude emulated his elders, ironically looking for 'reassurance' when everything's actually hollow. The coat drop on the musical trill at 1:52 was an amazing touch, inspired. The way everything falls apart, it was fascinating to see, and all the dualities that were the fault lines. Brilliant all over, this vid, very impressive!