Vid Rec: I Don't Know

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Title: I Don’t Know
Music Title & Artist: I Don’t Know by Wax Tailor
Vidder: humansrsuperior
Pairing or Character: Ensemble
Verse: Sherlock BBC
Link: humansrsuperior’s LJ vid post

Reccer's Comments:
There are many fantastic vids for BBC Sherlock, but I find this one to be among the most unique, the most skillfully edited, the most richly layered, and the most rewarding to go back and watch multiple times because there’s always something new to catch. I admire the vidder for selecting a song that presents such challenges: the musicians overlaid their instruments and sound effects with a collection of repeating, seemingly random sound bytes – scraps of dialogue in different voices which do not combine coherently into any narrative. Yet the vidder has visually choreographed an incredible number of coherent story threads around these discontinuous lyrics, and in the process has encapsulated the ensemble feel of the entire series. Every image has a reason for being linked to the particular lyrics of the moment, and you can spend many happy coffee breaks trying to decipher all the connections.

Just a few examples: One of the repeating snippets of dialogue is the phrase “Do you think I had something to do with this?” The first time we hear it, the vidder layers in images of the drugs bust and the pink suitcase from A Study in Pink. The second time, it’s Sherlock drugging John at Baskerville, and the third time it’s the Reichenbach kidnapping.

In perhaps my favorite example of visual creativity, the vidder matches the phrase “one two three four” with these images: For the number one, there’s a quick shot of Mycroft swinging his umbrella up so that for a second it is positioned as a vertical line (1); for the number two there’s the superimposed countdown number from the Vermeer painting hostage situation; for number three there’s the image of Sherlock’s arm as he pulls up his sleeve to reveal three nicotine patches; and for number four there are the four white squares of Irene’s locked passcode.

This vid is a puzzlebox and a delight. If you enjoy it, go ahead and scroll all the way down the LJ page. humansrsuperior has placed convenient links to all their other Sherlock vids at the bottom, and they are all terrific and well worth watching.