Lost Video Island

[LVI Bot]

"Let Down" 07-18-2006
July 2006 contest submission
Song: Let Down by Radiohead
Vidder: cylune
Length: 3:50 (13.7 MB wmv)

Link(s): http://media.putfile.com/Let-Down-51
http://rapidshare.de/files/26210553/Let_DownBIG.wmv.html

[Polarbear]

Awesome character study of Charlie right there. You totally get where he is coming from. I loved the Claire/Lucy bits and the effects you used. Congrats on 2nd place!
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[Michelina]

Eeeeeeeee, cylune! Congratulations on second place, I TOLD you that you would do amazingly! How could you ever doubt it?

Seriously, woman. You already know how much I love this video; I gave you a rather fangirlish comment on your LJ, and I didn't really say all that I wanted to, so here is my long winded review, analyzing pretty much every second of your awesome vid, because it is just THAT GOOD.

The Subject: Charlie Pace. My personal favourite character, who happens to be the least favourite character of the majority of the rest of the fandom. It depresses me when I hear fans say that his flashbacks are a bore, simply because they are more character-driven.

You took a huge risk by choosing Charlie for the subject of your video - the main character of your vid, in a sense. You pulled out his flashbacks from under the rug where they've been collecting dust, and you basically said "You know what? This guy has a story, and it is REAL and downright TRAGIC. And believe it or not, but it connects to his story on the island."

In a way, this video reminded me of a quote that has been stated by Damon Lindelof on several occasions: that he likes to think of each character as having their own show, their own seperate story from everybody else, a story that makes them unique. For me, that definately stood out in this vid. All I was focused on was Charlie; although you used other characters to show the different parallels, Charlie was ALWAYS the prime focus. This was HIS story with HIS struggles, and you had me hooked all the way through. Which brings me to...


The Beginning: The subtitles drew me in immediately, even though you had insisted that you didn't like to use them. Personally, I think that they set up a great theme for the vid; Charlie's need to save someone, what happens when you care too much ... that Charlie is a co-dependent. That message would have been perfectly clear WITHOUT the subtitles, but honestly, I think the use of the subtitles was the perfect choice. You let us know what to expect in the video through TEXT, almost like a warning. And most of all, the connection that you chose to show between Flashback!Charlie and Island!Charlie was made apparent right away. You stayed true to your opening subtitles, all of the way up to the audio looping, where Radiohead took a break for a bit and you let us listen to Charlie instead.


The AUDIO: Amazing. As I said in my LJ review, that entire sequence with the voice overs was overwhelming! I didn't realize how many times the Charlie saving/caring for people theme had been actually voiced aloud in the show; and again, like I said, it felt like we were in his conscience as all of this pressure and struggle piled up on him, and he just waited to crack. I loved the concluding shot at the end of the music break, where you slowly faded inward to Charlie's haunted eyes. Brilliant.


Leading up to the Climax: Oh my God, you KILLED me here! As Radiohead began to faintly sing "Let down again...", and we saw everyone turning their backs on Charlie...walking away from Charlie...I mean, that was incredible. I can't decide if that or the voice overs were more overwhelming, but all I know is that it was damn GOOD. Again, the parallels there were just spectacular, oh my goodness. My heart ached for Charlie with each passing second. Just...wow.

THE Climax: This is where I totally lost it. *facepalm* I've never gotten too emotional over a vid before, but I definately got very teary-eyed here. I think it was when you started bringing in the colors and started zooming in to make a very precise connection between Charlie's past and the present (e.g with Liam, Megan, Charlie and then Claire, Aaron, and Charlie). That's where I was like "Okay...it's coming." Obviously, I didn't know what IT would be, but I had a fair assumption, which was Charlie's breaking point. And I turned out to be right; you showed him finally cracking, making all of his mistakes, drowning in his guilt as people turned away from him, disgusted...and as he became disgusted with himself. It was crazy; it was confusing, it was blurry, it was just a total artistic MESS, just like Charlie. And that was a really awesome effect; once again, I felt like I was in Charlie's conscience. Freaking' INCREDIBLE.


The Ending: I didn't want it to end, I really didn't. The rollercoaster ride you took us on in this vid was too good to let go of, but alas...you had to stop editing sometime, right? The end, in short, was fantastic. I mean, sure, the Hoodie By the Fire moment has been used several times as the concluding shot in many videos, but you did it differently! I loved how Charlie came in and out of focus as he pulled on his hood, as if the path ahead of him was a blurry mystery that even he was very much unsure of. I could practically feel all of the weight on his shoulders, and that's not just me being cheesy: it's your AWESOME editing skills and knowing exactly where to place everything and WHEN. *bows down to you*


The Song: Radiohead has to be the best band ever, at LEAST where Charlie is concerned. I know that Dom is a huge fan, and he would probably be speechless if he ever saw this video; it is PERFECTION. I can't imagine a more perfect song for Charlie Pace, at least for the co-dependant theme. You have a GREAT taste in music; in each of your past vids, you have chose a song meaningfully, and made it look as though the song was MADE for the story told in your vid. And Let Down was no exception. You and Radiohead are complete geniuses. GENIUSES, I tell you!



Overall: A jaw dropping video. Obviously, I might enjoy it more than others, since I am a major Charlie fan, but even an Anti-Charlie could see that this vid was flawless: editing wise, story wise, everything. I could have just said that in the very beginning, and could have skipped this long review, but I felt like everything above just had to be said. You deserve all of the praise in the book.

Kudos!
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[Hobbes]

I adore, adore, adore, a good character study, and this was an EXCELLENT one. I loved the angle you chose to look at Charlie: while almost every single other person in the world would focus on his drugs, and that's it, you chose to completely leave that out and go back to his even deeper side, with his need to try and protect, and get gratitude from someone.
I think this vid was one of the first to ever use titles that actually ADDED to the video instead of took away from it because that intro really helped to bring the viewer into the video and quickly understand what was happening (I particularly loved how you chose not to take Charlie's side in this, and portray him as a hero, with your "It's Unhealthy" comment or at least that's my interpretation of it lol). From there, the whole comparison of all the people in his life he has tried to take care of and help, and how they all turned back on him - marvelous. And the ending! That was so poetic! Poor Charlie, beaten and taken apart by the people he himself was trying to help... just a touching, touching video. You made me look at a side of Charlie I thought was invisible to everyone before this, and made it clear. And I adore you for it
This vid may have gotten Second in the flashback contest, but the vid itself is still a masterpiece. Tie in the fact that this song is amazingly tough to vid to (almost no discernable lyrics?! What?! ) and you should be very proud indeed!

I'm lookign forward to what you come up with next Cylune!

[marcus]

That was just amazing, Cyclune. I've seen that side of Charlie before, but never realised how much he shows it! He really is always trying to help, and always screwing it up too. If someone who didn't watch Lost were to see this vid, they would know exactly what Charlie was like, wouldn't even need to know he was an addict. The side you showed is much more important than his druggie side.

Not only did this make the flashbacks make much more sense, but it was brilliantly edited too. I loved that part with everyone walking away from him and the door slamming on Charlie, and the crazy colours and shaking towards the end had a great effect.
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It's official - Aislynn is 36. Add a 0 to the end of that and you've got a full circle.

[KajaM]

What can I say? It's all been said before...

Can I say dito to everything Michelina said? Well, apart from the "Charlie is my favourite character" part , but her review is just perfect and it totally sums up how I feel about the vid, too.

My favourite part is pretty much in the middle of the vid when you used the voice-overs. That was so touching and it made me feel very sorry for Charlie because it shows that he has to deal with so many problems and so much responsibilty.

Great, great work! Hope you'll be taking part in the August contest?
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[cylune]

Oh wow… I didn’t expect to get second place. Thanks so much!

Polarbear – thanks! I experimented a lot with the special effects at the end… basically did a bunch of random things without thinking too much in order to get a result that appeared messed up…

Michelina – Wow… that’s the best and most well written review for a vid I’ve ever seen… And it’s for me! You have my eternal gratitude. I like Charlie so much that I wanted to create something that would make people understand him better. Sure he’s done some bad things… but with the way people treated him, after all he’s done for them, his bad actions are a little more understandable. He’s not a bad person…. He’s got a good heart. It was so hard to see everyone walking away from him in Fire + Water… I was screaming: “Get him out, get him out of there!! He’s about to pass out!! Don’t let him drown!”

Oh, and thanks so much about the song comments. This one wasn’t that hard to choose as it’s my favorite song from Radiohead. The climax in that song gets me shivers every time.


Hobbes – When you have on the contest description, don’t take something obvious, like Charlie’s *drugs*, it’s kind of hard to do just that! Thanks so much! And you interpreted the “It’s unhealthy” comment just right. Before he can take care of others, he has to learn how to take care of himself first. If he hadn’t covered Liam about his drug use to his wife, then maybe Liam would have been clean a lot earlier…it’s was typical co-dependant behavior.

Marcus – My job is done if I made you understand Charlie a little better. You’re right; Charlie always wants to help, to feel useful. Got to love the little guy.

Kaja – Thanks so much. I’m really satisfied with how the voice over turned out. I was lucky there was a very quiet part in the song where I could insert them…. And I’ll try to do the recap vid but I haven’t started it yet… I haven’t got much free time lately. I hate being back at work!
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[Shankle]

Well...I don't do long reviews very well....so i'm going to have to use word choice to try and beat michelina.

It's as good as ten jedi apples
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*hearts* Aislynn, Kaja, Rachel and Steph
*Rips whatzit"

[Shankle]

No but seriously, You made it REALLY well. And the beginning was brilliant!! Also the like last quarter of it was lovely too, with the funky colours and double vision stuff. Not to say that the middle was at all bad, because that too was fantastic!
So to sum up, everything in this video rocked!!!!
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*hearts* Aislynn, Kaja, Rachel and Steph
*Rips whatzit"

[KajaM]

Oh hey... I don't wanna spam up your vid thread, but you're only 3 CPs away from entering the Hall of Fame! You rock!!
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[-x- Angelic -x-]

Oh My God that was brilliant! Loved the song and i loved how you captured charlie and the different sides ot him abd how people in his life have a huge effect on him. He's my favourite character so i enjoyed watchign this. I loved all the effects they were wicked!
Well done and congratulatioins on coming 2nd! You deserved it!

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Banner made by me!

[cylune]

mmmmm apples... I love apples. Thanks so much Ed!

Thanks Angelic! Charlie's my favorite characther also. Does it show?

[Luka]

Just incredible Cylune!
Charlie is one of my favourite characters (My top3: 1- Jack, 2- Charlie, 3 - Kate and Sayid, hee), and you made an excellent job running away from his drug-issues. Very impressive!
I am not exaggerating when I say that you are the best vid-editor here in LVI.
Congratulations!
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My Lj
No Jack = No Lost

[PsychoCynic]

Awesome job on this!

At first, I wasn't too sure about the song you used. I didn't really know where you wanted to go with it, but when I heard the lyric "I'm going to grow wings," it made PERFECT sense. Charlie wants to grow wings so he can save even more of his loved ones (like Superman or a superhero of the sort). Wonderful anology. I loved the effects you used toward the end of the vid, but the best part for me were the voiceovers. You NAILED that right on the head.

Nice work, again!
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[Aislynn]

Wow, that has got to be one of the most dead-on Charlie vids I think I've ever seen. You really just summed his character up so well! I agree with what Warren said that it was SO cool to see you go deeper than just "Charlie is a drug addict" and leave it at that. You really went for the heart of the matter and you pulled it off so well!

I also loved the voice-over section. The audio and video clips were so well chosen, just amazingly done! You had perfect control of everything all of the way through from start to finish! And this is a great example of how multiple, dramatic effects can be used without looking like a random mish-mash. Everything came together and just supported the story and the feel so beautifully!

Congrats on a well-deserved award!