Club Vivid 2014 premiere, "Fembots" (Multifandom)

[grammarwoman]

Title: Fembots
Fandom: Multifandom (68 sources!)
Music: "Fembot" by Robyn
Vid Download Links: 3:12, 61 MB here at Sendspace

Watch here or at the AO3 link.

Summary: The intersection of women and technology on a spectrum of clones, gynoids, AIs, cyborgs, and other artificial creations.

Premiered at Club Vivid, 2014.

Notes: When I heard Robyn's "Fembot" song for the first time, I went searching on YouTube and other places for a vid to this song, and found only concert footage, fannish lipsynchs, and moody lyric pieces. None of those were scratching the itch in my brain for a fembotic version of Starships, so when the call went out for Club Vivid, the idea to document an overview of fembots in media jumped up and said "ME ME ME!".

This vid kind of ate my brain, to be perfectly honest. I had a pretty open interpretation of what constituted a fembot: basically, any feminine figure that incorporated technology in a significant way. But this meant that the technology actually had to be demonstrated, which eliminated a lot of early "Twilight Zone" and "Outer Limits" types of entries that talked a good talk ("She's a Robot!") but never showed anything (alas, miniscule budgeting). I watched so many bad (baaaaaaad) movies trying to catch a glimpse of usable footage. I scrolled through tons of TvTropes pages and IMDB lists for ideas. I checked out a ridiculous stack of DVDs from the library several times a week, learning in the process that they had a 20 disc limit. Oops! I even settled for some crappy footage downloads from YouTube.

I clipped at work, surreptitiously watching things in fast forward. I dragged my work laptop home every night and set up camp on the kitchen next to my vidding laptop, feeling like I was splitting my brain down the middle. I think the final edit had 64 sources, and I'm terribly sorry if I left off your favorites. I was rendering right up to the deadline, but I got it entered, even as I cursed the flaws I had to let go. Judging from the enthusiastic response at Club Vivid, people didn't seem to mind.

A huge thank you goes out to kass and jetpack_monkey for talking me down from a vidding ledge and pushing me to finish, as well as providing additional ideas and sources, and to the Club Vivid submission extension that made it possible for me to enter the original version of this on time, wacky sizing and all. Trust me, this version is much prettier (and has "Pacific Rim" footage!).


Password is fembots

Fembots (Multifandom) from Grammar Woman on Vimeo.

Lyrics:

I've got some news for you
Fembots have feelings too
You split my heart in two
Now what you gonna do?

Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back
I'm hi-tech, baby

Fresh out the box the latest model
Generator running on full throttle
Can I get a fuel up? Hit the bottle
(Reboot)

I got a lotta automatic booty applications
Got a CPU maxed out sensation
Looking for a joy to man my station
(Reboot)
Rock the nation
(Rock it, baby)

I've got some news for you
Fembots have feelings too
You split my heart in two
Now what you gonna do?
(Jag lskar dig)

My system's in mint condition
The power's up on my transistors
Working fine, no glitches
Plug me in and flip some switches

Pull up in dragging position
Pop the hatch and hit ignition
Burn out, baby
Ready for demolition

Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back

My super brain's are binary
Circuitry and mainframe tens-filled here
I'm sipping propane topped with a cherry
(Reboot)
In fact I'm a very scientifically advanced hot mama
Artificially discreet, no drama
Digitally chic titanium mama
(Reboot)

Ring the alarm-a

I've got some news for you
Fembots have feelings too
(You know)
You split my heart in two
Now what you gonna do?
(Here we go)

My system's in mint condition
The power's up on my transistors
Working fine, no glitches
Plug me in and flip some switches

Pull up in dragging position
Pop the hatch and hit ignition
Burn out, baby
Ready for demolition

Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back
Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back

Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back
Once you gone tech
You ain't never going back

Once you gone tech you never ever going back
I got an inter access code upon the back of my neck
Initiating slut mode of space cadets and dexters
A calculator in my pocket, got you all in check

My system's in mint condition
The power's up on my transistors
Working fine, no glitches
Plug me in and flip some switches

Pull up in dragging position
Pop the hatch and hit ignition
Burn out, baby
Ready for demolition

My system's in mint condition
The power's up on my transistors
Working fine, no glitches
Plug me in and flip some switches

Pull up in dragging position
Pop the hatch and hit ignition
Burn out, baby
Ready for demolition

Comments

[dodificus]

This was cool and a lot of fun to watch!

[grammarwoman]

Thank you! That's what I wanted to express, so I'm glad it came across. :)

[dodificus]

I was afraid there was some underlying message and you'd roll your eyes at me for calling it fun:D

[grammarwoman]

Trust me, this is the last place you'd get judged for what you get out of a vid - I'm pleased that you commented! Plus, I really was thinking "Fembots are cool!" :)

[kass]

I love this vid so much. I love the diversity of source, I love the feminism, I love its dance-ability -- basically I just adore it. <3

[grammarwoman]

And I love that it's on your treadmill mix. :D Thank you for all the motivating squee; it really helped me reach the finish line for this.

[giandujakiss]

Oh my god, this is fantastic! Amazing song choice and the variety of sources was just awe-inspiring!

[grammarwoman]

:D Eeee, thank you so much! I am pretty proud of myself and the results.

[sanj]

I love this vid and kind of want to hug it.

It was so great to meet you this weekend!!

[grammarwoman]

:) I think some parts of this vid would respond much better than others to a hug, so watch out. (Hee! Now I'm picturing the red/yellow/green hug stickers plastered all over this vid.)

I had an absolute faboo time hanging out with you this weekend. Thanks for letting me crash your gatherings so often!

[ide_cyan]

Awesome vid!

[grammarwoman]

Thank you!

[deirdre_c]

Here via giandujakiss and I'm so excited she pointed me in its direction! Fabulous use of diverse sources and such great flow between the clips and the danceability, THE DANCEABILITY, MAN! Such dancealiciousness.

You made my night with this!

[grammarwoman]

I am so chuffed, both at getting a rec and that you enjoyed the vid! It makes me very happy to rate such a lovely comment, especially a ranking of "dancealiciousness". *swoon* :D

[china_shop]

Wow, this is awesome! *applauds*

[grammarwoman]

:D Thank you! That is very appreciated.

[ironed_orchid]

Thisis wonderful, so many sources, combined so beautifully.

[grammarwoman]

Thank you so much! I may have gone a little overboard, but there were all these wonderful examples that needed to be included. :)

[jetpack_monkey]

This vid just makes me RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY. Like, I don't even have words. I just have binary. ...no, no I don't, that would be terrible. But you get what I mean. I think. I hope.

THIS VID. *flails*

[grammarwoman]

*FLAILS* Go ahead, be terrible - I can take it. :D

I am ecstatic that you and so many other people have found such joy in this vid! I mean, these ladies are AWESOME and HAVE FEELINGS and AGENCY and...Yeah. THIS VID. \o/

[raven]

This is super-cool. Love particularly the use you made of the TARDIS and Replicarter. :)

[grammarwoman]

Thank you! :D

Those two were on my MUST HAVE list. I kept muttering to myself "Where am I going to put RepliCarter?" as I put this together.

[zahrawithaz.livejournal.com]

Here on giandujakiss's rec.

This is beautiful. I love the diversity of sources, and after all the sexualized fembots it made my day to see Ida from the Middleman up there!

[grammarwoman]

Thank you!

I totally had to include Ida. Cranky alien robots have feelings, too. :)

I tried to include a wide range of characters, so I'm really glad that worked for you.

[opusculasedfera]

This is fantastic! Really fun and your variety of sources is amazing!

[grammarwoman]

Thanks! I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it. :)

[chaila]

Well that was clever and a ton of fun!

[grammarwoman]

:) Thanks for letting me know you liked it!

[ghanimasun]

I really enjoyed this vid a lot! I loved the variety of sources you used, I wouldn't have thought to put some of them in there but they all fit well!

[grammarwoman]

Thank you so much for watching and commenting! I must admit, I did put some obscure ones in as well as favorites of mine that kinda stretched the definition, so I'm happy to hear that it worked for you.

[ghost_lingering]

OMG, this is amazing and SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! I love it!

[grammarwoman]

:D :D :D Yay, thank you for watching and commenting! (And glad to read on the other side that I caught your favorites.)

[goodbyebird]

Such a fun vid! :D

[grammarwoman]

Thank you! :)

[shallowness]

Really, really interesting to see an overview of fembots recontextualised by song and the depiction of other characters over the years.

[grammarwoman]

Thank you so much! I commented elsewhere that after making this vid, I felt like I could write a dissertation on how fembots have been utilized in media over the years. I hoped to show them with autonomy and power over their lives, even (and especially) if they didn't have that in their source material.

[futuransky]

Hi! I really love this vid. I've been watching it a lot since I watched on AO3, but I hadn't read the and had been thinking about how it reminds me of Starships! – it makes me happy to see that was what you were going for! I'm about to send you a private message about it too.

[grammarwoman]

:) This comment has put such a big smile on my face - thank you! I love hearing that you've watched it multiple times, and that it reminds you of the fantastic Starships; it makes me feel like I made something really worthwhile. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

[jainas]

This is a great vid! <3

[grammarwoman]

Thank you very much! :)

[stardreamer]

Here via a rec in the fancake community. This is a great vid! I saw a lot of things I recognized, some I didn't, and some terrific editing work. Funny how many TOS plots featured some type of artificial woman...

[grammarwoman]

I could have done almost the entire vid with Star Trek, Doctor Who, and Stargate, but I thought I should spread out the love. :)

Thank you so much for watching and commenting!