Whedonesque : Comments on 7659 : Session 22

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[ edited by theonetruebix on 2005-08-25 12:43 ]

theonetruebix | August 25, 14:41 CET

Man.

"fun"? Oh, no. Joss is tearing out the heartstrings with these sessions. Knowing how doomed she is, makes this early session hard to digest in the morning.

Gah. If this is any indication, SERENITY won't be serene at all.

asim | August 25, 15:30 CET

These just rip my heart out. But I can't stop wanting more.

mnspnr | August 25, 15:48 CET

These are breaking my heart. But, asim? They are not in anyway directly related to 'Serenity', they are prequel to the TV show. So they are just background information for both 'Firefly' and 'Serenity'. Tragic terrible back story. (sob)

embers | August 25, 15:50 CET

And already she is using military terminology. It is so well done. You can see the intelligence even behind the pain.
wow.

Lioness | August 25, 16:06 CET

Something tragically cool for the fans...something intriguing for newbies. I'll be interested to see how these play out (in the marketplace).

Shakespeare | August 25, 16:07 CET

Boy, Summer nailed this one. Now I have to go back and watch the others again.

Trust Joss to give her more complete backstory this way instead of expanding the torture scene flashes we have seen in the past. The other is horrible but this is heart breaking and horrifying at a whole other level. I truly tears your heart out.

...Joss is truly creepy in this one too.

newcj | August 25, 16:11 CET

hearbreaking.
To people who can't play quicktime videos: converted into WMV session 22.wmv

Mr Universe | August 25, 16:15 CET

Summer did nail this one! Dear god in heaven, that's heart-breaking! There's this look she gets in her eyes right after she says "you comforted her", as if she saw something else, and I thought she was going to say something really horrible, but she didn't. But that look was there, and it's a look that says she sees way too much.

Oh god. This is so disturbing, but so good!

[ edited by electricspacegirl on 2005-08-25 15:36 ]

electricspacegirl | August 25, 16:56 CET

I'm really curious to see the first excerpt of Session 416. I have a feeling we'll see why what happens to our White Coated Friend does.

[ edited by TVsBrent on 2005-08-25 15:01 ]

TVsBrent | August 25, 17:00 CET

Summer was amazing in this one, I felt Joss was creepy, but a bit off. His performance in the last one was very understated and well delivered, though, not ragging on the man. Excellent stuff :)

zeitgeist | August 25, 17:14 CET

Oh man, that is just incredible!! Summer, her acting...this seems way too good for viral marketing.
Summer, if your reading this, I am sooo very impressed with your reactions and just how fine you are becoming at your art. I'm also looking forward to the many many movies you will make in the future. Kudos! Keep smiling ;)

nixygirl | August 25, 17:15 CET

Lioness, what military terms did she use? I'm sure I heard it, but being woefully ignorant of any military anything I didn't recognize it as such.

Wow, this one I think is the most heart renching clip to date. :'( So, am I getting this right? Did River actually sign up for the program of her own free will? Because that would be...wow. Do you think she knew what it was when she signed up?

Oh and, hi all! This is my very first post here. :)

MyOrangeHat | August 25, 17:20 CET

I agree, nixygirl. Summer shines in this role. Joss is right, she was born to play River. I can't wait to see what she'll do next. After Serenity, I bet she'll have a lot of interesting offers to choose from.

Joss and Summer were asked about these clips on the Empire Online chat, and the following was posted at Session 416:

On August 25, Empire Online held a chat with Joss, Nathan, Summer, and Morena. Several questions were asked about the RIver Tam Sessions, and those exchanges and remarks are included here.

*

Trienco: The River session videos. How official are they, as Universal still denies knowledge. Are they just playing along or is it handled by someone else?

Summer: Trienco, I don't know...

Joss: Trienco, I also deny knowledge of those things that I wrote and shot and am in.
*

SimonWho: Summer, was it fun stabbing Joss in the throat with a pen?

Summer: Always a good laugh!
*

Joss: beingrad, dance of joy was fun, though I hope never to be asked to do it again. But at the end of the day, what's more fun than being stabbed in the throat with a pen by Summer? About which I know nothing, and deny any involvement.
*

Pete: Joss - when did you come up with the idea for the River Session videos. And when did you and summer get round to filming them?

(This went unanswered, as the chat had just ended.)

electricspacegirl | August 25, 17:21 CET

These are so neat. I mean, River before she was River is heart-breaking to watch. These kind of remind me of the video of the slayer Dana in the episode of Angel "Damage."

MySerenity | August 25, 17:42 CET

Oh and, hi all! This is my very first post here. :)

Welcome aboard, MyOrangeHat :)

zeitgeist | August 25, 17:46 CET

These kind of remind me of the video of the slayer Dana in the episode of Angel "Damage."

You know, I thought the exact thing when I saw the first clip. I thought it reminded me so much of Dana. I was saying to myself that Summer would have been great as Dana. Of course, Navi did an excellent job in that role too.

[ edited by electricspacegirl on 2005-08-25 16:01 ]

electricspacegirl | August 25, 17:54 CET

River! :(

Christopher | August 25, 17:56 CET

I haven't been able to actually listen to the latest two clips, since I'm at the office (and keep forgetting to bring in headphones, damn it!), and this one has me teary, and I don't even know what is being said!!!

That girl is good.

leenah | August 25, 18:21 CET

That is heartbreaking.
But this whole thing is just so freaking cool. I love it!

evilhandissues | August 25, 19:55 CET

These clips? Some of the best work Joss has ever done, they are mini masterpieces.

Simon | August 25, 21:24 CET

You're not kidding. It's too bad these short films aren't part of the official movie website, but that didn't stop us from finding them, thanks to iFilm starting us off. I can just way the order of the short films is interesting. Normally, we'd start with the second clip, which is River's first interview. But the current order of the films is still intriguing. It's a lock these short films will be in the DVD release.

impalergeneral | August 25, 21:53 CET

It's a lock these short films will be in the DVD release.

God I hope so. I'm keeping copies of the OurMedia versions on my HD just in case.
This one was the most emotionally affecting yet. Session 416 just scared the shit out of me, and Session 1 was rather boring. This one was like Hamlet right before Ophelia lost her marbles.

CG-Realms | August 25, 22:15 CET

OK... OT for a second.
I posted this a few hours ago on another thread but it's gone down out of site now, and I thought it was something some fo you may want to see. So I'm re-posting it here.

I have some nice video from a friend from another board, who was at the Q&A at the Prem. Her name is Tigerlily from the Spaced-Out forum.
The vids are in AVI, and she's quite close...
Dance of Joy (9 mbs)
The Man they call Jayne (4 mbs)
right click, save target as.

[ edited by nixygirl on 2005-08-25 20:20 ]

nixygirl | August 25, 22:19 CET

I love how each session can stand alone from the others but also from what’s to come. Taken together, they're amazing. Summer is stunningly pure in her acting here. I don’t know how much of it comes from being directed by Joss and saying his words, but she makes such interesting choices you can’t look away. “Would I still be allowed to dance?” Ohhh, just beautiful.

[ edited by bloodflowers on 2005-08-25 20:48 ]

bloodflowers | August 25, 22:41 CET

Session 1 was rather boring

Oh yikes, are you kidding? The tension in Session 1, since from the series we know what eventually is done to River there, is immense, and the final line utterly heart-breaking.

theonetruebix | August 25, 23:07 CET

FYI, the viral campaign got a mention on an MSNBC blog:

It's hard to imagine that something with as devoted an online following as Joss Whedon's Serenity would need an online viral marketing campaign, but this video is apparently just that and has sparked the launch of the Session 416 site which has gathered other pieces of the viral puzzle here. I mention this because I hate running into bits and pieces of a viral campaign and not knowing what's going on (which is actually probably the point of viral marketing), so in case you're doing the same, there it is.

theonetruebix | August 26, 00:07 CET

I don't know if anybody else caught it, I didn't hear it until the second time, but there's something River says in 22 that has a direction connection with something that happens in the movie. I don't want to say anything else, for fear of spoiling anybody, I just want to know if anybody else heard it.

Serefina716 | August 26, 01:07 CET

My Orange Hat, the military terminology is just when she requests a transfer. I just got finished reading all my mother's papers as a Naval Officer in WWII and she requested a transfer a couple of times. Yeah, you can transfer from one school to another but this sounded much more formal to me.

Lioness | August 26, 01:31 CET

serefina716- I definitely caught it. At least, I'm pretty sure we're thinking about the same thing.

spoiler for the movie: River mentions being given pax. How interesting.

lalaa | August 26, 01:50 CET

lalaa, all I heard was her mention it, not assert some direct connection to it.

theonetruebix | August 26, 03:56 CET

I didn't get the connection either. I thought she was talking about something else. I just watched the clip again, and now I understand better the event she described to him. Awesome.

Can we get a River spin-off series?

electricspacegirl | August 26, 04:42 CET

Something else from the movie: The interviewer guy mentions a Dr. Matthias, who is the doctor at the beginning of Serenity.

lalaa | August 26, 05:39 CET

This one was like Hamlet right before Ophelia lost her marbles.

This is so true. She would make a stunning Ophelia. Just as Morena would make a stunning Juliet. But Summer as the mad girl would be perfect. She would break my heart.

... as River, she does break my heart. This clip is tragically beautiful -- from the catch in her voice to the naked vulnerability in her eyes, I love it.

dottikin | August 26, 17:11 CET

August 25 2005