Still Life: The Recap Project - Introduction

[feliciakw]

Dateline June 5: Because I am married to the most fantastic man in the world to whom I am not related by blood, I will have the rare pleasure of screening seven episodes (the pilot plus six eps) of a show called Still Life. It is a family drama that was to air on FOX, written by Kip Koenig and Marti Nixon, directed by Michael Lange, and starring some kid named Jensen Ackles.

I received a call from Wonderful Enabler Husband today, who told me, "I now have seven beta-cam tapes sitting on my desk."

Being married to this guy? Who works with a bunch of geeks? Is not without its perks.



So today (June 26, for those keeping score) I went to the National Audio/Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC). This is where the Library of Congress houses all their films, videos, recorded sound, and (I think) still photography. It's the new facility located in Culpeper, Virginia, and the reason I now reside in Culpeper. Geo works in the Moving Image division.

I had every intention today of starting my recap project. I thought Jensen Ackles fans who have not had the opportunity to see the series might like to know what was in those eps that never aired (the pilot is available on YouTube in four parts). But you know? This is going to be a daunting project. I have no idea how recappers get their recaps up within 24 hours of a show airing. I'm planning on watching the show once for enjoyment and once to take notes. And I can be a very thorough note-taker. So this could take a while. I hope to post one recap per week, but we'll see how that goes.

For those who are curious, these are the beta-cam copies that were submitted for copyright. I sign in to the Center as a visitor doing research. (In exchange for watching these, my hubby has requested that I write up a synopsis of each ep that the LoC can then include in their catalog entry of the item, as these have not yet been entered into the system.) To my knowledge, I will be the only person outside of the production crew to have seen these eps. I informed Geo that fans can be very resourceful, and it's entirely possible that a fan club might have gotten a hold of these. Still, it's kinda cool watching these tapes that have never been viewed since submission for copyright.

Today I watched for pleasure. Monday I'm heading back for the note-taking session. I'm also requesting a better monitor in a more private location. Today's set-up was sort of improvised. The monitor is ancient, and the location was more central to the office than I would have liked. (A couple of Geo's co-workers dropped by to see what I was watching, plus there was viewing of another movie a couple cubicles over that was kind of distracting.)

You'll probably get more information than you ever wanted to know about this stuff, as I'll include all the header slate material, too. For those who are interested in that kind of thing.


I should definitely thank Geek Co-Worker who went to the effort to find these tapes in the huge backlog of videos that need logging. He, too, is an Ohio boy. I owe him some buckeyes.

Comments

[kimmer1227.livejournal.com]

Cool! Squeeze hubby for me. Can't wait to read your recaps.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

He has been squeezed. I hope you enjoy the recaps. :-)

[scionofgrace.livejournal.com]

How very cool! You really do need to let us know what the show was like.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Oh, I plan to be as thorough as possible. Just from what I've seen, it's interesting to see faces I know from elsewhere. It's family drama with intrigue and secrets and the like. Stay tuned.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Huzzah for awesome husbands! Have fun, looking forward to your recaps.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Huzzah indeed! Geek husbands who work with geeks is a definite bonus when you yourself are a geek.

bless your heart

[hot-craving.livejournal.com]

I am loving your hubby too right now LOL, hope you do not mind.
What you are doing sounds like something I would love to do, but you have fun and I hope to reap the benefits. My hubby says I am a techie at heart,well that might be true.
I cannot wait to see your results.

I am putting you on the bookmarks:)
Thanks for sharing.
Hugs.

Re: bless your heart

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I am loving your hubby too right now LOL, hope you do not mind.

Not at all. I'm used to people loving him. He's very lovable.

I hope you enjoy the recaps. I'll try to make them as detailed as possible without driving everyone involved positively nuts.

[andromakhe001.livejournal.com]

OMG! That is awesome. Now remember as many details as possible! :D Now if only those dimwits at FOX would release these. Hell sell them online. I'm pretty sure plenty of Jensen fans would be willing to shell out a few bucks each episode to be able to own them. LOL

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I'll try to be as thorough as possible without boring you to tears. :-) That's what's going to take so long--there's so much going on that I'm tempted to get overly detailed in describing, and I'm really into quoting rather than paraphrasing . . . taking notes on "never" before seen footage is gonna be quite a task. I hope you enjoy the end results.

[phanie28.livejournal.com]

OMG I got here through my google alerts and I have to say that this is wonderful, you are so lucky to get the chance to see these episodes and I'm thankful that you're sharing with us. I don't know if there are going to be more episodes on YouTube, I would love that but thanks for posting the link to the first one. I'm going to friend you because I can't wait to read your synopsis of the episodes. Thank you again for doing this. XD

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Hi there. Glad you could join me.

As far as I know, the six eps that followed the pilot are not available anywhere but through the LoC. (It would make my job easier--heck, unnecessary--if they were available to post to YouTube. *g*) And you're quite welcome for the link to the first one. I stumbled on it by accident one day and have been somewhat intrigued ever since.

[nikki-holly.livejournal.com]

awesome! can't wait to read your recaps.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Stay tuned. I'll try to be as expeditious as possible, but it might take a while.

[bardicvoice.livejournal.com]

Oh, my - thank you, and thank your hubby! And please be as detailed as you consider necessary; we will enjoy every word and every second!

I shall have to remember how to find my way back ... and tell all my friends to follow my breadcrumb trail!

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Hubby has been duly thanked. :-) I'll try to be detailed as possible, though most of my attention will probably be focused on Jensen's storyline. (I'm kinda biased like that.)

Do leave a crumb trail. Peanut M&Ms might be even better. They're brighter and easier to find on the forest floor.

[scaperanya.livejournal.com]

I'm with phanie28, my google alerts got me here as well, and I'm looking forward to your recaps. I saw that pilot a couple of years ago, and have been curious as to what happened to the rest of the filmed eps.

Have fun watching and recapping. I have difficulty with recaps as well as I prefer to give direct quotes. My Comic Con report last year turned into a transcript! Good luck with everything. =)

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks for joining the party. I'll try to satisfactorily relieve any curiosity the pilot might have left you with. :-) However, with only six more eps, I don't promise anything about where they leave it. *g*

I'm really going to try *not* to turn these recaps into transcripts. My time to spend at the LoC is often limited (by my own schedule, not necessarily theirs), but I do want to do this justice. Stay tuned for further developments.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

OMG! I want to marry your hubbs is it ok with you?
And now i enter the mysterious territory of your recaps... *bouncing*

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I want to marry your hubbs is it ok with you?

Bwah! Well, that'd be kinda illegal in these parts, unless I divorced him first.


And now i enter the mysterious territory of your recaps... *bouncing*

Oooh, you make me sound almost mystical.

Hope you enjoy them!

[leelust.livejournal.com]

unless I divorced him first
Come on! Who needs that law stuff? I wanna marry him just for couple of days and not in sexual way, you know *giggles* or my own hubbs will get jealous... but to have the opportunity to watch something new with Jensen is soooooo tempting... ;)

Hope you enjoy them!
Never doubt it - i just have to postpone it a little - want to rewatch the pilot first and refreshing my memory of it then read your recap to judge more competent :)