"Crushed Totally" video party backdrop

Although this video will probably never make it into my general portfolio (and now that I think of it will probably never even be seen publicly again!) I thought I ought to at least post it here. In June, I agreed to edit together this video for a one-time viewing at the "My So-Called Bike" fundraiser party that some close friends were organizing. The party was held at Pittsburgh's Free Ride Recycled Bike Cooperative, which I worked with for several years, on Saturday, June 20, 2009. Profits from the party went to the new Free Ride summer programs and to the Book 'Em! Books to Prisoners program. The party was themed after the short-lived teen television drama "My So-Called Life" (1994-95), and participants accordingly dressed more or less like they did in high school (not a far stretch for many).

The video, entitled "Crushed Totally: World Happiness Dance Total Bust Infinity Loop Or Like Whatever", consists entirely of re-edited and slowed down clips from original MSCL episodes, with attention paid to non-dialog scenes with excruciating teen drama, longing gazes, locker leans, and any scene I could find involving a bicycle. Meant to be a tongue-in-cheek backdrop for an already ridiculously themed party, "Crushed Totally" was projected large on a cinderblock wall behind the beer table and adjacent to the raging dance floor (the video has no sound). The party was a success, money was raised, and a whole lot of people stood and watched this absurd video while they waited in line for alcohol, or maybe hung out casually waiting to be dragged into the giant Trapper Keeper for a bit of "Seven Minutes in Trapper Keeper Heaven" (I'm not making that part up). Creation of this video resulted in a moderate emotional crisis in which the editor began to feel as though the original television show bore a terrifying resemblance to his actual life, somehow...