Bree's Dad Is Dead [1-03-2007]

[milowent]

www.lonelygirl15.com/?p=145&play=1

one.revver.com/watch/132450



Revver description (not on main page):
The past few days have been so horrible. Bree hasn't been talking much. We all went to the beach and she just cried and cried. I've been feeling cooped up so I've just been editing this video till I got all cross-eyed. Dunno. Hope you like it.

Run time: 1:42

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Milo's summary:
Bree's Dad is dead. So we made a somber music video about it.

I'm not sure how they know he is dead. Even if they saw him shot (because we couldn't tell from the last video, though it was possible, i guess), we don't know at this point how they know it was fatal.

I hate to make this comparison at all, but watching bree standing on the beach reminded me a bit of she-who-shall-not-be-named's Revelation 3 video. eek.



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mwgraves at the phorum notes:

in the police scanner or whatever it is in the background in the beginning I hear 'there's a 415...' That's a disturbance...there's something else said but I can't pick it out.

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house at the phorum provides the following interesting comments:

So...I would think that watching your father be gunned down in a public parking garage might instigate an immediate call to 911. Are we really supposed to suspend the belief that Daniel or Jonas wouldn't call 911? Or, that they might have a friend/web friend place this call for them? I don't care how sheltered you are, or how powerful you think the order is, you just watched your dad get shot and you do nothing but go mope on some beach?

And, excuse me, but... no mention of where Bree's mother might be in all of this?
....
I say there was no ceremony to begin with. I say that Bree's dad was actually developing some sort of new drug. And, that Bree was the test rat. In clinical trials, test subjects are often put on special diets and given certain rules to follow (ex: you don't want someone on an experimental drug getting pregnant or drunk). I just wonder if there was some new drug, with heavy financial backing from the Order, and Bree was the invaluable test subject. When she opted out of "the ceremony", and vis-a-vis the shots/trial, the Order got pissed because they'd invested a pretty penny into this whole experiment. It would also explain why they would kill Mr. Bree - he has too much information.
I dunno'. It's 3:00am and this video was disappointing.

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curriguy echos a thought i had:

for the love of god...can he have a name?! I'm really tired of calling him Bree's Dad

[Smashing]

So I said I wasn't going to watch anymore...but the title of this video obviously let me know that something major had happened, so I watched...and I laughed more at this video than any other in the series. I was near howling with laughter. So I have to say I'm glad I watched it! I may yet get back into watching if it enters 'so bad it's good' territory. Excuse my insensitivity towards the death of the beloved, nameless fictional character of Bree's Dad.
I complained about them abandoning the realism, but the reason I stopped watching had nothing to do with that, it was simply that the story was too slow. When every few videos was titled a question like "Where's Daniel?" "Where are my Parents?" "Jonas?" "Gemma, who are you?" you knew you weren't gonna get many answers. Now that we're getting titles like "Bree's Dad is Dead" at least something is happening. But as long as they did abondoned realism, I say make it as weird as possible, bring on the sci-fi. Give the order some supernatural powers. I want some aliens, some monsters, some stuff straight out of the X-files. Just as long as it's fun again. Why not?
R.I.P. Bree's Dad.

eta: if the alien from the movie Alien popped out of Jonas' stomach, they would definitely have my attention.

[hyemew]

This can't/better not be serious. I haven't watched yet, but the title alone makes me go WTF. And based on what Smashing said I'm sure this'll be the dumbest thing ever. I'm going away for a few days because I probably won't be near a computer, I hope when I get back all the zaniness has resolved itself ("oh it turns out he didn't actually die!")

[lesbrent]

it was..... artistic? pointless? plot development?

I'm not really sure what it was.

Why it focused on pretty boy Jonas and Daniel's faces, I'm not really sure - Jonas has never even met Bree's Dad. (not to say he couldn't feel empathy for her) but more importantly, what did Bree and her Dad discuss? How long will we have to wait for that info?

[milowent]

lesbrent said:

but more importantly, what did Bree and her Dad discuss? How long will we have to wait for that info?

remember how long it took to find out about the summer camp play? hopefully, next video is: "What Did Dad and Bree Talk About?" In it, daniel and jonas pepper bree with questions. meanwhile, bree goes to light a candle in jonas' bedroom underneath a picture of .... [fill in the blank]!!!!

[Terryfic]

This video seems like it was as response to everyone saying that OpAphid is better made than LG. But christ guys that was the premise of your show. You really seem to hate the idea of doing a video blog, so stop doing it. Just magically turn this series into a tradition omniscient story.

I, like Smashing, also suggest that if you are going to make the show absurd than really run with it. Give Daniel a sword and make him face off against an army of zombies, put Jonas in a chase sequence where he is surfing and has to flee from a great white shark, and give Bree the power to animate her stuffed animals and make Owen and P. Monkey kick some serious Order ass.

[flwright]

Hi all,

Think back to the good old days (which were literally just days ago) when Bree and Daniel were real video bloggers. I think we would’ve given them some slack, I mean, after all, Bree’s Dad had something unthinkable happen to him. After reading some of the comments at Lonelyworld and Rancor Cove, Daniel would’ve gotten another video out calling us all a bunch of know-nothing a**holes.

The Creators are again smack dab up against that reality/fiction wall. Maybe this is why they waited so long to reveal the Truth. Through the pre-Jessica Rose-colored glasses, I see some teenagers trying to make sense of a senseless act of violence by making videos. They may be overreacting to what they saw (See the first post here for the Unthinkable video):

hyemew said:

www.lonelygirl15.com/?p=144&play=1
Happy new year, Bree got shot.
(Caption my own.)

Maybe not, but the video, raw, maudlin, full of ADD cuts, and emo closeups, is something closer to a teenager’s vision than a mature director. I loved the music, they almost always get the music right.

If he is dead, I’m really, really sad. I always liked Bree’s Dad. He has a name you know, it’s Dr. Stan Hardy, he’s the Pharmacist at Crowley’s Apothecary here in Anchor Cove. We are talking about Bree Hardy, aren’t we?


FLWright

PS Nice synopsis and pictures, Milo, I liked seeing the Phorum comments.

[gemma]

Did anyone watch the accomplice response to this video on the official site?

[Terryfic]

flwright said:

Through the pre-Jessica Rose-colored glasses, I see some teenagers trying to make sense of a senseless act of violence by making videos... the video, raw, maudlin, full of ADD cuts, and emo closeups, is something closer to a teenager’s vision than a mature director.

You know what, that is an excellent point. Maybe I was over harsh about this video. Maybe it could be how some teenagers are trying to deal with death. Maybe.

I have no experience with death. So I don't really know the grieving process nor how long it takes to start making self-reflective art about your loss.

I think my problem with LG is, I use to think of it first as an archetype of a new sub-genre and as a guilty pleasure second. Those have now reversed. I use to tell people you have to watch this, this is going to be the future (or at least a future) of entertainment, but now I try to keep my LG addiction hidden (I've almost kicked it anyways, I just need one more vid, just one more) and I think this new found shame that I associate with the series causes me unjustifiable attack it.

That or I'm a cranky old fan who suffers from Hand Waving Freak Outery (HWFO) every time the series changes just a little bit, while yearning for good old days that may have never existed.

[curiousgeorge]

Here is what I posted at the Phorum early this morning, it kinda dovetails with FLW's observations with a little more snark:

I guess that many pholks won't like this vid because it did not reveal much or answer any questions. Well one question was answered. Real death and grief don't answer questions either.

The pacing is definitely still something the creators need to work on. If you were to view this series in it's entirety, it would probably fit better. This short format is a limiting factor if you want to express serious grief via the type of editing techniques used. I don't doubt that this was very hard to do and I have no ideas how they could have done it better...

The deviations from volg format to action sequences, like in the last vid, are necessary to advance the plot. These deviations are disruptive and jarring though and this offering may have been a way to segue back to that format. I bet the production team and actors are more comfortable with the vlogs. I doubt it would have been realistic for Bree to post a vlog immediately following the death of her Father though.

I do miss the fact that the vlog format used to give the series such an element of realism. This sense of realism seems to have been abandoned. So many things just don't even come close to making sense anymore...

I will give them the benefit of the doubt on this one and encourage all to remember that this was probably shot and edited over the Holidays. I applaud them for attempting new techniques though. Some will work and some will not.

ETA: I thought the shots of Jonas gazing out to sea were well done and provide a sense of continuity with his backstory and empathy with the Breester.

[kleenex]

I have to agree I didn't particularly like this one - it seemed very artistic and out of touch with the series, but overall I enjoy the series and find it unique and creative, better than most random videos on YouTube. I'm just not sure where they're going with it and what they plan to get out of it in the end.

[flwright]

Bree talks about her Dad in Mysteries of the Past...REVEALED, one of the excellent BC (Before Creators) Vlogs. It was the first vlog she edited herself.

YouTube:
Mysteries of the Past...REVEALED

Lonelyworld:
Mysteries of the Past...REVEALED

I'm sad (what a sap!) ,

FLWright

[curiousgeorge]

flwright said:

Bree talks about her Dad in Mysteries of the Past...REVEALED, one of the excellent BC (Before Creators) Vlogs. It was the first vlog she edited herself.

I'm sad (what a sap!) ,

FLWright

Thanks, you always know how to put things in context.

Again, I think the short, serialized, format may work against them when they try to do something different than the standard vlog. I watched the "Mysteries..." vid and then the "Bree's Dad..." back to back. It works much better that way, and the second one seems Breally well done when viewed this way.

Very moving, surprisingly.

[milowent]

flwright said:

Bree talks about her Dad in Mysteries of the Past...REVEALED, I remember clinging to my Dad's shoulders and we were tromping up this hill... and my Dad told me something really incredible was going to happen. There's these big black storm clouds above you. You're waiting and everybody is completely silent suddenly it just starts pouring down with rain, with like big thick droplets of rain, really amazing.

great sigline, very appropriate to recall this. now i really find myself hoping he's not dead.

[hyemew]

They better have just thought he was dead, and not actually... because adding murder into the mix just completely kills everything, so to speak.
I mean sure we could strettttch and suspend reality enough to the point to think a cult was actually after Bree, that they really wouldn't seek outside help, that it was just them against the world... but now that MURDER is involved, I mean come on, it was done in broad daylight in public... the police would be there in minutes, investigation would ensue, it'd make the local is not national news, etc. etc. If the storyline continues with Bree's Dad actually dead and still the world oblivious to Bree's trials and tribulations, then ughh.

I am hoping it turns out they just thought he dead (though that would be cheap sensationalism, though at this point that's better than the stupid alternative)... though I can also picture this turning into a DaVinci Code like mystery where Bree's dad imparted that final clue to Bree before getting killed, leaving her to unravel the rest of the mystery while escaping pursuit of an evil religious cult- Bree has to stop them before they stop her like they did her father.

...Wait, this isn't just LIKE the DaVinci Code, it IS the DaVinci Code!