“Ridiculous Thoughts,” Part One ~ Elijah Wood screencaps….

[mechtild]

“Ridiculous Thoughts,” Part One....


In my previous LJ entry (about men in kissing scenes), “How did I manage to get such a hot crush on film-Frodo, who has no love scenes at all?”

Here’s a paraphrase of what I said….

When does one get to see the face of male film characters revealing the range and depth of their emotions? In love or sex scenes, particularly? Nope, in angst scenes.

No, we don't get to see film-Frodo making love. We don’t get to see his face while someone makes him tremble and melt and go wild until he is succumbs in ecstasy. But we do get to see him respond to every sort of non-sexual stimulus: he shivers, swoons, sighs, pants, quakes, sobs, seethes, struggles, strives, sweats, and collapses in delirium. That's when I get to see the emotional "reaction" shots I crave.

Inspired by that post, I am presenting a series of screencaps not of Frodo, but Elijah Wood. They are taken from a 1995 rock video by The Cranberries, for their song, Ridiculous Thoughts…..

The music video shows the band performing, intercut with footage that shows a scruffily-dressed young man with an old head set (played by EW), wandering through a hot-lit, apocalyptic looking landscape of ruined buildings and open sky. He ends up in a place with some old recording equipment, including what looks like the sound bell of an old wind-up grammaphone (see caps below). The young man seems to have found what he has been seeking – music? The sequences end with him slowly lying down, at last content.

I don't know what Elijah Wood was directed to play while shooting this footage. I have only guessed. But these screencaps demonstrate, for me, what I have been talking about. Whatever he was told to play, the resulting footage shows a fabulously attractive teenager registering a range of emotions, wistful, angsty, or ecstatic. I said I wanted a responsive face, and, in these caps, I got it.

Oh, yes.

How I wish Elijah Wood might be given another role (besides Frodo) that makes use of his amazing face, and in which he could convey a similarly wide range of deeply felt emotions.

I’d be in an angst-loving swooner's heaven.



Note: Last year I made a shorter set of caps of “Ridiculous Thoughts” and sent them off to Hobmom, where I believe she posted them on her worthy site, EW Now. This, however, is a much fuller set.



ETA:

Link to MP3 download of song: http://www.mp3sugar.com/album.dhtml?id=23843&aff=2396

Link to DVD for sale on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000077VOV/qid=1138772819/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8246385-4042339?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130




~ First series of Elijah Wood caps from Ridiculous Thoughts, included on the CD, "The Cranberries: STARS":





















































































Click HERE for table of Frodo and Elijah Wood Screencaps.



~ Mechtild

Comments

[mews1945.livejournal.com]

These are lovely. In the last three shots in particular, he looks like he is in the throes of ecsatsy.

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

In the last three shots in particular, he looks like he is in the throes of ecsatsy.

He certainly does. When I first saw two of these caps on an EW website's gallery (they were the only two frames featured from the video), I was so enchanted, I found and ordered the DVD. I was disappointed in the music, but not the EW footage, Not At All.

I was only sorry his stuff is so brief. It's gorgeous.

[ink-gypsy.livejournal.com]

I've never seen this video. On what DVD is it available?

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

The DVD is called, The Cranberries: STARS - The Best Videos 1992-2002. "Ridiculous Thoughts" is track 5. I ordered it last year from Amazon.

The footage with Elijah, although gorgeous and evocative, goes by in a flash. Blink and you might miss a sequence. The video really needs screencapping to see much less appreciate Elijah's close-ups in it.

There are some sequences filmed at medium (like #'s 2-5 above) and longer distances, which go on for for longer. These are rewarding to watch as they actually play (at regular speed or, better, in slow motion), but make poor screencaps. The image of Elijah in them is relatively small, and, since they involve action, the individual frames tend to be blurry.

Hope that was helpful!

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Ink_gypsy, I found that there is an "alternative take" of Ridiculous Thoughts on the DVD's extras. I think it is better than the "real" one, beside the fact that it has supplemental EW footage in it. I will be posting caps from that tomorrow.

In the meantime, another person asked about the DVD's availability. Here's a link to it at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000077VOV/qid=1138771076/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-8246385-4042339?n=130

I notice it is cheaper than a year ago, which is great.

[ink-gypsy.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much!

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

What great pictures, he's so beautiful, thank you!

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Yes, he is -- was -- is. It was a joy to make and share them. Thank you for commenting, starlit_woods.

Nice icon, by the way - is that really a face of Mikey Carver? I suppose it is, although it is difficult to tell, it is so small. You or someone has blended what would have been the hood of his red down parka into the trees. That is very nice work.

I really loved that film. Everyone, including Elijah Wood, did beautiful work in it. I thought the character Mikey was fascinating, too. And familiar. I am afraid that I identified with the "ultra weird" Mikey quite a lot. I also tend to live and see things in another world. Can you tell? Perhaps you are one of them. They seem to be more common among Frodo fans. *grin*

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

Thank you, my friend kolywoble made this icon for me as a surprise! I think she did a great job :) It is Mikey Carver, and I really liked his character too. And I think I might be one of those who identifies with him too :)

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Well, your friend did very nice work. I like atmospheric stuff a lot. Go, Mikey! (I have a copy of the molecules speech. I thought it was quite good, actually.)

[starlit-woods.livejournal.com]

I liked the molecules speech too, except I always think of it when I go to the bathroom! Not so good :/

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Ha! That's funny. :D

[layne67.livejournal.com]

Here by way of mews1945. Those are beautiful pics of a beautiful young man indeed. Thank you very much for posting them. Am wondering if The Cranberries' video is on sale anywhere?

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

Hellow, Layne. :) I have been making more, believe it or not. I found out from a fellow-fan that the DVD has an alternative take I hadn't even know was there. It is quite different (better, I think) and has supplemental EW footage. I will tell about that when I make the next LJ entries with the caps.

I just checked and the DVD is still available from Amazon. It's cheaper than it was last year, too. Woo hoo!

Here's a link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000077VOV/qid=1138771076/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-8246385-4042339?n=130

[layne67.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And I'm looking forward to your next caps.

[mechtild.livejournal.com]

They are up. Three more sets. I gave all of these, as usual "tags." 'Elijah Wood screencaps,' of course. Just like Frodo gets 'Frodo screencaps.' And the manips based on paintings get 'Frodo Art Travesty' tags.

I just love posting stuff for the eye, even if it were only for mine. :D