To help get us all in the mood for Valentine's Day, I made a new screen saver. And it look something like this.



And if you'd like to make your own screen savers, don't forget to check out the tutorial.

Howdie, folks. Here is a tutorial showing you how you can make a screen saver using just about any piece of video you can get your hands on. For example, I made a lovely screen saver using the opening title cards for Supernatural.



You can get that screen saver HERE.

Making screen savers isn't actually that complicated. However, figuring out how to do it, and what software programs you will need to do whatever it is you want to do, can be the hard part. There can also be some labor involved depending on what video you have to work with, and how fancy you want to get with it.

Right now, I'm going to give you the absolute basics on making a screen saver from a video. Later, I'll post tips and tricks for any issues that come to mind (or that I run across as I make other screen savers).

Let's get started.


( Onwards to the tutorial... )

I put together a screen saver of the season 2 Legend of the Seeker opening. I'm sure LotS fans know what it looks like. But, just in case:






( Download links and more... )

While waiting for YouTube to let my fanvid go live (it was in dispute for a little while), I ended up tweaking it a little. Because I couldn't help myself. But I'm not sure whether or not I like the tweaking, which is why I waited to post about it here. This version is cleaner and all. And I like the little scene I added in. But I just don't know.

Anyway, here it is, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! And, remember, you can hold down the CTRL key and hit the plus sign (+) to make the screen bigger.

Title: As the Worm Turns
Author: dannyblue 
Fandom: Wizards of Waverly Place
Characters: Alex Russo, Justin Russo
Word Count: A little less than 2000 words.
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: Written for the 2009 Yuletide Challenge. I was the Yuletide Santa for cadhla , who wanted a story about Alex.
Summary: "For about half a second, Toby felt uneasiness slither down his spine. He would've almost called it fear, except there was no reason for Toby Gant to feel scared because some skinny girl he could break like a twig was watching him."
Disclaimer: I do not own Wizards of Waverly Place, or any of its characters. 

( On to the Story )

I signed up for my first Yuletide this year. For those not in the know, Yuletide is a huge Secret Santa Challenge. How huge? Well, this year, nearly 3500 hundred fics were written for the challenge. That's pretty huge.

Here is the Yuletide fic my Secret Santa wrote for me. One of my prompts was for a fic about how outsiders might see the relationship Drake and Josh. (From Drake & Josh.) And it didn't have to be slashy. Because I think outsiders might find their relationship kinda odd even when not taken in a slashy context.

So, here it is.

American History Y

If you read and enjoy, please send my Yuletide Santa some love. :D

Oh, and I'll be posting the fic I wrote for Yuletide later.

I've never not been a Star Trek fan, but the new movie helped fan the flames a little, and reminded me of another movie I get a kick out of.

Free Enterprise is the story of two guys (one played by Eric McCormack of Will and Grace) who are huge science fiction/fantasy fans. They especially love Star Trek. So imagine their geeker joy when they meet and actually end up befriending William Shatner.

Here's a clip from the movie. It shows one of the guys as a kid, getting into a fight over wearing his Starfleet uniform to school.




While the Shatner in this clip is imaginary, Real!Shatner comes in a little later.

( Read the Rest )

And here it is, a screen saver of the title card from "A Very Supernatural Christmas." And it looks something like this:





( Download Links )

Yes, I'm back again. This time, with this lovely screen saver, which I've sort of been saving.



I'm going to do one of the actual title card, exploding Christmas ornament and all. But, for some reason, I became obsessed with doing this one first. :D

( Download Link )

I got struck by the sudden urge to make this. It's the sort of thing that comes over me every once in a while.

Here is what the screensaver looks like.



( Download link under the cut. )

Note: If you want to see the vid bigger, use the Pop-Out Player, and resize it to the size you want. Fullscreen is too blurry. (Sorry about that, but I'm still getting the hang of this vidding stuff.)

You could also use the CTRL and + keys to make things larger.



Title: Stand My Ground
Summary: Freddy learns not to mess with a mama bear's cub.
Vidder: Dannyblue
Song: "Stand My Ground" by Within Temptation
Movie: Wes Craven's New Nightmare (a.k.a. A Nightmare On Elm Street 7)
Warning: This vid is heavy with spoilers for the movie.

I was just going to make some icons or something. That's all. Really! But I ended up making these instead. *sigh*

Anyway, they are digital jigsaw puzzles. And each comes in two versions, one with 48 pieces, one with 108 pieces. And I challenge you...No, I dare you to try the 108 piece one first. :D

( Click to get your digital jigsaw puzzles. )

And I'd love to see someone with madder fanvidding skills than mine do this in a way that was more credit-like. :D

Recently (like yesterday), I posted a vampire fanmix called Taste of Blood. It focused on the angsty, even romantic aspects of being a vampire.

Well here's another vampire fanmix. But most of the songs on this one are more hard-driving, and focus on the "horror" side of things. (Although many have romantic, or at least sexual, undertones.) You might also notice many like to start out with spooky sound effects. :D

Most of these are songs I might not listen to a lot. But I like the lyrics, or the quirkiness of a verse or the chorus, or something. And, while putting this fanmix together, some of them have grown on me a little more than before.

Note: One of the songs isn't technically a vampire song. But I couldn't leave it out. And I think it fits nicely.

( To the Lyrics and Downloads )

So I was thinking, "Hey, why not make a vampire fanmix? It is Halloween, after all." So here it is.




01 - Come To Me -- Deborah Holland
02 - Moon Over Bourbon Street -- Sting & the Police
03 - Love Song for a Vampire -- Annie Lennox
04 - The Perfect Drug -- Nine Inch Nails
05 - Dracula Moon -- Joan Osborne
06 - Vampire's Kiss -- Midnight Syndicate
07 - Taste of Blood -- Mazzy Star
08 - Cry Little Sister -- Gerard McMann

Note: "The Perfect Drug" might not officially be a vampire song, but it so could be.

( Lyrics and Downloads Here )

Hey, I had to rec a vampire movie eventually.

Wisdom of Crocodiles stars Jude Law as Steven Grlscz (no vowels), a vampire living in modern-day London. And Steven is the type of vamp I usually dislike. He doesn't grow fangs. He can walk around in the sunlight. (But he doesn't sparkle.) And crosses don't bother him. *sigh* Still, despite these "flaws," the movie hooked me and held my interest.

Steven is affected by the emotions in the blood he feeds on. If he fed on someone who's clinically depressed, for example, it would make him extremely sick. (Think the vampire version of food poisoning.) So feeding on random strangers is out. He has to get to know his victims and get a feel for their general mood. Are they happy? Sad? Depressed? Content?

On the other hand, good emotions (like love) make for better blood. So Steven's MO is to meet a woman, woo her, make sure she's filled with happy, lovey feelings, and then...well, you know.  Here's a clip showing the end of one of his "courtships."
( Video Under the Cut... )

Here's another Halloween movie rec for ya. Although it's sort of weird. Because, in this film, the monsters aren't the bad guys. But it's still plenty creepifying.

Nightbreed is a film directed by Clive Barker (better known for the Hellraiser films) and is about a race of beings who have lived alongside humans throughout time. These beings were the basis for just about every monster you've ever heard of. And because they were different, they have been hunted down and slaughtered by humans for centuries.

Some of the Nightbreed have survived, and now live in secret. The fact that most humans no longer believe in "the monsters" means they don't get hunted down and slaughtered like they used to. But one man (the real villain) finds out about them, and is determined to see them all destroyed.

( Video Clip Under the Cut... )

And here it is. The pièce de résistance. A screensaver featuring the opening title cards for all 5 seasons of Supernatural.

And I'm already using it. :-D

Here's what it looks like, in tiny form.



( Get Your Screensavers Here... )

I made a fanvid.

I know! Even I can't believe it. I think it's because of my mad, Supernatural screensaver spree. I just felt like I had to make something else.

Anyway, the vid is about Bonnie, the reluctant psycic/witch from The Vampire Diaries...a show I'm not completely, totally into yet. But I thought of this song, and I thought of this character, and the idea for the vid took over my brain.

I tried to embed the video, but that feature isn't working for me for some reason. So here's the link.

Bonnie Bennet - We Are Witch (A Vampire Diaries Fanvid)

This is the first video I've ever made of any kind ever. So don't be too hard on it. :D

And, finally, we have the screensaver for the opening of Supernatural's season 5. And it is a good one, I must say.

And, hey, I beat my deadline. (To do all five by Halloween.) So, yea!


( Get Your Screensavers Here... )