The making of video edits, or fancams, is now a core part of online culture. But they’ve become more than just a pastime.
By Simona Zaunius
Nobody expected K-pop group EXID’s popularity to be revived by something as minute as a Twitter video, but that’s exactly what happened. That single video, or “fancam”, of member Hani skyrocketed the group to fame. The technicality of the term “fancam” as opposed to “video edit” is disputed, but if you’re on social media, you’re bound to have seen one. “Fancams” can be roughly described as video compilations of a certain favorite performer or actor, edited to the beat of a song. They’re a big part of the fan– or more accurately stan– culture that is so prominent in the social media age. Fancams have extended to encompass far more than just the K-pop celebrity. Name any piece of media, you are likely to find a fancam about it. And I mean any. I’ve seen fancams of everything from Squidward Tentacles to Xing Xing, a monkey who resides in a Chinese monastery. HBO’s Succession is no exception to the rule. The airing of the newest and final season has led to a spike in fan-made content in all forms. Any side character with more than two minutes of screentime has their highlight reel. The ups and downs of Tom and Shiv’s relationship has been set to probably every single Taylor Swift song in her catalogue. And Kendall Roy? He’s been edited to everything from Mitski to Rupaul.
When I was fresh out of watching season 3, I enjoyed fancams that were clearly laced with irony. The juxtaposition of a character such as Roman Roy set to a Megan Thee Stallion bad bitch anthem was consistently amusing. What irked me was longer edits set to popular indie artists such as boygenius and Lorde. I looked at them with contempt, with a pretentious assumption that the creator had a misconstrued understanding of the show’s material; there was no way in hell 40-year-old-millionaire-absent-father Kendall Roy was even in the same stratosphere as Mitski (though Mitski herself has acknowledged and loved the edits). But as the final season aired, and new dynamics and motivations were introduced to my favorite characters, I found myself listening to songs such as “Shoulders” by Big Thief and thinking of… Kendall Roy? Kendall Roy doubled over, burdened with his fathers legacy, a battle in his mind of what he wants to be and what he knows is right. I was doing exactly what I’d scoffed at other Twitter users for doing: connecting a song I loved to a character I loved.
I began thinking about how these more serious Succession edits involve close reading of two pieces of media (television and music), finding common themes while considering the contexts present, and presenting an argument of their own; much like the literary analysis I had done in my past year as an English major at university.
When user @ kendallroysco selects Phoebe Bridgers’ “Moon Song” to set their fancam of Kendall Roy to, they are taking the texts of both Phoebe Bridgers’ songwriting and Succession, melding them into an analysis of Kendall Roy’s character. This particular fancam was made shortly after “Connor’s Wedding” aired, an episode which marked the end of patriarch Logan Roy. Bridgers’ voice sings “and if I could give you the moon, I would give you the moon”. Tumultuous father-son moments flit by. We hear Kendall say “I’ll be broken when you die”, a line from season three’s episode, “Chiantishire”. The music, the audio bytes from previous episodes, and the visuals all meld into a powerful 38 seconds. It ends with the stunning final shot of the episode in which Kendall looks at the moon, in tears. In less than a minute, it’s managed to capture Kendall’s sadness, reflection, and reckoning. It’s Kendall Roy set to “Moon Song”, but it’s also an argument that despite the way Logan has manipulated, insulted, and hurt him, Kendall still would have done anything for him.
Singular characters are not the only thing under the fancam microscope. These analyses extend to relationships between characters. Take Roman and Gerri (dubbed “Romangerri” by fans) from Succession. The two share an intriguing relationship moving from business allies, to friends, to sexually charged partners in crime, to awkward acquaintances. Ask a viewer of the show what they think and you are equally as likely to elicit a disgusted response as you are a cheeky one. I enjoy the two’s chemistry, but it was only when I saw a fancam of the two set to Fiona Apple’s heartbreaking “I Know”, I realized that some people genuinely see Romangerri as a tragic love story. In carefully extracting footage and vocal samples from the show and interviews and manipulating them together with a song, Romangerri editors propel the argument that the connection between the two is romantic, even tragic. Romangerri fancams are heartfelt celebrations of the connection the two share, and lamentations of the forces that keep them apart.
Editors spend literal hours thinking of the perfect clips, songs, and effects to put together into a standalone product. Consciously or not, these fancams become 30 second thesis statements. I’m not saying that the video circulating of Logan Roy set to “Rolling with the LGBT” is profound literary analysis. But just because a lot of video edits are ridiculous doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pay attention to earnest products of this new phenomenon. Video edits have shown potential to be a valuable way young people critically engage with and analyze fiction in an increasingly digital age. I interact with my favorite pieces of media by writing, for now. But perhaps, in time, video edits will prove a worthy successor.
Some fancams that I have enjoyed:
Kendall Roy "Moon Song"
Logan Roy “Rolling with the LGBT”
Kendall Roy “I wish I could change”
TomShiv “Werewolf”
Kendall Roy “KLR”
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