The last few years have seen a revolution in the world of audio and video, much like the revolution in publishing that occurred in the early 90s. Then it was called “desktop publishing,” and now it is “desktop video.” Yes, this is “great” for Aunt Morpha, who can now show “thrilling” videos of her vacations to Normal, Illinois, instead of the usual slide shows. But, it has also empowered fans to participate and enjoy their favorite shows in new and exciting ways.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel fans Kelly “True-Xena” Lynn and her sister Karen Newsome have taken advantage of this new technology to make their own Buffy and Angel music videos. Lynn said, “Any song that speaks to me, that I feel that can put a story together in, I use it.” In her first video she wanted to center on “Spike, not Spike and Buffy or Spike and Drucilla, just Spike,” and she feels she feels she was able to achieve this. Karen mentioned that, “It was hard at first, but once you have the right software, it’s a breeze.”

Another Buffy fan and music video creator, Michael Conrad, said, “My first music video was the hardest for me because I didn’t really know the rules, when I screened the video, I could see the peoples lips moving but no words were coming out, so I just shut it off and started over.” Yet, he’s been able to develop his editing skills over the past year, going from that aborted early attempt to being able to make complex artistic statements with his creations. His latest is a distillation of Buffy and her friend’s high school years, and Buffy appears to be reflecting on her past and leaving it behind.