Sasha "Moo Money" Rudie has taken just a few years to develop her reputation as the "go-to" woman for Second Life Machinima. A respected blogger and columnist for some of the largest virtual world publications, she produces Machinima professionally on behalf of clients like Linden Lab, Manpower, and Cisco. Her contacts inside Second Life and throughout the Machinima and MMO community make her a one-woman Madison Avenue for Machinima and Second Life content alike.
This is a hard post to make. I've grown so fond of the commentary and insults that it's difficult for me to tell you that today is my last day at WoW Insider. I've received an opportunity to work in machinima that will allow me to help machinimators in a whole new way. However, my replacement, Natalie Mootz, is an excellent blogger and I'm sure she'll make you proud! I'll miss you guys.
Instead of being overly sappy, I thought I'd do a top five list of my favorite machinimas and scandals:
Here Without You - This love story is three and a half years old, but has stood the test of time.
First of May - This extremely not-safe-for-work video caused a riot on Valentine's Day!
Well, I can't say that I understand the point of this video. I've heard that Dragonball Z was popular, but I always thought it was like Pokemon. At some point, you grow up out of that phase and are embarrassed to admit that you ever participated in it. However, Tryton appears to still be in it, so I'll humor the fans that are still letting go ...
He attempted to make a feature movie out of Dragonball Z, but tired of it. Instead, he took some of his favorite scenes from his effort and turned it into a trailer. In it, you can expect shiny colors, balls, and ... more balls ...
Inspired by Noah Kalina, the Brooklyn photographer that took his picture every day for six and a half years, DerangedTaco captured a photo of his Warlock every time he changed gear. The resulting timelapse is a journey from roughly level 20, all the way up to level 70. He worked his way from level 70 blues, and then progressed into S1 and S2 items. Due to the upcoming release of Wrath of the Lich King, he doesn't plan to get anymore upgrades, but the video is still pretty interesting!
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com. Previously on Moviewatch ...
It's been an exciting couple of weeks in World of Warcraft. First there was the Harvest Festival, then Talk Like a Pirate Day, and now, Brewfest. Players are invited to kick back and relax with their friends while they participate in fun activities related to the alcoholic beverage we know and love -- beer.
Some of the festivities include the Dark Iron Dwarves, racing rams, and beer goggles. While the special mounts are rare drops now, it doesn't hurt to get out your stein and have a good time trying to get it. If you fail, well, you're still drinking, so that's a plus!
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
(Warning: This machinima contains insinuations that will probably offend you. While nothing outright is dirty, we'd like you to approach caution when viewing this video. Also, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day!)
Spiffworld be no stranger to controversy, havin' been a key player in the V-Day Riot o' '08 (Very NSFW). However, comparatively, this music video looks like a Disney film. If you enjoy Seamen everywhere, though, then you'll definitely get a kick out of it. Arrrrrr!
[Thanks, Joshua!]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
(Viewers be warned that this video contains spoilers for the Wrath of the Lich King beta.)
At the beginning of last month, I featured a video that explored levels 70-77 of the Wrath of the Lich King beta. It was apparently so popular that Muffins was contacted by a studio for a possible job! Since then, she realized that machinima was something that she wanted to do with her life. Nothing makes me happier than when someone says that, so congratulations, Muffins!
When you've been playing a game as long as World of Warcraft, it's easy to get burnt out and want to take a break. However, Kampftrinker seems to think he's going for the last goodbye. He released this homage to his friends, and guildmates at Kampftrinker Ironforge, as a way to share the memories with them.
While there's nothing particularly outstanding about this video, it's not horrible either. It serves to remind us that friendship is important, even if it's in an MMO. If you're interested in knowing what the end credit text says, check out his Warcraftmovies page.
In Marshal McBride's simple world, he's a quest giver from Northshire Valley that loves nothing more than helping noobs. However, his world is turned upside down when he is given orders to vacate his job and take up as the forestkeeper of Elwynn Forest. What follows is the bizarre tale, machinimated by Hamfist Productions, of adjusting to his new position, with strangely voice acted characters and even weirder dialogue. It's not too shabby, though!
In other news, the Dell machinima contest comes to a close on September 23rd. The top two prizes are a Horde or Alliance Dell XPS 1730 laptop and an Alienware desktop. For complete rules, check out the contest website. Also, I'll be at the Austin Game Developer Conference this week, so if you see me out and about, say hi!
(Warning: This machinima apparently contains some spoiler elements for the game F.E.A.R.)
Inspired by Baron Soosdon, first time machinimator, Buzz Dawson, learned to make machinima in just three days with not only World of Warcraft, but also F.E.A.R. He even bought the editing program, Sony Vegas 9, just for this project, which is quite ambitious for an inaugural effort. The result of his educational experiment, Devour, a music video for the song by Shinedown, isn't a literal interpretation, employs creative use of the L70ETC character models, and contains some great cut scenes.
While I wish WoW was featured a bit more prominently, for a new effort, this is fantastic. The aspect ratio doesn't jump, the characters don't randomly fade in and out, and the transitions are fairly smooth. What say you, (constructively) critical commenters?
Look, I get that those Discovery Channel commercials featuring "Boom De Ah Dah!" are catchy, but something's gotta give. The original song was roughly 30-45 seconds, yet Ilcyra apparently set it on an incessant loop to make it a whopping eight times longer. Do you really love the load screen that much? What about moonkin fluff? I found my eyes glazing over at this love-fest gone bad.
Don't get me wrong. The video isn't that horrible, and neither is her voice. However, 4:39 is a bit overzealous, especially when the last minute of it is a guy jumping around for no reason. My advice would be to make an ordered list of the things that you love, and only sing about the first 20!
[Thanks, Alex!]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
