Adroit machinima fans are probably already aware that Myndflame has been diligently working on the third installment Illegal Danish. The premise of this new Illegal Danish is that Van Kraken has created his ultimate brew, the Flask of Ten Thousand Souls. The flask is so powerful that only by combining it with the power of the Illegal Danish can it be consumed without fear of death. The bad news for Van Kraken, though, is that it can only be used by a gnome. So, obviously, Van Kraken needs to find and corrupt a gnome to do this deed. The new movie looks to be the same riotous fun as the previous Illegal Danish films, so it was pretty exciting when we learned Myndflame released the Illegal Danish 3 Prelude.

The prelude focuses on the star character, an ambitious gnome named Dirti. In this series of events, he undergoes a dark transformation into "Dirti G", making him incredibly powerful under the supervision of the sinister Van Kraken. If you didn't realize it right away, this prelude is a parody of Blizzard's own preview for StarCraft 2. I'm obviously a pretty big fan of the video, and it actually made me (briefly) considering a new Rogue.

Check out the preview yourself by clicking here. It's definitely worth your time.

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Today's WoW Moviewatch is a little bit of a repeat, but in an odd way. Shadowline1990's A Death Knight's Tale - The Battle for Light's Hope Chapel Cinematic Movie is another revisit version of the Death Knight closing cinematics. You might recognize Shadowline1990 as the guy who made The Culling of Stratholme - a WoW Cinematic Movie. This movie is, admittedly, more of the same idea.

Shadowline1990 took pieces of the in-game animations and voiceovers, and tried to make it into a more compelling cinematic experience. Shadowline1990 isn't the first person to do this with the Death Knight storyline, though, and he's very upfront to say he gives credit to Invisusira for having given the story this treatment first.

I'm not sure if Shadowline1990 knocked A Death Knight's tale out of the park the same way he did The Culling of Stratholme. While I think he did a (generally) good job with it, it didn't scream to me the same way Culling did. The video is attractive and well pieced together. The final product feels a little too-full. It seemed to drag on a little bit, but some of that is caused by the slower cadence of the voice acting.

In other great news, Shadowline1990 reports that his follow-up to Culling of Stratholme piece is nearly done. So, ultimately, there's a lot of good news to be had from him right now.

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Today's WoW Moviewatch is the first music video created by MozQ. It's a music video called Esc4pe and features both original characters, and a guest appearance by L80ETC. Mozq is the author who previously created Keep Browsing and Keep Browsing 2. Both of those movies were pretty well received, so it was exciting to seem something new from MozQ. I think Esc4pe lived up to those expectations, even if I'm not quite sure how I should be pronouncing the movie's name.

According to MozQ, Esc4pe was created as an attempt to master the tools in After Effects. He also said he regretted his music choice about halfway through production, but I actually feel like it suits the imagery pretty well. The armor and character choice seems to support the hard-rock feel of the song. Ultimately, though, I think MozQ demonstrated some strong growth, and I definitely think he's got the hang of the software.

MozQ warns that the ending might feel abrupt, since the goal of the video was exploring After Effects. I guess he felt he'd explored enough. Still, if I hadn't read his explanation of the movie, I'm not sure I would have noticed. I had just chalked it up to an editorial decision. In the end, it was a fun video, and I hope MozQ puts out another one quickly.

Click here to check out Esc4pe.

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Dynash of Doomhammer (EU) tipped us off to the Ulduar: Defiance trailer. This movie trailer is created by Atraira, who you might remember from the hilarious music video for Boombox and the epic cinematic version of Ashbringer: The Return of Tirion Fordring. Atraira has a flair for creating art from pre-existing game files, and he's used that talent toward highlighting the Ulduar raid instance.

Of course, this is a trailer, and not a movie in its own right. That means it's heir to all the usual trouble a trailer can have. It can be a little vague, and you're never quite sure if the subject of its preview is ever going to materialize. All that being said, though, I really loved Atraira's work here. The use of voice-overs from the game's files is well executed and appropriately dramatic. The sweeping score he used in the background is inspiring. The way he pieced together each scene is motivating. It really came together very well.

Atraira's made me want to grab my sword and go fight them critters in Ulduar. If Ulduar: Defiance is as good as the trailer, it'll be something we look forward to with each installment.

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We featured the previous installment of Baron Soosdon's PvE movie series back in December 2008. Now, seven months later, the good Baron has released Raid Together, Die Alone 3. The video is a series of clips, raid fights, and other moments blended together against the backdrop of Soosdon's usual good taste in music. The good Baron warns that an absolute ton of murlocs were harmed in the process of making the video, though I'll be darned if I could find them.

Ultimately, this new Raid Together, Die Alone is another fun memoir video. It brings back memories of slamming our faces into Illidan Stormrage and the epic awesome that is the Eye of Eternity's unique setting. As WoW progresses forward with new content and new bosses, it's easy to forget to look back and fondly remember some of the things we've already done together. I think Raid Together, Die Alone is a fun scrapbook of WoW-to-date, and I'm thankful for the reminder.

You can check it out on WeGame or YouTube.

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Innkeeper by Yumfries definitely wins the "made me laugh" award. It's an absolutely fantastic parody music video, based on the rap by PoshJark. The narrative of PoshJark's rap works very well. I found there to be something ironic about using the solemn male Draenei as a stand-in for the narrator, and Yumfries should be commended for a great choice.

Innkeeper really shows off some of Yumfries' skills. Some of the shots are clean and simple, while others make strong use of shadows to highlight all three dimensions. Yumfries has included a wide variety of styles in this video, and I think it makes the story a great deal more complex than it would have been with a more straightforward video concept. There's definitely a lot of growth here, and it truly makes me eager to see Yumfries' next pieces. I continue to enjoy his sense of humor, also, since Innkeeper tells a sort of everyman tale for many of us.

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All Souls Day by Pulverpadda represents one of the most frustrating scenarios a machinima author can experience. That is to say, while he's working on his movie in good faith, "real life" seems to keep getting in the way. Pulverpadda is joining his second year in the Army, and it's going to be at least a month before he's able to really get cranking.

In the mean time, however, we're able to enjoy this nominal trailer for his work. If I hadn't been aware that Pulverpadda wanted to turn this into a more full-length film, however, I would have enjoyed it on its own merits. The music is catchy and thriving, and the imagery in the video is compelling.

I wonder, sometimes, if "trailers" couldn't be formatted this way for machinima. We've all seen previews that never seem to result in full movies. But even if Pulverpadda doesn't complete a longer feature, All Souls Day can stand on its own as music-oriented video.

At any rate, best wishes to the author during his second year in the Army, and good luck finishing his final film.

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Project Lordaeron is a music video by Vinex. According to the author, this is his first video, and it doesn't have a "real" storyline. While that might be the literal truth, I think that Vinex's movie actually speaks to the tragedy and events that occured in Lordaeron. The movie features the well-known scene at the opening of the Culling of Stratholme, and goes on to show how the madness of Arthas radically changed what is now known as the Plaguelands. You're ultimately left with a haunting series of images that helps drive home the themes surrounding Arthas Menethil's story.

I found the music particularly interesting and very well suited to the pace of the video. Vinex and Xayo created the original score for Project Lordaeron, which instantly raised my opinion of the piece. I think it's exciting to see new authors creating their own music to go alongside their imagery, since it can often promise a more "whole" piece from the final product. I'm curious to see what music the pair might forge for other videos, as I'd be thrilled to see more and more complex soundtracks.

Overall, I like the work that Vinex has done, and I hope to see more from the auther in the future.

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Dead Memories - Ulduar was created by Endac to display Ulduar to those who have not seen it, or maybe to show off his guild's skills in dominating the raid instance. He created his video with a twist, however. Dead Memories - Ulduar is shot through the perspective of a single visitor, who's plagued by nightmares and dreams about the place.

Endac says he doesn't think his video is "super fancy," but I actually think that's fine. His movie is straddling a line between machinima techniques and raid video techniques. I like the sense of wonder and (sometimes) horror his main character emotes to the audience, even while navigating through the terrific battles inside Ulduar.

The music choices make sense to me, even if they aren't necessarily my favorite bands ever. Your mileage will vary, of course, but I think Ulduar deserves a metal soundtrack. If you're particularly opposed to metal, you might find the soundtrack distracting.

Ultimately, I think Endac's video is pretty neat. I'd encourage him to take his storytelling to the next level, though, as he and his guild explore new content.

Edit: The initial link was broken -- it has now been fixed.

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Tipster Kerri clued me in to the Jesse Cox Voice Actor Video Demo on YouTube. This is definitely not the sort of movie we'd regularly feature on Moviewatch, of course, but it points out an interesting facet of machinima that we don't usually talk about. Namely, this video shows off the skills of the voice actors.

Many times, a video can be visually impressive, but less-than-stellar voice acting can detract from the overall experience. Jesse Cox has worked with Myndflame in several videos, as well as starring in Divided Soul. By watching this demo reel, you can very clearly see how much character and technique he brings to his roles. I think it can't be understated how important it is to a machinima to have actors who can speak their lines fluidly, believably, and without awkward moments.

Like I said, the video demo itself is pretty straight-forward. I hope it brings the results to Jesse that he wants. But, I wanted to feature it to help highlight the often unsung hero of machinima: the voice actor.

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The new Chronicles of Leeroy episode 6- Stranglegank Vale has been released by Herculean Productions. If you remember from the last episode, Leeroy and friends were levelling through their first instance. Now, the Horde party must handle their most difficult challenge so far: getting ganked in Stranglethorn Vale.

There have been a few production enhancements on this episode. The costumes are a little more defined, and I feel like the scenery has been stepped up a notch. Also, you get to see the Herculean team do their first interpretations of Alliance life. Even the computer graphics are a little more refined and contextual.

The movie has an interesting meta-commentary moment, when the two Alliance gaurds are standing next to each other. One actor uses a prop for the quest-giving exclamation mark hovering over his head, while the other guard's exclamation mark is a computer graphic. There's a brief moment when they kind of look at each other questioningly, and then go back to waiting for a Player Character to come get a quest. I wasn't sure what to make of the scene, but it clearly stuck out in my head.

Overall, I think the adventures of Leeroy are a lot of fun. Herculean Productions obviously puts a lot of effort and heart into these movies, and I enjoy every one I see.

Click here to check it out.

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Your appreciation for Castlevania: Wisps of Dracula by Noblejazan will vary depending on your knowledge and experience with poorly written fan-fiction. The author took an "original story" written by a fan of the game Castlevania, and put it into machinima. Mind you, Noblejazan used an actual fanfiction. The resulting video is somewhere between a hyperspeed parody and a weeping nod to the phenomenon of fanfic.

This video has all the very best tropes. It has senseless tragedy, dashing heroics, an invulnerable, rogue hero, and a hint that the real Mary Sue has yet to be born. (I'm sure Rhonin is just around the corner for the next installment.) The author is careful to pronounce the actual language from his chosen fanfiction, and the movie moves so fast it feels like you're on a sugar-fueled rollercoaster ride. I especially like the word-art flying across the screen, to help make sure you don't miss any details.

Although I was a little confused when I first pulled this video up on WarcraftMovies, I laughed out loud when I played the YouTube stream. This video is hilarious work, though I'll admit I'm not sure of the gimmick could be repeated. It's definitely worth the few minutes watching.

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This is the trailer for Grubthar's upcoming feature-length movie, Maw. The premise of the movie centers around a small group of orcs who are chased out of Khaz Modan by the Alliance. With nowhere to go, the war party sets sail to the west. A similar group of Alliance soldiers gives chase to the horde. When both arrive on a distant shore, events take place which will "test their honor and seal their fates."

The basic kernel of Maw's story sounds decent, but something about the trailer didn't really click for me. I think I felt like the trailer was focused on the dragons more than the orcs. And while I would love a dragon movie, and am reminded of the White Drake because of it, I don't think that's what Maw's going to be about. On the other hand, I could be overthinking this.

Ultimately, though, I'm a fan of story-based machinima, and I look forward to seeing what Grubthar delivers. Click here to check out the trailer.

[Via Myndflame]

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Wrought is an exciting new machinima created by Cranius and Legs. As the story goes, a Human warrior and a Blood Elf woman fall in love. Clearly, this relationship is scorned and forbidden by the Sindorei. The Blood Elves attack the woman, and the human is killed in a vicious ambush. The warrior returns to life as Forsaken. He learns that his lover has been imprisoned, so he flies to her rescue. I'll leave the rest unspoken, so that I don't spoil the story for you.

This video is absolutely amazing. Cranius and Legs managed to get the WoW models to show an incredible depth of emotion. The entire storyline is shot with such precise framing and flow that you can't miss what's happening. The authors have really raised the bar in narrative music videos, and I desperately hope they tackle another project together.

The music itself is by a band called "Peratus." It fit the story well, and I really liked the song. My only disappointment in the music was at the end, when it spiralled into some harsher growling and vocal grinding. While I might just be an old fogey, I felt like that disrupted the overall harmony of the piece. Excepting that ten seconds or so, though, I really loved the song. It's actually inspired me to try and find their albums.

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Happy Up Here is the new machinima by that maestro of Gnomes, Baron Soosdon. He spelled out the premise of the video best when he said, "So, I was flying around in Elwynn and found this lonely little house in mountains. It had no residents so that had to be changed!"

Happy Up Here shows the same inspired music choice as the Baron's previous works. According Soosdon himself, he's not done "area creation" before this video; he just wanted to make a video that would help folks smile. Considering the laughs and smiles the gnomes seem to be having, I think he succeeded. The little gnome resort he's created looks like it would be a rolicking good time, complete with dance space, rockets, swimming pool, bars, and more.

This is definitely a fun video to watch, though I could see some folks might be confused if they're looking for something like Little Nikita's action. This video just doesn't work that way. It's a short vignette of fun, and just meant to be enjoyed in its bite-sized lightheartedness.

If you have trouble with the YouTube stream, you can also see Happy Up Here on Vimeo or WeGame.

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