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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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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Machinima's a pretty big topic. Depending on who you talk to, "machinima" could include story-based movies, PvP footage, boss kills, music videos, and even videography of altered in-game landscapes. There are uncounted thousands of videos about World of Warcraft roaming the internet, so it can be very difficult to know where to start.

In honor of the ticket queue for BlizzCon 2009, Moviewatch presents seven machinima movies and machinimators you should know. Certainly, these aren't the only 7 movies or authors you should know, but they do include some of the most popular staples of the art. If you find yourself chatting it up with a machinima enthusiast around the BlizzCon water cooler, you can probably be certain they've seen these shows.

We went for variety in this selection, choosing videos with different styles and subjects. They certainly aren't listed in "countdown to the best" format, since trying to rate these videos like that would be dang near impossible. Instead, they are simply listed alphabetically, according to the creator of the movie.

Check out the selection behind the cut.

Some days, it's a little slow in the world of WoW machinima. Other days, I log in to my email and find out we're starting the week with a Baron Soosdon machinima. Which is, frankly, awesome. The good Baron got a tip about this song from his YouTube activity. He was drawn, motivated, and compelled to create a signature machinima for it. Thus was A.D.I.D.A.W. born. After hearing the music, how could you not empathize with the frenzied, holy compulsion to put gnome-to-screen for this song?

The song in A.D.I.D.A.W. is a take-off from Korn's A.D.I.D.A.S.. This musical re-creation is the brainchild of the band Electric Sex Pants. And, man, they really do hit the sweet spot for lyrics. All day I do, in fact, dream about WoW. I admit I've not been into scream metal for a while, but these guys just "did it" for me.

The video story itself is pretty awesome. I don't want to give it away, because the action is totally worth the watch. I'll summarize as best I can. Some horde are mistreating gnomes, in a wide variety of ways. But at the end, the song ends, and the abuse stops. Then, a little revenge comes their way. (No pun intended.) The graphics and animation are all clean and sharp. The action is easy to follow, and instilled with enough "whoah, cool" to make you want to reroll a Gnome.

As always, I'm thankful to the Baron for continuing the people's revolution, making gnomes cooler and cooler every day.

You can find multiple options for a video stream at the good Baron's blog.

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ..

This has been a rather newsworthy week. We've had Nyhm's final goodbye and the release of No Point: Stretching Time. Now, we see the return of a man Baron Soosdon calls "THE DIVINE ONE." Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you How To Paladin XXXI.

Like Moo Money said many moons ago, it's hard to categorize Shepiwot's work. It's pretty firmly in the "WTF" category, and I think it's probably best if we just leave it there. You're probably going to find the How To Paladin series funny, entertaining, or just plain annoying. Maybe all three. I'm in the "it's entertaining" camp, and I can live with that.

This edition has everything you might expect from Shepiwot journeying to Northrend. Dancing, dancing, and more dancing. Some fighting. Tanks! Explosions! Over all, it's a crazy, whacky ride. It felt to me like it moved faster than previous editions, which is probably a good thing.

"How to Paladin" might not be your cup of tea. But, for the fast pace of the film, it won't take you long to drink it.

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ..

Calling all Gnomes... Calling all Gnomes...

Baron Soosdon, one of the best machinima creators out there, wants your Gnomes. In a post over on the EU forums he tells everyone "[I] need gnomes, gnome dying and flying into the air." The gnomes will be used for an upcoming machinima project of his.

Some of his previous work is great, and I really suggest you check it out. The Device Has Been Modified is one of my favorite pieces of machinima, and Child Escapism also ranks quite high.

If you want to get into this project you'll need to follow the instructions he outlines in his post. EU Community Team member Wryxian points out Soosdon is looking for gnomes and not crocolisks, so let's try to remember that (if there is any confusion, that is).

And in case you're worried about gnome hate, a very serious problem in Azeroth, Soosdon lets us all know that he doesn't hate Gnomes, and that the video itself won't be about killing gnomes.

Are you still there?

Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.

You'd have to be "Blind" not to have seen the machinima everyone's been talking about this week. We posted about it not once, not twice but three times – and we're still receiving chastising notes to get busy and run it. (Come on, folks, read the blog!)

So what's all the fuss about? This machinima has garnered rave reviews (and even offers to have "man2man babies") from virtually everyone corner – although some viewers aren't fans of the music selection. "I disagree with many of the others about the music choice," observed Fawkes, who took up a midstream position between hotly contested views. "While these weren't my favorite genres to listen to, I must say I found the 'Hide and Seek' song a playful match with the action scenes. My advice to Percula would be to take their complaints into consideration, but still take this your own way."

But we didn't hear only from WI readers. Machinima rock star Baron Soosdon and "Blind" creator Percula himself weighed in.

Even Blood Elves want to come home for Christmas. For today's Movie Watch we present Baron Soosdon's depiction of a Paladin's epic journey through the Borean Tundra to be with his family. This video was created as the producer's entry to the WeGame Christmas machinima contest of 2008.

As always, the images are crisp and visually stunning. Watching the video we get a nice tour of the Borean Tundra. There is very little action in this clip, more or less just one quick fighting scene during the opening credits. Aside from a couple of NPC interactions, the video is mostly a Paladin riding around. Emotes have a limited capacity to capture the true emotions of homecoming. I think Baron Soosdon did as good a job as he could, but I felt a little bit let down. The end should be heartwarming but it's just kind of there.

If you're making your own epic journey this Christmas season, slow down and be safe. It's nasty out there.

Baron Soosdon is one of the biggest names in WoW machinima out there, and is an author we've featured on WoW Insider any number of times. He's been involved in just about every style machinima, from music-video to story-based films. Today we feature his work Raid Together, Die Alone 2.

The good Baron's created this homage of Burning Crusade raid bosses. All the footage was created between May 2008 and November 2008 and the raids themselves were conducted by the guilds Beastro and Beyond Oblivion. You can find them on the Twilight Hammer (EU) server. And while it is basically a retrospective of the raid boss fights, the Baron obviously covers it with the same style and panache he brings to all his work.

As the Baron himself warns, though, be sure to watch through the end. There's an easter egg at the end of the film that you won't want to miss.

Click here to see the movie!

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Soosdon. With a name like that and the skills he has, any machinima or even a sneak peek at his machinima deserves mention. Today on WoW Moviewatch we'll take a look at a trailer for his new work No Point: Stretching Time.

I'm going to put on my fanbois hat for a minute and say that everything this man does is golden. I really only started following machinima when I began writing for WoW Insider, and at that Soosdon's The Device Has Been Modified really got me into it.

So with this trailer we see a gnome fighting some bad guys. Adal is in there, along with some spirits of resurrection. A brief kiss between some gnomes and more epicness. The quality of the trailer is what you'd expect from Soosdon – professional quality that is nearly as good as what you'd see on the big screen.

Take a look at the trailer, and keep your eyes out on Moviewatch for when the full length machinima hits.

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Ever wonder what happens to your character when the boat or zeppelin goes out of your view as it zips across the ocean? Well, WoW That's Irregular is here to 'splain you, Lucy. The filmmaker, Wizeer, is a pal of Baron Soosdon's and a student of Machinima 101 and his third machinima makes it clear he'll be a force to be reckoned with.

The movie is really two separate vignettes which both riff on the theme of unexpected outcomes. The first story shows an Undead Rogue capturing the flag in Warsong Gulch with comedic flair. There is little standing in his way except a rookie Gnome, a surprised Draenei, and a Dwarf Hunter who looks surprisingly like BRK. One of these three offers the rogue his comeuppance, which is amusing, but what actually happens is a bit difficult to follow. According to the film's notes, the rogue overused Sprint, but I'm not entirely sure what occurred.

In the second half of the film, a Night Elf boards a boat and gets mobbed by a gang of Horde who apparently don't judge gender very well. The special effects on the boat ride showing us what happens when the boat hits the worm hole are splendid. The voice acting in this segment is also quite amusing. (Did you know that Orcs scream like little girls?) Give it a shot; I think you'll like this one.

For those of you interested in the non-WoW music used in this film, Wizeer lists "Concerning Hobbits" (Lord of the Rings), "Lacrimosa" (Immediate Music), and "Ringtone" (Battlefield Heroes).

[Via WarcraftMovies]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

(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?

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ..

If you haven't done a 40-man on Naxxramas yet, you'd better hurry. As we wrote in August, Blizzard plans to move the dungeon up north to make it WotLK entry-level raiding content. However, if you're still quite a bit away from getting there, you can check out one of Baron Soosdon's latest offerings, Destination Naxxramas.

Pre-TBC, Soosdon had never had a chance to visit Naxxramas, so when a raid was arranged on his server, Twilight's Hammer EU, he jumped at it. The result is an action-packed artistic gameplay video, with a heavy soundtrack, that shows off the highlights of this dungeon of yesteryear. Be sure to watch it until the end for a special message ...

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

Back in July, I wrote about the Warcraftmovies Synergy contest. Machinimators were given the choice between two unintentionally horrible scripts and were asked to follow them to the letter. In honor of that contest, Baron Soosdon, half of the winning duo, decided to create his own imba machinima contest. Offering up a top prize of being uuiU'd by Soosdon himself, he cranked out a script in just 15 minutes!

It's been a while since I wrote about Kilh, of Rock 'n' Troll fame. He noticed the contest with a little over three days left until the deadline. Of course, being the talented filmmaker that he is, he decided to give it a go -- with amazing results. When asked for comment, he stated that the script made no sense, so he just followed it as if it were step-by-step instructions.

Featuring a voiceover by yours truly, EPIXX - Too Fast For Love is ... something else. Try to imagine toilet gnomes, a ruined PR campaign (a nod to one of my Moviewatch posts), an epic purple Wand of Not Burning Books (the part that I voiced), a Titanic spoiler, and a bad 80s song in the credits that isn't a Rickroll. Those are just some of the highlights of an intentionally awesome script!

[Thanks for the laughs, #machinima on Quakenet IRC!]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

When I wrote about the Warcraftmovies Synergy contest for machinima three days ago, I had no idea just how close of a fight it would be. The results are in and it was literally a battle to the death. Baron Soosdon and Pinkhair beat Martin Falch by a whopping three votes, with final scores of 299 to 296. Over the next few days, we'll be looking at the winners and giving requested feedback to some of the ones that didn't place.

Baron Soosdon and Pinkhair's machinima followed along with the Busted script, but there were multiple little touches that really made the film. In addition to weaving his 3d magic throughout, Pinkhair also used a third party program, Crazytalk, to animate the lips of one of the characters. Caruu mastered the sound, while he, Drewbie, Olibith, and Selserene voice acted. There are also tributes to the great Shepiwot, Drewbie's character from The Grind, the Robber Baron of Warsong Gulch, and the cast of Snacky's Journal. Even I played a part in it by ruining their PR campaign -- or so they say!

Try to keep in mind that neither script was good, so the contenders didn't have a lot to work with in the way of variation. Now that it's over, I hope that Warcraftmovies will use a different method for their contest next time!

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...