Posts with tag myndflame

Today's video comes from long time machinima fan, first time machinima maker Bridin. His first story uses the most classic of action tropes. The main character is just your average guy, the bad guys show up, things get bad, and your average guy is driven to become not-so-average. It's simple, but it works. Come on, who doesn't like Die Hard?

Overall, Hero is very good as a first outing. The soundtrack is appropriate, as is the foley. The animation is as close to natural as WoW gets, though the moving characters set on a stationary backdrop is always a little jarring. That just comes with the territory though and will just get better with time.

If I were to give one piece of advice, I would suggest practicing with a less epic tale for the next go around. It's understandably hard to include intense action sequences and things of that sort when it's your very first go at machinima, but some of the events seem to happen a bit randomly because of it. Any resistance the Alliance put up was off screen, except for our hero being punted off of a seemingly abandoned ship. Deus ex Diabolus keeps our hero from eating dirt. Making these sequences a bit more smooth and sensical would add a lot to these stories. I look forward to Bridin's future work, and considering Hero comes with the prefix Warcraft Stories, I'm hoping that there's a whole lot more coming our way.

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Erunno's Christmas Story won the WoW Model Viewer Christmas contest. It's a comedy video about one elf's brave struggle to find gifts for a Christmas story. His adventure takes him across the world of Azeroth, and features a dozen or so cameos of other, well-known machinimators.

Accord to Erunno over on his Myndflame post, he was experimenting with different techniques and styles from the anime industry. He wanted to take a look at how well those techniques would work out in machinima. I think Erunno nailed it pretty well, and I found the movie to be pretty fun and entertaining. Still, opinions will probably vary. I'm really curious to see how Erunno might use the styles in future videos, consider how well Erunno's Christmas Story seems to have succeeded.

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I posted last month about the trailer for this movie, so I'm especially happy to present the final release of Trev and Eroth: Episode 1 - Desperate Measures. Created by Giordano, this movie is set sometime between Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm. Troubled times force the peoples of Azeroth to take a hard look at their leadership, and Trev and Eroth are in a place to do something about it.

There's a lot to recommend this movie. Not only is the plot and scripting interesting, the visual effects are wonderful. Giordano has done a lot to raise the bar in this movie, and I'm very curious to see what he might do next. Giordano has really used new software to improve his movies, and my hat is totally off to him for expanding into new territory.

If you have trouble viewing the embed, you can also check it out over on Myndflame.

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Giordano posted about Trev and Eroth: Desperate Measures over at Myndflame. This is just the trailer for the movie, but it has the benefit of mostly being made up from actual footage. The reason that's a big deal, if you don't already know, is that many machinima trailers use slices and snippets from in-game footage or other movies that are never actually repeated in the machinima itself. This technique is usually use to give the author a springboard into inspiration, and help them get their thoughts together.

I'm not quite sure what to make of Trev and Eroth. It's supposed to end up a four-piece story, which is pretty exciting when you consider the scope and intricacy of such a plot. Gnomes as antagonists are also a huge plus for the film. However, I just think it's way too early to lay any judgement on Giordano's work, since we've yet to see the final movie. Trailers can only go so far. The plot definitely seems viable, though, so I'm curious to see how it ends up.

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15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

The subject of this week's 15 Minutes of Fame has actually carved out many, many more than a mere 15 minutes on his own. Clint Hackleman is known to WoW fans as the force behind Myndflame, the team responsible for such wildly popular machinima as Illegal Danish: Super Snacks, Learn 2 Play and Epic Flight Form.

So who's a Myndflame fan? Blizzard, for starters. "How can something so familiar feel so foreign?" Blizzard asks rhetorically in a news update on its main site about the Illegal Danish III Prelude. "... If you're a World of Warcraft player who feels something is missing from the StarCraft universe, the creators of the Illegal Danish series have sensed your internal disturbance, bringing you a hilariously off-kilter redux of the StarCraft II cinematic trailer, now with 100% more Gnome action. It's about time!"

We thought it was about time, too, to go behind the scenes with Hackleman and get the story behind Myndflame's blazing success.

One of the mainstays at BlizzCon is the machinima contest – talented artists submit their movie ahead of the convention in hopes of winning fame and prizes. This year's BlizzCon is no different, and we're sure to see some great videos during the largest gathering of WoW players outside of Azeroth. Over the next few days let's take a look back at some of the winners and runner ups of last year's movie competition.

Fruit of Elune won a Runner-up prize in last year's BlizzCon machinima contests. Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but I really liked the commercial parody. And, perhaps, I was pleased to see some lighthearted mocking of Night Elves. Night Elves tends to be a stoic, far too serious race. We could all use to have a little fun poked at the followers of Elune.

Last year, the big talk about this video had to do with a brief "wifebeater" joke. The joke was clearly sourced in a common nickname for a sleeveless men's t-shirt. I think the high quality of this video was overlooked due to the discussion about that bit. This is an important object lesson for many authors and artists; regardless of whether you think the joke is funny, that kind of material often "overwhelms" a video. It tends to become all that people remember about the film. Unless the point of your movie is to address that kind of controversial issue, you're probably better off skipping it.

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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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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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Warning: The language in this piece is not safe for work.

You can only very tenuously call today's piece a "movie," which might disqualify it for being featured on "Moviewatch." However, Myndflame's "Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff - Episode 7" targets the same audience of WoW players who would recognize them from their epic series, Illegal Danish. I wanted to make sure Moviewatchers didn't miss out on the comedy.

Of course, part of the news here is that Myndflame will be releasing the prelude to Illegal Danish 3 on July 3rd, 2009. This particular episode of Puff & Lilpuff features a petition thread on Gameriot, encouraging the Illegal Danish folks to include the nominal characters in the machinima.

Overall, this mostly-audio series is pretty funny. It's rooted in the body of work Myndflame has created, and is definitely a creative use of characters. Over the seven episodes we've already scene, the interaction between Puff and Lilpuff has become more complex and involves. I think that the series will continue to build on this intricacy, and will probably become a staple of many a WoW player's weekly game routine.

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

Previously on Moviewatch

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.

Last month, Clint Hackleman over at Myndflame machinima attended and presented at Stanford Play Machinima Law conference. As you might expect, he came out of the conference with a heightened respect and understanding about how machinima law works. Building on the relationships he's formed, as well as lots of leg work, Hackleman has been publishing a machinmator's guide to Blizzard & Machinima Law.

So far, there are three parts of the guide available. Part 1 deals with some of the very basics, but probably the most important section is understanding "commercialization" and what Blizzard's rules about it. A super quick summary of commercialization is "using a product to make money," but you should take the time to check out Myndflame's guide. He's obviously a bit more thorough about the explanation.

Part 2 of the guide talks about Blizzard's Fair Use policy for machinima. I'd consider this guide a must-read for anyone who wants to create machinima. It deals with how Blizzard supports machinimators, but also warns about where you'll encounter the limits of that support. For example, machinima using Blizzard properties should be "T" rated movies -- they don't want Blizzard icons getting mixed up with unsavory subjects. Part 3 of the guide deals with music, which is a key component of any good movie. A good film has to have a great soundtrack, after all.

I think Myndflame's guide is a pretty interesting read for anyone, even if you don't plan to make your own WoW movies. It gives some perspective and analysis to how much Blizzard strives to work with their community, and definitely shows what a vital, thriving society WoW machinimators can be. I appreciate the insight, and the work is a pretty fun read over all.

If you're a follower of the "Illegal Danish" series, you've probably already encountered Puff and Lilpuff. The elf and gnome are two key characters in Myndflame's comedy, and they make for an interesting pair. In order to help reach out to both their fans and the machinima community, Myndflame is launching a new audio-based series based on the character, called The Adventures of Puff and Lilpuff.

Myndflame will take emails and answer them daily. The plan is to set up an interactive format between their listeners and the creators themselves. This innovative dialogue will help shape the series, according to the Myndflame site. As the whole project grows and develops, Myndflame says they will reach out to other, well-known machinimists to get them involved in Puff and Lilpuff.

The above clip is the pilot episode, though the series already has three episodes completed. At this rate of creation, Puff and Lilpuff could turn into a mainstay of every WoW player's daily routine. I think it's a very interesting format, since a lot of machinima and WoW productions can feel "at an arm's distance." Giving the machinima audience at large a chance to interact and work with the creators could open up a new level in the hobby, and maybe get more people creating the art. It'll be pretty interesting to see how it all turns out.

If you're a machinima regular, you're probably familiar with Myndflame. The name can refer to the machinima website, where a wide and varied group of authors gather to share their work, comment on one another's pieces, and generally do the hang-out thing. Or, the name can refer to a specific set of artists, who put together pieces like Illegal Danish. That group's got a lot going on.

The Myndflame team is offering a few select pieces of swag over on their official site, as rewarsd for charitable donations. They've got a few limited edition shirts available, as well as a couple discontinued CDs. The purpose of this offering, of course, it to help provide for the ongoing development of the Myndflame community. They've been working with Blizzard to promote a better understanding of machinima and machinima law, as well as working to try and get more people involved in machinima creation.

The items have a little history to them. The shirts were produced for the Myndflame team, and one was given away at Blizzcon 2008. The remainder are the only ones left from that print run, and remain crispy clean and unworn. The CDs are only available digitally nowadays, so it seems likely these originals come from someone's personal stash. If you know someone who's a fan of the Illegal Danish series, these might make a nice gift -- Clint's offered to sign and personalize anything you get.

Wello posted his Van Helsing Trailer over on Myndflame, with some commentary that I found pretty interesting. First, it's his fourth video, and the one he feels best about. More importantly, Wello said that he'd searched far and wide for anyone else who'd already created a Van Helsing trailer. He found none, so immediately made one himself. He considered it his "time to shine."

It's easy to forget that the creation of machinima is usually sourced in an author's passion for the subject. Okay, so while Hugh Jackman rocking a crossbow and funny hat might not be humanity's key pathos, it's something for which Wello has a lot of love. (Hell, maybe Hugh Jackman is a strong enough collective obsession, anyway, given what opened this weekend.) Machinimators don't make a bunch of money off their work, it's entirely a labor or love.

The video itself is pretty keen. It's just a stylized recreation of the video, using stand-ins from WoW for the various actors. I was a little surprised to see Kate Beckinsale turned into a Blood Elf, but I guess that makes sense in context. I think Wello did a good job of choosing models and scenery, but the characters themselves could use a little more motion. Ultimately, it was a fun video that I enjoyed watching. I look forward to seeing Wello's skills grow.

[Via Myndflame]

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

Previously on Moviewatch

X-Cross has been building a new machinima series, titled FI5VE. As an author works on this kind of thing, there are myriads of outtakes. These aren't always mistakes. Some of the scenes they build, film, make all pretty, and then simply decide that the final product doesn't work our for them. This deleted opening is exactly such an out take. X-Cross ultimately decided that it was too long to open each episode.

But it's still an awesome piece of video. FI5VE is about five gnomes with unique, special powers. Well, unique and special to gnomes. The five superheroes have managed to become the five classes gnomes cannot be in game. (Those five classes are Priest, Paladin, Druid, Shaman, and Hunter.)

This sounds like a really cool project, so I was excited about this deleted opening. The animation and character work looks really great. X-Cross has managed to squeeze a lot of personality into these few seconds. And, of course, getting to see a gnome turn into a druid cat has long been a wish of mine.

Click here to check out FI5VE's deleted opening!