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WoW Moviewatch: Warcraft Babies 2
Work Warning: Cursing, adult situations, so on. Just saying, this has some rather adult material. Ian Beckman created Warcraft Babies with tongue firmly in cheek. As with the best ideas, folks loved it. The reaction was huge. With that kind of accolade, of course he returned to the series for a sequel. In Warcraft Babies 2, the babies take off in search of food. The voice acting is astounding in this video. It's astounding how well Ian imbues each character with personality and flair. Even without watching the (enjoyable) graphics, you known everything you need about each speaker. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
WoW Moviewatch: Warcraft Babies
Work Warning: Adult themes. No outright nudity or cursing, but it's definitely a bit on the racy side. It's definitely rated R for sexual themes. Warcraft Babies is a parody shout-out to the beloved Muppet Babies by that legend of comedy, Ian Beckman. Frankly, the video's hilarious, even if you spend the entire time wincing at the thought of kids trying to figure out what Aunt Jaina means by "plumbing." So, while I'm not entirely sold on the very adult bedroom humor, the framework and characters instantly won their way into my heart forever. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
WoW Moviewatch: That's the World of Warcraft That I Used To Play
And now for something a little different... also, something epic and amazing. Because we don't have enough covers of that song yet, Ian Beckman and Oxhorn stamped their incredible brand of hilarity over Gotye's infamous song. In That's The World of Warcraft That I Used to Play, the duo deride the long lingering but inescapable appeal of WoW. Even if some of the jibes aren't entirely fair, this is one heck of a song. They really managed to do a good job of the cover vocals, as well as the lyrics. In lieu of trying to match Kimbra's soaring voice (something many have tired and failed), Oxhorn stuck to his own range and recreated the experience. Ian did an admirable job of Gotye's part, even while making it sound a little new. All in all, this is just a great video. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
WoW Moviewatch: Perception
We've covered Perception by Ian Beckman before. You don't need to worry about getting kicked awake or trying to break out of your dream. I love the way Ian's brought WoW and the mind-bending realities of Inception together in one video. While I don't know how much narrative Ian actually intended, it's easy to piece together your own story just by watching these clips. What do you think is happening? Is it just a psychotic break, or is something more sinister happening? Regardless of how you interpret Perception, the graphics are top-notch and the final effect is a fun pop culture ride. Kick back and enjoy the bwoooooom. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Spiritual Guidance: The priests of BlizzCon 2011
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore covers the healing side of things for discipline and holy priests. She also writes for LearnToRaid.com and produces the Circle of Healing Podcast. This past weekend, BlizzCon 2011 brought a plethora of announcements for World of Warcraft. Players can now look forward to pandas, a dramatically new talent system, a Pokémon-style minigame, and lots more. Priests in particular are in for radical changes with the new talents, and while I suspect some of you would like to hear my perspective on things, I'm going to wait a week and see what else unfolds from the blues as they respond to some of the more obvious questions the community is asking. This also gives me the opportunity to follow through with my original plans of introducing you guys to some of the priests I met at BlizzCon 2011.
WoW Moviewatch: The Care Bear
Ian Beckman created The Care Bear, a short machinima featuring the trials and struggles of a nonconfrontational player. As the story goes, Care Bears are players who eschew the normally violent, PVP-based conflicts in the game. In this story, an Orc Care Bear encounters a Human warrior. After some successful attempts at communication, the situation takes a turn for the worse when other Horde players show up. I was enchanted by The Care Bear, mostly because of how well Beckman conveyed emotion and plot without dialogue. No one speaks a word, but you can still empathize with the situation and characters. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
WoW Moviewatch: Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 8, The Final Chapter
Azerothian Super Villains have been a staple of the WoW movie community for years. Ian Beckman's unique take on Kael'thas, Illidan, and the other high-end bosses have been hilarious, iconic, and inspiring. As we are now facing the end of an era with the Cataclysm of Azeroth, it has become time for the final chapter of Azerothian Super Villains. The final chapter has been worth the wait. The story is just as good for someone brand new to the series as it is for someone who's been following Beckman's work for years. The video is about 12 minutes long, so be sure to watch it when you have time to settle in for the whole show. The time will be worth it. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.
WoW Moviewatch: Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 7
This is a movie that will bring screams of joy to many of you. Ian Beckman has released Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 7. Kael'thas continues to be the mainstay of the series, with his trademark voice and childish antics. Little shivers of glee still shoot up and down my spine at Beckman's masterful portrayal of the Dark Belf Lord. My favorite part of this episode is the Team Rocket parody. Something about Arthas leading his team in a cute little poem just feels right. While I'm not foolish enough to believe Blizzard would include such a thing in Icecrown Citadel, you better believe that poem's going to be in my head every time I show down against him. The story progresses fairly well, with the old gang reunited by the end. I don't know. I love all of the characters, but Kael'thas steals the show to such an amazing degree that I sometimes feel like Illidan is hogging the Dark Belf Lord's limelight. The final teaser does seem to promise more in the future for Kael'thas, so here's hoping the next installment isn't too far off. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Critical Flaw Pilot
Warning: As is the nature of reviews, the following review has a few spoilers for the video. The Critical Flaw Pilot by Ian Beckman is an experimental live action piece, centered around two roomies who are also gamers. You not only have your usual shenanigans in this kind of sitcom piece, but there's also a heavy dose of World of Warcraft humor thrown in. While I'm not certain I'd ever be inclined to play World of Warcraft with my feet, I definitely have to respect the guy who does. That's a level of dedication and skill that you just don't see every day. It's definitely a few feet above your usual water level of player ability. (Do you see what I did there?) The murloc joke is probably my favorite bit. Certainly, it could be argued that murlocs are the slippery banana peel of WoW comedy. If you throw in a random murloc gag, you're guaranteed to at least get an extra chuckle. This one especially appeals to me, though, and I'll probably be building my own murloc litter box in the near future. At the end of the day, I hope Ian gets enough support for this series to keep going. I think it could really grow with another episode or two under it, and it's already showing signs of becoming a hit. Like I said, I definitely laughed. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Warcraft Mountain Dew Spec Commercial
The Warcraft Mountain Dew Spec Commercial was Ian Beckman's entry into the BlizzCon 2009 machinima contest. According to Ian, he'd secretly hoped that the Mountain Dew folks would see the commercial and think "Holy crap! We love this idea! Let's make it a commercial!" That didn't happen, but the video's still pretty awesome.It's pretty short, of course, but the style and lightheartedness of the commercial won me over. Two warriors are fighting in the war-torn fields of Azeroth. When they spot a Mountain Dew through the computer screen, they immediately launch themelves into the real world to win the soda for themselves.The Warcraft Mountain Dew Spec Commercial is a little additionally ironic in the tableau of panels offered by BlizzCon. As Alex Zierbart pointed out, it was relatively rare for any of the Blizzard presenters to actually touch the Mountain Dews hanging out on the panel tables. Still, that doesn't impact my opinion of Ian's commercial, which was overall pretty fun to watch. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Azeroth Super Villains Episode 7 teaser
Today's WoW Moviewatch is just a brief trailer. But it's a trailer than I know many, many people are going to be pretty excited about. Ian Beckman is returning to the beloved Azeroth Super Villains. In fact, this is the trailer for Azeroth Super Villains 7.In the trailer, Ian's chilling out at home and eating some chips. That's when he notices an odd, blonde figure running up to him from the distance. Within moments, it turns out the blonde figure is Kael'Thas, who's here to remind Ian the same things many fans have been saying: it's time for another episode!The new episode is due out in November. (Ian had originally been thinking December, but Kael'Thas warned him that he shouldn't wait that long.) This teaser is pretty early in that regard, but I thnk the brief appearance of Kael'Thas lets us know that Ian hasn't lost "his touch" at the series. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Never Stay Tuned 4
Note: Not everything in this video is safe for work.Olibith's Never Stay Tuned series is more than just a collection of videos. The original series has come to be an institution, filled with fun, glory, and legend! Olibith has created the finest collection of parody and culture references in the machinima world. He's now back with the last installment Never Stay Tuned 4.The guest list featured in Never Stay Tuned 4 is a wonderful nod to the work Olibith has done. You'll see work by Baron Soosdon, Ian Beckman, the AFK pl@yers, Pinkhair, and Goldskin. Each has brought unique aspect to the work, and the vast collaboration has created something epic. You'll probably recognize the unique styles, but there's an itemized credit at the end. Never Stay Tuned 4 was as hilarious as the first ones in the series. Now, if you didn't like those previous videos, then chances are that the fourth installment won't radically change your mind. There's quite a few jokes and gags in the video that are a little rough or tawdry, and a few spots of nudity and violence, which will also affect your opinion.The entire video is incredibly well done, with absolutely amazing graphic work. Go to the effort to check it out, but take your time do so: the video clocks in over 18 minutes. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: HAX
You might (should?) remember Ian Beckman from Azerothian Supervillains. He's now released a new rap video as part of a Senior Thesis Project at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Ultimately, this video -- titled HAX -- is in competition with a few other musically similar videos. So, if you like it, take a moment to visit the site and vote for it.This is simply one of my favorite music videos I've seen for this genre. Not only is the music awesome, the video itself is a fun and nostalgic romp through games of old. Pac-Man and Mario Brothers are just two great examples. Ian's done a great job making his video's main character Zeldo fit within the games' context. It's obvious Zeldo's a visitor, but affected by his location.The dancing girl is a great nod to the genre of rap music videos. You always have a pretty dancing girl. (I'm sure someone can show me rap videos without a pretty dancing girl, but I'd be hard pressed to find it myself.) However, she's suitably pretty, suitably dancing, and still screams "video gamer" to me. She's also not dressed in a skimpy outfit, which fits my out-of-date, prudish sensibilities. I enjoy the way Ian's blended real world footage to video game graphics. It works great.If you could, take the time to visit the contest site and vote for HAX. If Ian wins, maybe we'll get lucky and another video in this style.If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ..
WoW Machinima: The basics
(Dell is holding a machinima contest, which we'll discuss shortly. They asked me to write a tutorial to help new machinimators get their start.)Every day, I feature a video by some brave soul that dived in head first into the world of machinima. For those that aren't familiar with the term, it stands for machine and cinema. The literal definition is movies made in a 3D gaming platform. Using this basic guide, as well as the other tutorials and resources available to you, you'll be creating your first project in no time!Here is what you'll need if you want to make a machinima for free: WeGame camera - A free capturing program GIMP - A free image editing program Audacity - A free audio editing program Windows Movie Maker/iMovie - Free video editing programs that should have come with your appropriate system [Thanks for originally suggesting this, Bryan!] Read on for optional and advanced tools, plus additional resources ...
Cinemassively: Azerothian Super Villains, Episode 6
In January, we introduced you to a World of Warcraft machinima series, Azerothian Super Villains, by featuring the five episodes that had been produced at the time. Ian Beckman is back with the sixth episode, "The Virgin Kael'thas," a humorous video about Illidan's plot to take over the isle of Theramore by distracting the leader, Proudmoore. When he realizes that there are no other options, he enlists Kael'thas, the village idiot of the group, to complete the job, but as always, there are some complications ...[Via Warcraftmovies.com]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
WoW Moviewatch: Azerothian Super Villains, Episode 6
The moment you've been waiting for has arrived! It's hard to believe that a whopping five months have gone by, but Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 6 has finally been released! Ian Beckman went all out in the production of this sequel to his popular series. It wouldn't be complete without a voiceover from our favorite guest actor, Drewbie, though!You know the drill. Illidan plots something evil, Kael'thas screws up, and everything goes awry. However, there's a lot more depth (and laughs) to it than that. In this episode, "The Virgin Kael'thas," Illidan plans to take over the island of Theramore, but needs Kael'thas to distract the leader, Proudmoore, in order to carry it out. When Proudmoore is discovered to be Jaina, a lady, will he be able to carry out his mission?[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 ...
WoW Moviewatch: Azerothian Super Villains, Episode 6 Teaser Trailer
Ian Beckman has remained tight-lipped about the plot of the highly anticipated sequel to his Azerothian Super Villains series, which is scheduled to be released on the 4th of July. However, Kael'thas was all too happy to discuss how ASV6 would turn out if he were the director. While we're not too sure about his sanity, we wish him all the luck in getting his version of the series bought. In the meantime, keep your eye out for the real version of Episode 6!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
WoW Moviewatch: How 2 Machinima, Episode 2
In Episode 1 of How 2 Machinima, Ian Beckman taught us how to chromakey right off the bat. This ended up being controversial, as some machinimators felt that he should start with basic tutorials. Now Ian is back with an even more advanced tutorial about lip-syncing.Episode 2 of How 2 Machinima focuses on how to realistically lip-sync your actors using images of their own mouths. According to this tutorial, you would need pictures of the mouth in various stages of opening and closing. Then you would study the sound chart, which Ian has linked to on How 2 Machinima. From there, it only gets more complicated, so you'll need to pay special attention to the video. I personally use CrazyTalk, by Reallusion, for all of my lip-syncing, but the choice is yours![Via How2Machinima.com]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
WoW Moviewatch: Ask a Warlock, Episode 1
On WoW Moviewatch, we regularly ask for and blog about user submissions. However, not all of the submissions are what we would call ... impressive. Such is the case with Ask a Warlock: Episode 1 - "Why is the what?" According to his show page, though, the poor soul actually asks for feedback.Ask and ye shall receive, young warlock! First of all, we'll start with the premise. He solicits questions on his blog and then answers them in video format. Ask a Warlock is obviously a WoW knockoff of Ask a Ninja, which is a much better production. Maybe you're trying to emulate Ask a Chola, who isn't even a real chola, but the point is that you'll need to improve your schtick. For a much better example, see Ian Beckman's Ask an Assassin.[Thanks, Andrew!]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...Read on for more feedback ...
WoW Moviewatch: How 2 Machinima, Episode 1
Ian Beckman, the creator of Azerothian Super Villians, and Drewbie "I've never met a cameo I didn't like", have teamed up to help WoW machinimators everywhere. How 2 Machinima is a new series that will explain the art of machinima in-depth. Episode 1 focuses on WoW Model Viewer, WoW Map Viewer, recording programs, chroma keying (greenscreening), and how to put your footage together to make the scene. I look forward to the second tutorial![Thanks, Ian!]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
