rise-to-power
Latest
WoW Moviewatch: Samuro
Samuro was an entry into the Rise to Power contest from Alienware. It's a tough video to say much about without giving away the plot, so this review is going to be very brief. It was created by Kakashisan, who is the same machinimator who created the Surfing With The Alien movie some time ago. Samuro is a great machinima. The music is obviously appropriate. More importantly, the way Kakashisan framed the shots and set up each element was done with a skillful eye. The narrative flow of the trailer was quick and effective, and managed to setup the audience's anticipations without giving away the "twist" at the end. The best thing about the twist, though, is that as soon as one sees it -- you'll wonder how you missed it all along. 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: The Life and Times of Wilfred Fizzlebang
The Life and Times of Wilfred Fizzlebang is Mushanga's entry into Alienware's Rise to Power contest. Don't doubt yourself if the name seems familiar, because this notorious gnome is firmly rooted in WoW's raiding lore. Mushanga has breathed new life into the story of Wilfred, and laid the entire saga out in front of you. Mushanga's ability to create interesting scenes with rapid-pace narrative continues to amaze me. His knack for slapping jokes in the right place and setting up skillful transitions are amazing. The Life and Times of Wilfred Fizzlebang is a fun and hilarious movie. The characterization of Wilfred was spot-on. This is exactly how I picture a demonic megalomaniacal gnome would come into being, and everything about the story fits that mold. The voice acting for Wilfred was probably the best "madman gnome" I've heard. Overall, this was just a solid movie, and a lot of 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: Yesterday's News
Yesterday's News by Slashdance was an entry into the Rise to Power contest. On the off chance you're reading this blurb before watching the movie, please take a moment now and check it out. It is the simple story of a man who's spent a lifetime honing his craft to an art, only to find himself replaced by the rise of a new technology. In the face of someone else's rise to power, his own living is destroyed. Did you check out the movie? For some reason, it didn't place in the Rise to Power contest. I don't really have any feedback about why, since those decisions aren't really publicized. I won't guess at why the video didn't manage to score a winning spot, but I can say some things about this video. There's obviously a lot of machinima out there. Some of the stories are beautiful and compelling. Some of the artwork is technically and visually amazing. Almost all of it is artwork derived from the effort and vision of its creators. One of my favorite things about being the Moviewatch guy is that I regularly get exposure to an entire host of artists who create so many amazing things.
WoW Moviewatch: The Guild Charter Guy
Wowcrendor's The Guild Charter Guy was his entry into Alienware's Rise to Power contest. It has the same tongue-in-cheek humor as the rest of Crendor's work. In The Guild Charter Guy, Wowcrendor tells the story of a lowly orc who has a dream to change the way raiders and other players interact in the World of Warcraft, and the way he goes about making that dream a reality. Wowcrendor seemed to do a little more with his soundtrack than he usually does, which is an interesting upgrade to the film. The story moves by fairly quick, and focuses mostly on 3rd person narration to get his plot points across. I liked the brief call-out to the roach vendor, but the ending felt a little quick to me. I always enjoy Wowcrendor's movies, but I'm encouraged to see him expanding a bit. It'll be interesting to see what kind of work he does next. 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: 1 Minute Machinima Entry
This is our second time talking about Frozen Deathknight, who worked with Erunno on an entry into Alienware's Rise to Power contest. This movie is Frozen's first solo machinima (at least, according to the video's soundtrack), and was created to be a 1 Minute Machinima Entry into Baron Soosdon's contest to win a StarCraft II machinima key. While we'd normally be covering the rest of the Rise to Power entries today, I wanted to take a break and remind folks that the Baron's contest ends this Friday. If you're looking to enter, you should get your video finished up and off to the gnome-master. Frozen's video soars, in my opinion, in terms of his voice acting. His voice work is smooth and interesting, and the language is very crisp and clear. That might sound like lame feedback, but a lot of machinima's voice-work can be very difficult to actually hear and understand. Frozen's soundtrack stands out in that regard. The video is a quick bit of fun. It's light-hearted, moves fast, and is worth every second you spend watching it. Sure, there's no blood elves rapping, but you have to take what you can get. Given Frozen's ability to frame a skit in such little time, I'm very interested to see what he might be doing next. 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: Welcome to the Deadmines
The third European winner of the Rise to Power contest was Xcross, who submitted the comedic song and dance number Welcome to the Deadmines. The "story" of the video is fairly simple. A group of adventurers show up to the Deadmines to get their dungeon running happening. When they're just about ready to go, Van Cleef welcomes the adventures to his home with a little performance. Xcross did some absolutely amazing work here. This video is just fantastic. The song is catchy and clever. It's very well performed, and includes all our favorite characters from the Deadmines. The graphics in the video are amazing. The choreography captures the flavor of this Monty Python-esque performance, spotlighting each performance with grace and aplomb. My hat's off to Xcross. While I don't believe every video needs fancy graphics, Xcross has shown exactly how practiced machinimators can use their techniques to vastly enhance their films. The music was absolutely amazing. You can easily see why Welcome to the Deadmines was so well received. As a last note, if some of the lyrics seem a little confusing, you should remember that we're all going to enjoy the Heroic Deadmines in Cataclysm. 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: Beware of the Baby B
Michael Gray is still feeling a bit under the weather, and I have heard no news on the status of the puppy, so! Today's offering is another of the winners of the Alienware Rise to Power contest! Beware of the Baby B is a charming little three minute story by Olibith, who we've featured before numerous times on WoW Moviewatch. Much like the other Rise to Power winners, it's a pretty jaw-dropping movie in terms of effects and production. Beware of the Baby B is a tale about a baby beholder with a big appetite, and what happens when said appetite gets entirely out of control. The visual effects are, as always with Olibith's work, really well done -- there were only a couple of lines of voice work in the movie, but really that's all it needed. I liked the variation in shots from the eyes of critters, and the eyes of Baby B -- I've never seen a non-combat pet look quite as horrifying as it did here! The loading screen gag in the middle also cracked me up. While I'm used to seeing... spicier stuff from Olibith, this departure from the usual entertaining norm was an awfully sweet, endearing little film, with music taken from the game that suited the whole piece quite nicely. As with the other winners we've highlighted so far, it's immediately obvious why the film won. Congrats to Olibith -- now take that fancy computer and make us some more movies 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: World of Gnomecraft 2.0
Michael Gray is feeling a little under the weather, so I've kidnapped his column. He can have it back in exchange for his puppy. Moving on, we've got one of the winners of the Alienware Rise to Power contest who's name should be familiar -- Baron Soosdon, who's delightful works such as T for Thunderfury, No Point: Stretching Time, and Sex, Gnomes And Videotape: So I Went To France have been featured before here on WoW Moviewatch. World of Gnomecraft 2.0 is another solid addition to his stable of machinima videos, and honestly, it's no wonder it was a winner. World of Gnomecraft 2.0 is presented as a movie trailer of sorts about... well, gnomes. Gnomes that have had enough. That's really all I am going to say so as not to give anything away. This is quite possibly the most gnomes I have ever, ever seen in a machinima. Whether this is a good or a bad thing, I haven't decided yet -- but the whole piece had me cracking up about thirty seconds in. I could not stop giggling. There was no voice work to speak of, just the music and the text -- so let me point out, I love fonts. I collect fonts. I want whatever font he was using in this thing, and I am surprised I don't have it yet. Typography geeking aside, the video itself was simply fun to watch. The effects were clean and smooth, the transitions were well done, the music went remarkably well with the subject material, and it had every ounce of visual flair I've come to expect from Baron Soosdon. Plus, gnomes -- and a cameo from King Varian Wrynn that had me in stitches. Congrats to Baron Soosdon on his prize -- he earned it. P.S. Dear Baron, do you give lessons? I want to make pretty things. I may have a puppy to trade when Michael gets back!* *I won't really have a puppy. :( 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: The Shadow of Dawn
The Shadow of Dawn was the entry to Alienware's Rise to Power from Blackhand Pictures. The story is essentially about a human Alliance member who gets sucked into the Lich King's web of tyranny, only to eventually be freed by Tirion Fordring at the Battle of Light's Hope Chapel. The video is absolutely gorgeous. While some of the footage is either a recreation or a filming of in-game events, the entirety of this piece is just amazing to watch. Varath did a great job of creating interesting, captivating scenes. The voice acting is solid. The human voice was convincing in its tenor. The narration had a fantastic pace; it was neither so slow that I lost interest, nor so quick that I couldn't keep up. My only criticism of the piece is that the subtitles were off. It wasn't anything too horrible, but the use of language could probably have gotten a second edit. The small misses in language was a little distracting in what was otherwise such a great piece of work. 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.
