alan-smithee
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Ask Massively: Alan Smithee edition
Alan Smithee is not a real person. Or to be more accurate, he's several real people. The name was used for several years by directors of films when it could be proven that the director's vision for the film had been undone by editing and overhead pressures. Essentially, it was a way for a director to wash his hands of a project so as not to associate his name with something that was released to the public in a form that bore no resemblance to what he had created. That's not a photo of Alan Smithee; it's a photo of a funicular credited to Smithee. It's the best I could do. Unlike last week's column, this week's edition is about far less weighty manners, instead discussing candidates for potential free-to-play adventures in response to a very large question from a long-time reader. As always, questions may be mailed to ask@massively.com or left in the comments for inclusion in a future edition of Ask Massively.
Cinemassively: "Worth Dying For" released
I recently wrote about a World of Warcraft trailer that promised an epic movie would be following shortly. True to his word, Manuel Sequeira released a 40 minute movie yesterday! "Worth Dying For" offers an entertaining storyline and develops fairly well. This is a love story with deep history. A forsaken mage has plotted his revenge on the Lady Sylvanas for taking him so early, dooming him to the afterlife. If he is to become human again, he must seek out the current archmage and draw him to him. Only after battle can he return to his true form and kill her. What follows is a sad story with a surprising twist. I think you'll enjoy it!However, I do have some criticism. Despite having the amazing Phil Rice, aka Overman, voicing some of the characters, the rest of the cast doesn't fit. The editing of the sound has some part in it, but the voiceovers just feel wrong. I was also disappointed with the lack of range of movement in scenes with dialogue. In addition, I'm not sure what resolution he shot it in, but there are some scenes where he is zoomed in that are very pixelated. My last concern with this Machinima is that one of the voices is credited to Alan Smithee. What happened there?[Via Zarathustra Studios]
