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WoW Moviewatch: Walking in the Air
Today's music video machinima comes from Sharm and WoPairs -- Sharm did the singing and WoPairs set it to machinima of some of Warlords of Draenor's gorgeous scenery (with a cameo from Pepe). The song itself is a cover of "Walking in the Air" from the children's movie The Snowman, but it honestly works perfectly in a WoW setting (yes, even the mention of a sea monster is in the original). The scenery in Warlords, combined with the new high-rez models, seem like ideal fodder for machinima-makers, and it's great to see them taking advantage of the world's new settings -- here's to more machinima in the new year! 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: WoW Meets Dubstep
I hear there's this dubstep music all the kids are into nowadays. Being an old man of questionable taste, I phoned some of the local teenagers for a primer. Their advice was to "listen for the drop." I kept listening for the drop, but I couldn't really hear it. Nonetheless, WoPairs created WoW Meets Dubstep as a way of bringing this newfangled music into good old Azeroth. I don't really know if it was successful, since I kept waiting for the bass line to stop gently weeping. If you have trouble making sense of this video, don't worry. It's meant to be random, I'm told. 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.
Premiering tonight: AFK film offers laughs, epic gaming scenes
Tonight is the premiere of /afk, a short film that tells the story of a single WoW player with a dream to solo Onxyia before he quits the game for good. Earlier this week, WoW Insider spoke with Benjamin Dressler, the director of /afk, and got the scoop on some of the origins of the film. Today, I'll be following up that interview with a review of the film and a few more words from Dressler on the more detailed aspects of the production. /afk is a short comedy that combines live-action footage with in-game animation and machinima. The story follows Piet (Martin Schnuerch), a student whose parents want him to take control of his life and break his gaming habit. He is unwittingly submitted to counseling, where he meets with the brutally honest psychiatrist (Eva Spott.) Piet is cooperative to an extent, telling his in-game friend Nippi (Bill Dean) early on that he intends to quit the game, but as the story progresses, it's apparent that he's very torn on the matter. He questions whether he is addicted and what he wants to do with his life. To make the decision harder on him, Piet has always wanted to solo Onxyia in the game and liken himself to a mythical dragonslayer, like Beowulf or Siegfried, a task he has not yet fulfilled. The film takes place during Piet's final days in the game, when he spends his time with friends and preparing for his face-off with the dragon. Update: /afk is now available for viewing.
WoW Moviewatch: Take your time
Asiko is an up-and-coming song maker who has released Take your time, featuring Sharm and Abandonation. The video was created by WoPairs. That's a pretty good crew for a premiere video, and the audio work in this piece reflects that. The imagery was especially interesting to me, and I wonder how music and videos like this will change when Cataclysm is released. Will we see significant changes in the factions of the main characters? Do we think some of the portrayed rivalries might shift? I'll be curious to see what happens. 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: Feel It In My Bones
WoPairs is back with another fun, brief video called Feel It In My Bones. As the story goes, WoPairs loved the song so much that she felt she absolutely must create a video for it. And thus, voila. As the song says, she could feel it in her bones. (Do you see what I did there?) I liked the song, although it didn't do nearly so much for me. The video was fun. Like many other music video machinimas, I could see this video playing overhead or on a DJ monitor as a visual enhancement to the music. It'd be a good backdrop for a little light club dancing or other cocktail-enhanced environment. I had fun with it, and it's always nice to see WoPairs signature styles. 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: Emerald Dream
Emerald Dream is a big collaboration move created about a half dozen machinima personalities. The lyrics were written by Gigi, who obviously also did a large number of the vocals. But you can also hear Sharm and Princess Superstar performing in this piece. Other collaborators include Bloodvein Movies, WoPairs, Teagen and Kam. The video is in part intended to bring some attention to snowleopard.org, so take a moment and go check out that site after you've seen the video. Emerald Dream is a pretty interesting music video, and I think it definitely grows the "belf rap" genre by leaps and bounds. The music is refreshingly original, although I'm sure as soon as I say that someone will point out that I don't recognize the original version. Even if that's the case, the lyrics and beat were both intriguing. I felt like the overall narrative was much stronger than most music videos, and it definitely raises the bar for these performers. The video was obviously beautiful. I think if we were to ever see the Emerald Dream archetypified in the game, this must be how it will look. My hat's off to the machinimators who created this 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 e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
WoW Moviewatch: Achievement Wh0re
Achievement Wh0re is a new song by Gigi and Nation. (Nation was once Abandonation, but I'm not sure if the label change is purposeful, or just a hip contraction.) The video was created by WoPairs, who shows an excellent eye for character portraiture in this piece. The song is dedicated to those who seek out achievements to the cost of all else. I'm not much of an achievement guy, so I found the send-up of it to be pretty amusing. I guess I see how some folks are really into them, but achievements feel like one really long grind to me. Notably, this piece is an entirely original song. And while I always feel out of my depth evaluating rap, I definitely salute Gigi and Nation for expanding in that direction. It's fantastic to see the pair growing as artists, and creating new art in the musical belf-o-sphere. I'm interested in seeing what they might do next, if this video's success encourages them to keep creating new stuff. 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: Ravenholdt Labyrinth (Interactive WoW Adventure)
A small crew of machinima creators and artists have stepped up their gamed and delivered something truly new to the World of Warcraft fan video scene. Check out the Ravenholdt Labyrinth (Interactive WoW Adventure). This isn't a single video. Instead, using the interactive linking annotation feature in YouTube, the creators have made a sort of "Choose your own adventure" adventure using WoW machinima. Depending on your choices, you can navigate Gigi further into Ravenholdt to discover the mystery . . . or get her killed. You make the choices as you proceed. This is the first machinima of this kind that I've seen, and my hat's off to Gigi, RedEye, Dan, WoPairs, and Abandonation for opening the doors to a new style of machinima. It would be awesome to see them do more like this, since I think it really broadens the scope of experience offered by machinima. The overall style of this video is suited to Halloween. It's moody and spooky. The creep factor gets higher as you take Gigi further into the labyrinth. This is a really great job by everyone involved. My hat is off to the creators. 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.
