Looking Back

I did my Final Presentation today. I can say that I was extremely pleased with how well it went. It looked superb on the big screen with the nice surround sound. Several people stopped me in the stairwell to say how much they enjoyed it and how it seemed like a real movie.

When looking back at the entire machinima experience, I realize I learned a great deal from it. I’ve always admired how other people could produce such good films so I decided to try it. I found out that it was much harder than it looked, but that with enough patience, expertise, and practice, I was able to create a decent film. Machinima is truly a big part of the gaming culture, which in itself is a huge part of digital culture as a whole. I think that as gaming becomes even more popular and technology keeps producing tools that allows people to become movie directors from their desktop, we’ll continue to see an increasing number of high quality machinima films.

Concept Web

This is a concept web that I've been working on for my independent study on Star Craft. It's not related to my final project, but it is an important part of how I'm linking 21st Century Skills/Objectives to my course/module goals.

Done!

Ok, I think I am officially done with my final project. I have let friends and fellow WOW guildies view it and the feedback has been positive. I just watched it after taking 3 days off from it and can say that I am satisfied with the results.

So this will be my final project. It's interesting to follow the evolution of this machinima from its origins to it's current form. I can honestly say that from my limited experience with machinima, it is an artform that takes much skill, patience, and determination. With gaming becoming more prevalent and a part of mainstream culture,I think that machinima's future is bright and the sky's the limit!

Almost Done

Well, I think I am almost done with my final project. It's changed so much over the past week and a half. I've added more to the opening and more to the ending. It is interesting to look and chart the development of this project.

Here's hopefully the final product. (May have to tweak a few things, but who knows)

Latest Machinima

Ok, so here is pretty much how I envision my final project. I don't think I'll be changing much. Maybe tweaking a few things here and there. But here's what I've changed.

1. Reworded story
2. New music from game AVI files, "Lament of the Highbourne" from the in-game quest, and "Road to Dystopia" by Oathless from the Prelinger Archives. The music sets a different tone.
3. Increased hue/sat, bright/contrast
4. Decreased sat in some places to heighten dark mood
5. Trimmed/extended some clips

Final video Project

I've created a new intro/title sequence that also tells more of the narrative

I've also redone the music. I've decided to replace the lyrical music with music from WoW itself, and a clip from the Prelinger Archives (The Road to Dystopia, by Oathless)

These changes totally change and enhance the mood/tone of the video

I'm happy with the results so far. I'll post a segment later today.

Follow Up

Tried setting the video to some other non-lyrical music. Not sure I like the video with any song other than the one that is already there.

Also tried using 14-day trial version of Voice Changer 7.0. It works well, but the trial version is missing some crucial functions.

I'm not sure I want to tell a story using dialogue or voice over.

I did manually improve the brightness/contrast and hue/saturation.

I guess I'll have to keep on experimenting before I finally decide on what to do