Sierra Release: Part I of a new epic

[Flyboy]

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Well I guess I should give some kind of "wtf is this speech" so here it goes.

If any of you cared to look at my main page on this forum you'd see that I have quiet an interest in making things like you see above. A while back ago some guy (forgot who) commented on the fact that if I like it so much then why haven't I released anything noteworthy of showing. Well here it is.

This project started about a year back when I had a small idea of making an action short. It's kind of changed since then in countless ways that I find pointless to explain. Anyway, this was originally a H2v project...but we all know that game turned out to be such crap that no one bought it, meaning I couldn't do it in that engine. About three months and $1500 later I had what I would call a stable LAN filming area. (If you call an idiot 12 year old neighbor, my brother, two xboxs, five controllers and only one "good" TV stable.) Anyway I took around to filming this and everything looked like it was going smooth.

However (ya, I'm like NASA, Huston always has a problem) we had a slight problem. See the script originally called for a small CGI scene and an introduction to the main character. This scene would make the transition between the intro and actual combat. However, the person who said he was doing it (not mentioning any names...though I easily could...and you know who you are) for about three months ended up bullshitting me and did nothing. It was too late to re film the thing so I had to come up with a totally new intro scene that tied together the combat and the back story, I tried my best with what you just saw.

On top of all this my primary editor got, in my opinion, fucked in the ass by his computer and wasn't able to compile all the clips that I put together. With no one else to turn to I took charge and did this whole thing myself, without any experience what so ever. So this was both a sort of experiment in editing and Halo 3 machinima making (much different than what I'm used to).

If you haven't already seen it there are a few bad audio and video syncs and one or two bad voice overs. Rest assured, if you care to stick around for the next one (which will be 2-3 weeks tops with school) these problems will be fixed as I'll be looking out for them when making it.

I have so many people to thank for this, though I don't exactly have time to run down the list. Visit our sites forums (see signature) to see some of the key players.

I could still use voice actors...actually I'm begging for them. There is no way I can finish the next episode without some community support. So please...help...

Post your reviews and comments.

[Gamerkd16]

Not bad, seeing how this has been planned since what February?

I still think my intro kicked ass:

5Deu56YEOL0

Yours kinda sucks. :eyesroll:


On top of all this my primary editor got, in my opinion, fucked in the ass by his computer and wasn't able to compile all the clips that I put together.
That was me! Yeah, you suck Vegas 7.0. Still have no idea why it's using insane memory usage.

[Jay2645]

However (ya, I'm like NASA, Huston always has a problem) we had a slight problem. See the script originally called for a small CGI scene and an introduction to the main character. This scene would make the transition between the intro and actual combat. However, the person who said he was doing it (not mentioning any names...though I easily could...and you know who you are) for about three months ended up bullshitting me and did nothing. It was too late to re film the thing so I had to come up with a totally new intro scene that tied together the combat and the back story, I tried my best with what you just saw.

*Whistles*

What? Why's everyone looking at me?
At least I learned I'll never work at Pixar.

Anyway, I've seen this come along since I was in the LSD clan with you, Fly, and it's come a long way.

Meanwhile, my action/comedy the Army of Idiots, which I started at about the same time, got 65 episodes scripted, but only 1 shot, and, due to poor coordination, it never saw the light of day.

Glad to see yours did.

Anyway, you just sparked my interest in getting the AOI going again. I'll have to write a new script, and get some voice actors going.

[Gamerkd16]

*Whistles*
What? Why's everyone looking at me?

Well I wasn't. Until just now.

65 Episodes? Damn. How do you write that much material?

[Flyboy]

All 16 episodes of Sierra totaled at 98 pages (not counting half pages). It's impressive but not mind boggling.

[Gamerkd16]

Then Red and Blue put aside their differences and started a band.

It all went downhill from there, where the reds hired a mercenary, who turned out to be an idiot, who died and fell in love with Bob.

It just got weird at those two points.

E: Your post was deleted? Was that flyboy?

[n00b1n8R]

you know how in RvB the heads move when they talk? do that. it makes it much more belivable and I hate the still head syndrome (even if it's out of sync with the talking, it still looks better).

If your going to do a flashback at the dead, try to get their body's into more interesting poses (I don't care if that's how they fell, give them a wack untill they look a little more floped out). also, blood.

and at the sound quality, try to avoid background noise when your recording. it's a bit dissolusioning when you hear a guy talk, then halfway through what he's saying this background noise you never even noticed stops, then starts again. also, try and make the voices a bit more emotional. if your fucking scared, sound like it. if your in pain, sound like it. these guys don't have faces to convey emotion, so you need more dramatic voices (but don't go over the top either).

not bad over all, but there's certainly room to improve.

E: and gamer kid's is certainly more dramatic. the 2 problems I have with it are the the pretty bad voice acting and the lack of backstorey. I think a mix of gamer's and yours with better voice acting would have been best.

[Hotrod]

This was pretty good, I agree with everything n00b said though. Can't wait to see the next episode.

[Flyboy]

I agree completely with you. The sound quality was mainly my bad (my sound card is a piece of shit which cause fuzz which made me have to edit the voices, however thats been fixed). But the emotional parts we're kind of sparse in this one, and that was intended (at least in this episode). I didn't want to try getting into a deep emotional recognition (Mitchell recognized the dead when he was looking back but thats as far as I wanted to go). Once I introduce some of the main characters and get the viewer to know them over the course of several episodes, I'll start introducing some attempts on emotion.

But the second episode (which I just filmed about an hour ago) is already much better than the first. I'm starting to understand how to adapt my filming to the saved films and it shows.

[n00b1n8R]

and the head bobbing will be in the next episode?

[Gamerkd16]

you know how in RvB the heads move when they talk? do that. it makes it much more belivable and I hate the still head syndrome (even if it's out of sync with the talking, it still looks better).

If your going to do a flashback at the dead, try to get their body's into more interesting poses (I don't care if that's how they fell, give them a wack untill they look a little more floped out). also, blood.

and at the sound quality, try to avoid background noise when your recording. it's a bit dissolusioning when you hear a guy talk, then halfway through what he's saying this background noise you never even noticed stops, then starts again. also, try and make the voices a bit more emotional. if your fucking scared, sound like it. if your in pain, sound like it. these guys don't have faces to convey emotion, so you need more dramatic voices (but don't go over the top either).

not bad over all, but there's certainly room to improve.

E: and gamer kid's is certainly more dramatic. the 2 problems I have with it are the the pretty bad voice acting and the lack of backstorey. I think a mix of gamer's and yours with better voice acting would have been best.

Well for the intro I needed a temporary placement for voices since the real voice actor wasn't online, so I asked my tired friend to do them with no emotion just for a test. That's when my editor broke and I was stuck with those lines.

Flyboy did have dramatic emotion lines, but they were too quiet. I boosted the volume on the old copy and thought it wasn't that bad. After Christmas he got a new mic and said he redid the voices. I told him they didn't sound as good as before, but he never did anything about it.

After my editor broke and wasn't fixed for three days, he said screw it, and did it himself. That's why there are some flaws in the audio and video, because it was his first time. I wouldn't have overlooked that Andrew. :p

I thought the final scene was dwelled on too much. You waited too long on each body. What I would have done would have a constant fade effect from each one to the next. So there is always something new, every second.

[Flyboy]

^
Yep.

And noob, I have the slight problem that I'm filming with a 10 year old and a 12 year old. Getting head bobbing to sync isn't worth what you get out of it. I can barley keep them from throwing grenades at each others face, let alone getting them to do realistic head bobbing.

[n00b1n8R]

Even if it's out of sync, it still looks better then the statue head syndrome.

[Flyboy]

Go to machinima.com, watch the two star productions, then come back and say that. It's true to some degree, but thats only if it's somewhat in sync.

[Jay2645]

^
Yep.

And noob, I have the slight problem that I'm filming with a 10 year old and a 12 year old. Getting head bobbing to sync isn't worth what you get out of it. I can barley keep them from throwing grenades at each others face, let alone getting them to do realistic head bobbing.
Well, you can attempt to get a party going in Xbox Live, but you couldn't put your gun down.
That way you don't have to work with a 10 and 12 year old anymore.

RvB did it in Halo 1, so it would be possible. And, since H3 doesn't have that animation glitch that H1 did, then I guess you could just use overly exaggerated gun movements to make the heads bob.

[Flyboy]

I will never...ever...ever EVER film online until bungie gives you the ability to lower your weapon.

Ever...

[Jay2645]

Well, then you can have a max of 3 players at once, counting you, and if anyone else comes over, you could have 4 players, but that's all the room H3 gives you.

[n00b1n8R]

LAN?

at any rate, if their your sibblings surely you could get them to bob in time with the chatting if they have an IQ greater then 90.

[flibitijibibo]

I can do voice acting if you still need people for that. One question though: are we doing this through XBL's chat or are we recording separately? I have a pretty 1337 mic (duh), so I can do it without XBL.

[Flyboy]

We record separately.


Well, then you can have a max of 3 players at once, counting you, and if anyone else comes over, you could have 4 players, but that's all the room H3 gives you.
Thats if we used one xbox. We have two, so our max is about 8 people.


LAN?

at any rate, if their your sibblings surely you could get them to bob in time with the chatting if they have an IQ greater then 90.
You'd be surprised. One of them thought 1000 pounds was in a ton.

[thehoodedsmack]

You'd be surprised. One of them thought 1000 pounds was in a ton.

That's not uncommon. Most of our daily numbering systems change names in multiples of 10.

EX: ten 10's is a "hundred", ten 100's is a "thousand", etc.

In fact, I thought the same thing until I was 12.

[n00b1n8R]

another reason why metric is better?

You don't get to decide, because it is. <3

E: and apparently there is 1000 pounds in a ton :downs:

[Flyboy]

I finished the second episode...I can't say I'm proud of it but it translate the series. As you guys can see, I am still in a voice actor delema which is the reason for the delay, and even now the quality is not spectacular.

For anyone who attempts to make Machinima, equate this, because I'm starting to realize it. While your writing the script, plan and expect everything you write and imagine to go entirely wrong...because more often than not it will.

Now that depressing note aside, here's the next episode (yaaaaay right?):

gSWgy0Jee4Y

[Gamerkd16]

Well jeeze, way to be a killjoy. I think it turned out okay. You're too critical on everything. Mellow out!

But yeah, this is the lack of quality you get when your vegas just stops working right for no reason at all. :mad:
38 Days and counting...

[Hotrod]

Not bad, but the voice acting is a bit, dull. Also, why don't you do the head bobbing like in Red vs Blue?

Also, Admiral Picard? You could have taken a different name, but whatever.

[Flyboy]

It was written as Packerd, but the voice actor was a moron.

[Hotrod]

It was written as Packerd, but the voice actor was a moron.

Ah, that makes sense. I was thinking that somebody was a little too much into Star Trek. How could he possibly mis-read Packerd for Picard?

[Flyboy]

Like I said, he was an idiot. But I was so desperate I had to go with it.

[thehoodedsmack]

Fake British accent sucks balls. The story is alright, but the voice acting needs work. Keep up the stuff.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

I could attempt to help with the voice acting, If you need any accents ( British, Jamacain, Indian, Some Austrailian) Ask me, I do real good at it, yet I may not be able to assist you with this until the flu is nomore.

[Gamerkd16]

Well I finally got it converted to Divx and uploaded online. Much better quality than crappy youtube. Enjoy.

Divx Mirror (Sierra:Episode Two) (http://www.stage6.com/user/Gamerkd16/video/2157811/)

And no, it's not widescreen on Divx Andrew. Get over it!