WoW Moviewatch: Vials of Eternity
by Dan O'Halloran 
Sep 5th 2007 at 12:00PM
This raid movie is so well crafted, I don't even know where to begin. Take the excellent "story behind the story" video Legend of Stalvan and mash it up with the elegant, well-edited and highly entertaining Serpentshrine Caverns raid video and throw in moments of bizarre humor plus the most memorable rendition of an 80s emo tune ever to be sung a capella over Teamspeak and you have this machinima masterpiece. Guild Numen of the UK Silvermoon server have unequivocally set the bar for raid videos.
Don't be put off by its twenty minute plus run time. It's worth every moment of your time. Highlights after the jump.
Beginning - 4:00, Excellent explanation of the events in Azeroth that lead to Lady Vashj's presence in the Serpentshrine Caverns and Kael'thas Sunstrider's insanity that led him to inhabit The Eye in Tempest Keep.
4:00 - 12:00 Serpentshrine Caverns run. Every fight is short and well-edited with lots of wide shots so you understand the scope of the encounter. Music drives each fight and you're only shown the highlights. No boring parts!
12:00 - 19:10 The Eye raid with short additional lore section. Within this part are a few treasures not to be missed. If nothing else, watch the short comedy bits at 17:15 and 18:47.
19:10 - End, Credits roll. At 19:30 some brave soul sings a badly off key version of R.E.M.'s "Hold On." You'll never listen to the song the same way again after you hear this cover.
Also, there is a DivX version of outstanding quality with technology incorporated into the presentation of this video. You have to download a plug in that does some pretty cool stuff. It dims out your monitor except for the part where the video is showing. You can also watch this full screen and it looks great.
I can't wait to see what these guys do next.
Previously on Moviewatch...
Via MMO Champion.
Filed under: Machinima, Raiding, WoW Moviewatch, Lore, Bosses
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dracula Jones Sep 5th 2007 12:17PM
That would be R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," which is from 1992.
80's emo, incidentally, was decidedly different than what constitutes the genre now. Moss Icon and Rites of Spring are rotisserieing in their graves!
Smurk Sep 5th 2007 12:28PM
First "emo" was suddenly being used as an umbrella term for stuff that was considered "goth" and now it apparently means anything sappy, sad or dramatic.
The recent use of it as a noun - e.g. "You're an emo" - is also baffling to me.
(Sez the withered 26 year-old from his cubicle.)
Dracula Jones Sep 5th 2007 12:48PM
lol Smurk... I'm also a withered 26-year-old posting from my cubicle. So emo.
Junzim Sep 5th 2007 1:35PM
VERY impressive.
However it was obvious that they were an Alliance guild or just hadn't played WC3. The announced mispronounced several words.
Actually that's pretty petty nit-picking on my part - indicative of just how good that video was.
rekkidnerd Sep 5th 2007 1:51PM
Rites of Spring and Moss Icon were so early they weren't called emo :) Sunny Day Real Estate was the first "emo" band called emo i'd say, they're the genre definer for me.
it *was* defined by start and stop, loud and soft, with a lyrical content that tended to lean towards sentimentality rather than the traditional misogyny or bravado and a fairly emotive (geddit?) vocal style.
REM is about as far away sylistically from "emo" as Jimmy Buffet. Although REM does appear as Moroes henchmen which is fraking awesome. (Berry, Buck, Mills and Stipe)
Get Up Kids, Mineral, Texas is the Reason, Giant's Chair are pretty typical "emo" bands, there's tons more.. but those were my favorites at least.
Jimmy Eat World was but then went heavily into the pop world.
Junzim Sep 5th 2007 2:00PM
@Myself at number 4:
.. He says, misspelling "announcer".
Cinrellik Sep 5th 2007 2:01PM
Simply outstanding, Blizzard should cut these guys a check for making their game look this damn good.
Well done.
Silverfire Sep 5th 2007 3:00PM
Awesome.
Wildhammer Sep 5th 2007 7:04PM
Hahahahah! There were SO many mispronunciations in that video!
G Sep 5th 2007 11:50PM
Mismatched audio levels are about the only bad thing I can say about this video (aside from the mispronunciations). Take heart, video-making kiddies, there is a solution, and I'm going to drop it on you. Write this down, please: First, insert a Compressor plug-in. Most come with a 'radio voice' or 'heavy' preset. Start with that. Second, insert a Limiter plug-in, preferably one capable of 'brick wall' style limiting. Set its output ceiling to -0.3 dB and pump the gain about 4-6 dB, or until you can hear it begin to distort (if you add other plug-ins, make sure this is the last in the chain). Now you have a nice, loud, audible level on your narrative. Back off on any of the settings if it is too loud. When you are done editing everything, play your video back on very low audio volume and compare the audio levels of everything, including the songs. Adjust as necessary. Thank me later. ;-)
commodorepants Sep 6th 2007 7:05AM
The audio track at the end was performed and recorded on a Ventrilo server. Not on Teamspeak. So sayeth the credits. Excellent video, none the less.
Vyasa Sep 6th 2007 10:58AM
Awesome video, I love watching stuff like this.
Genius Jones Sep 6th 2007 1:17PM
Umm, you must be very young, because nobody who was a teenager in the 80s would mistake Automatic for the People for a 'real' REM record, and it was released in 1992. Plus the song is called 'Everybody Hurts.' BURNED! hahaha :)
Shacti Sep 7th 2007 11:13AM
Could anyone post the songs they've used? I'd love to get my hands/ears on them!
squirldude Sep 6th 2007 4:45PM
2 questions: what was used to record and what was used to edit... best wow vid ive seen in awhile...