WoW Moviewatch: The Thaenor Chronicles, Chapter One
by Moo Money 
Apr 2nd 2008 at 12:00PM
While the visuals are well done, the voice acting leaves something to be desired. I also have to wonder why he only released the high-quality version on archive.org. If you'd like to follow along on his progress with the movie, check out Stormscape's blog.
[Via Warcraftmovies.com]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
Previously on the feature that was previously and still known as Moviewatch ...
Filed under: Machinima, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
cowy Apr 2nd 2008 12:27PM
"the voice acting leaves something to be desired"
Whew... you weren't kidding! :/ I kept imagining the main characters reading a monotone script over vent or something. Yeesh, kind of a shame. It looked fairly good visually but the voices just killed it for me. Couldn't last the whole movie.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 12:41PM
I must agree with the above, the voice acting truly killed it for me.
It's something oft ignored in the age of pirated versions of Aftereffects and the new machinima equivalent of lens-flare fury, but bad voice acting WILL break your movie. Do yourself and your potential viewers a favor and get someone who can actually do it. More to the point, get someone with a decent microphone.
Now if only there was a well-known organization that's been doing WoW-related audio productions for years. Hmm...
PeeWee Apr 2nd 2008 12:47PM
"Now if only there was a well-known organization that's been doing WoW-related audio productions for years. Hmm..."
Yeah, I wish there was.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 12:49PM
Ahh yes, I forgot how popular you and your productions are. Oh wait..
Blargh Apr 2nd 2008 12:48PM
Also ensure that people who are going to do the voice acting have had their balls drop. Not good to watch a warcraft movie and always be thinking of a pampers commercial.
ThorinII Apr 2nd 2008 1:12PM
Yikes! I sure hope the acting is better in the next one!
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 2:31PM
Geezus are you trying to sabotage me?
Some qualification is needed, since the article is disturbingly threadbare.
The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter One is more than a year old. It was the first machinima I ever made.
It was done as a high school class assignment and therefore limited to resources available in class (I brought footage in on a disc)
No actors participated in the creation of Chapter One, and both length of script and quality of editing was limited by the environment in which it came to be.
DO NOT JUDGE ME by this piece-of-crap movie. Watch the trailer for Chapter Two; watch some other work of mine, too.
One last note: The Thaenor Chronicles - Chapter Two is the first time I have actual voice actors on a project; getting them is not easy.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 3:04PM
Nobody's judging you, we're judging your movie.
And the movie is bad. Do not search for ad hominem where there is none. If you're don't want criticism, don't post on the internet.
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 3:10PM
Okay let me rephrase, "Do not judge my future work by this movie."
I believe I stated unequivocally that I'm well aware this movie sucks. I was upset by the fact that MovieWatch feature this ancient thing instead of the trailer I had just released; it may or may not have been intended as sabotage, but it will function as such.
Moo Money Apr 2nd 2008 3:13PM
Sabotage? I would have to care in order to want to sabotage you. My job is to highlight interesting machinima daily. I complimented you on your visual quality and was looking forward to Chapter Two. I started at Chapter One so that I could familiarize the audience.
However, you have a piss poor attitude and have trouble accepting the bad with the good. When Chapter Two is released, I'll just find someone more deserving of a Moviewatch spotlight. Sorry to waste your time.
Oh, and just a note. Judging by your comment history, which is public information, you commented that you weren't fond of Nymh's new work. By your definition, I believe that's sabotage.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 3:24PM
In which case you sabotaged yourself. If you're not prepared to deal with the criticism you may receive for posting a sub-par work, then don't post it at all.
If you don't post crap, you'll have nothing to be ashamed of. And yeah, your hyper-defensive attitude has pretty much guaranteed you some lovely ad-hom attacks in future. I believe the term going around these days is 'butthurt'
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 4:22PM
I also stated that you may have had good intentions, but despite your intentions, this article has in fact been a major setback for me. I don't see how you can expect me not to be upset by this. Instead of increasing my viewership, you've probably driven away quite a few of my potential viewers who would have stuck around had they seen something else of mine first.
And as for Nyhm I made a comment that can hardly be paralleled to this situation, I did not dig up something crappy Nyhm made before he was known and highlight it on a major blog as an example of his work to people who have never heard of him.
@TotalBiscuit
So, I should have deleted Chapter One from youtube and Warcraft movies before trying to release any subsequent works, then? That is basically what your are saying, right?
I AM NOT defending Chapter One, I am not "taking criticism badly" I am am upset at having months of PR work for future releases undone in one fell swoop.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 4:38PM
'I also stated that you may have had good intentions, but despite your intentions, this article has in fact been a major setback for me. I don't see how you can expect me not to be upset by this. Instead of increasing my viewership, you've probably driven away quite a few of my potential viewers who would have stuck around had they seen something else of mine first."
I think you vastly overestimate just how important you are as a machinimator, by claiming that people would hang on your name, rather than your work. WoW machinima is a cesspool of failure. The good videos become popular (to varying degrees) regardless of who makes them. Nobody will remember you when you release your next movie, and it will be judged on it's own merits, just as this one has.
"And as for Nyhm I made a comment that can hardly be paralleled to this situation, I did not dig up something crappy Nyhm made before he was known and highlight it on a major blog as an example of his work to people who have never heard of him."
This is not 'Machinimator's Showcase', it's a Moviewatch. It's the movie that matters. The only reason we're caring about you at this point is that you're making an ass of yourself in the comment thread, which does not bode well for the public opinion.
"@TotalBiscuit
So, I should have deleted Chapter One from youtube and Warcraft movies before trying to release any subsequent works, then? That is basically what your are saying, right?"
Yes. If you didn't want to be judged based on YOUR work, you should not have made it available on the internet. You created this.. thing, you're responsible for it. The only two conscious reasons you would leave it on the internet were 1) You wanted people to see it, and 2) You were just too lazy to click the 'delete' button. Either way is inexcusable, and YOUR responsibility.
"I AM NOT defending Chapter One, I am not "taking criticism badly" I am am upset at having months of PR work for future releases undone in one fell swoop.'"
You have something of an overblown sense of self importance. Until you produce something worth watching, nobody will remember your name. Even then, very few people will remember your name. People in this community generally only care about the product, not the person. As well they should too, because products should be judged on their own merits. You produced a bad product, and got justifiably criticized for it. You then proceeded to be a whiny bitch on a blog's comment thread and blamed the blog, of all things, for showcasing your work. If you don't want it showcased, don't put it on the internet. Simple as that.
I'll tell you this for certain. Had you not posted, I would have watched your future work and not remembered who you were, and judged that work on it's own merits. Now, I will remember the whiny bitch machinimator who cried a lot and lacks any semblance of common sense. Congratulations on your new found infamy. You just caused yourself a little PR disaster.
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 4:52PM
Your reaction, TotalBiscuit, is exactly the kind of thing this
article will generate. Plenty of people do in fact know my name, and
according to those who do, most of what I've produced is very much
worth watching. I think I'll listen to the audience I do have over an
uninformed commenter with his own overblown sense of self-importance.
So thank you for proving my point.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 5:01PM
"Your reaction, TotalBiscuit, is exactly the kind of thing this
article will generate. Plenty of people do in fact know my name, and
according to those who do, most of what I've produced is very much
worth watching. I think I'll listen to the audience I do have over an
uninformed commenter with his own overblown sense of self-importance.
So thank you for proving my point."
Haha, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It speaks volumes that just one of my videos has more views than your entire Youtube channel combined. Machinima isn't even my area of expertise, and I produced a video more popular than everything you've ever put out. Must sting a bit aye?
Let me break it down for ya kiddo. When it comes to both the WoW original content scene, and infamy, I'm no stranger to neither. I can pretty much guarantee that nothing you've ever done can ever match up to the numbers I've pulled in, whether it be from machinima, or podcasting. Yes, my e-peen is huge I know, no.. you can't touch it. When it comes to infamy, there's a huge difference between being an ass, and making an ass of yourself. You have most assuredly, done the latter. I'm being an ass to you, I know this, I'm doing it on purpose, to try and teach you a lesson. I've earned the right to be a big arrogant shit by putting out top-notch popular content on a consistent basis. I've never put out anything I'd be so ashamed of as to say 'OMG, PR DISASTER, YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER SHOWED ANYONE THIS'. Even my first ever productions, I take a pride in. I won't disown any of my work, because none of it deserves disowning, it's all good and I have absolute confidence in my ability to perform in my chosen fields.
I don't think I need to pull a 'Do you knooooww.. who I am?'. Apparently you don't, but perhaps if you did, you wouldn't have tried to break out the uninformed line.
As a veteran producer, let me give you some advice.
The cruellest thing you can do to an artist is tell them their work is flawless when it isn't. That's what your small audience is no doubt doing for you. So woe betide you take the advice of someone who deals with PR for a living, deals with WoW original content for a living and crushes your work in the popularity stakes many times over. Just listen to your fanbase, I'm sure they'll sooth your bruised ego for you.
I'll take being remembered as an asshole who produces good content, over being remembered as a whiny bitch who won't stand behind his own work, any day of the week.
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 5:40PM
@Totalbiscuit
No, it doesn't sting. Not by a long shot. My genre will always have a smaller potential audience; its a fact of life.
You really need to stop putting words in my mouth. You're starting to deviate from the facts to keep your argument alive.
I do not wish to disown any of my work either, I am only upset because Chapter One is not a fair representation of my current work, and neither is the article. One paragraph that doesn't even mention the trailer (although it is linked), and a second paragraph picking on my choice of distribution method.
Far more people ARE now going to judge Chapter Two by Chapter One, instead of on its own merits.
So you have in fact downloaded and watched everything I've released and read the responses? No? Then I stand by the "uninformed" comment.
And my fanbase, such as it is, has in fact said many of the same things about Chapter One that you have, and they said it a year ago. They don't coddle me.
Also, according to you, the poster of this article has committed the crime you abhor by referring to chapter one as a "gem" and complementing its visual quality.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 5:53PM
"No, it doesn't sting. Not by a long shot. My genre will always have a smaller potential audience; its a fact of life."
Yeah, I mean no-one watched small-time productions like Tales of the Past 3. The drama genre of machinima is truly tiny... If your genre is 'badly acted, generic fantasy tripe' then yeah, you will have a small audience.
"You really need to stop putting words in my mouth. You're starting to deviate from the facts to keep your argument alive."
And you're making arbitrary statements with no basis in reality to try and resuscitate yours.
"I do not wish to disown any of my work either, I am only upset because Chapter One is not a fair representation of my current work, and neither is the article. One paragraph that doesn't even mention the trailer (although it is linked), and a second paragraph picking on my choice of distribution method.
Far more people ARE now going to judge Chapter Two by Chapter One, instead of on its own merits."
WoW Moviewatch is not your personal showcase and your sad ignorance of that doesn't change the reality of the situation. They find movies, they judge them on their own merits, they move on. They do it every single day. Your overinflated opinion of yourself is not going to make the article about you and your work. People are not going to remember your name due to this movie, they will remember it due to your PR blunders in this very comment thread. But no, don't listen to me, I mean, I'm just an uninformed owner of the largest producer of original WoW content on the internet. What would I know?
"So you have in fact downloaded and watched everything I've released and read the responses? No? Then I stand by the "uninformed" comment."
Do I have to watch everything Uwe Boll has released to know that his latest movie sucks? I don't have to be an expert in your entire back catalogue of work to know that this movie is terrible. Which is of course, the point of this very article.
"And my fanbase, such as it is, has in fact said many of the same things about Chapter One that you have, and they said it a year ago. They don't coddle me."
Considering you obviously delete all of the negative remarks from your Youtube channel regarding Chapter One I would suggest that your ego is sufficiently fragile not to suffer that kind of criticism. Or maybe you think you can get just under 10k views and not receive a single negative remark?
"Also, according to you, the poster of this article has committed the crime you abhor by referring to chapter one as a "gem" and complementing its visual quality."
Moo often has dumb opinions :> We spar frequently on this kind of thing. The only thing we agreed on this time while chatting about this article was that you were a whiny emo bitch who caused his own PR disaster by posting here.
Stormscape Apr 2nd 2008 6:10PM
(TotP III the exception that proves the rule, but I think everyone pretty much knows that already.)
And at least I've managed to remain civil, Mr. Bigshot.
TotalBiscuit Apr 2nd 2008 6:29PM
I'll take rude over stupid any day of the week.
You're also wrong, and the proof can be found in the appropriate category on Warcraftmovies. Drama movies get plenty of views. Yours don't because you're not very good. Sorry to be the one who had to break it to you :
joerendous Apr 2nd 2008 6:50PM
phew. that whole thing was a bit uncomfortable eh?