WoW Moviewatch: Polystyrene Dream
by Michael Gray 
Nov 20th 2008 at 12:00PM
I don't usually do a lot of WoW music videos, because I tend to be more of a story-buff. But Polystyrene Dream by Yume caught my attention. I'm not sure if it was the ethereal quality of the video, which lined up very well with "Fake Plastic Trees" by Radiohead, or maybe the hints of narrative that persisted through the piece.
I could probably drive myself crazy projecting motivations on the two central characters, and trying define relationships, reasoning, and results of their actions. In summary, two blood elves repetitively walk up to an increasing variety of critters, stab them, and take their stuff. It could just be meant to be pretty, and it definitively is pretty.
I don't have much to say about the audio track, since it is essentially a nice song by a widely known band. It's possible that if I knew the song or band better, I might see more relevance in the imagery. Still, if you're talking about "Fake Plastic Trees," I guess it's fair to use a pair of Blood Elves as protagonists.
[Via WarcraftMovies]
If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.
Previously on Moviewatch ...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Machinima, WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Angelyne Nov 20th 2008 12:14PM
Thanks for sharing this with us. I really enjoyed it. You need a lot of imagination and talent to produce interesting work with such a limited range of expression and animations, as you find in WoW. These person has both in spades
smoothdruid Nov 20th 2008 12:55PM
wow, yea, ty for sharing, i thought it was wonderfull.
Jeff Nov 20th 2008 1:00PM
This is one of the better machinimas I've ever seen. Thanks for sharing.
BaronSoosdon Nov 20th 2008 1:21PM
This is one of the best, if not the best machinima made this year.
The horrible stream does not do this piece of art justice at all, I encourage everyone to download the movie and watch it again with the excellent quality.
Frank Nov 20th 2008 1:25PM
wow, awesome. so very well done.
(man, i freakin' LOVE that song, too)
Nate Nov 20th 2008 1:26PM
I won't pretend to have any idea what the point of the piece was...if there was one, but that was awesome.
That was as well edited as ANY WoW Machinima piece that I have seen.
Good job.
Naix Nov 20th 2008 1:55PM
"It's possible that if I knew the song or band better, I might see more relevance in the imagery."
Well clearly you never watched the video to the end. The band name and music title was listed in big bold letters.
/facepalm
aman Nov 20th 2008 2:11PM
He said knew "better", so he knows who it is, just hasn't read their biography.
Ryan11 Nov 20th 2008 2:15PM
Yes, "clearly" you didn't read his whole article, or you would have seen that he, too, highlighted the band's name and song.
Naix Nov 20th 2008 3:33PM
How can you know a band or song "better"? Thats like saying "If I knew my teacher better I would have learned more". It makes no sense. If you need to know music "better" your trying to hard and the whole point of music is lost on you.
Music is just what you hear and what you get out of it. So looking deeper into a meaning of a note is ignoring the point.
Jun Nov 20th 2008 2:35PM
I guess I could see why you would love this (obviously you are a big influence!) :P
I thought it was very well edited in terms of timing and capturing the feel of a music video that fit with the song, much more so than the majority of WoW music videos that I have seen. However, I really always have to qualify my praise when it comes to using existing music in a music video, because most of the power of this piece comes from the music itself which the creator had nothing to do with. The interpretation is very skilled but the visuals didn't add another level of thought or emotion to what was already in the song, unlike, say, Sedrin's "Frame of Mind" which had a more powerful VISUAL message that was independent from the music. To summarize: the visuals were pretty and the editing was skillful, but it didn't MEAN anything to me so I wasn't emotionally affected.
Riley Nov 20th 2008 2:49PM
I think it was just supposed to be a music video.
A lot of music videos don't really mean anything specific, they can sometimes just be pure imagery.
Lemons Nov 20th 2008 6:11PM
I'm sure there's some sort of crazy meaning in there, but don't ask em what it is. Awesome vid tho! Some of the best editing and music I've ever seen in a wow music vid.
Lemons Nov 20th 2008 6:14PM
*don't ask ME what it is*
Jeez, I wish I could edit my comments : \
Yume Nov 20th 2008 6:41PM
It definitely has a meaning beyond simply being pretty. I thought I made the story simple enough that while the meaning was somewhat veiled, just a little bit of analysis would bring it to light. One person on the youtube comments was able to sum it up decently well. I might make an audio commentary track or something.
Thanks for doing a feature on my video
-Yume
Cat Nov 20th 2008 8:07PM
Well to me it was about the grind. Walk up to something, beat it up, take its stuff, move on. the numbness you feel when you've done that over and over. One boss becomes like every other boss, you walk away with a slightly bigger shinier sword.
I also saw a subtext that the relationships you make in the game are what keep you coming back.
Beautifully shot and made, though I thought a couple of the shots were gratuitous and didn't add anything other than showing off an effect that kind of matched the song (e.g. "just crumbles...").
Bravo
Coolaliveguy Nov 21st 2008 1:39PM
I would say this is the best Machinima I have seen so far. The calm tragedy behind "Fake Plastic Trees" and the blurred storyline within it, depicts....in a way...our own demise/salvation(however you wanna see it) within a growing virtual world. I think that is what Yume wanted to portray to us. That we ..once in WoW..are in our own polysterene dream. Loved the vid, thought it was a true artists work that sparked many emotions through one of the best musical bands in this generation.
Keyra Feb 13th 2009 11:51PM
this is a test
Keyra Feb 13th 2009 11:52PM
test #2
Keyra Feb 13th 2009 11:55PM
testing #3