WoW Moviewatch: The Brewfest Anthem
by Michael Gray 
Sep 23rd 2011 at 12:00PM
The music felt a little off, but I actually think that was a good thing. If you've ever been to an actual Oktoberfest celebration, you know that the singing in this video is about a billion times better than that of a crowd of drunken sots trying to keep a melody.
The lyrics felt pretty close to a legitimate drinking song, so I think Sphexius nailed the vibe very well.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dfgreat1 Sep 23rd 2011 12:14PM
Well, I know what I am doing today now!
Natsumi Sep 23rd 2011 12:52PM
I'm sure he put a lot of effort into this, but it feels incredibly rough, like a first draft. His timing for the singing could use some improvement, and his timing on syncing the lyrics to the video needs major improvement.
Speaking of Lyrics, I could barely understand what he was trying to say, maybe due to some accent but likely because he was mumbling the lyrics and the words weren't crisp due to being out of sync on each recital. Adding in subtitles and some light music, as well as speaking/singing louder and cleaning up the sync issues would go a long way.
The video, I watched it a couple of times, and while I understand what he is trying to do, it just isn't conveyed well. He uses speed changes for the Tauren talking but not for the Orc drinking, as well as the random switching between Model Viewer and game footage makes the video look hastily thrown together. Finding the right animation and speed for each part is essential to making a good machinima music video.
For what looks to be a first try at both an original song and machinima music video I give him a 1.5 out of 5. It's not horrible, but it is below average and definitely could use some TLC to really shine. If it were my work, I'd go back and clean up the vocals and probably start over on the video, sticking to in game footage or Model Viewer, they don't really mesh well unless you go through a ton of post production work (adding in shadows, making sure the lighting is correct on the MV model, making sure that the MV model is located where it needs to be to convey the proper size of the model, etc, etc, etc) and honestly you'd be better off using that production time working on the audio and timing. Make sure to use scenes appropriate to the lyrics and avoid filler clips. This video could be much better and I look forward to seeing if the author puts the effort into redoing it or at least into any new works in the future.
kenny Sep 23rd 2011 3:27PM
The song's about Brewest and getting drunk. I think it was supposed to sound exactly as it did. Ever hear a group of drunk people try to sing together in harmony? Yeah, a lot like that.
Natsumi Sep 24th 2011 3:10PM
@kenny
And I think you're wrong. The song is completely forgettable, the video was poorly done, and despite how much you may like the subject matter, if something is done poorly, it's done poorly. I gave my opinion on the material as presented as is, I gave constructive criticism on how to either fix the current video and audio to make it more enjoyable to the viewer/listener, or for when they do their next project. If you don't have anything substantial to add to the discussion on WHY you think this is good, please don't make excuses for other people's work.
RetPallyJil Sep 23rd 2011 12:55PM
I'mma let you finish, but http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlULgi92zK8 is the ultimate vid on this topic. :D
As for The Brewfest Anthem, for me the biggest problem is that he sounded terribly shy and apologetic while singing. If you're going to sing for a video, then take a deep breath and sing until the very heavens shake!
Mr.C Sep 23rd 2011 1:38PM
two words...
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