We covered Here Without Youyesterday, one of the classics of machinima. The Forsaken lovers theme is a popular one, though relatively few machinima artists have really done it justice. It is no surprise that another great example is Wrought, created by Legs based on a song by Peratus.
Not only is the machinima amazing but the song is pretty good, too. I grump a tiny bit that it devolves into garbling by the end of it, although I'll admit that technique aligns well with the storyline in the video.
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Let's bust out an oldie but goldie. While Here Without You has been around for a long, long time, it still gets cited as one of the best machinima of all time. Why? Well, let's talk about that.
The story is tight. Perhaps not unique, but they don't waste time with side plots or scenes that don't serve the main story. It's tight, focused, and fast. The song matches the mood; while you might not love the tune, the pacing and theme is in perfect sync with one another. The animation is self-aware. While these aren't mind-blowing graphics, it understands its own limitations and stays within its lines.
Ultimately, the point is that the video stays focused on the story it's telling, it doesn't waste time with extraneous plots or gimmicks, and it keeps moving forward. It's easy to see why Here Without You gets so much praise.
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TradeChat's Panser returns with this week's WoW Insider news recap, where we look back at the hottest news from the past week and whatever other kickin' rad things may have come our way. This week's topics include:
Well, it's Orphan Week. The community's produced relatively view Orphan Week machinimas over the years, so the standout celebratory video of children in WoW is Yumfries' eternal classic: Lich King Does Orphan Week. With more than a little humor, and an ending that just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, this is the video that personifies the holiday.
Here's hoping all you folks doing the achievements take as good care of your orphans as Arthas does.
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The latest from Fifth Element is hopefully not its last. Let's just say... nothing has made me want to stop everything I'm doing and log into the game to play my Paladin right now as much as this video. It's amazing. My jaw dropped. I cheered and clapped and laughed. It's simply that good. And the timing's perfect, considering certain movies coming out this weekend. This video is absolutely my favorite yet.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
I think it's a watershed for most parody writers to tackle the various categories of trolls. It's just something you have to do, whether you like it or not. Write about online culture long enough, and you eventually have to tackle the troll issue. I guess it's Slightly Impressive's turn, because he recently put out The Five Different Types of Trolls.
The video's all right, but any shortcomings aren't really his fault per se. I'll admit I didn't find it terribly funny but that's not because Slightly somehow stumbled. It's just... we've been down this road. For like 20 years, we've been reading categories of trolls. That being said, I did appreciate the meta-humor about how the gag needed structure; it did manage to lend a bit of fresh air to a tired subject. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
It's been a while since we've heard from Boar Thrills. Just in time for the Mt. Everest of WoW, Wowcrendor aims his careful camera firmly at wild yetis and freezing snow in Orc vs Wild: Kun-Lai Summit.
While I know it's intended to parody, Orc vs Wild is always a fun view of the game. It's an interesting, microscopic view of Azeroth's climates and its inhabitants, with just enough humor to keep the whole thing amusing. And, hey, who wants to miss any opportunity to say luckydoo out loud? Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
It's been a while since we've had a strong, solid WoW rap video. Gigi, Truff, NooNoo, and Khayllys are here to change that. With a rousing anthem for PvP and a truly stellar video from Khayllys, Coming to Gank is one of the best music videos we've seen for a while. Your enjoyment mileage will vary according to how much you like rap, but I still appreciate a bit of variety in our video consumption. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Warning: This video is Not Safe For Work. There's some occasional cursing and Princess Theradas flaunting her Willendorfer assets for several seconds.
I'm always excited to see new work from renowned machinima artist Ian Beckman. Mind you, I'm a bit biased since the two of us are acquainted (we briefly attended the same university -- he made me choke on my drink once while doing his Azerothian Super Villains Akama voice). Today's video is a parody of the song Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, featuring Wanz. The parody tells the story of a goblin on his quest to look awesome using vanilla tier gear and transmogrification.
As a machinima parody the piece certainly does its job in recreating the original song and music video, but it's definitely not Beckman's best parody. The lyrics don't really capture the original, lacking both the fun humor of Macklemore's rap lyrics, and the energy and clarity of Wanz's chorus. In regards to the latter point, I think this is part to Beckman doing his best to imitate Wanz's deep vocals but not quite being suited for it. Pulling in another singer to do the part probably would have made it better.
I'm probably being a bit unfair in my critique though, simply because I'm so familiar with Beckman's work. If this was produced by some no name machinima artist I'd probably be perfectly happy with it. You also have to consider what an incredibly difficult song Thrift Shop is to parody, with its many layers of instruments and vocals. Beckman certainly nails the distinct sound of the original and that's no small feat. I really do love the concept of this parody, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Beckman might keep working on it to fine tune some of the shortcomings.
As an afterthought, I have to say I enjoy how this video clip fits in with the rest of Beckman's work. He's been playing since vanilla and it's always interesting to see how that inspires his present day work, like That's the World of Warcraft That I Used To Play. Transmog Shop gives off a similar vibe to Beckman's Gotye parody, using a new WoW feature to harken back to the old. It offers a nice contrast to other popular machinima and parody artists whose works tend to only reflect the current expansion. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
I've not featured many of these WoW Lore Lessons from Dorons Movies, but I'm shamefully behind on my Rexxar-chops, so I figured now would be a good time. WoW Lore Lesson: Rexxar is a handy catch-up on some key lore moments. The whole series is like this, although Dorons has a few technical challenge with the videos.
I'd try and use some in-game graphics to spice up the videos. I know it can be a pain to avoid copyright violations, but the video really needs that little touch to keep the action more intriguing. While he puts a lot of effort into narration, a 10 minute speech without narration can be a little... rough... to get through. Still, it's a good effort, and I appreciate your work. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
The Adventures of Tinkerbottom provides an interesting approach to machinima. It's essentially a which-way novel but in video form. The creator allows the audience to choose specific actions, and the character takes the action left in comments.
The experiment seems to be going pretty well. While the comments tend to try and dictate the next sequence, rather than just the appropriate action, it looks like Tinkerbottom is building quite the community. Now's definitely the time to scoot on over and check the series out. I think this could really grow into something awesome. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Slightly Impressive returns to the tumultuous life of daytime television with Lowbies: Episode 3. With an amusing cast of character, punchier jokes, and some of Slightly Impressive's best imagined graphics, Lowbies: Episode 3 really shows off how far the machinimator has come with experience.
As we've seen with Slightly Impressive's other serial gags, I think he's finding his voice by growing a single series. He benefits by getting some mythology and ensemble behind his writing, and you can really see the results in this one. Nice job, Griff. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Everyone's excited about patch 5.3 and the best way to express that eagerness is create some fan art. Wowmartiean created this trailer for patch 5.3 to help celebrate the upcoming lore expansion, featuring iconic moments from the game, the best voice files, and plenty of moody background music. If you're not already pumped for the new expansion, make sure to watch this expansion: it'll get you plenty revved up! Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
I hate to think that Fifth Element will run out of bosses to kill. Their raid trailers have become legend, and I look forward to new content just so that we might never run out of these amazing videos.
This opening is styled after the iconic opening to Lord of War. Fifth Element did an astounding job of recreating the effect in WoW. This opening will go on my list of top videos for 2013; it's simply that good. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
We don't usually run trailers, but Lamien is the brain-child of Hybrim Entertainment. Not only are they the creators behind Wable, but they forged the epic Lord of the Blings. Your mileage will vary, of course, but the immense effort, care, and scripting behind Lord of the Blings made Hybrim a force to be reckoned with. A trailer from them is worth running.
Lamien is an unspecified movie featuring all the same tropes you've seen in the theater. Whether talking about a Ridley Scott movie or even some summer popcorn flicks, you'll recognize plenty of vague claims. So kick back and get excited for a movie about something that might get released sometime in the future. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news
May 5th 2013 at 2:00PM 
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
