Posts with tag cranius

Legs and Cranius go great together. It's hard to put it much simpler than that. The Story hit the streets back in 2009 and, like many things, has stood the test of time. If ever there were a finer pair of collaborators, then I don't know them. Sit back today and enjoy a song from yesteryear. They managed to make it even better than the original, and that's saying something.

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While Fix You is usually known as that get-in-shape inspirational song, that intrepid song was incredibly special to Cranius at a time when he needed it. So about a year ago, he and Legs collaborated on a WoW machinima about it. I'm not sure why I thought of this video today in particular, but Cranius and Legs really created something special in this machinima. Take a few moments to enjoy it, and here's to the future.

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Cranius is best known for his original songs, but he did some WoW themed music videos for other songs as well. Highwayman was a video he felt always needed to be made for Azeroth, and when he finally got around to it... he knocked it out of the park.

Highwayman is one of those songs that sticks with you for years. And while this version is 5 years old at this point, the video does justice to the doleful, introspective lyrics. Take the time to check it out, especially if you've not heard the song before.

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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.

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Welcome to another edition of WoW Moviewatch Staff Picks. Today, Anne Stickney has chosen Darrowshire by Cranius, for some very poignant reasons. This is what Anne had to say:

Still one of my favorite pieces of machinima ever. Partially because I really loved the original iteration of the Pamela storyline in Eastern Plaguelands (the Cataclysm version is okay, but holds nowhere near the same emotion and depth as the original), mostly because the song he wrote for the piece is such a lovely, haunting tune. It's a perfect accompaniment to one of the creepiest, saddest, yet oddly touching quest chains in WoW. The video may be a bit outdated by today's standards of machinima creation, but honestly, this piece, to me, is the one where Cranius pretty much proved hands down that anything he puts his voice to immediately turns to gold.

I think Anne did an excellent job describing the video, though I think I disagree about it being outdated. All of the game's graphics show their age, even the ones run through advanced filters. I think, ultimately, a machinima is about the story and content, not the graphics. Darrowshire is stronger for the in-game graphics.

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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.

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We waited until after Thanksgiving to start celebrating the winter holidays. But now that the turkeys have been nommed, it's time to slip on our pointed ears and white beards to celebrate Winter's Veil!

Let's get this party started with GreatFather Winter by Cranius. I wonder if the neighbors will notice when the Gray family uses this song for caroling. I guess we'll find out who in the neigborhood is a WoW player.

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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.

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Folks who enjoy the World of Warcraft musical scene probably already recognize the names Cranius and Sharm. Individually, these two people have each created huge swaths of music that've inspired WoW players for year. That's why it's so exciting that the two of them are teaming up to release a duo album.

The album will consist of entirely original work -- no parodies, riffs, or mere covers of other people's songs. The pair had tried to make the collaboration work while Sharm was in the U.K., but things weren't working out so well. What to do? Sharm jumped on a plane and flew out to Seattle, where Sharm and Cranius will spend the next few months recording the album.

Here's hoping everything goes smoothly and quickly. We can't wait to hear the results! And while it's exciting that the album is entirely original, we wouldn't hate a fresh cover of Darrowshire with some duet action.

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Do you remember The Story? It was one of Cranius and Legs' more somber pieces. The video was a testament to both Cranius's vocal guns and Legs's peerless eye for visual story. Isn't it a shame we don't hear from them more often? That's what we thought. And then this weekend, something huge happened.

The Story 2. Without getting into the inevitable Coldplay argument, Fix You is a favorite song for inspirational and sad videos since the dawn of exercise transformations. I'm super happy to see Cranius and Legs give it a makeover, but I'm even more happy to see Cranius and Legs. I am excitement.

[Thanks to the dozen people who sent me this tip!]

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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.

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Let's take a moment and jump in the Wayback Machine. Back in the day, boats were perilous things. They would disappear out from beneath you, leaving you stranded in the middle of Azeroth's oceans. In short order, you would die a horrible, fatigued death.

Enter Captain Placeholder. While Blizzard took the boats offline for some needed upgrades, Captain Placeholder teleported players around the world. When the boats were ready to return ... Captain Placeholder disappeared.

Given Garrosh's many failures, I think it's time for a new Warchief ... and Captain Placeholder is the man for the job. Think about it! He's one of Azeroth's most vaunted heroes. Bigger than Bolvar. Bigger than Vol'jin.

Captain Placeholder is the Warchief the Horde deserves, though maybe not the Warchief it needs right now.

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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.

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I was leveling a druid over the weekend when I encountered one of the most tragic figures in WoW lore: Pamela. I had mixed feelings about seeing her. First, I had hoped that her story would be advanced further and that we would see greater closure for the young Redpath. On the other hand, Pamela's story is nearly legend, and I think WoW would suffer without its poetry.

I was also reminded of Darrowshire by Cranius, for obvious reasons. While the video covers an older version of the quest, it still captures the basic essence of Darrowshire's story. Cranius does a brilliant job of relating the spirit of the quests in his own lyrics, so it's more than worth a rerun for anyone who might be new to machinima.

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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.

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Ulduar came up in the comments last week. Since Ulduar is a classic machinima and a strong staff favorite, it's completely worth another visit. Ulduar is performed by Summergale and Cranius, while the video was created by the infinitely amazing Legs.

Ulduar is the story of star-crossed lovers. Cranius portrays the role of a PvP player who feels out of place in raids. Summergale, by comparison, is an experienced raider who is bored with contemporary content. There's just not much to be done until Ulduar is released. Like many star-crossed lovers, the two characters have nothing to do but sing to one another about the predicament.

Like many of the best machinima, Ulduar has stood the test of time, even though the World of Warcraft itself has moved on. The vocal performances and animation quality are so well done that the final work feels just as relevant now as it ever did.

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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.

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BSTV is Baron Soosdon's offering regarding his time in the Cataclysm beta. While there, he took copious amounts of footage from both the goblin and worgen starting areas and then coalesced it into this guided tour. With a little assistance from machinima friends like Legs, Cranius, Olibith, and Paus, Baroon Soosdon has created a fun, amusing romp through some of Cataclysm's best features.

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Happy Place was the entry into the BlizzCon 2010 machinima contest from Cranius and Legs. It tells the story of a rogue herbalist who usually wants nothing more than to chill out in his happy place picking flowers. As an undead rogue, everyone expects him to simply be a vicious, violent jerk. He eschews these traits, preferring the more peaceful life alongside his loved ones. Of course, given enough provocation, even this kind rogue gets a little rowdy.

This video just goes to show how stiff the competition was this year in the machinima contest. Cranius and Legs definitely represent some of the top tier of talent in the WoW machinima world. Happy Place is a great song with a brilliant machinima. Of course, that's kind of what you get from these two, but their videos have become a treat for the WoW audience. Here's hoping we get to see more before next year's contest.

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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 machinima@wow.com.

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Mathew here, checking in on Moviewatch once again. Gray sent me a text ... something about a ransom and some Russian mobsters and maybe even a bank heist. Look, who do you think I am, Gray? The Monopoly Man? Scrooge McDuck? What am I, made of money?

I am notoriously picky about WoW machinima -- ask anyone here at WoW Insider. The War Room is usually abuzz with machinima that I enjoy but never tout. Cranius' songs coupled with Legs' videos, however, are high points in WoW machinima for me, as they are excellently produced, they're visually fun, and the songs are engaging.

Darrowshire is still my favorite Cranius song, but Don't Make Me Get My Main and ranks right up there. The song hurts my very soul, mostly because I started WoW as Horde on a server that was Alliance-dominated. Stranglethorn Vale was nothing more than an Alliance gank-fest, as dedicated Horde players would skulk in the shadows, waiting for just enough Alliance players to leave Hemet Nesingwary's camp so that they could turn in quests successfully. Dark days. Dark, dark days, that are happily behind me.

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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 machinima@wow.com.

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The Cataclysm expansion is coming. This is going to be game-changing event. It's actually very exciting. A lot of the old world has gotten stale, and I'm eager to see it refreshed. However, if there's one piece of community lore that I will hate to see rendered not-as-relevant, it's Darrowshire.

Darrowshire is a defining moment both for characters in game and also for the WoW filk community. Darrowshire is one of the best pieces of WoW music out there, and the video that goes with it matches its sorrowful, determined tone perfectly. I don't think the song will lose much power after the reconstruction of Azeroth, but I do hope people can still be exposed to this beautiful piece of art by Cranius.

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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 machinima@wow.com.

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