Posts with tag oxhorn

From Hollywood celebrities to the guy next door, millions of people have made World of Warcraft a part of their lives. How do you play WoW? We're giving each approach its own 15 Minutes of Fame.

You may not recognize the name Nathan Allen Pinard -- but if you're a fan of the machinima scene, you're bound to have heard his stirring musical take on life in Azeroth via the ever-popular Oxhorn machinima. I mean, come on ... If the irresistible compilation of Oxhorn favorites above doesn't get your foot tapping, then you may just have left your heart frozen solid back in Northrend!

As much as we love what he's done with Oxhorn and others, Pinard's known for much more than his music for machinima. Specializing in composing for video games, movies, TV and films as well, Pinard has been hard at work on the score for the sci-fi game Gemini Rue -- oh, and tearing through Cataclysm like a bat out of hell, as well. What's the composer up to lately? There's another Oxhorn machinima in the works, yes, and much more. Join us after the break for the scoop!

It is the season for Winter's Veil, which means that we're looking at all the wonderful holiday videos that have been created by the WoW community. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like This Raid Isn't Going to Happen is an especially appropriate video for this week. With this next two weeks being holiday-heavy, raid leaders will have a special struggle on their hands to make sure there are enough people to go kill bosses. Oxhorn created this music especially for you.

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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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I Saw Three Rogues is music from Oxhorn's Christmas for Geeks album. The music was actually released last year, but this is the first time it's been put to video. Frankly, a little part of me thrilled to see Morty throw down with a fellow rogue, even if that was totally not the point of the video.

The music for I Saw Three Rogues is obviously based on I Saw Three Ships. Oxhorn did one hell of a job matching the rhyme and meter, making I Saw Three Rogues's lyrics work seamlessly with the music.

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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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Work warning: This video references Staghorn's private bits.

This is a new Thanksgiving video by Oxhorn. He released it late yesterday as a tip of the hat to all his fans and friends to celebrate the season.

Holiday traveling can be serious business, even in Azeroth. As Staghorn prepares to use a flight point to go see friends and family for Thanksgiving, he finds himself stalled at security due to his armor. Unable to remove his helmet, the situation becomes even more troubling when Staghorn Gets a Pat Down. When Staghorn ends up in the slammer, unexpected help arrives and spirits him off to enjoy pecan pie.

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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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Mister Evil Runs for Office is a new short machinima by Oxhorn. The story, quickly told, is about Professor Evil and his decision to run for president of Evil University. An opposing candidate is also running for the same office and the two must conduct an evil campaign to win as many votes as possible.

I wasn't quite sure what the message of Mister Evil Runs for Office might be, so I decided to skip that level of analysis and just enjoy the movie. I feel like Oxhorn has really improved his artistic skills and many of the shots and visuals in this video are superlative. That kind of improvement can be impressive when you consider that Oxhorn is already a seasoned, experienced machinima maker.

If you want some of the visuals as wallpaper, by the way, Oxhorn has made some available on his wallpaper page.

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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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Oxhorn has been a busy man. First, he's released Ox Chop as a celebration of Halloween. In this short video, the character Oxhorn and Professor Evil go to visit the Headless Horseman. Sadly, the encounter doesn't go well and everyone leaves empty-handed.

Second, if you enjoyed this video, Oxhorn has even released a ringtone that goes with the video. It's a pretty nice little side-thing to go with the video, especially given that some of the best parts of Oxhorn videos are his music.

If you enjoy Oxhorn's video, drop by his live show some time. I've attended a few and they are pretty entertaining. Enjoy the video and have a great Halloween!

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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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It's been a little while since we've enjoyed some Oxhorn in this column, and the maestro of machinima music was brought up yesterday in the comments. With that in mind, I wanted to take a moment and revisit one of my favorite pieces by Oxhorn: the Oxhorn Brand Medley.

Not only was this the first machinima I shared with my beloved wife, it's also the first WoW song I got stuck in my head for months. To this day, I can be heard cruising around the office, humming it under my breath. That's certainly annoying for my office mates, but it helps the day pass.

If you're not experienced with Oxhorn, take the time to go check out a bunch of his early stuff. He's a great musician and his machinima is a lot of fun.

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Irdeen Productions created Boomdyada for the Blizzard Rise to Power contest. While the contest version of the movie is a little different, this final machinima is the one that Irdeen released to the world. The song and video is obviously inspired by the Discovery.com The World is Just Awesome series.

This video is just awesome. I don't have the words for how happy it makes me. In the same way that Discovery.com's original advertisements somehow instills a sense of awe and wonder in the audience, Irdeen has done exactly the same thing for Azeroth. Featuring dozens of cameos and landscapes, Irdeen has managed to convey excitement and appreciation for everything World of Warcraft. (For those with a sharp eye and ear, that is in fact an Oxhorn cameo also.) The voice actors include such well known machinima stars as Jesse Cox and Matt Geenburg.

Irdeen Productions should absolutely be proud of this video. It's got to become a favorite of many WoW fans, and I hope we see more like it when Cataclysm comes around.

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Today's WoW Moviewatch is a tiny indulgence for me. If you've not heard, I got married yesterday. (Yesterday as of the time this post was published.) I share everything in my life with my beloved bride, even WoW machinima. The videos created by the machinima community are wonderful things to watch as a couple. Like so many other things, however, she needed a gateway introduction to machinima. That intro came in the form of the Oxhorn Medley.

But the Medley isn't the only Oxhorn theme in our lives. The dance portion of Inventing Swear Words 4 -- which we call Dance Fellas Dance -- was actually played yesterday for our wedding. This song was one of our first dances, and made use of the time we spent taking classes and learning our moves.

Since Oxhorn has cropped up so much in our lives, today's Moviewatch is dedicated to my wife. I love her more than I love breath, and I look forward to our lives together. In the words of Mortus, I can't say how happy I am to know that she'll forever pwn those noobs with me.

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like This Raid Isn't Going to Happen is the newest release in Oxhorn's shorts series. It's obviously based off the song of the same name, from Oxhorn's Christmas for Geeks album. At the time that collection was released, I was curious whether any of the new music would make it to video form. I'm pretty glad this song was the one to make the cut.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like This Raid Isn't Going To Happen features a lot of the pitfalls, troubles, and failures that can keep a raid from getting started. Whether you're accustomed to PUGging your raids or simply going with your own guild, there's probably at least a few of these anecdotes that will be familiar to you. I admit that the surprise-pulling-rogue bit made me laugh and weep at the same time.

I especially liked that Oxhorn used in-game footage in this video. It's been a while since we've seen much of that from him, so it's a nice reminded that Oxhorn truly is firmly rooted in the community we all love.

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Oxhorn has released a very special Christmas album focused on his WoW-themed music, called Oxhorn's Christmas for Geeks. The album is available both on Amazon and iTunes. Heck, you can even pick it up on Rhapsody and Napster. Oxhorn was pretty thorough to make sure that you could get the album by whichever route you like.

The album has a lot of classic favorites, as well as a boatload of new skits. My favorite is his new version of Hark! Hear the Wails. That has always been one of my very favorite songs by Oxhorn. It does, however, show the signs of being created much, much early in Oxhorn's career. It shows some of the rustiness and coarseness of an artist's early work, and really needed some tuning up. The new version did that fantastically.

Oxhorn's Christmas for Geeks has a resounding 18 tracks. It's split about evenly between skits and songs. I was actually quite impressed by the wide array of musical styles explored by this album. While the lyrics are obvious parodies of popular holiday songs, interpreted in a World of Warcraft style, I think Oxhorn has really done a great job of matching his lyrics to the Christmas theme.

Even if you're not going to rock out to Oxhorn's tunes, it's one hell of a gift for a fellow WoW player.

Oxhorn is usually quite reliable for holiday festivities, and his video The Peace Circle instantly springs to mind when I consider Thanksgiving. "Why Mike!" you might exclaim, "What does a hippy love circle have to do with Thanksgiving?" The answer lies in Thunk's favorite food -- turkey.

As the peace circle proceeds, our Night Elf mediator encounters a painful truth. Thunk loves him some turkey. The caruncles are very tasty, after all. The good news, however, is that Thunk has thoughtfully brought enough for everyone. Even Associate Professor Evil is forced to acknowledge thankfulness for Thunk's turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Turkey for everyone!

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Oxhorn's seasonal shorts always seem to bring a little something extra to the holidays. He's hit Halloween just in time by releasing Dalaran's Costume Contest. If you can't see the YouTube for some reason, you can also pick it up over at Oxhorn's official web site.

As the story goes, Oxhorn's usual cast of characters are competing in the Hallow's End costume contest. They spend a little time discussing the event, when Hat (the singing turtle) comes up and reveals his own clever disguise. I can't go deeper into the story here, or I'll ruin the punchline. And while it may make me a pop-culture junkie, I admit that I laughed out loud at the joke.

An odd bit about this video, though, is that Oxhorn included almost a minute and a half of outtakes. I actually kind of love that stuff, since it gives a lot of personality and "humanity" to the actors in his machinima. I think it lets the audience get to know them a little better, which is almost always a good thing.

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Oxhorn's newest machinima is Thunk Leaves Home. It's an interesting tale about the ogre Thunk who is forced to leave Dire Maul after being mocked and outcast by his peers. As he wanders the world, he encounters a Night Elf. Thunk saves the elf's life, only to be scorned for food choices. After yet another encounter in which Thunk is spurned by a gnome, our ogre protagonist heads to Orgrimmar to get a little help from the Horde, only to be considered not monster enough. Lastly, Thunk finds a home with some unlikely trolls.

I think Oxhorn definitely had parables in mind as he created Thunk Leaves Home, but the morals are far enough below the surface not to distract the audience. The voice acting by Oxhorn and Jesse Cox are awesome as always, and Oxhorn's trademark musical ending rounds out the entire piece. Thunk Leaves Home is definitely the longest Oxhorn piece we've had for a little while, and I think he took the time to make sure it was viewing time well spent.

The closing credits are almost a separate piece of work. In it, Oxhorn philosophizes a bit about J-Pop, and then performs a parody piece in that style. If you like the closing credits, you can pick them up on Amazon.com. I'm not sure it's my speed, but I'm always happy to help a machinimator out by supporting their work.

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Cranius has built one heck of a reputation as a World of Warcraft fan songwriter. His music and video credits include Big Blue Dress and the incredibly moving Darrowshire. This year, he (and machinimator partner Legs) achieved the first place prize at the BlizzCon 2009 machinima contest for their every-man video, Don't Make Me Get My Main.

All this background makes it awesome to point out that Cranius has released his music through Amazon, all collected on an album titled Big Blue Dress. The album is pretty cheap, coming in under $5.00. It includes downloads of Big Blue Dress, Darrowshire, and The Lament of Captain Placeholder, as well as his new pieces, Happy Place and Don't Make Me Get My Main. The only piece I felt was missing was Ulduar, but I can think of a few reasons it didn't appear.

At the cheap price, it's nice to be able to throw a little support at an artist who's brought so much music to the community. He's not been alone in this, of course, as both Oxhorn and Myndflame have released their music in one form or another. I think it's a wonderful opportunity, and something I support wholeheartedly. I obviously have purchased it, and am playing it on my computer even now.