9/13 update: "Save Paragon" video in the works <Draft #2>

[TimtheEnchanter]

9/13 Update: Alright folks, here's the second draft, which includes everything that was missing prior to the rally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cae81F4qTuE

Some clips are just sketched at the moment, waiting to be replaced with in-game footage. You'll have to excuse the quality of the sketches, as I'm the WORST storyboard artist ever. But it's enough to imagine what the game clips will look like.

The only portion missing from the video is the very end, for which I'm envisioning a wide shot of Leandro's demo file, with the "We are heroes, this is what we do" chant. But I might need help on it because the only demo editor I found that had a working download link... isn't cooperating.



9/10 original post:

Hello all. This may seem to be quite an unusual first post here, for someone who has never been particularly vocal on any of the forums in the past 8 years, but here goes...

I've been putting together a video since the rally. Something that encompasses all of the events since the shutdown announcement. The idea is to make it informative about the IRL story, while setting it against the backdrop of of Paragon city. In this sense, IG and OOG parallel one another.

More than Machinima, it is a multimedia project that will include audio bytes from The Cape, and screencaps from various news articles.

The story begins with PS's announcement of the shutdown, and the despair as it hits Paragon's heroes. Various articles superimpose on screen. And then the "heart of the hero" starts to kick into gear. The mood of the music changes. Heroes "rise" (literally in-game), as plans to save the city start being drawn. The story builds towards the Save Paragon campaign, the petition, and its coverage in the news. All of this builds up to a climax at the Unity Rally, which I've provided a rough copy of here. As you can see I don't have quite as many good demos of the AP instances as I would prefer, so if anyone has any to share of AP's 25-32, please let me know (yes, I've spoken to Leandro who made the merged "cast of thousands" video, but many of the individual instance recordings had already been deleted by then). I can make due with the screencaptures I found on the forum, but I'd prefer not to if at all possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12H1ZEzNobg

I have posted this here so I can collaborate with all here who wish to help make this as good as it can be. I wish for this to not merely be an entertainment piece, but also educational, and a promotional ad for the campaign; drawing the public's attention as well as motivating the community. Because of this, I want to be sure that I include every important bit of info. And if you're wondering, the music is paid for and legally licensed, so we don't have to worry about the "copyright inquisition" descending upon it like angry harpies.

I'll post a longer version of the video hopefully tonight, with storyboard clips for everything leading up to the rally, and possibly some more IG footage (my SG usually convenes on Monday night).

Cheers!

[The-Hunter-JLJ]

Holy smokes, TimtheEnchanter. That "rough clip" is very good. Had you thought of running through the 33 instances and then using Leandro's composite as the "closer" scene? That could make a really powerful impact, too. I am going to be eagerly watching to see your longer version. The "storyboard" description you give here and this work print you've shown us are impressive.

[Soundtrack]

Bravo! Very well done...the dramatic music - such a great touch!

[TimtheEnchanter]

Holy smokes, TimtheEnchanter. That "rough clip" is very good. Had you thought of running through the 33 instances and then using Leandro's composite as the "closer" scene? That could make a really powerful impact, too. I am going to be eagerly watching to see your longer version. The "storyboard" description you give here and this work print you've shown us are impressive.

Yeah, I did, and I've got a copy of that demo. Leandro said not to use the same shot though and I haven't been able to get the demo editor to work... at least not the one I found. All other links to editors seem to be broken except for this one, which I think last got updated with issue 9, which is probably why it keeps giving me errors when I try to write new camera positions with it.

I definitely want to use shots from that though, and I was thinking of doing it from a "news copter" perspective, WITH rotor sounds, and a quick VO from a lady reporter saying something to the effect of, "The heroes aren't going to take this sitting down."

[Intone]

You have an awesome project, here.  Love your direction, and believe the music adds the right heroic tone.

 I know you're adding story elements, but thought I'd throw in the idea of superimposing at the beginning of the unity rally shots: "And so they began to gather." And then as you add shots of the instances, later add:  "And Paragon City's heroes continued to gather."  Anyway something like that.  Wonderful creativity!

Intone

[Mister Bison]

You have an awesome project, here.  Love your direction, and believe the music adds the right heroic tone.

 I know you're adding story elements, but thought I'd throw in the idea of superimposing at the beginning of the unity rally shots: "And so they began to gather." And then as you add shots of the instances, later add:  "And Paragon City's heroes continued to gather."  Anyway something like that.  Wonderful creativity!

Intone

Yeah, try making pauses and comments after the first Atlas Park (don't number it first ), the fourth (4 on the screen), 9 (9 on the screen), 16, 25 etc... makes a feel of picking up a strong pace.

[TimtheEnchanter]

So are you thinking they shouldn't be numbered at all, leaving room for other commentary?

I can still have text fly at the bottom of the screen indicating the rapid rising of the population.

My only concern is the average viewer, who isn't "in the know" might not realize that these are all different instances unless some indication is given.

I've also been considering changing up the "server overload" screen capture with something more relevant, like the Kotaku/Massively articles about the protest. That there was a server crash is cool, but isn't really necessary to convey the strength in numbers.

[Intone]

TimtheEnchanter:

Yes, you're right about the average viewer not understanding server instances.  You'll need to set it up by saying something like, "So many heroes began assembling, that our city had to start creating more versions of itself to allow the gathering to grow.  In fact, it did this 32 times -- and still they came!  Heroes wishing to enter Paragon City and Atlas Park ended up waiting in line by the hundreds, to enter."

Kinda long, but that's the idea.  Good luck!

Tom

[Burnt Toast]

Great start Can't wait to see the finished product!

[Mister Bison]

I didn't say you shouldn't number them, I just said don't give away the fact that there were so many players that the server had to instanciate the zone

Like a story:
At first, 75 players gathered in front of the hall, but soon no more fitted
Other instances had to be created, first on, two... soon 4, soon ten !
Then nothing was able to stop it, ... (let some time to show the new instances) we were at 25 one hour before the start of the event !
And where did it stopped ? 29, 30... 33 !

An then resume whatever you were doing.

[Ampithere]

To the OP:

Not really helpful or on topic, but you have a great name 

[Victoria Victrix]

Goddammit you made me cry again.

[TimtheEnchanter]

To the OP:

Not really helpful or on topic, but you have a great name 

Heheh, thanks.  He's the first character that I rolled when I first started playing CoH, mainly just to get a feel for the game. Fire Blaster of course. He ended up being wildly popular, always being asked to join RP teams for the comedic aspect, so I never deleted him.

Goddammit you made me cry again.

You may not want to watch the first half of the video when it's up...

[TimtheEnchanter]

9/13 Update: Alright folks, here's the second draft, which includes everything that was missing prior to the rally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cae81F4qTuE

Some clips are just sketched at the moment, waiting to be replaced with in-game footage. You'll have to excuse the quality of the sketches, as I'm the WORST storyboard artist ever. But it's enough to imagine what the game clips will look like.

The only portion missing from the video is the very end, for which I'm envisioning a wide shot of Leandro's demo file, with the "We are heroes, this is what we do" chant. But I might need help on it because the only demo editor I found that had a working download link... isn't cooperating.

@Mr. Bison/Intone, I was thinking more about the idea of adding more text to the rally shots. Curious to hear what you think of using the radio clips for it instead. I think it conveys the message without needing to clutter up the screen more.

[Aggelakis]

The music overtop of the commentary in the last... third or so (after "it's kind of packed" by the Massively girl) is way too loud. I can't hear half of what they're saying. :/

Other than that, it's pretty awesome.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Yeah, I'm aware of it. The audio levels in a lot of places is in need of tweaking. For a couple of the oversampled clips though, there's not much I can do to fix it because that's how the source audio was.

[ducklorange]

That was, frankly, very moving.  I'm sitting at work right now, trying really hard not to tear up in front of 14 other programmers... and it's a tough battle.  I'm looking forward to the finished product.

I'd recommend maybe holding the last frame, fading out to black, and ending with some text - linking to these boards, and mentioning the #SaveCOH hashtag.

[eabrace]

I like it.  Really looking forward to the final cut. 

[The-Hunter-JLJ]

TimtheEnchanter - this storyboarded rough cut is gorgeous. Can't wait to see the final. I have only one question.

What can we do to help you?

I don't think you're going to have any problems recruiting people to bring those scenes you sketched out to virtual life. Just say the word. Here's my CIT page - consider all my heroes at your disposal.

http://cit.cohtitan.com/profile/3066

[Mister Bison]

Great Video ! The voiceovers are a flabbergastingly great addition to the video !

Warning: there are glitches on the lowest eighth of the video at the beginning when showcasing the news reports.

Can I just have a shed of spotlight for my own nerd video ? Everything you need is here (you should make the left part of it pass like the forum posts)

[Kheprera]

I'm with VV...

You made me cry again...

At work!

I can't wait for the finished piece.


Have you considered including some images of Twitter tweets and facebook posts to show how wide it's spreading? All the news articles are great, but showing we're reaching out in other ways may help the impact.

[Terwyn]

Honestly, I think leaving the story-boarded segments as they are would be a brilliant move.

Exceptionally well done.

[TimtheEnchanter]

TimtheEnchanter - this storyboarded rough cut is gorgeous. Can't wait to see the final. I have only one question.

What can we do to help you?

I don't think you're going to have any problems recruiting people to bring those scenes you sketched out to virtual life. Just say the word. Here's my CIT page - consider all my heroes at your disposal.

http://cit.cohtitan.com/profile/3066

Well, thanks to demo editing, a lot of this doesn't need to be recorded like a "live" take, since I can put in the emotes afterward. Which is actually a good thing, particularly for the AP shot with the statue above, so I don't have to worry about editing out people who randomly jump or fly past or go running through the water in the middle of it. But if you want to a couple of quick demorecords of two or three of your heroes and give them to me, I'll put them into it. And for at least one of them, pick a character who dresses oldschool, because I'm coming up short on my character list and I definitely don't have time to level a new character to 20 and get him a cape.

I'm also open to suggestions for where to shoot the sunset and 'raising of torches' scene depicted in the sketches. After I uploaded draft 2, an idea came to my mind that the sun rise in front of the torch-bearers, synched up with the climax of the song. But with war walls everywhere, views of the horizon are pretty rare, and I'd rather do them somewhere more urban than Monster Island.

[eabrace]

I'm also open to suggestions for where to shoot the sunset and 'raising of torches' scene depicted in the sketches. After I uploaded draft 2, an idea came to my mind that the sun rise in front of the torch-bearers, synched up with the climax of the song. But with war walls everywhere, views of the horizon are pretty rare, and I'd rather do them somewhere more urban than Monster Island.

Warburg, Siren's Call, and Bloody Bay all come to mind.

[Soundtrack]

Tim, truly inspiring!

You should be highly commended!

[TimtheEnchanter]

Warburg, Siren's Call, and Bloody Bay all come to mind.

Thanks for that. It's been forever since I've gone to the PvP zones, so they never even crossed my mind.

Great Video ! The voiceovers are a flabbergastingly great addition to the video !

Warning: there are glitches on the lowest eighth of the video at the beginning when showcasing the news reports.

Can I just have a shed of spotlight for my own nerd video ? Everything you need is here (you should make the left part of it pass like the forum posts)

That's a glitch because I posted to youtube at an awkward screen ratio. The artifacts only appear 'outside' of that ratio. The final cut SHOULD automatically eliminate those.

I think a better place for your sig would be the "parade of web banners" though.

Have you considered including some images of Twitter tweets and facebook posts to show how wide it's spreading? All the news articles are great, but showing we're reaching out in other ways may help the impact.

At this point I don't know where there'd be room for it in all honesty. I did include shots of the FB and twitter pages though.

I'd recommend maybe holding the last frame, fading out to black, and ending with some text - linking to these boards, and mentioning the #SaveCOH hashtag.

Presuming I don't get the final demo-recording edit to work the way I want to, I'll be doing that. And of course the links will appear on the video at the end, AND be clickable to take people to the main news sources and the petition.

[DrakeGrimm]

...the video is very well done. Now if someone would stop chopping all these onions, maybe I could get to work on something...

*rubs at eyes*

[The-Hunter-JLJ]

Tim, happens I have demorecords of a lot of my characters sitting on my drive. I'll get them up on Googledocs for you to grab this weekend. Use any of them you want, and if you see one on my CIT page that I didn't put a demorecord up for, just say the word and I'll fix that. I'm intending to produce demorecords of all my heroes before too long anyway.

[dwturducken]

I thought the music was at a level appropriate to what you were trying to accomplish emotionally.  The voice quality was low, like some of the recordings were from bad Skype calls.

I have to admit, I almost teared up. "Almost" is probably all I can manage, though, since I traded my soul for a chance to save the game. Sorry.

[eabrace]

The voice quality was low, like some of the recordings were from bad Skype calls.

The audio during the Unity Rally on the stream from Massively was apparently suffering from their system trying to render all of the heroes in the zone during the broadcast.  Not much to be done about that one. 

[Bjork]

I liked it very much

[dwturducken]

I'm sorry.  It certainly wasn't a criticism.  Is it something that can be re-looped?

[TimtheEnchanter]

I'm sorry.  It certainly wasn't a criticism.  Is it something that can be re-looped?

Well you're not the only one who brought up the audio. And I'm not sure if it can redone or not, but I'm looking into it.

[The White Rager]

As those before me have said, this is a very solid piece of work. I do have one bit of criticism though - whenever you bring in screenshots of forums posts and stuff, where the text is important to be able to READ onscreen, the resolution of the pictures aren't good enough I guess? Large screen didn't make it better, I don't think someone reading it who hadn't seen those posts as they came would be able to catch much. Needs to be made clearer, more immediately readable somehow. So basically, the movie is fine, you just need better rez versions of those particular ingredients. I'd talk about photoshop resizing but since I have no idea how these go into videos, I also have no idea if that's relevant either.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Don't worry, the original resolution for the vid is 1440x900, and all the screencaps were taken at 1080i. I've only had the draft versions scaled down because I didn't want to wait hours to render it out and then more hours for youtube to process.

[firstmagic]

This video draft made me register a key here just so I could say great, great work so far.

I don't know if there's anything I can do to help, but if you need resources or assistance, just holler.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Holy freaking cow... getting the sunset shot in the one sketch was easy. Finding a place in the city with a good sunrise and structural detail... wow. I asked a slew of folks in-game about it. The whole process took about 5 hours of flying all over the place. So yeah, not quite as close to being finished with this as I hoped to be at the end of today.

[Thirty-Seven]

Amazing!!

That's all I can say.

Oh, a suggestion... when you get to AP33, you should prolly give it a bit of special fanfare and include one or more of the Atlas 33 logos that have been produced on the forums: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=297159

[Moonfyire101]

That made me all teary...It's wonderful. Keep going with it. I think you missed one of the atlas's though, i could be wrong. I can't wait to see the finished product.

[StarRanger4]

*looks at the storyboard shot of the Newpaper*

*knows there is no way to create THAT in game*

Phineas, I know what we're going to do today...

[Mister Bison]

*looks at the storyboard shot of the Newpaper*

*knows there is no way to create THAT in game*

Phineas, I know what we're going to do today...

!you *could* do that, but not in a legal way anyway (since client modding is prohibited in the eula), but I think people here could help replacing the newspaper texture.

[eabrace]

Specifically modding the client is forbidden, but overriding things like textures can be done without actually modding the client.

[Electric-Knight]

Very nicely done... Tim? (haha, I always have to say that name with a pause and a bit questioningly...).

Seriously, the build-up and recap of the outpouring of support for the rally really hit me. I've not been crying, but that absolutely gave me tears of inspiration.

I'm really hoping to get to work tonight on a new video I've had in mind since the announcement...

Thank you, TimtheEnchanter!

[StarRanger4]

!you *could* do that, but not in a legal way anyway (since client modding is prohibited in the eula), but I think people here could help replacing the newspaper texture.

but why take the risk when you have people who can create a shot like that without taking the risk of breaking the EULA.?  Cause I dunno about you but it would be a bittersweet victory to save the game but be banned for an EULA violation because the outgoing NC soft people were vindictive jerks.



*play paperthump.mp3*

Is a static shot good for you Tim, or do you want to use this as a placeholder while I animate the bundle of papers getting 'dropped' on the curb?

[TimtheEnchanter]

Heh, well this went off on a tangent. I was gonna say... I never said I would ONLY use Machinima. 

Either CGI, or even a real video shot is what I was going for on this one (there's a small indie company nearby with an oldschool printing press that I could probably get a few cover pages from and then wrap them around generic newspapers) . That's a good start, StarRanger.  I'm not sure how much you want to drive yourself crazy with tweaking it though, or what program you did this in. If you want to develop it further though, here's what I'd need.

1. Some bumpmap detail on the ground surfaces so it looks less 2D (mostly to prepare it for item 2).
2. Reflections on the ground surface for the light from the paper to bounce off of (it's going to be raining, so the ground needs to look wet)
3. The bundle should be tied.
4. Use the "Is This the End of Paragon City?" article title.
5. Animated dropping into the frame (cool that you asked about that, because I had that thought in the back of my head but didn't even include it in the storyboard)
6. Rain? No big deal if you can't do that, because even if I was doing CGI for this myself, I'd be adding the rain and splashes in a separate program anyhow.

That made me all teary...It's wonderful. Keep going with it. I think you missed one of the atlas's though, i could be wrong. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Yeah, I know. I think it was 32 that's mission, as I have yet to find a screenshot of it. 

[StarRanger4]

Heh, well this went off on a tangent. I was gonna say... I never said I would ONLY use Machinima. 

Either CGI, or even a real video shot is what I was going for on this one (there's a small indie company nearby with an oldschool printing press that I could probably get a few cover pages from and then wrap them around generic newspapers) . That's a good start, StarRanger.  I'm not sure how much you want to drive yourself crazy with tweaking it though, or what program you did this in. If you want to develop it further though, here's what I'd need.

1. Some bumpmap detail on the ground surfaces so it looks less 2D (mostly to prepare it for item 2).
2. Reflections on the ground surface for the light from the paper to bounce off of (it's going to be raining, so the ground needs to look wet)
3. The bundle should be tied.
4. Use the "Is This the End of Paragon City?" article title.
5. Animated dropping into the frame (cool that you asked about that, because I had that thought in the back of my head but didn't even include it in the storyboard)
6. Rain? No big deal if you can't do that, because even if I was doing CGI for this myself, I'd be adding the rain and splashes in a separate program anyhow.

Yeah, I know. I think it was 32 that's mission, as I have yet to find a screenshot of it. 

yeah, I should be able to do most if not all of that.  Shame about the headline.  I kinda liked the nemesis bit. *grin*

[Burnt Toast]

I am sitting here crying.... an amazing amazing video!





I will post this on twitter again and again and again....


The heart of the video...hearing people rallying behind the movement made me literally just stare at my screen as the tears rolled down my face.

[Burnt Toast]

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but it seems to go very quickly from AP31 to AP33...not seeing AP32.


And yes I am sitting here watching it over and over crying.

[TimtheEnchanter]

Yeah, I noted that before. Anyone got a screenshot of it? I've been looking but not finding.

[Burnt Toast]

Yeah, I noted that before. Anyone got a screenshot of it? I've been looking but not finding.

I took this from the official forums. Pretty sure this is AP32...especially since the name of the pic is Atlas32


From the thread: [size=78%]http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=297058&highlight=Rally+Pics&page=3[/size]

[DrakeGrimm]

Ours is not a message of hatred or racial stereotyping. Let's all try to keep that in mind. I'm so proud of you guys up to this point, let's keep that pride going strong and remain vigilant.

[TimtheEnchanter]

For a second I thought, "How did I miss that pic?" But then it hit me. Drat, what I'm actually missing is 31, not 32. Sorry. 

[TonyV]

Ours is not a message of hatred or racial stereotyping. Let's all try to keep that in mind. I'm so proud of you guys up to this point, let's keep that pride going strong and remain vigilant.

I'm in ur thredz moddin ur postz.

Agreed. Let's not descend into ethnic stereotypes.

[Burnt Toast]

For a second I thought, "How did I miss that pic?" But then it hit me. Drat, what I'm actually missing is 31, not 32. Sorry. 

May wanna post on the official forums and see if anyone has a pic of AP31...only thing I can think to do.

[Burnt Toast]

I actually posted in the Rally Pics thread I started on the official forums asking for a pic of AP31...Hope it helps you out




http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?p=4397381#post4397381

[TimtheEnchanter]

Heh, thanks. There's two requests for it then as I posted a new thread with a request for it about an hour ago.

[StarRanger4]

I'm in ur thredz moddin ur postz.

Agreed. Let's not descend into ethnic stereotypes.

err.  Roit, consider me properly chastised as well as moderated.

in the meantime:
http://youtu.be/kMdZLQZ54d4

[TimtheEnchanter]

Well, Burnt, still no response to either of our posts, but I finally managed to find some. I think I figured out why no AP31 pics were posted before. Looks like that ended up being the unofficial instance for taking the hippie concept to the extreme, and some... ehh... .gratuitous activities took place on the steps, including that McFist guy who we have all seen at the AP33 monorail exit ramp for days now, and a few other players. Maybe everyone who went there to take screenshots went at the wrong time... But in addition to the others, the AP31 vigil group took a more PR-friendly one.

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3489336&pagenumber=81&perpage=40#post407321919

[dwturducken]

I will now have to find the less friendly version. McFist was pretty funny the first half dozen times.

[eabrace]

... some... ehh... .gratuitous activities took place on the steps

[Burnt Toast]

Just checking to see if draft #3 is in the works. I watch draft #2 daily and it brings me hope I think the design of the video shows the whole process...the news breaking..people refusing to give in...the masses banding together... just makes me smile and get teary eyed every time I watch it

[TimtheEnchanter]

Yep, it's still going. And I hope to have the final product live by the weekend, in time for the task force party. Don't know if that's going to happen or not, but it's what I'm aiming for.

The bulk of the imagery was there with draft 2, now aside from a few cool shots, it's mostly the boring details that need to be done. I've been feeling anxious to get it out there too since I feel like everyone over at the NC forums could use a little morale boost.

[ObsidianPhoenix76]

Just checking to see if draft #3 is in the works. I watch draft #2 daily and it brings me hope I think the design of the video shows the whole process...the news breaking..people refusing to give in...the masses banding together... just makes me smile and get teary eyed every time I watch it

^^ This.  I know how time consuming making a video of this caliber can be.  I spent a couple of weeks on the one I made, and it is nowhere near as good as Tim's.

[The-Hunter-JLJ]

Yep, it's still going. And I hope to have the final product live by the weekend, in time for the task force party. Don't know if that's going to happen or not, but it's what I'm aiming for.

The bulk of the imagery was there with draft 2, now aside from a few cool shots, it's mostly the boring details that need to be done. I've been feeling anxious to get it out there too since I feel like everyone over at the NC forums could use a little morale boost.

These are the times that try hero's souls...

[Rae]

So late in watching this.

Its fricking amazing !

[TimtheEnchanter]

While waiting for more... I've gotten the costume files I needed to load into my demo edits, and here's a new still from that.

[Burnt Toast]

Anxiously waiting to see the finished product

[QuantumHero]

Tim I just now got to watch that and I am crying...beautiful.

If I wasn't a raw beginner with city demo files I would send you my heroes

[TimtheEnchanter]

The final cut is uploading now!

Only thing I'm struggling with now is an official title.

Just 'Save City of Heroes"? Something catchy like "Eternal Fire?"

Dunno...

[DrakeGrimm]

The final cut is uploading now!

Only thing I'm struggling with now is an official title.

Just 'Save City of Heroes"? Something catchy like "Eternal Fire?"

Dunno...

City of Heroes: Heroes Need Saving, Too

...just a thought I had. FEEL FREE TO IGNORE ME! *flail*

[Vulpy]

Just 'Save City of Heroes"? Something catchy like "Eternal Fire?"

Dunno...

"A City of Heroes, Imperiled"?

[Atlantea]

City of Heroes: Heroes Need Saving, Too

...just a thought I had. FEEL FREE TO IGNORE ME! *flail*

http://youtu.be/aGbPs5y3oz8