The Escapist Film Festival 2010: Sunder - Episode 1 - Chaos

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
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Sunder - Episode 1 - Chaos

William Aten, an online comic store owner receives a comic with the ability of teleportation after a similar item causes massive destruction.

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apalm

New member
Apr 19, 2009
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This video is amazing. The best in the contest. I watched it the first time and thought it was pretty cool, missed a line of dialogue because everything moved so fast, but got the story and understood almost everything. Then I watched it a second time and noticed all the great parallelisms, cinematography, editing, music (even that thing in the middle, which I guess is custom), and even the symbols. Then I watched it the third time and finally noticed that the store at the end was the same one that blew up in the beginning, the detail in the effects, the subtle writing, and the character you've already assigned to everyone.

This is AMAZING! Why isn't it on the first page?
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
apalm said:
This video is amazing. The best in the contest. I watched it the first time and thought it was pretty cool, missed a line of dialogue because everything moved so fast, but got the story and understood almost everything. Then I watched it a second time and noticed all the great parallelisms, cinematography, editing, music (even that thing in the middle, which I guess is custom), and even the symbols. Then I watched it the third time and finally noticed that the store at the end was the same one that blew up in the beginning, the detail in the effects, the subtle writing, and the character you've already assigned to everyone.

This is AMAZING! Why isn't it on the first page?
Thanks! Spread the word! (Speaking on behalf of the team) We really think this series is the best submission,
-Anthony
 

randommaster

New member
Sep 10, 2008
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AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
It's the only card game that you can actually make a living from playing, though.

Does it make me a huge geek if I was bothered by the fact that the newest cards weren't the newest cards? Anyways, this was okay, but I have no idea what's going on. I know it's for suspense, but I'm just confused. Interesting idea, though.
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
randommaster said:
AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
It's the only card game that you can actually make a living from playing, though.

Does it make me a huge geek if I was bothered by the fact that the newest cards weren't the newest cards? Anyways, this was okay, but I have no idea what's going on. I know it's for suspense, but I'm just confused. Interesting idea, though.
We know about the newest cards thing--just to mention though remember Zendikar had "Hidden Treasures", that's why he's checking through Zendikar (though when we filmed this Scars of Mirrodin wasn't out yet and we thought it'd be weird to use M11 and have this be released in November).

AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
Haha, it's not an internet show about children's card games, though I would be honored to walk in the footsteps of Yugioh: The Abridged Series.
 

apalm

New member
Apr 19, 2009
13
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0
randommaster said:
AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
It's the only card game that you can actually make a living from playing, though.

Does it make me a huge geek if I was bothered by the fact that the newest cards weren't the newest cards? Anyways, this was okay, but I have no idea what's going on. I know it's for suspense, but I'm just confused. Interesting idea, though.
Watch it agaib!
 

randommaster

New member
Sep 10, 2008
1,802
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0
APSunder said:
randommaster said:
AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
It's the only card game that you can actually make a living from playing, though.

Does it make me a huge geek if I was bothered by the fact that the newest cards weren't the newest cards? Anyways, this was okay, but I have no idea what's going on. I know it's for suspense, but I'm just confused. Interesting idea, though.
We know about the newest cards thing--just to mention though remember Zendikar had "Hidden Treasures", that's why he's checking through Zendikar (though when we filmed this Scars of Mirrodin wasn't out yet and we thought it'd be weird to use M11 and have this be released in November).
Don't take that too seriously, I'm just being a giant Magic geek. I actually thought that using the "hidden treasures" thing from Zendikar was really cool.
 

mm2publish

New member
Oct 23, 2010
79
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Yeah Dude, I don't understand why you didn't make first cut. You have an original idea, good filming, good special effects, good cuts, good storyline. Your actors know their scripts, but could use more character, but that's easy enough to adjust. The only thing I can think is it's like that other guy said about having to watch it a few times to really catch on. Maybe they just didn't get it the first time around. You definitely have a better film than some of them on the first page! Just so you know, I'm giving you a vote daily! I know where I screwed up too! People just didn't get mine because they didn't really give any description of what it was depicting at the start. No one really knew my film was depicting Ace Combats new game "Assault Horizon" so it only appears to be fighter jets flying around! I should have had some voice over as to clue them in, and I uploaded 2 other films that didn't even show up!
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
randommaster said:
APSunder said:
randommaster said:
AssassinJoe said:
Oh God! Yet another internet show about children's card games.
It's the only card game that you can actually make a living from playing, though.

Does it make me a huge geek if I was bothered by the fact that the newest cards weren't the newest cards? Anyways, this was okay, but I have no idea what's going on. I know it's for suspense, but I'm just confused. Interesting idea, though.
We know about the newest cards thing--just to mention though remember Zendikar had "Hidden Treasures", that's why he's checking through Zendikar (though when we filmed this Scars of Mirrodin wasn't out yet and we thought it'd be weird to use M11 and have this be released in November).
Don't take that too seriously, I'm just being a giant Magic geek. I actually thought that using the "hidden treasures" thing from Zendikar was really cool.
Haha, I'm sorry if I sounded harsh. Actually, I make this show as a job: http://youtube.com/proffessors and that's where I was before I made this (which might hopefully become my job)
 

Rabidrabitt

New member
Nov 4, 2010
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I made an account to say: this video is the best in the contest. It's really good. Even if it doesn't have the BEST production value in the contest, it is DAMN good. That is all.
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
Rabidrabitt said:
I made an account to say: this video is the best in the contest. It's really good. Even if it doesn't have the BEST production value in the contest, it is DAMN good. That is all.
Glad to hear you liked it :D
 

Paul Hearding

Creator of Pro-gamer Gauntlet
Oct 1, 2010
195
0
0
First off, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed the video after watching it a second time. Please excuse my ignorance, but I've never been a card game player. That being said, I think I'd still enjoy this as a series. I know several references went right over my head, but I was still able to follow the plot, so kudos.

What I liked:
- Editing was good (special effects worked pretty darn well)
- Idea/concept behind the show (biggest thing IMO)

What could use some work
- Acting could use a little more energy (more time in front of camera = more comfort in front of camera)
- A little more polish overall (smoother cuts in both audio and video)


I really think that you guys can put together a great series and I encourage you to continue working on your project even if you do not win. I know that if I do not win (Pro-gamer Gauntlet), I'm still going forth with my project as well. If you do decide to continue, let me know where I can follow it!

Best of luck with the rest of the contest!
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
Paul Hearding said:
First off, I'd like to say that I really enjoyed the video after watching it a second time. Please excuse my ignorance, but I've never been a card game player. That being said, I think I'd still enjoy this as a series. I know several references went right over my head, but I was still able to follow the plot, so kudos.

What I liked:
- Editing was good (special effects worked pretty darn well)
- Idea/concept behind the show (biggest thing IMO)

What could use some work
- Acting could use a little more energy (more time in front of camera = more comfort in front of camera)
- A little more polish overall (smoother cuts in both audio and video)


I really think that you guys can put together a great series and I encourage you to continue working on your project even if you do not win. I know that if I do not win (Pro-gamer Gauntlet), I'm still going forth with my project as well. If you do decide to continue, let me know where I can follow it!

Best of luck with the rest of the contest!
Thanks! It seems like we won't be getting a second chance based on how the First Cut stuff has been marked out, but I wish you guys luck. It's also unfortunate that The Escapist retains all rights to this episode and the entire ten man (and one girl!) team that worked on this seems to be getting pretty discouraged about the way the First Cut thing got set up and fact that it probably means we lose. We'd still love to do Sunder, but realize that it might just be too serious or too complicated. We're already working on another idea, which will hopefully have a first episode in about a month (not sure we're I'm gonna put it yet).

Good luck with PGG, it was one of the entries I really think deserved First Cut!
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
mm2publish said:
Yeah Dude, I don't understand why you didn't make first cut. You have an original idea, good filming, good special effects, good cuts, good storyline. Your actors know their scripts, but could use more character, but that's easy enough to adjust. The only thing I can think is it's like that other guy said about having to watch it a few times to really catch on. Maybe they just didn't get it the first time around. You definitely have a better film than some of them on the first page! Just so you know, I'm giving you a vote daily! I know where I screwed up too! People just didn't get mine because they didn't really give any description of what it was depicting at the start. No one really knew my film was depicting Ace Combats new game "Assault Horizon" so it only appears to be fighter jets flying around! I should have had some voice over as to clue them in, and I uploaded 2 other films that didn't even show up!
Thanks. I liked your animation. It's always great to see something that takes a lot of work show up to the contest.
 

Paul Hearding

Creator of Pro-gamer Gauntlet
Oct 1, 2010
195
0
0
APSunder said:
It's also unfortunate that The Escapist retains all rights to this episode
They retain the rights to this episode, but I thought that you mentioned in one thread that you had to cut down a lot to get to 5 minutes. If that's indeed the case, you can go back and make the longer first episode, which you would have the rights to. Just throwing out an option you may not have considered.

But if you think you've got an even better series in the making, be sure to let me know. I'd be very interested in checking it out. You can pick up your own domain name to host a website for pretty cheap if you would like to make a website to host your vids. And, of course, there's always the good old fashioned YouTube.

Regardless of the outcome of this contest, you guys (and gal) should be proud of what you've accomplished. Making entertaining plot-driven videos is NOT easy.
 

APSunder

Filmmaker
May 25, 2010
163
0
0
Paul Hearding said:
APSunder said:
It's also unfortunate that The Escapist retains all rights to this episode
They retain the rights to this episode, but I thought that you mentioned in one thread that you had to cut down a lot to get to 5 minutes. If that's indeed the case, you can go back and make the longer first episode, which you would have the rights to. Just throwing out an option you may not have considered.

But if you think you've got an even better series in the making, be sure to let me know. I'd be very interested in checking it out. You can pick up your own domain name to host a website for pretty cheap if you would like to make a website to host your vids. And, of course, there's always the good old fashioned YouTube.

Regardless of the outcome of this contest, you guys (and gal) should be proud of what you've accomplished. Making entertaining plot-driven videos is NOT easy.
I hadn't considered the posting of the extended version. However, I'm pretty sure The Escapist would still retain the rights to everything that's actually in this video, which would mean that they could still have it pulled from a site like Youtube if they wanted. And ya, I guess we'll try our hand at something more comedic for next time.
 

Moon_Called

New member
Mar 21, 2009
158
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I... don't really see the appeal. While the story was vaguely interesting, the acting was poor, and the edits were confusing - there were several transitions that didn't include establishing shots, so I had no idea where anything was. The special effects were impressive for an amateur video, but nothing special. Audio was shoddy in several places - if it's windy, then get better audio equipment or wait until it's calmed down to shoot, I couldn't hear you over the wind. Keep going, you've got a lot of interest... but I'm afraid I can't see what the fuss is all about. =/
 

apalm

New member
Apr 19, 2009
13
0
0
Moon_Called said:
I... don't really see the appeal. While the story was vaguely interesting, the acting was poor, and the edits were confusing - there were several transitions that didn't include establishing shots, so I had no idea where anything was. The special effects were impressive for an amateur video, but nothing special. Audio was shoddy in several places - if it's windy, then get better audio equipment or wait until it's calmed down to shoot, I couldn't hear you over the wind. Keep going, you've got a lot of interest... but I'm afraid I can't see what the fuss is all about. =/
I think the acting is functional, and I can hear the audio fine (think about all the problems DDA had with audio, even in the finale). But peronally, I just loved the tory and think this would be really cool as a show. I think the directing and fx really stand out. APSunder aid on the general discussion thing that there were lots of cuts to get the video down to 5 minutes, which I can see, but am ok with. Can you really say that so many of the other ones are better than this? I like Nintedobo and Times from the Table but I think this is still better.