Thanks to everyone who helped us reach 50 subs! We've now released another episode of our side series, Antheal Histories, which goes a little more in-depth on the world in the series. Check it out here!
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
5/27/2011
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232
Minecraft:
ewallis14
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They trailer felt a bit disconnected. I know the feel that you were going for, but it honestly would have been better if you had just had blackness with narration and then the flashbacks intermixed. The whole wondering down the path thing got very repetitive very fast, and it didn't seem to contribute anything to the preview as a whole.
The first episode started kinda silent. While silence has merits in film, keep in mind that there is never an occasion in your life where you experience complete silence. Thus in a video it can seem a bit weird. Speaking of weird sounds! The voice-over for Henry had some weird bass static going on. In the line of sound design, make sure there is balance between your sound effects and voices. You don't want the sound effects to overpower your actors. From an acting point of view, I don't think that he fit the archetype of a barman very well. When portraying characters with popular stereotypes, its important to keep in mind that people expect certain behavior from them and if that isn't present the character seems fake. To use the bartender as an example, they are often very busy so they want to get you your drink and move along to the next person, stopping to chat only when there seems to be a lull in service. Generally they only listen because they think it will help them earn more money; Henric seemed waaaaaay to interested the in shady figure for such a character. The fight was surprisingly bland for the amount of creepy music leading up to it. Give us some sparring of words! The ending music also seemed very inappropriate for what just transpired. Something with similar instrumentation but a minor key would have fit a lot better and would have set up your audience for further interest in the story. Plus, its sort of implied with the whole "Episode 1" that there is going to be an episode 2.
The establishing shot for the second episode was quite bland. There was so much you could have done with the juxtaposition of the bright sun and the dark mountain side, but the half and half shot with the subject in the middle was just boring. After the intro, the picture was so dark that I could barely see. I'm sure you seen it in film in your life, but whenever a filmmaker wants to show darkness, instead of just turning off the lights and hoping that the camera picks up something, they switch to a different set of lights, often with a cool tinge, like blue or purple. Obviously this is a bit more complicated in Minecraft, but always keep the view-ability in mind. In Henric's conversation with Liana, Henric seems remarkable come for someone who just lost literally everything he had. As individuals, the actors do a decent job, but there are trains running between the cues. Try having one on one conversations like this recorded simultaneously to have that synergy that you get when two people talk to each other. If you have any logistics questions about this, feel free to send me a message. When Henric and Liana finally arrive at Giden (I think thats what it is. As a side note, make sure that your town and character names have some linguistic congruency) and Liana shouts at the guard to "Open the gate" which at that point the audience has not even seen, it seems a bit silly in the next shot where this gate is already up. In addition, the guard has absolutely no reaction. Whether this is because lack of voice actor or simply lack of character, you must always remember that to create an immersive experience for your audience, so having a mute guardsmen whose only purpose is to open and close the gate on command makes the whole universe feel a bit flat. Also, throughout the whole ending part the position of the sun keeps changing. This is sort of a nitpicky thing, but if you want to include the sunrise as part of the scene, you have to make sure that it isn't rising and then setting and then rising again every other shot. Lastly, abrupt ending is abrupt. The first episode was far better in terms of outro.
Moving on to episode three, OH MY GOD CONTINUITY. Okay it wasn't that bad, but make sure your characters are doing the same thing from shot to shot. This is something that even professionals struggle with, so don't feel too bad, but that is just something you want to remind your actors of every time you film. The encounter with the guard in the market was very jarring, but this has more to do with the actor synergy I talked about earlier. The General's (which I think is a very strange title to use as it implies militaristic association but unless this is a military dictatorship that sort of person should not be in charge of a small town) house, as I assumed it was (instead of an office), had a weird layout. I think you were just trying to fill space, but having a bed in the middle of an office is either very strange or very suggestive, and I don't think you were going for either. Speaking of things strange and suggestive! This might be just me, but I think that the relationship between Henric and Liana could of had more sexual tension. I know you're probably thinking that this is a very freudian suggestion, but honestly it would have made them seem far more real. Other than that...the last shot was very nice. Again, a form of outro or credits would be nice. Some people avoid doing this every episode because they think that it is repetitive, but it gives credit where credit is due and adds a finality to the video instead of just an abrupt ending. Plus, the people who think it is boring don't have to watch it, they can just skip to the next episode.
The fourth episode started differently :/ I was getting used to the whole title screen thing, and was expecting it. So when the title popped up at the end my first thought was "Wow that was a bit of a longer intro." Try to stay consistent. The opening shot was neat, but I would have liked to have seen more about how they joined the army. Was there any resistance to Liana because she was a girl? Did the general hold a grudge because of their "prank" earlier? Also the journey at see that is described as long by the characters seems jarringly short. There are cinematic ways of showing the passage of time, utilize them, otherwise we get to the mountains thinking that Henric spent the short cruise staring over the railing the relationship between him and Alba comes flying out of left field. I like Alba as a character, but I wish I could have gotten more from him. The snow effect was nice but didn't change when the camera angle changed so it felt like a layover instead of being part of the shot. Yeeeeaaaahhh the General knows what I was talking about.
Sorry for being so long winded, but it's only because I think you and your series have massive potential! Keep working at it.
Pounce, thank you very much I really do appreciate that you're interested enough in the series to write us such an in-depth review, and it's got a lot of really good info that I will work towards applying to my future machinimas! Would you perhaps be interested in just copy/pasting this review to the Minecraftfilms.com website? We've got a page on there too (http://www.minecraftfilms.com/acherons-code/), and I'd love for other machinima creators to be able to benefit from your advice
UPDATE: Season One is now completely online! Go catch up for next season
Watch the Introduction!
Episode One -- Jovenhale
Episode Two -- Liana
Episode Three -- Delivery
Episode Four -- Arrival
Episode Five -- Dawn
NEW: Episode Six -- "Darken" is now online!
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Thanks to everyone who has allowed our first episode to beat 100 views! We love you guys
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The first episode started kinda silent. While silence has merits in film, keep in mind that there is never an occasion in your life where you experience complete silence. Thus in a video it can seem a bit weird. Speaking of weird sounds! The voice-over for Henry had some weird bass static going on. In the line of sound design, make sure there is balance between your sound effects and voices. You don't want the sound effects to overpower your actors. From an acting point of view, I don't think that he fit the archetype of a barman very well. When portraying characters with popular stereotypes, its important to keep in mind that people expect certain behavior from them and if that isn't present the character seems fake. To use the bartender as an example, they are often very busy so they want to get you your drink and move along to the next person, stopping to chat only when there seems to be a lull in service. Generally they only listen because they think it will help them earn more money; Henric seemed waaaaaay to interested the in shady figure for such a character. The fight was surprisingly bland for the amount of creepy music leading up to it. Give us some sparring of words! The ending music also seemed very inappropriate for what just transpired. Something with similar instrumentation but a minor key would have fit a lot better and would have set up your audience for further interest in the story. Plus, its sort of implied with the whole "Episode 1" that there is going to be an episode 2.
The establishing shot for the second episode was quite bland. There was so much you could have done with the juxtaposition of the bright sun and the dark mountain side, but the half and half shot with the subject in the middle was just boring. After the intro, the picture was so dark that I could barely see. I'm sure you seen it in film in your life, but whenever a filmmaker wants to show darkness, instead of just turning off the lights and hoping that the camera picks up something, they switch to a different set of lights, often with a cool tinge, like blue or purple. Obviously this is a bit more complicated in Minecraft, but always keep the view-ability in mind. In Henric's conversation with Liana, Henric seems remarkable come for someone who just lost literally everything he had. As individuals, the actors do a decent job, but there are trains running between the cues. Try having one on one conversations like this recorded simultaneously to have that synergy that you get when two people talk to each other. If you have any logistics questions about this, feel free to send me a message. When Henric and Liana finally arrive at Giden (I think thats what it is. As a side note, make sure that your town and character names have some linguistic congruency) and Liana shouts at the guard to "Open the gate" which at that point the audience has not even seen, it seems a bit silly in the next shot where this gate is already up. In addition, the guard has absolutely no reaction. Whether this is because lack of voice actor or simply lack of character, you must always remember that to create an immersive experience for your audience, so having a mute guardsmen whose only purpose is to open and close the gate on command makes the whole universe feel a bit flat. Also, throughout the whole ending part the position of the sun keeps changing. This is sort of a nitpicky thing, but if you want to include the sunrise as part of the scene, you have to make sure that it isn't rising and then setting and then rising again every other shot. Lastly, abrupt ending is abrupt. The first episode was far better in terms of outro.
Moving on to episode three, OH MY GOD CONTINUITY. Okay it wasn't that bad, but make sure your characters are doing the same thing from shot to shot. This is something that even professionals struggle with, so don't feel too bad, but that is just something you want to remind your actors of every time you film. The encounter with the guard in the market was very jarring, but this has more to do with the actor synergy I talked about earlier. The General's (which I think is a very strange title to use as it implies militaristic association but unless this is a military dictatorship that sort of person should not be in charge of a small town) house, as I assumed it was (instead of an office), had a weird layout. I think you were just trying to fill space, but having a bed in the middle of an office is either very strange or very suggestive, and I don't think you were going for either. Speaking of things strange and suggestive! This might be just me, but I think that the relationship between Henric and Liana could of had more sexual tension. I know you're probably thinking that this is a very freudian suggestion, but honestly it would have made them seem far more real. Other than that...the last shot was very nice. Again, a form of outro or credits would be nice. Some people avoid doing this every episode because they think that it is repetitive, but it gives credit where credit is due and adds a finality to the video instead of just an abrupt ending. Plus, the people who think it is boring don't have to watch it, they can just skip to the next episode.
The fourth episode started differently :/ I was getting used to the whole title screen thing, and was expecting it. So when the title popped up at the end my first thought was "Wow that was a bit of a longer intro." Try to stay consistent. The opening shot was neat, but I would have liked to have seen more about how they joined the army. Was there any resistance to Liana because she was a girl? Did the general hold a grudge because of their "prank" earlier? Also the journey at see that is described as long by the characters seems jarringly short. There are cinematic ways of showing the passage of time, utilize them, otherwise we get to the mountains thinking that Henric spent the short cruise staring over the railing the relationship between him and Alba comes flying out of left field. I like Alba as a character, but I wish I could have gotten more from him. The snow effect was nice but didn't change when the camera angle changed so it felt like a layover instead of being part of the shot. Yeeeeaaaahhh the General knows what I was talking about.
Sorry for being so long winded, but it's only because I think you and your series have massive potential! Keep working at it.
I look forward to viewing future episodes.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-aoLy3Hnm_6eRctjwPnkMA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-aoLy3Hnm_6eRctjwPnkMA
Catch up so you can be ready for the final episode
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-aoLy3Hnm_6eRctjwPnkMA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-aoLy3Hnm_6eRctjwPnkMA