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A Pile of Ugly 1

Even if you don't plan to read the rest, for the best experience set:
Music Volume to 100%
Sound Volume to 100%



Well, it's been a while since I last visited these halls, but I have a treat in store for all of my fans (if you guys still remember who I am :)). I have been working on something this summer (a lot of things, actually, but this one is the only thing warcraft related). I started recruiting voice actors and I finally got my last recordings a few days ago. Now, after all this time, I am ready to introduce yet another innovation to the warcraft cinematic universe. This time, however, I'm bringing something closer to home and not as exciting.


Motivation
Most cinematics revolve around a linear story, with basic concepts, such as good vs evil. Evil beings or gods looking to destroy and heroes to defeat them. Battles and special effects. It would seem we have lost story and character built. With this, I plan to expand on what "The Cult of the Damned" originally was meant to be - a real movie made in warcraft.


General Idea
"A Pile of Ugly" is more than a warcraft 3 cinematic. It isn't another story of right and wrong, nor is it a story where you can clearly see who is the hero and who is the villain. It is a story of people. Simple as that. People, as gray as can be. While the first part in the series, "Threshold" focuses mainly on introducing the characters, as well as setting the initial story, the latter parts (which, knowing myself, might never come out) will focus on developing these characters, all the while progressing the story towards a very uncertain ending.

Basic Story
"A Pile of Ugly" follows the story of one Borigard Smith, a veteran character who showed up briefly in the Sect of the Holy Mother 7 - The Siege of Zambilion, as well as in the Clown of As'Latur, where he was the main narrator to the story. We see Borigard Smith who, after over thirty years of adventure and trading, has decided to retire to his home town, As'Latur. It is not long before Smith realizes that his beloved home town has become a den of thievery and crime, lead by the man who currently runs this town. Smith has to find a way to deal with the situation, all the while battling some of his own demons as well as the mysterious forces that lie in every shadow of Kaliim.

Additional Story

"A Pile of Ugly" takes place in a fictional world I created, known as Kaliim.
You can find a map of Kaliim here.
You can take a look at my finished cinematic series "The Sect of the Holy Mother", which tells the story of the rise and fall of the Holy Mother, an evil god whose influence and power helped shape Kaliim to what it is today.
You can take a look at my unfinished cinematic series "The Lone Panther", which somewhat continues the story of the previous installment, focusing on the left overs of the destruction of the Sect.
You can also take a look at an independent cinematic, titled "The Clown of As'Latur", which could, in some ways, be considered a prequel to "A Pile of Ugly", as it focuses on the same town, only a few years prior. The story told there will also play a minor element in this series.
All of these cinematics can be downloaded from here.

You can also watch the Clown of As'Latur with better effects and filters on youtube


Credits

Voice Actors
Nikola Luburic as Borigard Smith and Marcus Infirm
Zachary Adams as Dutch Finny
Aisu as Vanesa Finny
Cody Edwards as Tim Lawson, Mich Goldwin and Charles Matthew
John Mithril as Keyser Cloe
David Botcher as Father Veritas and Ersted Lebridge

Resources
Authors of the Ultimate Terraining Map (UTM)
Mr. Bob JetFangInferno Elandor
Hueter PyramidHe@d communist_orc
Fingolfin Tranquil Hellish Hybrid
Heptameron Chriz. xXm0rph3usXx
Nasrudin Mc! iNfraNe
HappyTauren Ribenamania

Keywords:
Warcraft, Kaliim, Sect, Holy Mother, Lone Panther, Kafana, Clown, As'Latur, Story, Lore, Epic
Contents

A Pile of Ugly 1 (Map)

Reviews
Vengeancekael Date: 2012/Dec/01 13:58:56 [Please do not send me a message, use Staff Contact] Comment:Definitely a jaw-dropping cinematic by CMarket again: Excellent voice-acting (some of them could be better, but it's the best you can get...

Moderator

M

Moderator

Vengeancekael
Date: 2012/Dec/01 13:58:56
[Please do not send me a message, use Staff Contact]

Comment:
Definitely a jaw-dropping cinematic by CMarket again:
Excellent voice-acting (some of them could be better, but it's the best you can get for a custom map), a very interesting plot with deep characters and it meets all of the basic cinematic requirements. (camera work, etc.)
I'll try to post a more detailed review later, if possible.​
Highly Recommended
[tr]​

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Rules
 

Chaosy

Tutorial Reviewer
Level 40
Joined
Jun 9, 2011
Messages
13,182
The cinematic was very good and enjoyable.
Camera work: You used the camera very well I cant complain at all 5/5
Music and sounds: The music and sounds you added suited perfectly made a really realistic cinematic for being made in wc3.
Story: The begining of the cinematic was very good caught me from the first minute and kept me entertained through the whole cinematic.
Voice actors: The voice actors in the cinematic was quite good but some voices did not simply fit to some unit in my opionion. also the voice was almost allways calm no emotions. 4/5

Overall: this was a very good cinematic the best you have made so far in my opionion, I give it a 5/5 and rep+ for the good work, please hurry with the next part I really wanna see the rest!
//Chaosy
 
Level 6
Joined
Nov 4, 2004
Messages
125
Really good cinematic! Great voice acting by Dutch Finny especially, and I loved how random people were just running around in the background as others talked, such as the red rifleman hunting a deer :D 5/5!
 
Level 3
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
34
Before I say anything, I'd like to mention that I have very much enjoyed your cinematics in the past.
I have been looking forward to this and well, let's just say you haven't disappointed me.

Your choice of music is mostly fitting.
I noticed a couple tracks that didn't go with the flow of the cinematic,
and honestly some seemed a bit out of place.
I can say the same about the voice acting, which was for the most part very impressive.

I'm not really sure which direction the story is going,
but since this is one part of a series I'm guessing it will became much more "fleshed out" as it continues.
The dialogue was also very entertaining and very enjoyable.

Now, this is probably just personal preference, but I did not like the camera movement.
It seemed a bit jerky at times.
Don't get me wrong, it was decent,
but I seem to remember better angles and movement from your other cinematics.

To summarize; very entertaining and detailed. Some of the voiceacting is a bit dull, as well as the camera movement. I can't wait to see where this goes, keep it up!
 
Level 16
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
1,552
+ Fitting choice of music,

+ Great Voice Acting!

+ Great Dialogues!

+ Great Story!

+ I can feel a great characteristic in each characters! Including the pets


- Camera angles aren't smooth, it couldve been better,
try to experiment with it.

- The first few cameras are terrible. ;/

- The Clown does not fit there at all, that skin is overused, and it doesn't even look great or scary.

- And yes, the blademaster too.


4/5
 
Last edited:
Level 14
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
1,465

- The Clown does not fit there at all, that skin is overused, and it doesn't even look great or scary.

- And yes, the blademaster too.

Both the Clown and the Blademaster are characters from my previous cinematics. While I can't say I agree that the clown doesn't fit, I completely agree that the blademaster doesn't fit. However, since that blademaster is the main character in the first series of my cinematic (and his character is needed here) I can't simply remove him ://

I wish I could at least change the team color from that ghastly red, but seeing as how there are over 5 hours of cinematic with him in that color I have to stay true to the story.

As for the cameras, I'm really not sure what's wrong with them. I just re-watched the intro and I love how it turned out. The cameras are in sync with the music and everything is good. I guess it's a matter of opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the criticism, it's just that I personally love how it turned out.
 
Level 19
Joined
Sep 4, 2007
Messages
2,826
As great as always.

Some issues you could address.

* There were a couple if places where the voice acting didn't match the subtitles. It's not a big issue, but for the sake of consistency, it should be addressed in the future. Look into letting somebody else to review for dialog/subtitles before you release future cinematic.

* The voice of Borigard wasn't all that great compared to the others. The voice acting of the other characters were significantly better; the lumberjack, his daughter, the priest, and the guardsman to name some. The issue as I see it, is that the characters lack emotions in their voices. This is usually addressed by having voice actors physically present in order to more naturally respond to dialogues. But that is a luxury of large studios.

* I can see that the blademaster (the main character in your other series) didn't match very well into the whole scene. Something that may have helped would be the introduction of flashbacks, to enable people to relate and understand the impact this mysterious character, the blademaster, had on Borigard.

Anyhow, it was another great piece of cinematic. Keep it up!

Oh, one more thing. You should also consider widening your focus on cinematic into other games. It's always healthy to have a wide horizon.

EDIT: I don't know why, but I had a suspicion that a certain character had a distinct "salad finger" vibe to him.
 
Level 14
Joined
Jul 27, 2007
Messages
793
Great one. Really reminds me of Twin Peaks. Where do you get those awesome voice actors from?!

As for the issues that I had:

* The camera isn't smooth at all. Still, many people claim the opposite, so I don't know if this isn't an issue with the map or with something else.
* The intro music cuts short too directly. Fade it out.
* Honestly, I didn't quite like your voice acting. It was OK for Marcus (Do I see a Salad Fingers influence here?), but for Smith, it was way too unfitting.
* Another issue with the voice acting is the fact that the different characters had different sound quality, which didn't quite fit well. Still, this is a technical issue that's quite hard to overcome.

Nice cinematic. Really enjoyed it.
 
Level 12
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Messages
790
It was very good cinematic, but i will mention few things


cameras-yes, the movement of cameras is not smooth in some places (in the "first person view" for example, it was not quite natural, it didnt have the "look from eyes of a person" look)

Terrain-i have no objections, but in the beginning one tree was misplaced as I remember

music-it fits the plot, enough said

story-well, it is just a first part, but i didnt understand single thing, but i will forward to see next parts



So from me it is 4.5/5
 
Level 20
Joined
Jul 6, 2009
Messages
1,885
Pretty interesting cinematic.

Some things I noticed:
  • The sphere ability on the organ player at start doesn't fit, it should be removed.
  • As others said, your voiceacting should be more natural and in many situations more emotional.
  • In some situations, you should slow down the animations of the characters, it would be more natural. Also when Dutch Finny came to cut the tree and Borigard talked with Vanesa, it would look better if they moved more slowly around the room.
  • Typos: bullocks -> bollocks (during the conversation in the inn), bettle -> beetle (during conversation with Marcus near lake), you're -> your (iirc, when Borigard was talking with father Veritas near lake).
  • For a better running effect in first person camera (when Borigard runs from the monster), the camera should go up and down a bit.
 
Level 5
Joined
Oct 8, 2010
Messages
134
Awesome series, love the voice-acting.
I must say that this is one of the first times ever that
I have no comments on voice acting (o_O)

Keep Up the good work I say.
And can not wait to see part II
 
Level 16
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
1,552
Both the Clown and the Blademaster are characters from my previous cinematics. While I can't say I agree that the clown doesn't fit, I completely agree that the blademaster doesn't fit. However, since that blademaster is the main character in the first series of my cinematic (and his character is needed here) I can't simply remove him ://

I wish I could at least change the team color from that ghastly red, but seeing as how there are over 5 hours of cinematic with him in that color I have to stay true to the story.

As for the cameras, I'm really not sure what's wrong with them. I just re-watched the intro and I love how it turned out. The cameras are in sync with the music and everything is good. I guess it's a matter of opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the criticism, it's just that I personally love how it turned out.

yes, whats important is the creator's satisfaction xD

Thanks for the great cinematic!

I enjoyed it twice!
 
Level 14
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
2,126
I'd put short words for this but I really can't find many errors in here other than needing to enhance the voice actor's emotions a bit more. But despite that, I'd say everything was simply perfect. The difference of work I see in this cinematic compared to your previous ones is simply abyssal!
 
will watch this in a bit, :) im excited of the awesomeness this holds :D

FUUUUUUUUUUUUU, clicked the ESC button in the middle of the cinematic. NOW I HAVE TO START OVER AGAIN D:

edit: Hmm so okay, finished watching the cinematic :)

It was a nice cinematic overall, I just have a couple of suggestions:
-Like someone else said, while he was running in 1st person view, the camera should go up and down. And also add fast breathing, like he's getting scared/tired, and probably use some scary music
-Fixed some of the typos
-The time before he was gonna see the clown in the window, the camera wasn't smooth, or it didn't feel like it was a person's view
-if you could, make some of the dialog louder, because on some of the parts they were quite unhearable (like Marcus)
-(might be hard) some of the dialog were said quite slowly

so thats probably it :) btw who were the two girls close to the end? and who was the monster?
 
Last edited:
Level 9
Joined
Jul 16, 2012
Messages
410
Really like it good job
camera 5/5
voice acting-It was really good but on some units the voices just didnt fit as they shoud
terrain-Outstanding 10/10
Story-confused me on the start but got it later its really good...
Sounds-Nice use of them ^^ if i coud vote for you from 0 to 100 (for this map)
woud be 95,woud have been 100 but alittle disapointed at the end :D
 
Level 10
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Messages
1,912
Quite great cinematic, especially the use of the camera.
Though as mentioned by others the voices slightly lacked the emotion that would fit the scenes, apart from that the voices were nice.
No compliments about the terrain, the story was well done along with the background of the scenes and the ambient fit the scenes as well.
Finally for rating I'll simply give it 5/5. Nice job.
 
Level 31
Joined
Jun 27, 2008
Messages
2,555
First impression was great. Voice actors did a great job especially the variaty of voices was excellent. Some of them sounded truly professional, for example, Mediv guy and the priest. Text writing is wonderful, story and script is very well polished.

Yet I have to turn from positive things and bring up something else. Lack of action forced me to quit cinematic and don't watch it all till the end. (I stopped after Eldrid met Suckles) The problem is, all I see presented in this cinematic is the skill of voice actors and text writing. It looks like they only talk talk talk about meaningless things, of course I didn't watch it all so I do not know how all info meets up. So yeah, all that time was only talking. It was rather monotonous, because storyline itself was not really exciting, it was rather ordinary and simple story of today's movie. Another thing that was rather annoying to me - Miss Finny. Her voice is okay, model pick is okay too, everything is fine except for her role. It is really unnatural that a girl just sees a man and jumps to his arms like that. Looks like *Oh I need a man so badly, I pick this one without a reason* Kind of sl*tty if you ask me. Of course I didn't watch till the end and I do not know how it all turned out there, but my first impression was like that.

Rest is well developed and nothing really stops me to give it 5/5 due to effort poured into this project and overally a great quality cinematic piece.
 
Level 30
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
6,637
Watched your cinematic and this is the best Warcraft 3 Cinematic I have watched. When watching this, I can feel different emotions: happy, sad, weird, scared and more... You've putted so much effort into this! Wish there will be a Part 2 for this, I mean Pile of Ugly 2!

STORY: 20/20 - Quite a good story. There are some twists in the story and the game clearly states the story!

TERRAIN: 8/10 - Loved how you make the terrain but still I see some parts that seems lacking... but Nice job!

TRIGGERS (includes how well you have used the triggers to make a fantastic cinematic): 20/20 - I cant complain onto this. The trigger is perfect and neat!

TOTAL: 48/50 = 4.8/5 = 5/5 - Nice job CMarket! Best cinematic ever and please continue this and make the next part. +REP for the job well-done!
 
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