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Behold the reviews and results for the Cinematic Contest #4:
Judge reviews
"Darkness Within", by Hemlock
bounty hunter2:
First of all the map is well packed, loading screen and preview image is custom, however the nodescription below the preview could be changed to nothing or atleast some text.
Starts of well, nice camera movement, and the voice acting was really good. However the map edge was visible when the four sorceresses were shown.
I wasn't really impressed by the terrain in general, but the biggest terrain disappointment was the city. I expected something more epic, but it was rather average. The variation of the textures was bad, especially in the city. I also disliked the too much symmetry in the city, although cities should be like that, this one seemed a bit too boring.
I noticed a couple of typos, such as capital letter where they weren't needed, missing punctuations, you should always use three dots ..., you spammed them a couple of times in this manner: "Insert text here......more text here."
The effects were nice, not something over the top thou, well balanced. As I mentioned before the camera movement was quite good through the entire cinematic.
The story, was well, nothing much. That's a problem, and when there isn't a good story, it is usually to be compensated with epic effects and such, however the effects here were "just" nice.
In overall, the rating is 6/10, the cinematic is well developed, but it is just missing something, to distinct it.
Rui:
In "Darkness Within", by Hemlock, we are told the story of a people who are, at first, prosper. When a shadow begins taking form, however, the kingdom becomes menaced by something not even the strongest are able to oppose against. Until one without fear challenges this threat.
What I found interesting on this competition was that one cinematic complemented the others' weaknesses. While "The Clown of As'Latur" has story as its strong point, "Darkness Within" has less story and more action.
While the action and special effects are the favourite part of a movie for most people, I find that they do not compensate for the lack of good lore. Hemlock's cinematic has a good ambient, camera usage and (within Warcraft III's limits, as always) action. However, not only was the story simplistic but the terrain was also lacking. The city somehow doesn't convince me. Careful with the dialogs and sounds next time, too.
Rating: 3/5.
First of all the map is well packed, loading screen and preview image is custom, however the nodescription below the preview could be changed to nothing or atleast some text.
Starts of well, nice camera movement, and the voice acting was really good. However the map edge was visible when the four sorceresses were shown.
I wasn't really impressed by the terrain in general, but the biggest terrain disappointment was the city. I expected something more epic, but it was rather average. The variation of the textures was bad, especially in the city. I also disliked the too much symmetry in the city, although cities should be like that, this one seemed a bit too boring.
I noticed a couple of typos, such as capital letter where they weren't needed, missing punctuations, you should always use three dots ..., you spammed them a couple of times in this manner: "Insert text here......more text here."
The effects were nice, not something over the top thou, well balanced. As I mentioned before the camera movement was quite good through the entire cinematic.
The story, was well, nothing much. That's a problem, and when there isn't a good story, it is usually to be compensated with epic effects and such, however the effects here were "just" nice.
In overall, the rating is 6/10, the cinematic is well developed, but it is just missing something, to distinct it.
Rui:
In "Darkness Within", by Hemlock, we are told the story of a people who are, at first, prosper. When a shadow begins taking form, however, the kingdom becomes menaced by something not even the strongest are able to oppose against. Until one without fear challenges this threat.
What I found interesting on this competition was that one cinematic complemented the others' weaknesses. While "The Clown of As'Latur" has story as its strong point, "Darkness Within" has less story and more action.
While the action and special effects are the favourite part of a movie for most people, I find that they do not compensate for the lack of good lore. Hemlock's cinematic has a good ambient, camera usage and (within Warcraft III's limits, as always) action. However, not only was the story simplistic but the terrain was also lacking. The city somehow doesn't convince me. Careful with the dialogs and sounds next time, too.
Rating: 3/5.
"The Clown of As'Latur", by CMarket
bounty hunter2:
Well packed, loading screen and the preview image are fitting and custom.
The terrain is well done, noticing the fact from the start. The scenery around the house, and the house model, well chosen. The interiors were also great, I can't complain on them at all. What I must complain on is the part around the lake, the market, it was to tampered with by humans, the fence around the lake? What is that for? The pavement below the market? Dirt is more realistic.
Now to the story, which is the main part of this cinematic. The story is well hard to follow, even after a second watch. The idea of a person buying an house that is cheap but great because people think it's cursed has been used too many times, even Simpsons did it. However the clown is a nice addition to the story. It starts of great, and then it starts to confuse, but the story is mostly understandable in the end. The voice acting was good, helps the story a lot.
The camera movements was decent, I can't complain on it, nor can I praise it.
The effects? There weren't any special effects, however there were some great scenes, when the man was looking through the doors, when he saw himself hanged, those were some great "effects" and scenes.
Overall? 6/10. Good terrain, decent story, but it becomes confusing at a point, a bit boring if I may add and hard to follow.
Rui:
On "The Clown of As'Latur", we are told the story that happens on the world of Kaliim, which we recognise from the The Cult of the Holy Mother and The Lone Panther. CMarket tells us, through Borigard Smith (father of Logan Smith, a character we'll soon be seeing on The Lone Panther), the tale of the Nefa family; more concretely, that of Gomez Nefa.
All in all, the quality of this piece is close to that which CMarket has got us accustomed to on his cinematic series. The terrain and scenarios are decent in spite of a few unreal landscape details, such as the Nefa's house inner and outer dimensions.
The main difference we'll find here, however, concerns the way the story is told. You are not able to catch up with what's going on as easily as you would on the author's other works – the lore is denser and there is a part which appeals to one's intuition. This forces you to watch the cinematic more than once – the creator was well aware of that both when he planned out the plot and when he finished his submission for this Cinematic Contest.
My opinion is that small details matter on a movie but Warcraft III's resources are limited, both on the triggering and other artistic necessities (model animating, for example). Having that in mind and considering it is the first time I've seen anyone attempt such an approach, "The Clown of As'Latur" does well for a Warcraft III cinematic, but the doubt remains regarding whether or not this story density works.
Rating: 3,5/5.
Well packed, loading screen and the preview image are fitting and custom.
The terrain is well done, noticing the fact from the start. The scenery around the house, and the house model, well chosen. The interiors were also great, I can't complain on them at all. What I must complain on is the part around the lake, the market, it was to tampered with by humans, the fence around the lake? What is that for? The pavement below the market? Dirt is more realistic.
Now to the story, which is the main part of this cinematic. The story is well hard to follow, even after a second watch. The idea of a person buying an house that is cheap but great because people think it's cursed has been used too many times, even Simpsons did it. However the clown is a nice addition to the story. It starts of great, and then it starts to confuse, but the story is mostly understandable in the end. The voice acting was good, helps the story a lot.
The camera movements was decent, I can't complain on it, nor can I praise it.
The effects? There weren't any special effects, however there were some great scenes, when the man was looking through the doors, when he saw himself hanged, those were some great "effects" and scenes.
Overall? 6/10. Good terrain, decent story, but it becomes confusing at a point, a bit boring if I may add and hard to follow.
Rui:
On "The Clown of As'Latur", we are told the story that happens on the world of Kaliim, which we recognise from the The Cult of the Holy Mother and The Lone Panther. CMarket tells us, through Borigard Smith (father of Logan Smith, a character we'll soon be seeing on The Lone Panther), the tale of the Nefa family; more concretely, that of Gomez Nefa.
All in all, the quality of this piece is close to that which CMarket has got us accustomed to on his cinematic series. The terrain and scenarios are decent in spite of a few unreal landscape details, such as the Nefa's house inner and outer dimensions.
The main difference we'll find here, however, concerns the way the story is told. You are not able to catch up with what's going on as easily as you would on the author's other works – the lore is denser and there is a part which appeals to one's intuition. This forces you to watch the cinematic more than once – the creator was well aware of that both when he planned out the plot and when he finished his submission for this Cinematic Contest.
My opinion is that small details matter on a movie but Warcraft III's resources are limited, both on the triggering and other artistic necessities (model animating, for example). Having that in mind and considering it is the first time I've seen anyone attempt such an approach, "The Clown of As'Latur" does well for a Warcraft III cinematic, but the doubt remains regarding whether or not this story density works.
Rating: 3,5/5.
Results
Jury's ratings to percentage for:
"Darkness Within": ( (3,0*100/5 + 3,0*100/5) / 2 ) / 2 = 30%
"The Clown of As'Latur": ( (3,0*100/5 + 3,5*100/5) / 2 ) / 2 = 32,5%
| Submission \ Rating | Public Vote | Jury's Vote | Total | Relative rating |
"Darkness Within" | 28,05% | 30% | 58,05% | 51,6% 
|
"The Clown of As'Latur" | 21,95% | 32,5% | 54,45% | 48,4% |
Other
Here are other threads regarding this competition you may consult:
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