Cinematic Contest #9 - Corruption - CLOSED DUE TO INACTIVITY

[JnM]

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Tread lightly! The theme for this cinematic contest is corruption. Contestants are to create a cinematic (between 3 and 15 minutes) which depicts a story about Corruption. Be wild with your undertaking and make something great!

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• No submission may violate any of the site rules.
• If a submission does not follow the map submission rules the creator can be disqualified.
• You must show at least one proof of Work-In-Progress (e.g. a screenshot, a video or part of the cinematic map)
• Your submission may not be started before the official launch of the Contest.
• Judges are not allowed to participate.
• Teamwork is not allowed - you have to work on your own.
• Your cinematic has to be between 3 and 15 minutes in length (The entry length will not decide the winner).
• Custom material is allowed, but has to be credited (see Judging Criteria).
• Your map must be posted to the thread by the deadline.
• There are no file-size restrictions.

Breaking any of these rules may lead to punishment in the Judgement score, up to disqualification from the Contest, depending on the weight of the issue. In case of doubts towards a certain rule, you are encouraged to discuss it in the Contest thread so others and Judges may help with sorting it out.

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• 1st place: 750 experience points
• 2nd place: 600 experience points
• 3rd place: 450 experience points
• Entry: 150 experience points
• Judge: 50 experience points per entry

The three winners will receive an award icon representing the winning entry.

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• @Ungoliath
• @Tickles

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Story	Pacing: Are there any narrative strategies used to unveil the time and place of the story? Do certain parts feel too rushed? Dialogues (if not explicitly excluded from the contest's theme): How well is the dialogue structured? Is it too generic or does it consistently reveal parts of the story? Language Manipulation: How is the language being handled? Are there any phrases or words used to denote or emphasize parts of the story or the characters' background? Does it help someone get into the spirit of the story even more? Plot: How intriguing is the plot? Does it truly follow the Contest's theme? How is the ending compared to the rest of the cinematic (e.g. too rushed)?	/40
Terrain	Concept: Does the terrain follow the story's charm? Execution: How well it is executed; is the placement of doodads/units monotonous, or are there an abundance of techniques used? How wise was the doodads'/ destructables' selection? How does the ground look (flat/generic/lacking variety of tilesets/monotonous)? Attractiveness: Overall, how attractive the terrain is (further analyses of detailing and attempts to make it atmospheric for either an interior or a landscape should be included here).	/20
Audio & Visuals	Visuals Control: How are the visuals controlled (creation, realistic placement, grammatical and typographical accuracy (if there is any text), visibility throughout the camera's field, introduction to innovative visual effects (effects like slow motion)); models: fluid animation and timing of animation, realistic speed as scaling of models increases, ability to enhance the atmosphere of the cinematic scenes); efficiency of special effects' selection; visual consistency (e.g. a bullet in the water would cause a water splash, whereas if it landed on the ground it would cause emission of dirt particles). Lighting: Despite the weaknesses of the engine, how is the lighting presented? Is it featured at all? Are there any transitions between lighting? Is there any lighting involved during special effects? Does it complement the scenes? Environment-wise, is the lighting realistically placed e.g. cave vs. an outlandish city)? How are various sources of light established? Music: How is the transition between different tracks introduced? Are they following the motion and emotions of the story? Do they fade in/out too abruptly? Does the track tally with the scene? Sound Effects: Is there any coordination between the visual (cameras, screen effects, special effects) and sound effects? Are they played realistically, in terms of 2D/3D? How well do they blend with the music (if any)? Attention to detail: Background objects, environment, sounds nearby. (e.g. Imagine you want to create a forest scene; visualize yourself in a forest and close your eyes. What would you hear?) Voice Acting (if any): How good is the voice acting? Is it clear enough or does it get replaced with the music and/or sound effects? Does it incorporate the respective temperament of each character?	/20
Camera & Technical Competence	Camera Control: How is the camera controlled? Is it following the tension of the story, the music and potentially the sound effects? (The transition is of major importance, the ability to convey a message even through the camera's flow.) Is the panning too fast, too slow or optimal? Could it be avoided in certain scenes and be replaced by instant camera switching (and why)? Camera Effects: Are there any camera effects introduced? This criterion includes fade in/out, screen splatters, camera-shaking effects. Do they aesthetically contribute to the presentation of the story? How elegant are the fade in/out effects; what is their duration (determines emotion and action) and how do they conflict or enhance the visual output; what is their frequency and what is their role (are they working as fillers to the duration of the cinematic or do they preserve a functional role?). Scenes Acquisition: From which points are the scenes taken (examples: beginning of the scene, dialogue, landscapes, action, first person, close-ups, etc.)? Do they dictate a limited camera selection or do they offer a wide and creative array of purposeful camera perspectives? Are they intelligently picked or do they expose the terrain's (and/or models') flaws and/or inconsistencies?	/20
		/100

Results calculation

• Judgement: 70%
• Poll: 30%

FinalScore = (30*Reached_Votes/POSSIBLE_VOTES) + (70*Average_Judge_Score/POSSIBLE_SCORE)

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The contest shall begin on 27th May 2021 and conclude on ***8th July 2021 GMT (day is included).
***Extended Indefinitely

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Assigned Staff: @Kyrbi0

Poll | Results

 

[Kyrbi0]

Thread moved; Contest started! Good luck, all. : )

 

[Tickles]

Good luck, everybody! I feel like the corruption theme is going to deliver some spicy stories.

 

[JnM]

To no one's surprise, I'll be throwing in my hat for this one!

 

[RED BARON]

I'll see if I can get some time to do something with this. Biggest challenge will be avoiding reborn - but heck, that might just be an idea fitting this more narrow theme.

 

[WinterSnow]

Reading the criteria, I feel pretty underqualified for this but this prompt is just too good to pass up.

Just a couple of questions though.

• Voice Acting (if any): How good is the voice acting? Is it clear enough or does it get replaced with the music and/or sound effects? Does it incorporate the respective temperament of each character?

I'm unclear on this. Would using sound effects instead of voiced lines hurt your score?

• Scenes Acquisition: From which points are the scenes taken (examples: beginning of the scene, dialogue, landscapes, action, first person, close-ups, etc.)? Do they dictate a limited camera selection or do they offer a wide and creative array of purposeful camera perspectives? Are they intelligently picked or do they expose the terrain's (and/or models') flaws and/or inconsistencies?

Not exactly sure what this means. Does it mean there should be multiple perspectives in a scene or across the entire cinematic? What's an example of a dialogue 'point'?

 

[JnM]

Reading the criteria, I feel pretty underqualified for this but this prompt is just too good to pass up.

Making a cinematic is daunting, but don't be intimidated by it. I'm sure you can bring something interesting!

I'm unclear on this. Would using sound effects instead of voiced lines hurt your score?

I think this is just trying to set a standard should you choose to use voice acting. Make sure the quality of the sound blends in well with other sounds effects you might have.

Not exactly sure what this means. Does it mean there should be multiple perspectives in a scene or across the entire cinematic? What's an example of a dialogue 'point'?

I understood as: Where are you placing your cameras? Does their placement highlight the scene properly?

The whole judging criteria is a basic template which was copied over from a past cinematic contest. I'm sure Tickles or Ungoliath have their own unique perspective of what constitutes a good cinematic. See it more as a generic guide

 

[WinterSnow]

Got some progress done on the cinematic. Right now I got the script mostly finished and started working on a couple of scenes.

Working title: Cadfael
An aging peasant experiences the adverse effects of misrule caused by his land's new lord, Tyran.

Spoiler: Screenshot 1

Spoiler: Screenshot 2

Spoiler: Screenshot 3

Spoiler: Another spoiler

I'm hoping to find some time to finish on Monday and then make the terrain look better than what it does now. Kind of want to make another draft of the script too. The current one feels a little too heavy-handed and plain depressing.

 

[Sclammerz]

Intriguing. I might do some thinking first.

 

[JnM]

Still a WIP, but this is my opening shot.
Don't have a title for this one yet.

 

[Daffa]

Not sure if I can hit the end by the close time, but it's better than nothing. Here's a file to show a first WIP.

Anyway, not hoping for win or anything, Cinematic is not my forte after all.

 

[Barorque]

Oh yes, going to lurk here and find inspiration!

 

[JnM]

It's been a little slow on my end, should be taking a big step this weekend.
Going after every old trick in the book...
Here's a 2nd WiP. Let's call it... "Sleeping with the fishes"?

 

[Barorque]

It's been a little slow on my end, should be taking a big step this weekend.
Going after every old trick in the book...
Here's a 2nd WiP. Let's call it... "Sleeping with the fishes"?
View attachment 382260

Awesome, doing pretty much this right now for our thing. Really interested what other people come up with for underwater effects, there are some sick tricks with sounds camera and transparency.

 

[JnM]

How are everyone's entries coming along? I've hit a bit of a snag and wouldn't object to some added time.
Would anyone else be interested in extending the deadline?

 

[rept]

If this is already done awesome, but I have been working on something, didn't realize it was already that time. Good luck contestants! If you do get an extension though, I'd like to try my hand.

 

[JnM]

For the sake of trying to make this work, I'd vote to extend the deadline to another month if it can get us 3 entries. Up to the Moderators to see if that can be approved, and whether the original contestants are still interested/working on it:

@Kyrbi0
@RED BARON
@WinterSnow
@Daffa
@Sclammerz

 

[Kyrbi0]

I'm down for extensions (in fact I always figured it was more among you guys & the Host to decide), but who other than JnM & rept are hoping for one?

 

[Riki]

I wanted to give this contest a try but I definitely don't have the time right now.

IMO, if you guys need more time and since there are no finished entries yet, the extension would be welcome. How are your entries progressing?

 

[WinterSnow]

Oh. My. God. Please tell me this contest is still going.

Personally, my entry's only about 40% done but I'm 110% down for an extension. How about everyone else?

 

[Riki]

Yesterday while I was listening to music an idea suddenly came to me, so thinking about it I decided to go into the editor and see what I could achieve. In the end I managed to transform it into this, and from here my entry will be based.

Since this is not finished yet, I think I can use the free time that I am having at the moment to continue moving forward with this idea.

Spoiler: WIP

 

[JnM]

@WinterSnow Looks like we're going to keep this up until we get those 3 entries. So keep chipping away at it!

@Riki Is it blasphemy if I call your church sexy?

I'm also around 50%. Took a much needed vacation, going to jump back into it!

 

[Riki]

@Riki Is it blasphemy if I call your church sexy?

I suppose not.

Some more progress (only terrain for now):

Spoiler: WIP

 

[rept]

Very interested in giving this a go, had to move a state as soon as I saw this but things have finally given rise to make something happen.

Spoiler: WIP 1

 

[WinterSnow]

Got some progress done on the Cadfael cinematic. Right now I'm just playing around with camera angles trying to trim some unnecessary scenes and make the plot a lot more coherent.

Spoiler: Screenshot1

Spoiler: Screenshot2

 

[Riki]

So... how are the entries going here?

Come on guys, don't let another Cinematic contest die (and this goes for me too, supposedly I was participating lol)

EDIT:
I think I will change my entry, I was no longer convinced with the story of the old one (it was slow and boring in some parts).

 

[Map Designer]

Hello,
this is a small map I made for my flipped missions campaign. does it fit the contest?
Edit: seems contest is already finished, not sure why I got an ad on top for the contest lol. still, what do you think?

 

[Riki]

seems contest is already finished, not sure why I got add on top for the contest lol. still, what do you think?

It's not really over... not yet. This was extended indefinitely until we had at least a few entries.

So, I think you are the first to finish. May I ask when did you start working on it?

 

[Map Designer]

It's not really over... not yet. This was extended indefinitely until we had at least a few entries.

So, I think you are the first to finish. May I ask when did you start working on it?

been a while. it is about the time when I uploaded it, perhaps few days earlier.
I still technically have not finished it because I wanted to use the undead paladin model by @Ujimasa Hojo

anyway, I would like to know when we have new deadline.

 

[Riki]

been a while. it is about the time when I uploaded it, perhaps few days earlier.
I still technically have not finished it because I wanted to use the undead paladin model by @Ujimasa Hojo

anyway, I would like to know when we have new deadline.

That was before the contest officially started.

What do you think @Kyrbi0?

 

[Map Designer]

I also would like to ask,
is it ok if other contestants saw my cinematics or should I delete my post earlier of video link?

 

[Riki]

I also would like to ask,
is it ok if other contestants saw my cinematics or should I delete my post earlier of video link?

Do not delete it, it can serve as a WIP of your work in the entry.

 

[Map Designer]

Do not delete it, it can serve as a WIP of your work in the entry.

well if everyone posted their cinematics, everyone can copy from each other lol.

 

[Riki]

First WIP of my new entry. This should be the opening scene.

The title will be "Memories of Revenge".

Spoiler: WIP

 

[Kyrbi0]

That was before the contest officially started.

What do you think @Kyrbi0?

Yeah I mean... I get this Contest is kinda struggling as it is, but I'm not sure we should allow stuff made before the Contest even started.

Then again, I don't have super-strong feelings either way, so if you wanna make an exception, I support you.

 

[Riki]

Yeah I mean... I get this Contest is kinda struggling as it is, but I'm not sure we should allow stuff made before the Contest even started.

Then again, I don't have super-strong feelings either way, so if you wanna make an exception, I support you.

Yes, that was the same as I thought.

@Map Designer, is there any chance you could create an entry exclusively for the contest?

 

[Map Designer]

Yes, that was the same as I thought.

@Map Designer, is there any chance you could create an entry exclusively for the contest?

you mean upload stand-alone map or what exactly?
Because I never participated in any contest before.

I can do this, but first I need check if I can extend the cinematics. so farm its only 2 minutes and doesnt fit the contest rules.

 

[Riki]

you mean upload stand-alone map or what exactly?
Because I never participated in any contest before.

I can do this, but first I need check if I can extend the cinematics. so farm its only 2 minutes and doesnt fit the contest rules.

I mean, can you create a new cinematic that is just for this contest?

 

[Hyde]

I would like to participate, albeit the date does not favor with me?

 

[Riki]

I would like to participate, albeit the date does not favor with me?

Go ahead, there is no end date for now.

 

[Archian]

Any updates from the contestants? It's more than 180 days since the last WIP.

I'm afraid I'll have to close this contest. Contest closed due to inactivity.

@Riki @Kyrbi0