***LCC IX BEGINS***

In a dark-haired Reed Richards kinda way, Spiff.



These are some really good entries this year. Like, seriously, they're all really cool.
To the point where I'm not sure who my #1 is right now. I'm going to have to watch through most of them again. Since there's so few, I'll definitely try to write out at least a paragraph review for each.

DX6Channel, I want that outfit. Looks kinda standard as those things go, but it's a good look. On the first shot, I think my exact words were "Cooool..."
And what is up with all the villain victories?! Geez, guys. Depressing much?

Also, the entries with the Star Wars costumes, you know who you are, good work. It's unnecessary, so it's always nice when we get a few of those mixed in.

 

Just watched them all.

Spiffy won it for me this year. I love his minimalist choreography. This time you had more swings than in Eclipse but all were just as deliberate and beautiful. It inspires me to do one in that vein someday.

I loved the ending of Whiteley's and the general tone of it :-D

My thorough reviews will be up tonight.

BTW ... I'm so ready and pumped for LCCX. I'm bringing my A-game and I expect no less from any of you (looking at you Nate and Whiteley).

 

Hey ObiJuan, my entry hasn't made it to Vimeo yet, should I be concerned?

 

This was definitely a quality over quantity year. Even the entires that didn't have very good cinematography or video quality still had something interesting about them. Whether it was a great set, or was just funny.

My ratings for all of them out of 5 stars is:

1. 4
2. 3
3. 3
4. 3
5. 4
6. 5
7. 4


My top four favorites are:

#1  Joel Louckus (6th)
#2  DVX6Channel (5th)
#3  Spiff and Phi (1st)
#4  Whitley79 (7th)


I'm not sure what order the other three rank in, but they weren't bad.

 

I agree on the sentiments so far. A great batch of entries. I had a lot of fun watching Whiteley's entry; the ending in particular was quite lol-worthy. I really enjoyed Spiff's as well. Again, the ending was gold. Definitely hard to rank everything at the moment so I'll probably have to give them a couple more viewings. BTW, at 1:46 of entry #3, was that a DotD nod? Hard to tell without the effects. If so, neat!

 

*I am critiquing based on choreography. Production value and all that I'll mention but my choices are by way of choreography (performance, camera, editing). To the entrants, if you'd like me to elaborate on anything I've said let me know.*

ENTRY 1 - The Glove


HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

Overall this may be my favorite entry. Like Eclipse, the moves are deliberate and fluid though there are more swings in this entry than Eclipse. I'm a big fan of the execution of the moves because there actually isn't that much going on with the choreography but the moves were solid and concise, especially the slap at 0:43 (lol). Not to mention the bits with the inverted grip seemed very natural. A lot of the choreography in this piece reminded of the original Old Republic trailer duel between the Sith and Jedi, also very purposeful and elegant. That's the word I've been looking for: elegant. Spiff's choreography has always been very elegant to me.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT:

- I think the only gripe I have with this is perhaps it's too short, ended abruptly/oddly and I wanted more (that and the cores of the sabers could have been feathered more!).
- There were a few moments where there were shots locked off and then handheld that were a bit jarring.
- Some of the sense of humor fell flat for me.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE:
Rank #1
I think this entry is sort of the epitome of this particular LCC. Less is more. Not only in its runtime but in its economy of choreography and movement. Less flashy twirls and more deliberate strikes.



ENTRY 2 - KingKool

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

Some creative moves in there and some funny little moments as well as a creative death at the end.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT:

- A majority of the choreography is played out flat footed.
- Most of the performance feels like a rehearsal.
- There were some stage line breaks that felt more amateurish and less artistic.
- I wish you all moved out of the open space of the gym.
- Could have made more use of cuts to sell some of the action.
- Some of the action could have played itself outside of the standard two-shot.
- Would have been better with more dynamic camera work.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE:

Not to seem like I'm kissing up to Spiff and Phi but I think this entry could have been better had the moves and performances and cutting been more concise like their's was.



ENTRY 3 - Trapped

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

I think you guys do some nice things with jump cuts to convey the desperation and sporadic mindset of the fighters at the beginning but it could have been loosened up. It's much more effective at the end. This duel is certainly unrelenting though, kudos for that.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT:

- Too much time spent on the lighting lock. Nothing about that part felt very dynamic. I wouldn't mind it if it were inter-spliced with some lightsaber action or you guys were moving around and throwing with different hands [i.e. last year's winner ;-)]
- 1:05 Cool move but a little incoherent.
- The stuff at the wall would have made a lot more sense with some effects, even something temporary.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE:

Perhaps a little too jumpy and tight. The fight needed some time to breath if even shortly. I can see some improvement going on in the future for you guys.



ENTRY 4 - Tala-Naar Dotar vs. Lord Rodern

HIGHLIGHTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

Fast, unrelenting and fluid choreography. The performances of the moves were well executed and well performed.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT:

- The camera could have gotten a little more involved with it all. It would have been interesting to see some low angles at play as well as some of the high stuff you already had.
- Some 180 breaks that made following some of the action hard.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE:
RANK #3
Great energy but needed more involvement with the camera in terms of angles and moveme

 

I?ll save my reviews for the proper review thread (if there will be one), but at first glance it?s good to see The Master back in action.

Also Spiff needs more protein in his diet.

 

I like that they're out now, I'll be out of town for the planned release and live judging tomorrow.

My favorites are 1 - tight choreo - and 5 - almost as tight with more variety. I liked 6's voice-over; without it I think the Jedi would have looked very silly and detracted from the fight. And 7 was indeed probably the most fun to watch

 

Due to a HUGE email mix up. There is an Eighth entry that was overlooked. Uploading to Vimeo right now. Phi, I will send an Email to you.

 

Entry 1 wins because they were the only one to not butcher my bumper

 

Adding sound is not butchery.

Speaking of sound, I think the sound is off for Entry 8.

 

I support Spiff for winner and champion.

 

it does seem to be, and it's not on the file I sent.... Thoughts?

 

Send it again. There are still 24 hours to get it right.

 

allright I resent it. Thanks!

 

...sigh.

*head thumps on desk*

 

:-D I'm also behind you on this campaign.

 

Here here.

 

If I had entered, I was just going to make it my thing to always screw with your bumper.

 

Agreed.

 

It may just be me or perhaps its the fact that the sound is messed up, but I don't understand what exactly happens at the end of this new entry. #8.

Does the bad guy kill the girl? During the black out to the credits I hear a lightsaber ignite sound but didn't see one in the end.
Just was a little confused on that.

 

Since the sound is crucial to that part, yes the black out then lightsaber ignite is intentionally like that.

 

Hey Lordduckx, I'm trying to get your entry to hold audio and video together other than with the original file and there's something odd going on with the frame rate. I think it's variable? Could you try redoing the export following the suggested Vimeo settings? http://vimeo.com/help/compression

 

My initial thought is that this is the best overall quality for an LCC we have ever had. Well done to everyone and thank you for the awesome entertainment!

 

I encoded it through premiere using the same settings that Teague posted on the first page, limiting it to 1250 kb/s I think. Here is it encoded a little higher quality through the .h264 codec itself. It's also 200mb, do you want me to compress down to 50 again?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2640419/The%20Darkness%20Within%20more%20compatible.mp4