Trailer mess

[Ross Scott]

Things are a mess at the moment, but I should probably give a news update. I was recently asked by Machinima.com to make a trailer for "The Tunnel" since it's not going to come out before Halloween because of everything else I've been doing. I surely agreed, as this is going to be a long episode and I thought I could make a trailer without spoiling much. I ended up having very little notice on this however and ran into some bugs, so I did everything humanely possible to get this out in time (I worked about 32 hours between Monday and Tuesday night). Unfortunately this wasn't fast enough and Machinima wanted it released TODAY, so this comes at a sizeable expense to the quality. I've never rushed anything out the door this fast and I can say right now this is not going to happen again. I compromised because I can live with a trailer being subpar, but I would never allow this for a full episode.

 

Anyway, it is available on Youtube now, but I don't want to link to it, since the audiowork should be finished for it before too long and the final one should create a better impact. The version that's out there now has no sound effects and consists only of Half-Life music that I arranged in about 10 minutes. The "good" one will have sound effects and hopefully some custom music composed for it. It will be available on Machinima.com and here when it is. I'll make a new post when that's done. I don't want to discuss anything about the trailer until the good one is out, so I'm not answering any questions related to it or the episode right now, I'll give the details on everything once it's out (hopefully quite soon). I just wanted to give an update for people wondering what was happening. Watch it now if you really want to, though I recommend waiting a day or two for the better version.

[Guest]

I watched that trailor ross and to be honest its was still of high quality compared to most of what machinama allows to go up

[Guest]

Yeah right dude, why you didn´t link it its really good. Dont be this strict with yourself i liked it!

 

greetings from germany

[Guest]

You do a great job of painting Machinima.com as an evil, all-controlling overlord.

I'd hate being pushed like that.

[Guest]

That Machinima girl is dragging you down, man. Dump her.

[Guest]

yay fith. o well, i guess thats not too big an acomplishment cuz nobody really posts many comments on htis site. its amazing how many people know about a series but watch it through youtube, and not the actual site.

[Guest]

So....How does it feel to sell your soul to Machinima? Probably pays well doesnt it...but if you by chance put up another episode of civil protection, i will pay you. How much you ask? I say i will pay you all the money i have in my pocket...YES a marvelous 3.79 cents...except i doubt that many people accept dollar bills with moustaches on them and list character traits of well....nvm thats beside the point. But how's about it? will you accept my offer?

[Guest]

I really, really love your work, but I'm amazed by how often you bitch about your new employer (you are getting paid, right?). I guess you must have an iron-clad contract, or simply work for a company that doesn't care if a prominent employee repeatedly paints it in a very negative light in a very public forum.

[Guest]

Thanks for the update. I agree with the other guys though, you're pretty tough on yourself, that version wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be given your description

 

Anyway, looking forward to the "good version!" and your next episodes!

[Guest]

It's always awesome to see someone committed to quality out there in the interweb seas that are so full of carp... wait, crap, I meant crap, the ocean metaphor is going to my head.

 

Albatross!

 

On a side note, freshwater fish in a salty body of water might be a good analogy for some of what goes down on the intertubes, then again I may be just a little bit silly right now.

[Guest]

You should just... screw Machinima.com

 

I know they give you alot of visibility, but think about it... just on youtube for example. Half the people watching your movies are sure its made by Machinima.com and not by you. Half of them don't even know what your name is. Most people dont check the little names at the end !

 

What in the world Machinima.com is giving to you, or doing for you that is worth all these deadlines and hard work ?! If its money, ok i can understand, part of the job. But beside that... not worth it.

 

On a evil side, its not that bad... since we always want new movies from you fast hehe. But you know, on the long run. It will start to affect your work and yourself. These kind of things will end to make you "hate" creating these movies. Something that was fun at start for you to make will end to be something you dont even care about doing anymore.

 

Trust your fans and your name... your movies are popular and really great. Hey i didnt even know what Machinima.com was before i saw most of your movies! Trust yourself and screw them. Why rushing all your hard work ?! If they arent happy with when the movies will come out or how many you will create in a month who cares ?! If they are not happy with that, they can just remove you off Machinima.com... and soo what. I dont think it will stop you creating these fabulous movies. I dont think you will loose visibility. Number of views on youtube will be the same and the traffic on your website will still grow up each time. And anyways, they will loose alot more than you on every points.

 

Aslong its not affecting your work or your health... should be good. But ya, on the long run, it can hurt bad.

 

Keep your hard work enjoyable for us and most importantly... for yourself.

 

Cheer Ross, thats some really great work

 

 

 

PS. Sorry for my english, far to be my first language

 

~ Mat

[Guest]

Awesome trailer. That last bit of music (before the cracker part) reminded me not of Half Life but of Battlestar Galactica.

 

Meh, anyway Machina sounds like they're giving you the short end of the stick, and that end's covered in crap.. or carp.. depends on which you consider nastier I suppose.

[Guest]

i aslo think that the ep. out is really good. i am a huge fan of freemans mind and hope you extend it to half life 2 and ep1 and ep2 and eventually ep3 if it ever comes out......lol.......

anyways, i would love to help if you want. i have gmod and a good comp. i could sett up sets or contraptions or something, pm me on youtube, im bobmcme12..

oh and btw, i <333333333333 freemans mind. its an awsome series and im a huge fan

[Guest]

[Rant]

In my *opinion, Machinima may be paying well and providing resources valuable to production, but if they are causing you to be hasty with production, reducing its' quality, you should just ignore Machinima and work at your own pace to produce your quality entertainment more efficiently and stress-free.

Futil1ty: "That Machinima girl is dragging you down, man. Dump her."

[/Rant]

 

Anyways...

Thanks for the update.

The trailer wasn't bad at all, it was interesting and produced with more quality than most machinimas.

[Guest]

Don't overwork yourself Scott D:

[Guest]

I think everyone should limit their comments to the video and not make it a discussion about whether Ross should leave machinima.com or not.

Ross chose to work for them and i'm sure there's a reason and we should respect his decision. By the way i don't work for machinima.com .

But seriuosly i don't like those time limits i think you can't rush creativity and risk the quality of the work.

About the trailer i decided to... take the risk of watching it? and i really liked it, i didn't think it was bad quality or something like that, i don't think i could be able to make a video like that , but in the other hand, Ross, we all know you could have done it better if you had had the time.

To summarize:

1º I think Ross is able to decide for himself how he feels about machinima.com

2º I thought the trailer was awesome!

[Guest]

sounds like the move to Machinima sucks massive amounts of penis

[Guest]

I understand. A job is a job, and a job that pays you to do what you're already been doing for free is a dream job. This is only a small price.

 

I'll wait for the final version.

[Guest]

So far the post isnt only about the video and the trailer. Trailer not aproved at 100% by scott. Its nice to see the comments about it

 

machinima or not machinima that is the question ! It just look like problems to me

[Guest]

Personally, Ross, I think you just very much should be more stubborn/aggressive at negotiating deadlines. Use more diplomatic skills, discuss the matter... That is, if you're not doing that already.

 

I'm staying hopeful for a positive evolution of your relation with M.. Be yourself and don't lose yourself in there (however cliche' that may sound, d'oh).