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Christmas Competition - HailToTheOboe
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Author |
File Description |
HailToTheOboe |
Posted on 01/08/09 @ 11:58 AM
File Details |
Screenshot:
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Version: |
AoM |
Let Heaven and Nature Sing, a vanilla Christmas cinematic by HailToTheOboe.
Note: To the first few people who downloaded it, you may experience some difficulty. There is a section of the cinematic that did not work properly if your computer was much faster than mine.
I have uploaded a fixed version, so if you re-download it should be working.
Let Heaven and Nature Sing is a Christmas-themed cinematic approximately 15 minutes in length.
The cinematic is a story that captures the essence of Christmas around a small northern village, home to the lonely postman Erland.
The music is crucial to the cinematic; please download the music as well and put it in your "sound" folder, and make sure Age of Mythology's music volume setting is on.
The scenario (.scn) files go in your Age of Mythology\scenario directory; If you have the Titans, play the "Let Heaven and Nature Sing (TT)" file, if you only have vanilla AoM without the expansion, play the "Let Heaven and Nature Sing" file.
I hope you enjoy Let Heaven and Nature Sing.
Merry Christmas AoMH
-HailToTheOboe
This is a cinematic submitted for the Christmas Competition.
If you wish to review in the style of The Christmas Competition please use this template:
Camera Tracks x/10
Effects x/20
Object use x/20
Storyline x/25
Creativity x/25
Also viewable on youtube, but with reduced video quality |
Author | Comments & Reviews ( All | Comments Only | Reviews Only ) |
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pharoh_elite |
Posted on 01/20/09 @ 08:15 PM
Let me start of by saying that never in all my 5 years at aomh have I given a perfect 5. The highest was 4.4. This cinematic, however, is awe-inspiring. I have never seen such originality and artistic talent in one 15 minute sitting.
Your camera tracks were faultless. Smooth and professional. It was hard to tell, at times, whether I was watching an actual film I was that engrossed. Your finale camera track spiraling over the town was inspired. Combined with the music, it gave the cinematic an epic conclusion that filled the heart with all the feeling of christmas.
The effects? Well, WOW just about sums it up. The northern lights sequence in the opening scene was incredible. I've seen them and when witnessing that I was almost equally as starstruck. Sublime. And that says nothing for the sleigh sequence, fantastic use of the in game effects to create a believable and realistic sleigh crossing the sky. And the dream scene... well, I don't think I've ever sat in my seat playing AoM and thought: 'perfection'.
The use of objects similarly was skillful to the nth degree. Apart from what's named above, the creation of the in-house sequences were great! The village was realistically believable. And I loved the Christmas trees, inspired.
I have played countless scenarios and watched numerous cinematics in my time playing AoM and AoK, but I have never seen or played one with quite the same level of narrative. I once played a scenario by Anastasia on AoK which had an emotion provoked story but this was something else. From the fade up on the animals getting excited about the comming Christmas, to the tragic scrooge-esque plot about Erland, the plot had me gripped from start to finish. The effects just cementing this. I was almost at tear level during the dream sequence, It was just a marvel. A narrative masterpiece.
I think it's pretty obvious was I think about the creativity. Sun rising and falling, the bell ringers, the activity in the town, the sleigh in the sky, the northern lights, and so much more. This cinematic has layer upon layer of new and old creative juice that just waits to be lapped up by the watcher.
I could name one or two changes but, to be honest, it's just not worth it.
Camera Tracks 10/10
Effects 20/20
Object use 20/20
Storyline 25/25
Creativity 25/25[Edited on 01/20/09 @ 08:19 PM]
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HailToTheOboe
File Author |
Posted on 01/27/09 @ 10:03 PM
Thank you very much for the kind review, I've seen from other reviews that you have very high standards, and I'm glad I could meet them.
As I've said before, the music was really the framework and the glue for this cinematic. When I first saw the cinematic competition open, the veyr first thing I thought "okay what sort of music could I use for a christmas cinematic?" and I started thinking of cliché Christmas music, but instead, I decided to have a go at some woodwind repertoire (except the finale, that was a full orchestra) that I love and that so few people listen to.
So I found myself a few pieces of music I wanted to include, and built a story around them (with a bit of tweaking of the music choice until it fit)
The music for the dream scene was what really inspired me to make the story the way it was; when I listened to it, it immediately made me think of a lonely man wandering silent streets at night, and that's how it ended up being a story about Erland.
I took extra care to make the action line up with the music in that scene of the cinematic, and I'm glad you liked it. It is my favourite scene too, but I assumed it would be overshadowed by the scenes with flashier special effects.
I'd like to make another cinematic, but right now time is really getting the way. |
pharoh_elite |
Posted on 01/28/09 @ 11:42 AM
I would encourage you to make another but likewise I understand the lack of time. It's great to see your creative process. I suppose it makes sense with a theme like this to work from the music up as opposed to implementing the music at the end. Great work, once again. |
dragonsign |
Posted on 03/16/09 @ 04:08 PM
Great Work! |
AuroraP |
Posted on 08/07/09 @ 09:25 AM
This is the best cinnematic scenario in aom I have ever seen. It was pure beauty. Congratulations. |
Thegodofsexyness |
Posted on 09/27/09 @ 11:11 AM
agree with aurora just in 1 word: wow! 5/5 |
HGDL v0.8.2 |
Rating |
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5.0 | Breakdown |
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Playability | 5.0 | Balance | 5.0 | Creativity | 5.0 | Map Design | 5.0 | Story/Instructions | 5.0 |
Statistics |
Downloads: | 2,430 |
Favorites: [] | 1 |
Size: | 17.75 MB |
Added: | 01/08/09 |
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