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Cinematic Spotlight #1

Multimedia & Film Other

Welcome to the first article of the ‘Cinematic Spotlight’ series, a new feature being introduced to the film/multimedia section on LambdaGeneration.

Cinematic Spotlight #1

Each month, I will share and discuss various community films made using Garry’s Mod or Source Filmmaker, which I find to be of a high quality, and feel deserve more attention. Fanfilms have always been a huge part of the Valve community, and hopefully this series will help spread the joy of SFM and G-Mod videos. With that said, here are the three videos I have selected for this month:

 

The GMod Idiot Box: Episode 12

This choice is one that I had absolutely no hesitation to include on this list. The GMod Idiot Box is easily one of the most popular and well-known Garry’s Mod video series on the internet, first having started in 2008. It also happens to be one of the first GMod video series I was introduced to, years ago, and my current love for GMod and Valve fanfilms is in large part due to this series. In the style of a ‘television changing channels,’ typical GMod Idiot Box videos show a variety of completely random clips, of ridiculous scenarios involving many familiar faces from Garry’s Mod and Valve games. The result is probably one of the most absurd, funny, and creative series of Valve fanfilms on the internet. Every episode introduced some new character or scenario, and whenever you thought that an episode simply couldn’t get any crazier, it would prove you wrong. The series was the source of some of the most iconic GMod scenes (and memes) on the internet, from Dr. Breen with an inflated head, affectionately referred to as Dr. Hax, tossing computers at hackers, to Dr. Kleiner shooting people with turrets while whining the ‘most annoying sound in the world’ from the film Dumb and Dumber, and more.

Episode 12 is the GMod Idiot Box at its best. Arriving after an 8 month gap from the release of the previous episode, episode 12 features by far some of the most over-the-top and hilarious scenes ever shown in the series, some of which will undoubtedly bring a feeling of nostalgia to viewers who have followed the show since the beginning. One of the opening scenes in particular, an epic showdown in which Dr. Hax, and his nemesis Chuckles the Cheat from the previous episodes, team up in order to stop a new hacker, Dennis, had me practically squealing with joy the entire time. Other highlights include the introduction of Mario and Luigi, a parody of the well-known ‘Mac vs. PC’ commercials starring Dr. Hax, and a shootout on a Counter-Strike map between Max Payne and some Counter-Terrorists. All of the scenes are wonderful to behold, with all of the crazy animation and sound effects that you’d expect from a Garry’s Mod film, and there is never a dull moment throughout the video. If this is the type of quality we can expect to see from future GMod Idiot Box videos, then the wait for episode 13 shall be a tough one indeed.

 

Make a RED Outta You (Official)

For those of you who have watched the Disney film Mulan, this video will be a treat. Dubbing over the famous Disney song with original voice acting and lyrics, along with some spectacular and hilarious animations, this video is a joy to watch. The animation is high-quality and fluid throughout, even with the lip-syncing, which many SFM videos struggle to get right, and the voice actors even manage to sound similar to the in-game class voices (though not quite exact).

What I particularly liked about the video was how it managed to capture the essence of Team Fortress 2: the idea of teamwork, and of the different classes each playing their roles and aiding each other. Now, at risk of sounding silly for over-analyzing a Disney song, the lyrics in the video really emphasize the necessity of everyone on a team playing their role properly and working together; it’s a simple fact, when playing TF2, that well-organized teams, with players working together, will be far more successful than disorganized ones, no matter the skill of individual players, and this video captures that well.

Or, if that’s a bit too over-analytical for you… it’s just a really fun video to watch, in general.

 

Pinned – UNFINISHED

This video initially seemed like an unlikely choice; it is a short video, and not even completed, with a fairly simple and uncreative premise: a Scout faces off against an enemy Sniper. What made me include it on this list, then?

Well, because it’s EPIC. What the creator does with such an incredibly simple idea is nothing short of remarkable. A Scout attacking a Sniper is most certainly not an earth-shattering idea for a fanfilm; in fact, it’s one of the most common occurrences in any TF2 game. The execution, however, is amazing, from the fluid animation and great use of facial expressions, and the build-up to the Scout’s charge, to the perfectly-fitting Hans Zimmer music swelling up in the background, the film captures your attention, and doesn’t let go until the end (which, unfortunately, comes only a minute and 32 seconds later). The only awkward moment in the video is a jump in the music about halfway through, but otherwise, this is everything I could want from a minute and a half SFM film.

Well, that bring’s this month’s article to a close. If you have any feedback or opinions on the videos selected, please comment below. Also, if you have any recommendations for videos that could be featured in later articles, feel free to contact me on Steam, or shoot me an email.

4 Comments

  1. AAAAAAA!
    That’s my video! Thanks for putting it up there. While it’s not my proudest works due to it being unfinished and poorly animated, it was my first real video to come from my SFM days and I’m really happy you guys found it to be epic. I’m honored. It’s so funny, being that it’s such an old video that’s still enjoyed by people, regardless of the quality. That’s very humbling and it makes me feel more appreciative of everything that people get to see. I’ve been wanting to remake it but I’ve never found the time as I’ve got my hands full with some other IPs in SFM. Still though, I’m very happy to see it up there and still being enjoyed by some viewers, and definitely makes me want to finish it 😉

    • Hehe, it was my pleasure, your video was one of the first SFM videos I saw, and remains one of my favourites.

      If you do end up finishing it, you can be sure that I’ll watch it. 🙂

  2. Guys, I have been following this website for quite some time already without posting anything in the comments. So I think this is the right time to just say happy new year 2014 and that I really appreciate the work you have done there 🙂

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