Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Ulduar

Wow, I knew we'd turned out something good with this video, but I still wasn't prepared for how popular this thing would be.

Cranius
posted a version of "how this came to be" post on his blog several days ago, so I thought I'd give my side of things. Cranius and I got introduced in a roundabout manner by a mutual fan. I confess, at first I was a little concerned when Ajulex came to the Mad Cow forums all excited that he'd gotten Cranius to agree to work with me and Nyhm when neither of us had expressed any interest in collaborating. I tracked down the Big Blue Dress creator, apologized for any confusion, and ended up chatting with him about machinima, our musical backgrounds, vocal recording and World of Warcraft until the wee hours of the morning when the servers shut down for Tuesday maintenance.

Fast forward two months. Nyhm had talked often about doing a spoof to "The Way I Are" with Timbaland and Keri Hilson, but had never found the right subject matter on which to write. My guild had made a halfhearted attempt to try out the new Ulduar bosses on the test realm, and there was much anticipation of the upcoming patch as the current raid instances were getting old fast. Well, Nyhm was on indefinite hiatus from movie making, and Cranius had expressed an interest in collaborating on something, so I found myself writing a semiautobiographical spoof about the anticipation for Ulduar. The characters are based on myself and Cranius, obviously, but the relationship is entirely fictional. (And for the record, I'm not married to Nyhm, nor am I dating him.) Summer's gear in the video is my actual gear in game.

I liken the resulting whirlwind to the feeling of casting a fishing line, hoping for an Enormous Barbed Gill Trout, and finding myself faced with The Lurker Below. Cranius bit, and he ran with it. A few days later, I received his processed vocals, and I was just tickled pink at how much he'd done with them. Then he asked if it was okay to recruit some help for the video so we could get it out before the patch. "Sure," I say. "Who did you sucker into it," I think to myself. Then he introduced me to Legs' work. My jaw dropped as I watched video after video of hers and marveled at the skill and artistry. I couldn't believe I'd never heard of her before, and I was very honored she was up for working on this project, particularly since my one attempt at doing video, Heartbroken, well, let's just say it left a lot to be desired in terms of technical sophistication. *cough*

Fast forward another 10 days. Nyhm liked the song I'd sent him so much, he offered to advertise on his channel for me. And as of this writing, we're closing in on 100,000 views on YouTube, as well as having received a glowing review from Myndflame and a WoWInsider Moviewatch feature.

That was a lot more than I intended to write about the back story... Finally, some notes about the video itself:
The line "Hop on my mechano-hog and we'll never log" was not my original lyric. Cranius, in true punk PVPer fashion, wanted to change it from "don't got no mechano-hog" to reflect the fact that he does actually own a motorcycle, both in game and out, and in fact most PVPers do have bikes. This introduced inconsistencies since the mechano-hog is in fact an epic mount, and you get an achievement for obtaining one, but it fit with the rest of the spoken-word verse and the relationship aspect. Chalk it up to artistic license, folks. ;)

I highly recommend watching this in HD to appreciate all of the amazing detail.



The MP3 of Ulduar is also now available for download.

51 comments:

  1. Where can I download the HD version?

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  2. You can view the HD version on YouTube directly by clicking the "HD" in the lower right corner, or you can download it from one of the mirrors at WarcraftMovies.com:

    http://warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=106235

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  3. Hello Summergale,

    I very much loved your voice when I first heard it in one of Nyhm's videos. After that I always kept an eye out for new songs with your voice, and Heartbroken has been on my Ipod since the day of release :-) And now, this song... don't really know what to say. You, Nyhm, and Cranius have always been by far my most favorite WoW-singers (if you can call it that way?). To see you and Cranius work together was awesome! And the result, wow! I mean, if I could touch this song I would want to hold and hug it for ever! Hehe :-)

    Anyway, really, really great job! The movie looks awesome, and just like in your blog, my jaw dropped as I watched Legs' movies and wondered why I never heard of her before! The singing is great, not just yours, but a bravo to Cranius as well!

    I have one question though, do you sing outside WoW as well? I'd love to hear more of your voice!

    Kindest regards from The Netherlands,
    Lenore

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  4. Hi Lenore, thanks for the awesome comments!

    Sometimes I sing outside of WoW, but lately all my singing has been for machinima stuff. In college I sang in the school choir and an a cappella group, but I don't have any recordings I can share or anything, sorry!

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  5. Hello, Summergale. I am Jorgam.
    As you know, Gigi and the others formed this stuff called "A6". At first look, I was sad 'cous you aren't in it, but now, I am happy because of it. You just won't fit them. They are singing hip hop, and I dont know why, it's just..like.. hip hop machinima = Selfish singing of how leet I am. I dont want to disrespect them, because They are very very good, and I could never do such a thing as they, or you do, but I am happy because there are WoW music videos, without the "how l33t I am and how I own in pvp".

    Well done, Summergale. I wish I could talk with you and find out what kind of woman you are.

    Kindest regards,
    Jorgam

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  6. Hi Jorgam,

    Yah, I'm familiar with the whole A6 thing, and you're right, it's not quite my style. Like my character in Ulduar, I'm just not that into PVP. ;) I actually consider Ulduar to fall under "hip hop machinima" though since "The Way I Are" is IMO still hip hop.

    Thanks for watching and reading!
    Summer

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  7. Props for an awesome song. Bonus points for being a fellow end-game female raider. :)

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  8. Very, very cool video. Eri's fault that I watched it.

    Keep up the awesome work.

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  9. I never liked the original version of this song for some reason.. When I heard this one, well.. Listened it 100 times. Lyrics match perfectly for melody and effects.. damn cool.

    Keep up the good work. You're probably the best singer of WoW-singers.

    -Jepapa

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  10. ^ Sorry for my bad english. ; )

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  11. Summergale,

    Awesome voice! awesome Machinima! What more can I say. I originally found a link to ulduar from a healing blog i read, then found a lot more of the machinima. you have an awesome voice and talent!

    cheers!

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  12. The "Ulduar" machinima got linked onto the guild fora just before, and I simply have to post to congratulate you (et al) on it - it's highly impressive! First rate in all areas (lyrics, sound, visuals, creativity) in my opinion!

    Love your voice, and though I'm definitely not someone who normally listens to hip hop I've been running this on repeat while waiting for the Ulduar patch to go live...

    And I sure hope we get to wipe the raid until we get it right in Ulduar instead of it being another pushover!

    Do keep up the awesome work! :)

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  13. haha cool , You have a Sexy voice sweetheart .
    Link ur PICZ :D

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  14. I just wanted to say I adored this song (I even downloaded it and added it to my favorites of my playlists XD)

    It was very well done, much kudos and thanks to all of you that decided to put this together!

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  15. First of all Id like to say Summergale u r awesome! Your voice is pure pwn!

    This video is rly cool. Cant say its my kind of music but with both u and Cranius what could go wrong?

    Since I first time I saw hard like heroic I was thinking damn that troll is cool. So I looked up more of ur work and everything was just so good. U also made me inspired to make my own shaman so I decided to make my own Summergale(lvl70 EU Balnazzar), but I couldnt make a troll since I play ally. But u dont play troll either do u?^^ Hope u dont mind that I named my char after u? Its like a tribute.

    Anyway about this Video, I hope this is the start of a long and succesful partnership between u guys, keep the good work up!

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  16. Awesome Job on by both you and Cranius and Legs as well, truly a work of art.

    Any chance that you could post the lyrics? Its been stuck in my head for days and I am sure there is parts of it I am butchering:p.

    Anyways keep up the great work, I look forward to hearing your future projects.

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  17. hi summergale, i was very impressed about your voice ;) (i´m a singer myself, but only just for fun(no more money for such an emotcial hobby. its like poison, i swear (at least i guess u already know))). um alina. from german servers. so sorry if i make some linguistic fools. i don´t want to look like a noob (at least i play wow since so many times) but - what is this machinima thing? a coorporation who produces that songs from u and nyhm? or a programm to make the vids. i guess that are not real ingame scenes, are they? sorry for such a lot of questions!

    greetz to the land of unlimited possibilitys!

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  18. Hi summergale, I can't say enough how awesome this video was, your voice is beyond amazing and you really have amazing talent. Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing more of your work.

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  19. Summergale.. I love your music.. I love you <33 lol.. I am 12 years old and live in Ohio and everyday I come home from school do my homework and listen to all the music you are in Nyhm and Cranius on my ipod...I just want to tell you.. your voice is beautiful.. And keep doing what your doing and I believe great things will come along good for you.. I am still currently playing WoW with my father.. and he is a big PvE and I am still stuck at level like 60 doing AV.. ha..I have started leveling though and as of this post I am level 63

    Sincerely,
    Boytooth (US AKAMA) Whisper me?

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  20. Summergale,

    I first heard your song when one of my officers linked it to me in the vent channel. Told me "It was one of the best things i'll ever hear." And I agree, your latest with Cranius I believe is the best, keep up the amazing work!

    You now have an additional 190+ people listening to you, My raiding guild on Burning Legion named Obsidian Horde are now die-hard followers of you :) Good job! If you ever want to hang out with us, drop me a line on Trimarius. Again, the server is Burning Legion, and of course... Horde :)

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  21. Oof, been a bit since I checked in here last.

    @The5thRamone: Glad you like my name so much! :)

    @Hexx: Visit the YouTube page and click "More Info". The lyrics are right there. :) Alternatively, you can watch the versions on either CraniusPresents or LegsMachinima as both of those are subtitled.

    @fashionpuppy: Machinima is a style of making movies that uses any game engine (The Sims, Grand Theft Auto, or in this case, Warcraft) to create an animated video instead of building models from scratch and animating everything by hand. Most of those are indeed scenes from in game!

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  22. Hi there, Madcow-studios.net is apparently having a minor problem, Every time i try to register I get...

    The following errors occurred while attempting to create your account:


    It appears that you attempted to register for this forum using the wrong form. Please use the form below to register

    Yet, its the same form. I tried to redo everything and still to no Avail. Assistance would be nice as I love your videos as well as Nyhm's and the other members of A6. And would love to download them onto my Mp3 player to show some friends. Thank you for your time and undetstanding.

    Killerbow - Illidan Realm, Horde

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  23. Jonathan,

    Hrm, I just created a new account myself, so it looks like the boards themselves are fine. Have you tried the basic stuff like restarting your browser, making sure you're running the most recent version of your browser, having cookies turned on, all that good stuff? If so, best I can suggest is to check out the ProBoards FAQ and help sections, see if anyone has advice. Once you get onto the boards, there are several threads linking sources for all of Nyhm's songs for download. Good luck!

    -Summer

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  24. Hi Summergale - wanted to know whether you got my request on youtube. If so it would be very nice if you answer - in which way is up to you :)
    (YouTube: zambuchi)

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  25. I just love your voice is fantastic , should be a pro singer
    Pedro from portugal

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  26. Loved Sumemrgale songs since Ni-Hao comes around, but this one is truly amazing.. got it in my I-Pod right away ;)

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  27. Great work, Summergale. I'm more of a raider-girl myself, my brother keeps complaining that I'm not into PvP. Buutttt....I did get a few achieves for guarding the flag.. (Only level 20 in a level 29 battle, but we still won!) Anyway, "Ulduar" is my favourite out of all WoW machinima, my two favorite WoW singers singing together, AND now, (Also the same reaction as you) LegsMachinima. I wasn't much into the original of this song, but I heard this and listened to it like 50 times in a row. Great work Summer.

    ~Sinceraly from the South
    Mivrina-Moonguard US Server

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  28. Never have I seen talent like this in a parody with World of Warcraft themes.

    You guys are amazing! Thanks Summergale, I <3 your voice...and Cranius' too.

    Very catchy. Makes me want to be in a decent raiding guild again.

    Superb work. I can't say it enough.

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  29. Dear Summergale,
    Wow! That was an amazing video! You and Cranius sing absoulutely beautiful together! As, soon as this song came out I showed all of my friends, (even the one's who didn't play World of Warcraft) and they just loved it! The storyline was great, the video was amazing, and the song itself is on my Ipod now. (2nd most played) Just want to say this was a total win. I can't stress it enough!

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  30. And lol just call me Marissa ^^^ (my friend made the acc for me while I played wow)

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  31. hai! X3 im a big big BIG fan of you and Nyhm! uldar is awesome! i really like the voices! UR AWESOME!!!! XD

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  32. is there a way to download not only the MP3 but the video as well? really love the work that went into this and would like a copy =)

    awesome work!

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  33. I found the song by random on youtube while waiting on bloody afk ppl in the raid. I was amazed, it's not often to hear souch beautifull voice in any kond of music they make this days, especially in something made out of fun, like wow videos. Anyway, i was listening it for the whole night while raiding Ulduar and i can't get it out of my head lol.
    All in all, this is certanly a huge step from that hip hop shit we hear on wow music videos all the time, you might even start a sub culture inside the game itself =)

    Looking foward what will future bring, i think there is a bright one ahead of you.

    /salute from Croatia

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  34. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hgcy6bsg4g
    link in discription, "Save tagret as"

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  35. Hi summer, please do you know why madcow forum is down?
    Thanks, Ambro

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  36. Your voice is really sweet :D

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  37. wow! you have a beautiful voice have you ever thought of going public maybe a record contract band etc ??

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  38. Very very very very very good video:)

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  39. and your voice is very cool:)

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  40. Far beyond five stars. By far best World of Warcraft machinima, and probably the highest quality for videos on YouTube. This video is simply beyond description of awesomeness. As usual, Summergale and her beautiful voice charms us. With genius authors,Cranius and Legs, collebarting with Summergale, this could of not gotten any better.
    Well, maybe a little Nyhm won't hurt.
    I am still questioning the fact you four are not professionals. Consider collaborating in bigger things. There is too much talent in this group, and it is going unnoticed.
    From us all in AggressionMachina, we wish you best of luck on your journey through the crowded streets of YouTube.

    -Odahilys, owner of Aggression.

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  41. you are the clear voice of pure awesomeness! All hail Tauren shamans!

    Aurelianna-Silvermoon-Resto tauren shaman

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  42. Hi I think you vids are awsome but i was wondering, can you download the new grind song (mp3) or can you only download the video?

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  43. I ran across the song literly by mistake, I have to admit as everyone else said awsome work.

    But I have one question, is there a way to get the song minus vedio?

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  44. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  45. Inmora,

    Yep!

    http://www.cranius.com/audio/Ulduar.mp3

    Right-click on the link and select "Save Target As..." or "Save Link As..." to save the MP3 to your hard drive. (This is also available in the info section of the video's YouTube page.)

    -Summer

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  46. I just stumbled across this video a few days ago, it's fantastic. You and your guild certainly did a great job and being a wow player myself I can truely appreciate it!

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  47. i want the song on my phone but its said u got to buy it and i looked it up and its free and i still dont how to get it on my phone can u guys help me do that

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  48. The MP3 location is now invalid due to Cranius moving the file/taking it off the site.
    I'm very sad that this file was lost in a thumbdrive wipe now :<

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  49. Years later and i still love this song. I also think your voice is superior to Keri Hilson.

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  50. Years later and i still love this song. I also think your voice is superior to Keri Hilson.

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