Author Archives: Eddy

Hanging at SXSW

sxswSo I’ve been at South By Southwest all weekend, and it’s been great. No, I’m not here for SFF stuff, I’m actually here on business for my job. I’ve been hanging out at lots of cool panels about social media and the like. Right now I’m sitting at the Dead Space panel that EA is doing about its cross-over media platforms that they marketed Dead Space with.

I haven’t played the game yet, but I really need to. I’m kind of a big little girl when it comes to playing horror games, and I seriously scream like a fool. I have no doubt that this will be any different when I play Dead Space, but brave those dark corridors I must, for the good of my gaming health. Even at the detriment of my psychological health.

Yesterday I experienced an exciting but strange “first”. Walking around downtown Austin towards my hotel room, I came across the line for the Digg party, and was stopped by two awesome dudes that happened to be Smooth Few Films fans. It was wild that they recognized me, and I probably looked like a dork with my laptop and my rain stuff, but it was really cool to get to talk to some fans face to face. It made my day, and Stephan and Casey were two cool dudes to boot. Thanks, guys.

Also, much thanks for the comments on Episode 6. The ground work has finally been laid for Season 2, and things kind of go into face-rocking mode from here on out, officially.

The Dark Night

As was indicated at the end of the last episode, the storm is gathering for the folks at The Leet World house. We now present to you dudes Episode 6, Thunderhead, for your viewing enjoyment. In this episode, we see the second challenge, which has a slightly different feel than any of the other challenge episodes have had up to this point.

I’m really thinking you guys are going to dig this episode and the next one, which will be out by the end of March. Some cool stuff is going down, and I think you’ll like where it’s all pointing. Remember, you can check out a higher resolution version on the TLW premiere page.

Or, just check the episode out after the jump!
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Know About Your Desktop

Thanks for all the responses on Know About It from this weekend, we’re glad that you guys enjoyed it. Our goal this season is to try and get a few more TLW shorts out than we did last year, so it was nice to get something like that released. Besides, only Chet can give that kind of a life lesson.

In other news, Episode 6 will be coming later this week. Nick is currently doing some sound design while Daniel and I are working ahead on Episode 7. The last few weeks have been particularly brutal, thanks to this monster called machinima. We’re definitely looking forward to the short time we’ll take off after Episode 7 so we can recharge and get ready for the second half of the season.

Anywho, the other day I mentioned that I’d bring the Know About It theme for your desktop. So, have it.

knowaboutitbg

Also, we’ve got a cool new feature up at GamerSushi about the myth of the “killer” game. Check it out.

Enjoy!

The Drunken PSA

We’d like to introduce the first edition of Know About It, the PSA series where Chet teaches you valuable life lessons. In this installment, our party animal discusses the many finer points of Spring Break, and how to survive it like a true bro-fessional.

Hopefully we get to do a few more PSA’s just like this one in the near future. The idea of Chet being an expert on anything at all is kind of funny to us. And maybe just a little bit scary.

See the video after the jump!
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Source Wars and Cameos

So it looks like the next few weeks of my life will be absorbed by either Hammer or Faceposer. No, I can’t tell you why. But here’s a hint: it’s for TLW. In case you missed the update, Episodes 6 and 7 are going to mark the halfway point for Season 2. Stuff is about to go down. For real.

Anywho, we’ve got a new TLW based short coming out this weekend, and Episode 6 will be dropping sometime next week. Get excited. There are a lot of fun elements in every aspect of production for the next two episodes, ranging from sound design to color correcting and Hammer work. I’m just pumped about how the end products are going to turn out.

There’s a chance many of you have already seen Cortez’s cameo in Source Wars, made by Xanatos and crew, but if you haven’t, you should give it a watch. Xanatos did this with our permission, and he’s a bud of ours, so I was happy to lend my voice. It’s pretty goofy, but definitely good for some laughs.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

watchmenI started reading The Watchmen this week in preparation for the movie’s release, and also because I’ve been putting it off forever. I understand that it is a notch in the contemporary geek’s bedpost to say he’s read Watchmen, but I really have just never gotten around to it.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up about the movie too much. For one, I’m not sure how they are going to pull off the story, which in the graphic novel meanders on a slowly unraveling thread all around a generational mystery. Beyond that, there’s no way they could possibly cram everything into even a 161 minute outing.

And while the Watchmen trailers are actually shirt rippingly awesome, I do worry that it’s one of those trailers that will end up being better than the movie. Because yes, sometimes this happens. And I have quite a few examples where this has happened in recent years, Sin City being the most notable of the bunch, whose trailer pulled off something much more interesting than the end product:

Hit the other examples after the jump.
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The Wonderful (Leet) World of Television

oldtvWe here at Smooth Few Films are huge television fans, if you haven’t been able to gather that from podcasts, comments, or even bits and pieces of content you’ve seen in our videos. Personally, I gobble up TV shows like nobody’s business, and I’m following way too many to keep track of at the moment. My DVR is swollen and burning with righteous indignation at the suffering I’ve put it through recording Lost, House, 24 and Battlestar Galactica, to name a few.

Anywho, I say all of that because our love for TV no doubt reflects in The Leet World. Apparently, some very observant viewer thought enough of the show to put up a Leet World page on TV Tropes. Listed in the article are several recurring themes from the wide terrain of television that have made their way into our goofy Counter-Strike:Source machinima. They range from the “Big No” to the “Handicapped Badass” themes that we use.

The funny thing is, most of these are intentional on our parts, but some of them actually aren’t, which just means that they’ve been ingrained into our psyche as creative TV watchers. Anywho, it’s a really cool analysis of The Leet World, and if you click on each of the tropes, you can find more specific examples and analysis given about the show more in-depth.

This is probably one of the coolest things a fan has written about what we make, and it really made our day to see it. It’s cool to see someone recognize all the layers that are actually going on with the characters. We really do put a lot of effort into that. So to whoever did it, lots of thanks.

In other news, we’ve got a TLW short coming next week that I think you guys will dig. Stay tuned! By the way, what are your favorite TV shows?

Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy

Saw this great clip yesterday from Conan O’Brien and Louis CK. I find it to be an absurdly funny rant about the culture we live in. More specifically, I think it actually offers a witty, insightful, sobering depiction of the Internet in general.

All web content creators can probably identify with this in some way, in terms of people feeling entitled to things they weren’t aware of until 10 seconds ago. Create on you crazy web pioneers, with those megabyte wagons rolling along. Watch out for the dysentery, though. On the trail, it’s a killer.

EDIT: Our hosting provider is experiencing some issues tonight, so the site could range from slow to not working. Should be back soon!

Storm’s Coming

stormThanks for all the comments on Episode 5. Like I’ve said before, we’re really getting into the swing of things this season. It is getting rather served, as some friendly folks are wont to say.

The story is just starting to get to the good stuff. Two more episodes, and we’ll be sitting on the half way mark of the season. How I wish you dudes knew what was marching relentlessly towards you…

I’ve been playing the junk out of Civilization Revolution lately. For a console RTS, the controls aren’t bad, and it’s actually surprisingly fun. Also, for those of you that played Mass Effect, there is a sequel coming, and the teaser rules.

The last episode ended on a bit of an ominous note. The storm is coming, and we’ve even got a few screenshots to prove it.

tlw206screen01 tlw206screen02 tlw206screen03

Enjoy!

The List is in the Open

ChickenHere is Episode 5 of Season 2 of The Leet World, Return to Sender. In this episode, a surprise awaits the contestants as the Producer continues to influence the course of the season. And we finally get a glimpse of what the Terrorists have been hiding…

Remember, check out the TLW premiere page for a higher-res version of the episode. If it’s not showing the new ep, just refresh or clear your browser cache. See the episode after the jump!

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