So here we are, the release of Episode 13, “The Brothers Cardinal“. This is the calm before the storm, and there’s just one more episode to go before this season of The Leet World comes to an epic close. There’s a lot of intrigue here, and I think you guys will be happy to get a few questions answered.
Downloadable versions are available here. Happy watching.
That’s not a Speed Racer reference, but maybe it should be. I don’t even know what that phrase means, but Daniel loves it. He’s a catastrophe in man-shape. It seemed apt though, since tomorrow we’re ditching Houston for a brief road trip up to Austin for the weekend.
Before that, though, we’ll be releasing Episode 13. It should be here tonight or tomorrow morning, eagerly awaiting your viewing.
Since I know some of you will act like velociraptors systematically testing your browser’s refresh buttons, remember that we have jobs. So if you’re reading this at 5 pm central, wondering where the episode is… we’re still at work. Doing works.
We’re closing the gap on Episode 13. It should be out within the week, though as we’ve established, Episodes are like King Kong. You never know when it’s going to climb a big building with a blonde chick and gripe about not coming down. Until you pummel it with bullets, bi-planes and editing tools.
If you hadn’t heard, the deadline for the Themetacular Challenge is now next Monday, May 19th, mainly because when we first planned the contest, we were hoping to have Episode 13 out last week, meaning that you could start voting on a finalist in preparation for the season finale, where the winning song will grace us all with its splendid tunes.
Pretty soon, you’ll see previews for future plans. Smooth Few Films is excited. And when we’re excited, that’s good for you guys.
Since there was no bio last week, I thought I’d bring this one to kick us off on the final countdown to Episode 13. Today, we’re going to take a walk with Ellis, The Leet World’s country boy.
Well, not really. The weird thing about this episode is that we actually can’t film during the weekends this month. That means that we’ve acted like real people the last few Saturdays instead of horrid, slobbering cave trolls slaving over PC’s. Typically, our shooting schedule revolves around Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday filming, but due to some out-of-town trips and things called “jobs”, we haven’t been able to.
The goods news is that despite it all, we’re nearly done filming the episode, which means we’re one step closer to its release. As always, I’d love to give you guys a date on when you’ll see it, but any number of factors can affect the timing, so I don’t want you to think of me as a dirty liar. I mean, I am one (though not as big as Nick), but I don’t want you thinking of me like that nonetheless.
While there’s mostly good news to report, I do have to say that there won’t be a character bio this week. I’m not one to make excuses, but my only free night to write it was kind of my wedding anniversary. Slightly more important. They’ll be back next week.
To make up for it, I brought screenshots. Enjoy.
I would also like to remind everyone that the Themetacular Challenge is still ongoing, and will be ending soon. Remember, you don’t have to do The Leet World theme song exactly the same. Change the chords and the arrangement if you like, make it your own, make it different. We take creativity and nom it.
EDIT: We’re extending the contest until May 19th. We have some amazing entries, so be creative and don’t just do the song exactly the same. You don’t have to use Jace’s vocals if you don’t want. You can make it country, hip-hop, whatever floats your boat. Just be creative! If you feel like you want to resubmit based on that rule and you’ve already entered, you have a free pass to send one more back in.
So it’s been a pretty cool weekend. Daniel and Nick went to see Jace and a bunch of other friends from college while I stayed home and played tons of GTA IV. We also released our new Halo 3 short, The GunStop Way, which has been received well. While a lot of it is exaggeration, I still found it crazy how many people have apparently had similar experiences with the unnamed video game retailer.
A lot of folks have also been asking about the voice of GunFly. That’s Ty. You’ve heard his voice before in Episodes 9, 11 and 12 of The Leet World.
Here for your enjoyment is a new sampling of our audible screw-ups. Our rule of thumb is that we like to release audio outtakes for every two episodes, simply because one episode wouldn’t provide enough material to produce something worthwhile. Even though Episode 11 didn’t have much dialogue, Episode 12 more than made up for it. It seems the extra time in the booth can give a man a taste of closet fever.
How bad is the fever? You’ll just have to listen and find out. Right-click and select “save as” to download.
http://www.smoothfewfilms.com/extras/tlwouttakespart6.mp3
More filming tonight. An Episode 13 update is coming in the near future.
Ever needed a weapon desperately, only to be told by the retailer that you couldn’t buy one without a pre-order? Or perhaps you keep wondering where all of the mom-and-pop gun and ammo stores went to? Then perhaps you’re familiar with GunStop, the dominant weapons retailer on XBox Live. This is a short filmed with the Halo 3 engine. For all you gamers that have had the pleasure of dealing with the store that is being parodied in this video, we trust that you can relate to some of the experiences inside.
To download, right click and then select “Save As”.
640 x 360 Mpeg 4
HD Mpeg 4
640 x 360 WMV
As with our other shorts, this isn’t the place for Episode Thirteen discussion. There will be more news coming soon.
Enjoy!
I can’t write this update and not talk about Grand Theft Auto IV, which so far is turning out to be nearly as good as all the reviews have depicted it. I’ve got to say I’m surprised that none of the coverage I’ve read has mentioned the slightly clunky controls. While they don’t detract from the overall greatness of the game, they do deserve to be noted.
Needless to say, I attended the midnight launch the other night with Daniel and Kerry. There’s something magical about standing in line with other nerds. It reminded me of every other midnight gaming event I’ve stumbled through, and while I briefly felt shame, I know that I’d wait in line again for that PS2, Wii, etc.
On the subject of midnight launches, our Halo short arrives later this week. You’ll understand that transition once you’ve seen it.
As promised, a new challenger enters the ring with his bio this week. Switching back to the Counter-Terrorists, we’ll be taking a look at the life of Chet.
So today we knocked a big chunk of filming for Episode Thirteen out of the park, claiming it as our property in celebration not unlike a young boy named Stephen once did. Yes, there was some collective Smooth Few Films squatting. Maybe one of the least problems-free days in our short history of production.
Nick upgraded the “camera” computer that we use to film the show, complete with an 8800 GT. Needless to say, our characters are colorful and smooth and it definitely enhances the look of everything. I even brought some screenshots to prove it.
Pretty nice, eh? In case you guys haven’t been around, a lot went down the last two weeks. I’ve put together a list of some important posts to make it easier to navigate.
You may have noticed something different in the comments section of our site – little user icons are showing up next to each comment. Most folks are showing up as little grey heads, but a handful have user pictures, and YOU CAN TOO. It’s dead simple… just go to http://gravatar.com/ and sign up for an account with your email address.
Now whenever you leave a comment on a Gravatar-enable site and enter in the email address you configured on the Gravatar site, the user icon you selected will show up next to your comment. It’s one more way to make your comments stand out, and I think it’s a cool little feature.
You don’t have to register for an account on our site for this feature to work, and it’ll also work retroactively, so your user icon will appear next to any of the comments you’ve already made using the same email address.
Cheers,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman Webmaster
Jeff (aka JJ or unsquare) does a whole bunch for Smooth Few Films. He’s our good-hearted webmaster, an occasional guest writer for the series (he wrote Episode Nine). and in general does a lot to keep this website functioning. Most of this community really wouldn’t be possible without him. Today’s his birthday, so I wanted to make a post and let all you guys wish him a happy one.
Thanks, Jeff, and happy birthday! Find yourself a good burro.
