Tag Archives: sff

Important Post: On Branding

It would appear that nothing is going on here from just a mere glance, but that is one tall fib. A lot is going on behind the scenes, much more than you know, and all the dust of our construction (specifically, Nick and Jeff’s constructions) should settle, leaving behind something superb in the aftermath.

After taking a long hard look at things, it dawned on us that with all of our new endeavors (GRIEF, Web Zeroes, GamerSushi, etc), we can’t just be known as The Leet World any longer, as is the case for our base of operations (this site) and other things like our YouTube account. But rather, we need everything to be focused around who we are, and that is Smooth Few Films.

What that means is, we’re getting a new website. Several, to be more accurate. By the end of the weekend (fingers crossed), this whole place is going to look different, and smoothfewfilms.com will be a part of the Smooth Few Films network. We are also launching a new SmoothFewFilms YouTube account that will eventually replace the old one, and if you frequent that site feel free to go ahead and subscribe.

Over the weekend, we’ll release some announcement videos there to attempt some grand migration of our subscribers from one account to another, leaving the old one behind as some ragged skeleton full of old videos. It’s not going to be pretty (or easy), but it’s better to do it now than later. The Web Zeroes pilot will hopefully be coming alongside all of that.

So yes, big steps are coming. And once they are done, production hits the ground running on all fronts.

Also, Ty (the voice of Mendoza) has made it into the second round of the AMC Mad Men competition. Feel free to lend your support once again, and show what a great supportive community we can be.

Edit: In addition, Happy Birthday, Ty.

Force Friday

If you haven’t played the Force Unleashed demo yet, go do so. It’s everything I’ve always wanted in a Star Wars game. And in real life.

Speaking of games, I thought I’d update and let you guys know that our new gaming blog should hopefully be up and running soon. We’ve got some other great writers on board, so it’ll be a good time once it’s kicking.

Also, the GRIEF trailer is scheduled to make its debut this weekend, and if not then, early next week. It’s very trailer-ish.

And lastly, a small concept screenshot of the title sequence Daniel is working on for Web Zeroes. This is an earlier mock-up, so the final will look different from this in terms of some design tweaks, just wanted to give you guys a little peak at the process:

Road Trip!

This weekend was kind of awesome. After staying up until 3 AM to release Episode 13, Smooth Few Films grabbed a highway gear and trucked out of Houston on Friday at 9 AM, bound for Austin, land of the wonderful and weird.

Why were we going? Several weeks ago we received an invitation from none other than Rooster Teeth, the creators of Red vs Blue, to come up for a visit in Austin, where their studio is based. We happily obliged.

Once there, we were given a tour of their place, talked machinima, movies and gaming, grabbed some grub and knocked back a few cold ones. I have to say that Rooster Teeth’s reputation of being nice, super-cool guys is spot on, and they were great hosts. As a long time fan of their work, it was cool validation for me that what we’re doing here on this site is worth the late nights and long hours.

Smooth Few Films + RT

I am bound to the obligatory rule of the internet, “pics or it didn’t happen”. Even when that picture makes me, Nick and Daniel look horrendous.

Pictured: Nick, Eddy and Daniel from Smooth Few Films plus Matt, Burnie and Nathan from Rooster Teeth. Not pictured: Jeff, Eddy’s Dignity.

In other equally awesome news, my brother Kerry, who plays Leeroy, graduated college this weekend. Congrats dude.

The GunStop Way

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”.
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Click here to digg it!

As with our other shorts, this isn’t the place for Episode Thirteen discussion. There will be more news coming soon.

Enjoy!

House Cleaning

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.

The Interrogation. T3h RIVAR Delegation

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.

Continue reading →

Smooth Few Films in the Press

Apparently, we were recently mentioned on GamesRadar as the number two Halo 3 Machinima directors on the web. It’s a great review, and they have a lot of cool things to say about our work in the Halo engine. It seems that if we had done more, we might have snagged first place. To check out the article and see some other cool Halo stuff, read up on it at the Machinima Academy Awards. They even mention The Leet World series. It’s fun to see this kind of press, especially considering that Smooth Few Films was also mentioned in the April issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly for “A Day in the Life of a Turret”. Much thanks to the 1Up crew for that nod.

We are still toiling mightily on Episode Eleven, making a Herculean effort to get it out as soon as possible. There’s a delicate balance between working efficiently, quickly, but not rushing it to the point that you’re hurting the end product. So far, we’re happy with where the episode sits, and we’re nearing the finish line.

As always, we’ll let you know when we’re on the “eve” of release- we’ll be there any day now. Below are a few more screenshots from the episode.

In the Darkness Surprise Attack Hallway Shootout

More extras are on the way as well, including a little message from a couple of your beloved characters. Stay tuned!

Edit: Apparently, we were also noted in the UK PC Gamer. Thanks for the heads up guys!

The SFF Album

This post is more like an album than a post, in that it is supplied with many pictarz. What is so interesting about these pictures? Well, the first set is a few nifty shots from Episode Eleven, complete with some nice teases. Take a gander:

Terrorist Talk, with our host Cortez The encounter. Waiting in the dark.

These next shots are to show you a little about the process that goes behind The Leet World. If you didn’t know– Nick, Daniel, and myself are the three that put this show together. We meet up a few times a week in a room filled with computers (6 to be exact) and make this series at your urging whip cracks, shouts, threats and demands.

It’s not a glamorous ordeal by any means. In fact, if you were with us while we filmed, edited, etc, you would probably find yourself bored to tears. But nonetheless, here is a behind-the-scenes view at Smooth Few Films.

In the first three shots below, you can see 3 of our “actor” computers, which we use as characters in the scene. Picture two shows Daniel and Nick setting up a shot, and the third shows me and Nick pretending to be friends. Nick’s not a great actor. The last three are just more shots of us doing our thing.

The set-up. Daniel and Nick previewing a shot. Eddy and Nick pretend to be friends.

Nick in a rare moment- happiness. Daniel and Nick review the script and shot sheet. Eddy with a “storyboard”.

More fun extras coming soon!

Halo 3: The Bag Boy

To squat or not to squat? A father catches his son in the act of a questionable post-battle celebration. Is decency a thing of the past? This is a short produced and captured at 720p using the Halo engine. If you’ve ever been the victim of the infamous “Teabag” on XBox Live, then you might identify with this family’s dilemma.

Remember, every Digg counts. Click here to Digg it!

There are other versions available for your perusal:

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640 x 360 WMV

Also, this isn’t the place for Episode Ten discussion- as we’ve stated in a previous post, it’s coming this week.

Enjoy!

Interviewz and Serverz

Just thought I’d share with everyone that we’re featured on an interview over at the website of the smokin’ CSS team “compLexity”. If you don’t know who they are, they are kind of awesome. It’s a fun little interview where we talk about the show, our background, the future of SFF, and maybe even a couple of hints for our fans.

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The Leet World Interview

In other news, we now have a Dallas-based CSS server for The Leet World, come check it out! 63.209.36.184:27015. Still trying to work out some of the kinks, so if it restarts once or twice during the weekend, forgive us. We’d love to see some of you dudes there. Though we’re not very good.