www.no-one-knows.co.nr
Here it is, after another long wait. After waiting 25 hours, for this [put rude word in here] to render, it finally came out in crisp WMV. I hope you like the episode, it’s a shorter one (8:30) to fit youtube better, which to be honest makes it easier to veiw, if you ask me. I love to hear what you have to say about it, good or bad and look forward to see what you thought. Even if you’re having the worst day ever, and you want to have something to rant about, feel free to take it out on this, be nice though. Hehe.
HiRes (WMV, 640/360, 75MB) (highly recommended, only 75mb)
Youtube
Vimeo
Goto official site for more formats. (coming soon)
Would be a silent film without these awesome guys:
Russell Gold - Derwin Sanders
Artcgrrl - Jess Griffith
Shawnkenobi - Jack Snow
Introducing Armanus – Jimmy (especially thanks for such short notice)
Read the discussion below after watching if you’re intrested, I hope it’s an intresting read. Also if you’re unsure on the story I covered most of it here. Feel free to ask me about anything about the story or the making of.
Please watch before reading this.
Production
The production in-game for this episode was hellish. At one point I preety much died onto my keyboard after trying to get Jack to ’sit’ on the balcony for the fifteenth time. In fact, I smashed my keyboard at one point, and had to explain to the repair guy about how I was making machinima with The Sims 2, and got so fustrated, that I ‘accidently’ did a rocky balboa on my laptop. He stared at me blankly for about 5 seconds, as if to say “machini what? With the sims who?”
It’s times like this, I really wish I had chosen a different platform. Sims 2, as alot of you will know, is probably the most fustrating form of machinima creation. So much so, that series have stopped, and even good director’s have simply given up. Yet we stroll on until our last follicle has been yanked out of our scalp and the last extra strong paracetamol has been swalowed. Am I right? Probably not. Anyway, onto the film, I wanted this episode to be more for the story instead of glossy opening credits, if you missed that element, the finale shall be full of all the goodies, so you will see something like that again. This episode, I concentrated more on quality of the filming (although alot of you will cringe at some scenes, hey remember the rant about the sims 2? c’mon) and have grown an obsession with lighting. I very much enjoyed filming with Bon Voyage, I think it is the best expansion pack yet for the Sims 2, you will certainly see some Miami style houses, and beaches throughout the rest of the series. The final driving scene I debated wether to use real life footage as the background or wether to imcorprate sims footage or GTA footage, I toyed with all of the footage and found that the live action actually worked not bad [thank you to Pond5.com for the footage] What did you think? Lastly, after a whole day for Vegas to finish rendering, I reaslised it felt rushed, I had no idea how it happened, I checked again and again, and I couldn’t find out why it was so rushed. I didn’t have enough (and still don’t) filming experience to figure wether in the phone call scene, to have Jimmy stay anonymous (just hear his voice) or have him like I ended up doing. I would love to hear what you would of thought, to help me out in the future.
Story
In this episode, Jack finds out something quite disturbing, if you still haven’t figured, after researching the T.1.5 database, he finds a connection between Albert Griffith (the guy he killed at the begining) and Albert Snow (the name of his father). He deosn’t know yet though.This may raise a few questions like “Where deos Jess come in?” This will all be revealed in good time but at the moment, that’s the major development in the story for this episode. You can probably tell within the first scene that Jack and Jess seem to be more comfortable with each other, there is no stuttering or apprenhension which shows a substantial difference compared to the previous episode, it appears they are living together possibly a week or so after the happenings of Episode III. I tried to make minimal changes to the apartment, to show that Jess has an impact on his normal life, however Jack is still in control. You may also sense a certain obsession that Jess has over Jack, this further suggests her lonliness and how she must cling to him. If she loses him, she’s alone and vulnerable, even though she still deosn’t know the truth about Jack, something that Jacks been thinking about for a while.
The assassin that goes after Jack was sent by Derwin (if you remember, it was the same guy form the end of episode III) and we start to see some irrational behaviour. Derwin knew that there was a chance that Jack might overpower him, because this would give him an excuse to go after him. Secretly Derwin deosn’t care about Jess, he just wants Jack, for what reason will soon emerge. A new character is introduced, Jimmy. Jimmy trained with Jack in the special forces and have been close since. Derwin used to be involved with them as the Head of Operations, so the three are connected in their own ways. Jack agreed to continue dirty work for Derwin after he became short on money when his safety deposit box was robbed, as Derwin offered to pay large amounts for every job.
The final scene was to show how Jack is still keeping Jess from the truth, even though he knows she’s gonna find out anyhow. The changing of the hair was taken from the Bourne films where he changes her look so they can keep a low profile. Jack’s flashback is back to when he was young, but not as young as the previous memory. Some pretty disturbing scenes of Derwin looking at him telling him stuff about his dad, and what’s happened. It goes pretty quickly especially considering you are not expecting it, so you may want to watch it twice. Also, a quote in the flashback, is the key to the begining of the twist in the plot. Is it even a twist? What is a twist? Damn, I hope it’s twist anyway. Hehe.
FAQ
“What is T.1.5?”
T.1.5 is an organisation which was created secretley by the secret service as a background assassination program. The agents went under intensive training, and after that they were chucked into the world, either with a different identity or the same, depending on how well they could contain themselves. They would then have their own contacts, who would quickly debreif them on any assignment, and then they would have a set time to complete it. If they failed, if they were not already killed, the goverment would step aside, and let the police handle it. Therefore, probably being arrested and charged for attempted murder etc. If they ran away, they would be completley on their own. Alot of them would of been orphans or adopted, so families were rare. Few were admitted from the special forces. Derwin was admitted as the first ‘Head Of Operations’ at T.1.5 when it first began in 1971. (NOK is set at present times)
“Why deos Jack have a flashback, isn’t it a little unrealistic for him to start spontaneously having flashbacks?”
I researched this, and I found out that when, shall we say, ‘provoked,’ so when something that has happened that is causing one to look back, they will or can experience recurring memories. This is what Jack had in the car.
“Why does Jack have such a tidy place?”
Are you serious? C’mon, he’s just an immaculate and tidy guy. Mess makes him destracted. He’s gotta be constantly on the ball. Also it takes ages to create clutter in The Sims 2. What? Who said that?
“Why was Jess lying in an alley in episode 2?”
You’ll find out, alhtough, you should have some idea.
“Why was there a sex scene in episode 3, and why couldn’t you make it better?”
I felt it needed it. I needed to show Jack having a bit of action. And hey, you think i didn’t want it to be better? I am working the sims 2 is the answer to that question. Refer back to my rant.
“How do you create such ‘cool’ lighting?”
The intention when preparing the series, was I wanted a darker theme, but I couldn’t get the right effect in Vegas, nor in the lighting.txt I have now bought some ‘cool’ plug-ins for Vegas, which allows ‘cool’ colour effects, you may notice this episode is a little darker. Literally.
“OMG, i like tottaly found ur vid cool. how mnay eps are dere left? x”
There will be two episodes left, maybe three, depends on how long the last episode is.
When I’m finished I hope to put all the episodes together with some bonus features and move onto something different. I enjoy the action genre, but sims 2 is seriously limiting, so we’ll see. So long you’re all enjoying it, and I am making it, I’m happy.
Hope you enjoyed the (short) episode!
TH
