Thursday, June 4, 2009

The Studio's First Commercial Movie


Back in January the Historical Miniature Gaming Society (HMGS) asked me to do a YouTube movie for their upcoming Historicon-09 event in Lancaster, PA, USA (16-19 July).

Mayhem in Makassar Strait is a 6-part series with episodes airing each week in sequence until the 4th of July:

http://www.historicon.org/

The game I played and filmed is based on the Battle of Balikpapan fought on 23-24 January 1942.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Balikpapan_(1942)

I chose scenario from Clash of Arms Games Rising Sun: the First Half of the Pacific War primarily due to the few combatant ships and aircraft involved. The ship models were from Wizard's of the Coast's Axis and Allies: War at Sea, while the map I utilized for strategic movement was from Avalanche Press' Strike South. For rules, I chose to use Mongoose Publications Victory at Sea because of their easy game mechanics.

This is my sixth movie and so far, the longest of my productions. My previous works range from less than 3 minutes to just over 8.5 minutes in length. These are listed in chronological order along with the run-time:

The Road to Eggmuehl, 19 September 08 (8:38)

Impending Fury, 17 January 09 (8:36)

Vendetta on Vilhon, 19 May 09 (8:23)

Preparing for Battle at Enfilade 09, 24 May 09 (4:40)

Vice Grip on the Vistula, 25 May 09 (2:45)


In contrast, Mayhem in Makassar Strait is divided into 6 episodes each running between 3 to nearly 4.5 minutes. One episode will be posted per week until the 4th of July Weekend. Combined, the entire run-time is 21:32 minutes and is composed of 185 pictures and 37 narrative pages.

Once Historicon is underway, I'll be able to work on the other 4 movies I have in the works...

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