Friday, March 26, 2010

Well guys, the wait is almost over!

Update on the release:
DONE
- Movie is done. We faced a few technical issues but the final tweaks and corrections have been added (= reason for delay).
- English/Dutch/French/German/Polish subs are done!

WIP
- Still waiting for the Spanish subs to come in (hopefully today).
- Official Site needs links to final release (our guy is working on it).
- MKV file still needs to be created (once we have all subs).
- Release of Youtube and FLV versions (will happen after the initial release).

SoF Pt.1 will exclusively be released on selected BF sites before official release. These sites will be announced on the blog! Maybe later today ;)

Important NOTE!
We will release the Movie initially as a MKV file (matroska). This type of container is NOT supported by WMP and you need a 3rd party Media Player to watch it. We encourage you to install VLC media player or any other Media Player of your preference. You can download VLC at this site.

One more thing. We don't want the movie to be converted to other containers or video formats without our knowledge. We have worked too hard too long to see it popping up in lower quality. So please respect this dicision. Don't go spreading it around in other inferior formats than the ones we (will) provide. A youtube version will be uploaded soon after the release (but not on the same time) so please be patient. Also, if you're the lucky owner of a Media Tank (Popcorn Hour, HDX, etc...) / Home Theatre setup, you can play the file with fullest picture and sound quality on your system. And I strongly encourage everyone to watch it on a Big Screen on first viewing. It will certainly add to the viewing experience!!

Watch the blog for more updates!!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can we hope a release before monday then ? Anyway, congratulations for the excellent work and for keeping us excited for all those years ! ;)

Gravehunter said...

Big note: Part 1 of the movie is done, part 2 is still on the list to work on! But part one will keep us happy for a while (NOT TOO LONG donkey!! :D)

Anyway congratulations to donkey and strupie for their hard work so far! And offcourse everyone else who is/was involved (LRRP clanmembers and everyone else that worked with us ;))

Anonymous said...

ok, Nice

Will u realease a dvd version ??

eKi said...

Good news and good work.

Thing about the sof "main site" tho, theres a little bug in it. When u get to the site, trailer starts rolling automaticly, and if u happen to click any of the links on there without pausing trailer first, the trailer will continue rolling in backround, playing the sounds explosions and music, and it cannot be stopped by any means except leaving the site.

You might wanna fix that when you got some spare time, as its kinda annoying... When part 1 is vievable there that is, as the trailer sounds will ruin the experience of part 1 otherwise :)
Just thought id let u know incase u havent noticed it.

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Well, as for me, the trailer don't start on its own...So I guess it's okay (I'm on Firefox 3.6.2)

Little_Donkey said...

Ok guys, StRuPiE just left my home with the final release version of the movie. He is gonna add the subs to the mkv and it will be ready for upload.

More details later on.

Anonymous said...

/CHEER!!

Anonymous said...

/CHEER²!!

Unknown said...

StRuPiE's MSN says "uploading..."

VishnuSixDix said...

uploading at 110kb/sec?

That could take a while... :D

Unknown said...

It's finished uploading now...

Anonymous said...

Have my Dvd ready to burn !

Anonymous said...

where can i get the mkv file ?

Anonymous said...

bf-games.net

Anonymous said...

Not out yet...We're all waiting for it right now :p

Gas (Merv) said...

Hey fellas .. Gas here.

Sands of Fire .. most widely anticipated machinima release in years lived up to my expectations and more. The details and special effects layered in to this project is remarkable. What Danielle Ciccone and Davy Staelens have achieved propels them in to new and never reached heights. Perhaps we should think of them more as Davy "Spielberg" Staelens and Danielle "Stone" Ciccone the creative visualization of this script has transformed this screenplay into a well-made motion picture. I had difficulty reminding myself that it was a machinima.

Breaking the movie down Oscar award style breaks down like this.

Music .. Justin R. Durban composer extraordinaire managed to create just the atmosphere the two directors wanted, I know Davy in particular is a huge movie score man and he wanted a Hans Zimmer feel to the project .. well let me tell you that and more was done. I personally loved it.

Score .. 10/10

Screenplay .. Knowing the movie is based on actual events .. ie .. the Battle for Fallujah which had already had a Hollywood movie planned in 2004 staring Harrison Ford "No True Glory: The Battle for Fallujah" from what I can find is still stuck in production or sitting on some shelve gathering dust. Davy and Dan(ielle) have somehow cobbled together a very believable script but with minimal dialoge, leaving most of the story to be told in a visual treat.

Score .. 9/10

Acting .. Acting here has to be split in to two sections those being "voice and players or gamers" .. the voice actors was what I had been most worried about coming in to my first viewing, I need not have worried at all, everyone who took part in this played their parts well .. so well that I would have believed you worked in the industry (it would not surprise me if these voices had been lifted of a movie). For the "gamers" part, again I take my hat off to all of you. I assume for the better part you all are in D & D's clan "LRRP", all of you looked as if you hit you're marks and did as directed by the awesome twosome. I know personally how hard it is to hit those marks sometimes.

Score .. 10/10

Visuals .. knowing what I know regarding making a machinima movie in Battlefield 2 makes this movie even more amazing to me. The camera actions and movements are smooth and seamless. Camera angles are even more impressive and well planned and executed.

Score .. 10/10

Lighting .. Lighting used in the movie creates an atmosphere EA Games could only have dreamed off. From the head and tail lights added to the hummvee and the sky lit up with fire and bombings in the distance. each time I view the movie I see something more amazing .. I can only the time and patience it took for you two to apply these to SoF.

Score .. 9.5/10

Special Effects .. Both Daniele and Dainius Gintalas created believable additional Battlefield footage (Dainius) and special effects such as the rainfall to the movie .. those added effects added an extra layer to the piece giving it more wow factor than the news of Tiger Woods digressions.

Score .. 10/10

Sound Editing .. Credit goes alone to Daniele for the stratum of sounds applied to the soundtrack .. nothing at all jars .. every sound used was applied with a single aim .. to make our viewing a simple pleasure. The soundtrack of a movie is so often disregarded by movie watchers but is just as an important piece of the jigsaw as the script or screenplay.

Score 10/10

One Sentence Review: Despite Battlefield 2 and it's draw backs, Sands of Fire manages to burn through even enough to appease a ticket price, what makes it better is it's FREE .. Davy & Dan easily managing the film's best reason for a second and third viewing.

One Word Review: Brilliance

Anonymous said...

Good work, great work and effort depends on dedicated writers. This is the exceptional case where a movie says something without being cheese, trendy or superficial. This was well made, and to boot made me play again BF Modern Combat for PC. Despite the game connotations, you guys managed to make me forget the game in itself. You turned the experience into something else.

I do like the approach and the simple script. It was precise, direct and concise. Moreover, it said something about the actual events. Besides you actually bough a direct ticket to movie making and story telling.

10/10.

Setti.