[Machinima Friday] In For A Penny

While I haven't played World of Warcraft in about five months (my name is George and I'm OKAY), I'm still following the machinima scene. There's several projects that are worth watching even if you're not in the game, even though several just dissolve into Manowar-style epiccy bullshit, like Tales of the Past and such.

(Oh, I went there.)

You see, I much prefer the comedy machinimas, as well as the completety trippy ones like this one. The one I'm presenting today, In For A Penny falls in neither category, but it's an attempt at a noir film using the WoW engine, and for that reason alone I have to recommend it. That, and the first part has a Tori Amos song in it.

Personal biases aside, In For A Penny is a really well-made machinima. The editing, atmosphere and voice-acting are all of very high quality, and the story is quite interesting as well, so far. Keep in mind that this is all the work of just one person, which makes the result all the more commendable, if you ask me.

Having a machinima which emphasises on atmosphere and story-telling over action and "RAGH!" yowls is a refreshing change after all those testosterone-filled, overly melodramatic nonsense that came out for a while. It doesn't come as a big surprise, then, that In For A Penny was created by a woman. Under the alias Selserene, she's the person behind this series and you can find her blog here, along with her other work besides the IFAP series. Her slogan, "Turning Blood Elves Straight Since 2008" cracks me up every time.

Now that I'm done ranting though, let's get on the videos themselves. The first part is a prologue, and features no voice acting, but it has a fantastic atmosphere. Selserene's description is as follows:

"When a young blonde stumbles into the wrong room at a seedy nightclub, her panic leads her to escape into a world not her own."


IFAP-720.divx

(Full Warcraft Movies page, including download link, here)

The second video, entitled "On All Eight" has voice acting for all characters (and that Tori Amos song I mentioned above) and is the real start of the story. Which makes sense, what with being Part 1 and all. Aaanyway, on to Selserene's description again:

"In For A Penny- Part 1 ‘On All Eight’” picks up where IFAP: Prologue leaves off. It is the first of a multi-part series which follows Thayle – a man falsely convicted, a fugitive from the law, a gambler who places his bet on the woman who holds the key to both his freedom, and perhaps his heart."


IFAP1-HQ-16x9-sub.mp4

(Full Warcraft Movies page, including download link, here)

TL;DR version:

In For A Penny is a noir machinima with Blood Elves. Go watch it already.

Also, make sure to dissuade me from buying Wrath of the Lich King, whenever it eventually comes out.