Sunday, August 27, 2017

Mwah! My favorite video so far, by far: Storm Ruler Dance

This was definitely a passion project of mine. One day I was going around helping people fight Yorhm when at some point I got stuck outside the battle area with a guy named Praise The Sun. Together, in the long period of time we were glitch-stuck out of the battle, without even talking or communicating other than our actions, we developed a dance called the Storm Ruler Dance. It can only be properly done with the Storm Ruler because of the wind effect and the unique dipping action with which you go into stance which also propels you forward if you don't go fully into stance. I managed to only record a little bit with him, the rest of the video done without him, and only a little bit of what I recorded with him was usable for this video, sadly, but please help me thank Praise The Sun for making this video possible.

Once we developed the dance, I kept thinking of tunes I could put it to, and the only one that fit the bill was the Can-Can. For the parts where we aren't doing the Storm Ruler Dance, I found other clips from the recording and put them strategically in the video. Half through editing and half through luck, each scene either has a very distinct meaning or fits the music.

Some examples of the genious (both intentional and not) behind this video:
* In the beginning part, you can see that this video is clearly trying to mix both serious gameplay and boss battles with a little silliness and spinning around, before you even get to the first Storm Ruler Dance part. It's important that this is established in the beginning, in my opinion.
* My roll at the beginning matches with the violin, and then we go through the wall at the same time, and the flute plays exactly over that bit.
* 0:03 The creepy crispy hand waving at you.
* 0:00 to 0:10 is prep-time and then after that we go into battle, then the music intensifies.
*At 0:15, I had to edit that to make it fit the music.
*At various times throughout the video (especially at the back and forth part at 0:22), the video is sped up so I could fit a whole scene in a short period so I could time it with the music better.
* At 0:22, you wouldn't believe how many of the Storm Ruler smashes I had cut, and I could only use 4 of them XD.
* Also, you'll notice a back and forth between Yhorm and I at 0:22. This kind of continues through the whole video, actually, up until the end where Yhorm just beats me up for the last 4 scenes.
* 0:33 The suspense! Haha, this scene is just cool because we're both raising our weapons at the same time, him a giant and me a normal human. It's dramatic.
* Between 0:45 and 0:56, I somehow luckily got the transitions so well it seems like my character is doing that thing in videos where the main focus stays stationary but everything else around it changes. That's pretty cool, I think, though admittedly not intentional.
* Also, while we're doing the Storm Ruler Dance parts, it's funny when we go up to people and do the dance into them because half of them or more are completely still and non-reactive, so we're just rubbing up against this guy who's standing like a stone thinking, "Ugh, what is with these weirdos" XD.
* Also, you may notice that most of the video is jump-cut to both fit the music but also bring variety, but at parts like 1:00 I left them whole. I apologize if this throws off the rhythm a bit, but at those parts I just wanted to show how well we were thrashing Yhorm.
* 1:36 kind of matches the beat somehow, and in fact I swing exactly when the cymbals start and again when they end too. I did not record it with that intention but hey, it works.
* 1:42 Tee hee.
* Man, we totally thrashed him at 1:47.
* At 1:50 on it's supposed to seem like Yhorm is finally getting the best of us, and it ends on a suspenseful note where you see his blade come down but you don't see me. But then when the music break ends, it's supposed to reveal us being victorious after all of that struggle, just sitting down to have a drink to celebrate the triumph.

You know, through the whole video it's like the parts that we aren't doing the Storm Ruler Dance it goes from serious in the beginning, then we do the dance, then it's kind of silly in the middle, then we dance again, and it ends up crazy at the end. The dancing parts also get progressively better and funnier as the video progresses, it goes from serious at the start to silly at the end, and the quality of our battles get better too. In the beginning I start out getting thrashed, then in the middle Yhorm starts getting beat up a little, then at 1:47 we just clobber him. It's like the dance is there to remind us to have a little fun with our games, and that a little bit of fun can improve all aspects of our lives. Suddenly this video has a deep meaning revolving around tedium and how it can ruin our lives, and how a little bit of fun can change the world. Or maybe it's just a fun video XD. It's like the phrase, "No pun intended," but it's, "No deep meaning intended."

Sorry about the green border, that must have been an error when I was trying to enhance the video so it was easier on the eyes. Guess I did the opposite :/.

How to perform the Storm Ruler Dance:
1. Equip Storm Ruler
2. One-hand Storm Ruler
3. Charge by holding LT, then release
4. Press LT, then quickly release
5. Repeat 4 & 5
6. Do not press the control stick forward. It may increase speed, but it is not necessary and takes away from the natural swing of just letting the dance go as it does by just doing 3 and 4.



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