Inspired by others to make a video

[Scarecrow]

A short while back someone posted up a thread asking if anyone could recommend a short Youtube video that concisely showed what KSP was all about that he could show his friend with a view to getting said friend interested in playing KSP.  I was really impressed by some of the videos that people recommended, and it inspired me to having a go at making something similar myself.

I have no illusions that my effort is anywhere near as good as the videos suggested in the other thread, but for a first attempt at making a semi-cinematic style video rather than just pure gameplay footage, I'm rather pleased with the end result.  I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks, and to receive constructive feedback so that I may improve for future efforts.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2017 by Scarecrow

[Snark]

I regret that I only have one "like" to give this post.  It's stunning.

You know, every time I ever watch video of any real-life space launch-- manned, unmanned, regardless of whose country it is-- I get tears in my eyes and have to struggle not to break down bawling.  I'm talking actual jaw-quivering, losing-control-of-facial-muscles, here.

I'm middle-aged now, but it's been that way ever since I was a kid.  Don't know why it seems to grab me that way, but not everyone.  I'd struggle to put words to it, if you asked me why.  About the best I could do-- not great, but the best I can manage-- would be to say simply:  That's us.  We did that.  Us humans.  That's my species that did that.  Thousands of patient, unsung, dedicated people spent years training and more years working to make that happen, and we as a society go there because we choose to.  There's a universe out there, and we're stepping off the doorstep and going out there.

I get the same reaction even when it's not real, if it's evoking real historical events.  Movies like Apollo 13 make me bawl at takeoff, reliably, every time.  And yeah, they've got the whole Hollywood camera-angles-and-dramatic-music thing going on, which deliberately stokes that reaction... but I get the same reaction when it's the real thing and there are no camera angles and there is no dramatic music and, frankly, most of the time you're not even looking at the rocket but just a bunch of tense nerdy-looking folks staring at computer screens in a windowless control room.

And I'm not an easily-moved person.  As I've gotten older, I've gotten more jaded and cynical about practically everything, and there's almost nothing that can make me bawl like that.  But something about spaceflight is... special, to me, in a way I simply can't describe.  It's a purely irrational, emotional reaction.

All of which is just a preamble to saying:  This is the first time someone has managed to set off my "spaceflight = bawling" reaction with a video of a computer game.  And now I know what link to send, any time I find myself trying to explain to anyone what KSP is and why I play it.   Well done.  Amazing job. 

Thank you.

[Geonovast]

9 minutes ago, Snark said:

But something about spaceflight is... special, to me, in a way I simply can't describe.  It's a purely irrational, emotional reaction.

I think one of the things that I've always found unique to spaceflight is that, in the last couple decades, it's become the one thing we have pulled together as a species, all other difference aside, and accomplished together.

 

Great video @Scarecrow.  Maybe I can finally get some of my friends to play this "with" me!

[regex]

Pretty cool.

[eddiew]

A most impressive debut, tbh  

[Scarecrow]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.  It's rewarding to think I was on the right track with this attempt.

[MaxxQ]

<Ron Weasley> That was BRILLIANT! </Ron Weasley>  I'd like to mirror Snark's comments, except I'm 53 as of yesterday, and I STILL get the feels when there's a real launch, or when there's a fairly dramatic launch on a KSP video.

Editing was great, especially the music timed with the jumping Kerbal.

If I were to suggest something to add, it might be some views inside the VAB/SPH.  Maybe in conjunction with the fails vs. success segments - ship fails, go to VAB to fix it, relaunch and succeed.  Shouldn't add more than 10-15 seconds to the runtime.

[Scarecrow]

Thanks for the comments MaxxQ.  I did have some footage from inside the VAB, but I had to lose it as the piece of music I chose dictated how much video I could use, and the VAB footage lost out to the bits I was able to include.  This was also the first time that I had tried to choreograph the footage to the music, which was another constriction to how I put it all together.  It's a bit off most noticeably at the first couple of failed launches, but I'm happy where it coincided with the crashes/explosions.

[Vanamonde]

This work of a fan has been moved to Fan Works. 

[Snark]

2 hours ago, MaxxQ said:

If I were to suggest something to add, it might be some views inside the VAB/SPH.  Maybe in conjunction with the fails vs. success segments - ship fails, go to VAB to fix it, relaunch and succeed.  Shouldn't add more than 10-15 seconds to the runtime.

 

1 hour ago, Scarecrow said:

I did have some footage from inside the VAB, but I had to lose it as the piece of music I chose dictated how much video I could use, and the VAB footage lost out to the bits I was able to include.

My own two cents:  I love the idea of having VAB / SPH footage... but it feels as though it might fit better in a different video clip.  This one was all about the exploration / discovery / joy-of-flight aspect of KSP-- the awe-- and one of the reasons I love the video so much is that I think it does an incredibly good job of staying thematically coherent.  All the video fits into that theme, and the music choice is just brilliant.  It's the perfect theme music to use, and the video fits it like a glove, and I love the editing (getting the video events to match up with the music events.)

Building and engineering is another really big, important piece of KSP, but it feels (to me, at least) like kind of a different theme.  So, maybe an idea for your KSP video #2?  Give it its own video, focused on the engineering, and with a very different kind of music.

Some musings in spoiler section because I have no artistic talent and shouldn't inflict these thoughts on anyone who's not actively interested. 

Spoiler

The image I have in my own head is sort of a Kerbal version of the opening credits of any of those 80's adventure/crimefighting TV shows where some super-vehicle is the actual star of the show, rather than the human characters.  They tend to have very fast-paced techno-beat music, with lots of blueprints  and schematics flickering past at speed.  The actual shows were mostly pretty dumb, but they sure had catchy intro themes.    (The intro scenes for Airwolf and Knight Rider are pretty good examples of the genre, if you can ignore how appallingly dated they look now.)

I could imagine a high-speed sequence (with lots of cuts, just a half-second or less apart) to show, for example, 1. a montage sequence of lots and lots of various different vehicles, or 2. a montage sequence of building a ship once piece at a time, then rebuilding after a disaster, etc.

Anyway, from looking at your first video, you clearly don't need any advice from me.  Just had to get that image out of my head.

 

[GarrisonChisholm]

2 hours ago, Snark said:

  Hide contents

    (The intro scenes for Airwolf

 

Did someone mention Airwolf?!?!?!  

[Deddly]

Nice job! You got TotM'd!

[[insert_name_here]]

Yeah! Good job for getting thread of the month! You really deserved it with such a captivating video.

[Scarecrow]

Oh wow, that's very humbling.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as Thread of the Month, so I'm absolutely amazed to be included in such a list.

[NotAgain]

I haven't the words...

*Starts to clap*

[linuxgurugamer]

Ummm.

....

Ummmm.....

.....

I've lost the power speech

Totally speechless...

Totally in awe

Great job!!!!

[KSK]

On 9/6/2017 at 6:35 PM, Snark said:

I get the same reaction even when it's not real, if it's evoking real historical events.  Movies like Apollo 13 make me bawl at takeoff, reliably, every time.  And yeah, they've got the whole Hollywood camera-angles-and-dramatic-music thing going on, which deliberately stokes that reaction...

Oh good grief - I am *such* a sucker for the dramatic music. Or just well chosen music in general, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed @Scarecrow's video so much.

Spoiler

To @Snark It's a real golden oldie now, as you can tell from the models used, but have a look on YouTube for 'Jebediah Kerman begins.' I'm not such a fan of the slightly lolkerbal start but that launch sequence (starts about 1m 6s in) just gets me every time. A lot of that is the music.

 

[Scarecrow]

Thanks for the kind comments guys.  It's nice to know that efforts to put something back to the community, even if it's just a simple video, have been warmly welcomed and it's much appreciated.