Thanks to alffla, KizZBG, and the rest of the TL graphics team for the sweet banner.
Attention! The TL Commentary Contest has stopped accepting further entries, and the judging portion of the contest will begin.
Commentary on our favorite Brood War games has always been the stuff of fairy tales and legends for foreigners. Every so often, we get spoiled with a gem from one of the legendary Plott brothers, not to mention the occasional peep from Nony amongst the deluge of Day[9] analysis.
Aside from that, English commentary is still only a flicker of hope. Tasteless's petition to commentate the OSL finals live from Korea crashed and burned because Korean broadcasting corporations are too dumb to endorse a fucking magical idea, despite the heavy support by us (thanks Kennigit for correction). Right now, the torch is carried by superiorwolf, the 14-year-old who has provided commentary for nearly 70 videos.
However, superiorwolf's commentaries have popped up in several threads on TL for all the wrong reasons. His commentaries are ridiculed for being both annoyingly forced and characterized by a lack of game understanding.
On top of that, a controversial set of screenshots has surfaced, viciously destroying his image as the innocent youngster. Has this monopoly on commentaries gone to his head? Or were the words "i will fuck your ass so bad that it will bleed to death" taken way out of context?
+ Show Spoiler [UPDATE] +
superiorwolf, in a tearful confession, has agreed to check into rehab. Tying his anti-semetic slurs to an alcohol and drug problem, he apologizes profusely to anyone offended by his statements. "I really didn't mean to get so out of control, so I just have to ask for forgiveness on that part." superiorwolf has agreed to seek professional help and rehabilitation in an exchange for the forgiveness of the public.
Whatever the case may be, it has left many TL members with desires to make their own commentaries, myself included. Ever wanted to show off your stunning game sense, or even better, the volume of your voice? Want your commentaries to be marked by their humor, even inspiring a Best Quotes video?
Here's your chance.
Introducing the TL Commentary Contest 2007! Anyone wanting to do commentary on a Brood War VOD can and should submit it into this thread. At the end of the contest, the commentaries will be voted on and the winner will get some sort of special prize which I haven't thought of yet.
More importantly, anyone who submits a commentary to this contest will be interviewed to be part of the TL Commentary Team, which will commentate not only for released VODs but also, if the mood is right and we can get it set up, and also if anyone even cares to listen to an English commentary team, shoutcast over live streams of big games.
As for how to take part in the TL Commentary Contest 2007, just pick a VOD, any VOD. If you feel like the only thing that deserves your epic commentary is the Pringles 2 MSL Semi-Finals Savior vs Nal_rA Game 1 on Peaks (I think), feel free to do so.
(Originally, the idea was to have everyone commentate on one game and compare them, but I realize that some people have better understandings for certain matchups, and doing multiple games will make this contest more productive.)
If anyone is unclear on how to commentate on a VOD, I'll update this thread with several tutorials.
Drowsy brought to light another option. If you would rather commentate a good replay, that will work just as well, as long as you record an fpvod of the replay and combine it with the audio file for ease of viewing.
Also, if anyone doesn't feel comfortable commentating alone, team commentaries are welcome. However, try not to use more than 2 or 3 people, since any more than that will probably be pretty hectic.
I'll also update with a guide on how to do a team broadcast with Teamspeak or Ventrilo as soon as I figure it out myself.
Thanks for the effort and good luck!
Contest Entries
- Klaz - + Show Spoiler +On May 31 2007 08:08 Klaz wrote:
Here are my first set of commentaries! I've decided to pick the OSL Season 3 Semi-final matchup between Savior and Iris, because I think it was a great match. Obviously I'm not a gosu who knows all the indepth strategy so bear that in mind please. The style does tend to vary a bit between some of them so let me know which one you like.
Also please note, I tried to do these in 'live,' style in that I haven't seen these vods in a while, so I tried to not watch them b4 doing the commentary to add to the freshness/excitement of it. Which also means mistakes are more likely.
Savior vs Iris OSL Season 3 Semi - game 1 - Neo Araknoid
This is my first attempt and it's pretty noob. The commentary starts about 1 minute into the video. Again this one is just a basic play by play with some analysis and is not that good so you might wanna skip it entirely.
Savior vs Iris OSL Season 3 Game 2 - Reverse Temple
This one is more decent and the game is pretty exciting too.
Savior vs Iris OSL Season 3 Game 3 - Longinus II
Longish game but fun nevertheless. Commentary a little less focussed here also.
Savior vs Iris OSL Season 3 Game 4 - Hitch Hiker
A good fast game. I'd prolly pick this or game 2 as the 'best,' quick ones.
Savior vs Iris OSL S3 Semi Game 5 - Neo Araknoid
A great game and since this is my fifth commentary hopefully the quality is better than earlier tries also.
I really had fun doing these and if anyone is intersted i'd be happy to do more. I'd appreciate any advice/comments about style/content etc. but would prefer positive criticism that will help me to improve!
Hope you guys have fun watching em.
Klaz - superiorwolf - + Show Spoiler +On May 31 2007 15:31 Superiorwolf wrote:
Klaz I really like your commentaries and the insight you go into: just make sure you take out a little bit or lower the background sound, and and and and and and and and I think that you're doing great
edit: Wow, the last one was really good. I think you are good in incorporating midlevel strategy and enthusiasm as well. If anyone was to win this, I would say it is you, and I'm not joking.
edit edit: this is the only thing I have to offer Sea.Leta vs StOrk
edit edit edit: + Show Spoiler +why did stork go get another expo when he had like 0 probes and was constantly being dropped?
- Excalibur_Z's Commentary Advice - + Show Spoiler +On May 29 2007 15:01 Excalibur_Z wrote:
I'm in support of this. Some advice I learned from AfterBurn (who used to be a commentator for TSN and was training me to do the same):
- Always keep talking. You never want dead air, ever. Dead air is bad. It's okay to have dramatic pauses which you can use to collect your thoughts, though. If there's nothing really happening, you can talk about the players, the league format, previous games on the same map, what's at stake, there's really no end to what you can talk about.
- Some babbling is okay but be careful about repeating yourself. One common mistake casters make is they'll say "the zealots of Kim Dong Soo" "the dragoons of Kim Dong Soo" "the probes of Kim Dong Soo" etc.
- Don't constantly mention units by their full names. While it's somewhat okay to say "Ultralisk" when you could shorten it to "Ultra", don't say "Zerg Ultralisk" please. This is my own personal input because AfterBurn used to do this and it drove me nuts. "And there goes the Protoss Probe of Kim Dong Soo!"
- Another hard part is commenting on what is actually happening during a battle. You have to be able to notice and react to little things the players are doing. "You can see how Kim Dong Soo is targeting the center of those Zealots with his Reaver for maximum splash damage, great play!" is a good thing to say.
- When battles heat up, intensify your voice. Part of the magic of commentators is they have the ability to amplify the effect of what's happening on the screen. If a huge battle is happening and you're not enthused, most of that magic is lost.
- Periodically take the time to identify strategic changes and adaptations the players are making. Something like "Kim Dong Soo's Dragoon numbers are slipping, it seems he's saving up resources to switch to Carriers".
- Excitement is top priority. You can provide insightful commentary but it must never replace the excitement factor. I don't know if I personally agree with this but for the average person it's better to have Um Jae Kyung talking than Kim Dong Soo. - yubee's Guide to Windows Movie Maker Commentaries - + Show Spoiler +