Idea for the layout of the video:
Start-
Here I will include a few clips with of the teams best plays ( maximum 3 clips) I will also have text appear introducing people to the video. The text I will have pop up will be, the title of the video, what the documentary is of, and finally who the video is made by. I will also need to find royalty free music to add to the background of this to make it sound better. With the text I will need to look at a lot of fonts and decide which one fits in the best and looks the best, there was one I saw in a thumbnail and I think it will be the best option, all I will have to do is look online to find the font that was used. I will also have to look at the colours I will be using in the text, I will need to also look which colour looks the best and is the correct colour to use in the video in relation to the context of the video. After creating my text in Photoshop I will need to export it and import it into Premiere Pro where I will edit it all together and make it look good. Another thing I will need to look at, is the music I will use, I will have to find the best place that does royalty free music (a place that does a variety of genres like chill& relax, hip hop, a bit of loud fast pace music) when I find the best place that does the best type of music I will have to decide what type of genre I will want to use in this part of the video. The process will be a bit long as I will have to listen to a lot of clips, put them into the editing software and see if it fits in the video, if it doesn't fit then I will have to listen to more and more until I find the perfect one. This part of the video I want to last a maximum of 15-20 seconds as it's just a quick into to the video and doesn't need a lot of attention.
Introduction of the organisation-
In this part of the video I will be going over the organisation that is Virtus.Pro, I will go over the origin of it and when it was created. I will then go into detail about how the team formed in Virtus.Pro and how this legendary and historical line-up was created. I will go over how long the team have been together all of their accomplishments and all other things they have achieved whilst playing in this line up together. I will need to research a lot online to find out the information on all this (how long they have been together, what they achieved). I will need to get my voice over actor to record this part of the video, I will provide him with my own written script that he will have to go off. In the background I will have either some highlight clips playing of their best moments and I will also try and add the highlights of them winning an event when talking about their achievements. Also I might add music in the background but really quiet music so that it doesn't overlap the voice over. I will try not to include the voice over throughout the whole section so that the viewers don't get bored of the listening. I will leave moments where it's the audio of the game with the commentators speaking with music in the background if it's a moment of them winning an event for example. This part of the video I will aim to be a maximum of 3 minutes.
Introduction of all players-
In this part of the video, it is pretty straight forward, I will introduce all 5 players that played in the team at the time, I will go over the basic information of who they are, where they are from etc. I will also go into the detail of the impact they had on the team and what their strengths and weaknesses were.I will need to do a lot of research online to find these information about these players, some of the information I know myself but there is a lot more that I will need. Once again, from all of the information that I will gather regarding each player from the team I will then turn it into a script and send it over to my voice actor for him to record it and send it back to me so that I can add it to my final edit. I might also add some music in the background but not too loud so that it doesn't go over the voice over. I will also in the background have short clips from a 'player profile' video which is a basically a video that goes over the players life when all the way from the beginning to where they are now. Also there will be some highlight moments of their best plays in the game that I will include. This part of the video I will aim to be a maximum of 6 minutes.
Downfall of the team and them splitting-
This will be the final part of the video where I will be going over the sad part of how the team split up and their downfall. I will go over what caused their splitting up and the start of their downfall. I will be needing to do a lot of research for this as I only have some basic knowledge of why the split up that is it. I will need to watch YouTube videos where the players are questioned about their splitting up and also read articles online that wrote about their splitting and also their downfall. With this I will have some clips in the background, most likely of their funniest moments and also their best moments. I will also have some music in the background that I will need to make sure isn't too loud so that it doesn't go over the voice over that I will have recorded by my voice actor.. There will be moments in this too where I won't be talking and it will be the original audio from the clip instead so that the viewers don't get bored of the voice over. This pat of the video I will aim to be a maximum of 5 minutes.
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Overall for my whole documentary when it comes to length, I am aiming to make it no longer than 25/30 minutes. There is still some part that I am thinking of including, but all depend on if the person agrees to do an interview or not. The main thing I will focus on when making this documentary is my editing skills and making sure the documentary is really well edited this is due to the lack of own footage that I will have as quite a bit of it mainly in the beginning and end part will be found footage from online. As I will be focusing mainly on my editing skills that is something I will also want to be mainly graded on when it comes to the final draft of the documentary.
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All programs and software I will be using and what for:
HLAE - Half Life Advanced Effect
This software will be the main software to create any transitions and cinematic as it inputs more scripts and allows to do more camera work inside of the game as with the basic commands you couldn't get far and wouldn't be able to do a lot nice shots. HLAE is a collection of tools that enrich the engine and is the main tool used for movie making. You can apply various effects to each frame when capturing demos. HLAE is a plugin for the game so I will also of course need to game to make this work. When I have downloaded the demo of the game I will be getting the clip from, with HLAE I can create frame points and create smooth transitions. HLAE will require a lot of learning to master the use of it.
Counter-Strike:Global Offensive
I will be needing to use this game to gather all the clips I will want to show of for any great moments the team have in game. I will have to download the demo clip from the hub that the game offers as they save all the demos from all major games that have been played since the game came out. When using the game and downloading all the clips I will need to set the base resolution and frame rate to get the best effect and output, which will be 1920x1080 Full HD in 60FPS.
Adobe Premiere Pro
This is where all the clips will be mounted and edited in. I will be using premiere pro as this is the program I have learnt how to use over the 2 years I have been at Long Road, I have also used it a bit before joining Long Road. Inside of premiere pro I will be creating all the effect I will use, all the transitions will be edited inside of this.
Luckily due to the situation with Coronavirus the latest version of Premiere Pro along with all other Adobe software are for free. This will help out as I have an older version and that is missing a few plugins and a few options the newer version don't have.
Nvidia ShadowPlay
The use for this software is pretty simple, I will be using this program to screen record the transitions created and the transitions from the game. The reason I will be using this software as after doing research online I found out this is the best software to use for these types of things as it doesn't ruin the video quality and it doesn't lose any frames when recording compared to any other software like OBS or Fraps.
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop will be the main and only program I will be using to create the thumbnail for the video and I will also use it to create any overlays that I will have in the video for example Player names that will pop up on the screen.
Over the few years I gained a few skills in Photoshop and will be able to create all the things I will need for my video without an issue and with no big problems.
My goal is to create a unique looking thumbnail that will stand out in YouTube as I will be posting this as a public video and hoping to gain some views.With the pop up that will happen in the video will be pretty simple to create as it will just be a rectangle with the players name in the box with the team logo next to it.
Inspirations
Anthony Perfetto (YouTube Content Creator)
Anthony Perfetto is an Italian content creator/ editor. He is one of the creators that inspired me the most to create a frag-movie. I've been following him for over a year now and have loved all of the videos he's created as they are unique and have amazing editing skills. His work is unique compared to others as his editing skills and his transitions between clips are something else, he's really knowledgeable on how to make transitions look really smooth and also is a really talented editor.
Fuze (Content Creator)
Fuze is my biggest inspiration when it came to a csgo edit, being that a frag movie. Just under 3 years
ago he released a video that made me grow this passion for creating my own edit. I've been watching and supporting him for over 5 years now but it was only 3 years ago where one of his edits shocked me. The thing with Fuze is that he is probably the most unique editor out there, most of his edits take him months to create but the outcome is unreal. He really takes editing to another level creating something that no one could think is possible. After watching his first big edit I instantly got inspired to create my own but never had a reason or motivation to but thanks to the FMP I am finally able to complete something I've always wanted to. With Fuze's edits he changes the video completely, he adds a lot of effect being that completely different graphics, portals or just creating a really interesting mood and tone in the video.
In 2019, he realised Nevermore 2 which is an improved a lot better edited video which took him over a year to create. I do aspire to be able to create edits like his, maybe not to the same level as that is almost impossible and will take years to learn, but just be able to edit to a really good standard and have a really good knowledge of the programs and how to use them to get the best effects. That is one of the reasons I still follow fuze because one day I want to be able to come out with a piece of work close to his standards and I think that the documentary is a good start
Documentary Makers:
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When it comes to inspirations linked to documentaries there is a few director that I am a huge fan of and like the way they created their documentaries.
Jason Hehir Stinkfilms.com. 2021. Stink Films. [online] Available at: <https://stinkfilms.com/director/jason-hehir/> [Accessed 23 February 2021].
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Jason Hehir is an American seven-time- Emmy-winning director and producer. When it comes to documentary creators he is definitely my favourite mainly because my favourite documentary is done by him (The Last Dance). The thing that inspires me in his work is the way length and dedication he went to create this documentary, they managed to get over 500 hours of footage some that was never seen before that was filmed between 1997 and 1998 during the Chicago Bulls season. As this was a documentary on the teams success and the star Michael Jordan himself, the major thing that also stood out to me, was the amount of interviews and different views that Jason decided to have. He didn't want to focus on one or 2 people and only take the views and opinion into play but he interviewed a total of 90 people. This is one thing that has inspired me to do in my documentary, I will try my best to include as much information and different points of views from different people as possible as I think this gives the best idea on the situation that someone is trying to put across in my case it would be the reason behind the team splitting up.
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Jenny Popplewell Knickerbockerglory.tv. 2021. [online] Available at: <https://www.knickerbockerglory.tv/jenny-popplewell> [Accessed 24 February 2021].
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Jenny Popplewell is a famous and successful director/producer. She has been a director and producer for over a decade. Directing a documentary of one of America's biggest mystery. A murder of a women and her 2 children. Jenny is also one of my favourite directors when it comes to documentaries as, 'America's Murderer: The family Next Door' is definitely one of my favourite documentary films I have ever watched. Once again, the thing that inspires me in her work is the length she went to create this documentary. Jenny, decided to use body cam footage from the police officers when they investigated and arrived at the scene. This created a completely different mood and tone to the documentary as it gave a really genuine feel to the whole documentary. This is something I will definitely try in my documentary. Of course, I don't have access to any 'hidden' footage of the team or anything like that, but my goal is still going to be to make the documentary feel genuine and not like a conspiracy type video.
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Practice
How to create thumbnail
On YouTube there is tens if not hundreds of thumbnail templates designed specifically for creating one for counter-strike, that is not something I will be taking advantage of as I think that is just an easy way out and is also not showing what you create because all you do is un hide some layers and hide some and you have a decent looking thumbnail created. The issues with this is that it's not really your work as it's from a template and also you can't really challenge yourself or show of your abilities. It's an option that a lot of people use but I prefer to do learn it myself and re-create something I was inspired by.
This was the first YouTube tutorial I came across. It didn't really help me out a lot as the majority of the video was blasted with loud music and had little commentary on top of it. There was moments in the video that were sped up as well which wasn't helpful. In my opinion this tutorial wasn't helpful and my next step from this will be to find another one that will be more helpful and I can actually learn from. I will not be creating a draft attempt from this video as I haven't learnt anything from it.
This YouTuber is one I watched a lot before to get some basic tips on editing on Photoshop work, he is a well know creator and creates a lot of short videos that help people out. In my opinion this video was helpful as he explained a few basic things and went over some detail on how to create a thumbnail. He didn't go into further detail and the smaller detail like colour correction etc, which you wouldn't expect from a 6 minute video to fit all this information into. The way I will use the information from this video is I will try and create a basic thumbnail. My idea is that my next step from this video will be to try and re create the thumbnail he made whilst watching the video and following step by step and seeing the issues I run into and any problems which I will document below.
Step by Step
So I followed the tutorial step by step, of course I didn't have the same images as him so I had to grab them from google,also I changed the title to make more sense.
Step 1:
So first I had to create a canvas which was 1920x1080 pixels. After that I had to find an image of a location in the game and place it onto the canvas and make it the same size as the canvas, I had to make sure i'm not ruining the aspect ratio.
Step 2:
After that I had to add a blur to the image so that the focus isn't on the background. I used 'Gaussian blur' and had to set it to the right amount so that the background is blurred but not too badly so that you basically can't see anything.
Step 3:
Then, I had to add an image of the player models and the game logo. With this I had to make sure the there is no background, if there was then I would have to remove it using the magic wand tool. I then set it to the correct size I wanted remembering to keep the aspect ratio the same. I then placed it in the spot I wanted that was that step complete.
Step 4:
The final step, was to add text. I decided to use 'The Black Font' on the first line of text 'Test Thumbnail #1' I added a stroke, a gradient, glow and a shadow, this made the text stand out a bit more from what it was at the start. To the second line of text 'Basic Thumbnail' all I changed was the gradient overlay, I changed it to orange to make it stand out more.
Final Piece:
Evaluation:
After completing this basic thumbnail I realised that with these skills it will be the perfect opportunity to use them to create my pop outs in the video with the players name etc. In my opinion, my attempt look good, it's simple and basic there was nothing hard that I came across, only small issue was the magic wand tool which at moments didn't work correctly but managed to get it to work at the end. I also think that this thumbnail fits into my project partially it fits in the sense its a basic thumbnail with the game and I can replace the images of the models to the team players and change the text, but my aim is not to create something as simple as this. The thing I'm going to do next is look for more tutorials and learn a bit more about creating thumbnails so that I can create the best thumbnail for my video. I will return to this when creating pop outs in the video most likely but that would be the most I would do with this tutorial.
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This was by far the most helpful tutorial I found. It was long and had a lot of explanations in it. I was able to learn a lot of things from this video. In the video the person goes over every small and big detail to make the thumbnail stand out and make it look good. I will use this tutorial to create my first attempt at a thumbnail and see my skills and my abilities at creating my very first thumbnail. My goal after this video is to watch it and step by step and create the same kind of thumbnail as his. After that I will try again but create a my own type still using the same concept.
Step by step:
After watching the video again and following each step I managed to create my own version of the thumbnail, the image I was able to find online and same as the font, I was able to get it from the video. The video was pretty well detailed on how to do each step, there was moments where the person was confused himself but at the end he managed to explain it very well. All I changed in my version was the colour and the text so that it's not a complete copy. I also changed the colours that he used.
Step 1:
To start off all I had to do was find the image I wanted to use and place it onto the canvas and make sure it fits in and I had to remember to not ruin the aspect ratio.
Step 2:
The next thing I had to do was mask over the weapon with the pen tool, this took a bit of time to do and I had to make sure that I've gone over each part of the weapon and hand so that there isn't any places that are missing and would ruin the look. I had to do it a few times as I missed it a few times and didn't do it smoothly enough (going too far away from the weapon leaving too much background in the mask).
Step 3:
Next, whilst still being on the pen tool I had to right click in the middle of the mask area and click onto 'make selection' and the press OK, this will create the selection around the weapon.
Step 4:
Then, I had to click onto the 'rectangular marquee tool' and again right click in the middle of the selection and click 'Layer Via Copy' this will create a copy of the mask I did around the weapon, this will allow me to create the effects of a shadow and any strokes etc.
Step 5:
After that, I had to change the white background to white and change the opacity of my background down so it creates the effect above. The point of this was to darken the background but keep the weapon bright and in focus of the thumbnail.
Step 6:
This step was all up to preference and I could do whatever colour I wanted to. I decided to stick to the colour of the weapon to make it stand out a bit more. All I had to do was go into blending options and play around with each option until I created an effect I was happy with. The blending effects I used were Inner glow, Inner shadow, Satin, Gradient overlay and Outer Glow. With all these options I stuck to the colour orange to make it fit in with the weapon.
Step 7:
After that, I had to create the text. I used the font 'Long Shot' and I stuck to the same colours used in the blending options for the weapon. I had to create the text and then go into blending options and again, play around with each effect to create an effect I was happy with. The effects I ended up using were Stroke, Gradient overlay, Outer Glow and Drop shadow. Also, to create the tilt effect of the text I had to go into Edit -> Transform -> Perspective. Again like before I had to play around to see in which variant the text would look the best.
Step 8:
The final step, I had to get a brush and make it extremely big, I then had to zoom out and do small strokes around the canvas to give it a bit of a orange glow. I left out the top where I added a stroke of white to make it stick out a bit more. It's not really noticeable but it does create a nice effect compared to not using it at all.
Final Piece
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Evaluation
After completing this thumbnail with the help of the video, I learn't a few tips and skills to make a thumbnail and I think with the skills I learn't from this video I am almost fully confident with creating my final thumbnail that I will use in the documentary. I think my attempt looked good, there was a few issues which I will try and fix next time which was the masking, I think I could of made it a lot cleaner than it is. It's not terrible but could be better of course. The thing I would do different the next time I try and create a thumbnail like this is of course use different images and the main thing would be the masking. I think I can also try and play around with the effects a bit, experiment with different colours and see if it would look better that way. This thumbnail fits in really well into my project as I can easily replace a few things in the thumbnail and create my final one using it, it has the colours I want to use it's got the simplicity I'm going for in mine and it also fits into the topic.
I will try and re create another thumbnail using this tutorial but do it without watching it and use completely different images. I will try and improve the issues I ran into before and try and experiment with other colours.
Attempt 2 at thumbnail:
Evaluation:
After creating my own version of this thumbnail with completely different images and not using the tutorial just trying to remember it. I was able to come out with a thumbnail that I really liked and am proud of. With this one I had to do a few things differently. I wanted to blur the background out but if I did it normally it would also blur the weapon, so after masking out the weapon which I took a lot more time on this time and made sure it's extremely clean I had to make a copy of the weapon and then blur out the background on the first copy. This only blurred the background as the weapon is a separate layer and is higher in the layer order. Overall I think the outcome of this thumbnail was a lot better than the first one I made. Personally if I was to create another thumbnail I wouldn't change anything in the way I created the thumbnail, the only things I would change of course would be the images I use and the colours I will use. As I said before this thumbnail fits in very well into my project and I could easily change it around to create my final thumbnail that I will use in my final video. I already have a picture in my head of how I want the thumbnail to look and it won't look like any of these most likely. With this thumbnail I didn't run into any issues as I knew what I was doing so I didn't find anything too difficult as it was all straight forward and easy to do.
Inspiration for thumbnail and examples I liked
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The main thing that I like in this thumbnail is its simplicity which is something I always like going for because in my opinion simplicity is the key to creating something powerful as viewers won't have a lot to focus on and won't get lost in the thumbnail or whatever it is you're creating. The only thing that I would change in this thumbnail would possibly be the picture as it shows them winning a tournament, I would personally go for a picture of the whole team, like in the thumbnail below. I would also add some text like 'The Virtus Plow- Polish Beasts' or ' Documentary about Virtus Pro' so the viewers know what they will be watching, I also like the colours in this as they represent the team and I will be sticking with those colours to continue to represent the team.
This thumbnail has to be my favourite as it has the team logo, picture of the team and a bit about the team it self, it also is simple but really eye catching. I will most likely design mine around this one as it has everything I would want mine to have in it. All I would change in mine would be the information, I would add the title of the video and what the video is. I will use the same colours that this thumbnail has, also probably use the same image if I can find it in better quality online. Overall this is thumbnail for me is the ideal thumbnail for my video.
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This has to be my least favourite thumbnail. There is too mch going on in the thumbnail and it looks a bit too messy, looks like someone grabs images and just thrown them onto a background. One thing I like from this thumbnail is going to be the font used as it's simple but bold. I will try my best to find out what the font is called and I will use it in my final thumbnail.
Feedback:
After getting my work sent over to my supervisor for feedback, I got the following feedback from him:
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Try and get some footage recorded myself so that it isn't just footage from online, as it could get a bit boring just watching the same thing.
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Watch actual e-sport documentaries and look at how they presented their documentaries and get some inspiration on how I could do the same in my own. Mainly 'The Celebrity Millionaires of Competitive Gaming'
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If you aren't successful at getting all the players from the team for an interview, try and maybe get loads of different players from different teams and make a documentary about the game in general and the players and their success instead.
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Possibly turn the documentary into one that informs everyone why you followed the team so much and the importance they had for you.
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This feedback gave me an insight on if I'm doing everything correct or not. When it comes to the feedback it was very effective and useful. With working on the feedback, I think I can already complete some points. For the point of not having any own footage in the documentary, I would say like 15% of the footage in the whole documentary will be footage from YouTube/twitch or any other platform whereas the rest will either be, footage from an interview or footage that I will have to record myself from inside the game, which will be my own footage. When it comes to.
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After getting feedback from my supervisor, I decided to also get feedback from my other teacher to just get an overall view on what they think of my idea and the work so far. The feedback I got from him were:
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Try and maybe get some more own footage, like you playing the game yourself and try implementing that into the documentary.
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Overall it is a really good idea and has potential, just might be a small amount of own recorded and captured footage.
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If you do lack own footage try and make it as unique as possible by adding own effects etc.
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Once again, this feedback was very useful and so far what I could understand is that I am lacking own footage in the documentary or at least that's what my teachers are getting from my proposal and my writing. My main thing for now will be to try find a way to implement more self captured footage in my documentary which might be hard as I already have a pretty good visualization of how I want it to look like.
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On Friday, I also got feedback from my third teacher to see his opinion on everything and overall he understood the project and didn't see issues with it expect for the possibility of not having an interview which would be a huge factor to making the documentary interesting. This is the following feedback I have received:
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Proposal:
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Small headings for the paragraphs
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Reference other documentaries that I found interesting and inspirational
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Talk about camera skills (zooms calls e.g, Making the video look good) Camera test, lighting test, How I am going to edit it down.
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Reference my layout in the proposal
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Reference my research in my proposal
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What is going to make my project look good
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With this feedback I was able to make changes to my proposal and make it perfect, applying all the changes I have received from the feedback.
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Colour Pallet
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This colour pallet is for my thumbnail and overlay I will have in the videos. The reasons I picked these colours is because I wanted it to fit in with the team and the colours they have as their logo. The teams logo used to consist of orange and white before they re-branded and changed it to purple and green. I will be sticking to the old colours because it's about the players that played in the team back in the day so I want it to fit in correctly. I also picked a few colours similar to orange because I will be using them to create effects such as a stroke or shadow and to not make it all look basic sticking to one colour. The darker colours will be mainly for text and maybe some outlining.
Font
I picked a few fonts to play around with, I will be using these throughout the video and also in my thumbnail that I will make. I decided to stick to basic fonts as I didn't want something too complicated and too over the top. I got all these fonts from DaFont.com. My least favourite font has to be 'Long Shot' in my opinion I think it's too complicated and just doesn't look like it will fit into any of the things I might need to use it for. My favourite has to be 'Azonix' as it's basic but really effective and I will definitely be using it in my thumbnail and probably in my overlays as well. I will probably use 'OK-Esport' for my intro and any video edits that I will have to add text that won't be an overlay. Overall I like all of the fonts but only some of these in my opinion fully suit what I will need them for.
Sketch of thumbnail idea
eSports: The Celebrity Millionaires of Competitive Gaming:
After watching this documentary that focuses mainly on eSport in general and the way it works in Asia. I have definitely found some inspirations in the documentary. At first, in my documentary I was thinking of just having information about the organisation, the induvial players and their success. But, from watching some of the documentary I came to the realisation that I might not be as interesting to people watching that don't follow the sport and the team. The main thing that I was inspired by, is that I am going to try and add in some information about eSport as a whole and the sports itself and possibly turn it into an eSport documentary with small focus on the team. This isn't something I am fully committed to, but definitely having a think and planning a rough idea on how I could add this kind of section in.
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I also want to have a look and think at possibly adding some shots recorded by myself, for example some b-roll of wilderness just to add some more original footage that is my own. I do have some ideas of where I could fit these shots in, but it will be something I will be planning in production week and seeing how it will look.
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The main outcome that I took out of the documentary is to add more information about the sport in general as that will keep people entertained more if they aren't fans and huge supporters of the sport. As well as, adding some b-roll footage of the wilderness to just make the overall look of the documentary be more interesting and not so focused on my singular thing.
How to create cinematic footage in Counter-Strike
The place I got my inspiration for the intro from was from a frag-movie I saw where the person created a really cool looking intro. (Time frame 1:10-1:37)
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After watching this video, the intro was the main thing that caught my attention, I liked how the camera zoomed out and showed text as well, I also liked how there was transitions into moments from the teams history. I decided to look around on YouTube and other platforms to find a video that could help me out and explain how to create an intro like this. I also decided to contact the creator of this video and other editors asking for help in and explanation as I think the best tips and explanation would be from the actual person that made the intro.
I was successful with getting hold of the creator of this video on twitter (@ANPerfetto) and he was able to guide me through a bit with the struggles I might come across, he was able to link me to a short playlist that has videos for beginners which help and explain how to create cinematic's and other things in the game.
I was linked with a whole playlist, each video was unique and taught me something new in each one. The main one I was interested in was the cinematic one as all I was going to create was a simple backwards movement and add text to it.
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In my opinion, the video I was linked was helpful but I think it didn't go into a lot of detail. As I said it is for beginners so of course he will just go over the basics, but in my opinion it was a bit too basic and there wasn't too much information. Even though the video was great and actually helped me a lot with what I need to do and how to get set up to create this I think I will need to look around for a better video online so that I can get a lot more information on how to create a good intro.
I will try and create a short clip with the tips I got from this video and I will then evaluate the outcome of it.
Attempt #1
Evaluation
Overall, after completing my first ever intro using HLAE and premiere pro, I realised that it takes a lot of time and effort to create a nice smooth intro. With HLAE you had to create camera paths which the camera would follow of course, this is the part that took the longest as the slightest shake of the mouse would ruin the whole cinematic shot, overall it took me about an hour or so just to create the cinematic shot that lasts 15 seconds. I think my try at it didn't look the worst but also not the best, the text looks a bit basic and could of had a bit more effects on it. I also think I could of made the camera movement a tiny bit smoother when it was turning round corner etc. The thing I would do differently if I was to redo this intro, would be make the camera path a bit smoother around corners and also make the text a bit more bold and effective and not make it look so basic. I think that it fits into my project as this is the type of intro I will be going for in my final video but probably in a different location as this one seemed a bit too hard to work with ( of course I'm not going to go with the easiest location but this one was a bit complicated at times and I think I might start stressing if I can't get it right in my final piece). I didn't really come across any issues, the only issues I had were making the turns smooth and also actually knowing how to use everything in the program which took me a bit to learn about. I think I will try and re create this exact intro again but fix the issues I had which were; text too basic and the camera movement wasn't smooth enough when turning around corners.
Voice over Actors
notes:
Costs will be around £60-£160 which is something I'm capable of paying. Prices differ for the person I go with as each person charges different amounts for the amount of words in the script. I will have to look at the most valuable ones where I will look at the price for the amount of words in my script, turnaround time, amount of revisions and most importantly the voice.
I have looked at a few options and had a listen to their samples that they offer.
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I want my voice over to be calm and relaxing in a way but also to be able to put across emotion and tone in sections where I will need it. I also don't want them to have a strong accent and preferably be a British accent. I wouldn't want them to be quick readers and monotone as I think that would make the documentary extremely boring.
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All of the options below, I have dropped a message and have either heard back from them or still waiting. All depends on the notes below.
Voice over actors I'm interested in:
This is Callum, I have looked at a lot of his samples that he has on fiverr and was extremely pleased and happy with the work he does. He doesn't have a strong accent and also is able to switch between relaxing voice and a strong emotional one as well which is something I am looking for in mine.
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I have gotten in contact with him to ask about budget and awaiting response.
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After talking to Callum, I was told the budget as well as the time it would take him to record and send over the footage. I will also be able to have 1 revision so in case something isn't how I wanted it to, he can make 1 adjustment to it. After sending him my final script, it would take him up to 48 hours to complete everything and send it back over which I think is perfect for me.
This is Sean, his voice sounds really bubbly but also neutral. I can feel and hear that he has the possibility to also change between a neutral and relaxing voice to a really strong emotional one without sounding bored and still entertaining the listeners​
I have gotten in contact with him to ask about budget and awaiting response.
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After getting a response from Sean, he agreed to do it in the budget that I have which was amazing. His delivery date would a couple of days, depending on the final length of the script. Unfortunately, I won't be getting the option of revision in case there is something I'm not happy which could be an issue.
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This is Matt, thanks to a lot of his samples I was also able to get a good feeling of how his voice over would look like in my documentary. He has a very neutral voice with no hard accent. He also has the capability with switching to a emotional voice but still staying neutral.​
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I have gotten in contact with him to ask about budget and awaiting response.
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After getting a response from him, he said he would be able to do within the budget I have, all depends on the final length of the script. With him, after delivering him the final script it would take him up to 48 hours to deliver. Unfortunetly, I wouldn't have the option
How to make a successful documentary:
The most important thing when making my documentary is knowing what to do to make it successful. I decided to research online and find some tips and ideas to keep in mind to creating it.
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Research - The foundation of any documentary is extensive research. Research allows you to discover plot points, build your narrative, craft your story arch and shape your film.
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Outline - Documentaries basically live and die by an outline, unlike narrative film that have scripts. Crafting an outline for your documentary provides a scene breakdown thought the film
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Sound - In documentaries sound can be more than just voice over or an interview. Sound can immerse the viewer in your story.[1]
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Presenting easily digestible information - Let the audience know the where,why and what of the story. You can then follow it up with some historical context to create a motive. Presenting critical information in the early part of the documentary is an amazing idea, but the rule here is to ensure that you are giving the audience the vital information early on.
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Show empathy - When commenting with the camera or asking your interviewee, try to empathise as best as you can. Try and put yourself in their shoes and try and understand how they feel.[2]
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[1] The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. 2021. 5 Tips on How to Create a Great Short Documentary Film. [online] Available at: <https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/5-tips-for-great-short-documentary/> [Accessed 4 March 2021].
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[2]Gliddon, C. and Gliddon, C., 2021. What Makes a Good Documentary Film? - Nicely Said. [online] Nicely Said. Available at: <https://www.nicelysaid.net/what-makes-a-good-documentary-film/> [Accessed 4 March 2021].
Finding a worthwhile idea – can be challenging, you must find someone that does something interesting, does not have to be a famous athlete or some other successful person. Best way to find a visually compelling story would be through b-roll. What are you going to show visually to help propel the story in the direction you are looking for.
Research – Go watch short documentaries. Use it for inspiration not to plagiarise other filmmakers’ work.
Story structure – think about how you are going to conduct the interview before filming. Think what the beginning, middle and end will look like.
Filming / A-roll – this is where the rule of third will come into play. You do not want your source to be staring at the camera but at you as they are talking to you. Make sure when setting up the camera to check the angle it is pointing at the source, so that you do not see too little of his face. Make sure the distance from the camera and source is not too close or too far.
A – Roll lighting – it is important to give your source depth. If you do not have a lighting source, place your source next to a window and control the light with blinds.
Filming/ B-Roll – Get creative, do not only film the source from one angle. Experiment. This helps then audience to keep the audience in tune with the film and keep it interesting and exciting. Get multiple angles of the same shot. So, when editing you have lots of options to chose from. Movement should be kept to a minimum unless you have a gimble or stabilizer.
Audio – audio is crucial at getting your documentary right. If the audio is not good you will have to re film. Always have a backup use 2 mics when recording which could save you a lot of headaches. Music is also an amazing way at keeping the audience attention and make sure you use music that it fits in with the style of film you are making,
Making your source comfortable – talk to the person before interviewing them to get to know them little. Tell them a little about the whole filming process. Most people are not used to being in front of a camera. Make sure they know to repeat the question, the audience needs some context behind what they are saying. It gives the audience an understanding of what is going on.
Editing – Make sure you are using your b roll to cover up any cuts as well to propel the video. Make sure you are using the most with your time and gathering as much footage you can with the time you have available.
How to write voice-over scripts:
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To make sure that my voice-over actor knows exactly what I want him to do and to make sure he can clearly understand the script I need to do a bit of research on how to script good voice-over scripts so that when it comes to writing it I know what to do and no to so that the whole process of making everything can be smooth.
When writing a voice-over script there is a few things that I need to keep in mind to create a well written script:
Malamed, C., 2021. The Art Of Writing Great Voice Over Scripts. [online] The eLearning Coach. Available at: <https://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/the-art-of-writing-great-voice-over-scripts/> [Accessed 11 March 2021].
1.Write like you speak
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When writing the script, try and write it how you would speak. Try and imagine you are talking to someone whilst writing the script. Naturally, you will use smaller words, shorter sentences and a more conversational tone. A voice over script shouldn't sound like it was scripted.
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2.Speak with one voice
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Speaking with one voice arises out of consistency. Using one voice makes the artist sound like he understands the topic, because consistency makes the speaker credible. To make sure you achieve the sound of one voice you need to consider the following:
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Tone: Decide on a tone that best connects with the audience
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Role: Determine what role the artist is playing in this.
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Person: Think about if you're going to be using first, second or third person.
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Contraction: Will you use them or not?
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3. Watch your transitions
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Transition words, such as yet, but, however, therefore and meanwhile, let the listeners know that a change from a previous thought is coming. Using transitions can help clarify your message
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4. Read all voice over script aloud
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Reading a voice over script allowed is a must. This is how you can determine whether a word or sentence is awkward or smooth. As well as seeing if the sentences flow well together. Reading allowed also helps you see if the script is well-connected as well as when it is best to use contractions. Finally, it will help you determine where you should put full stops, so that the actor can go through the sentence without running out of breathe.
Sample of voice over
I decided to get a sample from the voice over actor to see his work as well as see how his voice would suit my script and the voice over. He was really quick with it and managed to send it the same day back to me.
After getting the sample back, I was really happy with the work and didn't really notice any massive issues in the sample. The only thing I will need to make the actor aware of is moments where I will need him to be a bit more serious and moments where he could be more emotional too as in the sample he sounds really monotone which I will want him to change. Overall I am really happy with the work and will definitely stick with him.
Research about the team
About organisation
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtus.pro
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/Virtus.pro
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Russian e-sport organisation founded on 1 November 2003 by Sergey Glamazda
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It has division in a lot of other video games not only CSGO, such as Dota 2, League of Legends, Fortnite and others.
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In 2014 (January 25) Virtus.Pro signed the 5 players that formed the most historical line up in CS:GO history, they went of and won their first major that year (EMS One Katowice 2014) but then getting disqualified in the quarterfinal of ESL One Cologne 2014 by Team LDLC.
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2015 was one of the worst years for Virtus Pro, as they didn't win any major events, the only event they won was ESEA 18th season which is an online tournament. That was one of the dips in their E-Sport history and people started doubting their skills.
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2016, Virtus Pro made it to the quarterfinals once again of a major but unfortunate didn't end up winning it. Later in the year they came 1st in the Inaugural ELeague season. In December of that year they also announced that they will be re-signing the same roster for another four years.
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2017 was the last year of the amazing Virtus. Pro, it was also their best year in history where they came 2nd times winning combined total of $250,000 and also coming first at DreamHack Master in Las Vegas where they won another $200,000
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In 2018, Virtus.Pro didn't qualify for any tournaments, they failed to even qualify for the easiest one that they always qualify for. It was the worst year in their history. In December of that year they decided to do a roster change getting rid of the veterans and replacing them with youth players.
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In 2019 Virtus.Pro had a complete re-branding changing their colours and throughout the year they changed their roster again and this time signed all of the players from the AVANGAR team which turned Virtus.Pro's CSGO team from a Polish team to a Kazakhstan team and this also made it the end of Polish Pro team in Counter-Strike.
Jaroslaw 'PashaBiceps' Jarzabkowski
Sources:
https://www.esportsearnings.com/players/1488-pashabiceps-jaroslaw-jarzabkowski
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/PashaBiceps
https://www.hltv.org/player/317/pashaBiceps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7eSGISPls
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Jaroslaw Jarzabkowski AKA PashaBiceps
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Born April 11 1988 (32)
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Been playing Cs since 2004.
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In 204 we was voted the 3rd best player of the year by HLTV
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Before becoming a professional player he was a streamer and live streamed all his games, this is one of the ways he showed himself of to the world and had some big people being interested in him because of his unique play style.
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His play style is completely different to others, each round he decides himself what he wants to do and how he wants to play compared to others that listen to the coach telling them what to do.
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He was playing on amateur level until 2010, in 2011 he joined his first professional team ''ESC gaming' and won the last Cs 1.6 tournament.
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From 2012 until 2014 he was without a team and was constantly practising on the newly realised game.
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During his career he has won over $600,000 as of 2020.
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He retired at the end of 2019 but announced he will continue to live stream on twitch
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Pasha had the biggest impact on the team he was the player that everyone would look up to in the team and would try and play of his energy and motivation. If he had a bad day then that would impact the way each player performs.
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He's a beloved community figure and a role model for a lot of younger people.
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Pasha is a very open player and is the most liked and valued player probably in all of e-sport not only in Counter Strike. There is nothing you anyone can dislike about him, he's always friendly, happy and always offers help for others.
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After becoming joining Virtus.Pro Pasha said one of his goals is to rebuild a park in his small town in Poland where he grew up and also to buy his family a house.
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He is currently rated the 4th best player in Poland.
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His goal after retiring is to open a gym or start his own e-sport organisation
Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski
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Sources:
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/Snax
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1Rvwu4KD54&t=65s
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Pogorzelski
https://www.hltv.org/player/2553/Snax
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Janusz Pogorzelski AKA Snax
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Born July 5 1993(26)
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Snax started playing Counter-strike in 2000 (aged 7) in an internet cafe owned by his parents, at the start he only played the game for fun with his friends and didn't take it seriously
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in 2009 he joined his first ever team 'Voodoo'
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From the year 2010-2014 he has played in 4 other teams in both counter strike 1.6 and counter-strike:global offensive
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Snax is a really confident player, as well Pasha he is also a role model for a lot of the younger people and is probably one of the most liked people in the e-sport community jsut based on his personality.
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He was rated in the top 10 best player in the word for 3 years straight by HLTV
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Overall in his career he has earned over $600,000 just from tournament wins, this doesn't include his contract with teams and any sponsorship's deals he does or any other ways he earns his money
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He had a really big impact on the team as when he perfomed really well he was able to eliminate any player in his way.
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Snaxs main strengths were that he had incredible aim and also his focus and precision was on another level.
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He's currently ranked the number 1 player in all of Poland
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He's still playing counter-strike professionaly but for a different team after leaving Virtus.Pro in 2018, he plays for 'Illuminar Gaming'
Wiktor 'TaZ' Wojtas
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOuw640cST0 (Polish Interview)
https://www.hltv.org/stats/players/161/TaZ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaZ
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/TaZ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77HZjP6f5Hk
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Wiktor Wojtas AKA Taz
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Born June 6 1986 (33)
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Taz has been playing professional Counter-Strike since 2004 joining his first pro team 'Pentagram G-Shock'
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Taz was still at university and was struggling to combine studying and gaming. He had to make a really big life changing decision, if he wants to become an pro player or to become a lawyer or solicitor
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His first big achievement was becoming the best in his internet cafe and being able to play for free.
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It took Taz 15 years to achieve the point he was at which was also his dream.
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He also started playing Counter-Strike in an internet cafe like the other VP players.
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Taz and Neo(Another ex player for vp) played together for over a decade straight
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Taz is a really funny and energetic player that always looks at making his team the best and not only looking at himself.
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He's always wanted to prove that even though he's in his early 30's he can still beat and dominate a lot of the younger players in the e-sport scene, which he has been successful at a lot of times already.
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Overall in his career he has earned over $700,000 in just tournament wins not including his contract with the team and any sponsorship deals he has done, making him the 3rd richest e-Sport player in Poland
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Taz's main strength were probably his ability to stay calm under high pressure and also having incredible aim
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He was ranked the 6th best player of 2011 by HLTV
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At one point he was the oldest major champion
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Currently ranked 3rd best player in Poland
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Pawel 'Byali' Bielinski
Sources:
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/Byali
https://www.hltv.org/player/5386/byali
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawe%C5%82_Bieli%C5%84ski_(e-sportowiec)
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Pawel Bielinski AKA Byali
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Born April 30 1994 (25)
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He career first started in a semi-pro team in cs 1.6, in 2013 he joined his first pro team in the new realised Counter-Strike game.
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Was ranked the 13th best player of 2014 by HLTV
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Byali played the hardest role in the team, and because of this he was able to really show of his skills and become the 2nd best player for Virtus Pro.
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He has won over $550,000 from tournament winnings alone, this doesn't include his contract with the team and any sponsorship deals.
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After leaving Virtus.Pro he decided to not play for a team anymore and focus on streaming and YouTube instead.
Filip 'Neo' Kubski
Sources
https://liquipedia.net/counterstrike/NEO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEO_(video_game_player)
https://www.hltv.org/stats/players/165/NEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAiU9MO2aVg&t=56s
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Neo Kubski AKA Neo
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Born June 15 1987 (32)
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Neo started playing at age of 17 with his dad and neighbours.
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Neo has been playing Counter-Strike since 2002 and since 2004 he played with one teammate all the time without a break (Taz)
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Neo is considered to be a mechanically gifted player with an intelligent mind for the game.
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Neo was voted the best player of the decade in 2010. In 2007 and 2008 he won the eSports award for Player of the year. Again in 2011 he was rated by HLTV as the best player of the year. He is considered to be one of if not the best player in Counter-Strike history.
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Neo is considered to be a very gentle and calm person and knows how to deal with stresful situations in game. He is also considered to be a very humble person, maybe a bit too humble, for the success he has achieved in life.
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Overall in his career Neo has earned over $740,000 from tournament wins, making him the 2nd richest e-Sport player in Poland.
Downfall of Virtus.Pro
Sources
https://luckbox.com/esports-news/article/virtus-pro-decline-polish-csgo-iem-katowice
https://www.hotspawn.com/the-death-of-virtus-pro-and-the-future-of-polish-csgo/
https://www.dailyesports.gg/the-gradual-demise-of-virtus-pro/
https://www.rivalry.com/esports/downfall-virtus-pro
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Virtus.Pro had a few situations where the fans and the community thoughts it's over for them, in 2017 is when people say the downfall started after losing in their major final against another team with only 2 rounds difference.
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After htis loss, VP couldn't even qualify for the easiest of tournaments and majors, coming close to last in all of them.
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Each time Virtus.Pro had a situation they were on a decline they were able to bounce back and show just how good they are and that they cannot be stopped
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The issue with the team was, because the played with the same roster for so long, only changing one player will not solve the issue as if they replace a player for a weakness of his, they won't find a player with the strengths he has. So when it finally came to changing one player, the team never played the same and quickly
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Even though VP were one of the top teams, they weren't a skill full team, the lacked good tactics but the tactics they did have were unique and no one could replicate the same with their skill, each player had something no other player could ever have.
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Their plays were chaotic but that is what created an alarming and terror feeling in their opponents
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There is also no players or teams close to the level and skill that Virtus.Pro had, and in everyone's eyes Poland will most likely never again see a medal or Championship being earned in Counter-Strike and after more than 4 years it's also most likely the end of e-Sport in Poland and a chance to reach any level close to this every again.
Job role
When it comes to my job role in the making of this documentary it is pretty complicated and long. I am responsible for almost everything. Starting off, I will be responsible for making good research on all of the software that I might need in the making of this documentary as well as researching what makes a successful one too. I will then be responsible for doing extensive research on the team and the whole organisation making sure that I have enough information and knowledge on them so that I can then send it off to the actor to do a voice over on. After having all of the information ready. I will be responsible for finding all of the necessary footage for the documentary. I will first need to research and look through huge amount of huge clips as I will need to use quite a bit of found footage that won't be my own in this documentary mainly due to the pandemic and not being able to fly to Poland to record a lot of the footage that I planned on having. After finding enough footage from the internet I will then be responsible for actually recording my own footage as that is a must in this project also so that it isn't boring and there is some sort of originality. I will need to analyse each game the team played and write time the games and points that the players stood out for me and then I will have to go into the game and record the actual footage myself. I will need to make sure that there is more of my own footage in the documentary than there is found footage. After analysing all the games and recording all the footage, it will be my responsibility to interviews someone related to this sport and the scene. I will need to talk to him about the sport itself, tips on getting into the pro scene as well as a day to day life and loads of other things (not all that I will include in the final edit). My next responsibility after recording the interview and having all my found and original footage recorded and in sorted folders, I will need to start on the editing. It will my responsibility to make sure the edit comes out on point as this is the main thing that I will be focusing and wanting to be graded on, mainly due to the lack of a massive amount of original footage. I have a huge responsibility when making this because not only do I need to do all the research, I also need to find all the footage and then even find my own footage that I will need to record. Towards the end I will also need to make sure that the edit that I make is top class and outstanding to compensate the lack of original footage.
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Voice-over actor:
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Callum mills: After doing extensive research I have decided to work along with Callum Mills to achieve the best possible voice over. I didn't want someone that has a strong accent as well as someone that isn't monotone and is capable of changing tones and moods in moments that I will want it to change. Callum ticked all the boxes when looking for the ideal voice over actor, he also ticked the budget box as he didn't throw me a stupid price of like 400£ like others did. Callum will be responsible for recording all of the voice over's required in the documentary, he will record the beginning part where I introduce the organisation and speak a little about it, the middle part where he will speak about each individual player that played in the team and their importance to the team, he will also talk be responsible for introducing the person I will be interviewing. Finally, he will also be talking about the downfall and the splitting of the team. Overall, Callum will be really important part of the project and making the documentary come out successful and he is playing one of the most important roles in this.
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Interviewee:
MichaÅ‚ 'Michu' Müller: After asking multiple people and players in the scene Michu was the one that agreed to do it. With him, his responsibility will be to join the interview and answer the questions in a good manner giving reasonable answers and not one word answers. Michu will be playing a massive part in the documentary too as he is the one and only person that will be interviewed in my project so it is important that I stay in contact with him and that the interview comes out like we both planned it to.
Feedback about the documentary
I decided to create a google form with a few questions regarding the documentary. I decided to send it to the people that were wiling to watch it for me. After getting feedback I was pleased with the result that they gave me. I decided to make sure that it wasn't sent to someone that is friends with me so they couldn't be kind a lie. I decided to ask on a discord group and 3 people responded. Overall, I am pleased with the feedback I got as it proves that I successful managed to achieve what I planned. Also, with the feedback I got, I used it to make any changes that they suggested.
Lighting
When it comes to lighting in my documentary this is something that I won't focus on heavily, mainly because there isn't a massive lighting adjustment I can make in the game itself when recording footage. The main thing i will look at when recording the footage in game is to make sure that it just isn't too dark too bright ,I won't be going into extensive use of lighting as I just don't have the option of doing such thing in game. The only place where I will pay a bit more attention to when it comes to lighting is when I am getting the footage from online, because if I am going to use found footage in my documentary I want it to be the best quality and the highest production level possible.
Reflection
So far, in this project I have completed all of the important and necessary research I needed to do for my documentary. Thanks to the research I have done I was able to gain a lot of knowledge for my documentary as well as learn some new skills that I will need to use. I also made sure, that every piece of research and finding I have made I needed to make sure I put it on my blog so that I have easy access to and can refer back to it for help or more information during the project. Personally, I think that I manage to achieve everything I wanted to and aimed to achieve when planning what I want to do for my research. There were days where I might of fallen behind a little bit but managed to catch up at the end.
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I would have to say that during the whole research phase I felt confident. Only at the start, I was a bit worried as I realised the amount of research and work I need to do to make this a successful. However, after small steps and with each day I manage to build confidence and feel great about the work and the amount of work I have done for my research. When I finished the research and handed it in, I was extremely proud and happy with the amount of work I managed to achieve.
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I think my research was really good and I managed to develop a lot of new and useful skill that I will need for my documentary. I think the thing that went well with my research is the amount of information I managed to gather and find out about my documentary which put me in better place for production as I now have a bigger knowledge of creating documentaries and everything I need to create one. The thing that the bad bits were definitely , times where I lost motivation to do any work and didn't really enjoy doing the research which meant I didn't get a lot of work done for that lesson.
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I think that my research went really well for a couple of reasons. One of the reasons is the depth I went in to complete my research. I think I went really in-depth into my research and searched for a lot of things about my project so that I can have a clear idea and understanding of how to create documentaries. I think that also me practicing all the major skills during research definitely made it better. The thing that I think didn't go so well is that I didn't really research a huge amount of directors that made documentaries. The main reason for that is that I wanted to research ones that I've watched before and liked as well as ones that could link to my documentary when it comes to the making of it.
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If I were to do this research again, I would definitely research more directors no matter if they have something in common with my documentary or not. I think that if I did research a lot more I would have clearer idea of documentaries and the making of them, I already have clear idea but I think I would learn a lot more if I researched couple more directors. I think next time I could also research more about e-sport documentaries and try to watch more as this time I only watched one which overall was really well made and gave me some ideas on how to create mine. Next time, I will also reflect on my research in greater detail and make sure that it is the best it can be and that I put all my skill and effort into it too.