Smoke On [Movie]

[TFOGas 0]

Smoke On .. Virtual Thunderbirds

You guys need to see this blockbuster of a movie.

It's a movie that needs to be seen.

November 9th, 2006 marks another first in machinima history. To my knowledge, it’s the first time that a machinima production has been shown on a 40 by 70 foot movie screen at a 400 seat theatre. The event took place in Las Vegas.

The movie is called 'Smoke On'. It's a 50 minute demonstration of online formation flying by The Virtual Thunderbirds using a modded Lock On: Modern Air Combat flight simulator game. The premiere was a private screening with about 50 friends, family, former members of the Virtual Thunderbirds, an Honorary Thunderbird, as well as a former pilot of the actual USAF Thunderbird Team in attendance.

The Virtual Thunderbirds began in the spring of 2004 with a group of flight simulator enthusiasts, and it has since evolved into what it is today. Many of the pilots selected for the demo team are real world aviators with thousands of hours of jet experience, both military and civilian and they range in ages from 23 to 52

Kris “Lawndart†Langdell created this incredible video showcasing The Virtual Thunderbirds. Kris is also a member of the The Virtual Thunderbirds and in real life, he is a professional pilot, flying the Embraer 145 for Mesa Airlines.

The movie is 1.2 gigs in size and will be available in 4 parts. The movie contains essentially an entire High Show (about 38 manoeuvres) from multiple angles and cameras and additionally; start-ups, taxing, a long intro sequence and approx 8 minutes of extras after the flying portion of the show is over. Total time: 49 minutes and 54 seconds (in its current format).

How this team is able to perform such precision online formation flying is simply amazing. I cannot begin to imagine the skill level and the many hours of practice required to fly with this type to precision.

Normally in machinima movies, the creator of the movie is the sole star, characters are simply there as part of the story line. Smoke On is unique, in that both the characters and movie creator are the stars of the show. You won't be able to mention one without the other.

From what I've seen on the trailer and from people who have seen it, this movie is going to blow your socks off. I'm sure we will be seeing this movie next year at the 2007 Machinima Film Festival.

I know, I’ll be burning my copy to DVD and watching it on my own big screen.

You can watch the trailer or download the full movie here

It is just over a gig in size, but don't let that scare you, it is worth the download.

Download from here ..

Smoke On

Sneak peek here ..

Air Show .. Smoke On

[Shashman 0]

What's a "machinima" movie?

[shadow 6]

What's a "machinima" movie?  

Its a video made completely from a videogame.

Downloading the full video now. If they are anything like the Virtual Blue Angels it will be a 50-minute mind-blowing experience. These guys have too much time on their hands

[Daddl 10]

Just watched the preview. Impressive flying indeed!

Although you'd really have to be a flight sim nut to watch the whole 50 minutes of it!

[TFOGas 0]

What's a "machinima" movie?  

Its a video made completely from a videogame.

Downloading the full video now. If they are anything like the Virtual Blue Angels it will be a 50-minute mind-blowing experience. These guys have too much time on their hands  

Not completly true, we as machinima movie makers can and do use what ever means available to make the movie believable and watchable.

Here is a couple of others to watch to save farther explanation ..

This made using the BF2 engine ..  Top Gear Parody

This using the BF2142 engine .. 2142

This is a flight sim again, telling a true story from WW11 .. Eagle Day (Alder Tag)

[KingC 0]

I liked the flying on the trailer, but the music used in that made me want to stick glowing metal rods into my ears.

Generally I find it nice that people are making such ambitious machinima projects. They are a nice low cost method of making indie films and I think that machinima production and popularity is increasing. As the graphics of videogames have also improven greatly, I could imagine these kind of films entertaining also for those who are unfamiliar with gaming, and can be also used to attract people into games.

[R0adki11 3945]

some people have far too much time on their hands

[Myst9999 0]

You know, compression works wonders on file sizes.

You could get a 50 min dvd quality movie down to around 400mb.

[-ZG-BUZZARD 0]

Any chance of this being on Youtube?

[TFOGas 0]

BUZZARD @ Nov. 30 2006,16:38)]Any chance of this being on Youtube?  

I believe it is, search for Smoke On and the maker Lawndart, he has uploaded it to there .. though the quality will be crap.

[Scotty Boy 0]

i have followed the Virtual Thunderbirds for ages and loved the first movie they brought out which was only 14 minutes long, it is impressive flying from them and requires time and dedication to fly that precise, they have done well for themselves and have a good sponser who provide them with top of the range gear.

They hold trials for new members every year i think so if anyone think there that good give it a try.

Most of the team are commercial pilots for big airlines so have a natural talent.

Just downloading this new film now

for more info on them heres there website www.virtualthunderbirds.com

[MAA3057 0]

Very nice! I always loved the Thunderbirds. I used to live near the Kingsville,Texas NAS and would get free shows of the Navy Blue Angels

[TFOGas 0]

i have followed the Virtual Thunderbirds for ages and loved the first movie they brought out which was only 14 minutes long, it is impressive flying from them and requires time and dedication to fly that precise, they have done well for themselves and have a good sponser who provide them with top of the range gear.

They hold trials for new members every year i think so if anyone think there that good give it a try.

Most of the team are commercial pilots for big airlines so have a natural talent.

Just downloading this new film now

for more info on them heres there website www.virtualthunderbirds.com

Thanks for the thumbs up ..

[blackdog~ 0]

I downloaded it and was pretty impressed by the flying but midway into the second part (of four) I was getting pretty bored... pretty cool anyway though I guess...

[deanosbeano 0]

people who downloaded that video also ordered these

community made videos

look out for a couple called bensky and mutch there v good (french with subtitles).