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[Watchman~SPARTA~]

What about parachuting onto the helo. I'm guessing the game physics will just kill the player but in theory it could cause enough damage to bring down a helo?

[Jeff~SPARTA~]

it'd be even better if you could parachute onto the chopper, and plant a satchel on it.

 

btw, i'm in for whatever ridiculous plan we come up with!

[Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~]

UPDATE: Here is the latest info from Evan:

 

"Thanks for the follow-up. Supremely glad to have your guys? participation and experience on-hand for this.

 

Let me address your Q?we don?t need you to edit anything, nope! We simply need cameramen, actors, and possibly scripters. We?ve got an in-house video team.

 

Thanks for the additional details, I love the ideas you presented. We definitely want footage of an ATV ramping off into a helicopter, that?s hilarious. We?re definitely going to want to capture some crazy shots.

 

Next steps:

 

· I?m going to create a shot list of everything we want to capture, delivered to you tomorrow. That?ll give you a clear idea of how many people we?ll need (my estimate: 6 total, including us) and what scripting might be necessary.

· Let?s set a date for capturing. Can we do it this week?

· Feel free to pass along your camera operator mod when you have a chance! For most scenes, I think we may have two in-game cameras operating (you, and me.) That may vary, though."

 

So, the humor angle is definitely what Evan is looking for. As noted above, it sounds like he has some specific sequences he's like us to film, and it sounds like he also would like us to come up with things of our own. Again, going with the most recent post, if Jeff's idea is possible, I'd like to give it and anything else a shot.

 

I will try to make myself available in the evening for the remainder of this week to test any ideas that any one wants to try out.

 

As with our previous projects, I've told Evan that the weekends are probably the best time to try to pull this off.

[Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~]

Howdy folks,

 

I spoke with Evan today, and he sent me an email outlining exactly what he wants to see in this video. He also told me that, once completed, "the video will be in a highly visible place" on the web.

 

It looks like all he needs is people to control soldiers for the scenes outline below. The bold text is what Evan sent me:

 

Here?s my first draft on our shot sheet. Sorry if it?s a bit incongruent in terms of the detail expressed in the shots?for some, I have a really clear idea of what we precisely need to capture. For others, I?m less intent on a specific composition. As written, the quotes won?t be the literal/final VO?they convey the spirit of each section of captured footage.

 

Another thing I haven?t done is thought specifically on how we can get more characters into some of these shots. The focus is definitely on having one soldier embody the viewer?we?re creating a guide, so there?s value, visually, in having us do a lot of isolated shots on that single character. But I?m not opposed to working in more players when it gives us a better shot, obviously.

 

Is there any way we can capture this on a weekday, even next week? Let me know if you think that?s a possibility. Also, let me know if you notice any impossibilities/points of difficulty in creating missions that accommodate the shots as I?ve laid them out below. We do have some flexibility. If it?s easier, let?s get on the phone about this tomorrow/sometime this week so I can answer any questions you have and we can sync up.

 

Shot list:

 

?Helicopters think they?re better than you.?

 

* Helicopter hovering, completely still 1m off the ground on a runway, surrounded by 6-8 hooker characters and other ?sexy? female Arma models (all different colors, if duplicate models), +1 non-sexy female character. Female characters are still or walking slowly around/in front of the chopper. Player model visible in the foreground of the frame, sitting cross-legged, facing away from helicopter

 

* General glamor shots of different helicopters?captured in-cockpit AND as spectator camera

 

* Aggressive air maneuvering, rising over horizon, firing all weapons, shooting tanks, flying low to the ground, paradropping personnel

 

?Helicopters are a nuisance for the infantryman.?

 

* Individual soldiers being killed by different helicopter weapons (mixture of first-person and ground level and air camera coverage)

 

* Squads fleeing, being killed by different helicopter weapons

 

?Step 1: Get a machine gun.?

 

* Soldier grabbing machinegun from a crate

 

* Soldier killing, then running to a downed enemy and retrieving their MG (showing gear menu, etc)

 

* Close-up on a pile of varied Arma machineguns collected on pavement or high-contrast ground

 

?Step 2: Find a helicopter.?

 

* Third-person camera of soldier running (w/out MG) using free look to look left, right, up, down, spectator following him, capturing as he does this. Soldier then stops (preferably at a hill), spots something in the distance, pulls out rangefinder (capture this as specator and in first-person).

 

* Through the rangefinder, at 400+ meters (preferably in some mild cover/trees, so it isn?t evident what?s being seen until we get closer), helicopter is seen hovering off the ground, in a ?date scene? with one of the female characters from 1A. The helicopter and the woman are facing one another, with a table or other ?date object? in between them. We also capture this scene as a close-up.

 

VO: ?Oh look, there?s one.?

 

b. ?Look, there?s one over there!?

 

?Step 3: Get Prone.?

 

* Symmetrical demonstration of low accuracy while firing an MG standing up...

 

* Secondary shot of bullets pinging around the cockpit from ~300m, many misses

 

a. ...versus prone.

 

* Secondary shot of bullets pinging around the cockpit from ~300m, more hits

 

b. Shot of our soldier, now with MG, getting prone and into the eventual position we?ll have him firing from

 

* ?Aim...?

 

* Focused spectator footage of the helicopter?s tail rotor?close-ups, rotating pans on the tail rotor, with the blades in motion

 

First-person footage of the ironsights/scope focused on the tail rotor

?...Fire!?

 

* Machinegunner lying prone, facing airborne helicopter at range of ~300m. Camera is ~3m behind machinegunner?s right shoulder, at ground level, with all of machinegunner?s body visible.

 

* Forward-facing shot of machinegunner opening fire while prone

 

* Close-up on tail rotor being hit, then destroyed, continue to watch as helicopter tumbles to the ground and explodes

 

?Cool guys don?t look at explosions?

 

* Close-up on machinegunner wearing aviator sunglasses, walking (not running) forward calmly, camera backpedaling slowly to follow him as he walks forward, keeping equal distance from character. We?ll capture the character walking forward for ~10 seconds, then, in the background (at the minimum distance to not damage the player) 5+ helicopters crash behind him one at a time, 1-2 seconds apart, preferably at awkward/varied angles (not all of them should nose-dive).

 

Quick ?What if...? bonus videos:

 

9. ?What if...we used an ATV

 

* Footage of an ATV colliding with a helicopter in midair, causing an explosion

 

10. ?What if...we only had a pistol??

 

* For this, we?re filming a trickshot; firing a pistol at the cockpit at maximum range, with one camera on the soldier (?here?), and one close-up on the cockpit (?there?) simultaneously

 

11. [Any other creative ways of killing helicopters that we?d like to shoot]

 

I will be doing the video capture along with other people in the PC Gamer office. Dai-San will be gone because of his move, but I need one person that is decent at piloting a chopper AND has a high-end system to Fraps the in-cockpit view. So, Rooster, Hajimoto, and anyone else up to filling that role?

 

That's it! I think we could pull this off without much preparation, but if anyone is up for practicing any of these things over the weekend, I will try to organize something. Filming begins on Monday, July 25th, at 5pm Eastern.

 

I will try to create mission files that will include the necessary assets required for the video. Although we won't be using anything like ACE, Evan did say that we are more than welcome to use a custom map if we think it would look better than any of the stock maps in Arma/OA. Any suggestions?

[Halli~SPARTA~]

Holy cow sounds like a blast, Can't wait to see the finished product (if allowed before release).

[Rooster90]

Awesome. I can fly decently well, just don't ask me to land. XD Hajimoto might be better suited for that role than me.

[Gunthar~SPARTA~]

I will have to do some testing with FRAPS but im positive that I can fly a helo for how you need it and I should be able to run FRAPS.

[Hajimoto]

I would love to participate in some flying or some blowing up, I don't care which as they are both fun

I can assist Mon-Thur anytime after 4pm EDT, Friday anytime after 11:00am EDT or SAT-SUN anytime

[Gunthar~SPARTA~]

Ok did some testing on my own last night.

 

ATV or any vehicle ramping off of a cliff into a helo does not make it go boom

 

solution is to use what ever mod used to mount a satchel to the vehicle and have someone else blow it near the helo.

[DaiSan]

I may be gone (for a week) but hopefully not forgotten.

 

I can still record any First or Third person footage (with TrackIR) and upload from work to my FTP if you need any generic footage. All I need is a quick script description.

 

Let me know.

[Hunter~SPARTA~]

Filming begins on Monday, July 25th, at 5pm Eastern.

 

Will you be accepting JIP-ers? I *should* get off work right at 5pm and it only takes 5 minutes for me to get home.

 

 

- JHunter

[Fatal_Papercut~SPARTA~]

Howdy folks,

 

To answer JHunter's question and for everyone else's benefits, YES, Join-In-Progress is absolutely acceptable. We're not running TAC missions or anything like that, we're just going to repeating certain actions until we get a good shot while doing so, then move on to the next shot.

 

Some shot only require a handful of people; some shots will require 8-10 people if we haved that many show up. Evan and I have a scene-by-scene breakdown, including how many people we'll need for each shot. When we have a lot of people on, we'll shoot the bigger scenes; when it's just a handful of us, we shoot the small scenes.

 

Feel free to come and hang with us! We could use you!