Need help with intro

[Urkalak]

Hello, I'm in the making of a movie that I don't really know if I'll release. Although, this I know, I need help with making my intro. I have chosen a song that's calm and kind of slow.
I have about 40 seconds that is to be the intro, I can shorten it a bit further I think, that I don't know what to do with.

The movie is another one of those god-awefully-common Frost Mage movies which is a part of the reason to why I'm not sure if I'll release it, at least not publicly.
Basically, what I need is tips to make an interesting intro that's not one of those silly "look at my gear and cry and listen to this awesome Bullet for My Valentine song while I'm walking up to the battlemaster!"-intros.

As I hinted before, I know that 40 seconds for an intro can be quite long and I don't know how much I can shorten it down.

All suggestions will be considered, though, I can't guarantee that all suggestions will get the same amount of consideration time.

P.S. Kind of forgot to tell you that it's a PvP movie, although, you could probably tell that from the sentence with "... god-awefully-common Frost Mage movies".

[lordrushx1]

Well...I hope I can give you a little insight to the way I do things with Intro's.
Well, what is a intro...to me, it is the opener that will essentially describe and set up what the viewer is about to see. In this case you are showcasing a PvP film. Now, PvP really isn't a story of sorts. I mean really, it is what it is. It is pure action...player vs. player. There is no storyline,there is no directive other than showcasing one's abilities.
So, is there really a need for building an Intro? I firmly believe it would be a waste of time to build up to something that people dont really care about.
Anyone can go straight into pvp and see the same thing at any time.
When people watch pvp movies they are merely looking for one or two things.
Abilities they do not have or something of an incredible feat.
Thus...I suggest going straight into your point.
It is PvP, Your Character,Class and Realm.

Personally, I dont view pvp films...its pointless. It is ones perspective on how big one's epeen is. And really, on any given day on any server,there are bad asses. Sometimes its me /grins and other times its another. So...really is a Intro necessary? I mean, it would be like taking your cam corder to a baseball game you play in and put in all this dramatic professional baseball player footage before it. Whats the point.

Now...this may not have helped you and I guess this is solely based on my perspective and what I think about PvP movies in general. I just suggest getting to the point and not waste your efforts. I mean, do you want them to remember the intro or your pvp skills?

[Urkalak]

I guess you have a point, although, what you just said can be said about everything. Why have an intro on a storyline? All the viewers would like to see is the story so why not get on with immediately. I will think about what you said but it kind of fucked up my idea with the rest of things... Hm.

[lordrushx1]

lol awww , sorry man, didnt mean to disrupt your ideas. Just giving it to you straight.
Me, personally...I do nothing but story made machinima. So, to answer your question. The reason Intro's are important at the start of a movie is to give the viewer some perspective of whats to come. A story "could" potentially have many different elements,locations,characters and chronicles. Introducing these areas are like an amuse bouche` before a 10 course tasting meal at a french restaurant. It is a small sample of what the artist has prepared in order to capture the attention of its audience.

So..the correlation behind that and pvp. In PvP, again..many already know what to expect. In a movie that tells a story, they dont.

[Dwârv]

I do get the point of lordrush, but I do not agree totally.
First of all, I am not a fan of PvP movies as well.There a far to many of them, and 95 % of them are quite boring to watch.
But there is a way to catch the attention of an unwilling watcher like me: an interesting intro is a good way to stop me from clicking away immediatly.
Plus it might raise the final rating as well (creativity, editing...).
That said, it is allready clear, that with a "check out my awesome gear"-intro you win nothing, imho.
Some ideas: Find yourself a different intro-music (don't want to be a bigmouth, but maybe you check out the intro of my "In Frost We Trust" guide to get an idea what I am talking about). There are literally hundreds of cool and really different intro-compatible songs out there.
Edit your intro info (char, specc, realm, etc) according to that music.
40 seconds is not to long, you can stretch the intro for example with putting in some scenes of you dying in it.
A narrator (good voice actor, not just somebody talking) can be of help, too.
The list goes on.
Overall: I think an intro can make the difference between a cool PvP vid and a REALLY cool PvP vid.All it needs is creativity.

good luck with your project.