Rust - The Battle for Honeypot Hill - Update #2

Good afternoon all. Hope you're doing smashing. It's the end of the next week on this Rust video and here's an update on progress.

• The whole thing has about 10,000 words. And I've successfully recorded, cut and trimmed more than 8,300 of them. Stopping deliberately at the pink bit in the timeline, for reasons I'll explain.

• Recording went just fine. I did however "cotton mouth" a few of the segments. Or flubbed some lines here or there. So I'll probably do some re-recording of individual segments.

• Consider the audio to be mostly done. The visual stuff has started.

On that, the work now is actually pretty interesting due to the way they all have different considerations. And it's entirely due to how the script is setup. Here's the timeline:

The visuals all have their own challenges, represented below. Let me walk you through them.

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Rust Critiques:

The opening stage of the video is a VERY quick introduction to Rust. Without getting too stuck into the weeds. Lest non-gamers be confused insofar as what I'm even talking about.

But in an effort to provide context for Dinklebean's community server, I briefly rattle off three big critiques I have of Rust:

• The inevitable rush to min-max bases designed entirely for PvP. Flattened of all other considerations. Leading to very samey gameplay.

• The fact that offline raiding is a thing, leading to more of the above.

• That servers can often be a salt mine. With drama, a very high skill ceiling. And newer players having to adapt to the above or risk being curb stomped.

Because of that, this section heavily relies not on my own footage, but delves into the online eco-system of Rust base building tutorials. And the dozens upon dozens of stylishly edited, cinematic looking tours of extremely hostile looking architecture.

Hence my challenge is to pick through a lot of those for the sake of my points.

Mind you, I need to try and do it swiftly. Lest I get stuck too far down the rabbit-hole of criticisms rather than storytelling.

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Stream Footage:

The bulk of the video involves showing moments from the Rust livestreams themselves. And that presents an entirely different sort of challenge.

For whilst I may have hit the button on my stream deck to mark something funny in a moment, I certainly didn't know there was going to be a video related to the battle of Honeypot Hill. So there's lots that is simply not marked.

I've gone through the vods in quick 1 minutes to 10 seconds intervals in the VLC media player. Making very brief notes on what happened where. For example:

But ultimately it's going to be a bit of a challenge trying to find the precise visual parts that are needed from so much footage. That will no doubt form the bulk of the visual editing challenge.

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IRL Props:

In the middle segment of the video, there's a part where I want to comedically introduce another Forest-style wall. A battle map which I can point at with a stick and do silly voices.

The bungalow has a corkboard. I installed it some months ago. I mostly use it as a to-do board for house repairs.

But in this instance, I'm going to see about getting a blown up version of the Rust map. Setup one of my white studio lights for the neutral lighting. And then use the fact that I can pin things through it, for visual gags.

So with all of that footage, there's a completely different set of considerations. I'll need to make plans to get everything I need. Get the right props. Make sure they're lit properly, etc.

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Montage editing and battle sequences

At the 8,300 word mark, the battle properly commences. And at that segments there's a little sequence where we all gathered in the lobby for pre-fight RP speeches.

Mag plays the piano in the game. And after I boot him off it, I start playing the MIDI version of the MEGLOVANIA song in Undertale.

The reason for stopping at 8,300 words is that I'd like to juice the start of the battle sequence with a battle montage set to that specific theme.

My brothers missiles are going to slam into the side of the base the theme drops. And what should follow, is a montage cut from three different perspectives - mine, Lamram's and Dinklebeans.

I'm hoping I can fire a bullet and perhaps see it land on Lamram's stream. And cut accordingly.

During this time, the script priorities change. For the battle is what will set the tempo of the script, as each individual comedic beat happens and is then narrated around.

• Lamram's crew break into my specific bedroom. Leaving me pounding at my own bedroom door, unable to get to my own gear. Show that, then narrate it.

• Dinklebean seals a door behind me. And in my flailing door closing panic, I accidently seal three of the attackers in a dead end bedroom. Show that first bit, then narrate the consequences.

• The missiles from the MLRS site rain down onto the base and are destroyed, caught from at least two different VOD perspectives in spectacular fashion. Explain in the narration "oh god, I wonder what happened to those missiles we lost".

The script will be written backwards. Around what happened in the battle and when. Before closing off with a joke that's already been determined. And the video ends.

So yes, the TL;DR is - the visuals for the Rust video are now being done. But depending on the segment and the nature of it, the source of the clips are very different in tone.

Should be fun. The editing continues :)