Hello everybody! I'm obviously new here and didn't pay attention to the rules (or common sense) before posting. I have just made this Max Payne 3 montage video about an hour or so ago and was so excited to post it, that I didn't really explain what it was about, or why I made the montage.

For a few years I had been an accountant in a public firm... After working in such a bland profession for awhile, I've re-discovered my passion for films and film-making. I've begun learning how to edit all types of videos, but since I have very limited experience or equipment to shoot my own footage, I've been recording myself playing video games. Mainly, the games that already have cinematic flair and action built into them.

My most recent project is what I am showing you now: Max Payne 3 Montage. I loved the original Max Payne when I was a kid, and I knew this would be the perfect type of game to practice my editing. I was not disappointed! The game seemed a teency bit boring for the first couple of levels, but as the chapters progressed, I became more and more thrilled with the scenes.

The beauty that I find with games like Max Payne 3 is that there's a set number of bad guys in each area, and yet the game is still so dynamic with the decent AI and impressive physics engine. I basically recorded myself from start to finish on my first play-through (medium difficulty, soft aim). I guess what gives me a certain knack for editing is that while playing this game, certain scenes and certain results stand out to me and I can piece them together in my mind how they would fit in a commercial or a montage.

I must have listened to hundreds of songs before I heard The Hives - Hate To Say I Told You So - And I knew it was PERFECT for the montage I was trying to put together. I felt that the pacing of the song matched with the type of scenes I was trying to include. It has a bit of angst to it as well, which matches Max's personality.

So, I've had about half of what you see in this video mapped out in my mind ever since I saw/played the scenes in the game. The other half I just picked up to fill in where I thought appropriate. I've done straight up basic editing for another montage I made about the game Vanquish. However, for Max Payne 3, I tried to really make it look like it could pass as a (long) commercial. There are two or three spots where I see that I could make the cuts a bit less choppy, but overall I'm very proud of this project. As I already said, I had a lot of this stuff mapped out in my head already, and I really made the shots look exactly how I imagined they could.

How do you think I did? What do you think of the "montage reels" where the windows split up and move around. Was I trying to be a bit too fancy? I appreciate and welcome any criticism... And praise as well =)

That should be a new trend on the forums: "Topic title (now with discussion)"

Ugh. That fucking music completely destroys the soul of the game.

Yikes... Does that make me an evil person for destroying the soul of the game? =D

Just another tragedy for Max Payne to dwell on I suppose! Where are those painkillers at?

@Napalm said:

Ugh. That fucking music completely destroys the soul of the game.

But the montage itself is very nicely done, regardless of the music. And yet, i can't help but agree. Still, it's pretty awesome. Also, did you dislike the video?

@Napalm said:

Ugh. That fucking music completely destroys the soul of the game.

You could say that it doesn't fit. That would be fine. Saying it "destroys the soul" of a game that is already extremely divided in tone and style just makes you sound like a douchebag.

The video was pretty cool dude. Very well done.