Electric Nightmares

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Best GTA 5 Videos

Featuring: Whales! Dogs! Planes!

Want to watch the best GTA 5 videos?

Well hello and welcome to the last annual Horascars Awards, a celebration of what the Grand Theft Auto 5 [official site] community has managed to do so far with the PC-only camera-positioner and slowmoifier Rockstar Editor tool. They're like the Oscars only they carry no weight whatsoever and are mostly a framing device for me to show off some cool videos.

-wait for applause-

Thank you, thank you. I've scoured the depths of Reddit, YouTube and every other internet well for the very best in Los Santos-based video entertainment. The sheer graphical meat of GTA5 coupled with the easy to use tool has created explodey-bang showpieces, comedies and even the odd bit of pure digital photography. Read on!

Tarantino Out Of Ten Award, Django Category:

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The Epic Meth Lab Shootout - DomesticMango

One of the first things people have done with the editor is recording the base game's normal missions from new angles. There's already a cinematic element to the structure and pace of a lot of these set-pieces, so they're very easily and naturally adapted. I chose this one because Django Unchained is excellent and Tarantino's particular brand of hyper-violence lends itself rather well to Rockstar's.

Best Incidental Character, Saluting Astronaut Category

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Los Santos & Blaine County - RageDev

Fan trailers are the other go-to for Editor first-timers. Many have come out superior to the focus tested official product and this is the best of them. It manages to show off both the more normal, everyday life side of the game world and the sudden violence that usually follows in a player's wake. Slammin' backing track, too.

Best Rip Off, Kevin Spacey Category

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House of Cards - El Serpe

Alternatively, you could make a trailer/intro for something else entirely. Good to see the time dilation effects used for something other than slow motion car crashes and destruction. It also shows off how well Los Santos operates as a city, devoid of any player interference. Probably not the most appropriate world for Serious Political Drama beyond that, mind. Few too many alien invasions.

Most Appropriate Use Of Trevor's Groin, Genitalia Category:

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Trevor's Perfume - GTA Series Videos

This is exactly the sort of thing you get when a developer sends a way to manipulate their game out into the wild. Using tools designed to showcase jumping a motorcycle over a train, you'll get a one minute TV spot for perfume that makes you smell like a redneck's unwashed downstairs parts. Bonus points for slow motion dog bonking, that's a real professional's touch.

The Trevor Hater's Society Shortlist:

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Trevor's Mosquito - Florian Calmer

While we're on the subject, here's Trevor destroying his camper van in an attempt to kill a mosquito. It appeals both to the part of me that's woken up in a demented rage due to a fly buzzing around my head; and the bit that wants to see Trevor punished for being such a tremendous arsehole all the time. For more of the latter without any subtlety whatsoever, YouTuber Abstract Mode has artistically filmed him doing Jackass:

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Aye, take that. Git.

Most Violent School Bus, Theft Category:

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The Ultimate Heist - LioN KoLLA

Heists are far and away the best part of GTA5, using the living world Rockstar have put together to craft a story and then allowing you to mess it all up. This video shows off one of the online variety, designed to be played with groups of friends and emulate the big story moments of the single-player in a co-op setting.

Most Impressive Explodey-Boom-Vrooms, Michael Bae Category:

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The Police Chase - rechyyy

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the creator of the best and second best frag videos of all time produced quite a great mix of destruction and music on his first go round. rechyyy (or ClaYmaN, as he was) is the master of synching in-game sound with the beats and flow of his backing track. Even used sparingly, as here, it's a great effect.

AI Memorial Service:

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The AI Taxi Challenge - C SUL

A sad moment in our ceremony as we mourn the loss of thousands of taxis tricked into a drive they could never complete. A moment of silence for these brave souls, taking part in a Reddit challenge they were not aware of. A quirk of programming leads the drivers to take a different and far more dangerous route across Mount Chilliad than intended, at literally break-neck speeds. C SUL's documentation of failure was the best I found, and there didn't seem to be a recorded successful attempt at all.

On the next page see our animal related awards! Plus: the beauty of Los Santos and its bugs.

Horace's arms holding it out to you, bestowing you with glory.

Most Horrifying Use Of Dog, Terror Category:

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Woof - RisingJake

Ah yes, how many times have we seen this story? Dog chases cat, cat gets away, dog goes on murderous rampage, steals a commercial airline's finest and crashes it into the cat, destroying it once and for all. A classic tale. It reminds me of this similar but horse-based seminal work from GTA4, brought to my attention by RPS alumnus Craig Lager.

Best Stunt Deer, Endangering Animals Category:

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The Chase - TheSlothsDen

There's some lovely action shots in this and great use of slow-mo. The close-up of Franklin as he goes off the cliff is perfectly timed, his shrug of a blink as he tumbles to the sand: "Here we go again." We've given this award to the obvious star of the piece - you just don't see that kind of feign-deathing from non-humans every day. Bravo.

Most Appropriate Music, Dead Island Category:

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The Beauty Of A GTAV Bug - James McVinnie

A truly emotional short from James McVinnie, of TF2 machinima End of The Line fame. Perhaps best about this is in the description he says that the tool "has potential" and he plans to do more with it soon. His wordless comedy and drama will be very welcome - and there IS a giant, unstoppable train in Los Santos. Sequel, anyone?

The "Cor, Digital Landscapes, Yeah?" Award:

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Other Places: Los Santos - Andy Kelly

Despite his status as a member of RPS pull-out sports section PC Gamer, it's difficult not to link to one of Andy's Other Places videos whenever they become relevant. He's got a wonderful eye for perfect shots within digital worlds and has an absolute field day with something as detailed as Los Santos. Want more? He's also done a video highlighting the Blaine County region of the game:

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And here's parts 1 and 2 of his just stunning machinima series, Pump.

Least Horrible Deaths, Calm Bike Ride Category:

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Joyridin' - Berdu

This one's wonderfully serene, a tranquil buddy movie. Creator Berdu has put another great pair of videos up on his YouTube channel, linked above. He also created the wonderful image the header for this article is cropped from, which you can get the full, 9000 by 9000 version of over on his Flickr.

Best Use Of Whales, Whale Category:

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The Largest Mammal on Land - Merfish

We'll finish on the best possible use of, well, anything - dropping whales on unsuspecting civilians, truckers and military personnel. With a little help from modding friends, the greatest of all sea creatures has caused quite a stir in this and its similar sequel:

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Basically everything else from Merfish's channel also comes highly recommended.

But that isn't all is it, dear readers? I can already hear your fingers click-clacking away, asking how I could dare ignore a particular piece of pure genius from artists unrivalled in the sphere of funny GTA videos in my mostly fake award series! Do let me know below what I missed.

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Ben Barrett

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