World of Cor! Craft

I've dithered about posting this, because the acting and dialogue is... well, let's go with "enthusiastic", but the concept and the special effects are pretty stonking, by and large.

Beyond The Real Life is Who Framed Roger Rabbit with Warcraft, essentially. WoW machinima overlaid onto and blended with real-world footage. "Almost every shot is a combination of in-game items, characters, or environments with real life footage and special effects," it says here.

As you'll see, the movie-makers have absolutely gone to town on the green-screening. And on the impossibly nerdy, rapid-fire Warcraft/24/Lost/Lord of the Rings/ pretty much every geek-beloved product you can think of gags.

Like I say, the good-natured but super-amateur performances and narrative are unavoidably going to inspire cynicism, but admire it for the sheer level of time, energy and detail. Even an embittered ex-WoW player like me couldn't help but feel all wistful at the ghost-walking scene. It's a bit long, mind: 45 minutes.

(There's a few crass gags and occasional potentially naughty language, so headphones may be advised if you're in public).

More details about how this got made and whatnot on the homepage.