The Cult of Setekh was a completely impromptu video I literally threw together.  It was done totally unplanned and unrehearsed.  Our guild was raiding in Kael intending to take down Derakor the Vindicator.  As we were waiting for the guild members to assemble, it struck me that "Hey, why don't I try capturing this and see how it turns out?"  Heck, if I didn't like it, I could scrap it all.

Using the techniques and experience I gained from creating the Pamela series, I proceeded to film shot after shot while our guild fought various giants.  In between fights, I asked a few people to /wave or /cheer for me.  I also did a bunch of pans over the entire guild so everyone could be in at least one of the shots.

The actual Derakor fight sequence was really two seperate fights.  Our first attempt failed.  It proved to be the best thing that happened for the filming sequence, for on the second attempt I got most of the Derakor action sequence that now appears in the video.

Unlike the Pamela series, I had no idea of what music I would use.  I poured over many many mp3's I had and spent hours just listening to pieces to see if I could make what I had already captured fit what I was listening to.  As I reviewed the dozens and dozens of clips I had taken, I thought something majestic, something powerful would fit the theme.  These were, after all, giants our guild was fighting.  It needed to be something that sounded "larger than life".  John Williams comes to mind for such musical scores, however his themes are very recognizable.  I wanted to use something that wasn't as well known but still had the impact of a film score.

Then I ran across the theme music to the movie "Armegeddon" by Trevor Rabin.  It's one of those things that just "clicks".  As soon as I heard it, I said "That's it!".  And the video neatly fell into place along with the musical score.

I highly doubt I could duplicate such a sequence even if I had everyone in the guild go back out there and we rehearsed it all.  The fact that it was so candid and impromptu makes it that much more believable and real.  The music carries the video much better than I ever imagined it would have.

There are always things one wishes they could "do over" once they've completed a project, and there are a few pieces in there I wish I could have portrayed better but I have to say overall I am very pleased how this sequence turned out.

Razor