MOMENTO :: VA BlackHawk :: Zentz Productions [Comp Entry]

Dear Member,

To those of you who know me, thank you for the time we spent sharing Halo together. To those of you who are newer, I have been a member here since 2005 and I probably have less posts than you so you may not be too familiar with me as I stay fairly quiet on the forum these days. My name is VA BlackHawk, you may also know my from some of the projects I have edited under Zentz Productions (Kraynium's One, Ruzted's Montage, Silent Tactix 1v1 montage, and a few Lost in Time projects from last year). I present to you another project I have been secretly working on for the past few months: Momento (or Memento, for those of you who like to spell things correctly or if your name is KBlocker; yes,I realize he used this title in one of his videos a while back). I am going to write more about the project and about my future plans below for those interested, for those who are not, please check out the video and comment below with your feedback, thoughts, comments or concerns.

 

MOMENTO/ MEMENTO

VA BLACKHAWK

ZENTZ PRODUCTIONS

 

https://youtu.be/Hr4d9R1w-9A

 

Songs:

A Perfect Circle - Weak and Powerless (Tilling My Grave remix)
A Perfect Circle - 3 Libras (Feel My Ice Dub Remix)
Nothing More - If I were
Bleeker - Highway
Struts - Kiss This

 

Momento is more than likely going to be my last Halo project. I say more than likely because I said the same thing in 2009 and then MCC pulled me back in, so if I release something 5 years from now, don't hold it against me. Although MCC wasn't what I expected it would be, it brought me back into the community and gave me the opportunity to reconnect with old friend and make a few more along the way. It also allowed me to brush off the old editing software and start making montages again and for that I am grateful. 

This was the type of video I had in mind for myself when I first started playing and  learned how to edit. After watching montage after montage back in the mid to late 00's, I wanted to make a video like Halzred's and Zola's and all the other editors in the community who were pumping out amazing video after amazing video. Unfortunately, I didn't have the equipment or the experience to make the videos I felt I could make. So you could say this video has been 10+ years in the making, it took me that long to finally be able to peace everything together and produce another solo montage I was proud of. 

When I started this project back a few months ago, unsure if I would actually finish. I didn't think I had the gameplay to keep up with a lot of other videos and there was hesitation on my side to continue the project. But because I had missed the deadline for every montage contest back in the golden days; I wanted to make sure I was able to enter something into this one. It was something I wish I had gotten a chance to be apart of back in the golden days. During my initial render of the video, my external hard drive crashed and I lost all of my clips and the ability to alter my timeline and remove any effects already added, so if you run across any issues with syncing or sound errors, just know I would have liked to fix it but due to the circumstances around the project, I am unable to. As I said, this video is a representation of having to move forward; not only did I lose all the clips from this project, I lost all of my 2007-2009 clips as well as all of my montages. 

So in a sense, this video is a jumping off point for me, a chance to close a chapter in my book and begin a new one (dramatic right?). I have been playing Halo since 2001 and I probably will never actually stop playing, but my drive and desire to grind for clips or record every game isn't there anymore. This doesn't mean I will stop editing, but as far as my solo projects go this may very well be my last big one. I recently got engaged to my best friend and love of my life and plan on starting my life with her; I am also in the process of relocating out to the west coast to take a new job. This just feels like the right time to take a step back from gaming and start putting more focus on more important things in my life. But before I do that, I would like to thank everyone who has collaborated with me, played with me, let me bounce ideas off of them or anyone else who has taken time to critique my videos ad give me feedback. I cant name everyone because it would take to long but there a few special shout outs I do have. Steffan, Alex, Kyle and Steve - Y'all have made playing Halo fun again, through Lost in Time and the Pleasure Squad, it has probably (maybe but probably not) been the most fun 2 years I have played on the game. Shout out to Ball3s as well, you were one of the old heads that I always wished I had gotten a chance to play with more and getting the chance to do so as well as collab on some editing projects has been a blast. Hustla I hate you (jk), but it has been months and I am still bitter about the night we played and you got 4 Killtac's in back to back games. To everyone else, thank you for being along for the ride. 

TL:DR - Just watch the damn thing and let me know what you think. 

Thank you for your time and enjoy.

Sincerely, 

Jordon

AKA VA BlackHawk

As I said earlier, the Nothing More song is one of the best edited sections of a Halo 2 montage I have ever seen.

I'll watch this video again tomorrow and leave you a better review, not sure how much you changed since earlier. 

<3

I loved this. These are my favorite types of videos: The ones with a personal touch and investment that makes you throw your typical montage grading criteria out the window. Montaging in general is just so impersonal these days, and so this is a very welcome breath of fresh air. Making a video should be about your experience and your time on the game and that's what happened here. It's what happened with roots in the last competition. It's what used to happen much  more frequently with montages. You can't do something so much for so long and not have a personal or emotional investment in it - It's good to see some one acknowledge that and just make a video that's reflective of the countless hours spent on the game and have a "memento" that you can look back on and say "Fuck those were some good times and some good plays". 
Jordon you're an awesome dude both on and off halo. I remember watching your videos when i was a nobody who could barely get a sloppy 3 out of his BR and wishing I had the level of talent you did. You're personally responsible for about a 1/3 of my favorite halo 2 clips all time (Some of which were featured in the intro) and you've always been one of those players that's been able to inspire me to get online and get better. You've done some truly memorable things on this game over the years and the best part of lost in time was, and always will have been, getting to play with guys like you. love and respect buddy. 

I'm honored to be one of the people you showed previews to for feedback.  You already have my feedback and input on this project, but again, I think you did an amazing job on this video.  

The vintage theme was a nice touch; it's one that's been done many times in montages but it still works for you because you're playing halo 2 and your footage is either legitimately old or at least on an old game.  On top of that it's a theme you carried out through your whole 13 minute video, unlike a one off effect in some other edits or like one of those pseudo vintage short COD edits that are only 30 seconds long.  

That said, I hope people stop doing vintage-esque footage effects in their videos from here on out.  Now that you've themed an entire video on it there's nothing more to do with that concept and it's just overdone at this point.  It's like .exe by PTW.

Jordan, I'm not sure what else to say that I haven't already said giving you feedback these past several months. I will say that you definitely accomplished what you set out to do. The entire theme this video puts off is exactly what you were going for. The pre-intro vhs looking segment is one of my favorite intro sequences ever. And I think it was absolutely genius of you to add in the static/ screen disruption effects half way through leading to the ending. That was quite possibly the coolest/ most intelligent editing idea I've seen when you combine it with the videos theme. Even though this is (at the moment) your last video I sincerely hope you never stop editing, you've managed to become one of my favorite editors in the Halo community. Your ability to create a video that brings out so much nostalgia, yet still have a very modern look and feel to it is unrivaled. You did a fantastic job with this video. 

On a more personal note, it amazes me that even after a DECADE were still sitting here talking about the same video game on the same website. You've known me since I was 12 years old, and have shared countless memories over this video game. You are one of the few people I've met through Halo that I can call a true friend. I wish nothing but the best for you and Emily. 

Side note, I was hoping that after about two years of me selectively calling you Jordan, instead of Jordon you would get the hint. My name is spelled STEFFEN.

This was really good man, I really liked it.

I really liked the old style theme, and the clips were really good as well. You said you didn't know if they would live up to par, but they definitely did. I remember you from back in the day as well, not sure if I remember playing with you but I would see you on the forums alot. I cant believe its been almost 10 years since I first started coming to this forum, it really changed how  I played the game and the people I met along the way will forever be friends  no matter if we talk anymore or not.

Nonetheless, This montage was great man, I can honestly say it is one of my favorites that I have seen recently, I just started getting back in the community as of a few weeks ago and have watched numerous montages, this is one of the best I have seen, I think its because of the nostalgia it brings back... Idk.  I will definitely be watching this later down the road!  

absolutely fell in love with the VCR flashback. whole montage had that 2007-2008 vibe to it which kept me hooked because that's pretty much my favorite ever. also your editing never fails to disappoint me. hope this does really well in the comp. very awesome video Jordon!

ACP takes me back and reminds me that I need to listen to them more.

I'm not sure what it is, but this montage looks so crisp and clean to me. Even with youtube compression it just looks astounding to me. Couldn't agree with Hable anymore, that song, the clips, and the editing just flow so perfectly. All of it was extremely well done though. All of the clips were extremely enjoyable to watch not really a dull moment in the whole video. The credits were probably some of the best credits I've ever seen. It didn't detract from the experience like most credits do, the clips were just as good (and hilarious) as the main montage and the names put in were blended well. 

No time to watch right now, but I took a peek at the intro and loved the VCR effect. Watching this fully tonight!

What a studly fuckin' montage. The gameplay was top notch, man. Enjoyed the fuck out of almost all of it. Loved the VCR/retro intro and them. I genuinely do not think I've seen it executed so well. I logged in late at night a few weeks ago and saw you and Doodle shooting angles and was pumped that this was on the way. The depth of field masking you did was phenomenal. I'm certain I saw every instance of it and it made the clips pop so fuckin' well. Especially on the angles. Just some of the best H2 angles I think I've seen. The beginning of the Ascension clip and music coming in was great. Loved the 2nd (or third) song starting around 7:00. Edited so fuckin' well. Credits footage and song was excellent, man. Loved all of it. I really hope this goes far and it's unfortunate to see it's your last but what a banger to go out on. Oh, and this made me eat my words the other day when I said I didn't wanna see much Middy footage anymore, but I did say unless it's from a select few and the LIT boys. The spawn stick wreckage and doubleshot multis were too much. I wish I could do that shit badly.

Solid fuckin' job. Couldn't have asked for a better vid.

Yo Jordon!  I can't remember my old account password.

This was super enjoyable, not even just nostalgia wise. Some of those clips are the real deal.  The BXR-RRBX combo is something that I could never pull off in a way I wanted. On the sword? Shiiiiit. The spawn sticks, man that shit is awesome.

The editing, well done, sir.

Jordan you already know how I feel about this. Final product is amazing. Clips were unreal and I love your editing style. Great music choices as always.  Easily in my top 5

Really loved the edit on this video. One of the best edited Halo 2 videos for sure.

The gameplay was really nice as well, enjoy mostly all of it.

The intro was way too long for me and I did not like any of the song choices at all.

Other than those two things, dope shit man!

 

some hard work put into this and it turned out to be pretty damn sick. I'm one of those newer people you were referring to, so I'm not the most knowledgeable on good h2 gameplay. But i can tell you that i enjoyed watching this a lot mostly cuz of your editing and overall style. Good stuff man.
Awesome shit per usual! Classic halo for lyfeeeeeeee
That was a fast 13 minutes, really enjoyable, i loved the intro so much, the FX were cool af too, lots of nasty GP too, great shit BlackHawk

It was a really good dude, it was awesome seeing the progression from just an intro with some gameplay with no FX, to this very beautifully put together piece of work. Awesome job dude. Love that potential killtac in the credits ;) GG

 

15/10

That was just awesome.

Yo this intro is ssssiiiiiiiccccckkkk dawg.   The screen cap of the Bungie.net record and the old H2F skin made my panties moist.  Also, just wanna say. Blackhawk is probably one of the best Halo 2 players of all time in Virginia.  I'm liking the appeal of this montage so far.

Yo how my Scottish homeboy Fat Jealous Pig gets clipped at the very start!  Nice angle work on that Sanc CTF clip.  Wow bruh you actually did the bullet effect at 5:29, fucking radical man; we ain't even seen who you killed!  

Ok that little sequence on Middy FFA where you keep bringing up the clock was God---------like.  And wow, you dicked on my boy Neo Stellar on that Warlock TS clip?  Damn.  Ascension snipes were clean AF.  And then Sk0ls, Uncut, and Amanai get worked in the next clip?  There's too many familiar names in this montage.

Button combos are on point today Jordan.  The 1 shot frenzy on the  outside of Gemini was delicious.  Honestly, I'm surprised at how well this is edited also, very professional looking.  Blazin gets 3 shotted before the quad shot for the trip...ok so when you got that dub shot tac on Hustla where he's bouncing car 3, I literally said out loud, "STOP IT!"  

Ok did you actually get the kill on bottom middle at 10:02 or not?  I liked that little text effect you did for the spawn stick on middy.   The ninja on the OS guy in Creek was Gun Shot-esque bruh.  This is a very fun kind of montage.  Music was a perfect choice.

 

perfect circle <3

editing was legit and the gameplay was great
i miss all those 1v1s we used to play back on original h2

wish you well,

Awesome tage! Great edit and gameplay. That static effect throughout was so cool.