Janus Syndicate

Let’s keep this short and sweet. Here’s your big clue as to what it’s going to be:

Hint #2: The Monkees.

Fair enough for now? I’m not going to be giving away the concept of the video or any specific details about it (it’ll probably be around two and a half minutes long) but you should get an idea of where this is going. I expect filming to begin somewhat soon…We may have to take an extended moment of silence to pay respect for the legend that passed away this week…Yes, I speak of none other than Farrah Fawcett. Rest in Peace, icon. Remember, we’re just beginning production on this, so a completion date is uncertain. Definitely not anytime within a week or two though. Keep checking the facebook page and the like for updates!

-Xanatos

Hello everybody. A bit late of a site post and things have been quite lazy and easygoing lately, so it’s about time for a quick update.

A total of seven of us made it to Columbus, Ohio last weekend for a fun get-together of JS cast members. A number of people have asked, “why Ohio?” and there were a number of reasons for that. First, we’re pretty much all from the Midwest. Second, we had a couple people living in the area and therefore knew the area well, and third, and the one I am keen on mentioning is that of Boris and Crackbone - both who don’t live nearly as far from Columbus as most of us who actually went. I knew they’d be hard to get to come along for the fun, and sure enough, despite Columbus being a city relatively near them, neither of them showed up for the weekend. So yeah, they stood us up. Bleh! Really not much of a surprise. So over the weekend, it was myself, Stev, ConfusedWisdom, MetalLizard, MrSentual, HKSniper, and Nowhere who all showed up. You can check out pictures that four of us took here, some great stuff:

ALBUM LINK:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87555&id=48999482881

Unfortunately, I still haven’t gotten around to the DOD:S vs Hidden Source Wars bloopers because of all the laziness going on (Summer is fun), work, and moreso because I can’t personally find a decent way to present them as they are not very much like the last set of Source Wars bloopers. Eventually though, I will get around to it. Another reason for the delay is we recently switched hosting control from the website into our total control, but there were some side-effects because of that and some of our hosting content was lost. I’ll be working on getting that back up in a matter of time.

What’s next on the moviemaking agenda is a little unsure as of yet - I’ve got three ideas floating around, each of them difficult and unique in their own way, and I’m hoping to end up doing the shortest of the three (duration wise) that involves using Left 4 Dead…finally! Keep checking back for more word.

-Xanatos

Surprise impromptu video release - Source Mod Todd went to E3 this past week and reported live after going to the conferences! You probably have already seen it if you’ve been checking out our facebook page lately, but if not, you can check out the movie here. Has our typical style of humor. It’s an idea that originated from MrSentual.

WATCH:
Youtube.com
Machinima.com

The DOD:S vs Hidden extra bloopers compilation is still needing work, but you can expect that before we leave for Columbus, Ohio this coming June 12th-June 14th. A total of eight or nine JS people will be travelling there for a first ever actual group meetup. Sounds gay, doesn’t it? Yeah. But a lot of good stuff will probably come out of it. As far as our next project goes, that’ll be decided and will begin work on once we all come back from Columbus. See you then.

-Xanatos

Hi everyone. It’s been a while, and we seem to be stretching out our old video-a-month schedule slightly, but we finally have the followup episode to Source Wars: Counter-Strike vs Garrysmod released and up on Youtube and machinima.com! I personally was afraid while making this how difficult it would be to live up to the original video, but I think it’s safe to say they’re both equals. Watch it! Love it! Rate it! Comment on it! Spoil the ending!

Starring Crackbone, DMGaina, The Angry German Kid, Metal Slug, among others on the German team. Special thanks to ClanAO.com, all modders, and extras who helped make this video possible! As far as the next Source Wars outing goes (like what it will be), we don’t know yet, thus why there isn’t a preview at the end of this episode. I’m pretty sure we’ll be making a few other videos though before we begin making a third.

SOURCE WARS: DOD:S VERSUS THE HIDDEN!
Watch it now..
Youtube HQ
Machinima.com

More site posts to come. Enjoy the video! Please rate and comment.

-Xanatos

Mm3guy, who’s an admin over at Garrysmod.com, interviewed us last night for a website post. Myself, Stev, Crackbone, Boris, and DMGaina were apart of it, and MrSentual even showed up near the end.

Check it out here:
http://www.garrysmod.com/?dont_buff_my_pylon=1236

Also if you’ve been checking the facebook page lately, you’ll see that I posted an older prank call video of Boris calling in Tom Green Live and reading guest Pamela Anderson a poem. Good times and reminiscent of when that show used to be funny (mainly because of people calling in pranking).

The next Source Wars episode “Day of Defeat Source vs The Hidden” begins its production soon, real soon!

-Xanatos

Hey everybody. Gman Squad Episode 7 released a couple weeks ago in case you missed it - check it out here. Now that I’ve had a little downtime, it’s time to get started on the next couple of projects. First will be the second Source Wars Episode with Day of Defeat: Source versus The Hidden: Source. I didn’t understand why so many people in the comments for the first source wars video thought that the promo for it in CS vs GMOD was just a ruse, especially when we had an extensive preview for it at the end of the video. I know we had a joke near the start saying ‘last time we witnessed the Dystopia team CRUSH the Battlegrounds 2 team’, but that was just for laughs. Anyhow, we are going to be doing the DOD:S vs Hidden episode, although I can’t promise there will be a third Source Wars, at least not relatively soon after this is released. After this, we have something new & separate from our existing videos and series in mind.

Why not let us know in the page comments what you would like to see in this new Source Wars episode with DOD:S and The Hidden? Anything from characters/cameos, action ideas, topics of announcer debate, you name it.

It was both Stev and my birthday last Tuesday (the 14th). We’re not brothers, but we still share the exact same birthday. Wolfer, upon hearing of this, responded “What the fuck? What is this shithole?”

And finally, here’s something I put together the other night - a little montage with clips from past videos for fun as seen on our facebook fan page:

Stay tuned for more updates on the new Source Wars and more!

-Xanatos

Hey guys, it’s been a while but Gman Squad Episode 7 “Boris & Clyde” has been released today! To continue where the goofy series randomly left off, characters Boris and Clyde attempt to run and gun their way out of Half-Life 2’s coast levels in their buggy. The deceased G-men from Episode 5 land right outside Heaven’s gate! Xanatos and Wolfer have been taken hostage and imprisoned. The Gman Show has it’s second segment all about what Stev and X23 think the future of the machinima genre is. Crackbone talks politics with a conspiracy theorist and owner of a website in a chatroom.

WATCH:
Youtube.com
Machinima.com

Jeff over at Machinima.com and I think this is the best of the series. Everyone else in our group thinks Episode 5 still was. See what you think — and as I mentioned in an earlier post, our next video to be made will very likely be the second Source Wars. Enjoy Episode 7!

Special thanks to our extras in the Gman Squad Episode 7 car chase sequence - Zekeuro, Max Rebo, Wesley, Simpleton, Strat6888, & Slayerpath.

EDIT: ALSO CHECK OUT the BEHIND THE SCENES of “Herdaberd Chicca-Chicca” on Stev’s Youtube - Click here!

-Xanatos

4/5 UPDATE: Gman Squad Episode 7 gets released later TODAY! Stay tuned and keep checking back for the link!

Hi everybody. It’s of little importance now - but our website experienced a little downtime a few days ago for a short time. Luckily, it’s all sorted out. We’ve had a history of website problems. For any of you who remember our old url, janus-syndicate.com, we lost that domain because our previous webmaster refused to renew it, and noone else could do it in his place - it had to be him. And he refused it because he began working for Uncle Sam and didn’t want our website to be under his name. Why wouldn’t he want that!?

Anyway, that was almost a year ago, and soon we will actually be able to renew the old domain ourselves. What we’ll do is make janus-syndicate.com a redirect to this newer website.

Secondly, Gman Squad Episode 7 - Boris and Clyde, began filming yesterday. Make sure not to miss it when it comes out. I imagine it will take two to three weeks to finish amidst a busy work and college schedule. I’m back from Spring Break too, and had a good time. Went to lunch one day with Phil Rice.

Since this site post doesn’t really have much more in it, I thought I’d list a number of some of my favorite and incredibly talented one-man-team Source machinima makers. There’s FncyPntz, Mystfit, and xcloudx01, to name a few. One thing that amazes me, in addition to that, is how every once and a while, new people that emerge onto the Source machinima scene with a great first product. This is one of them: Follow Freeman by EddieSmithson. Say what you will, but for this to be his first shot at making something in Source, it’s pretty damn cool. More even greater examples of crazy-good first go’s were Ian Chisholm’s Clear Skies and Sam Goldwater’s The Monad. It’s good to be involved with Source.

And finally, Stev made a fun new video addressing some of the comments on the Zombie Killer Competition Source Mod Todd video.

Watch:

Take care,

-Xanatos

Hi everyone, it’s spring break time for most of us in college, and I’m headed off to Naples, Florida for the week. Going to see for the second time Phil Rice aka Overman while I’m there, last time was at the NYC Machinima Fest, really looking forward to it. Upcoming machinima projects will begin when I get back next Saturday…and that will be none other than…

Gman Squad Episode 7 - “Boris and Clyde”

Xanatos and Wolfer taken hostage! New “Gman Show” sequence! Crackbone’s fate! Boris and Clyde’s run-and-gun adventures on Half-Life 2’s Coast! New prank and more!

Production on the new video will begin upon everyone’s return from break. We wanted to make something else before we progressed onto making the next second episode of Source Wars (which it’s great to see how positive everyone is reacting to the CS vs GMOD episode, thank you all for your great comments) so up next is Gman Squad Episode 7. Also check out our machinima.com made Facebook page - become a fan if you’d like, I’m quite fond of our goofy profile description. See you later!

-Xanatos

Update 3/3/09 - bloopers video released!

Our newest machinima video, Source Wars: Counter-Strike versus Garrysmod, is out today! A team of Garrysmod players go up against a team of Counter-Strike players in their own game, each side using their own weapons. Includes a cameo from Smooth Few Film’s Cortez of the Leet World and a teaser at the very end for the next episode! Can’t say too much more without giving some key ideas away, so check it out.

WATCH:
Youtube.com

Spring break is around the corner, so I’m going to be heading off to Florida this year. Michigan weather is just plain awful so it’ll be good to get away. Thus, as far as our next project ETA goes and what it will be, I’m not certain. I would like to make something else first before we make the second episode of Source Wars, though. Will keep you posted after Spring break. Thanks and hope you enjoy the video.

Also, after that, check out the blooper reel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aos6spBDtI

-Xanatos