Behind the Visions: Shades of Gray

Well here it is, the official write up for 'Shades of Gray', my first Marvel vs Capcom 3 combo video and my first real combo video outside of Tekken.

Intro: For the first time, I think I have opened one of my videos with my company logo. To be honest I don't have a gif of my logo on my laptop (I know, shame on me!). It works out tho because I do want to premiere a new logo soon. It probably won't be done till my Ultimate Marvel video tho. Anyway, the new Marvel/ Capcom intro more then sufficed and looked awesome as the song opened as well.

Iron Man intro: I was so happy to find a picture of Iron man in his current (movie) armor but colored gray. The worst case scenario was I was going to use a picture of the clunky comic book mark one armor but when I saw this, I knew I was going to use it. BTW that logo? I created that myself with AVS. I really liked how it turned out. Also the page turning transition was an intentional touch to give it a comic book feel, much like how Marvel 3 uses it to the same effect.

Hulk intro: Hulk Gray... 'nuff said.

Wesker intro: I used paint to color the original picture in monochrome to get the gray effect, it turned out pretty good. The combo itself is pretty sweet, (ab)using the Arthur 'broken' armor mechanic, Wesker was able to score a 'Team Hyper Combo' which he normally can't get after a long combo. Also funny to note, Arthur was already dead after the level 3, this was just overkill LOL.

Title: LOL I noticed after I uploaded it that I had Apocryphic Videos presents NOT Apocryphic Visions... however the two are becoming synonymous so I let it slide.

Hulk: I really wanted a combo that involved Hulk's Gamma Quake but not as an OTG hence using the X-Factor to keep the rocks and at the same time have Wesker hit She-Hulk as well. BTW all X-Factors used in this video are level 1, no need for that extra damage boost. Also I timed the line 'technology' to come on as Iron Man appeared. You will notice that link a lot.

Iron Man: Geez Hulk has a lot of health, I needed that final hyper to finish him off even after a level 3, OTG plus level 1 plus assist.

Wesker: I love how Wesker slides into his OTG - Team Hyper, so smooth lol. If you have played me online, this combo would be very familiar to you.

Hulk: On the flip side of Hulk, Mags has no health, the first hit of Proton Cannon done him in. In hindsight, I wish I did the Tilted Proton Cannon because people would be surprised to see even the Titled version still hits after a Gamma Quake OTG.

Wesker: Ahh one of my favorite combos. First, Ammy's Cold Star (or as I call it affectionately 'Cold Star Chilli' (a play on Gold Star Chilli) CINCY stand up!) is one of the most annoying assists so to shut that done with a projectile reversal and hit her and her partner calling her was sweet. Also Wesker's hyper real name is 'Phantom Dance' and I timed it to come on as Kelis' was saying 'Dancing Dancing'. Add the fact that both characters are killed, happy birthday to me!

Hulk: Another one of my staple combos, I liked how the beat was timed with Hulk going into the sky for Gamma Crush. I also think the flame transition was a nice effect especially since Gamma Crush ends with a similar ending. BTW Fuck the Knicks LOL.

Iron Man: Love the Hulk assist, Iron Man repulsor > spread > Iron Avenger back to back. Definitely one of the better combos in the video. Oh and I purposely did not end with smart bombs > Proton Cannon because I have already used it plenty so I did not wanted to over-use that ending.

Hulk: Hulk infinite time, timed with the crazy beat drop. Had to shout out CrouchStrong for finding this trick as well. Again Hulk's Gamma Crush is timed with the beat and I love the little 22 hits before Iron Man came in, a little shout out to the title of the song (lol yep, I was find so many 777 combos, I see number based combos EVERYWHERE).

Hulk: True story, I have never done this combo outside of training mode. I like it a lot tho but you can get so much more damage. Only for style here.

Wesker: Lots of Phoenix players block after they are snapped in... what should you do? Unblockable throw :-D Love how the Gamma Crush saps her whole bar.

Iron Man: Again, shout outs to CrouchStrong to show me how to combo off a Iron Man air throw. LOL for the longest time I would just freeze after I got one, not anymore.

Wesker: I was excited that I actually used Wesker's qcf+SP,SP move then I realized that Wesker's trails have a similar set-up/ combo D'oh! Ahh well.

Song Choice: I love Kelis, she is the reason why me and my wife are together. I, however kind of feel out of love with her for a bit. Her most recent album tho, even through it's a dance album, brought me back into the fold. I highly recommend people to look out for her album 'Fleshtone'. It's a really good (but short) record. My favorite songs on it include "22nd Century" (of course), "4th of July (Fireworks)" (I originally wanted to use this song in another combo video, it didn't work out tho) and "Brave".

So that's that, I hope you enjoyed this walk through. I hope to do more combo videos but I think another Marvel 3 video would not get much attention so I am going to wait for Ultimate and go balls to the wall from day one. Look forward to seeing you there with me.

P