Hey, my name is Karol Zagórski. I fell in love with Quake3 when I was still a 10 years old kid back in 2000, way before I even had an internet connection. I remember getting Q3Demo from a Polish computer magazine called CD-Action. Fast forward 18 years and I'm still here! Although I'm playing much, much less. I still enjoy the game, and even though the name of the game changed slightly twice, for me, it's still Quake. Currently, I live in Brighton, UK. My biggest passion is branding/logo design and typography.

I started learning visual communication and graphic design after my last Quake movie. Before that, it was a mix of tutorials and advice from other movie makers like emirant, phl, or Tzeentch.

I used Sony Vegas to put together all of my movies. Photoshop always came in handy. Apart from that, the workflow changed over the years. My early movies were made from the old .dm3 format demos which I had to convert with Seismovision to .dm68 to be able to use them in Q3MME. I also used VirtualDub to turn individual frames into .avi files. Later on, I learned how to use AfterEffects and Audacity for some bits.

It depends on the project really. Generally, there are 4 stages of making a movie:

I. Initial stage
1. Ideation (deciding what kind of a movie you want to make)
2. Content gathering
- Downloading demos from a website (tournament highlights)
- Getting demos from other players (Community demo call / clan mates / friends)
- by playing the game yourself

II. Content creation
1. Viewing the demos / frag selection (often the most time-consuming part)
2. Rendering the best frags

III. Montage
1. Syncing the best frags to significant moments in the song
2. Syncing other frags in between
3. If necessary, move frags around until satisfied.
4. Add intro, outro (depending on the concept, these can be done before putting the main part together)
5. Rewatch and fix as many small issues as possible before release.

IV. Release
1. Upload
2. Post to community websites
3. Read comments, learn and improve

Although I'm not sure if any movie inspired my work directly, they sure did motivate myself to start making them. I don't remember all of the names, but classics like Annihilation and the Badge series left a big impression on me. On the other hand, I also love QuakeCon 2002 highlights (with RUN-DMC It's Like That)!

I think I'm most known for The Afterspray, which is my most widely watched movie. I am most proud of PixelBeat though, for the content, mood, pace and all the small details - like the HUD or intro. As far as learning experience goes I think I learned the most while working on the transitions in Seventeen.

I would like to think that my movies fall into the old school type. The editing I did, usually didn't interfere with the gameplay itself. I think the most important thing in a movie is the content, the frags. Editing can complement frags, but never be a substitute for them.

Higher resolutions, VR, better VFX? Not sure besides that. Only time will tell.

Start now, make a movie that's not perfect. Then make another one, a bit better. Learn new things along the way. It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the tutorials, programs, and effects. Learn from criticism and don't get discouraged by the haters. Ask other moviemakers for advice - join groups, forums, etc. Most importantly, have fun! :)

Thanks for the awesome interview series lolograde. Shoutouts to all quakers! Happy fraggin'! :)