Well, after last week’s feels festival, I figured I should bring it back to something less liable to make me and my readers cry. So of course, we’re going back to Two Steps From Hell, and song number 2 on my list of music video concepts.
Song of the Week: Victory by Two Steps From Hell
I first heard this song while I was deep in a Dungeons and Dragons-type game called Exalted. In it, characters have amazing, mythical powers, and one of the other players was playing as a blacksmith who could create mundane items at an incredible rate, and incredible items without much effort. This song is the story of one such incredible item.
For the first 30 seconds, we’re doing establishing shots. The smith is in their home, making sketches, planning it out. Eventually, they take the sketches from their home to the forge next door.
Then the percussion hits. The forge is opened, the bellows are pumping. The bar of iron and steel is placed into the forge, and the smith stares into the flames, practically willing them to burn hotter. Another thirty seconds are about to have passed as she pulls the glowing metal from the forge.
Now the melody has joined, and with it comes the smith’s hammer, beginning to flatten the bar of iron and steel. She turns it over and hammers the other side, flips it back, hammers some more. We skip quickly through heating it up again and pulling it back out. But then, at 1:36, the music changes again.
At the change in music, the hammer strikes, and a golden aura is briefly visible around the smith. It fades quickly, but on each strike now, the aura flares up for just a moment, then dissipates. The form of a sword is starting to come together. But the music isn’t done building.
At 2:08, the vocals come in. The aura has stopped fully dissipating on each hit, but it isn’t getting much bigger on the strikes. Another golden glow is visible, though: a floating spirit is now circling the smith, curiously examining the work being performed. But the smith doesn’t seem to notice. She just keeps going.
2:40, the vocals combine with the music change from a minute ago. The aura glow has started to increase, as has the flares on individual strikes. For the first time since the introduction, we see outside the forge. The flares are visible through the windows. As this section winds down, a small child playing their their friends notices the flares, and signals their group to follow them to the forge.
The next section, the children line up at one of the windows, looking with awe at the smith, who has stopped hammering. She picks up the sword with a gloved hand; the craftsmanship is incredible. There are now multiple golden spirits flitting about the forge, and more appear as the scene continues, flying from the fire, the rafters, the windows, etc. The smith puts the sword back on the anvil, then sets her hammer down. She breathes in calmly as this section finishes building into the next, then winds up for a massive slam, despite holding no hammer.
All at once, the next section starts and she brings her empty hand down, but instead of punching the anvil, a large golden hammer has swung past her head and connected with the sword. Cut to the children looking on in awe, cut back to a zoomed-out shot, where we can clearly see a towered golden spirit of a male smith standing over the human smith, mimicking her movements. Her aura is massive, easily visible through the windows, and on each hit, the entire forge glows like a roaring flame. The smaller spirits begin to rapidly swirl around the sword.
One last section. The smith has initiated the process of magical refinement, and the swirling spirits are the fuel. One by one, they pull away from the sword, and on each massive hit from the glowing smith, one of them darts into the sword, and when the hammer rises, a new golden rune is visible on the blade. Finally, at the end of this section, the sword is complete.
But the song isn’t over. The smith’s aura starts to fade as she picks up the sword again. She looks over at the children, who are stuck in a look of wonder. She smiles and looks up at the large smith spirit. He sets down his hammer and holds his large hand out. She presses her face against his large hand, and a single tear rolls down her cheek. He fades away as well. She hangs the sword on the wall, next to a few similar swords, and walks out of the forge. The camera pulls away, showing that while the children were the only ones to look in the window, a small crowd has gathered. Music fades out.
Dang it, I didn’t think I’d be sad here. I guess I’m a sucker for emotional heartstring tugs. Maybe the next one will have to be about Superman.
That's Pretty NEET 