Week 7 Seminar: Machinima: From Game Platforms to Animation Studio
Hi everyone! This week we are looking at Machinima, a new and evolving form of filmmaking.
Machinima (Muh-sheen-eh-mah) artists take the raw materials provided within interactive games and manipulate them in new ways, creating a unique combination of game play, animation, and real world cinematic techniques. By filming within live game space, machinima side-steps the time consuming rendering of each keyframe which occurrs in traditional animation, and costs drastically less than real world filmmaking.
By using game characters as actors, manipulating their behaviours and reccording voiceovers, machinima artists can give their 3D worlds a depth and humanity beyond the usual shoot-em-up mentality of interactive gaming. A quick introduction to the concept of machinima can be found at Machinima.org's FAQ page: http://www.machinima.org/faq.html
The readings this week are:
The Xbox Auteurs -
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/
magazine/07MACHINI.html?ex=1281067200&en
=a0b469a4346f3cbb&ei=5090&partner=
rssuserland&emc=rss
Machinima & the Filmmaker's Virtual Immersion -
http://www.luciferjones.org/machinima.htm
The Machinima Standard - (This reading is a tad long... but hang on, because it's quite specific and I hope it will give a bit of an insight into the technical challenges involved in creating machinima.)
http://www.machinima.com/article.php?article=423
One Word for you Hollywood: Machinima - (Nice and short...:)
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/12/technology/
machinima_hollywood/
Some questions to consider:
Machinima (Muh-sheen-eh-mah) artists take the raw materials provided within interactive games and manipulate them in new ways, creating a unique combination of game play, animation, and real world cinematic techniques. By filming within live game space, machinima side-steps the time consuming rendering of each keyframe which occurrs in traditional animation, and costs drastically less than real world filmmaking.
By using game characters as actors, manipulating their behaviours and reccording voiceovers, machinima artists can give their 3D worlds a depth and humanity beyond the usual shoot-em-up mentality of interactive gaming. A quick introduction to the concept of machinima can be found at Machinima.org's FAQ page: http://www.machinima.org/faq.html
The readings this week are:
The Xbox Auteurs -
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/07/
magazine/07MACHINI.html?ex=1281067200&en
=a0b469a4346f3cbb&ei=5090&partner=
rssuserland&emc=rss
Machinima & the Filmmaker's Virtual Immersion -
http://www.luciferjones.org/machinima.htm
The Machinima Standard - (This reading is a tad long... but hang on, because it's quite specific and I hope it will give a bit of an insight into the technical challenges involved in creating machinima.)
http://www.machinima.com/article.php?article=423
One Word for you Hollywood: Machinima - (Nice and short...:)
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/12/technology/
machinima_hollywood/
Some questions to consider:
- Is this the beginning of the end for the traditional film industry? Or is machinima a fad which will fade after prolonged exposure? (Like reality TV, or Lycra bodysuits)
- What relationship might we predict between game developers, machinima artists and the film industry in the future? Will they be partners or competitors?
- If you were a machinima artist, what would you like to explore in terms of genre, different games and concepts? Would you go for hard hitting political drama or light entertainment? Why?
- How might machinima operate on a deeper level, as self reflexive tool to explore human interactions and community within the game space?
For a great example of a very new machinima series begun just last month, go to: http://www.thisspartanlife.com/ They have taken the talk show format and put it in real time game space with hilarious results! (Makes you wonder where the future of Jerry Springer may be!)
Downloading a few clips from http://www.machinima.com/ could also be fun... although be warned downloading time can be veeeery slow at busy times.
posted by Gwyneth at 1:13 pm
6 Comments:
like the colour scheme ;)
Ahem... yes I thought a touch of rainforrest green with a little tree trunk brown might make us all a tad more relaxed for week 7... *sighs* you can just hear the wild beasts snorting... hang on, that's my brother eating his birthday cake :0
Ok SO yet another probably long but I will attempt to keep it short and sweet comment.
Firstly, well done Gwen on your seminar, I thoroughly enjoyed the topic of Machinima and especially liked the THIS SPARTAN LIFE example. Nice one! I wish we could have talked about this example a little more as I found it touched on some of our issues, in the actual context of a machinima piece
Anyway, I found a particular issue that developed in discussion interesting and this relates back to our previous seminar on computer games. Computer games are obviously a constructed space that reflects cultural assumptions in our society, so therefore, it is interesting when games are used for purposes other than what they were constructed for.
This was highlighted in the Spartan Life when they interviewed a guest who had produced the Tomb Raider Machinima video. I talked about this in class so I wont rehash what I already said, but basically by creating Machinima it highlighted some of constructed elements of the game, such as Lara’s position as a sexual object to be viewed, her heaving bosom, and her heavy breathing (or should I say panting) that create a sort of sexual tension …especially in the Machinima clip. These elements when involved with gameplay probably would be overlooked, but when taking a step back and deconstructing in a sense the game engine, for different use it becomes quite obvious.
I think it is this element about using a game engine for something other than its specific intended use that creates a certain charm, and in fact, the main appeal of Machinima. I think it is this that makes it worthy of study and consideration, and not simply its cost efficiency, as a form of participatory culture. If a standard tool kit was introduced to enable machinima to be produced more easily in game engines, it might run the risk of removing the original element of what makes machinima worth watching. The idea that it is, say the gamers themselves, that decide to produce something different with their game, but which still makes a commentary to some degree on the original intentions of the game itself (whether implicit or explicit).
However this is not to say that the use of Machinima should be restricted in this sense, because it is certainly a technology worthy of consideration for the big film industry workers such as Lucas and others.
I might come back and say a bit more later, but so far these are my thoughts!
Cheers Gwen
Hang on I second I think this sentence makes more sense when written like this:
"These elements when involved with gameplay would probably go unnoticed, but when deconstructing the game engine in a way that Machinima does, the elements become more obvious."
Thanks
Hey guys,
Ta for your fab participation in mah seminar... GO YOU!
Now, I may sound a little garbled as I've just spent two days wrestling with an essay on loneliness, so bear with me.
I take your point, Kaori, about mainstream movie goers having high standards regarding animation and film quality in general. It's definitely true that machinima will have to hold its own against tough competitors before it breaks into the mainstream film market. On the other hand, as Andrew said, machinima is so closely related to gaming that it is in a great position to catch every new development in technology as it happens.
Given the popularity of gaming, there is already an audience interested enough to support machinima in public forums such as the Machinima awards, which play to packed audiences. The most strength so far is still with the cult status machinima though, such as Red vs. Blue.
Personally I think the future looks bright for machinima, both as a grass roots creative form and a mainstream filmmaking tool. Anything which breaks down economic barriers for 'everyday' people and allows them to get involved in storytelling has to be a good thing.
Also, as Hilary pointed out, the potential for introspection and cultural commentary cannot be ignored. Like any other cultural product, the game world is a reflection of our society, and the way we move within it has significance beyond the virtual world.
Anyhow, I'll probably pop back later for relief from ye olde essay... cheerio;)
hope the essay goes well hun
sounds very depressing an essay on loneliness :P
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