1. Somebody out there, some poor viewer just looking for entertainment, is high as hell right now, and this video is destroying their brain.

   Comment by zachariah — April 3, 2008 @ 11:10 am

2. Ha, thanks Phil. What a surprise.
   Even if it looks strange to comment my own movie, maybe this is good opportunity to say couple things I find important about this movie. (I am writing longer text about technique for Machiniplex so just couple sentences here.)
   Most of the comments I get for this movie was about eye candy look. Sure, it looks OK, special “air battle” scenes - I even got mail where one viewer don’t believe that this is not rendered animation - but it is extremely easy, quick and painless to made.
   Some of you probably know where I am going with this; to achieve that famous, overrated but irresistible eye candy look there is no need for advanced game engine or CGI.
   In a spirit of “Anymation”; everybody can do it, in any software capable for basic compositing stuff. Every scene in this movie is just one or two characters with few simple models on photo background. And few obsolete shaders of smoke and fire.
   OK, I am making this in very expensive program, because I “invested” almost two year of learning in that software, and for some specific possibilities I will use in some future movies, but it can be done in any other but cheap previz animation software as Moviestorm, iClone, Antics or many free game engines out there.
   Models are from DazStudio or Poser, cheap or free, photos for backgrounds and textures - free or cheap. Big part of job was done in “AnimeStudio”, known as “Moho” and this is 2D animation software.
   So, in lack of time for spreading my “Anymation” philosophy of movie making, I hope that this movie will be decent example of how efficient this technique can be. Without - I can’t say that loud enough - any copyrights issues, any well known overused character from games or limited game’s assets problems.
   Sure, not everyone wish is to make carrier out of animation, but for everyone else let me give you simple message: to hell with big games engines.
   Turn away and never look back.

   Comment by Tom — April 3, 2008 @ 11:37 am

3. Amen to that, brother.

   Comment by Johnnie Ingram — April 3, 2008 @ 12:11 pm

4. Excellent post, Phil. As usual, you bring the machinima community the most unique and interesting films out there. Thanks for that.

   Man, it’s like a one-two punch with “Monad” and now Tom J’s “Wizard of Os”. Both completely different in style and content and yet manage to create a believable world/characters. As you point out, Tom’s been experimenting with machinima/anymation for several years now with varying success. I think WoS is his best work to date because all of the elements come together to create a whole. Experimentation means risk and taking risks means sometimes your creations don’t work. WoS works, baby. I love this film. And I love Tom’s finger up to the game studios for not coming through with copyright/license help for machinimators. Hell, just follow Tom’s suggestions and do it yourself!

   PS We’ll be hosting a Machiniplex Premiere of Wizard of Os:The Fish Incident on April 27th at 1PM in Second Life (Hathead’s Tower Lounge) and, as Tom mentioned, he’ll be writing up a director’s statement to share with us.

   Comment by Ricky Grove — April 3, 2008 @ 12:36 pm

5. While I love your philosophy Tom, I simply cannot stand behind it 100%. (Your films rock, and I stand 110% behind those!)

   Certainly I’m not the house artist; I won’t pretend to take credit for that kind of direction (a little prodding maybe), but I do love a good challenge. Taking a high-end gaming engine, busting open the SDK and using it to create a new machinima tool is FUN! Sitting there on the bleeding edge of real-time rendering technology, trying to come up with new ways to solve old problems, learning all the new tools… man, I wouldn’t give that up for anything! It’s like, every year it gets exponentially harder and yet, more beautiful at the same time.

   I call it the 3D Realms complex.

   Then again, we still use Half-Life 1 from time to time. Shouldn’t be hard to guess which flicks get, you know, done…

   Comment by Buddy_DoQ — April 3, 2008 @ 4:19 pm

6. “Taking a high-end gaming engine, busting open the SDK and using it to create a new machinima tool is FUN!”
   Sure, Buddy, every single one of us feels that way. I am in constant battle every time when new game I like comes out. When I saw Driver4 I “lost” and made two short car chase movies but I will not show them nowhere. For couple weeks when GTA IV comes, I will probably be forced to cut both of my hands, head and… never mind.
   But - to avoid lamentation of how much customization of game assets is necessary to declare something as “our movie”; this is something still waiting for good debate, or how important for Machinima is to compete with other animation - it all comes down to copyright problem.
   To many roads are closed with big games engine based movie. For example, this days I will participate (if they select me) in two great movie events: first is festival of shorts organized by Rutger Hauer with Ridley Scott in jury. How often we got chance to put movie in front of one of the best movie directors of all time and maybe learn something new from him?
   Second event is contest for Radiohead music video clip. You know what that mean to winner.
   None of this thing is possible to do with copyrighted stuff. Even our own Phil follows that rule in contest for podcast movie. As any non Machinima festival out there.
   So, of course you are absolutely right, but to own your work and to have all gates open is even more fun.
   (till the GTA IV arrive, anyway:)

   Comment by Tom — April 4, 2008 @ 6:48 am

7. “Taking a high-end gaming engine, busting open the SDK and using it to create a new machinima tool is FUN!”
   Sure, Buddy, every single one of us feels that way.

   I know that for some people this IS the kick….but what do you want to be Buddy..a movie-maker or a tool-maker? What kind of movies do tool-makers create?

   Comment by Kate — April 4, 2008 @ 8:48 am

8. No, no, Kate. What he thought is to make tool out of SDK. To transform SDK in tool for making movies. Not to make a tool.

   Comment by Tom — April 4, 2008 @ 10:16 am

9. I think it’s all a matter of differing priorities, and I’m not prepared to say any of those are right or wrong. Tom values owning his intellectual property as one of his top priorities; Buddy finds a big part of his enjoyment of the process is riding that cutting edge and digging into the hacking, the technical, etc.; Kate doesn’t want to think about the technical any more than necessary, wants to focus on storytelling and directing.

   The good news is, there’s room in machinima/anymation for ALL of this, and there is no either/or - it’s a continuum. Where one ends up in that continuum is mostly a personal decision based on your own priorities and loves.

   @Kate: to answer your question, what kind of movies do the tech-lovers create, I’d invite you to not only look at the work of Buddy / Dead On Que, but also that of Friedrich Kirshner - a gifted toolmaker and filmmaker. For directors like these, the two disciplines are intertwined. We can all think of more names.

   That doesn’t mean that the tool-maker approach is the only way, but it’s one which appeals to some and has roots which stretch back to machinima’s beginnings.

   I think where it gets touchy is when one tries to evangelize their chosen way, tries to assert one or the other approach to machinima as superior or inferior or the only valid way… in other words, to employ “versus” language. I think that to do that is to mistake the continuum for a hierarchy. I think there’s room for all of it.

   Comment by Overman — April 4, 2008 @ 10:47 am

10. I have just seen the Wizard of OS, and did not realize it is by the same director as the other machinima I watched a few months ago, which also blew me away!

    This is extraordinary–the surrealism!!! The production and special effects are incredible, the character gorgeous, (and his subtle, wry smile very much appreciated!)

    I am new to the machinima genre, and this work is truly amazing.

    Comment by LifeFactory Writer — July 31, 2008 @ 12:15 pm

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