Hugh over at Machinima For Dummies has posted an article titled “The non-game speedbump,” in which he tries to make sense of the relationship between some machinima films and their audience size. The conclusion, in brief, was that those leaving game worlds to produce independent machinima had best be prepared for the de facto loss in audience they will encounter. My first reaction was, “Where have you been?” (The answer, of course, is Bloodspell). My second reaction was, “Where did Kate pick up her mindreading trade?” because her first comment on the article was precisely the sentiment of my first reaction.
A closer examination of the article reveals some overlooked aspects which, to me at least, eclipse the naiveté Kate and I ribbed him about.
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This is a bit anticlimactic, after having just learned that Tom Jantol’s Wizard of OS: The Fish Incident is an official selection in the I’ve Seen Films International Short Film Festival (yes, that is Rutger Hauer, who is on the jury along with Ridley Scott!) — CONGRATULATIONS, TOM!! — … but I’ve got a bit of an announcement myself.
Male Restroom Etiquette has been selected to be part of the Animation WebJam ‘08, hosted by Jerry and Orrin Zucker (of the Emmy Award-Winning It’s Jerrytime). The internet animation festival will begin its tour of big screens at Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline, MA. From there, the fest will be making stops in the hometowns of many of the creators of its films. I’m hoping it will work out to where that can include my own neighborhood. More info is available at animationwebjam.com.
After an education which included tutelage under the one and only Fyodor Khitruk (whose work you can see in the Masters of Russian Animation Vol. 1), Konstantin Bronzit has been animating for around fifteen years now, scooping up dozens of awards along the way. Most recently, he grabbed the Best Scenario Award at the 12th Open Russian Festival of Animated Film for his 2007 piece, Lavatory Lovestory.
Below is a piece from 2003 by Bronzit, titled The God. I love the look of this film, and the sound work as well. The humor is a bit irreverent. So naturally, I love that too.
- Machinima.com: Faceposer Video Tutorials - An ongoing series, taking it from the beginning.
- Carlos Baena: Amazing list of animation resources - Thanks, Spline Doctors.
- NextGen: The Value of a Good Writer - Talked about in the context of video games, but has great machinima relevance.
- BoingBoing: Reviewing the Real World as if it were a MMO - Funny stuff. For some reason makes me think of one of the essays in Eco’s Misreadings, the one with the publisher’s rejection letters for works of classic literature.
- Pineapple Chunks: Machinima and a Second Life - Seems like filmmaker who gives a serious look to SL (i.e. beyond the red light districts) comes to this kind of conclusion.
- VFX World: The Digital Eye: Gaming as the Driving Technological Force - My friends at Bioware will love this one.
- Cinemassively: Avatar Puppeteering possibly coming to Second Life in 2008 - A dream come true for those who prefer a hermit approach. Interested in this digital puppetry topic? Check out Andrew’s Machin-X blog devoted to just that.
- Motionographer: Lo-Fi Tron - Nice mix of stop motion with live action.
Click here for archive of OverByte posts.
Some wonderful opportunities for showcasing your work as a filmmaker (of any kind) have emerged in 2008, many of them built in some way upon the “mash-up” concept. Sense a trend here?
A simple method for adding Rosy Cheeks and Cold Breath in post production.
Intro music is “Impulse” by Processor, from their album “Are You For Real?”, available at Magnatune.com
