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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As Johnnie Ingram indicated today, the old faithful topic of “what is machinima” has arisen again, this time over at GamerzTheatre. Rather than make yet another impassioned argument regarding the definition, I wanted to share some thoughts that came to me as I read through the various opinions being shared on mrdougan’s post.
Anyone who has talked with more than a few people about machinima has probably observed that the definition seems to be uncertain - some would say “in flux.” That is true, but what occurred to me today was that the challenge runs even deeper than a mere difference of opinion on what should appear in Webster’s. The difference of opinion runs to the very nature of what purpose the word “machinima” is expected to serve.
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I recently went a-huntin’ on Machinima.com for Hugh Hancock’s final editorial from back in February of 2006, because I’d found it highly inspirational and wanted to enjoy it again. I’ve had trouble locating it there. The way they’ve organized the articles has changed, and old links are all broken and just give you a table of contents. So I ventured into the bowels of the Wayback Machine and found it. I’m going to reprint it here so it is not lost. His perspective on the way the nature of the machinima community was poised to change (and indeed, has changed now) was as encouraging to me then as it is now. It never struck me as spin, but instead as someone who embraced change with both arms wide open.
(What got me thinking about it, by the way, was Hugh’s recently well-written rant/explanation of the BloodSpell distribution headaches, which you can read here.)
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So it’s my final editorial on Machinima.com. I could talk about all the cool stuff we’ve done over the past six years. I could talk about everything we wanted to do. I could shamelessly shill for BloodSpell (coming in six weeks or less). I could come out with something profound and brilliant about Machinima. Although that’s not really something to rely on.
I’m not going to do that. I’m going to talk about music.
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M dot Strange recently made a presentation at Berlin Talent Campus 08 called “Adventures in Self Distribution.” The methods and philosophies he shares here are the framework for a New Media Manifesto, if you ask me. If you’ve been a content creator for a significant length of time, a lot of this probably won’t hit you as particularly profound, but it serves as a nice reminder of what we’ve learned about what works. If you’re new to directing, the info here is a great primer… the essential fundamentals of new media, especially as it relates to animated filmmaking.
FYI, if you don’t know who M dot Strange is, he’s the guy who made “We Are The Strange,” a home-crafted full-length animated feature which made it into Sundance last year. After getting several offers to “go Hollywood” with it, he rejected them all and chose self distribution. Ricky Grove wrote a great review of the We Are The Strange DVD over at Renderosity.
I remember when Ricky Grove first introduced me to the work of Russian animator Yuriy Norshteyn, and it was by way of this clip from “Winter Days.” Impressive at the time was the exquisite soundscape, but we were also really taken with the “dirty” look to the wind and leaves, and the unique-looking characters. That unmistakably hand-crafted feel creates an extraordinary effect.
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