Machininma
By Rebecca Tien
Overview
According to the official Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences(www.machinima.org) the definition of machinima is stated simply as 'Filmmaking within a real-time virtual 3D environment'. Machinima movies are created in the virtual world by using 3D computer technologies. Most often Machinima films are created with the use of popular video games, such as Halo and StarCraft. Machinima movies are combining the technologies of filmmaking, animation, and 3D video games together in one cohesive platform. Essentially, machinima applies real-world filmmaking techniques within an interactive virtual environment where humans, scripts or artificial intelligence can control characters and events. It is a new media of digital video, animation and computer game technologies (Dellario & Marino 2003). The term Machinima comes from theamalgimation of the words animation and machine, and it has an implicit association to multiple media forms such as cinema and computer game technologies. This definition of machinima is a new kind of multimedia, originated by the gamers from the computer gaming industry. These people begun the machinima trend by recording their own games and published the videos they made online.
In 1996, a group of gamers called The Rangers created a short film titled 'Diary of a Camper' this Is the first machinima which was recorded by an independent camera. They used a demo function in 'Quake' to record their film, this function had enabled players to record game events, these videos were at first mainly shared amongst friends. Before this, gamers used this function as a tool to demonstrate impressive gaming skills or speedy level completions. There was growing interest in the narrative of these films. The rangers film had applied an embedded meaning to their film, through the use of a detailed narrative. It is important to know that rangers were the first group of people to use in game recording techniques as a means to make a narrative film. The films that were produced in this initial era were commonly known as' Quake films' . When more and more gamers started to explore the world of virtual filmmaking, the term 'Quake films' was no longer an appropriate description for what had now become a new media form. In January 2000, two machinima filmmakers Hugh Hancock and Anthony Bailey had decided to come up with a new term to describe all video game films, and the term Machinima was born.
In 1996, a group of gamers called The Rangers created a short film titled 'Diary of a Camper' this Is the first machinima which was recorded by an independent camera. They used a demo function in 'Quake' to record their film, this function had enabled players to record game events, these videos were at first mainly shared amongst friends. Before this, gamers used this function as a tool to demonstrate impressive gaming skills or speedy level completions. There was growing interest in the narrative of these films. The rangers film had applied an embedded meaning to their film, through the use of a detailed narrative. It is important to know that rangers were the first group of people to use in game recording techniques as a means to make a narrative film. The films that were produced in this initial era were commonly known as' Quake films' . When more and more gamers started to explore the world of virtual filmmaking, the term 'Quake films' was no longer an appropriate description for what had now become a new media form. In January 2000, two machinima filmmakers Hugh Hancock and Anthony Bailey had decided to come up with a new term to describe all video game films, and the term Machinima was born.
Recently, Machinima has changed its form, it now is most commonly used to present a story which is independent of the game that is used to create it. Instead machinima media workers have managed to of showing what had been produced, game developers are using Machinima as a way to design the game. This is seen in the development of Role Playing Game franchise (e.g. Linden Lab’s Second Life or the game of The Sims 2 and 3) . Machinima can be seen as an offshoot of the broader phenomenon of game modding, where fans seek to modify game engines to extend and customise their gameplay experience ( Polak 2004, Humphreys, 2005).
It can also be placed within a history of game play demos, replay and production, where players seek to record their game play to celebrate or share their experience (Marino, 2004). 'The appeal of this narrative extension of game play has been recognised by major game developers since the early 1990s with the provision of tools to facilitate this process, supported on the basis that it deepens player involvement with the game and extends the game’s commercial life '(Jenkins 2001). Computer games, as Humphreys has described, 'have a history of strong fan communities, which have often been active in creating new content' (Humphreys, 2005). Therefore, Machinima is becoming an alternative way of filming and is gradually expanding its roots towards mainstream cinema.
It can also be placed within a history of game play demos, replay and production, where players seek to record their game play to celebrate or share their experience (Marino, 2004). 'The appeal of this narrative extension of game play has been recognised by major game developers since the early 1990s with the provision of tools to facilitate this process, supported on the basis that it deepens player involvement with the game and extends the game’s commercial life '(Jenkins 2001). Computer games, as Humphreys has described, 'have a history of strong fan communities, which have often been active in creating new content' (Humphreys, 2005). Therefore, Machinima is becoming an alternative way of filming and is gradually expanding its roots towards mainstream cinema.
Production Tool
Game developers have improved the tools of gaming technology, animation, storyline and images have all dramatically improved and as a result, video games have gained more popularity in recent years. Developers are focusing on the editing aspects and cinematic effects in the hands of the player community, encouraging everything from the creation of new graphics to initiation into game development as a career.
Producing machinima narratives can be approached in a couple of ways.
As machinima can be shot live or scripted in real time, it is much faster than animating using traditional computer aided modeling, which, depending on resolution, can have very large render times. Machinimists work in an virtual environment where they can design or create events by themselves instantly.
Machinima has altered the way we perceive animation and has opened up the field of new generation of storytellers. By using relatively cheaper computer game engines, they share the advantages of those software packages. The primary advantage is price, software has almost no material cost. There is also flexibility in the camera movement because any camera position is possible, within the limits of the map, allowing for physically expensive camera movements at no rigging cost eg. the camera diving from hundreds of meters in the air. There's is also no need for locations or sets. Admittedly, the machinima maker is restricted by the constraints of the pre-programmed levels or objects that can be placed, or the limits of the world editor, and the world editor for each is usually different. Rather than use many different game worlds, most producers stick to "one or two" game engines, usually ones they like (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 5). This is because "most games are not easy to work with as filmmaking tools, and many producers find it difficult to create projects beyond the game ‘world’". For all its advantages, most games are designed using different engines and are not designed with machinima producers in mind, so mastering the competencies and workflow for making machinima using one game engine is a niche education that is generally exploited till its redundancy (ibid).
"the work you see surely is amazing as hell, beautiful colors, detailed textures and well iluminated scenes, but (and this is my personal opinion) they STILL look what they are: game graphics, not photorealistic scenes (images that can pass as real photos)"— (CGSociety 2009)
This assessment was supported by other member of the CGSociety forums where this comment was made. Any machinima production looks like the game it is made from, for better or worse. It brands the video, potentially attracting fans of the game being reworked but also limits the scope of creativity and its ability to compete with professional, high end CGI which nears photo-realism.
Machinima is useful because it removes the need for actors by being animated and removes the need for 3D modeling and rendering by being rendering in real time. This can make the creator less dependent on other people to make their media and centers all of tools required to make the video in the PC or console. This also leads to the phenomenon in mediation where reality becomes suspended even for experienced media workers because "the production and distribution technology of machinima tends to hide the nature of the performer" (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 2). The mediation is twofold: the actor (or the animator) is substituted by the character models/avatars and then mediated again through the recording, making machinima arguably the "ultimate mediatization of performance possible with contemporary technology", next to perhaps motion capture (ibid).
Prosumers have unique problems in their reappropriation of software.
"Producers choosing to use The Sims 2 for machinima development must continually confront the difficulties in dealing with software ‘actors’ prone to mood swings and relationship problems..."— (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 3)
Working around AI can be a boon, in that the producer doesn't need to program the behaviour but they also have to wait until what they want to happen does. It's almost like they have to nurture a scene into happening, rather than dictating it directly.
Producing machinima narratives can be approached in a couple of ways.
- it can be script-driven, the camera movement, characters or the sound effects etc can all be controlled by the computer. The user sets up the scene and record the film by sections.
- it can be recorded during the game as the story unfolds.
As machinima can be shot live or scripted in real time, it is much faster than animating using traditional computer aided modeling, which, depending on resolution, can have very large render times. Machinimists work in an virtual environment where they can design or create events by themselves instantly.
Machinima has altered the way we perceive animation and has opened up the field of new generation of storytellers. By using relatively cheaper computer game engines, they share the advantages of those software packages. The primary advantage is price, software has almost no material cost. There is also flexibility in the camera movement because any camera position is possible, within the limits of the map, allowing for physically expensive camera movements at no rigging cost eg. the camera diving from hundreds of meters in the air. There's is also no need for locations or sets. Admittedly, the machinima maker is restricted by the constraints of the pre-programmed levels or objects that can be placed, or the limits of the world editor, and the world editor for each is usually different. Rather than use many different game worlds, most producers stick to "one or two" game engines, usually ones they like (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 5). This is because "most games are not easy to work with as filmmaking tools, and many producers find it difficult to create projects beyond the game ‘world’". For all its advantages, most games are designed using different engines and are not designed with machinima producers in mind, so mastering the competencies and workflow for making machinima using one game engine is a niche education that is generally exploited till its redundancy (ibid).
"the work you see surely is amazing as hell, beautiful colors, detailed textures and well iluminated scenes, but (and this is my personal opinion) they STILL look what they are: game graphics, not photorealistic scenes (images that can pass as real photos)"— (CGSociety 2009)
This assessment was supported by other member of the CGSociety forums where this comment was made. Any machinima production looks like the game it is made from, for better or worse. It brands the video, potentially attracting fans of the game being reworked but also limits the scope of creativity and its ability to compete with professional, high end CGI which nears photo-realism.
Machinima is useful because it removes the need for actors by being animated and removes the need for 3D modeling and rendering by being rendering in real time. This can make the creator less dependent on other people to make their media and centers all of tools required to make the video in the PC or console. This also leads to the phenomenon in mediation where reality becomes suspended even for experienced media workers because "the production and distribution technology of machinima tends to hide the nature of the performer" (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 2). The mediation is twofold: the actor (or the animator) is substituted by the character models/avatars and then mediated again through the recording, making machinima arguably the "ultimate mediatization of performance possible with contemporary technology", next to perhaps motion capture (ibid).
Prosumers have unique problems in their reappropriation of software.
"Producers choosing to use The Sims 2 for machinima development must continually confront the difficulties in dealing with software ‘actors’ prone to mood swings and relationship problems..."— (Cameron, Carrol 2009: 3)
Working around AI can be a boon, in that the producer doesn't need to program the behaviour but they also have to wait until what they want to happen does. It's almost like they have to nurture a scene into happening, rather than dictating it directly.
Community
There are many different machinima communities on the web, who each have different modes of practice. Machinima communities are not only in the traditional ways such as the TV or movie. However, the main reason made the Machinima communities are active is the internet community. As machinima begins to attract and become more widely recognized because of the mainstream audiences, tools are beginning developed to allow for faster and easier creation of machinima productions.
The producer use the internet by create a machinima community to promote the form was evaluated and the seem of machinima’s assessable to visual storytelling was considered and it is a marginal presence via the internet which between existing and emerging media forms also the relationship between consumers and producers.
Firstly, the early audiences of machinima films were mainly video gamers. However, in 2003, rooster Teeth helped expand audience awareness of machinima when they unveiled ' Red vs. Blue' The game’s developers and publisher are rapidly increasing and attract the audiences also across the audience who are not playing the video games.
In recently, there are few games provide the users with primitive tools to create their own videos easier and it also promotes the game itself. In addition, there are many platforms especially for machinima which for uploading and sharing videos.
People creating machinima because they really liked a specific game and wanted to produce something with it, but for the film directors and animators with little or no connection to a specific game trying to use the technology to bring their unique ideas to life (Marino, 2005).
One of the example is Global KIds. Global Kids a nonprofit organization in US , the organization educate students about the current affair or some policy issue around the world,most special is they has incorporated machinima into one of its after school programs in recently. The organization has developed innovative online programs for their online program it is focuses on its virtual worlds, primarily Teen Second Life. Basically, the workshop is hold in their own Second Life land to engage teens in globally relevant topics such as racism and genocide. In 2006, the organization present their first virtual video via youtube, the program as part of collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image, the same year, the student produce their own machinima films within the virtual world of their own island which in SL create an online community. Finally, the video project, those student distributed seven minutes machinima film on the plight of child soldiers in Uganda, 'A Child’s War'.From 2007, a Machinima Institute has been located in Second Life on the American Library Association Arts InfoIsland. The institute is run by libraries and educators and contains instructional resources for teaching machinima. Bernadette Daly Swanson, a librarian, is the founder of the Institute and also has a presence on Teen Second Lifewhere she has helped create machinima for Suffern Middle School in New York .In the same year of July, a machinima weekend was hold in Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County(PLCMC), the school’s island in Second Life the students learned storyboarding techniques as well as capturing, editing and remixing with the online tools.
The producer use the internet by create a machinima community to promote the form was evaluated and the seem of machinima’s assessable to visual storytelling was considered and it is a marginal presence via the internet which between existing and emerging media forms also the relationship between consumers and producers.
Firstly, the early audiences of machinima films were mainly video gamers. However, in 2003, rooster Teeth helped expand audience awareness of machinima when they unveiled ' Red vs. Blue' The game’s developers and publisher are rapidly increasing and attract the audiences also across the audience who are not playing the video games.
In recently, there are few games provide the users with primitive tools to create their own videos easier and it also promotes the game itself. In addition, there are many platforms especially for machinima which for uploading and sharing videos.
People creating machinima because they really liked a specific game and wanted to produce something with it, but for the film directors and animators with little or no connection to a specific game trying to use the technology to bring their unique ideas to life (Marino, 2005).
One of the example is Global KIds. Global Kids a nonprofit organization in US , the organization educate students about the current affair or some policy issue around the world,most special is they has incorporated machinima into one of its after school programs in recently. The organization has developed innovative online programs for their online program it is focuses on its virtual worlds, primarily Teen Second Life. Basically, the workshop is hold in their own Second Life land to engage teens in globally relevant topics such as racism and genocide. In 2006, the organization present their first virtual video via youtube, the program as part of collaboration with the Museum of the Moving Image, the same year, the student produce their own machinima films within the virtual world of their own island which in SL create an online community. Finally, the video project, those student distributed seven minutes machinima film on the plight of child soldiers in Uganda, 'A Child’s War'.From 2007, a Machinima Institute has been located in Second Life on the American Library Association Arts InfoIsland. The institute is run by libraries and educators and contains instructional resources for teaching machinima. Bernadette Daly Swanson, a librarian, is the founder of the Institute and also has a presence on Teen Second Lifewhere she has helped create machinima for Suffern Middle School in New York .In the same year of July, a machinima weekend was hold in Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County(PLCMC), the school’s island in Second Life the students learned storyboarding techniques as well as capturing, editing and remixing with the online tools.
The Second Life was not only one of the platforms that can be used to make machinima, those platforms are providing those users to create the scenes that they want to be in their film, and the platform has a built in browser for filming.
There are numerous online video tutorials that explain how to record, film, capture and store footage from Second Life Channel Jenkins has highlighted how the concept of media convergence can better be understood as at least five different processes, there are economic, social, cultural and global processes and technological. He describes cultural convergence as:
"The explosion of new forms of creativity at the intersections of various media technologies, industries and consumers. Media convergence fosters a new participatory folk culture by giving average people the tools to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate content..."— (Jenkins 2001: 93)
Machinima communities are, by this reasoning, wholly convergent bodies. They can only exist by reappropriating the work of of others. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they can only exist because the tools exist which allow them to manipulate and capture assets created by others in original scenarios and sequences (and therefore narratives). The accessibility of the form makes anyone with the income to be a game player a potential producer, a machinima maker. Because it's potentially either casual or professional, machinima highlights the society of the relationship between producers and consumers and the place where the prosumer emerges.
There are numerous online video tutorials that explain how to record, film, capture and store footage from Second Life Channel Jenkins has highlighted how the concept of media convergence can better be understood as at least five different processes, there are economic, social, cultural and global processes and technological. He describes cultural convergence as:
"The explosion of new forms of creativity at the intersections of various media technologies, industries and consumers. Media convergence fosters a new participatory folk culture by giving average people the tools to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate content..."— (Jenkins 2001: 93)
Machinima communities are, by this reasoning, wholly convergent bodies. They can only exist by reappropriating the work of of others. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that they can only exist because the tools exist which allow them to manipulate and capture assets created by others in original scenarios and sequences (and therefore narratives). The accessibility of the form makes anyone with the income to be a game player a potential producer, a machinima maker. Because it's potentially either casual or professional, machinima highlights the society of the relationship between producers and consumers and the place where the prosumer emerges.
Machinima Festival
The Machinima Expo is an annual international machinima festival started in 2008 is an international festival of machinima films, a machinima film competition and machinima related programming which takes place on the internet and in the virtual world of Second Life sometime in November. Now in it’s 4th year of existence, the 2011 Machinima Expo promises to be the one of the premiere events for the Machinima community.
The Machinima Expo is an annual international machinima festival started in 2008 is an international festival of machinima films, a machinima film competition and machinima related programming which takes place on the internet and in the virtual world of Second Life sometime in November. Now in it’s 4th year of existence, the 2011 Machinima Expo promises to be the one of the premiere events for the Machinima community.
Distribution
Machinima is now produced in different areas such as ' Clan Hardly Workin'(2001), music videos-ken Thain’s ' Rebel vs. Thug'(2002) or Zero 7’s' In the Waiting Line',feature-film length animated movies(Jake Hughea'Anachronox'),also some video game's trailers (Metal Gear Solid). As we can said the machinima present in different areas, the machinima might be one of the communicate tools to present the works and directly into the hands of an increasing number of players.
Machinima is the largest TV network in recent years, only not technically on TV. Machinima.com is a youtube channel and studio that caters to video gamers, offering how to create or to clips, additional footage and user-generated films for both niche titles and top franchises such as ' Call of Duty' and 'Halo'. Their users mostly are young males with a penchant for social media or the user-generated video production. It also comes equipped with audience numbers that rival most top-tier cable network. Machinima’s Youtube Channel the video entertainment network for video gamers, providing a new community programming. Across the global network, over 70 million gamers viewed in excess of 620 million videos till May. The Machinima.com is number one entertainment channel on youtube all the time. Also across the largest global distribution platforms including facebook, youtube, twitter also their own blog, Machinima.com blog people can sharing the files, discuss the games or their own ideas.
The website also launched many series before the movie release its becomes a new media platform for the audience who are interest in the machinima. Therefore, many of Hollywood’s top agents and producers who are looking to the mainstream are increasing. ' Media companies can be and are being built in non-traditional ways. At what point does machinima rival, equal or surpass a cable network?' said Tim Hanlon, CEO of Velociter, the strategic partnership and investment arm of Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands. 'These gigantic numbers suggest their distribution model is just beginning.'
Machinima is the largest TV network in recent years, only not technically on TV. Machinima.com is a youtube channel and studio that caters to video gamers, offering how to create or to clips, additional footage and user-generated films for both niche titles and top franchises such as ' Call of Duty' and 'Halo'. Their users mostly are young males with a penchant for social media or the user-generated video production. It also comes equipped with audience numbers that rival most top-tier cable network. Machinima’s Youtube Channel the video entertainment network for video gamers, providing a new community programming. Across the global network, over 70 million gamers viewed in excess of 620 million videos till May. The Machinima.com is number one entertainment channel on youtube all the time. Also across the largest global distribution platforms including facebook, youtube, twitter also their own blog, Machinima.com blog people can sharing the files, discuss the games or their own ideas.
The website also launched many series before the movie release its becomes a new media platform for the audience who are interest in the machinima. Therefore, many of Hollywood’s top agents and producers who are looking to the mainstream are increasing. ' Media companies can be and are being built in non-traditional ways. At what point does machinima rival, equal or surpass a cable network?' said Tim Hanlon, CEO of Velociter, the strategic partnership and investment arm of Interpublic Group’s Mediabrands. 'These gigantic numbers suggest their distribution model is just beginning.'
Recently, many games come with reachable functionality for creating user-generated videos. Such as Spore by Electronic Arts, even incorporate direct Youtube upload features (Mauskopf, 2008). ' Other host user-generated movies on a dedicated websites, for example Lionhead Studio’s The Movies'(Berardini,2005). Machinima cannot only be shared easily on social networking video sites across the web, but also be made available for prodcasting and screen casting.
Conclusion
Aside from the effects on virsual language and viewer acceptance, machinima also hold a unique position to continually maintain its technology edge and virtual quality. Especially it had the average views and audiences, the future for machinima looks bright, It is certainly not hard to imagine that within ten years directing and producing feature films entirely within virtual real time environments that are indistinguishable from real films in regard to photo-realism is more than a distinct possibility. As practitioners of an emerging media form, machinima communities are seeking greater promotion and recognition for their activities to other audience who don't know what machinima is.
Overall, machinima becomes the way which those player and the producer interacts in a complex video game environment. Machinima might be one of the revolutionary steps in film making, thus, people seldom look at the style, narrative and production tools used in both traditional and computer generated animated stories. Other wise, machinima also develop to the social context,such as movies made in Second Life are more accessible and user friendly than before. As video game graphics improve, we will see more machinima projects reach mainstream audience. ' More and more people are seeing this as a way to do creative gaming rather than destructive gaming. They’re making stuff rather than blowing stuff up' said Hugh the Machinima pioneer.
Therefore, machinima is now becomes prat of mainstream media in popular culture. It provide the audience or the users a new path to creative their works compare to traditional filming, machinima can be saving time,low cost and fast production techniques. Also, there are many communities support the creation to publish via the youtube or blogs. Any consumer who interest or play the video game could be the producers, it provides anyone be a casual filmmakers.' There will always be a need for professional media people. However, user generated content is cool because people are entitled to have a go at being creative.'(Ricard,2007).
Overall, machinima becomes the way which those player and the producer interacts in a complex video game environment. Machinima might be one of the revolutionary steps in film making, thus, people seldom look at the style, narrative and production tools used in both traditional and computer generated animated stories. Other wise, machinima also develop to the social context,such as movies made in Second Life are more accessible and user friendly than before. As video game graphics improve, we will see more machinima projects reach mainstream audience. ' More and more people are seeing this as a way to do creative gaming rather than destructive gaming. They’re making stuff rather than blowing stuff up' said Hugh the Machinima pioneer.
Therefore, machinima is now becomes prat of mainstream media in popular culture. It provide the audience or the users a new path to creative their works compare to traditional filming, machinima can be saving time,low cost and fast production techniques. Also, there are many communities support the creation to publish via the youtube or blogs. Any consumer who interest or play the video game could be the producers, it provides anyone be a casual filmmakers.' There will always be a need for professional media people. However, user generated content is cool because people are entitled to have a go at being creative.'(Ricard,2007).
