Machinima for Dummies comments

"Yes, but is it machinima?" by mrdougan

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:24:47 +0100

As the instigator of the debate (this time round), I’d thought it best to poke my head round the proverbial door and say hi. I feel honoured that so many of the machinima community have come forward offering their perspectives on what machinima is or isn’t.

I confess however, that despite hearing such heated debate from multiple sources I still have issues with Trick/Glitch/Frag videos being graded as machinima, but I do accept its what makes people happy (and keeps them entertained).

So I’ll call it a day ;-)

"The non-game speedbump" by micnit

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:44:22 +0100

It is very difficult to really test the numbers. I just went to (and posted about) a talk where a professional TV producers mentioned his experiences with machinima as a professional production tool and they did proper audience testing. The result: their target audience of 18-year old gamers hated it and as a result they look at much younger audiences. Because most machinima makers come from gaming we might take the enthusiasm for games as granted - but we might be plain wrong.

"The non-game speedbump" by Tom Jantol

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:36:05 +0100

Hey, thank you for putting my movie in such good company. It looks that good company is The Success in my case. And I really start to love this without frustration cosed by low numbers. What is strange (well, strange for me) about Wizard is fact that I wrapped all movie in easy to follow chase drama - what is more common in animated shorts than good guy chasing bad one - exactly for reason to gather mainstream public, one not caring about engine, game or not game, even 2D or 3D, for public who just need good entertainment. Tom and Jerry basically, everything else - everything mine - in this movie viewer doesn’t have to see if he don’t want to or care to. I even make version with shorter opening text. It will be interesting to see further elaborations about what or who we - the non game real time animators - compete with really. Is it possible to succeed in world populated with big numbers and big studios with professional equipment without so cosy environment of game fans?
Btw, I also started to work on short poem movies serial (based on CrazyTalk), hope you wouldn’t mind me using the same poem as in your movie?

"The non-game speedbump" by Overman

Tue, 06 May 2008 20:59:49 +0100

I set out to write a slightly longer response than my first comment, and … well, I’ll be publishing in June. Check your local bookstore!

Or just read the long post here: http://z-studios.com/blog/2008/05/06/how-to-be-full-of-win/

"The non-game speedbump" by Algernon

Tue, 06 May 2008 20:41:47 +0100

Like Johnnie has indicated, it’s not about how many people like them, it’s about how much they like them! (Which is why Hollywood produces such crippled crap)

"The non-game speedbump" by FLeeF

Tue, 06 May 2008 19:49:43 +0100

I still get a kick out of reading the rare comment my stuff gets on YouTube even when some of the pieces have been sitting for over a year in obscurity.

They may be buried at the bottom of the pile, but like Mike wrote they’re still there on the shelf in the video rental store collecting dust and waiting for the odd moviegoer who thinks he’s seen it all to wander by.

And it still feels good to have made my little ditties. No one can take that away.

"The non-game speedbump" by Mike Joyce

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:46:40 +0100

Hugh,

Very interesting observations.

I can’t help but think of all the films I see in the video stores or on late night “art” TV channels that represent the “that was great - when did that get made?” And from a live film prespective I have a box of “finished” tv pilots that never made it to the air, but were still good enough to have millions spent trying to figure out if they would work.

Maybe the problem is in large part that the format of machinima is too vague right now. Gamers are drawn to the machinima that they are familiar with. Non-gamers just can’t spend any time to do anything that may be precieved as a “game”.

Then there is also the large percentage of machinima films that are not very good (perhaps because the tools are so inexpensive) and these films just simply drown the good films. I found this with podcasts, there are just too many to sort through any more.

As the machinima craft grows and matures I think for now your advice of making the films for yourself is the best one. From that passion will come a more unique product and some thing worth attention.

"The non-game speedbump" by Leo Lucien-Bay

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:41:03 +0100

I’ve been saying this for years now, so I’m with Kate & Overman. Without a gaming audience you’re almost at the mercy of the wind. Publicising your film can become even more difficult than making it. The mob is fickle so carrying your fans over from the gaming audience isn’t always as effective as might be hoped. You really gotta love what you do now more than ever because out here people will call you a ‘god’ much less often.

"The non-game speedbump" by Hugh "Nomad" Hancock

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:19:56 +0100

Addendum to the last post - it’s not about what people think when they watch it, it’s about getting them to watch it. Remember - without the games draw or the BB post, where would people have even seen a promo image?

"The non-game speedbump" by Hugh "Nomad" Hancock

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:18:36 +0100

Buddy - you may think that BloodSpell was obviously going to be bigger than WWTP. That’s because you like fantasy. If you asked most people in the mainstream film industry which out of BloodSpell or WWTP they’d be more interested in, you’d have a good chance of getting WWTP - it’s an adaption, so automatic boost, it’s much more mainstream than BloodSpell, being about breakups and not featuring orcs and elves, and it’s much harder to dismiss as silly computer game stuff. And it’s a short, which on the internet means people are much more likely to show it to their friends than an 84-minute feature.

BloodSpell would have had a much harder time if it had been made in Moviestorm, say. Sure, we might still have gotten coverage from BoingBoing, but without the games angle the Guardian wouldn’t have been so interested, we wouldn’t have gotten coverage from Kotaku, Blue’s News, GayGamer, the Bioware newsletter, etc, etc. That would have had a huge effect on viewership.

Look at Stolen Life or Killer Robot. Both awesome films, but no game interest catalysing them, and limited viewership.