And Now For Something Completely Machinima

100 Ways to Die in Starfield is wonderful stuff - whether you are 15 or 50! For all those who have distant memories of seeing classic slapstick comedy featuring Charlie #chaplin in B&W, well now you can see a contemporary interpretation in the incredible #starfield universe - and enjoy it with the grandkids! @mans1ay3r has a rich stream of work to his name - others in the 'ways to die' series include #rdr2 and #starwars. Importantly, given the game environment in which this has been made has been less well received than expected, the success of this short exemplifies the role #machinima plays for publishers in keeping it at the forefront of players' imaginations. Great job all around!

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week we compare and contrast, in a way extending that ongoing debate about whose IP is the daddy... but the ep is about much more than that too. We discuss @solofilmmaking4857 's use of #chatgpt to generate a film's story, using the plots of 60 of his portfolio works on Batman, mixing styles and genres along the way. We don't see it as wholly successful and we discuss why. We contrast that with an unusual hobbyist technique to create 'analogue machinima', inspired by Spiderman toy figurines digitised and animated by @MakeItMoveMedia . In the end, our conclusion is that its all Marvellous!

1:37 Vengeance Batman - bloody hell?
4:21 Can AI ever successfully craft a story like a human?
7:10 Analagous to Grammerly but with hilarity and glitch!
14:49 The good parts of the film
17:21 Batman has the biggest screen time of any character - so what's new here?
18:42 How to be innovative with a well trodden path
20:30 Cinematic language? ChatGPT writes dialogue like an early 1980s TV advert!
22:00 A good experiment
23:28 Is it time to return to the original humorous treatment of Batman?
26:35 Marvellous time! Spiderman animations from toy model scans
27:42 A technical exercise but a lot of fun
28:48 The hobbyists journey is a form of 'analogue machinima'
32:10 Creating the background with a 360 video
33:29 The evidence of passion for craft 35:17 The challenge of video fidelity

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Damien Valentine
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week's review is of a self-contained excerpt from a larger film, called Escape Game by @CrisUberman . This part of the film is the final chapter of the story, Danser Encore, voiced by @lionelmazari1990 with a song by @hksaltimbank . We delve into the inspiration for the themes in the film, which draws on the philosophy of Empedocles and Rosset, although we perhaps lower the tone a little with reference to Oscar Wilde!

1:25 Intro to this week’s film pick: an excerpt from Escape Game by Cris Uberman
2:14 The first machinima music video
3:20 Complementary game and music, creating a happy hip-hop scene
5:00 GTA5 is like Roman comedy in theatre
6:03 Cris Uberman’s ouvre in GTA5, photography and real life
7:41 About Empedocles – a pre-Soctratic scholar whose work is the inspiration for the film
9:06 Louis is the central character, narrated by Lionel Mazari
9:58 Exploring the relationship between the virtual and the physical self, quoting Clement Rosset – the nature of reality and its double
12:31 Analagous to the Picture of Dorian Gray?
14:32 HK and the Saltimbanks an inspired choice for the music accompaniment
15:20 This is a type of machinima we have rarely seen
16:16 Deep dive into the meaning of a work vs just watching or reading it – we discuss pros and cons of each

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Tracy Harwood
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Amino Domini Beats

This week, we spend some time talking about new tools, emergent topics, AI and copyright (again), with some interesting links for you on our show notes -

2:45 New tools for machinima makers, including iClone 8 crowd sim, Kenneth MacLean’s MegaHumans WIP and Praydog’s VR mod

8:07 SAG AFTRA update on voice acting using AIs, Replica Studios

15:32 Mickey and friends, steamboating ahead without the Mothership and Princeton’s annual Public Domain Review report

18:13 Increasing the resolution of your machinima films – there’s an AI that can help with that!

20:02 Valve releases games with AI in them but also a new system for reporting emergent uses or problem uses of AI in games

22:17 Why AI is so important for the development of the games and creative industries

25:40 Google’s Video Poet, another tool for animation, AI-enabled

26:30 PCs vs consoles, indies vs AAAs, and the role of machinima and communities!

28:48 Convergence mod for Elden Ring (and any game) – a significant update

31:43 Minecrafter being sued and why this is a bigger deal than creators vs brand companies, implications for digital twin developers, but a massive overreach by the brand?

Credits
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Amino Domini Beats

Made with Sims 4 characters although animated in Blender to great effect, this is a short short at under one minute long by @tricoufamily . It is also all about the title, and interesting to reflect on how we have all seen similar things in the film but interpreted them differently. We conclude this is masterfully done, but check out how we get to that!

1:05 The painting
4:38 Are they or aren't they together? (and again at 21:34)
6:50 Which ear should the music be in?
7:50 Empathy and Joker 2019
11:09 It felt unfinished
12:40 Between the scenes
15:33 Hollywood producers... working title: the cutting room floor!
16:47 People watching vs voyeurism
21:41 Facial expressions

This week we discuss two very different films, both reflecting a bygone era of classic entertainment. Firstly, an interpretation of the 1954 Japanese classic Godzilla, made in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Its unusual for a couple of reasons: its been made on a handheld Nintendo Switch in a game not really known for its creative application, and its been released only on X (Twitter). Its timing is perfect to capitalize on all the film and TV series hype at the moment so it was always going to find an appreciative audience - definitely one to check out. Secondly, Phil has created an iClone and AI-based video to the Tom Lehrer song, Lobachevsky - its the ultimate accompaniment to this well-known political satire. Phil discusses his creative process in its making and we also discuss how the original song came to be made at a time when Lehrer was walking a tightrope for a few reasons, so we reflect on its timing and impact.

1:37 Shinto Ritual by Sumoguri discussion (Godzilla), made in Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
20:27 Lobachevsky by Phil Rice, made in iClone and with AI tools; Phil discusses the challenges of using public domain content and learning a new toolset through a creative process

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Anno Domini Beats

We take a look at one of the best machinima series we've ever seen this week... from the annals of history. The Fixer series was a crime drama created by Todd Stallkamp (aka Burnt Coffee Productions aka TodNYC28) made in Sims 2 and originally released in 2006. Todd was part of the first brain drain from the world of machinima, and shortly after the release of this series was snapped up by EA Games as a content creator where he still is, ironically now in charge of the Sims amongst other games in its portfolio. We revisit the series in our review, discuss how well its stacked up against contemporary machinima and why its still one of the greatest machinima series we've ever seen! Ricky concludes, if Todd hadn't gone to EA, he'd now be making TV shows and films: '... you could take this series, make it live action, use all of the shots that Todd made and put it on Amazon as a series.'

#machinima #sims #sims4 #sims2 #filmfestival #awards #crimedrama #eagames

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Anno Domini Beats

Phil catches up with a long-time machinima creator Ben Tuttle, aka 4413 Media. Ben admits he cut his teeth on The Movies in the late 2000s, and then discusses Shockbreak, one of his latest productions. They get into the detail of how the film was created and generally Ben’s creative workflow using iClone, Character Creator, Unreal Engine and a heap of other tools integrated into the production process. They also discuss the merits of using AI and the difficulties of social media misinterpretations. Ben shares with us some teasers for his upcoming films.

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ben Tuttle (aka 4413 Media)
Editor/Producer: Phil Rice

This week, we discuss the critical turn we witnessed in 2023 towards machinima among creative industries professionals. We highlight why it is high time there is a major rethink on the role of indie creatives and fan fiction in general. We also review a beautiful cinematic made in GTA5, and also reflect on some of the challenges with a particular camera technique.

Discussion points -
2:23 Hardly Working by Austrian collective Total Refusal wins a major Festival award, its significance and impact
5:10 2023 was a critical turn for machinima productions and their global recognition among professionals in the creative industries
13:30 Amazon and Games Workshop collaboration, what does this mean for Warhammer 40K fan fiction content?
15:45 Cooking the goose that lays the golden egg: a book sequel writer’s tale, the Tolkein Estate and Amazon – why we are approaching a perfect storm; the principles on which judges have made decisions need to be called into question and its importance for machinima indie creators
32:14 Cyberpunk’s booklet for the Ultimate Edition, hidden depths and why this needs to be followed up
39:40 Cinematic Experience of GTA5 Machinima, by Syed – Damien introduces this pick; Tracy comments on the music choice, quality of editing and unusual connections being made between people, things and events; and Phil compares it to Brad Pitt!
45:13 Algorithmic shaky cam and its discontents

#machinima #virtualproduction #copyright #ownership #FilmFestival #awards #Amazon #GamesWorkshop #GTA5 #LOTR #Tolkein #warhammer #cyberpunk2077 #skakycam

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Coast by Anno Domini Beats

Kicking off 2024 with machinima from a slightly different perspective: this week, Ricky introduces us to the #letsplay/#tutorial/#epicguideline/#showNtell genre in his favorite game of all time: Elden Ring. Its the first time we've heard just how much time he's spent in game and we won't draw attention to it just in case his partner is following us... but from the machinimas he shared with us, he's by no means alone. We discuss their usefulness and impact in the world of machinima, why building OP characters is important and just how skilled these creators are not only in the game but also in producing documentaries about the game. We start with a discussion about a new laptop for gaming Ricky has found that is up to the complexities of the Elden Ring task, and then he gives a run through of two specific films, plus some name checks across the various different approaches to OP building and boss fighting he's observed.

0:45 Asus laptop for gaming
4:05 Name checks for different genres of Elden Ring OP channels
9:06 Ricky's favorite machinima pick: The Strongest DEX Build You’ll Ever See in Elden Ring (GET OP EARLY) | Ultimate Warrior Guide, by Nizar GG
11:14 Ricky's second string pick: How to Make the 20 Best STRENGTH BUILDS | Elden Ring, by Thingfishy
12:16 Damien threatens to invest in the game and challenge Ricky
14:05 Tracy's comments: without these guides, many folks would leave the ER community
20:42 Phil reflects on the PacMan guides of the 1980s... and asks the question 'are game developers getting more and more daring and willing to create something really complex because they know what we the users can do', well yes seemingly!

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Anno Domini Beats