And Now For Something Completely Machinima

This week, Ricky provokes us with a selection of shorts released on TikTok. We discuss the usefulness of the platform for machinima and virtual production creators, as well as pass comment on the three films we take a look at, which unsurprisingly we variously struggle with. Phil's analogy to fish restaurants of different quality sums it up well for us all.

8:19 Fish restaurants
11:51 Dumpsters for paperbacks analogy
15:23 Terry Gilliam said...
19:26 Phil's profound reflection on quality kit
29:52 Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)
35:05 Does Twitter make you a better script writer?

Show notes and links here

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's film review is The Gateway by @ritualenfilm3976 , made with @UnrealEngine and released in May 2020. Its a mix of some well-known alien life sci-fis we all love, the pacing is nicely done and there are some interesting effects that we comment on although we're not quite sure what the ending is all about. Ricky also tells us about a new Philip K. Dick inspired (Blade Runner stylized) release on @Netflix called JUNG_E.

Time stamps -
0:14 Intro to the film.
3:35 A gateway to another world.
5:39 The story is just a sketch.
7:53 Tracy’s impressions of the film.
9:07 Hiding the details.
11:25 Science Fiction Recommendations: JUNG_E
13:11 The problem with not having enough character content.
16:12 A war hero’s brain.

Show notes: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove
End music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week we review the winner of the 2022 Kitbash3D moving image challenge contest, based on their free Mission to Minerva asset pack. The film is called Secret Moon by Orencloud, and what a visually stunning and ethereal representation of Minerva this is, with a clear trajectory between this piece and Orencloud's portfolio. We discuss some of the ways in which the film works and works less well for us, and note that at least one of us missed the ending!

1:34 What was the challenge for?
4:42 The gloom of the world.
6:59 The power of content packs.
10:09 The ethereal quality.
11:24 Music and the voice.
13:17 The problem with music in film.
15:15 I would watch anything this director made in a heartbeat.

Show notes and links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/23/s3-e66-film-review-secret-moon-by-orencloud-feb-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky Grove, Phil Rice
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

Ricky's pick for the month is Let's Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews, uploaded to Vimeo on 11 Mar 2013. The film is a 'slice of life' comedy with intriguing mix of playing a 90s style space game, Nomad X, and reflecting on losing the love of your life - a perfect antidote for those Valentine's week shenanigans!

0:10 Let’s Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews
3:59 Let’s play, let's play 6:27 The shared consciousness of video games
9:00 Inspired by Frontier Elite Dangerous
12:02 Nostalgia factor of video games
13:35 The Halle Project
16:05 The genius of the story
17:57 The importance of good storytelling

Show notes and links: www.completelymachinima.com/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

Ricky's pick for the month is Let's Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews, uploaded to Vimeo on 11 Mar 2013. The film is a 'slice of life' comedy with intriguing mix of playing a 90s style space game, Nomad X, and reflecting on losing the love of your life - a perfect antidote for those Valentine's week shenanigans!

0:10 Let’s Play Nomad X by Kristian Andrews
3:59 Let’s play, let's play 6:27 The shared consciousness of video games
9:00 Inspired by Frontier Elite Dangerous
12:02 Nostalgia factor of video games
13:35 The Halle Project
16:05 The genius of the story
17:57 The importance of good storytelling

Show notes and links: www.completelymachinima.com/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's episode reviews a film by Fandom Games called Half Life 3: Honest Game Trailers, released 31 March 2015. The film is a throwback style of satire and even if you've not been following Valve's Half Life developments, you'll enjoy this. For those less in the know, HL3 is a game that never made it beyond the hype, despite its avid fan base waiting patiently (or impatiently) to play it for 20 years! We reflect on Fandom Games origins in Jimmy Wale's Wiki technology. We also discuss our approach to 'healthy criticism' on the podcast.

0:14 Intro to the show
1:45 What made you like this one?
4:22 The voice of the movie trailer
8:04 Half-life 3 assets leaked
12:29 The cliffhanger ending
18:54 How to best handle internet criticism?
19:46 Praise what we like and learn from it
22:39 Discussing opinions on youtube
26:42 The value of professional criticism

Show notes and links available at https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/09/s3-e64-film-review-half-life-3-honest-game-trailers-by-fandom-games-feb-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

Show Notes & Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/02/02/s3-e63-film-review-the-backrooms-reunion-feb-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: CreateStudio Pro Licensed Music Assets. Youtube Audio Library - Nebular Focus by Dan Henig.

Show Notes & Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/26/s3-e62-film-review-so-i-tried-to-take-a-holiday-jan-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Editor/Producer: Ricky Grove
Music: CreateStudio Pro licensed audio.

Show Notes and Links: https://completelymachinima.com/2023/01/19/s3-e61-film-review-interloper-half-life-2s-greatest-unsolved-mystery-jan-2023/

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: licensed from CreateStudio Pro

Links and show notes: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits -
Speakers: Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, Ricky Grove, Phil Rice
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Damien Valentine
Music: licensed from CreateStudio Pro