The theme of this semi-artistic opus is machinima. First of all, it will be of interest to those who are not familiar with this phenomenon. For this reason, I did not publish it on the blogs of this site, but recently I decided to blow the dust off the material and present its full version to the public. Almost All works are used with permission of the authors. Happy reading.
– Oh, I see you’ve finally woken up.
– Where am I?? Who are you?
– It doesn’t matter at all. The main thing is that you are sitting in front of me and we are having a decorous conversation. You love to learn new things? The ropes don’t tighten?
— New? Do you want to tell me something?
– Are you smart?. I want to talk to you about machinima.
-..
“The sooner we finish, the sooner I’ll let you go.”.
– I guess I have no choice. And what is it – machinima?
— Machinima is a genre of story videos made based on video game graphics. These can be small skits, TV series and even films. It all depends on the enthusiasm and skills of the author. Let me tell you how it all began..
– No, stop!
— 1989, Indianapolis, more precisely, Indianapolis 500: the simulation — the first game with the ability to record a video. Two hundred laps, thirty-three pilots, sixteen colors and six camera angles. And all this in a resolution of 320×240 and before the widespread use of the Internet. That’s why "Fast and Furious" no one did it on the knee.
In 1996, technology already made it possible to shoot something similar to a film. One of the first cinematic machinimas – "Camper’s Diary" (based on the game Quake), which shows how a squad of soldiers kills an ambushed enemy.
Now it looks primitive, because there is not even voice acting, but a lot is forgiven to the pioneers (Diary of a Camper, 1996)
Films also became milestones in the development of the genre The French Democracy (The movies) And Tales of the Past 3 (World of Warcraft). The first is a short film about racial discrimination in France and the riots it caused. This movie proved that machinima isn’t just about games. 88-minute blockbuster "Stories from the Past 3", in turn, attracted attention to such videos as a form of art.
— As far as I https://gogo-casino.uk/ understand, some machinima are not related to games. How much do you need to understand the gaming industry to watch films like this??
— It all depends on the specific video. Of course, based on the game files, the easiest way is to create a movie related to it plot. But the author can deviate as much as possible from the story or concept of the original if he has an appropriate idea.
For example, the series "Elite World" (Counter-strike: Source) parodies television reality shows, making the heroes of one of them special forces and terrorists from a competitive shooting game. Although some of the jokes are still dedicated to the gameplay.
This is what the video diaries of characters look like in The Leet World (2007)
Even if the creator of the video does not abandon the original source as a setting, the threshold for entry into this machinima may be low. There are several ways to achieve this. Let’s look at two examples.
The first one is a video "Christmas Truce of 1914" (Battlefield 1), which tells the story of the 1914 Christmas Truce during the First World War. The essence of the game is a confrontation between soldiers of two armies who communicate by shouting prepared lines. In machinima, the same soldiers in the same scenery, using the same phrases, congratulate each other on the holiday and exchange gifts. To understand the dissonance of circumstances and actions, it is not necessary to spend dozens of hours in Battlefield — just look at the environment and characters taken from the game about that era.
The second example is episode 8 of season 10 South Park "Make Love, Not Warcraft". About half of the running time is machinima based World of Warcraft, created together with its developers. The plot is based on concepts with which those who do not play WoW the viewer most likely did not encounter. But what helps us understand the plot is that, firstly, the main characters whose adventures we are watching are already familiar to us. Secondly, the writers explained the necessary basics along the way. Thirdly, not even all the characters understand online entertainment, which is also played up by the creators.
When they tell you that machinima is only for game lovers
—What are the genres of machinima??
— Lately I often say this phrase, but it all depends on the author, or rather, on his screenwriting abilities. If he wants, he will create a comedy series, if he wants, he will edit a battle scene.
Of course, it’s easier to create war videos in action games (ONE (Battlefield 3), 2013)
You can find historical machinima online, in particular the already mentioned short film "Christmas Truce of 1914", militants – "Breaking Point" (GTA V), comedy – "A Day in the Life of a Turret" (Portal) – and even training videos.
For example, a series of videos about the principles of editing, filmed in GTA V
– What do you recommend watching??
— It’s impossible to give a general recommendation for everyone: a huge number of different machinima have already been shot, even if there are fewer of them than films. A lot depends on personal preference here. In principle, all the works mentioned above deserve attention. At the very least, they were clearly not made on the knee and were liked by the audience at Youtube.
In addition to the projects already listed, it is worth noting an hour and a half action movie "Scavenger" (The Trashmaster, 2010) (GTA IV). User rating on movie sites is a little less than 7 points, which corresponds to a strong average. Not a bad result for one person and 600 euros.
Machinima deserves attention "Red vs Blue" (series Halo) is one of the most popular web series, lasting for 15 seasons. Evidence of the show’s quality includes awards from several academies and the participation of Elijah Wood and other professional actors.
Developing the theme of academies, as in the case of cinema, you can find a film for the evening among the nominees and winners of festivals. How about The Machinima Expo, which ceased to exist in 2015? Or Machinima Film Festival 2005? Just kidding, just kidding, of course I have something newer. Machinima Film Festival 2008!
Hmmm, apparently, you will have to be content with the winners of past competitions – for example, Hardly Workin’ (Quake 2). And the quality criteria will remain only likes on Youtube.
– I think I figured it out. Can you untie my hand and hand me the phone so I can go to Youtube?
– I’ll untie your legs too. I told you I’ll let you go.
– Just like that?
– No, you take the recording of our conversation and tell the others what you heard.
– That is, I am… a prophet from the machine?
– I see you really want to stay in this basement.
– Sorry, I thought it was funny. I think I already know how I’ll tell everyone about machinima. Maybe you’ll finally set me free?
