Class #14: Machinima

          Machinima, or machine cinema, is a genre or art form that utilizes computer graphics to make a cinematic production.  This is typically done using video games as the primary medium for the basis of the story line.  With the onset of video games in the late 80s and early 90s, crafty players began taking their scripted game characters and creating independent animated stories.
          Machinima really came into play once the technology existed to capture and produce animations effectively.  The Quake engine facilitated the rise of machinima by incorporating open architecture and the independent development of software "mods," or modifications.  The first community accepted, examples of machinima are known as the "Quake Movies."  Teams of people would script encounters and film themselves performing in-game activities and later produce an animated recreation of the events following a story line.  Diary of a Camper is touted as the original machinima movie.
          Machinima differs from typical computer animated movies such as Toy Story or Despicable Me, in that, by using video games as the basis for development, the animator, or machinimator does not have to worry about constructing a 3D world from the ground up.  All of the rendering, modeling, and development of a 3D graphics engine has been done already by the game's creators.  Instead, machinimators take on the role of a movie director of sorts, artfully directing and composing video game characters into an animated story. There are no live or recorded actors to manage, no hollywood salaries or egos.  This has major implications in terms of budgeting and production time.  Machinima costs a minute fraction of what it costs to produce a typical animated film.
          Simply put, machinima is used for entertainment and story telling.  More often then not, machinima is humorous and takes a satirical approach to trending topics or games.  Machinima techniques are often used in conjunction with technology festivals or "CONs," as a means of conveying information through humorous and interesting mediums.  The popularity of machinima has even lead major developers like Blizzard Entertainment to sponsor machinima competitions, featuring their World of Warcraft game.  Machinimators used World of Warcraft to create animated shorts in competition for prizes and accolades.


Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima
http://www.zeitbrand.de/machiniBlog/WhatIsMachinima.html
http://www.howstuffworks.com/machinima.htm


Three of my favorites:

WARNING:  Mature Language!


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