Class 14 - Machinima

    
Machinima History


     Machinima is a type of filmmaking using video games and virtual reality technology. the name Machinima is derived from the words machine and cinema, and even though it is technically misspelled the name stuck. This type of filmmaker is called a machinimists or machinimators. This art really started in the early 90's when gamers used video games to create these original films and has expanded with the enhancements of modern day technology. More specifically, these movies were developed from a sub-genre called "Quake movies" which included in-game "speedruns" and "frag movies." 
     In 2000 Hugh Hancock launched the website machinima.com. The creation of the website shocked the community, because the name seemed misspelled. However, the name stuck because it also references anime. The first film was then make using Quake 3 arena which was a huge file size which also shocked the machinima community who were used to smaller file types. After the creation of the website, machinima gained more mainstream success with and even Steven Spielberg used Unreal Tournament while filming his 2001 movie Artificial Intelligence: AI.

What is it used for?

     The idea of Machinima is to utilize the power of video games and technology to tell a story. The benefit of Machinima is that it is an excellent way of filmmaking that costs significantly less to make than the standard computer generated film. There are no physics and movements to create, and no actors to pay. The video game serves as the medium to which a user can manipulate to create these short films. 
     The video game usually serves as the backdrop for this type of filmmaking and the complexity of such films range from in-game shots of someone racing through a level to full fledged feature films with plot twists. When you first take a look at Machinima, they seem like regular computer generated movies. In computer generated films a user must physically create these objects and make them move to suit the film. In Machinima, the video game programmers have done the work for you, all the user has to do is utilize the technology to create a worthwhile film.

References: http://www.howstuffworks.com/machinima.htm
                       http://www.zeitbrand.de/machiniBlog/WhatIsMachinima.html

My favorite Machinima examples: