What's Your View On Machinima?

[Valiance]

It can be really good and really bad, just like any other medium.

Pretty much sums it up.

I've liked a lot of it, too many to list, but many of them are quite terrible.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

The fact it's called Machinima is just dumb when it's really just "Video Game Movies"

Often the point of new words is to describe complex ideas with brevity. Machinima contains fewer characters so it's quicker to write and has fewer syllables so it's quicker to speak as well.

 

[ampa451]

must be done right or its terrible

 

[SimuLord]

When it's good ("Potentior", "Male Bathroom Etiquette") it's very good. When it's bad it's horrible.

 

[coldfrog]

oh and apparently Code Monkey counts too! linky2 [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v4Wy7gRGgeA]

The one for the song RE: Your Brains (here [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjMiDZIY1bM&feature=channel]) I actually like better because it's done entirely in game without that editing done. I also like the way the little zomblets are wandering around in the background.

 

[Steelblade5858]

I like lots of machinimas my self, such as The Leet World but I hate the over used games that people make machinimas out of such as WoW and the entire halo series, but I do think its okay to make money off of this, just as long as its you who is recording.

 

[SP MeaslyBinkie]

I quite like Machinima myself the best director/series I have viewed are Rooster Teeth/RvB, Digital Ph33r/ Arby and the Chief, Snoken/ Mine and Frost

 

[Mariena]

Using a game engine to make an original movie is a great idea. It's just another cheap tool available to artists. I only think it's crap when people record dialogue over preexisting cut-scenes or game play footage. Then you're not doing anything but stamping someone else's hard work.

So, I take it you don't like Unskippable very much?

 

[GeeDave]

I didn't think it was possible for anyone to like Unskippable.

 

[mark_n_b]

As an SSBB Machinima VA, I'm always interested to know in what the opinions of those outside of the Machinimation community are on Machinima in general. Do you think it's good or bad? A great idea or unoriginal? Do you think it's nice that gamers are getting contracts and getting paid (by Machinima.com, among other things like RvB) for these videos, or horrible that they're making money off of something created by somebody else? Tell me your views.

OK, I'm not going to be mean, because I respect what you do and you don't deserve it. But two things you can bring back to the community:

1. two acronyms in the first five syllables comes off as pretentious (SSBB means Super Smash Bro. yes? and VA is Video Artist?)

2. I am not sure how many people remember the mid nineties / early naughts when the term "japanamation" was found in video stores and HMVs across the nation. We learned then that "animation" is not a suffix; it does not sound cool, it does not make the word easier to say (a good argument for using SSBB) and in the case of machinima it is unnecessary.

On topic. Machinima is not an art form I can ever see funded for television, and at that point I expect more effort in the creation process (i.e. the TF2 meet the videos require more skills with the 3D process than merely playing the game affords) But as a form of video artistry in an online environment, I approve of this art form and highly support sites like Machinima.com that offer payment to achieved artists. Creating Machinima teaches skills in writing and video editing, and do a wonderful job of prepping people for presenting and engineering narrative game concepts.

Sites offering awards and showcasing people talented in this medium push the art form and gaming culture forward, it shows people what good machinima is and pushes the machinma community (see, unnecessary) to develop more complex and quality pieces (and fewer music videos, f*** I hate those God damned music videos... anime fans do this too... grrr)

I can see potential legal issues in this, fair use guidelines are not built to handle the concept of machinima (the primary reason this is not well suited to television) RvB, for instance, got Buddy buddy with Bungie before they went too far down the money making path. It is a bomb waiting to go off right now (even though the company that sets that bomb off is going to be screwing up).

to summarize: machinma is good, fewer music videos (seriously I == hate them soooooo much), and don't say "machinmation".

 

[Vivvav]

Do you make Brawlgasm by any chance?

No, I'm just a Voice Actor in the stuff (though I am starting one myself). I do frequently talk with GuitarmasterX7 though.

 

[Vivvav]

1. two acronyms in the first five syllables comes off as pretentious (SSBB means Super Smash Bro. yes? and VA is Video Artist?)

2. I am not sure how many people remember the mid nineties / early naughts when the term "japanamation" was found in video stores and HMVs across the nation. We learned then that "animation" is not a suffix; it does not sound cool, it does not make the word easier to say (a good argument for using SSBB) and in the case of machinima it is unnecessary.

to summarize: machinma is good, fewer music videos (seriously I == hate them soooooo much), and don't say "machinmation".

In response:
1. Sorry about that. SSBB is Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and VA means "Voice Actor". I've been spending a lot of time at an online Voice Acting forum lately, and forgot that not everybody is familiar with the term.
2. Machinima is a combination of the words "Machine" and "Cinema". I didn't make it up, so don't complain to me about that.

 

[lukey94]

RVB is the greatest, everything else is slow and clunky I find