Massively

Cinemassively: Bodysnatchers

Moo Money — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Second Life, Free-to-play, Cinemassively, Machinima

Phil Rice, one of the original machinima oldbies, released a music video for the Aniboom Radiohead music video contest. In the video, he combines Second Life, Moviestorm, Paint Shop Pro, CamStudio, and Virtual Dub to make an impressive anymation piece. For those unaware of the term "anymation," it means using any and all tools you can get your hands on to create a digital expression.

Phil involved dancers from SL, sets from Moviestorm, and drawings from Paint Shop Pro in Radiohead: Bodysnatchers. According to his blog, he had 55gb of source footage, a whopping 72 video tracks with an average of 16 compositing layers, spent 250 hours on the video, and rendering it out took 3 hours per minute of final film. Hopefully this will inspire others to break out of the box and combine more platforms.

[Via Machinima for Dummies]

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

Cinemassively: Bodysnatchers originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 May 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cinemassively: DiVAS

Moo Money — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima

Phaylen Fairchild is no stranger to Machinima, but it's been a long time since her last effort. She's back in full force with DiVAS, dubbed as the first virtual comedy sitcom. Starring herself as an alcoholic that accidentally burns her house down, she is taken to rehab. Once there, she begins to exhibit withdrawal symptoms. I can only assume that she starts having hallucinations that take her into a dream world, where the real magic takes place.

The storyline not only flows well, but it's clear and concise. You can actually feel the emotions that Phaylen is trying to convey, from boredom to excitement. The music, by Mika and Darren Hayes, is fantastic as well. Machinimists outside of Second Life are already touting it as one of the best examples of what the virtual world can do for storytelling.

That's not to say that it doesn't have technical flaws. The transitions are too flashy and clash with the black bars, which change in size throughout. The editing is a bit rough. In addition, she used the word "first", which is a personal pet peeve. I'm not even sure that it's actually a comedy or a sitcom, but I doubt that it's the first. It mainly felt like a long music video to me. Nevertheless, I liked it. What did you think?

[Thanks, Phil!]

Cinemassively: DiVAS originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cinemassively: "Worth Dying For" released

Moo Money — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:45:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Video, Cinemassively, Machinima

I recently wrote about a World of Warcraft trailer that promised an epic movie would be following shortly. True to his word, Manuel Sequeira released a 40 minute movie yesterday! "Worth Dying For" offers an entertaining storyline and develops fairly well.

This is a love story with deep history. A forsaken mage has plotted his revenge on the Lady Sylvanas for taking him so early, dooming him to the afterlife. If he is to become human again, he must seek out the current archmage and draw him to him. Only after battle can he return to his true form and kill her. What follows is a sad story with a surprising twist. I think you'll enjoy it!

However, I do have some criticism. Despite having the amazing Phil Rice, aka Overman, voicing some of the characters, the rest of the cast doesn't fit. The editing of the sound has some part in it, but the voiceovers just feel wrong. I was also disappointed with the lack of range of movement in scenes with dialogue. In addition, I'm not sure what resolution he shot it in, but there are some scenes where he is zoomed in that are very pixelated. My last concern with this Machinima is that one of the voices is credited to Alan Smithee. What happened there?

[Via Zarathustra Studios]

Cinemassively: "Worth Dying For" released originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cinemassively: I'm So Sick

Moo Money — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Cinemassively, Machinima

There's definitely a hierarchy in the Machinima world. For example, I personally get all fangirl over people that do community-related activities, like Hugh Hancock or Phil Rice. They, however, rave about guys like Baron Soosdon.

Baron created this music video based on a song, of the same name, by Flyleaf and Legion of Doom. He used Unreal Tournament 2004, Half-Life 2, and World of Warcraft for the backgrounds, but the characters themselves are from WoW. The editing in this video is absolutely superb. The visuals are top notch, showing off stunning scenery and little tricks like depth of field.

Did I mention that it's just one of a ton of outstanding movies he's made in WoW and other mediums? Yep, he's just that good. You can read more about how he made it on his blog.

Cinemassively: I'm So Sick originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cinemassively: ad absurdum

Moo Money — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima

Today's Machinima comes from Phil "Overman" Rice, of Zarathustra Studios. Best known for his breakout hit, Male Restroom Etiquette, this time he tackles video game terms of service. This is the first of a series of short films using tools, such as MovieStorm and Second Life, that are free of messy IP rights entanglements. They will air every Friday on his website, and on his blip.tv channel.

As the video begins, we are introduced to Charles Bowbuck, the spokesperson for Abokey, a piece of photo-making software. He outlines some absolutely ridiculous terms of use, which would not be acceptable anywhere other than video games. So why are they accepted in video games?

Phil highlights an important problem that many Machinimists face. In most platforms, they are not allowed to own, create, or profit from their work. He advises viewers to read their preferred video game's EULA. The most essential point of the video is that "Machinima is not theft."

You can see the video after the jump, or download it from his website.

Continue reading Cinemassively: ad absurdum

Cinemassively: ad absurdum originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments