Last week I mentioned the production company RoosterTeeth, a company responsible for a number of popular web series over the last several years. One of their most popular and well known series, Red vs. Blue, makes use of a technique known as machinima. Machinima refers to the use of real-time graphic engines to create cinematic productions. Most often, the engines used come from video games, effectively connecting machinima to video gaming culture. Many people consider this kind of production as animation because the creators are essentially using computer graphics. What makes machinima different from more traditional animation is that the animators are controlling each character and acting out the necessary movements in real-time. To get an idea of what that might look like, check this episode of Red vs. Blue that RoosterTeeth made using the game Halo: Reach.
The Halo series is very popular among machinima makers, given their numerous multiplayer maps and the Forge Mode, a game mode that allows players to create their own structures within maps. Other popular video games for machinima include World of Warcraft, The Sims, as well as Half Life 2 with its numerous third party generated mods. Machinma is a cool way for video game fans to make exciting ideas and bring their fan fiction to life.
So since we are in an animation class I would like to talk about one of my favorite web shows: Red Vs. Blue. For those who don't know Red Vs. Blue is a show where they record a whole scenario in Halo and have a anonymous viewer act as the camera man. This type of film is called Machinima.
Red Vs. Blu is hilarious and really creative. I can only imagine that the production cost is really low. Instead of a camera alls you need is an xbox. You don't need props or fake guns because they are all in the game.
Of course just like the video game, Red vs Blue gets better and better graphics and in the case of this scene actually used graphics and stuff like that. It's amazing how far Rooster Teeth has developed Red vs. Blue.
This video is the first of many from the series, Sonic For Hire, made by Machinima. Sonic For Hire is a sprite-animated series that follows Sonic and Tails, the hero and sidekick from the series, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic is in a rut after being fired from the game company, SEGA, and will have to find some odd-jobs to pay his monthly rent. Throughout these odd-jobs, he meets game characters from other video games, such as Mario, Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, and more. It is currently one of Machinima's popular series, as it reached up to 6 seasons and is currently continuing. This is one series to check out if you enjoy loads of video game references.
There is form of film making in which the entire film is made using game engines, and the characters within a game to create movies. These films are called Machinima, a blend of machine and cinema. People use all kinds of games to create the movies. The first was the original Doom game, people would use the multiplayer characters to act within the game and record their stories. Second Life is one of the most prevelent games engines to be used as a movie platform. Within the game people create sets, organize actors, make costumes and film stories. One of the first narrative stories created was Silver Bells and Golden Spurs, a short story based on a poem set in the Wild West.
Another well known Machinima production is the red vs. blue series that uses Halo characters as actors.
This is a unique and growing field, there is even an annual Machinima film festival held in New York. Perhaps more and more production will be created this way as your crew and talent can be anywhere in the world but still meet on the digital set.
Halo 4 is here! With all the hype and excitement surrounding the latest installment to the series I figured I would share a bit of it with the class. With the release of the game, 343 Industries, the new studio in charge of Microsofts cash-cow intellectual property, has also released a series of live-action shorts to promote it. A lot of money was put into the making of this series, with some pretty interesting actors and actresses filling the roles (Anna Popplewell of Chronicles of Narnia fame!). It is written by Aaron and Todd Helbing and directed by Stewart Hendler (2009, Sorority Row, 2007 Whisper).
This is the fifth installment in the series called Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn. Some of the effects are incredibly cool, but all look like they came from After Effects and similar programs. The opening sequence to this involves a really cool particle distortion which looks to have been made in Particular. At around 1:49 a firefight begins after an exploding grenade hits the front wheel. Its interesting to see the alien bullets flying around in the scene, because they are clearly edited in with After Effects. In the 4th episode, there is a lot of really interesting effects that they use with a camouflaged alien enemy. As he moves through the scene, he distorts the image just slightly to reveal his position. When he strikes, he uses a glowing energy sword that lights up just before the gore.
Its interesting to see the direction media is taking. Multi and transmedia projects seem to be the way to go for marketing and promoting new products. We will be seeing a lot more of high budget, live-action mini-series to support video game franchises. There are a lot of really cool effects in this series and I urge anyone who is a fan of the series or is interested in seeing some cool effects in a game to film setting, it is definitely worth checking out.
