This Was Halloween! Machinima

  

Now that all the treats have been consumed, and you are completely exhausted with costumes, horror movies, and Rocky Horror theatrics,  it is time to reflect on how machinima fared this year over the season.  Lots of treats, a few tricks, and a good time for all - producers and viewers.  

Just doing a quick web search should indicate some paranormal activity among machinima producers.  I particularly hunted for 2014 features.  I really anticipated much more machinima on topic, and there were only a handful that actually attempted storytelling of some sort.   Regardless, lots of people had fun doing random game machinima and commenting on the footage in real time - just not what I wanted this time around.   

So why Halloween - I mean it is after the fact, right?   For me, I like to see what stands up once the holiday is gone, when we are all worn out on the season - what is still worth watching.   From the dozen that surfaced online, I selected the following based on uniqueness, diversity, and the charm and efforts of some obvious newcomers to virtual filmmaking.  Among my finds were many Minecraft, a few World of Warcraft (only picked one), one Sims and three Second Life. 

Minecraft has inherent humor that works well for machinima.  For example, when the characters want to give someone something they sort of toss it off their body.   So in some of the films, you will notice pumpkins and candy being projected at them, rather than being placed in treat bags.   You will see that in two of the first machinima.   For some reason, Minecraft treaters are fun to watch and that seems appropriate given the platform's popularity among youth and young adult demographics.   For some reason, the issues and bugs that bother SL Machinima producers and viewers do not seems so problematic with Minecraft fans.   Does the platform really have to be "realistic" for it to make sense for us to like it?     

Machinima is not a designated path; it is a means towards communicating artistically or not-so-artistically - or however you define creativity and entertainment, whether it is for an audience of one or thousands.  The seasoned and amateur both have a right to utilize the tools, and that is how people improve along the way.   The skill level is varied among the featured Minecraft machinima. 

The Spooky House - Minecraft Halloween Machinima (OwlCrafted)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwWtFzULZ3s

Happy Halloween! - Minecraft Kurzfilm #1 (MultiDudelSack)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGE1FuYq1Zs   

Bane of the Pumpkin Lord (Minecraft Halloween) (Deathwind31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5WtgURKEDk

A World of Warcraft feature parodies all the so-called iconic warlords of Halloween in this short piece.  A fun film released in time for Halloween this year. 

Warlords of Halloween - World of Warcraft Machinima (ibeckman671)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvopgxZ_xBM

The Sim3 featured machinima - Insomnia - is nearly 30 minutes, and it took quite a bit of effort to put this film together.   It was published on October 30th.  It is rough around the edges, but it has to be commended for some of the strikingly good scenes and overall commitment.   It has all the elements of a seasonal pop movie - rock singer, pretty girl, murder and twisted plot - what else do you need for Halloween?  

Insomnia ♠☿♠ Halloween Special (Sims 3 Machinima) (Mr. SW3D3)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7IpTOspqAk

As for Second Life machinima that caught my eye -  let's start with a machinima made to the song "Jump in the Line" by Harry Belafonte.  Aside from the blue balls that might have been derezzed, it works as a seasonal piece.  It was filmed in Halloween Town in Second Life. 

Jump in the line (Halloween Town - second life machinima) (Annomis DeVaux)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VG3TXwXnBrA

Another machinima that captures the beautiful settings possible in Second Life is the RMK Gothic Halloween short feature 

- an enjoyable piece with the filmmaker trying hard to capture the amazing seasonal magic in which she is immersed at the moment. 

RMK Gothic Halloween 2014 in Second Life (Kawanishi Yana)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axXwiUjAr34

Kara Trapdoor (of Kara's Korner, Second Life Adventures) regularly features her machinima pieces that underscore the beauty or the fun of a sim.  In October, she showcased the magic of the Giano Estates, a 22-sim residential project of middle class community living.   Her machinima captures the magic of Halloween for SL children - the child in all of us who peeks through during the holidays.  

Giano Estates Children's Show Teaser (Kara Trapdoor)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FC5GaKfPxw

Closing out with a Minecraft machinima produced in 2011 leaves us with a take on the tune "This is Halloween."  You might particularly enjoy the Minecraft Disney motion graphic in the opening.  I love such tricks and treats in machinima!

Minecraft Machinima: This is Halloween (ilikecutepeople)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_1iTmOsF94

You know what is really scary - it is Election Day in the USA! 

Bump in the Night

Things that go bump in the night! 

I'm back from a month hiatus to take on the Season of The Witch (2011), not the motion picture starring Nicholas Cage.  I was one that enjoyed it, but the critics and viewers were mixed in their reaction. A much larger issue is at hand, as the bewitching hour draws closer to us.  What is it about horror movies that give us tingles up our spine?  Good and bad scary movies have an effect, with some more subtle than others.  Whether we love them or hide from them, during the Halloween season, they surround us from movie trailers to costumes to fake spider webs.  The reality is - the images and storylines don't have to be that "real" to frighten us.  Think about all those "Jason" and Freddy" movies - and what about "The Candy Man" or today's generation's reincarnation of the ancient "Slender Man" - we suspend disbelief to believe in the dark side.  Even in the virtual world, the Wicked Witch of Second Life might get you, my pretties. 

The plots seem trite. The victims are paralyzed with fear, and we think we would do something differently;  we would run faster (and not trip on that tree branch) but then we think, would we, could we?  Horror movies tap into our wildest fears, even worse than any nightmares conceived within our mind - alas, it comes from the human mind, that writer who knows those little twists and turns to get us on edge.   The ghastly figure peering into our window, the doll under our bed that comes to life when we sleep, or even the creature that looms within the depths of the lake - all bring to mind familiar movie scenes.   If one believes in good, then surely there is evil.  If one believes in evil, then there must be some goodness in the world.   One or two characters escape from this horrid wrath, only to be faced with those demons again and again in sequels.

We laugh about some of these movies, and how silly they are, but we watch them - and jump at the appropriate times.  Our primal fears are aroused by sound and light, and some instinctual sense rooted deeply into our being.   Do you ever think - could I ever do such dastardly deeds, if pushed beyond my limits?  What are those human limits?  Do you ever know?   In comic books and films, there are supernatural transformations into superheroes  - and then there are those humans that become supernaturally evil and powerful, driven by revenge and psychosis.  Maybe there was something evil in them from conception.  Freud spoke of our id, the darkness closeted deep within our mind.  Is it that part of us that enjoys these movies?

Earlier this year, Time Out London published a list of the top 100 horror films, and the top ten are worthy of reflection this Halloween -  The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Psycho (1960), Alien (1979), The Thing (1982), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Halloween (1978), Suspiria (1976), and Dawn of the Dead (1978).

Check out the whole list here: http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/2494/best-horror-films.

"Bad people don't come with warning labels." 

I heard that line today, as I wrote this column, watching a Lifetime movie!  That is a network full of movies that by its design asks us to put our critical sensors on hold!  LOL.  I have come to learn many men watch this network too, as well as its target audience of women of many ages.  Only those brave men admit to it!

What is it about horror movies that captivate our attention and scare us out of our mind.  EXACTLY.  A horror movie is a step into madness, a point were human weakness and strengths are exploited.  It is the pounding of the heart in Edgar Allen Poe's Tell Tale Heart.  [Here's a The Sims 2 adaption - a pantomime]  It is our humanity that allows us to fall prey to the supernatural.  It is more than the eerie music, whispers in the dark, the blood and writhing, flickering lights and shadows, or even the infamous Wilhelm scream.  In the world of horror, we can trust no one - not our lovers, children, or parents.  We are alone - and not alone.  We are sane - and perhaps insane.  We cannot even trust ourselves.  Vampires did not make the top 10, but Dawn of the Dead did.  Perhaps it is because what scares us most is ourselves, those of our own species. Vampires live eternally, and zombies are mindless, drooling creatures.  We hold life precious, fully rich with emotions and intelligence.  Those emotions include fear, and the absence of fear is to be a zombie. A vampire fears its second death.

Now let’s look at some horror machinima from the past few years.  The range of skills and content are quite diverse.   

Above, World of Warcraft's This is Halloween - a musical ditty that you will recognize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlZ2wSHw7YI

Above, A Sims 2 Horror Movie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ivkpVzgyRQ&feature=related
The windows scenes are worth the view.  Why did they leave the door open?

How about a couple of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations?  We start of course with the work of the wonderfully talented Lainy Voom, in particular her version of Dagon.  It is an artistically crafted voyage into the mind.  Or what about the award-winning series The Shadow of Innsmouth and its prequels screened at the Machinima Expo over multiple years.

And then one of my students, Patrick, this past summer experimented with a bit with horror, first using Minecraft to produce a music video (Skillet's Monster) and then Second Life to create a sci-fi mini thriller.   Realize that these were his first machinima projects.

Minecraft – Skillet's Monster

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3069ceRNuMg&feature=plcp

Second Life - Horror on the Bridge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvfEo9C-F-o&list=PL00535DE7B042CF43&feature=plcp

Note the cameo by my co-instructor Lowe Runo in "Horror on the Bridge."  Lowe himself produced a machinima years ago called Bedtime, playing off our childhood fears. We all have at least one scary story in us - what is your story?   

We find reasons why to celebrate Halloween all year-round.   This November 30th, Black Friday, the biggest shopping day after Thanksgiving, The Collection will be debut in movie theaters.   And its logo is..."the real Black Friday."   

What can we learn from horror movies?  - techniques of foreshadowing, building suspense, tapping into fears, unique characterization, and how to take us on the emotional roller coaster ride of our lifetime.  That does not necessarily mean lots of action in the physical sense.  It means an exploration into the primeval nature that connects us all.   As we face our greatest fears, there is hope that the human race can rise above them all, to start again - until Part  II.

Be sure to attend Machinima Expo inside Second Life - November 16-18th, and visit the Web site at http://www.machinima-expo.com/

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 Thanks to Belinda Barnes-Fitzroy for posing in some of the photos.   By the way, here's a playlist of my students' projects from the summer, with most of them dabbling for the first time in machinima -  http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL00535DE7B042CF43&feature=plcp.  

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The Professional Machinima Artist Guild and Lowe Runo Productions graciously host Magnum:  The Machinima Review.