The Fantasy World of Star Wars' Tony Dyson

I had the pleasure of interviewing special effects guru Tony Dyson of Star Wars' R2-D2 fame and so many Hollywood blockbusters for the July issue of Best of SL Magazine.


Tony Dyson is definitely a master of machinima,  and now that he is teamed up with Chantal Harvey, MMIF founder and professional filmmaker, they have become the dynamic duo.

So what's their latest adventure - the BobbeKins, a wonderful journey into the fantasy world of children. You have to understand that both Tony and Chantal have a love for fantasy, positive storytelling, and inspiring and educating audiences through imagery.I think we often overlook the younger viewers when we think of machinima ideas.  When you really think of it, machinima is a form of animation, and animation has been enriching the lives of children for generations, from cartoons to Disney Classics to our newly emerging online characters in kids games.  Machinima has the potential to reach the young and old, and everyone in between.  Parents used to watch those Saturday morning cartoons with their children (on a television in the living room together - and enjoy them), if for nothing else the double meaning hidden in the dialogue and images.   Some of that still exits, but the movie industry has accelerated childhood to a great extent.   Few General Audience movies exist today.   Fantasy creatures and lands abound, yet few are inviting for children.

Machinima can reach out to some of those forgotten demographics and serve for not only educational uses, but just for fun!  If you are looking for inspiration, check out the top 50 cartoon characters of all time (now this excludes the great PBS children's programming that I grew up with, but it is an interesting browse back on what has captured our attention.)  I came across another site, called Common Sense, namely for traditional family values, and mind you I am not pushing any agenda.  But there's some good kids' shows in the mix.  Take what you want out - there's something for nearly everyone.   Pooky Amsterdam's crew has produced a wonderful teen series via machinima called Time Travelers.  She's get it.   But that is only one of the many genres that her company produces with machinima.  

So what's the point of this column.  Take some time out - and just think about all this.  Before you leap to your next project, take a moment and look at what some of your colleagues are producing - and what they are not producing!  Consider all genres for machinima, as you would any type of animated program and really any type of program, given that it seems appropriate to your audience.  All of us have grown up with animation, from cartoons, to music videos, educational programming, drama and so forth.

The thing is - there are no rules for machinima.   You have to be willing to put yourself out there, and see what works.   But that is the case of any filmmaker.   It helps to have passion on whatever your producing - passion about the story/theme and reaching your audience.  If you have that, and have the time and resources, then try it.  If you don't have time or resources, find someone who believes in your idea!  Just keep trying - isn't that something we would tell our children!    I guess that is our lesson today.   Keep moving ahead and know the future is bright, especially if you know the appropriate windlight setting.   Wink.   LOL.

What about machinima for girls!  Girls in the Sky was clever, and I would like to see more of that.  Then again, I was a Powerpuff Girl fan, and I love silly adventure starring girls.   Machinima is not limited by ages, and not limited to Second Life audiences.   Tony and Chantal have it right to go for a new generation of viewers, and their hearts are pure with good intentions in using Second Life, seeing a potential beyond what most of us consider.   Second Life is a meeting place for media makers, a social networks, but mostly a creative platform for bringing fantastic images and stories to the general public, given you understand the platform's weaknesses and strengths.

The Scissores Film Production Company is definitely playing to the strengths of machinima and Second Life.  The mix of fantastic sets, strong characters, and a large dose of fantasy works well here.  Much success to them!

Here are a couple of teasers from Scissores.  Enjoy!  and be on the look out more from this creative team!
It's Great to Be Alive
BobbeKin Chit Chat

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

Music to our Eyes: Learning on The Fly

Machinima in Pop Media Culture

This summer I am taking 10 students under my wings, along with my “Machinima” co-author Lowe Runo.  He (and other staff) will offer guidance & critique sessions during the course.   I have taught machinina as a segment of my long-standing Virtual Worlds course, but this is the first time that I am teaching an undergraduate course to students with majors across my university - Cinema & Photography, Radio & Television, Information Sciences Technology, and Art & Design – with the possibility of Education students in the near future.  The course is called Machinima – Real Time Animation (for Virtual Filmmakers). 

I know other instructors have preceded me, like Hypatia Pickens who teaches machinima as well but rather through her English Department.   Hypatia has a unique blending of poetry and literature in her personal works.  I can’t help but think how that influences her students, and challenges them to visualize the classics.  There is definitely something extremely fascinating with “accessible” and “relatable” filmmaking – and its role in bringing cinematic interpretation of cultural and iconic works. Whereas machinima’s direct influence can be easily attributed to the burgeoning game culture, let’s not forget we have all grown up with some form of animation, from Disney blockbusters, tons of cartoons, and even music videos.  My students appear to be heavily influenced by this powerful cultural connection uniting the entertainment world.  Some favorite classic tunes from Disney’s Beauty and The Beast and The Little Mermaid were uniquely expressed on the Big Screen - a connection between animation and music and literature came alive for parents and children.

On another level, the music industry is no stranger to animation.   Pink Floyd’s full length music video/movie The Wall has some amazing animated scenes.  Full Metal Jacket is another animated classic for a post teen generation. Time warp to A-ha’s Take On Me in the 1980s, as comic characters pop onto the screen. 

I have heard more than one reference to Kayne West as an inspiration from many of my students (while others note Daft Punk).  Here’s an animated feature made by a UCLA student in his sophomore year based on Kayne's Power.  Kayne's Heard ‘Em Say  music video, animated by Bill Plympton (2005), is an example.  Then in 2009, he used animation again for Heartless.  And I love the unofficial animated video on his song, Street Lights.  

For Hip Hop News & Entertainment at DimeWars.Com

"Fav" Animated Music Videos

Michael Saba (2010) presents 10 animated music videos for your consideration, http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2010/07/the-ten-best-animated-music-videos.html.  Among those Top Ten, he listed Kayne’s Heartless and that A-ha classic.  Check out the whole list.  (JJ-5Cs of SLMAG has done an exceptional job with his machinima on Duran Duran's fan parties in Second Life. DD's Roger Moore in animated form has deejayed often for a full house at the Duran Duran Universe, below.)

Another great award-winning animated video music series, with a debut nearly five years ago, was based on the alternative Israeli band EatLiz, noted by MTV.  If one gets past purist sensibilities, we begin to see that animation has touched us all in some form or another.  What is different now is the simplicity empowered by modern day machinima.

Adding Class to Machinma

It is to this world I introduce a new group of students to elements of art and practice, some of whom have made a few machinima of their own with an interest to learn more, and some who have seen machinima and would like to try it out, and then others who are heavily vested in animation and considering how to infuse Maya and other programs into virtual worlds to create unique sets and scenarios for filmmaking.   I had one student experiment with importing his Maya objects into Second Life with much success.   

He made a beginning tutorial for his classmates, and I can share that in the near future.   He is a fascinating student (dressed as the Ninja among some of his classmates, pictured above) and I would like to feature his animation in an upcoming blog.  It is certainly worth a full column, as you will see.  His film elements have been created, however, through Maya.  His goal is to connect Second Life with his present style of work and platform.

I think it is important to ask the next generation what they are thinking about animation generally, and machinima specifically whenever possible.  Better than ask, I invite you to do a search of what is out there across the Internet.   In the end, it is all about translating images and sounds in relatable forms, be that of the gaming generations (especially today) or those of us who grew up watching our favorite animations in cartoon and movie genres.   That includes just about all of us now – and the rise of the 24/7 cartoon generation has significantly impacted media producers in recent times. As Pooky implies, we all want to be cartoon stars, don't we?

In my class, students will choose their machinima capture platform, and that may or may not include Second Life, depending on their interests.   Second Life will definitely be introduced to all of them, and also be shown as providing a viable forum for communication and conferencing among machinima makers.   We have seen so many wonderful exhibitions, discussions, and expositions within Second Life, from the MaMachinima International Festival, 48 Hours Film Project – Machinmia, The Machinima Expo, Pop Art Lab, and so much more. 

We Are All Educators!

It begins by simply watching and talking about machinima.  Sharing will always remain a part of the machinima community, whether or not you collaborate on projects with other media makers.   We all certainly are members of the animation audience, as consumers and critics, in a very real way, virtually.  Really.   And remember someone is always watching us as individual producers and the larger machinima community.   I get that, immediately, as an educator.   We are all educators!

I hope to include those willing to visit with my students this summer!  My good friend Belinda Barnes (above) has helped my students tremendously in the immediate past, and Lowe Runo has done the same consistently for a few years now. 

Textbook: Johnson, Phylis & Donald Pettit. (2012).  Machinima: Art and Practice in Virtual Filmmaking. NC: McFarland. Book available online, electronic or paperback.  Amazon.com

The Professional Machinima Artist Guild and Lowe Runo Productions graciously hostMagnum: The Machinima Review. All Rights Reserved.

All Welcome!

Hosts:  Sonicity Fitzroy & Lowe Runo
Special Guest:  Persia Bravin

AGENDA

USA Launch - Friday, May 11, 2012 @NeoVictoria's SkyClub
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeoVictoria/8/6/0
*6PM SLT:  Welcome/Greet Guests, Radio Riel Live Broadcast with Gabrielle Riel.
*7PM SLT:   Gabrielle Riel Interview with Lowe Runo and Sonicity Fitzroy, Authors of Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking.

Brief Bios of Book Authors:
Lowe Runo is an independent filmmaker and professional photographer.  He is working on two RL documentary projects, related to two forthcoming books by Sonicity (under contract) to be published over the next two years.

Sonicity Fitzroy is a professor and media studies & practice author, as well as virtual journalist for Best of SL Magazine and Retropolitan.  She is working with Lowe Runo Productions filmmaker Belinda Barnes on a steampunk series, The Adventures of Bel and Soni, featured in Retropolitan Magazine.  Teaser at:  http://vimeo.com/38985715

Persia Bravin (Forward) is Best of SL Magazine Editor and BOSL Radio CEO, virtual journalist-at-large, and partner with Pop Art Lab (supporter of machinima/arts/music/media).

*Special Thanks to Persia Bravin for writing the Forward

*Acknowledge The Many Contributors (Roundtable discussions; Interviews/ Features/Chapters)
*Acknowledge contributor Skylar Smythe, author of The White Pigeon, a featured short story used to demonstrate the making of a machinima from story to script to animated film. Separate Screening with author  TBA for this summer.

*Q&A with Gabielle Riel, discussing the process, and significance of machinima.

*7:30PM SLT - Resume Radio Riel Music with Gabrielle Riel of Radio Riel.

--------------
European Launch - Saturday, May 12th@NeoVictoria's SkyClub. Repeat Broadcast, beginning at Noon SLT.  Brief presentation break at 1PM SLT.  Music resumes at 1:30PM SLT.  Authors will be present to greet guests.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeoVictoria/8/6/0
____________________________________________________________

From the Authors:
We appreciate all those involved in this project  and we consider it a collaborative effort among numerous people inside SL as well as those looking in from the outside.  This book is not intended to promote SL, but we seriously view it as a major platform for the creation of innovative machinima. 


This is not the definitive voice in machinima, but a collective voice within the virtual filmmaking community that represents many perspectives.   The machinima story will continue to evolve, and we are pleased to document this point in history, as well as to encourage so many to experiment with this medium through this book. 


Thanks to members and administrators/reviewers of the Second Life Machinima Artist Guild and the Professional Machinima Artist Guild and to AVIEW TV and Rockcliffe University Consortium for continued support - as well as so many others.  

Thank you to Best of Second Life Magazine for its monthly series, Masters of Machinima, written by Sonicity Fitzroy and initiated by Editor Persia Bravin.    So far featured Rysan Fall, Hypatia Pickens, and Emanuelle Courtois.  To be featured soon, Chantal Harvey (MaMachinima) and Tony Dyson of Star Wars fame (and many more Hollywood features in the past and to come). Dyson and Harvey are partners in the new real time production company, Scissores. 


Thanks to NeoVictoria's founder/owner Asil Ares for her organizational skills and making this book launch a reality.   Thanks to Gabrielle Riel for lending her DJ talent and station for this event. 

Special thanks to those who participated in the roundtable discussions that helped to inform the authors on the diversity of opinions with regard to machinima. Roundtable participants included Graceful Aeon, Juris Amat, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, Asil Ares, Ataro Asbrink, Baird Barnard, Pyewacket Bellman, Code-Warrior Carling, Penumbra Carter, Pamala Clift, Evie Fairchild, Clover Fenwitch, Moto Gamba, Kit Guardian, Chantal Harvey, Laurina Hawks, Brenda Jericho, LaPiscean Liberty, Alley McNally, Thinkerer Melville, Moo Money, Joel Savard, Almo Schumann, Kara Trapdoor, Cisko Vandeverre, ke Violet, Tikaf Viper, xox Voyager, Johnathan2007 Whitfield, Gene Williams, 1angelcares Writer, Gwenette Writer, and Suzy Yue, among others. Not all were cited but your views were significant toward formulating themes in this book.  Others interviewed included Al Peretz, Judy Lee (Decorgal), Iono Allen, Kate Fosk, Michael Gray, Rysan Fall, Wiz Nordberg, Draxtor Depres and Yani Jowisz.  Special thanks to author Skylar Smythe for her story “The White Pigeon” used as a machinima example.  Feature and chapter contributors are listed in the Table of Contents. Of course, Torley Linden is mentioned as a valuable resource, and so is Ricky Grove for sound. Others are listed in the index. So many others...

Hearty thanks to professional machinimist moo Money for her ideas, coordination of interviews, and her transcription skills that she offered to the authors. Sonicity also thanks her co-author, Lowe Runo, for his idea to write a book on this topic, and for introducing her to the world of machinima and involving her strategically in Lowe Runo Productions@.

Voices in the Dark

Reflections through Machinima:
The 20th Anniversary of the 1992 LA Riots...April 29th-May 4th.
I have to admit as much as I advocate machinima as a wonderful storytelling format, I do think one should seriously consider what platform might best serve to present a message or simply reach an audience.  In 2009, my book KJLH-FM and the Los Angeles Riots of 1992:  Compton's Neighborhood Station in the Aftermath of the Rodney King Verdict (McFarland), I wrote the story of one African-American radio station (owned by Stevie Wonder) and its crew that reported on the civil unrest as it unfolded in front of the broadcast studio.  

The book relies on transcripts, interviews, and other resources to tell the story of the station.  Since then I have had requests for the audio - the actual coverage and my interviews - by several people and media companies for a variety of purposes.  I provided "background" for both StoryCorps and the new documentary Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots by VH1 producer Wesley Jones, and to the extent that I was useful I don't really know.  But I will be looking for my name in the credits, in the latter instance. Over the past two years, I have tried to find many ways to get the word out about KJLH-FM, a commercial but community-oriented station that rose to the moment as media makers, to help seek solutions in a time of crisis, and more importantly to serve as a voice in the dark.  So what has this to do with machinima? 

 I produced a machinima - Voices in The Dark -  based on my research and interviews, and sound archives. 

As many of you know, my strength rests with sound practice, but I wanted to experiment with an audio piece that I made, taking it to a new level, conceptualizing it with machinima (for the visual component, although none was truly necessarily).  Due to the gravity of the issues discussed by Carl Nelson, Eric Reed, and others on the soundtrack (actual KJLH broadcast and my interview excerpts), I did not want to approach this topic by reenacting the riots:  rather I decided to make this a reflective piece, one that looks back at a particular event through the eyes of the present, or perhaps the (virtual) future. 

To my amazement, I found a station that reminded me of KJLH-FM located in District 8 of Second Life.  The sole character portrays myself, as a virtual journalist (which I am), looking back as I encounter this vacated station 10 years in the future.   Given the drop in minority media ownership to dismal numbers, that well might be the case for the remainder of independently owned black radio stations in the USA  - regardless I hope not.   I have mixed feelings whether this piece works as an appropriate, reflective creative work fitting of the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles civil unrest.  I did want to try, experiment, with respect.   It is interesting that the same company that published my KJLH book also contracted the recently released machinima book (with Lowe Runo).   I will consider this a sign (in jest or not) foreshadowing that the two - the radio broadcast and the machinima visuals - were meant to partner, at least in this instance.   

So I offer you some contemplation on what works for machinima, and what might not.  Is it just something you feel?  - how do you determine appropriateness of topic to a particular medium? - machinima as real-time animation in an artificial environment compared to creating a traditional video piece where I might have wandered down those streets once torn with conflict in the early 1990s, like a journalist revisiting a former war zone.  KJLH's listners are good people, and should not be judged by what was show on much of mainstream media.  I chose to refrain from showing too much of that, what we have  already seen the news.

The community of listeners simply needed a way to express dismay and grief, and this particular radio station was there to listen and help when possible - keeping so many people off the streets, and helping them locate loved ones.  To me, that is radio at its best - it is the people behind that station that provided the opportunity for communication and even healing. Radio was powerful that day.  What is the power of machinima?  Who are its producers and storytellers with messages to tell, that might bring people together, shed some light on an issue, or engage people emotionally to new levels, in contemporary and creative ways to reach a new generation. 

An addendum to all this, one of my students, Phusion in SL, viewed my piece and created a take-off from another perspective - one of an African-American filmmaker from South Chicago.  This perspective was one that I could not present as merely an observer.  When we went back to the SL radio station to reshoot, the call letters had fallen to the ground, and that added to the feeling of his piece. 

He added new footage, changed things around, and inserted his SL-self into the work, and certainly has a few more slick moves than his professor.  He's been a filmmaker for awhile, and had learned animation - machinima was new to him (but he's picking it up quickly).  Add to that he composed music for the machinima.   He just completed his graduate thesis project, a documentary about the importance of African-American father figures for young men.  This is his first "official" machinima, other than a couple of fun ones that he put together while learning.   

Thanks to Lowe Runo Productions and Rysan's Fall Films for their warm welcome to him in SL as a beginning machinimatographer. In hindsight, if we had more time, it would have been incredibly powerful if we had merged our characters into the same work.  I continue to seek new ways to expand machinima as a tool for cultural expression.  

***********************************************

KJLH and The Los Angeles Riots
http://www.amazon.com/KJLH-FM-Los-Angeles-Riots-1992/dp/0786443863
Voices in the Dark by Sonicity Fitzroy (the observer, original version) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQGSE4V0QNs
Voices in the Dark w/Phusion's perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35mg7DNNoFk&feature=youtu.be

On lighter news, please join me and Lowe Runo for our "machinima" book party, Friday/Saturday, May 12-13th, with full details coming the first week of May.  Thanks for all who have been our friends and colleagues since the start, as well as now and those we hope to meet on our journey to explore media to the ends of the virtual worlds. 

Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786461713

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

Book Release - Thanks to So Many!

Building a Virtual Machinima Community

March 10, 2012.    That is one of those days of relief - the release date of Machinima: The Art and Practice of VirtualFilmmaking.  This is my fourth book, and co-authored with Lowe Runo.   It is published under our real names, and I have to tell you we put some real life hard work into it.    What we are most proud of is – its inclusiveness, all the people that were willing to contribute to our public roundtable sessions and the others who granted us time and permission for interviews, and others who contributed chapters and featured discussions after the chapters.   

Birthing a book is a labor of love, and the process typically takes more than a year when dealing with academic presses.    We had the opportunity to go back before the final printing and make some updates.  But you know really, although there are many more people engaged in the process of making machinima, there are some basic tenants that remain timeless.  Machinima, even at its most abstract level, is about communicating to and connecting with audiences.   The people involved in this project are far too many to completely list here, and the book index and acknowledgments pay tribute to them to some extent.

The Contributors

A special section of interviews featured Al Peretz, “Decorgal” Judy Lee, Iono Allen, Kate Fosk, Michael Gray, Rysan Fall and Wiz Nordberg. End of chapter comments were provided by Chantal Harvey, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, 1angelzares Writer, Toxic Menges, Jonathan Pluskota, and Jay Jay Jegathesan.  Two invited chapters were presented by copyright expert Todd Herreman and Dr. Bryan Carter, owner of Virtual Harlem in Second Life.  Phaylen Fairchild gave some closing thoughts. Skylar Smythe’s The White Pigeon was featured as a storyboard example. 

Roundtable participants included Graceful Aeon, Juris Amat, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, Asil Ares, Ataro Asbrink, Baird Barnard, Code-Warrior Carling, Penumbra Carter, Pamala Clift, Evie Fairchild, Clover Fenwitch, Moto Gamba, Kit Guardian, Chantal Harvey, Laurina Hawks, Brenda Jericho, LaPiscean Liberty, Alley McNally, Thinkerer Melville, Moo Money, Joel Savard, Almo Schumann, Kara Trapdoor, Cisko Vandeverre, ke Violet, Tikaf Viper, xox Voyager, Johnathan2007 Whitfield, Gene Williams, 1angelcares Writer, Gwenette Writer, and Suzy Yue, among others. Not all were cited (and some just came to listen) but all comments in voice and text were significant toward formulating themes in this book.

    

As would be expected, other machinima leaders and filmmakers are cited as well, and their accomplishments and advice were noted (i.e., Eric Call, Frank Dellario, Tony Dyson, Peter Greenaway, Ricky Grove, Hugh Hancock, Peter Jackson, Katherine Anna Kang, Kate Lee, Torley Linden, Sherwin Liu, George Lucas, Paul Marino, Phil Rice, Steven Spielberg, Jason Springarn-Koff, ColeMarie Soleil, and David Lewis Yewdall).

About the Contents
This book presents an overview of machinima’s rich and significant role in modern cinematic history, but it leans toward filmmaking in virtual worlds unlike other books.  Admittedly our book has an inherent bias to virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, The Sims and (particularly) Second Life, and touches upon emerging opportunities.   The Machinima Reader (MIT Press, 2011), edited by Henry Lowood and Michael Nitche, offers a significant analytical lens through its curated essay collection from film and media scholars and industry leaders from the gaming world.  I recommend it highly as a critical study into machinima’s evolution, and applaud it as the first of its kind to contribute to scholarly discussions of this maturing genre.    Our book, Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking, attempts to situate machinima in the mainstream of cinema, television and animation, and aims to develop the conceptual and technical skills of the amateur and the intermediate machinimatographer.   Topics covered include story and character development, setting and lighting, audio, post-production, and copyright considerations.   Those interviewed are mainly filmmakers, writers, actors, and artists producing and working within interactive immersive platforms. 

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference

The book was released in time for us to take a break, and attend the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference (held March 15-17).  Lowe Runo co-presented with me for a session on machinima storyboarding in the Machinima Auditorium, near the close of the conference.  It was really a practical way to consider conceptualizing your machinima in an interactive environment like Second Life.  The idea is to develop your characters and plot in storybook form, so it becomes a creative means to pre-visualize the lighting and setting of the filmmaking environment and to allow for experimentation with animations and shot sequences; it also serves as an added-value to any machinima project.  A Steampunk Christmas: Adventures of Bel and Soni became a keepsake for us, and a roadmap to some creative projects in the future.  On stage with us was Best of SL Magazine's Society Columnist Kara Trapdoor and LRP filmmaker Belinda Barnes, a talented actress as well.

A significant amount of time was dedicated to the educational and creative practices of machinima through this conference, and kudos to all the MAG members that presented this year and those who entered their films in the competition.  (Special acknowledgement of media sponsors, Treet TV and Pooky Media, for being out front in promoting machinima to its fullest).

In Closing
I would to love to say that Machinima: The Art and Practice of VirtualFilmmaking (March 2012, McFarland) is the definitive voice on the history and practice of machinima.  We did attempt to do so, but really it is the latest so far - and such chronicling of past and present contributions are a community effort amidst a variety scholars and practitioners over time;  as I write this, there are so many uncovering links to its evolution  - most recently one being machinimist SpyvsSpyAeon on his site, Your Machinima.  Also there you will find information to the upcoming 48 Hour Film Project  - Project48Machinima, a wonderful but grueling event that ignites healthy competition and showcases machinima in all its fun and fury.  Legendary Hollywood special effects guru Tony Dyson (notably Star Wars) is one of the judges, by the way.

I would like to suggest, in closing, that our book offers a very practical guide to the making of machinima, and contextualizes it within the larger framework of media making.  We hope to engage many newcomers and media students into its potential as an art form and commercial applications.  We look forward to the continual growth and maturity of the machinima community.  

We will post announcements on a BOOK PARTY and some related events coming up in the month ahead, tentatively April 20-21^st, taking into consideration the various time zones across the globe.  More to come…

The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously sponsors Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review.