No! Not The Call to Service!

Sometimes it seems difficult to balance the deadlines between SL and RL. Then you have somebody ask you for a favor or two. And it is always for a good cause, right? Really, it can be downright exhausting. Some people even jest, "no good deed goes unpunished." I want to counter that mindset today, although it is a humorous and sometimes accurate statement.

Among professionals, there is an expectation that we must extend our skills beyond our immediate audiences, and to give back to society or a community. Part of that thinking has to do with the fact that our skills may often be attributed to the many people who have directly or indirectly inspired us along the way. This is YOUR call to be a super hero in a small way!

Those who succeed well in their craft are those professionals who define themselves beyond their exceptional skill level to a level of community awareness. In what ways as professionals can we give back to the communities that often rely on our talents and perspectives (framed by our professional media lens) to consider a community lens? In part that can be done through partnerships with universities and community groups, and that has happened more often than not through machinima contests and competitions. Other machinima artists take on projects, at minimum cost, that are outside of their scope of interest to serve a particular community that would cherish the recognition and assistance. Others work directly with students at high school or college level, and help to mentor them. All are valid ways to extend our professional reach into the larger communities to which we might consider offering our talents.

I am not advocating that you give away your talent, but rather at times you give back to others without consideration of profit or personal gain. I do believe the experience between the giver and the recipient can be a powerful connection, and might help others to understand the value of machinima as a form of communication.

I would like to keep this blog simple and just say a MAGNUM thank you to Lowe Runo, founder of the Machinima Artist Guild, for inspiring my students this semester in so many ways. He has spoken to both my graduate students and my undergraduate students through Second Life this year. In my undergraduate advanced sound course, he created a video for which they were required to design sound (dialogue, foley, music, ambience). The two best will be posted on the Second Life Machinima Artist Guild soon, as my class winds down.

Other media professionals who have reached out to my students have included Doug Story, Drax Despres, and Pooky Amstersdam. Doug took my students on an incredible journey through sound installations more than once. Drax shared professional insights into what it takes to be a virtual journalist. Pooky gave "my kids" insight into the business side of machinima in Second Life and its RL extensions.

In closing, Lowe gave my students an opportunity to get to know him on a personal and professional level, serving as their machinima mentor and "SL sage" in so many ways. He invested in their lives beyond the call of conventional community service duty.

Thank you to ALL who have invested time into the education of my students! You are all true professionals, and you asked me for nothing in return. In fact, some of you might be a bit further behind in your production schedules from knowing me and my students. But the reward, I believe, is you have contributed to the next generation of Magnum Machinima professionals. Kudos.

Note above: future machinima set makers! JK, but you never know.

Soni :)

Machinima: In a Class of Its Own

CLASS! CLASS!

Call me Sister Mary Elephant this week from the classic Cheech and Chong! If you are like me, you caught those "historical" moments as reruns or now on YouTube. That is not my point! But funny stuff there. Find your own link (LOL, some of it is fairly crude). But I am here as an educator today within a virtual (and some might say fictitious world) to discuss machinima's role in the RL education of our next line of storytellers. Before you run out the door, I want to add that it is never too late to learn. :)

The week, a number of professors and media professionals are scurrying to prepare for Purdue University's Computers and Writing 2010 online and onsite conference. The online conference will be held in Second Life, May 6 through May 13th (see the schedule). Presentation materials for the SL conference will be exhibited beginning tomorrow so that attendees can review them prior to the online conference. It is good to see machinima included on that roster of writing topics!

Storytelling through Machinima

In Second Life, I am presenting with Lowe Runo on the various mechanics and aesthetics of machinima storytelling, and then IRL we discuss the writing opportunities evolving from experiences within virtual environments like Second Life. The photos in this blog are from his guest lecture on machinima storytelling in my SL/RL media course. Writers can test stories and characters in SL, and explore concepts of diversity through gender, race, and ethnicity "avatar" representation. There are various genres of storytelling within machinima, but our focus will be an emphasis on how to construct a culturally rich storyline that taps into real life emotions.

Second Life is a world where residents create and perform through avatar representations. Stories generated can be that of narratives constructed from individual experiences and interactions with others in situations that evolve naturally - a dynamic cast of avatars that interact in various unfolding contexts.

For educators like myself, questions include: How might Second Life help students improve their understanding of the writing process? Good stories boil down to credible plots and characters. Second Life can allow writers to test stories and characters, and explore concepts of diversity through gender, race, and ethnicity. Machinima can be employed for in-world journaling, role-playing, journalistic reporting, as well as the creation of music videos and machinima drama, as a means to help students engage in expressive, relatable storytelling whether in virtual or real worlds. The cost of experimentation is minimal in virtual worlds, where set and avatar construction are on-going features of the game. The "actors" or "storytellers" can, moreover, experience identities and roles outside of their RL/SL selves within the larger Second Life community to understand the characters they portray on the screen.

Machinima is Performance

Any story involves the plot and the performance; without those, the production itself is meaningless. Numerous "machinima" how to courses are appearing in digital media and film programs at universities throughout the world. So how do such educators understand the role of machinima in teaching storytelling?

In December 2009, Michael Nitsche, founder and director of Digital World and Image Group (DWIG) and Associate Director of the Experimental Game Lab at Georgia Tech, attempted to define machinima, keeping in mind its historical evolution. He pointed out, "A caveat upfront, nobody who's too busy doing it should be bothered. This might be one of those self-perpetuating problems academics like. It just so happens that I am such a creature..." He challenged the "utilitarian" definitions offered both by the legendary Paul Marino, as well as Hancock & Ingram - a "technique of taking a viewpoint on a virtual world, and recording that, editing it, and showing it to other people as a film" (Nitsche, 2009). He begins by acknowledging the difficulty of defining machinima "based on a technique, which is one reason the term 'anymation' has been used as in parallel to machinima by artists such as Tom Jantol. Likewise, the connection to gaming is shrinking." He adds, "Tying it to a game in general has become equally problematic as special machinima creation packages like Moviestorm and iClone launched without any basis in gaming" (Nitsche, 2009).

Critical concepts to any definition of machinima are "procedurality" and "performance," he argues; "...maintaining a kind of performative control is key for the preservation of machinima’s identity." He explains, "At its core, machinima is part of the same digital procedural media family as video games but it differs from games in the way that this control is weighted." Logically, he concludes, "Machinima is more flexible than games because it tries to do something different. Machinima can switch between modes of what is producing and controlling easier than games can" (Nitsche, 2009). Overall, he perceives machinima as having a "much stronger focus on the cinematic presentation, the 'telling' looks at a different use of procedurality. Where games play with the changes of the action, machinima plays with the changes in the cinematic narration" (Nitsche, 2009). In fact, he states, "Performance of the game, the player, and even the audience can include rules that go beyond the creation of the image itself and instead can affect the action that is displayed" (2009).

As The Virtual World Turns

I concur with Nitsche, but would also argue that Second Life serves as unique storytelling environment, for it affords unpredictability and a greater level of chance interaction among characters than other platforms - it allows people's ideas to collaborate with one another. Machinima makers in SL can collaborate with set designers, or unexpected moments during filming might take a story for a new twist depending on whether the casted avatars are residents of SL (or merely puppets of the producer -you know "alts"). Diversity springs forth through collaboration, and machinima as a social performance can have unique value to the evolution of the story.

Well as for any last words, that is wishful thinking on my part. To me, machinima is best grounded when communicators consider the appropriate means and media to tell their story. Saying all that, machinima, although it is about more than production efficiency, is definitely a wonderful medium for experimentation. So that is likely one of the major attractions of the media form among educators seeking storytelling opportunities. Its very efficiency as a relatively inexpensive medium encourages evolution and experimentation in storytelling.

- Soni

Note: This presentation evolves from my research for a chapter in my book Second Life, Media, and the Other Society (Peter Lang, 2010), which examines, in part, how the interactive nature of the game allows residents to document their experiences through digital storytelling.

References:

Nitsche, Michael. (2009). Video game spaces: Image, play, and structure in 3D Worlds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press; Nitsche, Michael (2009, December 31). Machinima defined in Free Pixel, accessed April 19, 2010; Nitsche, Michael, & Thomas, Maureen. (2004). Play it again Sam: Film performance, virtual Environments and game engines. In Gavin Carver & Colin Beardon (eds.), New Visions in Performance: The Impact of Digital Technologies (pp. 121-139). Lisse, NL: Swets & Zeitlinger.

Screenshots from:

I Remember (Zerbie Magic)

Club Noir (In English/Spanish)

Re-Imagine Machinima

Back to the Future at New Babbage

A few days ago, when I presented a simple idea to some colleagues at a national conference, my intent was to inspire them to re-imagine radio and traditional forms of media, by conveying how all platforms are coming together in brilliant ways through virtual worlds. New Babbage in SL has also inspired me to reflect on the convergence of literary, musical, artistic, and scientific genius of the late 19th century and early 20th century. As I stated in my presentation, and my soon-to-be-published book Second Life, Media & the Other Society, a gate had opened then, imagination was set loose, and the world was envisioned as a theater of possibilities. America and Europe became intrigued by Amazing Stories (published by Hugo Gernsback) with its plots often set in the future. Science fiction writers were inspired by the technologies of their era, evidenced by the many social prophecies of new world orders and detailed narratives of curious new sights, sounds, and security (i.e., big screen televisions, walls of sound, and sensory monitors).

The rush toward technologies paralleled the rise of artistic movements. The race to create a global system of communication, in the midst of social and technological change, had become overshadowed by a corporate and public push for a tangible product: in this case - radio. Scientist Nikola Tesla had conceptualized inventions beyond radio, one where images and sound could be transmitted through high-rise towers built in key cities around the world—yet his ideas would fall deaf to “corporate” ears. Tesla ran out of finances before he achieved his vision of wireless communication, connecting the world. His investors were blinded by short-run profits. It is only in reflection that we appreciate such genius. A famous photo shows Mark Twain and Tesla as friends, and being so, each contributed postulations from their respective literary and scientific perspectives.

Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 made no mention of anything similar to the Internet, but the nature of media (flat screens and seashell radios) described in his book foreshadowed interactivity that would become increasingly available to the public. He wrote of a new world where imagination was scripted, audience members could participate in story lines, and print knowledge had become dangerous to civilized society. Imagination is the critical element that awakens possibilities—whether science and/or fiction forwards a technological notion is not relevant. It is not so surprising, then, that Mark Twain befriended Tesla, or that the writings of Clarke and Bradbury were heralded as inspiration within scientific communities.

The steampunk community in SL pays homage to, and embraces, the imagination and culture of the inventors, writers and artists of that time period. Virtual societies comprise those willing to reconsider the meaning of reality. Suddenly, we no longer look solely outward to an expansion of humanity, the idea that we are not alone in the universe. Now we begin to look inward toward the depth of humanity; in essence we move toward examining the idea of the human soul in a virtual laboratory, or the Metaverse. This is the landscape and soundscape for magnum machinima. With so many wonderful settings and possibilities - what fiction will you create through your machinima that will inspire literary or scientific genius? Second Life, like machinima, can be about nothing, or it can be about something that relates to people in a special way that is not only timeless to the human soul, but inspires people to re-imagine their life and world(s).

There is a push toward creating block bluster machinima that competes with major motion picture companies and TV networks, and other tugs to brand machinima as the ideal efficient solution for producing relatively inexpensive video projects targeting major corporate and pr purposes. Yes all that is in motion, and overall it seems like a fruitful plan. Machinima producers are becoming quite the entrepreneurs. Neil Postman once said that the real power of technology comes when it can answer "the most fundamental human questions." At that point, it is no longer a tool, but a medium of social expression and meaning. Machinima is not about efficiency in production. It is about capturing the human soul in an amazing new world. That is the message that will compete with other media - its filming location is set in a future that is unfolding now. Its filmmakers are moving inward toward the human soul and through great machinima we can better understand and capture the depth of the increasing convergence of humanity, technology and of virtuality, the depth of which is unknown as of yet. The future is now. And this is the beginning of my attempt to define machinima as art & practice. Join me!

- Soni

[photos taken in New Babbage, SL, Sonicity Fitzroy & Lowe Runo]

Second Life as Machinima Wonderland

Soni & Lowe at Tiny Nation

This week I finished the introduction to my upcoming machinima book. LOL. Yes I have a long way to go, but I have so many talented contributors, it will be fun - and my summer project. The first question I dealt with is in the book: How does one explain machinima to someone not familiar with the art and practice? I will stray a bit from my book intro, but here's the jist. Maybe we should begin with a description of the imagery of the amazing set possibilities within virtual environments such as Second Life. I decided to plug Second Life this blog, although I am pleased with the results from Moviestorm and like programs. Alas, Second Life will always be special to me - as it is, to me, the land for/of machinima and its possibilities. It is a virtual world unlike Blue Mars, Sims and World of Warcraft, because Second Life allows the members to create their own landscapes and soundscapes from scratch, to create spaces to be inhabited by the Mad Hatter in a mock wonderland to virtual lands that encompass Ill Clan's Tiny Nation which was created to serve as a machinima set.

It is a land where bunnies, squirrels and other little creatures can exist outside of the imagination in a fantasy forest created for them - created for machinima. It is now a well-visited tourist showplace in Second Life. Many of the contributors (so far) for my book project have seen such virtual lands rich with possibilities for story settings. Imagine walking into a storybook of a children's classic. But then again you can also experience with dark fascination an environment based on H. P. Lovecraft's novels - twisted trees, dilapidated buildings and homes, empty playgrounds - all waiting for one of his stories to come alive. (Or check out Lainy Voom's latest work, and see how SL was used.) These environments, and many others, exist in Second Life. Some are created by machinima makers, while others are created for specific plots or purposes, maybe a music video. Imagine creating your own set for a video featuring an independent music artist at a fraction of the cost of Hollywood style productions. With minor adjustments, you can achieve the feeling of romance through a watercolored skyline. Now add two people dancing on top of a skyscraper in New York City. Avatars are becoming extremely life-like through improvements in virtual skin textures and advancements in sophisticated motion graphics and animations. Post Production software can add a near human appearance. All this can be done through machinima. Much can be done in Second Life, more and more every day. I might tackle defining machinima next blog - I said I might! I do so in the intro of my book - but I need it to simmer for a couple of weeks in my mind. :)

- Soni

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Machinima Art & Practice (working title) by Sonicity Fitzroy & Lowe Runo (2011)

Empowering Machinima with Simplicity

Alas, here we are again - a meeting of the machinima minds! What makes good theater? The mechanics or the message? I promised my wealth of readers that in my next blog I would share with you my idea of good machinima - I guess, I should say - great, magnum machinima! *** As one of the reviewers of the Professional Machinima Artist Guild, I contribute to the selection process of what qualifies as "magnum" machinima. So applaud yourself if your work is being screened on this this site. I was particularly excited with the addition of Hardy Capo's latest work "Sandstorm" and again direct you to his series "Cafe Insomniac" http://www.vimeo.com/4735924/. He uses the platform moviestorm, which I find interesting and challenging in different and similar aspects to Second Life and other virtual platforms. Let us not argue over the best platform, for I think it is the message that is extremely important. That should be the premise to what you are doing, and that will instruct your path. Sometimes as artists and producers we become heavy laden with trying to beat our viewers over the head with the moral of our stories or at the other extreme too vague to the point that they have no opportunity to speculate on what we are trying to say (if that is our intent I mean; I do enjoy abstract fill-in-the-blanks). But if we have a message - and theme to a plot - then how might we say it. If we want to convey a social message for example, how might we engage our viewer? There are many paths, each with their own rewards and pitfalls. Sometimes we merely need to craft it so simply, and sometimes that is the hardest piece to create - to take a complex idea and make it simple and memorable.

That is why I like this piece by Joaquin Baldwin.
Papiroflexia (Spanish for “Origami”), an official selection of the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. View at either site (screening room is a bit better quality) http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28xzj_papiroflexia_creation/ http://www.youtube.com/user/ytscreeningroom?blend=1&ob=4 (search: papiroflexia)

Simple. Sophisticated in message.
Just think about it.

The Sweet Aroma of Passionate Machinima

(subtitled) Making Love, Coffee and Machinima - An old adage “make love to your microphone” stuck in my mind all these years. One of my mentors along the way demonstrated how I could become intimate with my microphone and really feel what I am saying to convey my emotions through voice. Not only did I lean into my microphone, but I would vary my stance and position to animate the words to reflect the passion I desired to communicate. There is a sensuality about making good media, whether it is a romantic comedy or a thriller.

A certain sense of timing is required that comes with experience and with understanding – to let go. So you are asking what does this have to do with making machinima – and especially with making love through machinima. Soni is not talking about making unsavory machinima, not that I am passing judgment on content. Rather, this discussion is about achieving that intuitive sense that leads you to capture the right angle in a scene, or allows you to move with and as the camera. The passion that arises from deep within and kicks in when you are totally engaged in what you are filming, and the idea that you are one with what you are doing – seeing all and being all – yeah, sort of like being a mini machinima god. For myself, music is often the driving force (but that is me, and I will talk about sound another time).

But being god, or even a demi-god is not about having control – it is about letting go and allowing your elements to click into place. My avatar has a certain way about her – I have watched in awe as she has surprised me with certain moves (LOL, not crazy!). It is that knowing enough to let go – oops, another cliché comes to mind, “if you love somebody set them free.” There is a freedom inherent to achieving passion in your machinima and that is when your work moves from the realm of good to an excellence that is appreciated through the visual and aural senses. Heck, you can smell great machinina. You should want, really want, to experience the machinima again, immediately.

“I love the smell of good machinima in the morning” (my paraphrase) was headlined for a couple of days on Lowe Runo's Avatar United site. It caught my attention and came to mind when I prepared this blog. The smell of magnum machinima is an aroma that should pervade this professional guild. Love and coffee – and machinima – if done right – should wake our senses – as makers and as tasters (we and our viewers). The smell should be one of victory, although I am not sure I want to extend the metaphor completely to Apocalypse Now. But you get the idea. BTW, the sound was magnum in that movie - again we'll do sound another time!

Here's some clips...

Smells Like Victory (reference to quote cited above)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPXVGQnJm0w&feature=related

Ceiling fan effect (great scene open and transition 1:30 into film)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b26BD5KjH0&feature=related

So what are some machinima that provoke you - whatever genre! Your turn! Next blog, I will show you those that inspire me.

Most of you failed your homework assignment last week and didn't name off some magnum machinima makers, but you have another chance this week. Take a whiff of some good machinima, and share it by posting a link!

Recognizing "Magnum" Machinima

A few thoughts to get us started....When I began to contemplate a name for this review blog, I played a bit with alliteration. MMMMM...what works with M.A.G. Well there's MAG.NET. A search produced sites on magnets! and a fairly bland machinima site focused on Halo (and even Halo looked boring on that site). MAGNET sounds like a great social networking site among MAG members. Not only are you an attractive lot, but your works will attract many to this site! And don't be surprised if I play off of MAG Net in the future. haha.

Then I came across MAGNUM. it means Great (Latin), and refers to many things, such as a type of gun, a British band, a band member of a Finnish group, boots for police and fire/rescue services, a brand for cars/trucks, a brand for electric guitars/bass, a condom, ice cream for those warm days in Tampa!, a type of computer workstation, a rocket, a satellite, a professional wrestler, the main character in a popular American TV show, among others and my favorite - Multicolor Active Galactic Nuclei Monitoring (MAGNUM) - a telescope.

All this brings me to my point! MAGNUM means Great! PRO MAG is intended as place to showcase the best machinima works, drawing from those game engines that allow machinimakers to tell stories and draw upon our emotions (yes art, too). The goal is intention - the intention to relate to each other through machinima! and to do it in great ways! Audiences sometimes have different perspectives than creators on what makes a machimina great - so watch the following link from Wagner James Au's New World Notes (from 2008 but relevant to my point) and think about what might make this machinima "great" to him and others...http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2008/07/great-machinima.html. Don't read too much into this video, I only use it as an example of the varying definitions of what triggers a "magnum" response from a viewer.

Aha! so now, I look toward PRO MAG, and put a call out for comments by Pro Members (and reviewers are welcome to comment) - what makes machinima great to you?! Who are the top machinima makers of all times? or even last week! Be concise, for many of you have to get back to making machinima. This site is intended to motivate, not distract you!

Please feel free to email me with tips on names and sites of MAGNUM machinima makers that the reviewers might invite to submit their works for inclusion on this site. sonicityfitzroy@yahoo.com. Let's keep it MAGNUM!

- Soni