Monsters, Fairy Tales & The Magic of Machinima

Off-to-grandma's-house as we go for another round of machinima chit-chat. Not that I am grandma, haha, rather I must give credit where it is due. I rely on the collective wisdom of those who have influenced me through the years, and of late as Lowe Runo and I have spoken to so many on the subject in the writing of our book. As I promised last round, in this blog I focus on the work of wordsmith and cinematographer Toxic Menges, an artist and storyteller of filmmaker John Alton’s standards, who experiments with the virtual potential inside Second Life to achieve quality machinima with minimal post production. First let me set the stage for her work, by offering some context.

You remember the buzz around the major motion picture Red Riding Hood (2011), starring Amanda Seyfried, and based on the screenplay by David Leslie Johnson. The movie takes the classic tale for a cinematic spin on the big screen. I have to give credit to my “author” dad for passing along some conceptual wisdom: the best story ideas are those that take a “classic plot” and make a twist to it – the setting, the characters, the events all become variables in designing the audience’s cinematic ride. It is fairly much common sense advice (dog bites man vs. man bites dog), but it is worth some thought. Begin this way: we take one element and think what if we did this instead, what then?

If you are into the ZOMBIE movie mania, maybe just play around with the concept of the undead. What about Little Red Riding as a Zombie?

Or, then what about werewolf zombies in the ‘hood. Maybe, Little Red goes to the Big Apple (just think Wil Ferrel in Elf). Okay-Okay-you get the idea.

Sometimes it works, sometimes not (and it might be well received by some viewers and not others, as in the case of the Twilight series (vampires, werewolves, etc. as romantic icons, say what?). I, personally, lean toward Lost Boys and Dust to Dawn and would warn my children against romantic encounters with any of the living dead. Oh btw, on that note, watch Aaah Zombie - love the make-out scene between zombies (below is the shot from the couple's perspective, but the next scene shows them as lover zombies at a crowded bowling alley).

The plot is from the zombie’s perspective, and if nothing else, the movie has been applauded by reviewers for giving zombies a voice on screen. The movie gets trite after 30 minutes, but the concept is different.

In the case of the 2011 Red Riding Hood, it tried too much, and overall flopped. Director Catherine Hardwicke had a difficult task at hand of taking an old formula and making it fresh in a relatable way. Film critic Robert Ebert came down hard on the film and it didn’t fare well among audiences. But alas, this is the risk when you take a familiar concept and mess with it. The reason that I bring all this up is to draw parallels to machinima, especially those films that arise from within immersive virtual environments.

In the case of Toxic Menges’ machinima version (September 2010 release) of the storybook classic, Little Red Riding Hood, her tale offers a unique perspective, not only in the storyline and dialogue (a tongue-in-cheek romp through the virtual woods, like heard in the open: “Hey sexy woodsman, I am kind of in the market for some wood. You want to meet me at our normal place, baby,” says Red), but its visual magic, presented in glorious color and vivid texture, is seen in her ability to deliver an amazing set design and animate the action creatively (you gotta love that rotating ball during the chase scene). In a recent interview, Menges told me that she uses minimal post production, and achieves nearly all her titling and effects within Second Life. She is definitely on the cutting edge of realizing the potential of virtual filmmaking in SL’s cinematic friendly interactive, immersive 3-D environment.

So-maybe-the-morale of this column is machinima continues to be a wonderful cinematic avenue for experimentation, and respected increasingly among audiences, filmmakers and reviewers for its encouragement of artistry. It is not just a twist of the plot, but that is critical; it is the willingness to twist and turn systematically and not so systematically all or some or maybe just one of the elements involved in filmmaking, and that includes considering how a story idea might take on a new reality/perspective when created in a virtually constructed environment.

From fairies to zombies, the retelling of classic tales through machinima can offer audiences that often needed/desired “twist” to catch their interest and keep them engaged. The cinematic perspective should cater to our human emotion as well as our twisted and wonderful imaginations. On that note, I make brief mention of an upcoming motion picture Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, debuting Friday, April 29^th. It was released in Italy on March 16, 2011. Dylan Dog is based on the dark Italian comics series (1986) set in London, and its cinematic interpretation maintains the idea that the main character is a detective who solves paranormal cases. His assistant is a zombie. Some tales never go away, but it is how they are reinvented on paper and screen that gives them new life. Machinima is as much an art form as the storybook, comic book, and the graphic novel, and as much as we want to create cinematic realism through this medium, we lest not forget to embrace its imaginative potential to takes us beyond mere capture into the world of ultimate creation.

Machinima as a choice in filmmaking brings its own challenges and rewards to storytelling – it offer us sometimes innovative ways to express and experience those timeless tales. As I close out, note in the references, a link to PsychoFlounder’s machinima trailer, The Beginning of the End, created through Garry’s Mod. Filmmaking choices even between machinima platforms do make a difference to your final look, conceptually and technically.

Reference Links:

Aaah Zombies (2007), review, http://www.bloodygoodhorror.com/bgh/reviews/09/20/2010/aaah-zombies-wasting-away

Ebert, Roger (2011), http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110310/REVIEWS/110319996

Menges, Toxic (2010). Little Red Riding Hood, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5zZ6_RPYIg

PsychoFlounder (2011), The Beginning of the End, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXS2shdRQ4&feature=player_embedded

Garry’s Mod, info site, http://store.steampowered.com/app/4000/

Forthcoming, Machinima: The Art & Practice (working title, McFarland, 2011) by Sonicity Fitzroy and Lowe Runo. The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously provides syndication of Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review to Aview.TV/Sonicity/

Note: Photos of Sonicity taken at Club Nine's first anniversary, April 26, 2011, courtesy of owner Umberto Giano.

Painting with Machinima

the-$10,000-Linden Question-of-the-day is: What does it take to complete a book on the aesthetics and practice of machinima? Hmmm, let’s see, at least a year of solid research, and many more years of professional experience in media making - not just from authors Lowe Runo and Sonicity Fitzroy, but the larger machinima community.

Machinima is unique, but its makers do draw from other media practices. Then of course there are various perspectives from the machinima community, and it becomes difficult to include them all as well as all platforms.

So many talented people were not included in our book, and partly it had to do with their commitments at the time when we made a general call for machinimatographers and their supporting community. Yet many did contribute to the making of Modern Machinima: Aesthetics and Practice in Game and Virtual Filmmaking. The manuscript now awaits the first round of review by the publishers and the process continues through the summer months, with a Fall 2011 release scheduled.

After many draft rounds, and with the authors realizing the diversity of platforms and methods in making machinima, we decided it was best to focus on the transformation of an idea to machinima – the story or vision that drives the work, by (1) contextualizing machinima within the schools of thought and practice within cinema, television and animation (all with rich histories), (2) underscoring the essence of storytelling that runs through virtually every machinima project, and (3) inviting producers, actors, educators, artists, broadcasters and so forth to share their expertise and experiences.

A series of roundtables were administered through Lowe Runo Productions, LLC, to provide an open forum to guide the authors, and those views often found their way into the text of the book. It was certainly an inclusive process, and as a result the book is stronger for it. It tends to lean toward those interactive, immersive, massive multi-player gaming platforms, like Second Life, War of Warcraft, and The Sims, while acknowledging the larger historical practices of other game engines.

The book brings together my perspective as a media maker, particularly one who dwells within sound, and my co-author’s expertise in the crafting of still and motion images. He also loves to blow up things and I do think the chapters on sound and post-production exemplify our respective interests. On the other hand, every machinima needs a theme of some sort that entices the viewer to watch, and to continue watching. That is the heart of machinima. The pulse may vary among producers, with some works more reflective at times, and others that sweep you off your feet and barely let you catch your breath.

And some machinimatographers would likely make John Alton proud, ascribing to his classic Painting with Light (1949), one of the first books written on cinematography. Alton was a renowned cameraman who could tell a story through lighting. Alton is known for his film noir lighting in American in Paris, among other films. He broke all the rules and challenged directors to look beyond available technologies and techniques to light the story by first visualizing it. Alton painted first with his imagination, and then he sought ways to arrange the set and characters to tell the story. He challenged the conventions of other technical directors. Alton approached lighting as an artist, painting a scene through color, shadows, and innovation. He was not flustered by the limitations of technology, neither should the machinimist.

Next time, I will focus on the work of Toxic Menges, an artist and storyteller of Alton’s standards, who experiments with the virtual potential within Second Life to achieve quality machinima with minimal post production.

For now, I put the main thrust of the book to rest, for further discussion when its publication draws near. I will continue to highlight the works of its contributors, as well as others – and other issues and themes that seem appropriate to achieving and exhibiting magnum machinima.

References
Alton, John. (1995/1949 orig). Painting with Light. 4^th edition. Los Angeles: The University of California.

A number of machinimatographers and members of the supporting community contributed to our book as interviewees, contributing writers, and/or participants in roundtable discussions:

Contributors included: Iono Allen, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkyworthy Antfarm, Asil Ares, CodeWarrior Carling, Dr. Bryan Carter, Penumbra Carter, Decorgal, Draxtor Despres, Gene Williams, Evie Fairchild, Michael Gray, Kit Guardian, Chantal Harvey, Laurina Hawks, Phaylen Fairchild, Rysan Fall, Kate Fosk, Yani Jowisz, Alley McNally, Thinkerer Melville, moo Money, Wiz Nordberg, Toxic Menges, al Peretz, Dr. Jonathan Pluskota, Kara Trapdoor, Cisko Vandeverre, Tikaf Viper, 1angelcares Writer, Suzy Yue, and Jayjay Zifanwe - among others.

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[Photos: Authors Soni & Lowe demonstrating green screening which ended up as a tribute video for the late Robert Palmer; Phaylen Fairchild (as a teapot, and in the midst of a production) being interviewed by Sonicity; Toxic Menges (as a horse, in the midst of production) being interviewed by Sonicity. All photos taken at Lowe Runo Productions, LLC.]

Forthcoming, Machinima: The Art & Practice (working title, McFarland, 2011) by Sonicity Fitzroy and Lowe Runo. The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously provides syndication of Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review to Aview.TV/Sonicity/

:) Soni