The Future is Machinima

My approach to the video game discipline comes from an appreciation of cinema and a love of history. Cinema has opened up the past in such an immediate way, literally making real the concept of a dimensional portal between different periods. With video games this process has become interactive and spontaneous. You aren't just watching the hero. You are becoming the hero.
I am interested in the overarching concept of the game itself, the driving storyline, epic, or mission. What is the essence of the idea, the summary? How well is it presented? A good game should take us into the movie. It is this brief sketch or preview that I have begun to make the cornerstone of my career as a game designer.

In considering the subject, there are two basic categories: pre-rendered cinematics and live-action machinima. While the principles that underlie pre-rendered animations are already more or less well-established, machinima represents a dynamic revolution, blending several other performing arts together. This blog is dedicated to the latter aspect of game cinematics.


-movie-making in the virtual realm

-Machinima as blend of animation, theatre, filmmaking, and game development

-akin to puppetry - exploration of avatar - role-playing

-imagine meeting up to perform Hamlet in Castle Wolfenstein with other players
or reenacting the signing of the Declaration of Independence
or arguing with Plato or Aristotle
or coordinating interesting flying formations with other jets and recording them
or...or...or...

-idea for another character type - wizard, knight, cleric, thief, virtual filmmaker - carries digital camera along to capture interesting moments - he gets sent up ahead to investigate, spy, and gather visual data to report back to the group

-precursor to fully conscious entry into digital realms

-instead of 'funniest home videos' --- 'craziest video game episodes' -

-playground for the imagination

Thoughts?

http://www.machinima.com/article.php?article=186

http://www.machinima.org/machinima-faq.html

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,53929,00.html?tw=wn_story_related

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/09/08/machinima.html