Machinima

A community portal about Machinima with blogs, videos, and photos. According to Wikipedia.org: Machinima, a portmanteau of machine cinema or machine animation, is both a collection of associated production techniques and a film genre defined by those techniques. As a production technique, the term concerns the rendering of computer-generated imagery using real-time, interactive 3D engines, as opposed to high-end and complex 3D animation software used by professionals. Engines from first person shooter and role-playing simulation video games are typically used. Consequently, the rendering can be done in real-time using PCs, rather than with complex 3D engines using huge render farms. As a film genre, the term refers to movies created by the techniques described above.

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Shelf Life, Chapter 1

Written by Overman on

From: z-studios.com

Really well done Half-Life 2 machinima work by Pixel Eyes Productions. This is the kind of stuff I imagine Lit Fuse Films doing nowadays if they were still at it as indies. This isn’t the same storytelling style as Ian Chisholm or Sam Goldwater so a direct comparison is difficult. But this is right at that same level of production, for sure. Even better in some ways; amazing what a good Post (After Effects) person can add to a film. And the level of expression they get from these characters is second to none.

Not perfect, but some exceptional filmmaking going on here. Why is it the crews with outrageously good Faceposers, editors, cinematographers, voice actors, (even musicians!), etc. rarely seem to hook up with outrageously good sound engineers? I can’t help but think what this film would be with a Ricky Grove on board. I mean, there are FAR FAR worse sound mixes out there in narrative machinima… but other than a few less-than-ideal edit choices and overdoing it just a bit on the shakycam, sound is the one area where this film is merely above average. Some very nice choices in sounds, but the mix could be so much more.

Still, it’s one of the best machinima pieces I’ve seen. Like, maybe ever. Enjoy. I’m embedding here, but if your PC can handle YouTube’s HD, I strongly recommend clicking through to experience it that way.

NOTE: Contains adult language, violence.