MACHINIMA   

By: Michael Badger

Machinima refers to the application of film making and storytelling techniques to a 3D virtual environment that more often than not is derived from a particular video game. It is basically a convergence of the world’s of film, animation and video game technology, a collaboration that results in a more cost-effective and relatively less time consuming than traditional frame by frame animation and a less logistically taxing mode of storytelling without any need to compromise too much on the extent of creative control.

The earliest traces of Machinima – the word itself comes from a hybrid of the words “machine” and cinema, coined by – can most clearly be seen in 1992 when Disney Interactive Studios’ computer game ‘Stunt Island enabled users to stage, record and playback stunts to create scenarios for purely spectatorial purposes. This gem of an idea was taken to the next level in 1993 with Doom, a first-person shooter game developed by id Software, and it’s in-built ability to record game-play to be replayed later. This was innovative in the sense that it allowed the player to become performer and allowed them further creative input by enabling them to create their own modifications, maps and software for the game. Doom’s 1996 successor, Quake continued to lay the groundwork for Machinima by allowing for further customizations for player’s, thereby giving them more control in shaping their virtual world to their specific tastes. At this time, online multiplayer games were also becoming increasingly popular, “almost a sport” and the videos recorded, then called ‘demos’ were used in the same way football team would view reels of other teams, or as they were called in the Quake universe ‘camps’, as a means to better strategically prepare themselves for an encounter.

The first full-fledged Machinima feature length movie came on the 26^th of October with the short film “Diary of a Camper” (see below) that opted for focusing on storytelling rather than the blood, gore and violence that are prevalent in it, sparking increased interest in the genre and it’s potential, not only among the gaming community but eventually in the mainstream film industry with Stephen Spielberg, for instance using the video game unreal tournament 3 to test special effects whilst working on his 2001 science fiction movie Artificial Intelligence or A.I. Television program 'South Park' also featured World of Warcraft based Machinima in it's Emmy nominated episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft". 

With Machinima, as with any other medium of communication or expression, there are pitfalls that go along with the conveniences that were mentioned previously. The movie maker relies heavily on the software created for the video game being used by the game’s developers. In essence, Machinima could be seen as modern day, technologically enhanced puppetry. This means that there are limitations on the expressive capabilities of the character’s being used to act out the given script, meaning more work needs to be put into the scenery, special effects and other variables in order to create a convincing and affecting storyline.

The legitimacy of Machinima as an art form is something that is often debated. Although film critic Roger Ebert declared out rightly that video games could never be truly be considered an art form as they have “rules, points, objectives and, an outcome”, it must be made clear that Machinima, although it may stem from the same tree, must be considered as a separate entity. Loose parallels can be drawn to Marcel Duchamp’s concept of the ready-made artwork, only in this case the raw material, the original video game, is actually being manipulated with various customizations and hacks to suit the storytelling needs of the creator(s), thus giving it enough justification to be considered an art form.

 

Works Cited

Hubatch, Michael A. "Machinima: The legitimization and obstacles of becoming an art form." Arts Technology Program, Illinois State University, Normal, 2010.

Machinima.com. The Machinima Part 1: History, Information and Examples. 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5mtThYSLxY (accessed October 17, 2012).

—. The Machinima Part 2: History, Information and Examples. 2010.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MekmH6EqXdk (accessed October 17, 2012).

Machinima.org. What is Machinima? May 3, 2008.

http://www.machinima.org/machinima-faq.html (accessed October 17, 2012).