Entering 2007 with a Crash! Boom! Bang!
We're already nearly a month and a half into 2007 (!), and there's already been some large strides made in the world of Machinima.
Todd Stallkamp (The Fixer) has been hired for his film-takenoprisoners-making of Sims-based Machinima by EA. When Todd's work first surfaced, everyone keeping watch of our small scene noticed his exceptional storytelling skills right out of the gate. This awareness was made more obvious at the 2006 Mackies, and finally by EA themselves. Keep your eyes open for machinima-related goodness from Maxis/EA. No doubt it will have Todd's name all over it.
Phil Rice's phenomenally popular Male Restroom Etiquette, was recently awarded honors by Animation World Network's Best of the Web 2007. This is, in a nutshell, huge. Why? Because animators tend to be extreme purists when it comes to the craft. Machinima has been looked down upon by the animation community because of its hack-and-hoc approach (OTTAWA!). Phil's work breaks through the prejudices and shows the community that Machinima has a voice in the animated context. And MRE proves that it can be just as compelling (and hilarious) without spending months (and years!) over ACME pegs or Maya renders.
With the Machinima feature Bloodspell now under their belt, pioneers Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram trade in their director caps for tablets as they begin the painstaking task of authoring "Machinima for Dummies" - the first book in the Dummies series on the subject matter. While I don't envy their work (understatement), it will be great to read their unique views on the medium. And given the kick-ass work on Bloodspell, I'm sure quite a number of folks will enjoy and put to practice this achievement of theirs as well.
Finally, The ILL Clan have kicked off their own creative celebration by becoming a division of VW content creators, The Electric Sheep Company. Since my leaving the ILL Clan in 2005, I've watched with pride as the guys put blood, sweat, and tears (and more blood) into TrashTalk, but also become a Machinima services company to boot. This marriage of ESC and ILL Clan is very much the perfect match and I look forward more TrashTalk (now in Second Life!) and other treats served up from the ESC/ILL Clan blender.
The first month of 2007 has proven to be quite the one of movement, and sets the pace for the remaining year ahead. There will be undoubtedly more news down the road, but for now, its a very exciting time to be a part of the Machinima movement.
Todd Stallkamp (The Fixer) has been hired for his film-takenoprisoners-making of Sims-based Machinima by EA. When Todd's work first surfaced, everyone keeping watch of our small scene noticed his exceptional storytelling skills right out of the gate. This awareness was made more obvious at the 2006 Mackies, and finally by EA themselves. Keep your eyes open for machinima-related goodness from Maxis/EA. No doubt it will have Todd's name all over it.
Phil Rice's phenomenally popular Male Restroom Etiquette, was recently awarded honors by Animation World Network's Best of the Web 2007. This is, in a nutshell, huge. Why? Because animators tend to be extreme purists when it comes to the craft. Machinima has been looked down upon by the animation community because of its hack-and-hoc approach (OTTAWA!). Phil's work breaks through the prejudices and shows the community that Machinima has a voice in the animated context. And MRE proves that it can be just as compelling (and hilarious) without spending months (and years!) over ACME pegs or Maya renders.
With the Machinima feature Bloodspell now under their belt, pioneers Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram trade in their director caps for tablets as they begin the painstaking task of authoring "Machinima for Dummies" - the first book in the Dummies series on the subject matter. While I don't envy their work (understatement), it will be great to read their unique views on the medium. And given the kick-ass work on Bloodspell, I'm sure quite a number of folks will enjoy and put to practice this achievement of theirs as well.
Finally, The ILL Clan have kicked off their own creative celebration by becoming a division of VW content creators, The Electric Sheep Company. Since my leaving the ILL Clan in 2005, I've watched with pride as the guys put blood, sweat, and tears (and more blood) into TrashTalk, but also become a Machinima services company to boot. This marriage of ESC and ILL Clan is very much the perfect match and I look forward more TrashTalk (now in Second Life!) and other treats served up from the ESC/ILL Clan blender.
The first month of 2007 has proven to be quite the one of movement, and sets the pace for the remaining year ahead. There will be undoubtedly more news down the road, but for now, its a very exciting time to be a part of the Machinima movement.
posted by Paul
at 10:40 AM
4 Comments:
Thanks! We'll do our best - so far the problem seems less meeting our word-count so much as going dramatically over it...
Yeah, MRE being nominated by AWN is huuuge. Well done Phil.
Thanks a bunch, guys. Once again, I was caught off guard by the AWN interest... and of course thrilled.
Right on! A roaring start to 07 indeed. The success of MRE is without doubt and the talent harvest by game companies is a solid showing of the Machinima impact.
Hugh, the book is great news for the community. Educating those who wish to know the craft is key to keeping the citizen director empowered.
Many thanks for the mention Paul, I too hope for machinima related goodness. But, I'll settle for mild climes and occasional sunshine.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home