Machinima Matters: When Is Context No Longer Important?

This past month, Machinima has had its fair share of high-profile visibility. Between HBO picking up its own Machinima series, CSI:NY in Second Life, The Office using Second Life, RvB continuing onto its own XBLM series, advertisements with strongly branded products, Machinima is finding its place not only within context but out-of-context. Or is it?

Rodica brought up several interesting points in her last post, and though they dipped into questions around public perceptions of VWs in general, they do relate to Machinima's cultural context. That age-old question: how important is context to Machinima? In and out of context is a blurring line - particularly with applications like Second Life, Warcraft, Metaplace, etc., some reaching server-busting numbers. The subject is often its own "rabbit hole" - no one definitive exit or enter - as plenty of people have explored its relevance within Machinima. Friedrich Kirschner's exploration of the subject hits home for me too.

Subject matters are the hook, obviously. But is it compelling because it talks about a game I have quite the affinity for? Or does it provide a wink and a nod to the platform itself? Or my daily life? When does the novelty of technology flatten and we become more focused on the what than the why?

Additionally, I just came across some thoughts of Dr. Henry Lowood - describing code-based vs. object-based machinima (sorry, no direct link - search page for "Lowood") which flirts with the contextual as well.

I normally engage these swirls of discussions with a fair amount of alcohol involved (drinks preceding, of course), but imagine you and I with a round of scotch and you're about to get into why I'm off base....