2006 Machinima Fest site is live!
Just a quick note that the 2006 Machinima Fest site was launched this evening. We're still hammering away as some of the more critical parts (submission form and backend are the key ones), but we didn't want to delay the launch any longer, and thus, it's now live. Also, do check out the small fest promo produced by our friends at MachinimaDeutschland on the front page of the site. Quite fun stuff - we're hoping we'll see the community produce more of these to help spread the word. There's more news waiting in the wings--we'll post it the News page as we have it in place. Stay tuned!
Tough Love: A Case for Editing
We're a few days away from unleashing this year's Machinima Fest site to the general public. I'm really excited as there's been a real swell to the amount of works we've seen. However, one of the great parts to the festival is that it also gathers the works we haven't seen. Last year's Best Picture nominee, The Adventures of Bill and John, was a fave of mine that I hadn't come across until its submission into the fest. All this said, I see quite a few Machinima works in my travels. Scratch that, a LOT of Machinima works. For all the great works I've seen, I do have one criticism for about 90% of the works viewed: if you're the director/producer of your piece, get someone to do your editing for you.
Why? The majority of Machinima pieces I see about twice as long as they need to be. That's a general statement, and a bit unfair to some works. but directors tend to indulge in the thrill of having their vision come together and fear cutting up "their baby." It's hard for them to be objective to the overall film, particularly when they spent 3 days in WoW choregraphing that perfect crane shot (and with all those characters on the move!). However, with a good editor at your side, he/she will tell you whether or not that lovingly-produced shot helps the overall story. It's hard to let go, I know, but would you rather your audience see "all of your efforts" or a good story? The difference can mean people hitting the close box a minute into your film, or gaining a new fan.
Before my Inbox is spammed, I know firsthand how hard it is to recruit folks into your production. If getting an editor for your work isn't going to happen, be prepared to be totally unforgiving to your work in the editing process. I can't emphasize this enough (and lord knows I've overused my emphasis formatting quota in this post alone).
Ok, as this post is slipping dangerously close to a rant, let's balance it out with some pointers and links. These pointers are not editing tips per se (the internet is chock full with pages about editing definitions and features), but more top-level tips about editing in general.
- Edit with the overall story in mind. It's easy to be persuaded by cool shots and angles, but you need to consider your Machinima as an overall work. If it feels disjointed and long, your audience will walk away completed unsatisified (and possibly have not even watched it to the end).
- Don't be afraid to throw away. Reiterating myself here, but you need to be a relentless and honest editor when it comes to building a good story. About 2/3rds of all films are left on the editing room floor, and for good reason - it's quality over quantity. And remember, if you do have fave takes that don't have a place in the Machinima, you can always offer those up as outtakes to your fans (yet one more benefit of distributing online).
- Pacing is critical. Pacing is an extremely important part of editing. If your audience feels out of sync with the Machinima, they will detach themselves from the story and begin studying your film for what it lacks - even if they can't put their finger on it. This is not to say that your film needs to have music video-like cutting, but keep your story moving so your audience is more interested in the next shot than the "how much more of this?"
- Your audience is intelligent. You might feel inclined to show your film in very deliberate shots, but give your audience room to think. Not every scene needs to be spelled out, and your audience will warm up to your work if they feel you respect them.
- Editing is an artform. Most folks think editing is just a process. Unfortnately, when you treat it as such, it shows. There's more to editing than just selecting shots and assembling them into a final work. Creativity in your editing will not only show your story, but also build emotion. Quick cuts over action scenes give feelings of chaos, long held shots can convey loneliness, etc. If you approach editing as another place to express yourself, the work benefit from it immensely.
- Review with fresh eyes. Feedback to your work is key. If you're having a hard time "seeing" your Machinima because you've been slaving in front of Premiere/Vegas/VirtualDub for hours on end, recruit a preview audience to watch. And not someone who will give you praise out of the gate - someone whose opinion you respect and will be honest about your work. This leads to...
- You are not your work. This might feel a bit outside a pointer about editing and sound all touchy-feely, but its pretty important when editing your Machinima. Being critical about your work in the editing stage is essential. Treat your Machinima as a work you've created and know that criticisms associated with it are about the Machinima, not you as a person. When I was a creative director, very often I had to coach artists that the feedback on the work is not about their skills as an artist/director/editor, but about the work itself. If you can get past that association, then you'll be able to move into improving the Machinima itself. A hard step for some, but once you can put these in context, it will help quite a bit.
Some links/books with more practical advice: Someone long ago said that "filmmaking actually happens during the editing." I couldn't agree more. Bottom line: Pay attention to editing and your audience will thank you for it...and stick around to boot! Update: bllius writes in the comments:
Making more out of Machinima
You know you're slipping into the stream when the work you've championed starts to become the foundation of others. Case in point, a couple online literary works have surfaced over the past year, that use Machinima as a springboard to our less-Hollywood, more-HollyCPU future. These two works are "Moving Pictures", by Mike Hoefflinger of Packet Switched Press and "Give the Dog A Bone" by Patrick Kolan of JumpButton Magazine. Both pieces use Machinima as the reality of filmmaking to come. To me, its just very cool, if not a bit surreal. Kolan's piece is of article length, and tells the story of a digital actor auditioning for his next Machinima role. Hoefflinger's work is more ambitious, a Creative Commons-licensed piece that falls into the novella category with 77 pages ( PDF also available) - the tale of a small Machinima team aspiring to knock the cinema industry on its collective arse (not entirely fictional if you speak to some current artists). Both works are extremely entertaining, and highly recommend them if you have the time to indulge.  In addition to fictional prose, comes something more akin to Machinima itself - Gamics. Gamics are online comics made using games for the visual assist (old timers to the Quake scene will remember one of the very first, Dank and Scud). One of my faves is the always well-done (and consistently funny) Half-Life 2-based Concerned: The Half-Life and Death of Gordon Frohman by Chris Livingston. Concerned follows the Half-Life 2 storyline, but rather than focused on the main Gordon Freeman character of the game, Chris follows the day-to-day of a less extraordinary person, Gordon Frohman. Frohman is following in the footsteps of Freeman, but he's not out to eliminate the Combine and Dr. Breen, only to get by and make friends. Obviously, being familiar with the HL2 story line is pretty important (which is available on the site for those who aren't). Another great HL2-based gamic is Apostasy, a quality gamic with a bit more of a serious bend (actually, Apostasy kickstarted the HL2 gamic scene I believe). Apostasy can be found on PHWOnline.com, who supplies shelter for quite a few Half-Life 2-based gamics and Machinima. For a more diverse set of gamics, visit Gamics.com, as nearly every popular game has a gamic. Machinima has proven itself as a way to be creatively expressive. It's great to see that its now finding pop culture value, even if these associated artists never touch a game engine themselves.
2006 Machinima Fest Announced
Short post today - we've announced the 2006 Machinima Festival, taking place at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, during the weekend of November 4-5, 2006, with the festival submission deadline set for Friday, Sept. 22nd, 2006. The full fest site will launch next week.
Reinventing the Reel
Note: this is a quasi-Machinima rant. More Machinima-focused rantings in my next post.CMP Media recently held their second annual Hollywood and Games Summit in LA, an event designed to help cross-pollinate game and film cultures - an official mixer for both industries. The romance of Hollywood and the gaming industry is essentially the world's worst kept office secret. Both industries eye each other during corporate functions, work together on certain projects, all the while wondering when the other will swing by the cube and ask the other out. Everyone in the office knows of their attraction to one another, and while its obvious that the two will find a dark corner at an office party in the near future, the company still gets a rise from the drama of the courting. I couldn't attend the summit (and am sorry that I didn't), but it was a very interesting one from the standpoint of Machinima. Or rather, it should have been a very interesting one. Unfortunately, word has it that our courting couple walked the gangplank towards the boat -- and then missed it entirely -- as Machinima was never a part of the summit's larger conversation. Fortunately, someone noticed the conf misstep and decided to speak up. John Martin from Reallusion (developers of the Machinima app, iClone), brought up the questions around Machinima at various points during the day, and asked some of the panelists firsthand what their take was. There was a bit of an attention scramble to address this - clearly some of the panelists knew about Machinima, but like the conf organizers, hadn't given it enough forethought to include as a point to discuss. Machinima was ripe for topical intercourse - it involves games, filmmaking as well as the crossover of both tech and brand. The fact that it wasn't even a part of someone's presentation is, well, crazy. However, I don't fault anyone specifically here - it just makes it clearer on how the shifts in the entertainment are being overlooked. Obviously, shifting whole entertainment industries is a very hard conversation to hold. The RIAA doesn't want it, the MPAA doesn't want it and network television is having a hard time acknowledging it as well (though some networks are slowly getting it). The 800-pound gorilla named "Decentralization" is having a very significant impact on these established gatekeepers of "everything worth watching and listening to." However, these industries must understand now is their chance to change course - embracing new models and methods like Machinima - otherwise they will continue to play catch-up, all the while losing value with consumers). It will take some extreme measures, but rather than stay mired in the tarpit, now's their chance to learn, leave and live. Last month, I had the pleasure of presenting at VIDFest in Vancouver, where I also had the chance to sit in on presentations by Jeff Macpherson and Kevin Gamble of TikiBar TV and Brooke Burgess of Broken Saints. However, the most important part was the overall theme - that these shows, along with Red vs. Blue and Homestar Runner are how entertainment is taking shape and building value online. Their audience is loyal and acts as the show cheerleaders, spreading the word and roping in additional audience. The producers have a direct connection with the audience, sometimes even incorporating ideas from their community into the show itself. This point-to-point connection is key and is more valuable than any marketing budget out there. Another point to consider - none of these shows have made a jump to network television (and most have been approached for such). Why? I obviously don't know all the details, but it really comes down to the what large networks can offer in return. Network TV could gain these shows additional audience, true, but it would break down what made these shows a success in the first place. Add in a barely sustainable production budget, ad placements and having to share in any ancillary products, and all of a sudden your first point of distribution looks that much better. I'm a firm believer of the "we need to be here before we get there" and know that there are no simple toggle switches to change industry overnight. However, public platforms like the Hollyood and Games summit are a good place to lead that conversation, and for them to recognize the shifts like the above that are taking place. I was having a frank discussion with a friend yesterday about how the world has changed since our parents. We noted that there are hardly any "career" jobs left, where someone stayed in the same position for 35 years. Now, a person often needs to reinvent themselves at least 3-4 times over the course of their lifetime. Industries will need to recognize that they too need to incorporate a process of reflection and reinvention. Otherwise, it will continue to happen without them and we'll reminisce over the once was. Until then, here's to the first Hollywood film released online. Update: Just tripped across this related article by Wired Editor-in-chief (and Long Tail author) Chris Anderson who dives in and discusses how the entertainment industry is quickly finding that blockbusters are being redefined and niche is king.
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It would be nice, although this may be asking too much, to show some examples. Show us some long scenes (or poorly edited) and then the shorter scene (or the scene with better editing).