tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60827172009-07-05T08:34:25.751-04:00Paul Marino's random insights into Machinima and its related subjects.Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-83299258797769640272009-02-03T14:10:00.005-05:002009-02-03T14:58:23.944-05:00

Yikes, it's been a while....The EFF is looking to help those who have been subjected to YouTube's recent takedowns/audiodowns. Numerous machinimators whose videos were married to labeled songs have recently had their work either removed or silenced due to YouTube's somewhat faulty(?) ContentID system, which identifies certain materials as being infringing. Fred von Lohmann feels the targeted

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-56184792344392380242008-09-08T11:13:00.004-04:002008-09-08T11:16:21.577-04:00

The Machinima Festival has extended its deadline by a week - to Sept. 19th! If you're planning on submitting, you now have a bit more time to polish....but don't procastinate! 7 days goes by fast!

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-61707456207185394482008-08-27T22:34:00.003-04:002008-08-27T22:52:59.779-04:00

Though most posts here are about Machinima in general, Thinking Machinima is also the official AMAS blog and requires me to make official AMAS postings from time-to-time. Today's posting is one - confirming Hugh Hancock's decision to step down as an AMAS board member. The AMAS board has released a statement in regards to this event:"As Hugh Hancock announced on the Strange Company blog, he has

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-8670329525391375422008-08-09T09:41:00.006-04:002008-08-12T23:28:38.163-04:00

Continuing the "Machinima is growing" theme: Our good friends over at the Machiniplex are organizing this year's MachinExpo - which takes place November 7th-9th, during the Festival Arcadia in Montreal, Canada.The event, which will include Machinima workshops, panels and screenings, is in its 2nd year at the Festival Arcadia - a large videogame cultural center point in Canada. The Expo is

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-32779730208844623642008-08-04T23:16:00.002-04:002008-08-04T23:22:09.844-04:00

This year's Machinima Festival (taking place at Eyebeam in NYC, November 1st), has begun accepting submissions for this year's Mackies! If you havent submitted your Machinima work to this fest before, then by all means, hop to it and submit! You only have until September 12th!Good luck to all the entrants!!!

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-29041773719684863022008-07-20T13:26:00.007-04:002008-07-20T14:05:16.314-04:00

As Machinima matures, we're seeing more traditional film fests embrace the artform and include works in their programs and competitions. Reflecting this sentiment, Matt Kelland of Short Fuze/Moviestorm sends word of the Cambridge Film Festival, which is looking for additional Machinima works for their program. More of the down-low from Matt:"We've finally got hold of almost all of the directors

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-75238591987129934192008-07-17T10:54:00.003-04:002008-07-17T11:06:43.768-04:00

Right from Kotaku: Valve's Doug Lombardi took a few minutes out of a busy E3 schedule to talk a bit about Left 4 Dead - Valve's zombie opus due for release in November. Beyond the usual can't-wait-to-see-what-Valve-is-up-to-ness, Lombardi explains in this interview that they're considering a movie mod post release...More and more game developers are considering Machinima options for their games -

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-79974362200855477252008-07-15T10:19:00.006-04:002008-07-15T10:30:41.921-04:00

While I've been working on other projects (aka my full-time spot), the initial version of the 2008 Machinima Fest site has been launched. There's not a ton of info at the moment, but what has been posted is key - namely the list of this year's categories. Most of the cats are the same, but some have been renamed and some have been added.Standing kudos to the team for putting it all together! And

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-71312590168510071302008-07-08T14:32:00.004-04:002008-07-08T14:51:07.703-04:00

The Center for Social Media just released their latest project - A Code of Best Practices for Online Video. The results of their work is truly exceptional - helping to define acceptable approaches for user-created video. The team involved with this project (members such as Mimi Ito, Henry Jenkins and Jennifer Urban) are extremely savvy -- not only the biz and legal takes in the online video space

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-38400717772049969022008-07-03T23:18:00.008-04:002008-07-04T00:08:16.261-04:00

I'm still not sure what to make of this. Part of me thinks EA and IKEA are awesomely smart to cross-market their brands. And then there's part of me that is very unnerved looking at some of his own furniture within the generated walls of a Sims 2 household.Actually, I think The Sims™ 2 IKEA Home Stuff is a really great idea. IKEA is the cheap, yet design-y furniture store that resembles one big

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-18466246701833162932008-06-10T21:39:00.006-04:002008-06-10T22:31:11.198-04:00

Sure, the logo's aged a bit while sitting in the window, but it looks like some initial plans are finally falling into place regarding the AMAS Machinima Fest 08!Taking place the weekend of November 1st, 2008, the event will be hosted by cross-media think-tank/space Eyebeam in NYC!More details will be coming soon (Call for Entries and the like), so stay tuned to the site for future updates.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-35975698842125285272008-06-07T16:15:00.003-04:002008-06-07T16:22:22.125-04:00

Now here's my type of mash-up: GTA IV with the ol' Police Squad/Naked Gun opener (proof of age req'ed). Comedy & cultural cross-over abounds!A bit of distraction at the moment. My nose is to the grindstone on some demo stuff for work, but the blog update is still in play (and hopefully soon as Rodica's been having a hard time posting stuff). Enjoy!

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-39351237156053743772008-04-16T11:52:00.001-04:002008-04-16T10:33:38.296-04:00

This week's blog entry is more status than news. I'm revising the blog's design and overhauling the backend - which is an uncomfortable switch from Blogger to Wordpress. There are pros/cons to such a shift, but I think Wordpress is a much more flexible system - a number of my fave sites use (Free Pixel, Overman's blog, The Animation Podcast, etc.) and provides a lot of support by way of community

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-23060427174403031112008-04-04T11:33:00.001-04:002008-04-04T10:42:05.398-04:00

Some cool news on the Machinima front. Epic Games has announced their latest Make Something Unreal Contest - an Unreal Tournament 3-fueled follow-up to their 2005 contest of the same (that one was based in Unreal 2 tech). This latest contest, offering $1 million US in cash/prizes, and sponsored by Intel, also includes a Machinima category (in phases 2-4).The 2005 MSU competition gave us great

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-91094217866176479352008-03-12T12:35:00.001-04:002008-03-12T12:11:34.657-04:00

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this blog post. About 15 minutes ago, I received word that Peter Rasmussen, director of the award-winning, groundbreaking Machinima work, Stolen Life, has passed on.I'm not entirely sure what to say or how to say it. Peter and I exchanged mails just a few weeks ago and I promised him that I would show up for his next Machinima meet-up in Second Life.

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-66410973931864154252008-02-15T14:59:00.000-05:002008-02-15T14:53:59.106-05:00

I'm probably one of many who fell in love with the game Portal - it has an insane combination of crazy puzzles, wicked game design, and incredibly cute characters. There are a lot of great machinima pieces out there on the turrets, the companion cube, etc., but the one I included above is strangely reminiscent of the brilliant Red vs. Blue dialog.Score another one for Garry's Mod and for the

Rodica Buzescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05895048582137290209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-38954782171472124302008-02-12T17:55:00.000-05:002008-02-12T17:39:15.024-05:00

Quick blip: N'Gai Croal interviews Will Wright on Spore -- and asks it plain and simple:Croal: What are the machinima tools like within Spore?Wright: We have that built in throughout the game where you can capture game footage at any time, photos and stuff. In the Creature Creator--this is another thing we went down the path of, "What would we really want to do with this?"--I can design a

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-6778014426747124162008-01-24T13:18:00.000-05:002008-01-24T13:01:14.851-05:00

Regular readers of this blog will remember a posting I made last year mentioning the 24-7: DIY Video Summit at USC. Well, we're nearly at that point on the calendar -Feb. 8-10th. I will be presenting a selection of Machinima works, along with several other curators , who will each present works from their respective crafts. The event, will have quite a few great speakers on hand as well,

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-53617595289021609992008-01-19T13:47:00.000-05:002008-01-19T11:23:09.529-05:00

WeGame launched just a short while ago, with a tag line of being a "YouTube for gamers". With the recent advances of machinima into areas increasingly closer to mainstream media, I immediately had two questions. Feel free to chime in:1) For serious machinima, does it make sense to key into an audience of gamers-only?and2) Are you tempted to switch?To put things into perspective, you do get some

Rodica Buzescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05895048582137290209noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-87853079807690133092008-01-11T11:13:00.000-05:002008-01-11T10:56:28.977-05:00

This weekend marks the start of an exciting film event in Second Life. The famous 48-Hour Film project that tours the world is reaching a virtual world. On Friday, January 11th, contestants will be given a character, prop, and line of dialog as base for their machinima. Then, the teams have 48 hours to turn around a complete production.More information from the 48-hour film Second Life site: "

Rodica Buzescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05895048582137290209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-13350314576012364612007-12-21T12:30:00.000-05:002007-12-21T10:21:57.732-05:00

One machinima production that I've often wanted to write about, but became equally-oft sidetracked is Telltale's wonderful Sam and Max series. Yesterday (December 19th), they released their Sam and Max holiday special, Sam and Max Nearly Save Christmas, which I found to be a great hoot as usual. The episode, built from the Sam and Max Ice Station Santa game, weighs in at a bit over 20 minutes (an

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-32914763579173658092007-12-13T12:29:00.000-05:002007-12-13T13:13:48.625-05:00

An interesting blip over on ShackNews: it sounds like Valve will be releasing some new machinima-focused/friendly SDK tools that were used in creating their "Meet The ____" series of shorts around Team Fortress 2. The post by a Valve employee (signed Robin - I'll assume it's designer Robin Walker) makes mention of the tools, though its timeframe is a bit indefinite (sigh). He doesn't get into

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-49178540642758681462007-12-09T22:46:00.000-05:002007-12-09T23:03:54.875-05:00

The ILL Clan, makers of Tra5hTa1k and some recently renowned machinima in collaboration with the Electric Sheep Company (including CSI:NY), will be speaking to a Second Life audience on December 14th at 9 AM Pacific time. Some of the speakers include Frank Dellario, Matt Dominianni, Paul Jannicola and Kerria Seabrooke. For your convenience, click here to teleport to the event location.For those

Rodica Buzescuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05895048582137290209noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-35224486825742581662007-12-06T13:05:00.000-05:002007-12-06T12:15:11.207-05:00

Just a quick post about a new entry into one of my fave blogs, Free Pixel. Prof. Michael Nitsche speaks about sex and Machinima - how the subject matter is extremely polarized with either nary a mention, or the full-on explicit.Read on...

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6082717.post-12203691867867890672007-12-03T10:30:00.000-05:002007-12-03T10:43:09.706-05:00

One of the virtues I often share about Machinima is how easy it is to reach. Because of this accessibility, it gives people - often not filmmakers by trade or practice - a platform for expression.This Halo 3-based machinima, posted by Skatedawg27, retells the horrible events of this past April, taking place at Virginia Tech.Definitively a successor to Alex Chan's The French Democracy from a

Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09843106000644968435noreply@blogger.com1