Even though we’re not making so much machinima anymore here at Smooth Few Films, it doesn’t deter my interest in it. I still like to scour and search for what’s new out there in the wide world of video game movie-making, just to see what other people are doing and what games they’re using.
Oddly enough, it doesn’t seem that any game has made as big of a splash for the machinima community as Halo 3 did back in 2007. It’s crazy to me that it’s just over 2 years later, and we’re still waiting on the next engine to come and revitalize amateur filmmakers to try out some of their own stuff. Uncharted 2 just dropped for the PS3, and it has some machinima tools hidden within its depths, if only you can make it past the incredible single player campaign (and trust me, it is quite incredible). I also hear that Dragon Age: Origins coming out next month will make use of some rather robust tools.
In terms of some of the new things I’m seeing out there that hold promise, a couple of things come to mind. Red Vs Blue Recreation once again sets the standard for awesomeness. SgtPadrino has some remarkable Call of Duty videos that he’s been scripting together, and they’re impressive as anything I’ve seen in recent months. Likewise, Mystfit continues to work away on some custom TF2 animations. Can’t wait to see what the results of those experiments are. Running Gun (creators of Spriggs) are steadily releasing a fully scripted Fallout 3 machinima called JudgeMental. And then there’s good old Darkspire Films, who just released the Candy Coated Wonder Road, a Halo 3 children’s show.
So what do you guys think the state of machinima is? What are some of your favorite machinimas out there right now?
Also, Web Zeroes Episode 3 hits tomorrow, and some new TLW outtakes should be up later this week- hope to see you back for both of those!
Nick and I have been hard at work on the series finale, parts 1 and 2 for the last couple of weeks. We’re hoping to release them close together, but we haven’t quite decided on how that will go down yet. We have a limited amount of time to finish all of this, and we’re working our butts off to do so. You’ll get the first screenshots this weekend or early next week.
I know that some of you long timers have seen some of our setup pictures before, but I thought it would be cool to talk about again. For those of you that don’t know, TLW isn’t made inside of a studio, but rather, in my spare bedroom, with a total of 6-7 computers, depending on what’s working at the time. That’s machinima for you.
Ideally, we’d show this in the making of video we’ve been wanting to do, but that’s been put on hold indefinitely while we try to finish this darn show. Anywho, there’s a general overview, with pictures, after the jump. Continue reading →
So it looks like the next few weeks of my life will be absorbed by either Hammer or Faceposer. No, I can’t tell you why. But here’s a hint: it’s for TLW. In case you missed the update, Episodes 6 and 7 are going to mark the halfway point for Season 2. Stuff is about to go down. For real.
Anywho, we’ve got a new TLW based short coming out this weekend, and Episode 6 will be dropping sometime next week. Get excited. There are a lot of fun elements in every aspect of production for the next two episodes, ranging from sound design to color correcting and Hammer work. I’m just pumped about how the end products are going to turn out.
There’s a chance many of you have already seen Cortez’s cameo in Source Wars, made by Xanatos and crew, but if you haven’t, you should give it a watch. Xanatos did this with our permission, and he’s a bud of ours, so I was happy to lend my voice. It’s pretty goofy, but definitely good for some laughs.
Well here we are, another year down, and a new one upon us. We thought we’d send 2008 off with a bang, so we brought a kingly gift- The Leet World Holiday Special, redux.
In this edition, The Leet World characters run down their favorite things about the holidays. I think it’s a mighty good time. I hope you guys enjoy it, and remember, it’s a part of One Shared Vision, the machinima movement to promote Child’s Play. I’d definitely encourage you guys to look into Child’s Play, as it’s a rockin’ charity for gamers.
Speaking of video games, I hope you guys got a bunch of them for Christmas. I got Chrono Trigger DS, myself.
By the way, if you’re looking for some good entertainment at 7pm Eastern on Tuesday, December 30th, then check out Halo Community Live. It’s a live broadcast of several machinimas from the Halo community including TheDuoGroup, Halo 3 Mythbusters, and more. Unfortunately, we couldn’t participate because of late notice, but I’d definitely recommend checking it out.
It’s been a machinima filled weekend for us. Mostly in filming Episode 3, of which I’ll have some screenshots up shortly. Also wrote the Christmas special yesterday, and we’ll be working on that some this week before we break a little while for the holidays.
A couple of machinima videos for you to watch. First, there’s Clear Skies, a production by Ian Chisolm which uses the Source engine and EVE Online. Lots of good stuff there. Very impressive Hammer/GMod work.
Secondly, a few weeks ago I posted about OneSharedVision, a machinima community effort to promote the charity Child’s Play. Anywho, Dave Tyner made this week’s video and it kind of rules. Unreal squaring off against Halo, “You Got Served” style. A tad bit of language, so be warned.
Our video for this will appear next week. If you hadn’t guessed, it’s the Christmas Special.
Just wanted to give you guys a head’s up about One Shared Vision, a totally sweet machinima project put together by several machinimakers in the community, with the goal of letting people know about Child’s Play, a charity that donates games to children in hospitals.
Each week, a new machinima will be out, promoting Child’s Play and also providing some bueno holiday entertainment and/or lulz. That’s a proper film making term, be tee dub.
Smooth Few Films is a part of this project, and you will see a short from us later this month. It might star some of your favorite TLW dudes.
For now, enjoy the launch of One Shared Vision by watching this video from machinima dude supreme Phil Rice, and be sure to find out more about Child’s Play to help! It’s an excellent charity that raises millions of dollars worth of games for sick kids in hospitals.
Even though we’re not making so much machinima anymore here at Smooth Few Films, it doesn’t deter my interest in it. I still like to scour and search for what’s new out there in the wide world of video game movie-making, just to see what other people are doing and what games they’re using. 