And Now For Something Completely Machinima – Details, episodes & analysis

This ep, we take a walk down memory lane to the first major peak of #machinima with a documentary produced by  @ProducerStuartBrown , released in 2003. The film is a fly on the wall documentary of the creative practice of the legendary Hugh Hancock (founder of #Machinima.com) and his @strangecompany

0:39 Introduction to the film; shock and awe: Hugh’s bravado, character, energy and enthusiasm shines through
3:09 Foundations of Machinima.com, the Strange Company, the ILL Clan and others – the first peak of machinima
6:54 Stuart Brown’s YouTube channel
7:50 Minority report: “This may be the future of filmmaking” (2003)!
8:14 Positioning machinima as previs, preproduction, and the role of remote directing
10:40 Technical challenges to filmmaking back in 2003
13:58 What happened next to Machinima.com
15:35 Fond memories
19:32 Boom and bust: the poison of the profit motive?
22:40 The hard ask of the  @roosterteethanimation #rvb model
23:41 Money as a means to an end
25:52 The team and the decisions
27:29 Frank Dellario’s humour!  @ILLClan @frankdellario7401
29:05 Remembering Peter Rasmussen 

Show notes & links: includes Tracy's notes and an interview with Hugh - see links below 

Credits - 
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine 
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice 
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week's pick is nostalgic for a time before machinima... its a rare look back at the demoscene era that informed and influenced the evolution of machinima all those years ago.  The film selection is called We Are Demo, made in 2016 by Fairlight, Noice, Offence, and it was originally shared on X by the Commodore Computer Museum. Check out our review and thoughts, and do add your comments on our YouTube channel.

• Phil introduces the film We Are Demo, which was made in 2016 using technology from the 1980s and 1990s
• The film is a tribute to the demoscene, and the Commodore 64
• Phil explains the demoscene and its requirement for both technical and artistic skills.
• We discuss the historical context of the demo scene and a few anecdotes from some early experiences
• The demoscene was a way for creators to self-promote and showcase their skills, often incorporating their team logos into the demos
• Phil examines the use of the SID chip, which limited music to three notes of polyphony, explaining how composers overcame some key limitations
• We Are Demo adheres to the musical limitations, using the SID chip to create the music
• Is it all about nostalgia and creativity involved in creating music and visuals within these technical constraints?
• We discuss the visual and musical style of the film, and how it is faithful to the era of the demoscene
• What’s the role of an emulator these days, a discussion inspired by the film.
• Ricky recalls the SIGGRAPH conferences and the demoscene meetings 
• We reminisce about the unique community and artistic spirit of the demoscene, which is similar to the early days of machinima.
• What are your thoughts about this pick – add some comments in the discussion below about whether the demo scene is something only older generations will appreciate.

Credits:
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

A Source Filmmaker short by Dominzki, this is another of his well-crafted stories told in 3 parts, called Mission. This episode we focus on the third part Exodus and discuss its merits in detail. We conclude that if there was ever a machinima that should be made in a film studio, this would be it.  Check out our comments.

1:17 Tracy's introduction to the film
11:47 Complexity and dialogue
13:51 Scifi and the clone, and the director's clever device of using a disrupted world to portray the ethical considerations of cloning
15:31 Clay-like characters and the portrayal of emotion
17:09 The soundtrack and its role
18:53 Making this IRL, maybe Kim Kardashian could play the lead?
19:23 The Mobius strip is the masterful component
24:48 The art and craft is evident 

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

TOP GUN Maverick Intro by  @godivasl in  @secondlife , as you've never seen it before! The attention to detail in editing the scenes and character performance is outstanding - well done to all those involved.

Credits -
Speakers:  @zsOverman @tgharwood @DarthAngelus (MIA  @RickyGrove ) 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Ricky Grove 
Sound Effect: Motorcycle driveby by Severaltimes / Freesound.org

This week's review is of  @Astartes40k aka Syama Pedersen's stunning Warhammer 40K masterpiece called Astartes Project. The film was first released two years ago and has been recommended to us by  @orencloud . It is currently hosted on  @TheChach 's channel - we explain why.

1:07 Disclaimers
4:38 Thoughts about the game
8:02 How to carry the story forward
11:39 Are they the good guys or the bad guys?
17:42 Game-based machinima and its problems
22:35 It's better for you than for them
27:11 Mansplaining the film

Credits - Speakers:  @zsOverman @tgharwood @DarthAngelus (MIA  @RickyGrove ) 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: bainmack / punk rock short 31 from freesound.org

After we first talked about this project last April 2022, we were thrilled to see what a stunning job @MartinKlekner has made in the 21 Jan release of the first episode of Heroes of Bronze. We were not disappointed: the film and work stands up to AAA Assassin's Creed Odyssey studio work, but with amazing detail of historical artefacts and storytelling, which is even evident in the way clothes move on characters. Damien couldn't put our views better when he says this work inspires him to want to do better with iClone. We're definitely looking forward to the next release - bring it on! 

5:12 The story is told through the memories of a soldier's wife. 
8:45 A beautiful and moving film. 
11:05 The historical accuracy of the film. 
16:39 Historical accuracy and technical details. 
21:04 The importance of realistic portrayals of ancient times. 

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: bainmack / punk rock short 31

This week's film is a SFM Saxxy 2017 entry from  @TipsyDucks called Mann Co: Employee Training Video. Lots of in-jokes and satire in the style of a PSA, with a fantastic voiceover by Keith Ferrell aka MrTush.

4:13 We don't pay you to think. We pay you to work.
7:07 Team Fortress 2 stylized graphics.
9:02 Phil’s sense of humour and satire.
10:31 Pushing the edge of appropriateness.
13:42 The value of safe comedy.
16:07 The difference between satire and tastelessness.
19:04 Christoph Waltz' The Consultant, based on Bentley Little novel.

Credits -
Speakers:  @zsOverman @RickyGrove @DarthAngelus @tgharwood
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music: CreateStudio Pro Music Assets licensed. Nebular Focus by Dan Henig. Youtube audio collection

We always love a good RDR2 machinima, and this is one by a Sam Menell, released on 9 Feb 2023.  We watched this several times, and Tracy didn't spot the UFO in the opening shot!

2:03 Phil’s thoughts on the film. 
3:36 The soundtrack and editing. 
6:24 The searchers 
8:05 The ending was such a surprise. 

Credits - 
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer: Phil Rice 
Editor: Damien Valentine 
Music:  Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week, Ricky provokes us with a selection of shorts released on TikTok.  We discuss the usefulness of the platform for machinima and virtual production creators, as well as pass comment on the three films we take a look at, which unsurprisingly we variously struggle with. Phil's analogy to fish restaurants of different quality sums it up well for us all.

8:19 Fish restaurants
11:51 Dumpsters for paperbacks analogy
15:23 Terry Gilliam said...
19:26 Phil's profound reflection on quality kit
29:52 Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky)
35:05 Does Twitter make you a better script writer?

Show notes and links here

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Phil Rice
Editor: Ricky Grove
Music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig

This week's film review is The Gateway by  @ritualenfilm3976 , made with  @UnrealEngine and released in May 2020. Its a mix of some well-known alien life sci-fis we all love, the pacing is nicely done and there are some interesting effects that we comment on although we're not quite sure what the ending is all about. Ricky also tells us about a new Philip K. Dick inspired (Blade Runner stylized) release on  @Netflix called JUNG_E.

Time stamps -
0:14 Intro to the film.
3:35 A gateway to another world.
5:39 The story is just a sketch.
7:53 Tracy’s impressions of the film.
9:07 Hiding the details.
11:25 Science Fiction Recommendations: JUNG_E
13:11 The problem with not having enough character content.
16:12 A war hero’s brain.

Show notes: www.completelymachinima.com

Credits - Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine 
Producer/Editor: Ricky Grove 
End music: Nebular Focus by Dan Henig