Machinima: Synthetic Cinema reviews
Review by on 22 Sep 2008
Many film enthusiasts have never heard of, let alone seen a piece of Machinima. Some of those in attendance at this screening may not have either. One man in particular had definitely never seen a video created using a videogame engine, namely David Heinemann, an associate tutor for the British Film Institute. David provided some interesting commentary on the eleven short films screened, asking vital questions such as what does Machinima have on animation and film that necessitates its existence. Quite simply the answer is nothing. Machinima can never be as fluid or attractive as live-action film or high-budget animation. However some of these shorts showed that creative individuals who will never have a chance of having a script picked up by a Hollywood studio do have a place in the film industry and Machinima is the way they can achieve it. PAWN TRAILER showed how Machinima could be used to create trailers to help pitch projects to real studios; perhaps increasing said chances of being green-lit. MORNING RUN AMOK and SANTA CRUZ showed how impressive comedy could be achieved on a budget of nothing and a crew of under a dozen compared to the vast difficulties and costs that would be run up in live-action versions of each. Hugh Hancock, one of the pioneers of the genre, highlighted this point by listing all the complications with making MORNING RUN AMOK with real actors, declaring fundamentally it would never happen, if not for Machinima. If this is the case, thank goodness for Machinima.
Matt Waters, Festival Daily
Many film enthusiasts have never heard of, let alone seen a piece of Machinima. Some of those in attendance at this screening may not have either. One man in particular had definitely never seen a video created using a videogame engine, namely David Heinemann, an associate tutor for the British Film Institute. David provided some interesting commentary on the eleven short films screened, asking vital questions such as what does Machinima have on animation and film that necessitates its existence. Quite simply the answer is nothing. Machinima can never be as fluid or attractive as live-action film or high-budget animation. However some of these shorts showed that creative individuals who will never have a chance of having a script picked up by a Hollywood studio do have a place in the film industry and Machinima is the way they can achieve it. PAWN TRAILER showed how Machinima could be used to create trailers to help pitch projects to real studios; perhaps increasing said chances of being green-lit. MORNING RUN AMOK and SANTA CRUZ showed how impressive comedy could be achieved on a budget of nothing and a crew of under a dozen compared to the vast difficulties and costs that would be run up in live-action versions of each. Hugh Hancock, one of the pioneers of the genre, highlighted this point by listing all the complications with making MORNING RUN AMOK with real actors, declaring fundamentally it would never happen, if not for Machinima. If this is the case, thank goodness for Machinima.Matt Waters, Festival Daily
Film details
Machinima: Synthetic Cinema
GAME, SET AND MACHINIMA
UK, 2008.
90 mins. English.
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