A truly terrifying short for some, Horror is more like an absurd dream for others. The film is made by Yang Hyunjun, released 4 June 2023. Its creator showcases some incredible scene detail, especially at the beginning of the film, but thereafter, loses a little of the pathos and credibility in the storytelling.
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Show Notes & Links
Film, by Yang Hyunjun, released 4 June 2023
What do AI, 48 hours and Second Life have in common? Not a lot, beyond some stunningly creative pieces that we found for you this week!
AI films are now beginning to come through and we have two very interesting ones for you to take a look at. The first is created/prompted by Matt Mayle (our feature image for this post) and has been made using Elevenlabs (voice), Runwayml’s GEN2 (animation) and ChatGPT4 (text concept) and is described an ‘AI assisted short’, called The Mass (released 26 April) –
The second is called The Frost, by Waymark Creative Labs (released 5 June). This has a distinct aesthetic to it, encapsulates a curious message, and overall reflects the state of AI animation at this stage, but its nonetheless a gripping piece. Its been created with DALLE-2 and D-ID –
Our next pick was made in 48 hours (well, with a bit of tweaking on top) and has been made in Unreal Engine, called Dude Where’s My Ship by Megasteakman. To be frank, the speed of its creation does show in the final quality of film, but its nonetheless an interesting development, especially given that I was a regular judge on the 48 Hour Filmmaking Contest a few years ago. The machinima version of that contest was managed and supported by Chantal Harvey for several years and its astonishing to think that this is the next generation of that process –
Finally, this week, a film made in Second Life, which lends itself to flash production, based on content from a plethera of creators on whom its content relies. The film is called The Doll Maker (released 27 May) and has been made by FeorieFrimon using various models and Paragon Dance Animations movements to a Beats Antique music composition called Flip –
This week’s review is of a No Man’s Sky machinima called Origins, produced by Evil Dr.Porkchop. Its a beautiful cinematic travelogue showcasing the vast expansiveness that is No Man’s Sky – a game in which you will almost never have the same experience twice. Of course, Ricky wanted more drama and story but Phil nails it, reflecting on what might be possible if you could use No Man Sky’s environments with Eve Online’s space battles and Star Citizen’s avatars! Yeah… but that’s not this film!
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Show Notes & Links
Film, Origins by Evil Dr.Porkchop, released 30 November 2020 –
Music soundtrack by Confidential MX and full credits here –
This week, we share a selection of Blender projects we’ve seen about dragons, myths, dreams and soup making!
We start with a fascinating concept piece called Wayward Gods, featuring a mechanical worm/dragon-like creature tamed by an electric guitar and a character called Tetsugun, by Create! Nate! Create! (released 24 February) – the color contrast and the themes are spectacular –
A mythical tale from another dimension, Crest (released 30 May) by Zertox, also explores the relationship between humans and beasts, this time a strange flying dragon –
A film by nobodycaresaboutyou called Limits of Perception (released 11 May) is a magical take on a stream of consciousness shared with us as we watch. A grainy patina is applied to the images to create the sensation of daydreaming through this piece –
Finally, a film that was nominated for the 2023 FIN Kids Youth Film Competition and Best Director at the Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Fest. It was also a finalist at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival. The film is called The Soup (our feature image for this post), by John Torres3D, and focusses on the farming life of a robot waiting for vegetables to grow so it can make soup –
This week we feature two films by Chinese artist collective studio, Motzify Mohua. These two shorts, The Crown and Hunt, are made in Unreal Engine and show extraordinary qualities in very different ways: The Crown is a fairytale made originally for World Children’s Day and illustrates traditional cultural references with gorgeous imagery; Hunt is a cyberpunk anti-hero teaser. Our main ‘complaint’ is that we need more detail from the artists!
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
Films, The Crown, released on 1 June 2023
Hunt, released on 5 May 2023
Political references also in our film review E81 Still Here, also made in Unreal Engine
Don’t forget to check out Phil’s Machiniplex Remastered curated machinima site. One we mention in this episode that was particularly inspirational in the context of this week’s film reviews is Snow Witch (Britannica Dreams, released 2006), film link –
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