Podcast Episodes

S3 E77 Film Review: Sandstorm (May 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes May 17, 2023 Leave a reply

Made in the still developing game Star Citizen, this week’s film is a large-scale production showing 97 players creating a complex battle scene. The film is called Sandstorm by Wailander. In this episode of the podcast, Ricky, Phil and Damien discuss the extent to which machinima is about showing off the game vs telling a story, what the role of the director is in game-based machinima productions and, of course, take a deep dive into the history of machinima in the process. They also reflect on just how wealthy (with in-game currency) the creators of this work actually have to be!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Film by Wailander, released 13 May 2022 –

The Wilhelm Scream – link includes a sound sample.

Follow the development of Star Citizen on Roberts Space Industries’ (developer) website here.

S3 E76 Film Review: After War (May 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes May 4, 2023 Leave a reply

This week, Ricky, Phil and Damien begin with an brief discussion of the roles AI is being used for to restore old machinimas, and in particular the very exciting upcoming release Phil will be doing of old Machiniplex films – more on that in due course!

The film discussion centres on After War by RG Studios and their approach to telling a story without moving a camera in the Half Life 2 world.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Hitpaw video enhancer AI, subscription information here

Machiniplex, no longer exists as a platform/website, but the link on the archive is here for the moment!

This week’s film by RG Studios, released on 3 March 2023 –

S3 E75 Film Review: Patient Zero – A Half Life Short (Apr 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes April 26, 2023 Leave a reply

Recently, we’ve seen some really great HL2 shorts, and this week we have an excellent one for you – Patient Zero is by TheParryGod aka Richard Makk, released in Feb. This is so well done you can cut the atmosphere with a butter knife, the choreography between the actors is brilliant and there are even some gratuitous small animal shots to boot. Hear us discuss the details and check out the film following the links below.



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

Patient Zero – A Half Life Short, by TheParryGod aka Richard Makk, released 22 Feb 2023 –

Link to TheParryGod’s Flickr account here.

S3 E74 Film Reviews: iClone Short & Machinima Final (Apr 2023)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes April 22, 2023 Leave a reply

This week’s film selection comprises 2 shorts, both untitled but actually worlds apart in their development. Its not often we get to comment on a first ever machinima project as the framing for a creative idea but our first film is just that, by Sydney Walker and made in an environment we have never seen used for machinima before, Final Fantasy 14. Our second film is a psychological thriller, drawing us in from a the whole world of familiar cinematic language in a way that we struggled with in the Astartes Project. BUT, the title needs work because “iClone shorts” just doesn’t cut it for us… over to Just Art Animation Studios!



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

MachinimaFinal by Sydney Walker, released 10 Feb 2023 –

iClone Short by Just Art Animation, released 25 Feb 2023 –

and BennyDee/Benjamin Dazhi YouTube channel here –