This week’s review is of a self-contained excerpt from a larger film, called Escape Game by @CrisUberman. This part of the film is the final chapter of the story, Danser Encore, voiced by @lionelmazari1990 with a song by @hksaltimbank. We delve into the inspiration for the themes in the film, which draws on the philosophy of Empedocles and Rosset, although we perhaps lower the tone a little with reference to Oscar Wilde!
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Excerpt of full film, Danser Encore by Cris Uberman –
Full film, released 28 Nov 2023, featuring Louis Fouche –
This week, we discuss the critical turn we witnessed in 2023 towards machinima among creative industries professionals. We highlight why it is high time there is a major rethink on the role of indie creatives and fan fiction in general. We also review a beautiful cinematic made in GTA5, and also reflect on some of the challenges with a particular camera technique.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
European Film Awards, Best Short – Hardly Working, a machinima made in RDR2 by Austrian collective Total Refusal. Announcement of winner here and link to Milan Machinima Film Festival’s earlier presentation of their work here. Many congratulations to Total Refusal on this landmark achievement!
Back story notes links –
Sam Crane’s Stage award for his live production of Hamlet in GTA5
Tracy’s review of Oberhausen International Film Festival and links to our discussion –
and interview with the curators at Oberhausen –
Warhammer 40K partnering with Amazon for new shows and movies, with Amazon being given ‘exclusive rights to make content’ based on the Games Workshop brand. Announcement on the BBC news website here and the Games Workshop website here.
Lord of the Rings legal case between a fan book writer, their publisher vs Amazon and Tolkein’s estate – announcement on the BBC news website here and further details of the copyright infringement case here.
Cyberpunk Ultimate Edition Official Booklet – link here.
John MacInnes also recently released an overview of the legal issues, similarities and differences between realtime creative works and film production which you’ll find a very useful summary –
Damien’s film pick for this week –
Cinematic experience – GTA V Machinima by Syed, released 10 Nov 2023
In this episode, we focus our discussion on Facing the Wolf, a series of films by Iain Douglas and Mark Coverdale, submitted to the Milan Machinima Film Festival 2022. The film presents a series of provocative ideas which provoke Ricky, Phil, Tracy and Damien to have a deep discussion on the role of information, ambiguity and audience investment. What are your thoughts on the film series?
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes and Links
Facing the Wolf, by Iain Douglas and Mark Coverdale, released 2021
1:35 Interview with Matteo Bittanti, Milan Machinima Film Festival
5:00 Ricky poses an interesting question: is machinima an animation style or a form of art that ideas can dominate, as opposed to feelings?
27:56 Discussion: for idea films, do you have to have more information than the film provides to appreciate the work? What is the role of ambiguity in filmmaking? How much time should audience invest in understanding a film?
In this month’s interview, Tracy talks with British media artist, David Blandy, whose film How to Fly was reviewed by the Completely Machinima podcast team in the June 2022 films episode of the show. David shares his love and passion for games as both forms of entertainment and tools for his creative practice, having grown up with them to the point when the choice to include games in his work became obvious. David tells us about why he chose the cormorant in How to Fly and what he really thinks about YouTube, TikTok and the future of machinima. His reflection on his creative practice makes for fascinating listening.
This month, Damien leads the discussion on another fabulous film selection by the Completely Machinima podcast team… Phil’s Stalker fan film by Sodaz is dark and disturbing; Tracy’s music vid picks are light and airy; Ricky’s is far from bland and Damien’s is a moving affair too! The team also discuss approaches to promoting a film once it’s been made, thanks to a question raised by show follower, Mike Clements.
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