What happens when real-time graphics stop trying to impress technically and start feeling like cinema? In this episode of And Now For Something Completely Machinima, Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood and Damien Valentine explore “Nine” (IX) by Moppi Productions – a landmark 2003 demoscene work that bridges machinima, digital art and real-time filmmaking.
In this episode –
Why Nine is a landmark demoscene production
The difference between machinima and demos
The tension between technical mastery and artistic expression
What happens when a Twitch streamer can’t talk about a game because of an NDA… so they recreate the experience inside another MMO instead?
In this episode of Now For Something Completely Machinima, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine unpack a bizarre, brilliant, and surprisingly cinematic machinima created in Final Fantasy XIV that channels the mood of Dune, social media culture, and fan-driven storytelling.
From desert sandworms to a surprise Harkonnen rap battle, this piece blends machinima, AI-assisted music, fan cinema, and musical narrative into something that feels less like gameplay and more like a cinematic essay.
🔍 What we explore in this episode:
How machinima is evolving through virtual production & MMO worlds
The creative workaround of NDA restrictions through in-game storytelling
AI tools in content creation (music, editing, lip sync & workflow)
Social media satire: rap battles vs Instagram warfare
In Episode 217 of And Now for Something Completely Machinima, we explore “Ersatz” a haunting new solo animated film by Saint Greaver created in Blender’s Eevee engine.
Set within a surreal World War I–inspired landscape, the film blends virtual production techniques with painterly concept art aesthetics to create a disturbing, dreamlike vision of war, identity, and memory. The discussion unpacks the film’s themes of replaceability, dehumanization, and institutional machinery, where bodies are interchangeable and suffering becomes routine.
Drawing on cultural memory, surrealist art traditions, and early industrial warfare imagery, the episode examines how the film communicates trauma and systemic violence without explicit politics or historical specificity.
Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, and Damien Valentine also highlight the production craft behind the film — from its stylized rendering and stop-motion-like animation feel to its exceptional voice performances and unsettling sound design. The hosts reflect on the emotional weight of the work, its historical echoes, and why its bleak, surreal horror feels both timeless and urgently relevant. A challenging but powerful viewing experience, Ersatz stands out as an important piece of animated storytelling that pushes machinima and virtual filmmaking into deeply thought-provoking territory.
Audio Only Version of this Episode
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
ERSATZ | PILOT by Saint Greaver, released 10 Jan 2026
Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen, who died one week before the Armistice in WW1, is worth reading. Link here.
In this episode of Completely Machinima, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood, and Phil Rice unpack the biggest talking points at the intersection of machinima, AI, and creator rights.
We start with a quick birthday nod to id Software’s 35th anniversary—a foundational influence on game culture and the machinima scene—before diving into the headline debate: the Disney + OpenAI partnership. Tracy breaks down why Disney choosing licensing over litigation is a major signal for how entertainment giants may handle AI training and generation going forward—raising questions around copyright, compensation, and control. The team explores the ripple effects for fan creators: what stays “safe-ish,” what gets riskier when monetization enters the picture, and why platform policy enforcement (YouTube, TikTok, Steam Workshop) may tighten even before the law catches up.
From there, the conversation shifts to practical creator tech: new tools for posing and animation reference, the evolving state of video mocap (including clever ways to capture motion from existing footage), and the emerging frontier of text-to-motion generation. Finally, Phil highlights a standout release for creators: Hytale, a Minecraft-style sandbox game with built-in machinima tools (scriptable cameras, keyframe animation, and more) that could open up huge possibilities for in-engine filmmaking. Damien also points to Surviving Mars as another surprisingly useful source of cinematic footage thanks to its photo mode and camera controls.
The episode closes with two community spotlights: a playlist celebrating machinima creator Frank Fox, and a recommendation for the latest Biggs Trek chapter in the Forbidden Planet series.
BiggsTrek Ep 2! Forbidden Planet – Children Of The Krell (Chapter Two) –
HAELE 3D – Portrait Studio Pro is 3D facial anatomy drawing reference tool for beginner and advanced artists, with various characters, proportions, expressions lights and environments. HAELE 3D – Portrait Studio Pro – Drawing References
It is an easy to use app to complement tutorials, for those who are learning how to draw faces and heads.
In this episode of And Now for Something Completely Machinima, the team dives deep into the chilling Blender short I Made a Self-Aware Robot by the enigmatic creator Lights Are Off @LIGHTSAREOFF
Tracy brings the film to the table, praising its haunting realism, uncanny robot design, and smart use of found-footage aesthetics. What begins as a seemingly grounded “scientist vlog” quickly spirals into a modern Frankenstein story—raising powerful questions about consciousness, ethics, and the dangers of unchecked technological ambition.
Damien highlights how the home-built lab setting makes the horror feel disturbingly close to reality, while Phil marvels at the stunning Blender craftsmanship—from hyper-realistic lighting to meticulous set dressing and believable mechanical detail. The group also unpacks the film’s clever use of cameras, surveillance, and direct eye contact to unsettle the viewer.
While everyone agrees the short is visually brilliant and deeply atmospheric, Ricky and Phil note that the story follows familiar sci-fi tropes—leaving them wishing for a bigger twist. Still, with millions of views and a sequel already out, it’s clear this series has struck a nerve with audiences. Packed with insights on machinima, virtual filmmaking, sound design, horror storytelling, and the ethics of AI and robotics, this episode is a must-watch for creators, filmmakers, and sci-fi fans alike.
Audio only version of this Episode
YouTube version of this Episode
Show Notes and Links
Film: I made a Self Aware Robot by Lights Are Off, released 18 October 2025
Check out The Senster, created by artist Edward Ihnatowicz, archival notes and footage here –
The original creator notes for The Senster are help in a special collections archive at De Montfort University (Leicester, UK) – you can access these only in person at the moment. Here’s a link to the file notes about the archive.
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