In this episode, we review one of the first avant garde machinima pieces created by the community. The film is called 9, by German machinimator Claus-Dieter Schulz, has been restored by Phil and is re-presented on his Machiniplex Remastered channel. It is a notable example of modernist cinema which moves towards abstraction and it is clear to see that Claus-Dieter was inspired by the likes of Oskar Fischinger, Hans Richter and Stan Brakhage. There were very few in the early days of machinima that turned in this creative direction, where most creators were instead inspired to devise original stories inspired by popular films, TV series, commercials and products, so our discussion reflects on this point as well as the early reactions to the work we recall.
In this episode, Phil introduces the Machiniplex [Remastered] Collection, a curated selection of machinimas from the early years. Machiniplex was a site created to host classic machinimas at the point that Machinima [dot] com began to assert its energies over the community as a corporate entity. The site was a community endeavour, with both Ricky and Phil playing a pivitol role in managing the project to preserve the original content the community had contributed to the early original Machinima website… until such time as it ran its course. In this ep, Phil and Ricky reminisce about the origins of Machiniplex and its contributors.
To celebrate the release of the curated collection, we have each selected a film we recall with particular fondness and discuss its significance. Phil has remastered each of the films using AI, not always a perfect process, so we also discuss his approach and techniques in bringing the original works up to 4K standard.
We encourage machinima fans everywhere to check out these films, not only were they brilliant in their day but in terms of storytelling, remain some of our favourite creative works against which we often draw comparisons when reviewing latest films.
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
Blahbalicious by Wendigo and Avatar, 1997 –
BOT by Digital Yoke, 2005? –
Edge of Remorse by Riot Films, 2006 –
The Snow Witch by Britannica Dreams, 2006 –
Phil’s trailer for the Machiniplex [Remastered] Channel –
Go to the Machiniplex [Remastered] Collection on Phil’s Vimeo channel here – website https://bit.ly/machiniplex or access the playlist here –
In this ep, Phil leads the discussion about one of the most *disturbing films we’ve ever seen, called 917 by Krad Productions, released 30 Oct (spoiler alert: Phil designed the soundscape for it). It is disturbing that there’s a true back story to the film, which is explained – and having watched the film, we couldn’t really think of another adjective that summed it up better. Yep, its disturbing… and we are definitely none the wiser about the truth of 917, that maddening frequency that sends you off into a twirling spiral of err…… All theories welcome!
*Disturbing=anxiety inducing, worrying, upsetting; mental illness such as depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, addictive behaviors.
Youtube Version of this Episode
Film Link
Film has been made in Reallusion’s iClone 7.
Top Shorts Film Festival hosts a monthly contest for films such as machinima and virtual production, website here.
If you are trying to help someone with mental health issues such as schizophrenia, we recommend this website for advice, Mind.org (UK based) or any other local organization that specialises in appropriate support.
Credits Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine Producer: Phil Rice Editor: Ricky Grove Edited in CreateStudio Pro. Music is from their licensed collection.
In this episode, Ben reviews the notable machinima films made in the early years of the Quake II engine, including skits, a talk show, music videos and some hard hitting documentaries. This ep also reviews the first real-time live performance of a machinima by The ILL Clan at the Florida Film Festival (2003), which was based on their earlier created characters of Cook Carl and Lenny & Larry Lumberjack.
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
0:36 Hardly Workin’ by The ILL Clan, released 22 August 2000
Ben reviews some of the major happenings during the month of January in the early days of machinima. Starting with 1997 there’s Operation Bay-Shield. 1998 has the First Quake 2 movie – The Mad Bomber. Rematic, a machinima tool by Anthony Bailey is released in 1999. Also in this year Phil Rice released his notable film, Father Frags Best – a machinima classic. 2000 sees Machinima.com founded and Quad God film was released along with several other notable films. 2002 saw the Reel-Time Challenge contest along with Psyk’s Popcorn Jungle retiring (a big machinima review site). 2003 Anachronox the Movie Part 1 was released. 2004 Red vs Blue second season launched. In 2005 the first noveletta about machinima was written by Mike Hoefflinger called Moving Pictures. In 2006, Hugh Hancock, founder of Machinima.com stepped away from the site to focus on his filmmaking.
Rebel Vs Thug (2003) by Ken “3DFilmmaker” Thain – a commercial project with Public Enemy’s Chuck D side project
The Gamer’s Benchmark (2003) by Futuremark released a teaser movies for 3DMark03 – the link is to the full movie after release
Bang the Machine: Computer Gaming Art and Artifacts (17 Jan to 4 April 2004) and The Game Scenes exhibition was created by Stanford Humanities Laboratory and the Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University presented on ‘the pervasive influence of computer game culture’, curated by Galen Davis and Henry Lowood.
Lenny and Larry Lumberjack (2004) by The ILL Clan – a video of excerpts from their premiere performance of On The Campaign Trail at Void in New York City
“Moving Pictures” (2005), a novelette by Mike Hoefflinger, published by Packet Switched Press – the novel is about a group of people who start their own machinima production with the desire to make it to the big time!
I Surrender (2005) by Tristan Pope is mentioned on Blizzard’s World of Warcraft main website page
The Los Angeles Machinima Collective (LAMC) announces their first machinima production William Shakespear’s Mechbeth – the film was never produced! Ricky was here?!
Ricky Was Here!
Epic Games’ winners of the Grand Finals of the Make Something Unreal Contest (MSUC) for the Non-Interactive Movie Category 2005 –
– The Journey, 1st Place ($25,000)
– Bot, 2nd Place ($15,000)
– Sparked Memory, 3rd Place ($5,000)
– Scrap, 4th Place ($3,000)
– Damnation, 5th Place ($1,500)
Adventures in Dating, first episode (PG13 series) entitled Frustration (2005) by Decorgal
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