red v blue

S5 E176 Red Faction Guerilla: Optimism Bias

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes April 2, 2025 Leave a reply

A viewer nominated series, this week’s ep is another great example of brilliant writing. Optimism Bias was directed by  @AndrewGoodKnight  and originally released in 2013 having been showcased at the Melbourne International Animation Festival  @melbourneinternationalanim3991  – its Australian comedy, deeply rooted in game lore, at its very best.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Optimism Bias by Andrew Knight of Recycled Media was released originally as a 20 minutes film for the Melbourne International Animation Festival in 2014, but later re-released as a series in 2015 on their youtube channel – episode 1 is here but do take the time to watch the whole series –

Interview with Andrew Knight

You can also check out the interview Tracy did with Andrew, released at the same time as our review. Audio version only of Tracy’s interview with Andrew –



YouTube version –

Courtesy (and copyright) of Andrew, here are a selection of shots from the making of Optimism Bias and the early days of machinima in Melbourne.

LAN party at Andrew’s place –

Creating the frame for the film –

Production challenges! Cooling off the kit –

Voice recording (dodgy looking tash there…) –

On the programme, Melbourne International Animation Festival 2014 –

The early days at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) circa 2004-5 with RoosterTeeth crew members Burnie Burns and Gus Sarola and Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences CEO Paul Marino, and friends –

S4 E144 Assault on 2Fort (Aug 2024)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 28, 2024 Leave a reply

This week we take a look at another stunning Team Fortress 2 short called Assault on 2Fort by JP Stevens aka Lolripk, a recommendation made to us by Dominzki (whose own TF2 short we reviewed in E135). What a great choice this is: we loved this film, a classic RED vs BLU tale but with a layer of emotion that is as beautifully portrayed as it is unexpected in SFM. These characters have real depth to them and we note how that’s been achieved, even though the focal character doesn’t even speak. Did we mention the fight choreography too? We reflect on the game lore, the significance of the community in the creative process, and how this story is told from an unusal perspective. We also reflect on why machinima series almost never complete… but we certainly hope Lolripk doesn’t follow the pattern!



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Assault on 2Fort by Lolripk, released 9 July 2022 –

Trailer for part 2 –

About the TF2 game lore, wiki link here