Celebrating our 100th episode on the CM podcast/YouTube show, we reflect on how far machinima has come and some of the recent trends we’ve observed in our film reviews.
YouTube Version of this Episode
Show Notes & Links
We list here a selection of the film review episodes we mention in our discussion during this episode.
Kicking off Season 4 of the podcast, we review a Monty Python inspired film, integrating one of their greatest films with Elden Ring – Holy Grail. The film has been made by The Escapist in collaboration with eli_handle_b.wav and is a brilliantly edited and composited mashup. It is also a very appropriate pick for this episode since Monty Python were the inspiration for this podcast in the first place, so we reflect in the show that we’ve now been working on this podcast longer than the original Star Trek series ran + another 20 years collaborating on top of that too!
We also discuss news items: the launch of Starfield; Nexus Mods; Unity’s faux pas with the community of creators; Ricky’s attempt to install an AMD 7800T graphics card; and, the Sims Machinima & Animation Convention.
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes and Links
Monty Python & the Elden Ring | Multiverse by The Escapist, released 8 August 2023
The Escapist is a website by gamers, for gamers, about gamers, releasing new videos every day at its website: http://www.escapistmagazine.com
A ‘how to’ using AI with largely free tools including Adobe Express to remove the background of images and put anything generated by AI back into the image, by Guy Parsons – https://twitter.com/GuyP/status/1704886297649631324
In this week’s episode, we discuss the phenomenal Backrooms meme that has emerged ever since @kanepixels original film (and the much awaited Netflix version was announced). We review three examples of the works being created, variously using levels of the rapidly evolving game: Chaos in the Hub by @BackroomsMerchant is probably the most close to the original horror vibe; Endless Escalators by @ReturnToRender is an example of great comedic timing; and Crab Rave – Backrooms Edition by @Madlykeanu is just pure fun, and an example of a meme upon a meme. As Phil suggests, however, has it gone too far, a la Poltergeist and Alien, and what does this astonishing level of response to the original film mean for the success of the Netflex release? We have mixed views and yet geniusly, somehow, Ricky manages to invoke Kafka into the discussion!
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes and Links
Film selection – Chaos in the Hub by Backrooms Merchant, released 1 August 2022 –
Endless Escalators, by Return to Render, released 24 October 2022 –
Crab Rave – Backrooms Edition by Madkeanu, released 2 June 2022 –
and here’s the meme this was based on too, Crab Rave by Noisestorm, 2015 –
And, our original review of The Backrooms, released on the channel in Feb –
This week Damien has picked two space exploration shorts for us to review: one is made in UE called Terra by @j.thomaswilson3543 and the other is an ED film called Into Black by @indigointoblack . The film sequencing of the craft in flight in Into Black shows the competence of the creator whereas the human element encapsulated by the robot in Terra is particularly engaging and adds a different dimension to the storytelling. We discuss the similarities and differences of these approaches to space operas in general, and also how it contrasts to the Pixar approach of building in cuteness and sentimentality. In the end, however, we agree (with the exception of Tracy’s perspective) that these are great cinematic examples of machinima… but maybe you settle on Tracy’s side of the discussion?
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes & Links
Films – Terra, by J Thomas Wilson, released 10 July 2020, is made in Unreal Engine –
and Into Black, by Indigo, released 19 August 2023, is made in Elite Dangerous –
We also mention to the release of Starfield, launched on 6 September 2023 – find it here on Steam.
This week we discuss one of the best HL2 films from the 2009 era – Shelf Life by Pixel Eyes Productions. The film, which is in two episodes, won a heap of creator awards back in the day and has definitely stood the test of time for us. There are some fun sci-fi and weird tropes integrated into the story, which we discuss, as well as the very well done sound design and original music. We’d love to see these guys pick this project back up, although of course, none of the issues they faced back then will be a problem now – just a whole set of new ones to overcome!
YouTube Version of This Episode
Show Notes and Links
Films
Chapter 1 Shelf Life: You Are What You Remember, by Pixel Eyes Productions, released 6 July 2009 –
and Chapter 2 Shelf Life: After the Scan –
Music video by Pixel Eyes to E V Kain’s Yes No Maybe, made in iClone –
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