Matt’s Marvelous and Amazing Adventures on Terra Transcode

photo credit: Nicole Duplaix, National Geographic

When Moviestorm’s Matt ‘The Mongoose‘ Kelland agreed to curate ‘Game, Set, Machinima’ at the Cambridge Film Festival, he probably had no idea what he was getting himself into. True, he and FDMX’s Saint John Walker had to decide on how to organize the event, on what criteria to use for submissions, which films to accept, etc. But once all that was done, there was the hands-on practical matter of how to show dozens of videos to an audience seated in a movie theatre. Often when there is a presentation or discussion of machinima, the person or panels giving it simply hook up a laptop to an overhead projector. This event though - possibly the largest ever such presentation at a mainstream film fest - called for something a little more upscale. Read all about Matt’s transcoding adventures.

Moviestorm Sci-Fi Contest Winners

Short Fuze is delighted to announce the winners of Moviestorm’s SciFi Competition. The quality of entries was exceptional, and we’d like to thank everyone who submitted their film. The three winners really showcase just what Moviestorm is capable of creating. We’ll be showcasing a selection of the winning entries to the press and others attending our workshops at the 28th Annual Cambridge Film Festival. The overall winner will be showcased on the big screen at the on September 22nd at 2pm.

Best Clip (less than 3 minutes):
* Winner: Untitled : Prologue, directed by sjcgilbert
* Runner-up: Cut and Shut, directed by iceaxe

Best Short (3-10 minutes):
* Winner: Marillion - Whatever is Wrong With You, directed by BA
* Runner-up: Mistaken Identity, directed by iceaxe

Best Full-length (10-40 minutes):
* Winner: P7 From Outer Space, directed by Fulkster
* Runner-up: Nova Centuria, directed by rocuro

And the Overall Winner: (to be shown on the big screen at the Cambridge Film Festival on September 22nd at 2pm): Marillion - Whatever is Wrong With You, directed by BA

Please VOTE for Moviestorm on the BBC Site

So, as previously mentioned, BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones interviewed Short Fuze Co-Founder Matt Kelland in the Moviestorm offices. Everyone was finally able to get a half-way decent look of the workspace where the magic is made. Please VOTE for us.

Tech Tiger Moviestorm Enters the Dragons’ Den (video)

BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones interviews Short Fuze Co-Founder Matt Kelland in the Moviestorm offices.

Please vote for us.

ITV Local Anglia’s All Angles Interviews Matt Kelland and Saint John Walker about Machinima

ITV Local Anglia’s web-only entertainment show, All Angles, is covering the 28th Cambridge Film Festival. Especially notable this year is the inclusion of a Machinima track which is being curated by Matt Kelland, Short Fuze co-founder and Saint John Walker, FDMX co-ordinator. This is probably the largest ‘in-fest’ Machinima event ever at a mainstream festival (previous blog coverage: p1, p2.). Watch Matt Kelland and Saint John Walker ITV’s Jan Gilbert about Machinima.

CEO David Bailey Joins the Blogosphere

After many hints, and a lot of pointed suggestions, our CEO David Bailey has joined the ranks of bloggers! Check out his blog here.

New Moviestorm Site Features

The Moviestorm site now has some fantastic new video-related features. Movies uploaded by our users can be flagged, shared (on Facebook, Digg, delicious, StumbleUpon, etc) and embedded on other sites. Additionally, uploaded movies can now be rated (i.e. thumbs up). The movie comments system has been reworked to allow self-commenting, and multiple commenting. It is also now possible to view a list of movies entered into competitions on a corresponding competition page. Feedback on these new features is welcomed.

Game, Set and Machinima at the Cambridge Film Festival, part 2

Matt Kelland has published the final list of Machinima films to be screened at the Cambridge Film Festival, and a number of the directors used Moviestorm to create their films, including: “Apology”, “When We Two Parted”, “Morning Run Amok”, “Santa Cruz: The Previous Generation”, and “Voices”, as well as Short Fuze’s own production, “No License”.

Synthetic Cinema (Sunday 21 September, 2:00PM)

• Apology - Phil Rice
• Pawn Trailer - V.W. Scheich
• Monad - Sam Goldwater
• Beast - Leo Lucien-Bay
• Melon 3 - Lit Fuse
• When We Two Parted - Hugh Hancock
• Looking Back - Tony Bannan
• In the Nick of Time - Meowan
• Morning Run Amok - Frank L. Fox
• Santa Cruz: the Previous Generation - Geiiga
• Before & After - Forsberg & Co
• Right Guard - Eric Kmetz

Dreams and Shadows (Sunday 21 September, 6:00PM)

• Folie a Deux - Tony Bannan
• Wizard of OS - Tom Jantol
• Voices - Pineapple Pictures
• Radiohead: Bodysnatchers - Phil Rice
• Clockwork: Harrison Heller
• July Snow: Kurt Brabbee
• Among Fables & Men - Tobias Lundmark
• The Dumb Man - Lainy Voom
• Black Swan - Lainy Voom
• Venison Curry - Deus Ex Machinima
• The Days After - Apollo Productions
• The Journey - Friedrich Kirschner
• Jill's Song - Lit Fuse
• Desassessogo - Claus-Dieter Schulz

Zero Budget, Big Audience (Monday 22 September, 2:00PM)

• The Snow Witch - Britannica Dreams
• Illegal Danish: Escape from Orgrimmar - Myndflame
• Red vs Blue - Rooster Teeth
• No License - Short Fuze
• Beast - Leo Lucien-Bay
• Edge of Remorse - Jason Choi
• Male Restroom Etiquette - Phil Rice
• Plus the winner of the Short Fuze SF competition

Play’s the Thing: Machinima in the Gameworld (Monday 22 September, 6:00PM)

• Freeman's Mind - Ross Scott
• Civil Protection - Ross Scott
• HL2 Nightmare - Xanatos
• CSI: Virtual New York - ILL Clan
• Melon 3 - Lit Fuze
• Sucker - Nitwacket
• Life on Life - Sterling Wright
• Snacky's Journal Ep 3 - Stone Falcon
• The Passion of the McCain - uumachinima
• Real Heroes of Half-Life 2 - Half a Beer

Game, Set and Machinima at the Cambridge Film Festival, part 1

Short Fuze’s Matt Kelland and FDMX’s Saint John Walker have partnered to curate “Game, Set and Machinima” at this years Cambridge Film Festival (festival program).

PANEL - Screen Stories: Narrative in Games and Film (23 September 16:00 @ Arts Picturehouse)

“We tell ourselves stories in order to live” Joan Didion. Narrative in games has become more sophisticated thanks to photo-real graphics, surround-sound audio, larger screens and professional scriptwriters, but how does the experience of gaming on the latest consoles compare to storytelling on the big screen? Is the car chase in Bullitt better than running from the cops on GTA IV? Is the obelisk in 2001 more awe-inspiring than the Halo? And whose zombies would you rather have chasing you – George Romero’s or the ones in Dead Rising on the Xbox 360? Join technology writer Bill Thompson and a panel of industry experts to debate the future of narrative, with a batch of illustrative ?lm clips, live gameplay and Machinima extracts.

The screenings will be divided into four unique tracks:

“Synthetic Cinema” will focus on films that replicate traditional cinematic genres (90 mins. English. 21 September 14:00 @ Arts Picturehouse.)

Machinima, borne out of games, has started a love affair with film. Although lacking the detail, dynamic range and sumptuousness of film stock, “machinimators” have made up for this with their flair for precision editing and cinematic composition, creating mood and suspense with big screen ambitions. In this session you’ll find a gamut of current film genres transported into the virtual world, from the romantic and mawkish through to the humourous and the horrific. However, these aren’t mere fan homages – these are engaging stories in their own right. As well as a screening of acclaimed films there will be a panel including Hugh Hancock, creator of the first Machinima feature film, and David Heinemann, associate film tutor of the BFI, discussing where cinematic Machinima is going and whether it will find acceptance in the wider film world – or even change it!

“Dreams and Shadows” will cover darker, more experimental pieces (90 mins. English.)

Machinimators are not bound by the resources or rendering time constraints animators commonly endure to achieve their vision. The ability to change images rapidly in 3D space has led to an avalanche of playful experimentation – often with evocative or surreal results. There’s a feeling that since there are few ground rules in this new media, there’s plenty of room to try out new ideas, to bend and disrupt narrative, to explore different kinds of colourful abstraction. Here we see a collection of the more experimental, fantastic and occasionally dark visions conjured up in Machinima, from the exquisite Second Life-created mindscape of Lainy Voom’s BLACK SWAN to the paintbox craziness of Phil Rice’s BODYSNATCHERS Radiohead video – and the feverish nightmare of Tony Bannan’s FOLIE A DEUX.

“Play’s the Thing” will be centred on machinima’s gaming roots (90 mins. English.)

Games are now mainstream and the games industry outstrips film and TV in terms of size; more people play World of Warcraft on any given day than see a new blockbuster film on its first weekend, and recently Grand Theft Auto 4 was reportedly the highest grossing media product of all time. Machinima has its roots in the twilight worlds of “modding” and tinkering with games engines. Here we explore the weird world of homages, satires and wry social commentary made by hijacking games characters and environments. See familiar characters from Halo, Sims, Half-Life, Grand Theft Auto and even Hillary Clinton(!) migrate to the big screen to entertain you, crossing from high-octane game into drama, comedy, or even soap opera genres. A leading Games expert will be on hand to explain to the uninitiated just exactly how and why it’s done.

“Zero Budget, Big Audience” will feature films that have been viral Internet hits (90 mins. English. 22 September 14:00 @ Arts Picturehouse.)

Making a Machinima movie on zero budget doesn’t mean that you can’t reach as many people as a TV channel. Come and see the most successful Machinima movies ever made, and listen to leading personalities from the world of amateur Machinima explain how YOU can reach a million people with a single home-produced Machinima movie. See great Machinima examples and hear how the creators got the publicity, and built on their success. Our panelists will be kept in check by chairperson David Bailey, CEO of Moviestorm. If you aspire to making your own movies and clocking up a million hits, this session’s for you!

There will be a panel including Hugh Hancock, creator of the first Machinima feature film (BloodSpell), and
David Heinemann, associate film tutor of the BFI, discussing where cinematic Machinima is going and whether it will find acceptance in the wider film world – or even change it!

Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram, co-authors of Machinima for Dummies, will also present hands-on workshops - “Make a Movie in your Lunchbreak” - where participants (suitable for ages 13 and over) will be able to make a complete 3D animated movie in one hour. All software will be provided, no knowledge of 3D modelling or animation is required. Everyone will leave with a free digital movie-making. Pre-booking through the Arts Picturehouse is essential. Check this page for times/dates.

Short Fuze Attends NMBX08

Short Fuze, creators of Moviestorm, are proud to announce their participation in nmbx08, an exclusive 2-day (September 10th & 11th) event offered by Turner Broadcasting and UK Trade & Investment to the Time Warner family. Short Fuze has been invited to present Moviestorm, and in doing so, will be able to demonstrate that ANYONE can make a great movie and put it up on online.