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.

Dragon*Con Festival Machinima

The 2008 second annual machinima segment of the Dragon*Con Film Festival was a rousing success! Besides the hour-long panel with Matt Kelland of Short Fuze/Moviestorm and Clint Hacklemand of Myndflame, over four hours of machinima videos from almost every genre were screened to appreciative audiences. There was also an award for Best Machinima. Check the entries, finalists and winner here (viewing links included).

Short Fuze is Hiring

Moviestorm is experiencing rapid growth in a market that has the potential to grow explosively over the next two years and we’re taking on new staff to continue to expand our team. We’re looking for talented individuals in a number of roles.

If you have a pro-active attitude and are willing to roll your sleeves up you could be just who we need at our Cambridge, UK base. We welcome people from a variety of professional backgrounds, including traditional software engineering, games, film, television, or other creative industries.

Check out our current vacancies.

Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival

Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US. It will be held on the Labor Day weekend (September 4 - September 7, 2009) in Atlanta, GA.

The Dragon*Con Independent Film Festival is a combination of film oriented panels, celebrity guests, new and classic independent feature and short film screenings, discussions, and a short film competition. It will run 4 days, Aug. 29 - Sep. 1, within Dragon*Con.

For the second time, there will be a Machinima Segment, and Matt Kelland of Short Fuze / Moviestorm will be attending as a guest speaker, along with Clint Hacklemand of Myndflame[/url].

Moviestorm is a Hot UK Web Company

Of course, we knew that (all the awards, and our users telling us…), but it's nice that others think so too!

US Elections 2008, part 1

Sales on Content Add-on Packs

Domestic Drama Bundle
Includes Domestic Drama Lounges and Domestic Drama Bedrooms
Total download size: 80.6 MB
Price: £15.99
- Domestic Drama Lounges contains contemporary interiors and animations for modern living.
- Domestic Drama Bedrooms contains a selection of contemporary bedroom furniture, plus a host of new gestures and behaviours.

Music Video Bundle
Includes Rock and Indie Music Video and R&B and Dance Music Video and Storm - Guitar Legend
Total download size: 70.3 MB
Price: £15.99
- R&B and Dance Music Video provides a range of costumes, props, instruments and other assets with pop, dance and R&B flavours.
- Rock and Indie Music Video contains indie and rock musicians, instruments, performance animations and stage lights.
- Storm - Guitar LegendLook out Jimmy Page, stand aside Slash, there’s a new guitar hero in town.

Moviestorm’s Got Talent Bundle
Includes Open Mic and Song Contest
Total download size: 32.2 MB
Price: £7.99
- Open Mic: Three men walk into a punchline…
- Song Contest: “Put the kettle on, Mother - it’s going to be a long night.”

Wardrobe Bundle
Includes Wardrobe 1 and Wardrobe 2
Total download size: 77.7 MB
Price: £15.99
- Wardrobe 1: Run wild in your very own Wardrobe Department.
- Wardrobe 2: Dress your actors to the nines. And the nine-one-ones.

Content Pack Price Rises

As many Moviestormers have noticed, the latest version of the product, includes content packs that have been increased in price. Sadly, escalating costs in all areas have made this inevitable.

It was an oversight on our part not to communicate this to you in advance, so we hold our hands up on that one.

We do believe that Moviestorm content packs represent excellent value for money and look forward to viewing the movies you create, with interest.

Your feedback is as always, much appreciated.

Regards

John O’Boyle
Chief Sales & Marketing Officer

MachinExpo Call for Entries

The International Machinima Expo (MachinExpo) is now accepting submissions for its 1st annual showcase which will feature the best work by emerging and established machinima directors. Part of Festival Arcadia in Montreal, Quebec, the event takes place from November 7-9, 2008 at Place Bonaventure in downtown Montreal before an audience expected to exceed 20,000.

Sponsored in part by Machiniplex.com, the expo is organized by Ingrid Moon of The Machinima Roadshow as well as three other veteran machinima producers: Ricky Grove, Damien Valentine, and Phil Rice.

MachinExpo will feature workshops, panel discussions, live film premieres, and several hours of screening of machinima films from all around the world. A jury of professionals from the entertainment and video game industries will select five (5) films for a Jury Prize, with a special 6th film awarded a Special Jury Prize honoring one exceptional Canadian machinima film. There are no category / genre restrictions on submissions, and there is no entry fee. Deadline for submissions is October 6, 2008.

For more information, including submission guidelines and instructions, please visit www.machinima-expo.com, or contact (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).