All Aboard the Machinima Train!

Haven't posted in quite a while so a lot has happened, not just in the production of Bouncers, but also in Machinima. I've often wondered, what really shapes Machinima? The films themselves, or the way Machinima on the whole is presented to the outside world by websites and the press?

The obvious answer would be the films. But there are so many films and nobody (nobody!) has seen them all. In fact most people have only seen a small number if any, which is where the sites and press come in; Summary presentation to make up for (or possibly contribute to) our collective Machinima unconcious. As individuals Machinima is something we can't directly control which is why the recent events at Machinima.com seem very hectic. For those who don't know, Machinima.com is actively under new management and has new plans for the site, which will in turn affect the community. Some people have been very disturbed by this.

I think to date I've always made the mistake of thinking that Machinima.com is the main site for Machinima, a site that was genuinely recognised by all as Mecca of the art and best place to be. However, if you take a look at Sims99.com, WorldofWarcraft movies, and possibly other sites there are MANY Machinima fans who seem to have no interest in general Machinima, and just want to see more of their game of choice. When I see the activity in the Machinima.com forums compared to those of specific games, it would seem that Machinima all-rounders, people who like 'the art' it it's various states, are actually in the minority.
It's led me to question how much the conversations, and theorising, and arguing done at Machinima.com actually contributes to the art across the board.
In many ways it annoys me how much power the few 'summary presenters' actually have to shape the image of Machinima, something that applies to anything with media representation. It just gives me the feeling that it's all out of our control, and that despite the desire that some of us have to shape, or maybe steer Machinima in a positive direction, the power lies elsewhere. "Welcome to democracy", some people would say. We are but passangers on the train, left to observe and get off when we no longer like the view.
Oh well.


Work on the production side has been interesting. Gaming News with lady Mainframe was only meant as a one-off experiment, but it looks like it'll be getting a sixth issue now. Bouncers production is going OK. I've been wrting another 12 chapters, and I have 3 more to go. It's taking me longer to finish than I would like, but it's worth it as always. In the second episode (from chapter 9 onward) The bouncers fill their super hero/villain shoes much better now that their 'destinies' are clrearer.
As usual getting publicity for a series not set in a particular game leaves us with no shortage of extra work, but I think it's slowly getting better. Once we complete the first ep, we can start carrying out the big plans.

I've recently started putting together estimates for how much Bouncers would cost if it was a funded project. It's a big figure I'll say that much. But still ridiculously smaller than more established forms of animation.
Next post I'll hopefully have some production shots to show.

Bouncer: "Looks like we're gonna have to harass the homeless another day".

tag: machinima