Second Life Spielbergs – Machinima Movie Masterworks

I am an award-winning filmmaker – in my head. I dream of complex and heart wrenching plot lines that make “Doctor Zhivago” look like Dr. Suess. The sweeping cinemagraphic scenes in my head make “Moby Dick” look like that 8mm film granddaddy always showed of his deep sea fishing trip with Uncle Ray. Only minor details kept me from an inevitable Oscar – cameras, lighting, sets, and, oh yeah, actors. As an undergraduate, I made a couple of films (be sure to check out my public health thriller “Scoliosis: Scourge of our Youth” on NetFlix). It was frustrating. The technology and logistics kept getting in the way of a good story. So I gave it up.

But lately I have been watching a technique that could rescue my filmmaking career. OK, that is far-fetched. But I do think this approach could give us an inexpensive and easier way to help students learn about creating visual stories. It is machinima.

Technically, machinima is “machine cinema” but that only scratches the surface. Machinima really got started with videogames. First person shooter videogames built in the capability to digitally record on-screen play. Mainly users created “frag videos” of them killing a competitor. Soon, creative players began to use this capability to create narrative sequences that they later dubbed dialog onto. The first machinima I saw was “Red vs. Blue” (http://tinyurl.com/2xoplm – watch out for bad language). It created characters from Halo warriors to make short hilarious videos. RvB was an interesting idea, but it didn’t cry out to my inner auteur. Things changed when I was introduced to Molotov Alvo.

I met Douglas Gayeton in Chicago at the Second Life Community Conference in August. He was showing off his new machinima creation “My SecondLife: The Diaries of Molotov Alva” (http://www.molotovalva.com/). He produced the entire series in Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com), the largest virtual world. He created the characters, sets, props and much of the sound using free tools available in Second Life. He moved his avatar around on the screen through the sets and interacting with the props while doing a screen motion capture (it is just a button click in the Second Life browser) to create his raw footage. Then he edited the footage together and overlaid a sound track. The result is a mesmerizing video piece. And Gayeton never moved from the keyboard to create it. You have to see it. If the approach sounds a little too amateurish, here is the market validation. HBO has just purchased seven episodes (all 35 minutes worth) of Molotov Alva to air on its TV network.

Why is this important? If you watch Molotov Alva, you quickly realize that it isn’t the technique that reels you in – it is the story. That is what we have always told students. Don’t focus on the camera, focus on the story. That is why I think machinima holds tremendous promise as a teaching tool. Imagine what a production class would be like if we stopped messing with the cameras and engaged students immediately in exploring the visuals. Instead of storyboards, students could quickly create animated versions of their proposed videos. We could create sets and props that students can drag and drop – the Eiffel Tower becomes New York with a click. And if the lighting isn’t right, don’t adjust a light – move the sun!

We are so into this approach that we will be creating a machinima studio on the fourth floor of UGA’s Journalism building. OK, that sounds like a pretty grandiose title for a room with a bunch of computers and a sound-proof booth. But watch for the cool things that will come out of it. And if you have an idea for how to use machinima, let me know. I can have my people talk to your people. We’ll do lunch.

This DBB (Tu. 9/25, 12:30P) Social Networking – Kaye Sweetser

Social networking is all the rage, right? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogs. But what is it really good for and how can people use it best. Our guest for this week’s Digital Brown Bag (Tu, 9/25, 12:30 – 1:20P, NMI, 4th floor Journalism) is Kaye Sweetser, a public relations professor in the Grady College. She has conducted research on how organizations use technology in PR campaigns and this semester she is teaching a class on social networking. She is going to give us the skinny on what this technology can do for organizations. Join us.

NMI’s Facebook Group – Meredith McDonald

OK, speaking of social networking, the New Media Institute is finally getting around to building a network of our alums. We have created an exclusive Facebook group only for UGA new media alum. Meredith McDonald (just named the NMI’s Social Networking Coordinator) will be building this group. To qualify for this group you have to have taken at least one class from Dr. Shamp or a new media institute instructor and have moved on to post-college experiences. And you have to be invited to join the group. So if you are interested in joining, contact Meredith McDonald at mere.mcdonald@gmail.com and she will give you the hook-up. I think this group will be a great way for us to connect up and keep up with old friends. Your network can never be too strong, can it?

iDMAa Conference 11/8 – 11/10, Philadelphia

So this week’s installment of “Why you should attend iDMAa” focuses on experimentation. The International Digital Media and Arts Association (http://www.idmaa.org) is committed to trying out new things. At this conference, we will be showcasing a number of wild explorations. The one I am most interested in is the AIDS Personal Public Service Announcement Project. We are going to have student teams equipped with mobile video and wireless technology travel the “streets of Philadelphia” to gather materials for short personal public service announcements – videos that will be pushed to cell phones. The material will go directly to a remote producer who could be anywhere in the world – and they have to complete the PPSA’s in one day. The goal is to come up with a new way of producing new messages to encourage young people to be tested for HIV. But the big story will be how the experiment changes our way of thinking about a brand new media. We will be talking about the AIDS PPSA project at the iDMAa conference. It is just one more reason why you should attend iDMAa (http://www.idmaa.org/idmaa2007/).

. ICE Open House: Words and Pictures – Friday, 9/28

Friday, September 28 at 6:30 PM
ICE Studio - Tanner Building Room 101

An early evening presentation of projects and social hour at ICE. Katherine McGuire will unveil “What Lies Here,” this semester's ICE window installation. A reading by Patrick Fadely, whose poetic practice has been shaped by an interest in improvised music. Jordan Dalton demonstrates Room-Poem, a procedure for creating poetry over time with speech recognition software. The event is free and open to the public.

ICE-Vision: Manson -- Thursday, 9/27. 7P

ICE-Vision is a series of informal screenings on Thursday nights in the ICE Studio, Tanner Building room 101. Javier Morales, a recent UGA graduate and contributor to AUX, selects pop-oddities and treasures from his VHS collection to share with us throughout the semester. This week's selection is “Manson” (1973, directed by Robert Hendrickson and Laurence Merrick)

Now a cult classic, this is the original documentary about Charles Manson and his Family. Features interviews with many family members and a history of Manson from his birth to the notorious Tate/La Bianca murders.

Cinema Roundtable -- Fri, Sep 28 @ 4:00 pm

This semester's Willson Center Cinema Roundtable is "Ogres, Rats, & Penguins: Computer Animated Features, 2007." Richard Neupert moderates. Panelists also include Mike Hussey and John Kundert-Gibbs, Theatre and Film Studies; Alex Murawski, Lamar Dodd School of Art; and James Biddle, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The Roundtable is at 4PM in 150 SLC, Friday, September 28. Sponsored by the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.