Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Women in machinima

I think the best way to talk about the evolvement of women in machinima, is to tell you a little bit about how I started myself. And, about where I am today.

Machinima is shooting film in a realtime 3D virtual environment or game, using what I lovingly call PPP; Pro/Pre- and Post production.

Originally machinima started from game-reporting; battles were recorded and then shared amongst the users of these games, without any editing at all.
I believe the first machinima came from a game called Doom, and the first storytelling machinima was made in the demo function of Quake – but I am not a historian, far from that. I am a self made machinimatographer.
To this day, I created close to 200 productions, in every possible genre.

I started machinima in 2007, in Second Life, the virtual 3D World in which I create most of my work.
Second Life/SL, like most online platforms, provides many things for many people. You can make it your own - and just like with anything you encounter – you can grab the opportunities that cross your path.
Unlike videogames, SL does not provide you with a purpose .. just like life itself –and it is you that makes it work.

My background lays in artschool and television (I am a goldsmith, a painter, an editor, a camera-woman).
This, has certainly provided the basics for what I do today.
In the Netherlands we quote this famous national football legend (Johan Cruijff) who once said: “ ieder nadeel heb z’n voordeel “ – meaning: any and all disadvantage has its own advantage.
Not knowing the history and the rules of machinima production, it certainly did not hold me back. Learning things the hard way, step by step, made me to what I am today. And I had fun while i took those steps.

A visual production benefits from traditional rules for film and edit.
I will never forget the first sentence in filmschool, my teacher sat us down and after a profound silence announced: film is a close medium.

Machinima is a close medium.

Now, machinima is a new medium, and it needs a new language.
Like Piet Mondriaan, who did traditional paintings before he developed his famous abstract style, I think it is important to master basics, while experimenting too. And when you are learning, you are trying new things too, and so will develop your own style.

I have seen machinima advance in a mayor way, it has grown from gaming reports to art and storytelling. What strikes me is the fun that machinimatographers have when creating their work, and the important role that women have taken.
The fact that women directors are invisuable in the film industry (oh they are there, but not seen), is overcome in virtual reality.
In virtual worlds, opportunities are truely equal – it does not matter where you come from, what color, gender, looks or age, we choose an avatar that represents us and thus overcome many prejudices.
We are our mind, our actions, our art.

I have a strong hunch that this is why women do so well in machinima. Most of us focus on the emotion rather then on the carchases and gunfights.
Also, the gaming world for a long time has been a boys thing, even though girls are catching up fast.
I find that my 14 year old daughter will play Sims3 and Mario Games, opposed to boys her age who's favorite game is Call of Duty.

Machinima is a unique storytelling platform, and I certainly know some men that do very well – but amongst the true talents I find the larger part is female.
Estetics, beauty, emotional EQ, overview – the urge to tell a personal story involving these characteristics, it is a traditional female thing.
Of course, men can do this, and yes – women do create exciting action machinima too.
It is a dangerous path to take, deviding male and female as if they were categories.
Are there dominant themes in female machinima? I see women taking a stand in digital media.
My opinion is based on what i see around me. Not on science.
I run several well attended machinima groups, i founded and produce the Mamachinima International Festival, and produce the 48 Hour Film Project for machinima.
I teach (workshops machinima) at highschools, I speak at congresses. I meet many people that are involved passionately in machinima.

Some of the work that springs to my mind, by female leading machinimatographers:

Phaylen Fairchild: Harbinger



This mixed reality machinima has it all! Phaylen mixed not only reality, but found a perfect balance between storytelling and art, and deep personal emotions (fear) and fast action.


Rose Borchovski: Lost in counting, Susa Bubble



A striking visual machinima, deeply sensitive and mysterious, it sets of your imagination in a way that most conventional films can not… Rose writes art machinima. Check out the Big Bang....

Lainy Voom: Push



An experimental machinima, presenting how humans are tied to the mechanics of time. A moving, close to perfection, open for your imagination – a dream.


Toxic Menges: Little Red Riding Hood



The not-so-classic re telling of a fairy tale. Funny and a perfect example of a womans point of view.
She deals with the woolf herself… “well done, Red, I knew you had it in ya”…


What I consider to be my best machinima so far: A Woman's Trial



Based on a short story by Louisa May Alcott, called Happy Woman. A story of a strong woman, caught in her own little World, walking the chosen path right till the end.


There are many - many more…. to mention only a few is insane – and not doing justice to the talented machinimatographers I meet.

My journey is one of passion and vision, and I made it my motto: I want to bring machinima to the world, show what it is and can do. Passion is the source of our finest moments. Without passion, all would be grim and grey.
What women in machinima have in common, is this passion, it is a fire that burns, and not one great machinima has been created without that passion. A film has never been great because of its tecnical aspects, but because of the way it made you feel.

I would like to finish with a quote by Laura Ziskin, a female producer whom I admire deeply.
Laura Ziskin talks about movies, the same way as i see machinima - as the medium of the future…

“Men have built the cities, made and defined the culture, interpreted the world. At no time in recorded history have women been culture-makers.
“Movies are arguably the most influential, important medium in the world. Because women are now making movies, then women’s ideas, philosophy, point of view will seep into that culture. And that’s never happened in history. We can’t even see the impact of that yet.”

Friday, December 3, 2010

MachinimaMondays about LAG - 29 Nov. 2010, with Miro Collas



MachinimaMondays on November 29 (2010) - sim full, eye-opening meeting !!!


Recently I invited Miro Collas to share his knowledge about lag - and the myths and facts around it.


Rather then listen to a presentation or speech about something that affects our machinima's so profoundly, Miro and I had decided to do a Q and A for everybody present.

I cleaned up the chat a bit, to keep it read-able, and here it goes:

Miro Collas: There are 2 blogs about lag
Miro Collas: one in particular is VERY well written and is in fact cited by LL in their wiki.

http://analutetia.com/2009/06/22/anatomy-of-lag/

http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/02/16/lag-myths-dispelled/

This transcript is sent to MachinimaMondays group in Second Life too, if you want to attend our weekly meetings, join the group - or contact Toxic Menges, Phaylen Fairchild or Chantal Harvey inworld.

MachinimaMondays meeting, November 29, 2010:

Chantal Harvey: what is lag?
Miro Collas: ooohhh.... you start with a huge question.
Penumbra Carter: slows down and makes the camera jerk
Miro Collas: lag is not one thing, but 3 things, that are partly connected
first is client side, then network lag, and lastly, server lag.
Easiest to explain maybe is the second, network lag. That is essentially a measure of how good/bad your network connection is.
If you have a slow or poor network connection, you will lag.
Client-side lag involves ... well, things being drawn (rendered) on your computer screen.

Kit Guardian: can location have something to with that on any given day? Or hou much is being used around you?
Miro Collas: location matters yes. For client side, if there is a lot around you, then there is a lot to render, so more work for your computer to do
Kit Guardian: No I mean in RL
Miro Collas: Ah... it might, perhaps. Not so much distance as quality of connection, and speed of connection

Chantal Harvey: The distance to the Linden Lab servers, does that matter at all?
Miro Collas: there's a way to check your connection: visit http://speedtest.net/ and measure your bandwidth. Ideally, check it against Dallas
Georgianna Blackburn: why Dallas?
Miro Collas: Because a good part of LL's servers are now in Dallas
Georgianna Blackburn: ah, why?
Miro Collas: why there? That I don't know for sure, but it appears to be home to large datacenters
Dacob Paine: It's a co-location for redundancy and it is probably cheaper for their server farms.
Miro Collas: I'm afraid I don't have specifics on what is where, re: servers. But it is a good place to check against - better than a near-by city anyway
Chantal Harvey: Q even if u are in europe, as i am?
Miro Collas: yes. SL has no servers outside the US
Anyway, once you have checked your bandwidth, then you can determine an ideal bandwidth to set in your viewer
Chantal Harvey: ah i always wondered what my ideal bandwidht setting is

Inquisitive Loon: Dallas is not an option for the speed test?
Miro Collas: there is a star there for dallas, tho it is a tad hard to locate.
NicoleX Moonwall: i use a hughes net satlite so it floats
Miro Collas: Chantal: ideal is about 80% of the value that speedtest gives you
Miro Collas: 80%
Emmo Wei: Q is that 80% of the up or down?
Miro Collas: download
Miro Collas: upload is almost always far less
Dacob Paine: Q why is that?
Miro Collas: because generally, we download MUCH more than we upload, and 'net companies know this and allocate the bandwidth accordingly

Chantal Harvey: the burning question for machinima: what can we do to improve our framerate....?
Miro Collas: ok frame rate... that depends on many factors and so isn't easy to answer.
Most importantly, it depends on your hardware.
If you have a quad core PC with a high end vid card, you will get MUCH better frames rates than with say a dual core and a mid-range vid card.
(all else being equal of course) - a quad core will give better results than a dual core. And a faster processor better than a slow one
why is quad-core preferable?
Miro Collas: because then the work can be shared among the cores - which are essentially processors
If you enable it, it splits rendering off into another thread

Kit Guardian: Does our choice of software to film also effect the lag factor?
Miro Collas: it can yes. That's an external program which has to run at the same time as the viewer; it will use processor power.

is SL a multi-threaded app?
Miro Collas: multi-threading is enabled certianly in sl 1.23, snowglobe viewers; I cannot speak for Viewer 2
Miro Collas: or rather, *can* be enabled
Chantal Harvey: oh pls explain?

Apollo Manga: How many cores can SL multithreading use?
Penumbra Carter: Q what is multi threading :)
Miro Collas: multi-threading means that a single program can run several tasks at the same time (kinda); it boosts performance

Kit Guardian: which viewer is the best then?
Miro Collas: I have heard that Kirsten's is geared to machinima. Some I know use it for that specifically, and then revert to... whatever else for normal use.
Chantal Harvey: The LL 2.3 has a preset in graphics for 1920x1080, KirstenLee has shadows... each viewer has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Kayden Oconnell: -- Yes, would like a guideline for a new system, if we're looking to replace what we have -- not top of the line, but affordable?
Miro Collas: as for an ideal system: the more money you can throw at one, the better. It is that simple and brutal
Dacob Paine: lol so true
Chantal Harvey: think of it like this: a hollywood studio will cost a million, a perfect pc for machinima will cost 10,000 dollars
Miro Collas: it you want priorities for a system, then in order: CPU, video card, RAM, hard drive

Chantal Harvey: what will setting your bandwidth-slider too high do? does it influence?
Miro Collas: Chantal, yes it will - set it too low and you' you're throttling data
basicaly, slowing yourself down
Chantal Harvey: and setting it too high?
Kit Guardian: Crash perhaps
Miro Collas: that seems to also have negative effects, tho I confess to not fully understanding that part of it
Empirically, it has been worked out that 80% f your true bandwith is ideal for SL

Dacob Paine: can you give us an idea of the minimum computer someone needs for machinima?
Miro Collas: I lack the experience in that I'm afraid, it isn't something I have done. But let me give you an example....
I have a 3.2GHz quad core PC, 8GB RAM, and a GT240 vid card with 1GB RAM.
With that, I can have all my settings at ultra and a draw distance of 256m and not have issues
(well not usually)

Chantal Harvey: i have invited Ricky Grove to come and talk about computers, for machinima
Chantal Harvey: stay tuned... for that one, as he has agreed to do that for MachinimaMondays.


Apollo Manga: with a 64-bit system, is there a maximum RAM that can effectively be utilized? uhm... 32GB perhaps... not sure now.
Dacob Paine: That depends on the flavor of windows Apollo, it's up to 192 gigs at the most.
Dacob Paine: Some flavors are limited to 16 though
Miro Collas: btw, I'm on linux myself
Apollo Manga: Q but is there a limit on what can effectively be used? I'm building a 12gb system now but wondering whether to expand to 24gb
Miro Collas: that depends on the viewer you're using. All windows viewers (that I know of) are compiled in 32-bits
Note: go to: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ram-memory-upgrade,review-32053.html

Apollo Manga: Windows 7 Resource Monitor says I'm not using the 8gb I have now
Miro Collas: some of those include versions that can make use of extra RAM ... those are the LAA versions
Otherwise, a 32-bit app will use 2GB, no more
Apollo Manga: LAA?
Miro Collas: Large Address Aware

Chantal Harvey: i am on windows 7, 64 bits, do you know if sl will be compatible soon?
Miro Collas: Chantal: no clue on LL's plans for a 64-bit viewer

Kayden Oconnell: -- There seems to be disagreement about ARC -- Does that affect our computer? Or the sim where you're filming?
Miro Collas: Anyway, ARC... it stands for Avatar Rendering Cost. The "rendering" tells you it is about client-side effects, the number is a measure of hwo much work your computer has to do to draw an avatar
Miro Collas: ARC has NO effect on a region
Miro Collas: so.. if someone says, "you have high ARC and are lagging the SIM", they are misinformed
Chantal Harvey: wow listen to that, folks
Kayden Oconnell: Yep, the ARC police will tell you otherwise
Chantal Harvey: avatar rendering costs, are not causing lag
Graycon Sonata: omg
Miro Collas: similarly, if someone says that you're wearing too many prims and are lagging the sim, they are misinformed
Chantal Harvey: are u sure about that, Miro, and what arguments can we use
Miro Collas: I am quite sure
Miro Collas: however...
Miro Collas: if you are wearing too many scripts, then yes, you are lagging the sim
Miro Collas: people often wear a ton of scripts without realizing it - and those DO lag a region
Miles Eleventhauer: i've shot video moving next to a heavly scripted av and you can see the frame rate going down in the video
Kayden Oconnell: Q So, if you're at a region with terrible lag, and many avs -- the main lag is on YOUR computer? trying to rez everything?
Miro Collas: but here it is important to distinguish between client-side and server-side lag
Nave Fall: Q: How do we measure how many scripts we have on us?
Miro Collas: Kayden: it is both...
Ok, let me explain in brief what a SIM does... (and this will therefore be incomplete)...
Miro Collas: among other things, a SIM keeps track of where everyone is... as well as running scripts that are on the SIM, delivering textures to you, and so on.
These things are prioritized. Keeping track of avatars has highest priority
So when a SIM is full of people, the SIM is going to spend most if the time, tracking people
When it has done that, it will then deal with scripts and then it will deliver textures
Miro Collas: so... if you go to hair fair for example.... ;-) you'll be familiar with it being gray for a LONG time... because the SIM is too busy dealing with all the people
Chantal Harvey: Q is there a way to improve this.... at all
Miro Collas: but of course you can cut back some by removing as many worn scripts as possible before you go
If you are holding the event, then keep scripts to a minimum
Miro Collas: also, a neat trick: provide seating
Chantal Harvey: oh?
Miles Eleventhauer: people sitting relieves a laggy sim?
Kayden Oconnell: one script for all the seats?
Graycon Sonata: who knew
Miro Collas: backing up... if you're sitting, from the point of view of the server, you become linked to the object you're sitting on - therefore, the SIM no longer needs to track your movements
Kayden Oconnell: ohhh, ok
Miro Collas: you also become phantom.
Bryn Oh: thats interesting
Miro Collas: meaning you can go through walls
Miles Eleventhauer: do that would include dance pose balls at a club
Miro Collas: yes
Nave Fall sits right down.........

Chantal Harvey: how can you see these scripts?
Miro Collas: some viewers, like Phoenix, have a built-in way of counting scripts on avatars
Miro Collas: right-click your avatar, and select S.Count from the menu
Counting scripts. Please wait.
Counted scripts from 13 attachments on Chantal Harvey: 42
Miro Collas: that show how many scripts you're wearing - except for HUDs
Miro Collas: 42 is a very good script count - nice and low
Ideally, you want to keep your script count under 100

Kayden Oconnell: aos?
Miro Collas: Aos no.
Kayden Oconnell: thanks, Miro -- never had it explained like that before

Bryn Oh: so miro i have just begun to get jerky filming where i didnt before. If i wanted to get it smooth again for my spacenav what are some things to do... for example lowering screen resolution etc?
Miro Collas: let me address another myth.
Miro Collas: Bryn: first I'd shut down any other apps that you do not need, like browers, etc
Miro Collas: that way your computer has less to do
Chantal Harvey: yea i find skype and youtube lower my performance
Apollo Manga: Firefox with multple windows can really slow down performance too
Bryn Oh: ok
Bryn Oh: i get a spike every 5 seconds or so and not sure what it is
Miro Collas: then I think much will depend on where you are in SL. If a place is graphics-intense, your frame rate will be lower
Miro Collas: also, just the sky takes a lot of effort to be drawn
Bryn Oh: oh but i love the sky
Miro Collas: basically: adapt to the location and situation
Bryn Oh: sigh
Chantal Harvey: but switch off the clouds in (advanced) rendering helps
Bryn Oh: ok
Miro Collas: example: do you need water reflerctions? If not, turn them off
Bryn Oh: and minimal draw distance?

Kit Guardian: So sky boxes are not necessarily less laggy?
Miro Collas: No Kit not necessarily. Again, it depends on what you can see
Penumbra Carter: sky boxes, if open to the air will get sky flicker, I found
Miro Collas: the more you have on your screen, the more work yoru computer is doing... ergo, the more client lag
Miro Collas: and a specific case of course is particles
Penumbra Carter: especially if they are above 300 m
Miro Collas: particles are like ARC: they are totally client side, and do NOT lag a region

Chantal Harvey: what is post process quality, there is a slider for that?
Miro Collas: Chantal: I think that's "empty" - meaning there's a slider but no code behind it. ;-)

Miro Collas: what questions did I miss?
Kayden Oconnell: the lottery numbers for the next drawing?
Miro Collas: LOL!







Penumbra Carter: do you then lower your fraps to match the area?
Does changing the fraps to match the region help, sometimes it does, but then I was told not to match it to close to go up? does that make sense?
Miro Collas: you're presuming i know what frpas is. :-
Bryn Oh: how do you change fraps to do that pen?
Penumbra Carter: I change the fraps in my frap settings to match the fraps I see being shown on the sim Bryn let me tell you specifically, one sec
Bryn Oh: ok thanks.. i have not tried that
Chantal Harvey: yea bryn that is hugely important
Bryn Oh: oh good
Penumbra Carter: in the movie tab of fraps:)
Chantal Harvey: set it to reality (the actual framerate of your location), or fraps will double frames to match what you have told it to do...and thus create jerkly images.
If you set your fraps FPS at 30, while your actual framerate is only 15 when recording, makes fraps double all the images you shoot till it is 30fps….and that, is jerky film.
Penumbra Carter: but the sim can be jumpy, so do you go up from what you think is the highest fraps of the sim?
Chantal Harvey: I would suggest go as close as you can, and try to stay a bit under.

NicoleX Moonwall: how best to shoot in dark place with out a flash light?
Miro Collas: play with the sky settings to increase ambient light
Miro Collas: in there, go to Lighting and you'll see Ambient - you can raise the intensity to make the scene brighter
Miro Collas: assuming you're on a V1.x viewer, go to World -> Environment -> Sky settings.
Chantal Harvey: Q is there a setting that creates lag??? or less lag???
Miro Collas: you get a window where you can select preset skies
Chantal Harvey: are the presets less laggy?
Miro Collas: sky presets? not especially more or less... no. Ones with more clouds might be a tiny bit more laggy
Chantal Harvey: so resume... what is your ultimate tip to reduce lag....
Miro Collas: When it comes to lag, overall, it is important to understand the difference between the various forms. From there, you can understand how to deal with them.
Miro Collas: If you're at a public place, busy, then reduce draw distance, or de-render stuff and people. ;-)

NicoleX Moonwall: is it true the higher you go up the less lag?
Miro Collas: Nicole: not that I know of - except that there tends to be less stuff high up, so less to draw

Chantal Harvey: lots of movement will cause lag too? animations?
Miro Collas: scripts run on the server - which affects the entire region, regardless of height
Penumbra Carter: scripts = animation?
Miro Collas: movement will cause server lag *if* the avatars are not sitting
Miro Collas: animations, interesting, are played client side

Penumbra Carter: we will have alot of seated machinimas:)

Chantal Harvey: kk - so, scripts are the worst regarding lag monsters?
Miro Collas: naturally if you need movement then you must have it. You can try to compensate elsewhere, like by cutting back on scripts

Kit Guardian: Does it matter what the Machinima person is wearing? or just the actors?
Miro Collas: Kit: script-wise it matters yes
Kit Guardian: like shouldmwe not wear any AOS or Huds when filming?
Chantal Harvey: avatar rendering doesnt matter, but scripts running does, i think
Miro Collas: AOs are not so bad actually. The worst offenders are resize scripts in hair and Shoes
Penumbra Carter: scripts = animation?
Miro Collas: movement will cause server lag *if* the avatars are not sitting
Animations, interesting, are played client side

Kit Guardian: Does it matter what the Michinima person is wearing? or just the actors?
Miro Collas: Kit: script-wise it matters yes
Kit Guardian: like shouldmwe not wear any AOS or Huds when filming?
Chantal Harvey: avatar rendering doesnt matter, but scripts running does, i think
Miro Collas: AOs are not so bad actually. The worst offenders are resize scripts in hair and Shoes
Chantal Harvey: Miro, this is an eye opener, thank you very much.



Picture made by Kit Guardian

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

SECOND LIFE “NATIONAL ANTHEM” CONTEST

GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING SONGWRITERS SPONSOR SECOND LIFE “NATIONAL ANTHEM” CONTEST





http://slanthem.com/


DECEMBER 1, 2010 - After hearing Philip Rosedale declare that, with Second Life, “I’m not building a game; I’m building a country,” Grammy Award-winning songwriter Richard Gilbert [Second Life name: Griffith Parx ]was inspired to create a contest to compose a “national anthem” for the popular virtual platform. To help make the project a reality Gilbert enlisted the aid of his songwriting partner, and fellow Grammy Award-winner, Doug Cotler [Second Life name: Gambe Citron].

Cotler and Gilbert comprised the songwriting team that composed “Manhunt,” which was featured in the movie “Flashdance,” earning the duo a Grammy in 1984. Cotler, who wrote “The Golem” which was performed by the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, performs more than 100 concerts a year. He tours and performs in a full range of music venues, and has appeared with such recognizable artists such as John Denver, Jerry Jeff Walker and Mason Williams.

Gilbert, who co-wrote “Manhunt” with Cotler while on sabbatical from his career in academia, is a professor of psychology and head of the P.R.O.S.E. Project (Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments) at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Bringing his work at the university into Second Life in 2008, Gilbert has been published for his works on personality, identity, and relationships developed in virtual platforms.

Over the last several years, Gilbert has been instrumental in bringing other LMU departments into Second Life. Four university departments now form what is known as LMVU, or Loyola Marymount Virtual University, within Second Life. Utilizing resources at their personal disposal, Gilbert and Cotler will award prizes for the contest that include Linden “cash” ranging from L$50,000 to L$10,000. More importantly, the Grand Prize winning song will be recorded at a studio in Los Angeles and posted on iTunes. The winning song will also be performed at a live Second Life event on July 4, 2011, with a full HD machinima production being created and posted on YouTube.com.

The only rule for the contest is that entries for consideration must use the fully copyrighted lyrics created by Gilbert, which are posted on the contest website. A panel of judges will select 10 finalists and public voting through the contest website will determine the Grand Prize, Second and Third Place winners.

Gilbert and Cotler are the primary sponsors of the contest. Co-sponsors are Pulse Point Marketing, LLC, Mamachinima, Pixel Labs and Perpetual Studios, while all companies and venues that conduct business within Second Life and participate are also considered co-sponsors through their efforts. Linden Lab was fully informed about the contest before it began and offered its consent and encouragement to initiate the project. While Linden Lab opted not to officially participate in the contest at the time of inception, Gilbert is hopeful that attention to the project will garner formal interest over time.

Questions may be directed to Griffith Parx in-world or via e-mail at griffithparx@gmail.com

And, of course, the performance machinima of the winner will be made by me.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

MachinimaMondays feat. LAG !!! in Second Life.



We jokingly tell each other that lag = love, but any serious machinimatographer knows that lag is a killer. We all have seen the jerky machinima's, and most of us have encountered this low framerate while filming. It ruines any chance on producing a good machinima.



Next week, the 7pm (PAC/SL time) MachinimaMondays meeting will be about lag, how it is caused, what we can do to beat it and get a reasonable framerate to improve our filming. I, for one, wont film if I cannot at least get a minimum of 25 frames per second.
But what to do when you are asked to film a busy event in Second Life, is there a way to improve your fps? Of course we all know about changing our settings, bringing down your draw distance, particle count, for example. Resizing your window helps too - but what if you still want to use that full monitorsize and work in HD...? Relog and reboot?
Miro Collas has agreed to come and share his knowledge with us on this subject - so grab your chance and come over to next weeks meeting.
The meeting will be in text. For those that cannot attend, there will be a follow up blog with transscript of this meeting.

To attend in Second Life, use this SLurl.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/RastaOpen4/79/87/41
To get notices for our weekly machinima meetings, join the inworld group called: MachinimaMondays.

Two blogs by Gwyneth Llewelyn that are recommended if you want to learn about lag:

http://analutetia.com/2009/06/22/anatomy-of-lag/
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2008/02/16/lag-myths-dispelled/

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Flush Portal - a machinima sitcom




Tonight we had the first official meeting, and the kickoff of the Flush Portal.




The Flush Portal is a brand new machinima sitcom, created for mainstream television in the USA. Director is Pamala Clift, and I will be doing the filming and editing - and as the teammembers are signed up, I will be telling you about them on this blog. Maybe you recognise some on these pics?






The format is written, a script is being created, a website has been started, and a teaser has been made. Composer and sound designers are working, and the actors are getting very excited.

Shooting will start in January 2011!




Once upon a time in a pixelated existence...
observable thru the connectivity of the internet, the Roadside Philosopher was sitting...contemplating the universe in her underwater Think Tank....when a cat came in.

Through out all of space time... universes have spun into existence...and popped out.
With the creation of the internet, the beginnings of a new universe has become observable.
The weaving of the fingers of the black hole of this new dimension is pulling from other universes on a quark level the components for the next... (coughing fit, sputters and then gasps)... ah hell.. Just FLUSH IT!

Welcome to The FLUSH Portal
The infant dimension of virtual reality

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Skylight



Today I tested Skylight at http://interest.secondlife.com/beta

I found it fast, fun and easy - just like the announcement Philip Rosedale made during SLCC.

When I met Mr. Mark Kingdon earlier this year in Amsterdam, he announced Second Life on a webbrowser ánd the introduction of mesh in 2010, and both Linden Lab's CEO's have kept their promise.

So.......I went in, and after entering my emailadres, I landed in Second Life as a noob avatar with the name of...guest 057987.



Apparantly at a concert, to my shame i must admit I didnt pay too much attention, as i got busy exploring this new way of entering SL, and scanning through the custom made avatars from which to choose.
I then looked for a destination, and came across PAL - Pop Art Lab, which is ran by my good friend Claus Uriza.



I met Olive Dorben there, and she agreed to be photographed with me.



Now I must say, there is nothing to learn, this way of exploring Second Life is fast and easy, and as an addition to the regular viewer the residents are used to, it is a great add.And let me tell you; if I find it easy to use, it is.

To test the lag I went to Dance Island, and didnt find the lag I usually encounter...



And they were trying to create überlag.... see for yourself:



Ending up on Hobo sim, as my 60 minutes of testing went real fast - chatting to other testers in London and Berlin, I took a last picture standing next to a SL celeb.




I will most definate recommend this to my friends, as most of them are even less tech as I am, they now will have the option to explore Second Life in a light and friendly new way.
I missed being able to tp to my own sim, and some favorite destinations, and tried to run fraps and couldnt... but realise this is a beta test - so I look forward to the final version! Imagine using my space navigator there...too.

Till then, I am trying to run this from my mobile - can my new android HTC do this?

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Machinima Premiere StartMeUp

Since the University of Western Australia (UWA) has made me the offer I couldnt refuse - I am the manager of their wonderful UWA-Bosl Theater, I have been brooding on how to give this venue the best possible purpose.

The idea is this: contact me if you have a machinima you want to premiere, and we will talk about date/time/pr and ideas on how to present your work. I am looking for new ways to present, but of course a voice presentation by you and your team, or music to support it, or a contest to go with it, are welcome.

And it is with pride that I announce the first in a series of machinima premieres in Second Life.
Tonight, at 5 pm Pacific time/SL time, I am giving the floor to miss Phaylen Fairchild, who will be presenting her new film Harbinger.

Premiere: HARBINGER, a machinima by Phaylen Fairchild
When: November 6, 2010 – (is there a better way to spend your Saturday night?)
Time: 5 pm SL/Pacific time
Where: UWA-BOSL theater in Second Life
What: Watch the trailer here

☠ are your nerves strong enough to watch this movie ?? ☠

Contest: Scariest avatar in the audience wins a role in a future Phaylen Fairchild Production!
Eternal fame could be yours………

Monday, September 27, 2010

48HFP machinima 2010 is done!

It is done, the 48HFP Machinima 2010 has been a exciting and unforgettable experience for all that were involved.

Teams produced under tremendous stress, and came up with machinima's of 4 to 8 minutes long, made from scratch within the 48 hours of the contest.
19 films made with the same character: Jack/Jackie - a Journalist, prop: water, and the line: “There is one thing I can do that you can’t" .... all done in a different genre, and all different. Amazing!


Lapiscean Liberty - who runs AviewTV, worked like mad to get the films online on time for the jury to watch them. He had his own 48 hour project....and did all the video streaming during the events. All films can be seen at his website.

Jayjay Zifanwe, and Taralyn Gravois - UWA, provided the venue and made the 48HFP feel very welcome.Do you know that you can go and see all the films, at the venue inworld? BOSL-UWA Theater

Moviestorm provided a prize for each and every person that entered the 48HFP Machinima, all got a voucher code that gives them a free month of Moviestorm, something that was cheered and greeted with great enthousiasme. Matt Kelland came to the screening event in Second Life and handed out the audience awards!

iClone provided the following prizes for the winner and runner ups:
iClone
3DXchange 4

Persia Bravin, UncleSlappy Wylie and Labella Farella - BOSL Radio, streamed all voice using skype, for the hosts, jury and teamleaders, during the screening events.

Hosts who helped us were Judi Newall and Taralyn Gravois, security people were Dawny Daviau, Kev Sweetwater and Doctor Gascoine.

A special word of thanks to the 48HFP Machinama jury of 2010.
Their task was not an easy one.
I am proud to say that they provided the teams with feedback and well deserved acknowledgement, recognising their hard work and efforts, and providing them with food for thought.
The opportunity to get feedback from Peter Greenaway was a huge one for machinimatographers, and welcomed.







Peter Greenaway's opening speech was a thought-provoking, passionate plea for machinima.
Phaylen Fairchild interviewed the teamleaders, passed on jury-feedback and helped me present the screening events. Thank you, Phaylen - I know this wasnt the easiest thing to do, and you did it so well!
Tom Jantol came to talk to the teams too, but a disasterous flooding in his home country made him go offline - Tom, we hope your damage is not as devastating as this picture suggests....












Tracy Harwood had lost her internetconnection for the whole of the weekend, and we all know how disastrous these things can be. She managed to send her jury notes to me, using her phone - and I am grateful she did.

Phil (Overman) Rice has offered the winner and runner ups to be screened at the 2010 Machinima Expo, a huge honour and opportunity.

Inworldz is building a venue, and will host all 21 machinima's. I had a peek while they were building, and it looks great!!! Their 48HFP Machinima plot looks like a drive in cinema - plenty of popcorn available (of course).












Twinity has offered to host the 21 machinima's too, and I will let all teams know when they run the films.

A special word of thanks, for the 48 Hour Film Project, for including machinima as one of their cities, and providing this wonderful opportunity for machinima.
And, thanks, Ben Guaraldi (Director of Outreach), for being there for me and the teams, answering many questions and supporting, endlessly.

The winning film was made by Stone Falcon Productions, and is called: "The Lake"

The Lake will represent the 48HFP Machinima at Filmapalooza, during the Miami Internation Film Festival 2011.

It was an honour to be the 48HFP Machinima Producer, and I hope to have contributed my best, for machinima. A contest always has only one winner, but by entering this - in my opinion best-film-contest-available - project, everybody is a winner. We learned a lot, worked hard, and will continue to grow.

Thanks to sponsors and volunteers, jury, organisation and audience, the 48 Hour Film Project Machinima 2010 was awesome!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Winners and Awards announced for 48HFP Machinima 2010

Best graphics: Make me Wet, Rediculous Sandwich Studios

Best special effects: SB1070, team War Technica

Best Cinematography: Anemone, team M4AS22

Best sound design: The Real Thing, team Dream Machine

Best acting: The Lake, Stone Falcon Productions

Best directing: the Lake, Stone Falcon Productions

Best editing: SB1070, team War Technica

Best use of prop: The lake, Stone Falcon Productions

Best use of line of dialogue: draw: The Nihilist, Grey Matter Films - The Lake, Stone Falcon Productions

Best concept: Make me Wet, Rediculous Sandwich Studios

Best musical score: The Real Thing, team Dream Machine

Best costumes: draw: Rough Romance, Metaverse Television and Changes, Nicole X Group

Most unique character: It was a Difficult Question, team Tough Question

Best choreography: You Dont Know Jack Schmidt, Fluent Media Productions

Audience awards go to: Running Lady Productions, Cruise Control – IdeaJuice Studios, WET – Metaverse Television, Rough Romance.



2nd runner up: The Shadows, Machinimatrix

Runner up: Nihilist, Grey Matter Films

Winner: The Lake, Stone Falcon Productions

Monday, September 20, 2010

48 HFP Machinima: 19 teams.

Here are the 19 teams that made it to the 48HFP Machinima contest 2010:

Jewell Theatre - 48HourFilm (roadmovie)
M4SK22 - Anemone (doppelganger/time travel movie)
Machinimatrix - The Shadows (horror)
Metaverse Television - Rough Romance (romance)
Sound'r - The Other Door (buddy)
WarTechnica - SB1070 (sci-fi)
Fluent Media Productions - You Dont Know Jack Schmidt (silent movie)
Tough Question - It was a Difficult Question (western-musical)
NicolleX Group - Changes (fantasy)
Grey Matter Films - Nihilist (film noire)
IdeaJuice Studios - Wet (buddy)
In Limbo - Within you, Without you (sci-fi)
Insomaniacs - Beyond Sundown (drama)
Machinimart - Doublewalker (doppelganger/time travel movie)
Rediculous Sandwich Studios - Make me Wet (mockumentary)
Stone Falcon Productions - The Lake (horror)
Dream Machine - TheRealThing (musical - western)
Moondust Films - Unforeseen (film de femme)
Ninja Bandits - Quantum Warrior (romance)

2 More teams made it just outside the deadline,and will be included in the screenings (not the contest) in Second Life, Twinity, Inworldz, and at AviewTV.

At this very moment the jury is watching the films.

Thursday the 23rd of September, winners and awards will be announced by our jury. After this, all the films will be available for 2 weeks in the UWA-BOSL theater - so grab your chance and watch some of the finest 48HFP entries available. Bring your friends!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Genres, prop, line and character are........

MACHINIMA 2010 REQUIRED ELEMENTS

Character

Jackie or Jack Schmidt
Journalist


Prop

Water



Line of Dialogue

“There is one thing I can do that you can’t.”




The teams and the genres they drew:


 Horror - Machinimatrix
 Film noir - Grey Matter Films
 Road movie - Jewell Theatre
 Sci fi - WarTechnica
 Buddy film - IdeaJuice Studios
 Silent film - Fluent Media Productions
 Romance - Metaverse Television
 Fantasy - NicolleX Group
 Musical or western - Tough Question
 Film de femme - Running Ladies Productions
 Romance - Ninja Bandits
 Buddy film - Sound’r
 Film de femme - Moondust Films
 Sci fi - In Limbo
 Mockumentary - Rediculous Sandwich Studios
 Musical or western - Dream Machine
 Drama - Insomaniacs
 Horror - Stone Falcon Productions
 Dark Comedy - Kamachina Productions
 Time Travel or Doppelganger - M4SK22
 Time Travel or Doppelganger - Machinimart

Friday, September 17, 2010

Machinima Filmmakers Take to the Streets

This weekend, 300 filmmakers from Machinima are making films in the 48 Hour Film Project! These films will screen at the UWA-Bosl Theater in Second Life.

Here are some important notes for the machinimatographers:






There are still a few slots available in the Machinima 48HFP. Sign up your team here:

Register for Machinima now!





The KICKOFF is: September 17, at 6 pm Pacific time.









22 Teams, 300 people from many countries all over the world, will engage in a wild, sleepless weekend, during which they will make a movie ---- write, shoot, edit and score it. From scratch. In 48 hours.









After the weekend, while the teams catch up on sleep and food .... the 48HFP Machinima Jury goes to work. Our jury is:

* Peter Greenaway
* Dr. Tracy Harwood
* Phaylen Fairchild
* Tom Jantol

So, stay tuned, follow the teams and come to the screening event on the 23rd of September - at 1pm and 7pm Pacific time, in Second Life - see the films, meet the teams, and listen to the jury.


Our sponsors are:









Thursday, September 16, 2010

Meet & Greet 48HFPmachinima on September 14, 2010







Some Q & A from the meet & greet:

*Winner last year was?
2009: Ring of False God http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGl8t2fUnBk
By Matthew Hahn and Jorge Campos













Interview with Maththew Hahn, last years winner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at1lwb4RfM0


*How do I join the 48HFP Second Life group?
Send me a message when you see me online (or email) and i will invite you in.

*Do people have to sign their rl names on the paperwork?
Yes. I offer people a direct line to me, if they dont want their teamleader to see their rl details, email to me but the responsibility lies with the teamleader always.

*Are all events in this theater/location?
Yes

* theres a nose coming out of my ear please get a pic quick!
OK. (AnimaTechnica Umbarundu: hi flimsey, seeing as either i am sitting on you or you are sitting on me, might as well be friends.)




*To view films here, what do i do?
Get the latest quicktime, and go into your preferences and stop automatic streaming music and film. Enable voice. Ask Chantal Harvey for help, later.
Click the player icon on your taskbar to start a film. Do NOT click the screen itself.

*How are the films shown?
We work with AviewTV, which is Lapiscean Liberty's wonderful magic for the 48HFPmachinima 2010.

*How do i get rid of the nametags above the avatars?
In windows: control, alt and F1 --->will toggle them off and back on again
On a Mac: command, alt and F1

*should i film in 1280x720?
That is a wise thing to do. 720p is the standard format. Upload a test....

*what if my testfile takes a long time to upload, what can I do?
Encode it - it has to be encoded with H264 or sorenson for MOV , cinepak or DivX for AVI
test test test....
(create a one minute test film.. look at the file size after.. if it's bigger than 20 or 30 MB you aren't encoding it)

*Will there be more then 1 runner up?
No.

*Starting the upload at 7.30pm is not enough, it has to be IN at 7.30pm?
YES

*When we ask for a wildcard, must we use that or can we go back to the original drawn genre?
No. And, wildcards are handed out after the teams get their stuff, so you will have to wait till last.

*How is the draw done?
I make numbered envelopes, and teamleader (or assistent) calls a number.....If all teamleaders are there, I could hand out notecards.

*Can I make more then one film?
No.

*Can there be swear words or smoking?
Hmmm. Use your judgement, (or beeps), no sex, jury might or might not like it. Be careful.

*Can you clarify which form an actor needs to sign, which one a musical scorer needs to sign or does everybody sign all?
Waiver and release. All to be found on website and in my information email.

*What if I compose the music myself, do I sign myself?
Yes.

*How about creative commons for music?
It depends on the license. The 48HFP license is incompatible with the CC lisence, as submitting an entry to the 48HFPcontest restricts where it can be shown (at least the first year) so it is incompatible with CC. You cannot use:use and share alike. On the other hand, you can use CC lisence that allows for commercial use.

Mewsic Bing: I really suggest you do read through all the information on the 48 hour film project website, it may be dry but it does answer all your questions and more importantly you won't get any surprises when it's too late, you will not have the time to read up on this stuff once the project has started, (and if you do you're not trying hard enough ;) )

Thank you, Mewsic Bing :-D

People offer their music to the teams at this point.

***LANCE Rembrandt: http://www.blogger.com/LANCE@LANCEsongs.com i have tons of orginal scores and music and full songs
***I also have a music archive that anyone can take from lizsolo Mathilde: :): http://www.lizsolo.com/secret.html - still fixing my code, but lots there
*** Slim Warrior also offers music for the 48HFPmachinima, contact her.

*Do I still own my film after entering it?
Of course. You are giving rights to the 48HFP for a limited period. Please check the rules on the website. Because the 48HFP is constantly working on distribution outlets for the films, especially in the first year, our Team Leader's Agreement does restrict what you can do and when you can do it. http://www.48hourfilm.com/filmmakers/afterthe48.php

Do NOT put your film anywhere online before the screening on September 23, 2010.

*Rehab afterwards?
How about a great big afterparty at this location?

*Is there a list of what the genres might be?
http://48hourfilm.com/filmmakers/genres.php

*What is buddy film?
All the genres can be googled...please do, I stongly recommend. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_film

*Is there a grace period if you don't make the dead-line due to weather?
no..
Films have to be on our server at 7.30 pm, pacific time, September 19th. Films that are uploaded late, will still be screened, but won't enter the contest.


Monday, September 13, 2010

20 teams in 48HFPmachinima 2010

Registered Teams:

Dream Machine, Liz Solo
fluent media productions, Flimsey Freenote
Grey Matter Films, Penumbra Carter
Ideajuice Studios, Peter Patterson
In Limbo, Rollo Girando
Insomaniacs, MATTHEW HAHN
Jewell Theatre, Fake Jewell
Kamachinima Production, Ariane Dupleich
M4SK 22, David Moss
Machinimart, Gabe Salgado
Machinimatrix, Hussayn Dabbous
Metaverse Television, Dousa Dragonash
Moondust Films, Levio Serenity
NicoleX Group, NicoleX Moonwall
Pookymedia, Pooky Amsterdam
Rediculous Sandwich Studios, John Navilliat
Running Lady Productions and Suzy's..., K. DaVette See
Sound'r, Andre Engelhardt
Stone Falcon Productions, Jun Falkenstein
War Technica, Gabe Achanzar


Saturday, September 11, 2010

6 days left to subscribe now

The jury of this years machinima contest has welcomed mr. Peter Greenaway to be head of jury.

Peter Greenaway has recognised machinima as a new and innovative way of filmmaking, and has been known to proclaim that the future of film lies in computergenerated filming.
To have him not only be part of our jury, but willing to hand out the awards and announce the winners, is a huge opportunity for machinimatographers. Real life feedback is a recognition for machinima and a serious sign of the brand entering the stage of international filmmaking.

To sign up for the 48HFPmachinima, which takes place coming weekend, 17 – 19 September 2010, go to http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
24 Teams can enter, and now only 6 slots left.

Our Judges
We are proud to announce our judges for the 2010 Machinima 48HFP. They are:
Peter Greenaway, Filmmaker (8½ Women; The Pillow Book; The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover)
Dr. Tracy Harwood, Professor, The Institute of Creative Technologies, De Montfort University, Leicester, England
Tom Jantol, Machinima Artist
Phaylen Fairchild, Machinimatographer, blogger, and writer


The winning machinima will screen with the 48HFP City Winners at the next Filmapalooza at the Miami International Film Festival. Also, there are cash prizes for the winning films!
The 10 best films at Filmapalooza go to……....(drumroll)...Cannes.


Furthermore, we have found sponsors handing out software prizes to the teams, please go to our website for information: http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima


So grab your chance to be a part of this years 48HFP machinima, lets write history and show the World what machinima can be.

For any information, please do not hesitate and contact me, I will be glad to help.

Lets make movies!


Chantal Harvey
Producer 48 Hour Film Project machinima
http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
email: machinima@48hourfilm.com
https://twitter.com/48hfpmachinima
http://mamachinima.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 10, 2010

7 days left till the 48 Hour Film Project machinima kickoff.

7 days left till the 48 Hour Film Project machinima kickoff.

If you were thinking about entering, do not wait any longer and go to http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima and be part of the 48HFPmachinima 2010.



Yesterday, the outreach director of the 48HFP, mr. Ben Guaraldi aka Zaddik Zerbino – came to Second Life to inspect the 48HFP theater.
Soon after that, the instruction emails have been send out to the 17 teams that entered this years contest.
The teamleaders are now invited to do the paperwork, and to do a testupload to our servers. Let the buzz begin!!!


Teams are: (24 can enter, 7 slots available)

Grey Matter Films, Penumbra Carter
Ideajuice Studios, Peter Patterson
In Limbo, Rollo Girando
Insomaniacs, MATTHEW HAHN
Jewell Theatre, Fake Jewell
Kamachinima Production, Ariane Dupleich
M4SK 22, David Moss
Machinimart, Gabe Salgado
Machinimatrix, Hussayn Dabbous
Metaverse Television, Dousa Dragonash
Pookymedia, Pooky Amsterdam
Rediculous Sandwich Studios, John Navilliat
Running Lady Productions and Suzy's..., K. DaVette See
Sound'r, Andre Engelhardt
Stone Falcon Productions, Jun Falkenstein
team machine, Liz Solo
War Technica, Gabe Achanzar


Jury of the 48HFP machinima 2010 is:

Peter Greenaway - Filmmaker
Phaylen Fairchild – Machinimatographer, blogger, writer
Dr. Tracy Harwood- academic, 1st European Machinima Festival
Tom Jamtol – Film Director, author of Anymation


The screening of the films, after which the winners and awards are announced, will be September 23, 2010, at 1 pm and at 7 pm Pacific Time.
This spectacular event will be in SecondLife, in the UWA-Bosl Theater.
Press and guests are welcome to join the teams there, this link will bring you there.

Mr. Peter Greenaway, as head of jury, will speak to the teams and provide feedback, jury will be present at the event.

For information and for entering the contest go here.


Chantal Harvey
Machinima Producer 48 Hour Film Project
http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
machinima@48hourfilm.com

https://twitter.com/48hfpmachinima
http://mamachinima.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 27, 2010

Peter Greenaway in the 48HFP jury

I was pointed to a 2009 blog by Matt Kelland, about Peter Greenaway speaking at a conference about the future of cinema (clicks or Mortar, Newcastle).

quote: (for full blog, click HERE

"Cinema is brain-dead."

Those were his opening words, and from that moment on, I (-Matt Kelland) was hooked. He then proceeded to tell us why film wasn't the ultimate art form, and why cinemas were stupid. "You sit in the dark, and you're expected to remain completely still for two hours. You can't even do that when you're asleep... Film is a poor narrative medium - that's why it always goes to the bookshop for inspiration... We are still using the cinematic language developed in the 20th century to tell stories in the 21st century..." And so on.

He talked a lot about the four cinematic tyrannies:

The tyranny of text: most cinema is still basically text. It's not a visual medium. It's a way of carrying the written word by other means.

The tyranny of the frame: seeing everything on a frame is completely artificial. Film should be more experiential.
The tyranny of actors: "an actor is just someone who is trained to pretend they're not being watched".

The tyranny of the camera: you're not seeing something real, you're seeing something captured by a machine.

Okay, hold it right there, Peter. No text I can give you (Koyaanisqatsi springs to mind), and no actors I can get my head around, but how the hell do you have a film with no frame and no camera?

Well, machinima people, brace yourselves...

"The future of film is in Second Life."

Yup, he really said that. What Greenaway envisages, in part, is an art form where non-linear film happens in a shared virtual space, in real time, with a blurring between creators and participants. The film is created and viewed simultaneously. The cinema is also the stage, the editing room, the sound stage. The frame is where we choose to put it.

Breaking news for 48HFP machinima

I am happy and proud to announce that mr Peter Greenaway has just joined the jury for the 48 Hour Film Project machinima.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Moviestorm joins forces with 48HFP machinima!

I am proud to announce that Moviestorm has joined the 48HFP machinima project as a sponsor, and is offering prizes for éverybody entering the contest, and a bonus prize for éach member of the winning team.



The prizes that Moviestorm offers are:

# For the winner of the machinima section: one year subscription to Moviestorm, plus a license to all Moviestorm content packs (excludes the audio packs) for each member of the team.
# A coupon for a free month sub to Moviestorm to everyone who enters the contest.



Moviestorm is the virtual movie studio for everybody. No matter what genre you will draw during the 48 Hour Film Project machinima, Moviestorm makes it fast and easy to make your films, your way.




Both winners from 2008 ánd 2009 used Moviestorm to create their machinima:

Medieval Dating - The Adventures of Luke and Joe
Ring of False God - Jorge Campos & Matthew Hahn

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Press-release 48 Hour Film Project for machinima: update

Breaking news!!!

As from today, it is official.
Reallusion is sponsoring the 48HFP machinima, and provides prices for the winning machinima teams.

iClone Pro:






3DXchange 4:





The 48 Hour Film Project, the oldest and biggest time filmmaking competition, is looking for machinima! In a wild, sleepless weekend, you and a team will make a movie ---- write, shoot, edit and score it. From scratch. In 48 hours. On Friday, September 17, you'll get a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all to include in your movie. By Sunday, September 19, the movie must be complete and uploaded to our server in California.
Each completed film is guaranteed a screening in Twinity, Inworldz and Second Life.
Winner ánd runner up will be screened at MachinimaExpo 2010.

Meet other machinimatographers, spend 48 hours in intense movie making, have your film screened in several virtual worlds, and compete to represent machinima against the other 90 48HFP cities! Come on out and make a movie!
To be part of the 48HFP, register online at: http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
Registration costs $48 per team. Space is limited, so register today!
The events in 2010 are held in Second Life, which is a free download at: http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/
Teamleaders are expected to be present at kickoff and screening event, if you need any help at all in entering Second Life; please contact Chantal Harvey, and you will be coached step by step. It is also possible to come to the events in a ready made account. (talk about it being easy.)
Communication can be through using skype @ chantal.harvey, and by email: machinima@48hourfilm.com

I am happy to announce our jury:
Tracy Harwood – Phaylen Fairchild – Tom Jantol




This SLurl will take your avatar to the 48HFP (UWA-Bosl)theater :

Some dates to remember: (all times are sl/pacific times)

September 14: Meet and greet the 48HFP teams - 3 pm
September 17: Kickoff event at 5 pm, genres/prop/line/character handout and start of contest September 19: Dropoff event at 5 pm, end of contest is 6.30 pm
September 23: Screening of the films, awards and winners announced
We are pleased to tell you that Filmapalooza 2011 will be part of the...

Miami International Film Festival!!!!!

The MIFF takes place March 4-13, 2011 and Filmapalooza will be 3 days
within that timeframe.

48HFP winners will go to Cannes!!


Chantal Harvey
Machinima Producer 48 Hour Film Project
http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
machinima@48hourfilm.com

info@mamachinima.eu

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Filmapalooza Festival breaking news!

I am very-very pleased to tell you that Filmapalooza 2011 will be part of the...

Miami International Film Festival!!!!!

The MIFF takes place March 4-13, 2011 and Filmapalooza will be 3 days
within that timeframe -- around either the first or second weekend.

We still have lots of great details to work out with the MIFF, but we
hope you will keep Filmapalooza in Miami in mind as you make your
travel plans for 2011!

Monday, August 16, 2010

Press release on 48 Hour Film Project for machinima





Press release on the 48 Hour Film Project for machinima, 2010.
CALLING ALL Machinimatographers!

The 48 Hour Film Project, the oldest and biggest time filmmaking competition, is looking for machinima! In a wild, sleepless weekend, you and a team will make a movie ---- write, shoot, edit and score it. From scratch. In 48 hours. On Friday, September 17, you'll get a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all to include in your movie. By Sunday, September 19, the movie must be complete and uploaded to our server in California.
Each completed film is guaranteed a screening in Twinity, Inworldz and Second Life.
Winner ánd runner up will be screened at MachinimaExpo 2010.

Meet other machinimatographers, spend 48 hours in intense movie making, have your film screened in several virtual worlds, and compete to represent machinima against the other 90 48HFP cities! Come on out and make a movie!
To be part of the 48HFP, register online at: http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
Registration costs $48 per team. Space is limited, so register today!
The events in 2010 are held in Second Life, which is a free download at: http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/
Teamleaders are expected to be present at kickoff and screening event, if you need any help at all in entering Second Life; please contact Chantal Harvey, and you will be coached step by step. It is also possible to come to the events in a ready made account. (talk about it being easy.)
Communication can be through using skype @ chantal.harvey, and by email: machinima@48hourfilm.com




The UWA_BOSL Theater in Second Life

This SLurl will take your avatar to the 48HFP theatre : http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/6/248/1638
Some dates to remember: (all times are sl/pacific times)

September 14: Meet and greet the 48HFP teams - 3 pm
September 17: Kickoff event at 5 pm, genres/prop/line/character handout and start of contest September 19: Dropoff event at 5 pm, end of contest is 6.30 pm
September 23: Screening of the films, awards and winners announced

Dont miss the change to bring your machinima to the World, the winner will be screened at our Filmapalooza Festival, and winners there will go to Cannes!!

Chantal Harvey
Machinima Producer 48 Hour Film Project
http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
machinima@48hourfilm.com

info@mamachinima.eu

14 Teams today!!!!!

August 16: Only 10 slots open now for the 48 Hour Film Project machinima 2010.

The teams so far are:

Grey Matter Films, Penumbra Carter
Ideajuice Studios, Peter Patterson
Insomaniacs, MATTHEW HAHN
Jewell Theatre, Fake Jewell
Kamachinima Production, Ariane Dupleich
Machinimart, Gabe Salgado
Machinimatrix, Hussayn Dabbous
Metaverse Television, Dousa Dragonash
Pookymedia, Pooky Amsterdam
Running Lady Productions and Suzy's..., K. DaVette See
SiGer Team, Sigrid Sudi
SL 2 real, RL a game, Miriam Amelia Munoz
Sound'r, Andre Engelhardt
War Technica, Gabe Achanzar

Monday, August 2, 2010

Teams signing up fast now for the 48HFP machinima 2010

Update on the 48 Hour Film Project for machinima 2010.

The 48 Hour Film Project, the oldest and biggest time filmmaking competition, is looking for machinima! In a wild, sleepless weekend, you and a team will make a movie--write, shoot, edit and score it. From scratch. In 48 hours. On Friday, September 17, you'll get a character, a prop, a line of dialogue and a genre, all to include in your movie. By Sunday, September 19, the movie must be complete. Each completed film is guaranteed a screening in Twinity, Inworldz and Second Life.
Winner and runner up will be screened at MachinimaExpo.

As for the jury, I am happy to announce that the wonderful Tracy Harwood has agreed to join. (Senior Research Fellow Institute of Creative Technologies, and Machinima Festival Europe 2007, and head of jury 48HFP 2009).
2 further judges will be announced soon.

Teams are signing up fast now, and I am happy to announce that we will take 24 teams this year!

Grey Matter Films, Penumbra Carter
Ideajuice Studios, Peter Patterson
Insomaniacs, MATTHEW HAHN
Jewell Theatre, Karen Wheatley
Kamachinima Production, Ariane Dupleich
Machinimart, Gabe Salgado
Machinimatrix, Hussayn Dabbous
Running Lady Productions and Suzy's..., K. DaVette See
SL 2 real, RL a game, Miriam Amelia Munoz
Sound'r, Andre Engelhardt

For details and information, go to:

And any questions, mail to
machinima@48hourfilm.com

So dont wait to long, join and be part of the most exciting contest of 2010 - with a chance to have your machinima screened amongst 90 short films (6 continents this year!).

Chantal Harvey
48HFP machinima producer

Sunday, July 25, 2010

MachinimaMondays - 7 pm



*** Machinimamondays - 7 pm - starting on Monday 26th of July 2010. ***


3 Ladies in machinima have decided to start weekly machinima meetings, an open house gathering to which you are all invited.
It will involve presentations, classes, feedback sessions, discussions, chats, sharing & brainpicking.

So, you are more then welcome to come over and join us,

Phaylen Fairchild
Toxic Menges
Chantal Harvey— Chantal Harvey, Today 1:54

Monday, July 19, 2010

Sims Directors and Film Makers joins forces with 48HFP


I am delighted to announce that Sims Directors and Film Makers has offered to promote the 48HFP for machinima.

I got a kind email from Garth Elliott, founder of the group, and I invite you all to take a look at this friendly community website. http://grou.ps/simiators/signin/warn/home

Lets connect our platforms and virtual worlds, and rock the 48HFP for machinima!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Breaking news on screening the 48HFP entries

Yes, the official 48HFP theater is in Second Life, but............

I am happy and proud to inform you that the following VW/organisations have offered support:

All machinima’s will be screened in
http://twinity.com
http://secondlife.com
http://inworldz.com/

winner ánd runner up will be screened at
http://www.machinima-expo.com/


Kickoff, dropoff and announcing winners after screening:
UWA-BOSL Theatre in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/6/248/1638

Please browse the 48HFP website: http://www.48hourfilm.com/machinima
Chantal Harvey’s blog: http://mamachinima.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/48hfpmachinima
http://twitter.com/Mamachinima

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The 48HFP filmmakers rules, as found on the website.

48HFP Official Filmmaking Rules
The following rules apply to each participating group/production team:


A. Times:

•The 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP) will occur in cities around the world on different weekends throughout the year.
•The 48 Hour Film Project will occur between a Friday 7pm local time and the following Sunday 7pm local time. This is the "Official 48 Hour Time Period". (Days of competition may vary in some countries.)
•The participating group/team must complete its film/video work in time to deliver it to a location to be announced, on Sunday by 7:30pm.
•Only works that meet the deadline will be officially part of the competition. All films received on Sunday (on-time and late) will be screened.
B. All creativity must take place during the "Official 48 Hour Time Period". Any creativity work in advance of the competition weekend is prohibited. Creative work includes, but is not limited to:

•Writing the script
•Rehearsing
•Costume/Set Design
•Shooting
•Editing
•Sound Design
•Rendering
•Outputting to tape or other media

C. The only work to begin prior to the "Official 48 Hour Time Period" is:

•Organizing Crew
•Organizing Cast
•Securing Equipment
•Scouting/Securing Locations
(See also Rule D and Rule J.)

D. All footage must be shot within the 48 hour time period of the project.

•No stock footage or footage shot or created at another time may be used.
•Animation and special effects are permitted, but must be created during the 48 hour time period. (Note: Stock footage as part of a special effect in a third party special effects program is permissible.)
•Still photographs are permitted, provided that the team has the rights to them. The photos do not need to be created during the 48 hour time period; however, stills created outside of the official 48 hour time period may not be used in sequence to create the illusion of motion.
E. Each participating group must have a representative at the official Kickoff Event of the 48 Hour Film Project.

•At the event, each group must submit a complete Team Leader's Agreement, signed by its team leader. (This form can be found on the 48 Hour Film Project website.) A team may not participate without submitting this agreement.
•Each group will choose the genre of its film in a random drawing.
•Teams will be given the option of relinquishing the genre selected in the drawing for a Wild Card genre. If opting for the Wild Card, teams may not go back to their original genre.
F. Each participating group will be assigned required elements that must appear in its film, such as a genre, a character, a prop and/or a line of dialogue.

•The required Character and Prop must be seen on-screen.
•The required Line of Dialogue must be used verbatim. It may be spoken, sung and/or written. It may be in any language, though if it is unclear that it is the required Line, there must be a translation.
•To qualify as an "Official 48 Hour Film," each group's film must be in the genre it selects and must contain all required elements within the official time limit and prior to the credits.
G. All cast and crew must be volunteers.

H. Any type of video or film camera may be used, however, a maximum of only three cameras may be used to shoot footage for use in your film. Sound recorders are allowed in addition to this three camera limit. Cameras used for a purpose other than recording video footage (for example, as props, editing decks, sound recorders, or to record solely behind-the-scenes footage) are allowed in addition to this three camera limit.

I. First Time Cities only: Each film must include a landmark (building, monument, etc.) or identifying characteristic (e.g., bus, city office) of the competition city. (Note: The landmark or characteristic must exist inside city limits.) This rule applies only the first time the 48HFP visits a city.

J. Participating groups are encouraged to work with a local composer and/or musicians to write and record music for the films. It is permissible for a participating group to use pre-recorded music; however the participating group must have the rights to any music used in its film and must provide releases for all music used. As with music, pre-recorded sound effects are allowed, but you must have rights to use them. Note: Song parodies (i.e., use of identifiable pre-existing compositions with new or altered lyrics or music) may not be included in the film without a signed release from the composition’s rights holder. This rule applies without regard to whether the song parody arguably constitutes "fair use" under US or international copyright law.

K. The finished film must be a minimum of 4 minutes in duration, and a maximum of 7 minutes in duration—not including credits. See Rule L.

L. Credits at the end of each film are limited to a maximum of 60 seconds. The 60 seconds is considered additional to the length of the film, as stated in Rule K. (That is, a film may be 7 minutes long, with an additional 60 seconds of credits, for a total running time of 8 minutes.)

M. For the United States, Canada, Peru, and South Korea, the finished film/video must be in NTSC. For all other countries, it must be in PAL.

Unless otherwise instructed on your city page of the 48 Hour Film Project website, your film must be submitted on one of the following media:

•(preferred) a self-contained, SD, Quicktime file with no proprietary codecs on either:
- a data DVD, or
- a USB flash drive
•miniDV
•DVD
We recommend that each team submit two copies of the final film. If the Entry cannot be viewed on 48HFP equipment, it may be disqualified.

N. All films received on the evening of the deadline (on-time and late) will be screened, presuming they are eligible according to Rule R. To ensure the best screening of your film, please follow the instructions below, unless instructed differently by your City Producer:

•HD films must be down-converted to SD.
•Sound levels should be relatively even throughout the film. (If your film has uneven sound or sound that peaks, it may be modified to protect the playback equipment.)
•Note: Projection specs vary from theater to theater and are beyond the control of the 48HFP. If your film is very dark, it may be difficult to see in your theater.
O. Before the finished film begins, the tape should have:

•5 seconds of bars and tone
(you may use your own bars and tone or download bars and tone here)

•5 seconds of black
•A title card with: team name, date, city, title, and genre
•A title card with:
"This film made for the 48 Hour Film Project 2010."
•2 seconds of black
•Your film
P. Each team must secure releases for talent, crew, music and locations (and any other applicable releases), which must be turned in to the project organizers with the finished film/video. (The release forms can be found on the 48 Hour Film Project website.) The film/video will not be screened before the 48 Hour Film Project Organizers receive the signed releases.

Q. The Entrant must submit a Certification Statement with his/her completed Entry, certifying adherence to all Official Rules.

R. To be eligible for the Project, Entries must be the original work of the Entrant; must not infringe third-party's rights; must be suitable for publication (i.e., may not be obscene or indecent); must not contain obscene or pornographic material; may not contain defamatory statements about any person, company, organization or entity; may not invade privacy or other rights of any person, company or entity; may not in any other way violate applicable laws and regulations; and may not contain any copyrighted elements (other than as owned by the Entrant and/or 48HFP). Entries containing prohibited or inappropriate content as determined by the 48HFP, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate will be disqualified. 48HFP reserves the right to make the final determination as to which Entries are eligible.

S. To be certified as an "Official 48 Hour Film," each participating group's film/video production must follow all rules herein. The 48 Hour Film Project Organizers reserve the right to screen only certified "Official 48 Hour Films."

T. No Entries (media or documents) will be returned.

U. 48HFP and Project Parties may, in their sole discretion, disqualify Entries deemed to be inappropriate or otherwise non-compliant.

V. All certified "Official 48 Hour Films" are eligible to compete for the title of Best 48 Hour Film in its city.

W. All "Best of City" films are eligible to compete for title of Best 48 Hour Film 2010. Panels of independent judges will determine the winners.

X. The 48 Hour Film Project Organizers may add to or amend these rules at any time prior to the beginning of the 48 Hour time period.

Every second counts, when you have 48 hours to make a film!