"Wow, a new user... That's Great! We'd be happy to show you the ropes!" a PSA on conversation starters in forums and comment threads online that have never been heard or used before. Brought to you by Red Vs. Blue.
posted by Del Far on Jun 25, 2008 - 18 comments

Machinima (muh-shin-eh-mah or ma-shin-i-ma) is a hybrid filmmaking technique where people utilize game engines and environments to create videos. At first, it was little more than screengrabs and screencasts of in-game action, but it has now grown to include sophisticated storylines independent of game action. Shows and entire series have been made from The Sims, Halo, The Movies, Quake, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament and Second Life to name just a few. Actually, some Team Fortress 2 machinima was recently mentioned (October 9th). Over the years, there have been some really amazing productions, such as the now legendary 100-episode Red vs Blue series (also previously mentioned) which was created with Halo 2. A lot of machinima can be found and viewed for free on machinima.com. The Internet Archive also maintains a machinima section. The recently-released BloodSpell, a "punk fantasy" from Strange Company, is believed to be the first feature-length movie released using the Neverwinter Nights game engine. (watch online free, free divx download - 847 MB, free quicktime download - 903 MB). Two of the people behind BloodSpell, Hugh Hancock and Johnnie Ingram have co-written the just-published "Machinima for Dummies". [more inside]
posted by TrinityB5 on Dec 2, 2007 - 32 comments

Lament of the Highborne (divx) A haunting machinima from Blizzard Entertainment. It tells the story of Sylvanas Windrunner, one of the last defenders of her civilization. She was killed and resurrected by Arthas, the Lich King. In his moment of weakness she rebelled, and now reigns as queen of the undead. [more inside]
posted by furiousxgeorge on Sep 20, 2007 - 11 comments

I am Murloc. Cool World of Warcraft music video. (Note: Impressed me, but I've never played WoW. Might not impress WoW players, I dunno. Won't change your mind if you already hate WoW. Horrible vocals.)
posted by Bugbread on Jul 17, 2007 - 51 comments

"What are they talking about?" Was it just an April Fools' joke? Are they really gonna end Red Vs. Blue: arguably the most successful machinima series ever? Will Blood Gulch be silent of one-liners and snide comments once more, or is this a blatant attempt by Rooster Teeth to drum up interest in their 100th episode? Considering the fact they started it four years ago on April Fools Day, it's really hard to tell. (surprise! no youtube links!)
posted by ZachsMind on Apr 3, 2007 - 11 comments

Halo meets Monty Python (youtube). Monty Python's "How not to be seen" done in Halo. Or try, The Codex for more fun with the Halo engine. Previous Halo machinima post.
posted by papakwanz on Nov 29, 2006 - 8 comments

Fans of Flight Simulators and Michinima might be familiar with the adventures of Bill and John. If you're not, download episode 1 along with the subtitles and and familiarize yourself with a very funny piece of machinima, even more impressive because it's not only in Lock On: Modern Air Combat, but in French to boot. Well they're back, winning Best Picture at the Machinima 2006 film festival, The Adventures of Bill Et John II. Browse the rest of the nominees and winners on the Machinima.com festival page.
posted by Lord_Pall on Nov 12, 2006 - 7 comments

We live in a weird time. via plasticbag.org
posted by cgc373 on Oct 16, 2006 - 17 comments

Frank Lloyd Wright in Half Life 2 a machima walkthrough of the Falling Water / Kaufmann House. (youtube) (higher res version - 57mb) (slightly more information)
posted by crunchland on Aug 31, 2006 - 37 comments

Deviation (embedded video); a Machinima film hits the mainstream festival circuit. (previous forays into Machinima)
posted by jrb223 on May 14, 2006 - 16 comments

The French Democracy is a short film on the recent riots in France. It was made by Alex Chan, Parisan-born but of Chinese parents, to "to correct what was being said in the media, especially in the United States" about the riots. He used a techinique called machinima--using a video game engine to make his movie.
posted by LarryC on Dec 16, 2005 - 39 comments

This Spartan Life , a Halo talk show. A nice example of Machinima, using game engines in unexpected ways. Some, like the folks behind Red vs. Blue or The Strangerhood, make long running series, others recreate movie scenes, and some people just like playing with the environment.
posted by Gamblor on Aug 22, 2005 - 10 comments

The Protagonist : Virtual Entrepreneur is a 5 minute excerpt of the crossover machinima/meatworld documentary project Ideal World, and is about one user's "real life" in the MMORPG Second Life. The finished documentary seeks to examine the growth, impact and society of this amazing digital reality over the last 2 years.
[ via New World Notes ] Disclaimer: I am not a Second Life player- as much as I would like to be, I'm too scared it's too much fun.
posted by elphTeq on Aug 9, 2005 - 7 comments

The next wave in Filmmaking? This summer, the Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences, along with NVIDIA, will hold the world's first Machinima Film Festival on August 17th in Mesquite, Texas.

Machinima is, simply stated, filmmaking within a real-time virtual 3D environment. In an expanded definition, it is the convergence of filmmaking, animation & game development. Machinima is a very cost- & time-efficient way to produce films.
posted by lilboo on Jul 12, 2002 - 11 comments