
Cinemassively: Beast
Filed under: Video, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima
Sometimes a video provokes so much emotion that you forget it's not real. In the words of Beast creator, Dr. Nemesis, "So far, facial animation has been very limited in Machinima. To get emotion across, most of us have had to rely on good acting, a well chosen sound track, and the viewers imagination, but not facial expression." In his current film, he uses Crazy Talk, Motionbuilder, and Sims 2, to overcome this issue.
When the scene opens, you see two men. One is tied up and the other is yelling at him. As the story unfolds, you learn that the man in captivity has deeply wronged the other man, to the point where he has nothing left to lose. With each facial expression, punch thrown, and gut-wrenching confession, you feel his pain.
While this is not traditional MMO Machinima, you can learn from the tactics he used. In the future, Second Life will be part of a hybrid-Machinima movement. Filmmakers are already using multiple programs to blend their works, such as MovieStorm, Poser, Crazy Talk, and iClone. As merging mediums becomes popular, I believe we'll see a whole new level of quality work coming from the community.






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-07-2007 @ 11:33AM
Ricky Grove said...
I agree. With quality work like BEAST (and thanks for posting about it) using tools that are non-game related, I think we will see machinima moving in a different direction in the future.
I think the key to BEAST's success is in the animation; the detail, the quality, the simplicity all add up to a real stomach churner. In addition, the ideas behind the story are fully supported by the rest of the film. By that I mean the look and sound of the film are exactly right for what is being said. Leo Lucien-Bey's skill at creating lip-sync is a another huge factor in the film being so believable and true. Plus, the film has a stylized look that is unique to machinima. I don't think I've seen a film quite like it.
That this film was passed over at the European Machinima film festival is a huge error in judgement.
Reply