As I feared when I wrote my previous post, the new name doesn't feel right. Henceforth, my new movie will indeed be called The Chapelside Deception. I imagine it'll mostly be abbreviated to Deception, which is fine by me!
Nothing more to see here - please move along!
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Sunday, 22 April 2012
The Naming Dilema
You know when you hear that someone has had a baby, but they don't have a name for it yet? What is that all about? Was the baby a surprise? Was nine months not enough time to come up with a couple of names in preparation? And what about those parents who give their child a name, then after a month or so decide to change it? As you can probably tell, I'm a bit perlexed by this behaviour.
Then I experienced it for myself this week.
I've been working on a movie for some time now (seven months in fact, almost enough time to make a baby!) and the movie is nearing completion (just a bit of post-production and tidying up to do). At the point I wrote the script I didn't have a title for the movie, so it was just called "Football" as that is the theme. It tells the story of Chapelside FC who, in the 1970s, as they struggle to survive off the field (financially), as well as on the field (their ambitions for promotion to the top tier of English football).
Of course, all is not as it seems... so, as the movie was nearing completion I settled on a name for it; The Chapelside Deception.
I even did a poster which will be used for promoting the film online.
Within 24 hours of publishing the poster, I'd decided I wasn't happy with the name. Can't say exactly why, maybe it's not snappy enough - I really don't know. And I doubt anyone else really cares anyway, but it seems to me that after all this effort it really should have a name that I can live with. It's not the first time I've had worries about a name - I nearly abandoned the name for Clockwork because another machinima movie with the same name was published just before mine. By then though it was a bit late to change, especially seeing as the script made passing reference to the title (which in turn was a nod to the original inspiration for the piece).
Anyway, back to Chapelside... as of now, and this could still change... my new movie will be called:
Fix.
And I might still have The Chapelside Deception as a subtitle. We'll see.
Sorry for the indecision!
Here's the old poster - a new one will be along any day now...
Then I experienced it for myself this week.
I've been working on a movie for some time now (seven months in fact, almost enough time to make a baby!) and the movie is nearing completion (just a bit of post-production and tidying up to do). At the point I wrote the script I didn't have a title for the movie, so it was just called "Football" as that is the theme. It tells the story of Chapelside FC who, in the 1970s, as they struggle to survive off the field (financially), as well as on the field (their ambitions for promotion to the top tier of English football).
Of course, all is not as it seems... so, as the movie was nearing completion I settled on a name for it; The Chapelside Deception.
I even did a poster which will be used for promoting the film online.
Within 24 hours of publishing the poster, I'd decided I wasn't happy with the name. Can't say exactly why, maybe it's not snappy enough - I really don't know. And I doubt anyone else really cares anyway, but it seems to me that after all this effort it really should have a name that I can live with. It's not the first time I've had worries about a name - I nearly abandoned the name for Clockwork because another machinima movie with the same name was published just before mine. By then though it was a bit late to change, especially seeing as the script made passing reference to the title (which in turn was a nod to the original inspiration for the piece).
Anyway, back to Chapelside... as of now, and this could still change... my new movie will be called:
Fix.
And I might still have The Chapelside Deception as a subtitle. We'll see.
Sorry for the indecision!
Here's the old poster - a new one will be along any day now...
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Cine/8760 - A 24 Hour Online Filmfest!
Talented iCloner AnimaTechnica has pulled together some of the best machinima and anymation available online to create an online film festival. It's a terrific compilation which gives a great view of the "state of the art". Cine/8760 is available here (not sure of the significance of the title). I suggest you hop along there pronto and start watching some great animation!
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Movies that inspired me
There's a very interesting thread over on the Moviestorm forums where users have been asked to nominate their favourite movies for the Hall of Fame. It's basically a list of nominations, (although you're allowed to nominate your own movies, which seems a little odd to me. Even odder, you're allowed to nominate your own movies in secret by PMing Moviestorm!)
I've posted a list of movies which for a variety of reasons have inspired me along the way. Sometimes because of attention to detail, or overall quality, or because of the story, or because it was funny, etc. However, it's not just Moviestorm movies that have encouraged me along the way, so here's my list including movies shot in Second Life, The Movies, and other software;
The Unexpected, by Kkffoo
Saving Grace, by Sisch
Le Rondeau, by Primaveranz
I bin gat wat taem, by Primaveranz
Blue Knights: The Jumper, by act3scene24
Merry Christmas, Sweetheart (number 10), by act3scene24
Control Point, by Mellowhardy
Northern Lasses (series), by Luxaeternam
Albion, by Luxaeternam
Danse Macabre, by Poulet Noir
The Stolen Child, by Lainy Voom
The Wizard of OS, by Tom Jantol
The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by JosephKW
Coming Home, by Lizard
Orientation, by Chantal Harvey
Family Values, by Edan Mackenzie
Generally speaking, these directors only do good stuff - you can pick any of their completed movies and see something impressive. Hopefully there's something in this list that you haven't seen before.
I'd be interested to hear any recommendations you have for movies worth watching. (Other than your own of course...)
I've posted a list of movies which for a variety of reasons have inspired me along the way. Sometimes because of attention to detail, or overall quality, or because of the story, or because it was funny, etc. However, it's not just Moviestorm movies that have encouraged me along the way, so here's my list including movies shot in Second Life, The Movies, and other software;
The Unexpected, by Kkffoo
Saving Grace, by Sisch
Le Rondeau, by Primaveranz
I bin gat wat taem, by Primaveranz
Blue Knights: The Jumper, by act3scene24
Merry Christmas, Sweetheart (number 10), by act3scene24
Control Point, by Mellowhardy
Northern Lasses (series), by Luxaeternam
Albion, by Luxaeternam
Danse Macabre, by Poulet Noir
The Stolen Child, by Lainy Voom
The Wizard of OS, by Tom Jantol
The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by JosephKW
Coming Home, by Lizard
Orientation, by Chantal Harvey
Family Values, by Edan Mackenzie
Generally speaking, these directors only do good stuff - you can pick any of their completed movies and see something impressive. Hopefully there's something in this list that you haven't seen before.
I'd be interested to hear any recommendations you have for movies worth watching. (Other than your own of course...)
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Muvizu - First Impressions
Today I had a chance to see a demo of Muvizu for the first time, capably delivered by one of the developers. I've been aware of the software for some time now but haven't really properly investigated.
As you're probably aware Muvizu is an animation package built on the sublime Unreal engine. It is still in public beta but has a very slick, polished feel. What I was most impressed with were the camera focus and depth of field controls, and the beautiful lighting system which allows the director to create tremendously atmospheric and shadowy scenes.
The other striking thing about Muvizu is the cartoony nature of the characters and props. Any movie made with this software is gonna have to have a punch line!
David, who was demonstrating, claims that Muvizu isn't a competitor as such for Moviestorm (my current weapon of choice), and I'd have to agree, to a point. Sure, it's going to appeal to those of us with a creative need to make animations, but the type of movies you want to make are going to dictate the best tool for the job; you want thought-provoking drama? Moviestorm or iClone is probably the right tool. You want to have a stab at creating your own Toy Story or WallE? Muvizu has gotta be consideration.
Will I give it a go? Probably. If I can ever find the time, and right now isn't the time. Of course I'm notoriously impatient when it comes to learning new applications. But Muvizu did look very approachable.
Have you used it? How did you find it?
As you're probably aware Muvizu is an animation package built on the sublime Unreal engine. It is still in public beta but has a very slick, polished feel. What I was most impressed with were the camera focus and depth of field controls, and the beautiful lighting system which allows the director to create tremendously atmospheric and shadowy scenes.
The other striking thing about Muvizu is the cartoony nature of the characters and props. Any movie made with this software is gonna have to have a punch line!
David, who was demonstrating, claims that Muvizu isn't a competitor as such for Moviestorm (my current weapon of choice), and I'd have to agree, to a point. Sure, it's going to appeal to those of us with a creative need to make animations, but the type of movies you want to make are going to dictate the best tool for the job; you want thought-provoking drama? Moviestorm or iClone is probably the right tool. You want to have a stab at creating your own Toy Story or WallE? Muvizu has gotta be consideration.
Will I give it a go? Probably. If I can ever find the time, and right now isn't the time. Of course I'm notoriously impatient when it comes to learning new applications. But Muvizu did look very approachable.
Have you used it? How did you find it?
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
FILE Rio 2010
Got of lovely email this morning from Fernanda Albuquerque de Almeida who is the Machinima Curator at FILE Brazil. FILE is the Electronic Language International Festival which takes place at various locations in Brazil, and I'm fortunate enough to have had several screenings there before.
Fernanda wrote to tell me that Trichophagia will be screened at FILE Rio 2012, which takes place at the Art Galery of Oi Futuro - Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro from March 12 to April 08.
As soon as I know more information, I'll let you the details!
As I mentioned a few posts ago I have a new script. Most of the voices are in the can, just one more to go before I go into film-making mode proper. In past years I've really made use of the time off over Christmas to jump into making machinima. This year, although I've got this new project to kick off, I'm planning on taking it easy. I'll probably just dip into it from time to time and see how long it takes me.
For you machinima makers out there - do you relish the idea of a bit of time off work to get cracking on your latest creation, or do you prefer to just chip away whenever you can?
Fernanda wrote to tell me that Trichophagia will be screened at FILE Rio 2012, which takes place at the Art Galery of Oi Futuro - Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro from March 12 to April 08.
As soon as I know more information, I'll let you the details!
As I mentioned a few posts ago I have a new script. Most of the voices are in the can, just one more to go before I go into film-making mode proper. In past years I've really made use of the time off over Christmas to jump into making machinima. This year, although I've got this new project to kick off, I'm planning on taking it easy. I'll probably just dip into it from time to time and see how long it takes me.
For you machinima makers out there - do you relish the idea of a bit of time off work to get cracking on your latest creation, or do you prefer to just chip away whenever you can?
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Vive française machinima
The annual Atopic Machinima festival in Paris is coming up this month. It's the third year I've had a film selected for screening there. The first year I was able to go over and enjoy some great films, and meet some interesting people. As always, I had hoped to attend in person again, but due to my workload this won't be possible.
As I type this, I have the French version of Trichophagia rendering specially for the festival. Rather than simply adding subtitles, I've edited every single speech bubble - it was a long, boring, manual task as I hadn't ever intended to do a translated version, so it wasn't really designed for easy editing in that way. The size and location of each bubble couldn't be changed (easily), and some of the text took up a different amount of space to the English equivalent (a problem that is familiar to anyone who has ever had to deal with localising printed material for example). This meant that the point size and leading for each bubble text needed to be adjusted. In addition, it took me a while to find a font that would work - Lucy George who did an amazing job in providing a translated version of the script recommended using mixed case text so that the accents were apparent. Good advice I thought, until I realised that the font I had used in the English version didn't have lower case characters, nor did it have European accents.
I have to say that in the early hours of this morning I was wishing I'd just copied and pasted the subtitles across, and stuck them in Ariel or something equally uninspiring.
Anyway, fingers crossed that the final render looks good.
The majority of movies to be screened at the festival are French, so I'm not too familiar with them. But there are some solid award-winning movies in there that I do recognise - especially Ian Chisholm's Clear Skies 3, and an old favourite of mine Orientation by Chantal Harvey.
If you get the chance to go then I do recommend it!
As I type this, I have the French version of Trichophagia rendering specially for the festival. Rather than simply adding subtitles, I've edited every single speech bubble - it was a long, boring, manual task as I hadn't ever intended to do a translated version, so it wasn't really designed for easy editing in that way. The size and location of each bubble couldn't be changed (easily), and some of the text took up a different amount of space to the English equivalent (a problem that is familiar to anyone who has ever had to deal with localising printed material for example). This meant that the point size and leading for each bubble text needed to be adjusted. In addition, it took me a while to find a font that would work - Lucy George who did an amazing job in providing a translated version of the script recommended using mixed case text so that the accents were apparent. Good advice I thought, until I realised that the font I had used in the English version didn't have lower case characters, nor did it have European accents.
I have to say that in the early hours of this morning I was wishing I'd just copied and pasted the subtitles across, and stuck them in Ariel or something equally uninspiring.
Anyway, fingers crossed that the final render looks good.
The majority of movies to be screened at the festival are French, so I'm not too familiar with them. But there are some solid award-winning movies in there that I do recognise - especially Ian Chisholm's Clear Skies 3, and an old favourite of mine Orientation by Chantal Harvey.
If you get the chance to go then I do recommend it!
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