Lots happening!

I've been postponing updating this blog for too long now with the result that there's a lot to tell you about!

First up, there is an evening of machinima being screened at Phoenix Square in Leicester next Thursday (18 March). The event is being hosted by Dr. Tracy Harwood of De Montford University, and Chantal Harvey who is the organiser of the Mamachinima festival. Clockwork is on the programme, and I'll be going along.

Next, as you may be aware I've started contacting various Film Societies to see if they're interested in screening any of my animations, following a very successful screening at Andover. The great news is that I now have positive replies from both Bracknell and Winchester Film Societies!

On Thursday 20th May Winchester Film Society will host a screening of shorts, including Clockwork. I'll be there to introduce it and to take questions.

Then, on Tuesday 13 July it's along to Bracknell Film Society who will also show Clockwork, and once again I'll introduce and take questions.

On the whole I have to say I'm really pleased with the number of "real world" screenings - I'd always believed that machinima shouldn't be limited to an online audience, so it's great that these opportunities are there. And for any directors out there who are contemplating contacting their local film society then my advice is: Stop Contemplating And Just Do It!

Next up: my television debut on French TV show Tracks... my appearance was short and sweet, and I looked suitably "animated". I'm looking for a online version that I can link to, so watch this space.

Another appearance in the media that was a real surprise for me was in last Saturday's Times newspaper. The "Sitegeist" column was about online animation software, and of course Moviestorm gets a mention, along with Clockwork.

So what of my latest movie Embers? Well, the response has been great. Comments about the look and feel have been consistently positive (apart from odd comment that said the bicycle in the basement gets too much prominence*). The ending however has really divided people! Some people like it, other's see what it was trying to do but feel that the pace of the movie was disrupted by it, while others absolutely hate the ending!

And this might surprise you, but if I was a viewer of this movie and not the director then I too would dislike the ending because it's not at all within my comfort zone, and this type of ending always seems like a cop-out to me whenever I see it used. However, I set out with clear personal challenge to myself with this movie - I didn't want to "play it safe", and regardless of how you feel about the ending in terms of story-telling, I still think it looks good. So, although I didn't follow my instinct for the narrative, I don't think I compromised any visual quality. It's like a vegetarian chef trying to cook the Christmas Turkey - I gave it my best shot, and I'm OK with the final result, even if it's not to my taste.

Another plus point; the ending surprised people, especially the ones who know me personally, and I love a twist in the tale!

Embers has already won a Storm Award from the Storm Hour on TMOA Radio. I think it is also a worthy successor to Clockwork as far as material for future cinema/film society screenings. I say this because at a little over 12 minutes long it's just the right size to add on to a main feature with an introduction. Cloud Angel at 20 minutes is probably a bit too long for that purpose (although I'd love to see Cloud Angel on the big screen - it would look amazing!)


*Oh yeah, the bike. This is one of the most interesting props I think I've ever used. I found it in Google 3Dwarehouse. The only modification I made to it was to tilt it over so that it leans against the bookcase rather than magically stand upright on its own. Originally, I stuck it on the set intending to find a place for it later (just like in real life I guess!) and discovered that it created some great shapes for some of the shots I was framing. That gave me an incentive to keep it where I'd placed it.

Embers is now published

Just a very short post today to announce that Embers is now available for your viewing pleasure!

Just click here to watch it.

Is this my fifteen minutes that Andy Warhol promised me?

Those of you who follow my blog will know that last October I was interviewed for a French TV programme called Tracks. The show is due to be aired tonight (I think) on a report about Machinima and the Atopic Festival in Paris.
I’ve not seen it myself yet, and I’ve had to go to some lengths to secure a recording of the show as it isn’t broadcast in the UK, and although it should be accessible online too I think it is limited to users in France.
I’m really looking forward to seeing this show, although I don’t speak a word of French, and I can’t remember much about what I said to them.
Still, if it turns out that I made a complete fool of myself then at least it will only be the French that think I’m an idiot. And as my French work colleagues will rush to point out, they already knew this!

Announcing my forthcoming movie...

Yes, it's nearing completion and will be published very, very soon!
For anyone that's watched my movies, you'll know that I've started to build a reputation for gloomy, depressing, and dark material. Clockwork - my most successful flick to date - is set in an alternate history where the UK has descended into a hopelessly bleak totalitarian society. Cloud Angel is set on board an airship, and not wishing to spoil it if you haven't watched it, let's just say it doesn't end well...
I decided this had to change.
So, my new movie is set in an fallout shelter after a nuclear strike. I know what you're thinking. "It doesn't sound very cheery". Well, that's because it's not. I think it's fair to say that I've been singularly unsuccessful in my mission to deliver a happy upbeat Disneyesque family film. Still, could've been worse. It could've been a musical.
This film is something of a departure for me though. It's the first time I've set a movie in the US. The reason for not doing this before was because I like to direct my voice actors in person, and they're all British. In the same way that American actors struggle to do British accents, I assume that British actors doing American accents will sound ridiculous (to Americans at any rate. I doubt Brits would notice.) Do American actors struggle with British accents? I think so*. Any time there's a computer game with one of the levels set in the UK it's always painfully obvious that the actor isn't a native. The worst example I can think of is a Tony Hawks game that the kids have on the Wii - the "English" girl is dressed in a Union flag T-shirt and speaks with an accent that alternates between Cockney, Yorkshire, and bizarrely Australian. I don't intend this to sound in any way xenophobic - my point is simply that films set in the UK require British actors, so I assume films set in the US will require American actors.
This presented something of a problem for me as there are any number of actors available online, but I needed people that could perform without my immediate direction. I'm happy to say I got some killer performances...
With this movie I struggled with the title. The film is about a young couple holed up in the basement of their house which they've converted into a fallout shelter. They've been there for months after the country descended into nuclear war, and as they're in a remote rural location well away from any major industrial or population centres they've managed to avoid any direct blast damage. The threat now is fallout, and they wonder if it is safe to go outside.
The original title was "Embers", as I saw these two characters as being like the embers of life - and it could go one of two ways, they either fade away and die, or are rekindled into life. Then, I changed the name to "The End". I wanted to drive home the seriousness of their predicament. Now, no one has ever described my work as subtle, but even I could see that "The End" was a bit melodramatic, so "Embers" was rekindled. (Did you see what I did there...?)
Anyway, it is tantalisingly close to being released, so watch this space!

*with the obvious exception of Johnny Depp. I don't know how or why, but he can get away with it.

Screening by Andover Film Club

On Monday 1st February I headed down to Andover for the screening of Clockwork. The Film Club had done a great job of turning the evening into a special event, which I hugely appreciated. They had issued a press release to announce that a "local filmaker" (i.e. me!) would be showcasing one of their animated movies.
The Film Club have their screenings at the Reel cinema, which is a modern multiplex. It's obvious that there's a great working relationship between the cinema and the club; in fact, the cinema had gone to great lengths to install a digital projector specifically for my movie (as opposed to the 35mm projectors used for the movies normally shown there).
As it was a special event, members and their guests were greeted in the foyer with glasses of champagne, (I made sure I guzzled one down in preparation for my little talk!)
While the audience were arriving I headed up to the projection room to meet the projectionist and to make sure everything was working OK. I've never been in a projection room before, and it was a sight to behold! I was fascinated by the film projectors - I instinctively knew that films are provided on huge reels but it's not until you see them sitting on these massive spools that you really understand how specialist this equipment is. In addition to the 35mm projectors, and the digital projector that was being used for my movie, they had a simply huge digital projector with integrated server (and cooling ducts disappearing into the ceiling). This was for Avatar of course - no wonder it looks so good on screen!
I then headed down to the auditorium to do a last minute check on the sound levels. The sound was crystal clear. In fact, there were some artifacts that I could hear which I know are in the movie but you're not normally aware of (mostly to do with the noise reduction filter for one of the voices). The sound reproduction was brilliant.
Then back to the foyer to quaff my fizz, then I followed the audience back to the auditorium. One of the committee members gave a short introduction, then I spoke for five or six minutes about machinima; what it is, origins, challenges, then a bit about Clockwork specifically; how long it took to make, where it has been shown, awards.
Then it was the screening itself.
The response was great. I think the audience genuinely enjoyed the movie, and later in the evening as everyone was filing out quite a few people stopped to say hello and tell me what they thought of the movie - they didn't have to do that!
All in all, the evening was a great success and I'm hoping I'll have the chance to show them more of my work in the future.
So, thanks Andover Film Club, it was an honour to be able to show Clockwork!

Breaking out of the backroom

Ever since I started making machinima I've been convinced that a wider audience exists outside the confines of the internet. It's great that so many many people have taken the time to view my movies and pass judgement on them - every comment is welcomed, even if I don't always agree! And it's natural that machinma viewing should largely take place online as the internet allows everyone to showcase their creativity. However, as anyone who has ever made a machinima movie knows, it takes ages, and what better reward for all that time than being able to see your movie projected on a huge cinema screen?
I'm fortunate to have had movies shown at quite a few festivals in the last 12 months, and I was able to attend some of them. Of course, the other great thing about seeing your own movie in a cinema is that you also get to meet the audience - when someone looks you in the eye and tells you what they really think... well, somehow it has more gravity than an anonymous comment on an internet forum.
Recently, I was talking to a colleague who has just started a Film Society in his home town. Having seen some of my work he thought that it might be an idea to show it during one of their screenings. What's great about film societies is that they're genuinely interested in different types of film; art house, foreign films, classic movies, etc. So there's a possibility they'll screen something later in the year once the society is up and running.
This got me thinking... how many film societies are there in the UK? The answer is hundreds! So, on the off-chance I got in touch with the Andover Film Club who are probably the nearest one to me. I sent them a link to some of my movies and asked if they'd be interested in screening any of them - probably as a B-movie to the main feature. They were!
So, the good news is that they're going to screen Clockwork at the Reel Cinema on Monday 1st February. I'm going along to introduce it, and give a little talk about machinima, then after showing the movie they'll go on to the main feature.
I'll keep you posted how it goes, and assuming it all goes well I'll be contacting other film societies in the south to see if they'd be interested in doing something similar.
The only downside I can see to all this is it's one fewer night that I'll have to actually make movies, but in thinking about it, I make them because I want people to see them.
If you're interested in doing something similar in your home town, then a good starting place (in the UK) is the British Federation of Film Societies. Good luck!

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I posted an update, and it's not because there's nothing going on... I currently have two movies in production, one of which is a collaborative project, plus ideas for a further two movies which will take me in a completely new direction. In addition I've struck upon a new idea to broaden my audience. I'll give a full account of this once we're into the new year.
For the past couple of weeks I've just been chilling out, catching up with people that I haven't seen in a long time.
For now, let me wish you and your family a happy and prosperous new year!