Academia poses an interesting question. How far does the researcher need to get involved with his subjects or topic? In other words, does the researcher need to know how to fly an airplane in order to study team communication between pilots? Does she need to live with wolves in order to understand their behavior? Does someone who is interested in machinima need to create one? In the latter case of machinima, I argue yes, she does, because it gives her a better understanding and appreciation of the artistic skills that are necessary to produce a piece what some call a “low-budget” film. With the creation of a machinima, I wanted to investigate my earlier claim that machinima represent video art and the production of an in-game film can be compared to film making to a certain extent.
That was the main reason why I decided to create a machinima myself as part of my final project. I did this with the help of Aryya, a Paladin in the massively multi-player online role playing game World of Warcraft. Aryya is actually the avatar that is the main character of my narrative. I was mainly interested in the possibilities of film making that are given within the game context. Blizzard Entertainment, the creator of World of Warcraft, embraces the creation of Machinima (Hayes, 2008) but strictly forbids the commercial use of such a production (see Appendix I). Blizzard provides an in-game camera that has however limited abilities in terms of camera angles, and an easily accessible recording mode that allows shooting long sequences within the game. The footage can then be rendered and used in any film editing program.
The first step for my project was to develop a script that would be possible to enact with the camera settings of World of Warcraft. The writing of the script necessitated the early choice of location. Since I wanted to shoot in locations that were beyond the game level of my existing character, I had to create another character with a higher playing level on a different server that could fulfill that task. Fortunately, I was able to convince two other players to support me with the project. Their involvement added a new angle to the story and provided the final twist in the end.
During the creation process, I encountered several limitations: Using in game content only does not allow for lip movement of the avatar at all. I used my own voice in the dubbing process at first but since my characters’ lips don’t move, this seemed rather unnatural. I decided to re-do the narration and used a third person voice over narration rather than dubbing. Even though the avatar’s movements in the game itself are usually very smooth, it was difficult to create a longer sequence that did not include choppy or awkward movements in the film. Changing the camera angle was almost impossible within a longer sequence. Every time I changed the camera angle I had to edit the sequence within iMovie and use the often “cheesy” transitions that the program provides.
It also proved incredibly difficult to present a front view of the character, since the default only shows the character’s back or depicts the scene through a point of view shot. The creation of a front shot called for almost acrobatic control of mouse and keyboard at the same time. Blizzard allows the elimination of the user interface, which is certainly an artistic choice of expression because it eliminates all game text that is usually presented on the screen. When the character is presented with a quest, for example, usually a text box pops up that presents the task. If the interface is disabled that box does not show and the sequence needs to be narrated in more detail in order to make sense to the viewer. On the other hand, if the interface is displayed the film seems self-referential to the game. Nevertheless, I tried to be as creative as possible with my choice of camera angle, and I followed Tom Gunning’s “Cinema of Attractions” by consciously addressing the viewer in certain scenes. Even though World of Warcraft provides in-game score, I decided to add the soundtrack later in order to have more control. All the footage from the game had to be edited in iMovie which is a fairly simple film editing program. While the final product shows resemblance to very basic animation from an earlier stage, it points to the difficulties of the production of film, no matter if considered art or not.
In sum, the creation process made me appreciate the creative work of other “machinimators.” I think in order to create an award winning machinima like “Edge of Remorse,” for example, and external programs that are offered by different software providers are needed. The creation of a machinima is a time consuming, often costly process, and I found my earlier statement that machinima can be considered video art, if not film making per se supported in many regards. I hope that the creation of my machinima shows some of the constraints rather than the possibilities of this medium leads to a better appreciation of the work of “real machinimators.”
No comments:
Post a Comment