possible worlds

The social software application Second Life provides its users with a quick and easy method of producing machinima for the small screen of the mobile phone.

A Machinima is basically an animation that is made using a game engine to capture content within a game world. If would like to know more about what a machinima is, then check out the following link. http://www.machinima.com/

So why make a machinima for the mobile phone? When it’s so easy to produce a machinima, why not make animations that you can share with friends via bluetooth to the mobile phone. The beauty of SL (Second Life) is that you can create your own virtual sets and characters, and tailor them all to suit the needs of your script without the need to hire a cherry picker or call a casting agent. This is filmmaking on the cheap, that is if you have access to high speed broadband at a reasonable cost. After building a set and rehearsing with your cast of avatars you are ready to make an SL machinima. To see video tutorials on how to film, capture and output your machinima simply take a trip to Youtube, boxxet or http://secondlife.com/showcase/machinima/

Once you have captured your Sl content you can edit it in a movie editing software such as iMovie or Final Cut Pro. Add sounds, effects and export as a 3gp file to be played on your mobile phone. Of course you don’t have to just use SL to create a machinima, you can use Sims, WOW, Halo 3, or any number of game engines that enable you to record game content. If you want to explore the world of machinima I suggest you check out the following projects.

Machinima Beauty (American Beauty as a Machinima)

Anna by Katherine Anna Kang (A favorite of mine)

Red vs Blue episode 1 (probably the most sucessful machinima)

Repuffs, a political satire machinima ( The U.S. election 2008)

What is Machinima ( An instructional machinima)

A Second Life holiday ( A nice place to visit)

Enjoy!

cheers,
Dean.