Machinima - Spielbergs with a Joystick

securitas writes "The Toronto Star's Murray Whyte writes about the growing popularity of machinima as the birth of a new type of filmmaking and artform. The article largely focuses on Red vs. Blue but also discusses Jim Munroe's My Trip To Liberty City, in which 'Munroe adopts the genteel perspective of a Canadian tourist while meandering the seamy, violent streets of the game Grand Theft Auto.' The most interesting comment comes from the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences' Paul Marino who compares machinima to garage bands."

Garage bands? I hope not

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Paul Marino who compares machinima to garage bands.

How do you mean Paul? I didn't realize Machinima animation artists wore trashy clothes, made a lot of teeth-splintering noise, got famous for 6 months to a year, and eventually died of overdose.

Re:Its new, its shiny, it smells like a truck stop

[nomadic]

Machinima people don't seem to know how to write, draw, sing, dance, direct, film or much of anything else very well.

See? They ARE like garage bands.

Machinima dialogue

[sssmashy]

RED ONE: You know what really pisses me off about these melee battles?
RED TWO: No, what's that?
RED ONE: Our life expectancy is about 60 seconds.
RED TWO: Yes, it kind of makes the dental plan seem irrelevant.
RED ONE: (gets fragged)
RED THREE: Hi, I'm here to replace Red Two. I'm Steve, what's your name?
RED TWO: Does it really matter?
RED THREE: Guess not. Incoming!
RED TWO: (Dies)
RED THREE: (Dies)

Re:Super easy movie making?

[black mariah]

what will it be like when absolutely everyone can express what they want as they want it, even without technical skills?

It'll be just like Livejournal!

Re:Its new, its shiny, it smells like a truck stop

[Grey Ninja]

This sounds an awful lot like that "rock and roll" all the young pups are talking about. Likewise, it takes little talent to perform, as all it is is a bunch of grunting and screaming and loud crashing. It will never take off I tell you, as sooner or later people will realize that these rock stars are a bunch of no talent losers who couldn't play music to save their lives.

Sound familiar?

Re:Record Function?

[NanoGator]

"Is my Xbox missing something, or is this a lovely little piece of misinformation?"

Well I'm not an X-BOX owner, but I'm pretty sure they have a video out.

More like George Lucas with a Joy Stick

[PetoskeyGuy]

The first few episodes are awesome, but once the intial burst of creativity is gone they just keep making more episodes.

Spielbergs!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Does that mean they'll replace FPS weapons with walkie-talkies too?