Machinima: The art of game

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the characters in your game suddenly starred in a movie? Perhaps you've always wanted to see your main character star in their own television series. Some might consider these as minor flights of fancy but other defy this narrative. An entire subculture revolving around machinima has sprung up to do exactly what some people assumed couldn't happen. Machinima is the use of a video game to create derivative works of art within the game itself. Now, this technique is nothing new and has been around since the days of Doom. (Veigl, 2011) As technology continues to advance, so too do the tools that enable this new art form.

Machinima really took off with the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved, a first person shooter game. The company Rooster Teeth began making short, irreverent comedy skits from within the game that they titled Red Vs Blue. The concept was simple enough: two groups of military grunts, one red and one blue, are operating bases at opposite ends of a canyon and everyone is an idiot. Every time Bungie Studios released a new Halo game, the Rooster Teeth production would begin using that engine to develop more of the series. As the technology advanced and Bungie took notice of this small company and their large online fanbase, tools were added to the game to make the machinima easier to record. This allowed the show to take a more narrative approach and develop into a full fledged story complete with betrayal, intrigue and conspiracies. Once Microsoft purchased the game and wrapped it into 343 Studios, a new issue arose: copyright.

Like Halo, another game came out in 2004 that changed the face of Machinima. Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) came out and almost immediately fans began making short films ranging from simple boss kills, music videos, sketch comedy and even a few long running series. Another notable form of art that branched from this was the use of screen shots to create comic strips. This was a sort of mash up between the rapidly expanding fan-art community and the Machinima community. Both Microsoft and Blizzard were facing a bit of a crisis. Other game companies were cracking down on content, specifically Nintendo and Let's Plays. Let's Plays are videos of other people playing through a game and commenting on it, usually in a humorous manor. Suddenly, the tools that players were using to create art were being taken away from them. Artwork was subjected to takedown notices, videos were hit with copyright infringement infractions, and the community was worried about what would happen.

Blizzard and Microsoft both came to the same conclusion. If the fans want to share their love for the games and it helps grow the fanbase, then why should they be prevented from doing so? So both companies embraced these new digital forms of art. Microsoft continued supporting the work Rooster Teeth was doing and Blizzard began recognizing exceptionally well crafted artwork. Blizzard is also known for pulling talent from these communities to work at the company itself. One gamer, Alexander J. Velicky went so far as using his talents to create an entire expansion for the popular game Elder Scrolls: Skyrim at the age of 19. (MacManus, 2013) This massive and extremely impressive creation landed him a job at Bungie Studios. (Gaston, 2013)

More and more studios have embraced the world of Machinima and fan created art in general which has opened the door for a flood of new creations. No one knows what the future holds but if the trend continues as it has been, we will likely see two big things happen. One is the creation of something epic, akin to a full length movie. The second is a massive lawsuit and cease & desist order in response. Both events would change the face of this digital art form forever.

Citations:
Veigl, T. (2001, January 20). Machinma: On the Invention and Innovation of a New Visual Media Technology. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from https://www.academia.edu/8329333/Machinima_On_the_Invention_and_Innovation_of_a_New_Visual_Media_Technology

MacManus, C. (2013, July 17). 19-year-old creates incredible Skyrim expansion. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from https://www.cnet.com/news/19-year-old-creates-incredible-skyrim-expansion/

Gaston, M. (2013, November 25). Skyrim's Falskaar mod maker lands games industry job. Retrieved July 7, 2017, from https://www.gamespot.com/articles/skyrim-s-falskaar-mod-maker-lands-games-industry-job/1100-6416394/

Images:
Doom
© 1993 id Software
Red Vs Blue
© 2003 Rooster Teeth
Illegal Danish
© 2004 Blizzard Entertainment
Skyrim
© 2011 Bethesda Studios