New things cooking in my kitchen!

I've been talking to Kate about The Afflicted -and have got a go! from her on re-envisioning it!

This is very, very exciting - as mentioned earlier, I always loved the film, and right now miriad ideas are shooting through my head... I hope Jase180 and AnotherNewDawn, as the creators of the contest, will allow me to use the original music made by Sherwin Liu specially for this movie - it will be perfect for the images I see!

The next thing to think long and hard about is which actors to get into contact with.. we're not allowed to have the original ones, so this needs some serious thought. Although I can see myself taking one of the smaller roles, I'm not yet sure about whom to ask to embody the principle characters ... exciting times!

The second project on my plate is a little something for Ken, the founder of TMU - this will be short, and very funny - reading the script, I had to giggle quite inanely! It will be a lot of fun to bring this to life!

There's even a third pot stewing.... someone offered to write a script for me, and no, at the moment I'm not willing to say more... :)... but it seems this will be a busy kitchen for the next few month, with lots of experimenting and new ingredients.

Makes me happy!

Last but not least, I wish everyone a happy and successful 2009 - may all your dreams come true, and all your projects prosper!

Philosophising (some people call that rambling)

So, I've been reading a lot of blogs and articles on machinima lately.. and found some very interesting discussions, especially about the meaning of the words "machinima" and "anymation" (a word I first read on the TMU blog, where Ricky Grove mentioned it.)

I liked the word immediately - and decided, after further reading, to use it in the title of this blog, rather than the word "machinima".

When I started out making movies with "The Movies", I didn't really spend time on how to classify those movies, but the more I got into it, and the more I started talking about it to my rl friends (boring some of them to death, no doubt) the more a need arose to give this child a name... so I started calling it "machinima" (well knowing that the purist machinima makers, who demand that every footage for such a film is shot in a game in real time; and really you are cheating, everything you use is pre-fabricated! would object very much to me calling my films that).

My, that did help a lot.

I ended up explaining just as much, or even more, than before - the reaction to the word "machinima" was all mildly interested, blank stares. So after a while, I just went back to saying that I make films on my computer, using engines built for that purpose... kind of like... animated films... but not really.... you know.... no......? (insert a rueful grin and a heartfelt sigh here)

I don't know if this is specific to Germany, or if I just know the "wrong" people or live in the wrong place, but nobody in rl I talked about it to so far had any idea about machinima at all. Which makes me very sad, because I've seen loads of anymation films which I would prefer watching to bad rl movies any time... but it's still not easy to get people around me interested in it (=take it seriously), or interested in the ability to make movies themselves if they're willing to spent time on learning how to. Which is for me the most exciting thing - being able to bring your stories to a visual life, without the need for a big bugdet!

So will me calling my films anymation from now on help me?

Not sure at all... especially not with people who have no idea about it in the first place - but I like the definitions that have been given.

Story oriented.
Using all the means you have available to tell that story.


As for me making movies is all about telling a story - yes I do like special effects and breathtaking graphics, but what are they worth if the story is bad? - only if it all comes together, works as a unit, it's what I call a good movie - so anymation is just what I want to make.

Thinking about a new challenge

Sooo... now that "Saving Grace" is finished - and once I've got all those vo's for all those nice patient people done - I'm on it, promise!

.....I thought it could be the time for a new challenge... so far, every movie I've made has been based on one of my own stories. How well would I be able to bring someone else's vision to life? I've been thinking about this for quite a while now, and it's really something I would like to try. I haven't even collaborated with anyone yet - up until now, I always wanted total control.

I'm still not sure how to go about it - maybe I'll stage a script-writing contest on TMU - I'm almost sure I would want it to be something that hasn't been made into a machinima movie before...

Still thinking. :)

... and while I'm still thinking, I've read in the Industry 101 Remake Competition thread that Kate Lee is offering her movie The Afflicted to be remade.... this was the very first Chat Noir movie I watched, it made me an instant fan of their work, and I'm tempted, so tempted... :)
The original version was made with "The Movies", before we even had the "Stunts & Effects" addon - it's a classic, go watch it if you haven't seen it! and right now I'm trying to envision how it would look being remade using Moviestorm.

It would be an honour to direct a script by Kate - she's a wonderful writer!

"Saving Grace" online!

Since the 26th, Saving Grace is online - and wow, what a reception it has got - makes me very happy!

I don't know if it's the plight of every film maker, but whenever I'm working on something, I go through phases of first: thinking it is a good concept and story, and confident that I can pull it off; second: working like a mad-woman on it, putting everything into it, new ideas every few moments, dreaming about it, spending too much time on the computer, being obsessed by little details; to third: nearing completion, getting more and more unsure - will this story grab the audience? Do they talk too much? Too little action?



Being creative is damn hard work (but oh how I love it!), and I would be lying if I would say that I'm not waiting for the audience reaction with bated breath...

So yeah, the feedback so far has made me very happy. I'd like to thank my voice actors AnotherNewDawn and Goofparade again - without their great work on their roles this wouldn't be half as good - and everyone who had input in this, from modders to friends who listened to me rant while making it. You're very much appreciated!