A Sense of Community

Over at TMUnderground, there are some discussions going on right now which make me think about that elusive thing that is a community.

As maybe most of you know, TMUnderground was started by Ken when The Movies Online crashed and didn't come back up for a month - despite Lionhead's assurances that there were no plans to discontinue the service, most of us felt the end was nigh - and ultimately, we were proven right shortly afterwards.

From the start, Ken planned TMU to be a platform for all kinds of machinima movie makers - a place for discussion, promoting your films, getting feedback, finding people to work with, sharing and learning. I was (and still am!) so excited about this!

When a lot of us started using new engines and getting involved in the respective communities, we also invited people over to TMU - to upload their films, discuss and promote their work on our forums; in short, get involved, and in the process widen all our horizons.

Since then, I have learned the hard way how difficult that seems to be.

Yes, some people followed the invitation and joined - but on the whole, they are far and few between; and what's more, there's even some discussion about 'loyalty' to the engine you use - meaning you can't feel at home in a community that uses diverse means to express it's creativity.

What a load of (excuse me) bull!
Is it true? Can there only be a true sense of community when everyone uses the same engine to make films? Can't we discuss topics that apply to machinima in general and still feel a sense of community? Are we all wearing blinders, only ever able to see what's on our plate, so to speak?

Are we watching films because of the engine they were made with, or do we watch them for the story, for the visual artistry?

Seems that a lot of people lose interest the moment the story isn't told using the engine of their choice - which personally makes me sad and angry, because it's doing the machinima/anymation genre - however you choose to call it - a disservice. I really feel we shouldn't squander our time with discussion about iClone versus Moviestorm versus The Movies versus WoW.. and is machinima made with a program purposely designed for it machinima at all' - I even feel that's the reason that machinima isn't taken seriously by a lot of people.

Do we really need to categorise everything in little compartments, is there not a chance that people can meet and talk, and get a sense of community without the limited, 'you either use the same engine I do or we won't ever see eye to eye' view? Do we fear to venture out of the places were we know the viewer knows every little quirk of the program we use? Is it really necessary to feel compelled to defend your engine of choice the whole time?

I sincerly hope not, and thankfully there are people around who do watch and comment without prejudice, but they are still too few.

Your thoughts?

/rant

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.