Machinima [Part 3] Artist Statement

The finished film is currently rendering. Don't be fooled, dividing this project into three blog entries makes it sound simple. It is almost 6am and after yet another 11 hour editing session we are up to over 80 hours of post production efforts alone. I will discuss the final stage of completing this project and then discuss the work as a whole in the following paragraphs.

Concluding with Sound
Since we were only pulling from two visual sources we were left only two audio sources (makes sense, right?). This left the entire film feeling sloppy and unfinished... because it was. Relying on the ever faithful sound database from freesound.org and a random assortment of prerecorded game-specific sound effects from Halo: Reach, we slowly but surely created new atmospheres, textures, and music to support our visuals.

There is an interesting relationship between visuals and sound. As we finished the final touches on our sound layers we began to notice our visual flaws disappear. I, at one point, turned to Chance and said, "I almost forget that we're blue screened now." And it was true, the sound masked many issues we were struggling with fixing pre-sound editing. You can see my many layers of sound here.

Artist Statement and the Film as a Whole
Never have I put a month's work into a film project let alone a film project for school. Chance and I saw such potential in the idea behind this piece that we couldn't help but put in the extra effort to make this film an experience for us and the viewer and I believe we have (speaking for us of course).

There were talents that both Chance and I brought to the table that the other did not necessarily specialize in and looking back on the growth, we sharpened each others skills and attitudes on the project.


As is typical with the films that I make, I have seen them so many countless times that the magic and creative sparkle that the idea brandished has seemed to disappear behind all the flaws and unnoticeable (to the unknowing eye) mistakes that I now see instead of the finished film. I must say that I am very excited to release this to public viewing in the coming days to see what reactions the film can really generate.

During the intense nights of editing I found myself frequently wondering why I was putting so much effort into a film that was merely a final project for a school class? And while finals are important and I generally try my hardest to produce a good work that represents my skills, I at times had a hard time justifying the hours I put into this project. That was then. Now, seeing the complete film, I am ecstatic to say that I made this from start to finish and I know Chance feels the same.

I think making films is like raising kids. And while I've never raised a kid I know that they require a ton of work to raise well producing a stable young adult which ends up being the 'reward' for the parents. In a similar fashion, film requires a ton of work that you often get tired of and wonder why you even started it to begin with. But in the end, after seeing the stable adult that your film has become, you can sit back as a proud parent and relish in the fact that it was your hard work that got it there.

And I'm not saying all this to pat myself on the back and praise the film I have made. I am saying this to come to terms with myself the reasons behind why this project was necessary to the degree that we brought it and believe those terms have been reached.


NEWS UPDATE*****
The video is officially on Bungie.net have a look!
Watch it on Vimeo
Watch it on YouTube


Your friendly neighborhood giant,


~Alan

Machinima [Part 2]

Chance and I have spent more time in front of a blue screen and a computer monitor than we have sleeping this last week but we have successfully matched all 82 shots in live action and composited them together with our captured footage from Halo: Reach.

And if I may say so myself...it looks darn good.

It wasn't easy looking at a laptop screen in the blue studio while trying to recreate the correct angles that we took in Halo. We surprised ourselves during the editing process at how many times we lucked out with precise (yet accidental) head turns and body movements that synced flawlessly with the game footage.

Not to mention the climactic fun of seeing the clips come into fruition after hours and hours of hoping that they would work.

The length of the final film is looking like it will be shorter than expected. Due to our awesome (not really) dialog we have shorter shots that move quickly and yet cover the story adequately. In hindsight we are glad we aren't looking at a 7-10 minute film for the sake of editing time and for the sake of the audience's attention span...thanks YouTube.

At this point in the editing process all live action is merged into the game footage leaving color correction and sound editing for rest of the weekend. Color correction is crucial for getting that 'in game' look to apply to our live footage. There will always be that look of virtuality that we will not be able to get with live action; two separate worlds indeed. Thankfully though, both Halo: Reach and the Canon 5D mII film in 24 frames/second.

Sound is huge. Watching the clips without sound backing them up is very boring and leaves little to be desired but that may be due to me watching the clips over and over and...over again.

From the few people who have seen our progress, we are getting smiles and good jobs all around. We hope the internet (specifically the internet gaming) community will pick right up on the idea of live action meeting their favorite game. Who knows, with enough posts we may get this thing to go viral.

It's amazing how much the internet community eats up Halo machinima vids. We have our fingers crossed in hopes that Bungie (the people who made the Halo franchise) pick up on our film and re-posts it on their website where millions of users/players visit daily!

Until next week,

~Alan

Machinima [Part 1]

Machinima (pronounced /məˈʃiːnɨmə/ or /məˈʃɪnɨmə/) is the use of real-time graphics rendering engines (a game engine), mostly three-dimensional (3-D), to generate computer animation

And when it comes down to it, there isn't anything better than playing video games for homework...10 hours of video games to be exact. Last night my co-producer, Chance, and I played 10 hours of Halo: Reach to capture the 67 shots we needed for our latest film tht mixes live action actors mixed into a machinima world of Halo: Reach.

The process was as follows:

I. Storyboard the film. When dealing with a digital world you need to know what your shots are doing and how they're flowing because as we learned, plot can go south very quickly. You can see our storyboards here.

II. "Acting" it out with virtual characters. We had to suit up our avatars and move them through a given level with the positions of our "real" actors in mind. I imagine there is some kind of expensive technology that could merge us and them but we made due.

III. Capturing the scene in HD. We purchased a PCI-e HD capture card by Aver Media that allowed us to capture anything that was plugging into the hdmi slot (for us, the xbox).

Ten hours later we have 67 raw shots that need to be arranged, cut up, and corrected to prepare for the live action shots that will be done in front of a blue screen.

So far so good.

Your friendly neighborhood giant,
~Alan

Skype Film Execution

The deed is done and the result is a Skype music video...or sorts.

I had 5 contributors volunteer their vocal talents to the project. I laid down a basic beat with my own voice and made it a youtube video that sent to all who helped me. This allowed everyone to build off the same beat with a consistent tempo.

I found that people got a tad embarrassed and for decent reason (they were after all making funny noises during a vidchat that's being recorded) so the depth of the layering didn't go as deep as I would have preferred.

This resulted in a semi-anticlimactic song that makes for a fun listen for about one time through (or maybe I've listened to it myself one too many times...).

The images you see on the screen are all layered screen captures of the individuals who helped me. I attempted to sync all the audio with the appropriate video but I gave up on that around 3am. The result is a rather abstracted view of the Skypees and yet has a flow in and of itself.

All in all it was a good project, stressful, but good. Screen capture software lacks nearly everything you need it to do so my frustrustions were technical alone.

View Skype: The Music Video here.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Giant,
~Alan

Skype Film Production

Alas, I have begun the first stages of the Skype Film project.

It took me several passes to get an idea solidified. At first I anticipated writing out a script about a boy who is trying to Skype with the girl of his dreams but she gets bogged down in a conference chat with him and like 4 other friends.

Then as I thought through the kind of process that would involve (filming the skit 6 times anchored off one character's dialogue and hoping it would sync up in the end) I began to consider other things to film. By far the most difficult part about a Do It Yourself (DIY) film is finding a subject matter that s interesting enough to make the film about.

In class today I had an idea: Make a layered music video.

How, you ask? I would begin the film by laying down a simple track with my voice (something simple like a bass beat or something). I would render that and put the sound on youtube as a video. The next person who helped me would watch/listen to the youtube link with my voice and during a Skype conversation with me, add a beat on top of mine.

The idea would be to have at least 5 or 6 layers of beat to create a Skype...techno song? Yeah, something like that.

If you would like to help me in this endeavor and get your voice added to musical awesomeness add me on Skype. Do it now. alan.marsala (the one in San Diego)

We'll see how it turns out! I have a tendency to aim big and downscale as I go so bare with me.

Your friendly neighborhood giant,
~Alan

Skype Film

::::::::Pre Production::::::::

I have been tasked with making a film with whatever tools I have lying around. I figured it may not be fair to use the 5D MkII that I have lying around so I thought a tad simpler...

Skype.

You know, that  free program you use to talk to friends, relatives, the family dog - whoever and whatever you desire to see and speak to. Skype has really taken off in the recent years since its creation in early 2003...when I was 14. I only recently have decided to download it for sake of adding yet another means of communication with my peers to my repertoire and I am delighted with the quality and functionality.

Outside of it's normal video chat purpose, what if you used Skype as means of making film? As the camera? As a means of remote directing? As the medium itself?

I haven't gotten there yet. I do know that I want to make a functional film using this popular communication device and utilize it's 'raw' tendencies to achieve a unique aesthetic.

My first thoughts are as such:

I. Make a film about 3-6 friends who each appear in their own Skype window (similar to the Brady Bunch). The friends would communicate, leave their window and end up in their friends window; basically confining the viewer to limited space of the webcam. I would probably make this a horror-esque film since the inability to see what is going + lack of good quality = bascially the Blair Witch Project...with Skype. But I fear the acting would be terrible and distract from what I am actually trying to achieve.

II. Use Skype as a means to remotely direct a film being made. I would be the ever present floating head yelling out commands and shots from a laptop on set while a crew attempts to execute 'my vision.' Essentially the film being made is irrelevant. It is the fact that I am directing it using Skype that makes it interesting...or not. The only problem to this route is my lack of 'crew.' Even if it was just another person, I hate not being in charge of the camera, directly. Maybe this would be interesting then, eh?

III. Use Skype as the camera. Carrying my netbook as I would a camera I would film every scene and capture all audio using the program. I would then edit it together in post-production but that's a whole different blog post. I have no ideas for a film of such caliber...ideas?

If you happen to find yourself reading this, any feedback would be great. I need to start like tomorrow...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Giant,
~Alan

Road to Remix

:::::::Stage Three:::::::

After compiling the footage need to create the piece I spent about three hours on the computer lacing it all together. I was shocked to discover how well you can bend something to mean something else when you're behind the mouse.

There are several Sesame Street 'Letter of the Day' videos that, when juxtaposed with news clips of analysts and political leaders, transformed into something new.

Which I guess is the goal of remixing in the first place.

I liked the idea of butting childish television up with adult television.We all view Sesame Street as a fundamental staple in our childhood (well, at least I do) but we hardly ever sit down and watch it as an adult. Mixed in with television samples that we are bombarded with on a daily basis to the point of shutting them out I think it made the banality of the news a bit more fresh.

You can check out the finished work here. Feel free to let me know what you thought of it and if it worked in the manner that was described.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Giant,
~Alan

Road to Remix

:::::::Stage Two:::::::

While sitting in front of my computer for the better half of the evening I can truly say that getting started on a remix project is by far the worst hurdle in the process.

Sticking with my desire to be political I thought and thought and watched YouTube video after YouTube video (I couldn't help but default to YouTube) but still had a hard time with coming up with something that had meat.

I chanced upon a Sesame Street spoof of the new Old Spice commercials that have taken the internet by storm; it made me smile. I decided to pursue a Sesame Street search to see what would come up. Some of the more popular videos concerning the old TV show are the 'Letter of the Day" videos in which a Sesame Street character displays a letter from the alphabet and discusses different words that start with that given letter.

The first video I saw was Telly talking about the letter D. I immediately began thinking of current political words that start with the letter D and "depression" came to mind. Watching the video in light of Telly talking about depression made the video all the more comical. I sensed a trend.

I gathered a list of current political and social issues and found the relative Sesame Street 'Word of the Day' video to introduce the topic. Here is my list:

D is for Depression

H is for Health Care

M is for Mortgage Crisis

U is for Unemployment

I is for Iraq

To name a few. 

I then began an extensive search through many political interviews and talk shows looking for people and political figures mentioning the given word. So when Telly or Cookie Monster asks if we can think of any words that start with the letter ___ I will start a montage concerning the word. This of course juxtaposes the childlike humor of the Sesame Street gang with the current woes and worries of our present time.

This is far as I have gotten so far. I will start the downloading process tomorrow and begin splicing up the segments into coherent chunks of relevant material to see if the outcome is how I am intending.

I think I may be on to something...

Your friendly Neighborhood Giant,

~Alan

Road to Remix

::::::Stage One:::::::

When you think of a remix your mind tends to go to the newest viral video on YouTube or that latest techno song combining your two favorite artists. But at the root of it all, what is a remix?

I ask such a question because I find myself asking it now. I have been tasked with creating a remix from virtually anything I want and I struggle with the concept because I don't really feel that I, as an artist, am creating something that is possessive. 

Art for me tends to be possessive - if I make something, I call it mine. In the instance of creating a remix though can I stamp the finished product with my digital signature and possess the new creation as my own? Welcome to the perpetual war of copyright supporters and the digital pirates that steal their booty.

All of that aside, I am still making a remix and I am still thinking through the pre-production process in forming a new work of art out of something preexisting. So for those of you who are bored and intrigued or if you're my professor who's grading this (hi Tracy!) here are my current thoughts/narrowed results:

1. Avoiding YouTube :::::::::
While no doubt the largest and most accessible video database on the interwebs, the vast majority of videos on YouTube are not art and (much to Duchamp's chagrin) I tend to think that if it didn't start as art it wont end up being art.

2. Content of the Remix :::::::::

I am a huge fan of satire. I think the results of poking fun at politics is by far the most rewarding feeling when it comes to my work because people go absolutely mindless when their particular viewpoints are showcased in a not-so-fashionable light. That being said, I am aiming to remix something political.

3. First Thoughts :::::::::

The first fruits of my mind tend to be the most radical. Hence my first creative ideas tend to be the ones that I keep to myself due to the possibilities of offending someone or kicking up unnecessary dust. My first thought when thinking about a political remix involves making a 'commercial' that contains sliced up clips of past and current American political leaders edited to be jointly saying the Communist Manifesto by Carl Marx.If you asked me why I wouldn't be able to produce a good answer except for that it would make people uncomfortable and instantaneously opinionated. My second thought would be to write a paragraph for a political campaign commercial and, in a similar fashion to my previous idea, cut up clips from presidential speeches to say my paragraph that would contain harsh opinions of puppets and corrupts. 

That's all I got as of Oct. 4th

I'll keep this updated as my "road to remix" develops further. Until then, enjoy my current favorite remix on YouTube here.

Your friendly Neighborhood Giant,

~Alan