Copyright Rooster Teeth BTW
Since its creation machinima has been regarded by many as something of an Internet cul-de-sac or oddity, a kind of budget alternative to live-action film making but unable to sustain a narrative of any significant depth. I believe it could be so much more. There is an argument that the greatest limitation of machinima is the inflexibility of the most popular gaming engines; Halo: Reach will always feature faceless, armour-clad SPARTANs, Source machinima is time consuming and Call Of Duty: Black Ops characters have developed severe rigor mortis of the arms. What some see as weakness, I see as opportunity, or more specifically, a challenge. My logic is that creativity should not be 'easy', it should be undertaken in defiance against other debilitation factors, be it censorship, poverty, prejudice and even the audience's capacity to understand. These are all obstacles an artist of any medium can overcome to create a masterpiece, so why not machinima?
Let us look back at the history of the art form which most lends itself in name and spirit to machinima: the cinema itself. In the beginning, films were silent and monochrome, yet some are remembered fondly and revered as classics not just for their place in the history and the grand pantheon of cinema but also because they are just great. To draw a parallel to machinima I would suggest early Red vs Blue. We see characters who are inherently ridiculous thrown into crazy situations which only serve as catalysts to the action. We do not truly care WHY O'Malley wants to rule the universe, in much the same way it is inconsequential WHY Buster Keaton is hanging of the cowcatcher of a runaway train (The General, 1926). We, the audience, are in it for the ride. I shall note however that Red vs Blue is one of the few series prolific enough to show signs of evolution, the characters no less absurd but the problems they face are darker while retaining a strong core of humour. It's a start.
As movies got more and more complex, so the technology advanced to facilitate their scope. The history of the cinema is artists repeatedly pushing the boundaries of what can be done and then making it happen. This process MUST be mirrored by the machinima community and the artists themselves if the medium wishes to improve. Videogame developers are, at best, ambivalent about machinima, a rare few encourage it. I will here exhort the merits of Bungie and the Halo community at large, especially their constant forum chatter and willingness to incorporate features which are both versatile and user-friendly. Although I wish they were a tad more generous licensing machinima made with their games. Companies never like losing money, least of all to their customers. This must change. Only through a symbiotic agreement of profit/loss can artist/developer hope to survive and flourish while machinima evolves; I apologise if I offend those with Marxist sympathies, but a little exchange of funds does oil the gears of progress nicely. Other developers flat out don't care, Valve is so wrapped up in their isolationist perfectionist bubble of artistic integrity they pay no attention to their machinima community. In a company with little versatility of produce this would be admirable, for a company like Valve with such a rich array of assets and easy if exacting tools of manipulation it is outright barbarism (I would cite Eddy Rivas's article 'The Problem With Machinima': http://smoothfewfilms.com/2010/01/24/the-problem-with-machinima/). Slightly better are the companies which shoehorn machinima tools into their games, clumsy though they often are, if artists persist in using the engine legitimate advancements may be possible in future iterations.
Now that the technology has been discussed let us move on to the distribution. Which of course brings us to the elephant in the room. The Machinima.com network. I have gone on record in several reviews regarding my stance on Machinima.com. I think their work ethic with regards to uploads is lazy, their content stagnated in mediocre submissions and their monopoly on the medium is frankly worrying. There has not been a machinima awards ceremony since 2008, the true artists languish in their own indie circles while Machinima is content to show a disappointing mix of dross and occasional brilliance like Arby 'n' the Chief or Sanity Not Included. But look beyond the flagship shows and you'll find a plague of unfunny comedies, wooden melodramas, lacklustre live-action and abysmal animation. Very few diamonds, whole lotta rough. This complacent attitude is Machinima.com's greatest problem, as the closest machinima has to a collective authority it has the imperative, nay, the duty to separate the wheat from the chaff and encourage higher standards of submission. Quality must always take precedent over quantity.
If these problems are addressed, both the artists and the audiences will rise to the occasion. The time for clowning is over, it will always have its place and if done well will continue to delight. But now we need a Citizen Kane or The Godfather, something which rises above the amateur to become the new standard by which the medium will be judged and hopefully legitimise machinima as a method of artistic expression.
I have said my piece, now it's your turn. I need you to spread the word, to let everyone who wants to make it in machinima and make a difference know they're not alone. I would not be so presumptuous to say this meagre essay is the start of a revolution but if it causes just a few people to think seriously about the future of machinima then I'll be happy. I'm asking you to link this post to whoever it may concern: the creators themselves, Machinima.com, your friends and colleagues. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, heck I'd even take Bebo. Hotmail, Google Mail, Outlook, Yahoo. Just get it out there and encourage a discussion, make something happen. I can't do it alone, I'm just one guy with a blog full of opinions. I have only captured the flag, now you must carry it to the base.
The Machinima Review
"If the critics were always right, we should be in deep trouble" - Robert Morely
