Stories From The Machine Presents: Tera Online, An interview With Community Director Jason Mical

Many of you may have heard of the brand new MMORPG that has forged it way into the consciousness of gamers everywhere due to it's incredible innovation, groundbreaking technology and stunning asthetic. That game is Tera Online from Blue Hole Studios (Korea) and En Masse Entertainment (USA.)

Tera, which is currently in development and holding Focus Group Tests, promises to revolutionize gaming. It has been dubbed "The Worlds first true Action MMO" by the industry insiders and has gaming enthusiasts around the globe buzzing with anticipation as it progresses toward launch (currently scheduled for 2011.) This week, it enjoyed a monumental first showing at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo - or for those of you down with the industry lingo, E3, which is one of the largest and most important milestones for mainstream games and development studios from any platform. The annual E3 expo is where it kicks into high gear with press conferences, demonstrations, big reveals, goodie bags (Oh yes, swag!) and more.
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Stories From The Machine Presents: A Woman's Trial - by Chantal Harvey

There are many things that can be said of virtual filmmaker Chantal Harvey. Prolific? Immeasurably. Creative? Without question. The encyclopedia of Miss Harvey's work is vastly diverse; From short corporate commercials and public service announcements earlier on, to bizarre comedic romps and short featurettes ripe with passion. More recently in her lengthy career - She has, perhaps, today more films of the Machinima genre than anyone else originating from her platform - over 150 at the time of this writing - and in that collective we bare witness to the evolution of a Machinimist. The volumes of work throughout her virtual life stand as a testament to the path she has walked, and where she stands today.

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The 2010 MMIF Machinima International Film Fest Kicks Off Today!

And you can watch it LIVE as it happens! Film makers from around the globe who create content in virtual platforms of all types are being showcased in the 2nd Annual MMIF that takes place LIVE in Amsterdam at PlanetArt and simultaneously in Second Life! Can't attend? Don't worry! You can catch all the fabulous fashions, awesome films, Q&A sessions and join the chat with other viewers during the streamcast live online, as it happens, here: http://mbtv.live.nu/

Expect to see films made in iClone 3D, World of Warcraft, Prototype, MovieStorm, Second Life, The Sims 2 and many more as creators converge both in the real world and the virtual world to celebrate the art of film making!

If you can make it into Second Life, you can teleport directly to the MMIF sims here!

Unfortunately, The live venue at PlateArt in Amsterdam is by ticket only. So get yourself comfortable and join some of the most amazing creators in the metaverse NOW!

Stories From The Machine Presents: Machinima And Music

It's a common conundrum, especially in this era of the dreaded DMCA and take-down threats. Virtual filmmakers, for the most part (Like Me) are novices. We come to our chosen platforms with a simple goal: To tell a story. As often is the case, we have no money, no "networked" contacts, and no 30-piece orchestra waiting to score our latest outings. After a filmmaker takes on the task of traversing the rough terrain of making their film, suddenly they come to an obstacle that seems just about impossible to overcome - Unless Randy Newman or John Williams is your uncle.
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Stories From The Machine Presents: The Future of Machinima

Happy New Year, dear Koinup readers. As we start on cusp of another New Year, I thought I might share with you some of my hopes and predictions for 2010 with regard to the Machinima industry. I'd love to see your own hopes and predictions for the coming year in the comments also.

2010 is full of promise for the world of Machinima. We are undeniably well into the technological era now, and as with all things, different types of filmed media will be embraced by mainstream audiences. We all know that a great many people spend more time viewing on-demand content on their laptops and desktops than in front of their televisions, so of course, it seems a natural progression that more forms of entertainment will originate from the digital medium. I think this year will be the year the world sits up as begins to take notice.
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Stories From The Machine Presents: Spyvspy Aeon Will Sweep You Away

As I traversed the great terrain of Machinima over the last few of weeks, I stumbled across a gem of a find! The works of virtual resident Spyvsspy Aeon really impressed me on many levels. His work is a unique type of artistry, almost dream-like, ripe with elegant imagery that makes it's viewer refrain from blinking for fear of missing a single poetic shot in his tableau of storytelling.
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Stories From The Machine Presents: Machinima 101

In approaching this column, I can't possibly explain how excited I was at the opportunity to officially set some of my time aside to watch all sorts of great Machinima from worlds around the Metaverse! I was surprised to find that the community of passionate, independent Machinimatographers was actually quite small in size, and those that seem to get the most attention are often ones that have significant funding behind them or were produced by professional filmmakers with access to premium tools that you or I could never afford. Sure, those are the ones that Machinima.com focuses on pretty much entirely. While those aren't without their artistic merit, I know from experience that many storytellers just want to use what resources are available to them at little or no cost to simply do what what a storyteller does, and that is film something that expresses their perspective, their voice, and their talents!

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Stories From The Machine Presents: The Princess And The Pea

A great many have no idea how difficult it is to make machinima. While my personal taste strongly favors original, coherent stories rather than the artsy type films, never let it be said that any machinima is "simple." Even more difficult is the adaptation of material and the translation of it to a new medium. Koinup member Toxic Menges tackled this with her rendition of the classic children's fairtytale "The Princess and the Pea."
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Stories From the Machine Presents: The Little Wooden Boy and The Jewish Genie

Oftentimes it's difficult to get the word out about great Machinima, thus there are hundreds of little gems hiding throughout our global community, tucked away on personal websites or on some YouTube account buried beneath the videos of 14 year old boys lighting their farts on fire. It is always a true joy when I run across a film that, to me, exemplifies a strong use of virtual tools to tell a coherent story.

Codewarrior Carling's short film entitled "The Little Wooden Boy and The Jewish Genie" genuinely made me smile. In fact, I laughed out loud. It's a true challenge for any filmmaker to invoke emotion using animation because they can appear unwittingly stiff or altogether static, but the performances in Carling's film are nothing short of stellar and they bring the characters a vibrant life that makes them leap from the screen.
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New Koinup Column: Stories From The Machine

Greetings Koinup friends! Phaylen here! Some of you may know me from the machinima web series "DiVAS" while others may remember me from Virtual Big Brother or as the American Correspondent for the Italian production company Magnolia in their virtual production of Celebrity Survivor which aired in Italy, Germany and Japan on Rai.Due. Maybe you've listened to my Podcast or watched the show I produced "I Wanna Be A Celebrity!" Maybe you've run into me in Second Life where I've been active for the last 7 years!

What's that? You don't know me at all?

Well nice to meet you! I can't tell you how honored I am to have been asked to join the family here at Koinup where I have been a member since it's very early days! I am so fortunate to have gotten to know a great many of you artists in the realms of Machinima, photography and digital art during my time here, and the work many of you share on Koinup is nothing short of inspiring.

As a contribute to the Koinup blog, I'll be writing a weekly feature on virtual films - or, Machinima - from around this vast Metaverse. The community of filmmakers who harness the power of various virtual platforms to tell compelling stories is ever growing. In "Stories From the Machine," we will spotlight creators who have made some of the most remarkable achievements in that spectrum. Today, stories that have the power to move, immerse or invoke reaction are no longer limited to books, television or Hollywood productions. In fact, some of the most interesting tales are coming right out of World Of Warcraft, Second Life, The Sims, Halo or any number of virtual words and engines! There are even some amazing productions coming from various software developed specifically for machinimists to manufacture their stories. Ultimately, the term Machinima (A portmanteau of Machinine Cinema) encompasses any production created in a graphics engine or game engine, and it has carved out a pretty profound niche for itself in online culture!

I hope that you - yes you out there, will upload your works here at Koinup to share with, and contribute to our wonderfully diverse community! Don't forget - You can even import your works from YouTube directly to Koinup! Help has created a wonderful tutorial if you'd like to know how! That said, I hope you'll also join me each week as we embark on new adventures together and explore some of the best Stories from the Machine!

Phaylen Fairchild

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