A DC inspired short made with love and artful skill, this week's pick is also an homage to the creative talent of a young creator now sadly passed. Despite us not necessarily being the target audience - due to certain demographic features - we really enjoyed reviewing this. Check out our comments and do add your own.

1:32 Introduction to the film: form and creative technique – Smallville comedy vibe X superhero, and a shout out for collaborations everywhere
6:00 The challenge of being a Minecraft modder and making machinima possible – the Blockbuster mod and BBS mod
9:20 Player control: the visual fidelity is outstanding, the choreography is impressive, the editing, shot selection and sequencing and craft is admirable
12:37 Is it for us oldies? Maybe… target audience is key to this, identifying with the game aesthetic
17:20 Discussing early machinimas: Seal of Nahara and Devil’s Covenant
19:28 Kid Flash comparison to the DC TV show – this is better!
22:58 In conclusion: “This film was clearly loved by its creators”

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice and SunoAI

This week, we discuss a 2013 episode of @Draxtor's interviews series with artists filmed in Second Life series, this episode with Australian artist @lynettewallworth270.

1:43 Get involved in the latest Star Citizen contest, links in Show Notes
3:26 Introduction to the pick
9:12 Phil describes early traditions of interview shows filmed in virtual worlds, such as Late Night with Toxie (filmed in Quake) and This Spartan Life (Halo)
12:44 Could this episode now be updated using AI?
13:33 Quality of audio is the most valuable part 15:49 GenZ viewing patterns are changing – how well does SL as an interview format reflect contemporary approaches?
17:53 The major obstacle to multi-tasking…!

Credits -
Speakes: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice & SonaAI

This is not genSLOP... or is it?! This week's discussion focusses on a recent genAI meme, vlogging from the Fall of the Empire as a Stormtrooper tourist. The series we take a look at is by Galactic Archives, which has garnered a phenomenal number of views in just a couple of weeks. Its quite different to The Glurons we discussed a couple of months back by NeuralViz, which remains a standout for us. There are some excellent learning points from the way this short / series has been created as a narrative arc though, despite the creative process and generative tools leaving something a little unsavoury in the reactor core.

1:35 Intro to film and the meme

4:15 Reminiscent of the Space 1999 aesthetic

10:24 Slop or Slap? Beyond speed, what’s the real benefit of using genAI tools for this kind of narrative approach?

21:55 Tools, tricks, NeuralViz and thoughts

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice and SunoAI