This week we celebrate Star Wars with a fabulous short portraying the infamous AT-AT death walkers as 'nature-creatures' in their natural habitat - this is a beautifully observed work, made in Unreal Engine by Jeremy Cummins. Cummins is an experienced character creator, now working for Tippett Studio, with an impressive list of credits including Ant-Man and the Wasp, Spider-Man and Avengers, among others. We discuss the transition pros are making in the development of an Unreal pipeline and the impact this has on the creative machinima community.

0:44 Intro to the film

3:18 About Jeremy Cummins

4:33 Developing the pipeline

5:36 PhantomFX takes over Tippett Studios, what are the implications?

7:01 Migration – in the film, and metaphorically

8:59 Stunning lighting effects

9:18 Characterisation of AT-ATs – itchy and goofy!

10:27 Sound effects inconsistent? Cows vs dino vs croc = buff… nah

12:14 Who’s got a sub to Galactic Geographic?

13:50 Humour and the portrayal of death dealing machines

15:00 The ambient sound needed a bit more work to achieve verisimilitude

16:06 Check out Pie in the Sky too – and why it’s a better film

17:47 Tapping into a ‘magical movie moment’ in time, anthropomorphism and our fascination with machines as animals in the Star Wars universe

20:00 Communicating size with sound

22:34 Length of the film

24:00 Excitement: AT-ATs were only ever seen for such a short length of time in the original canon, so how cool to see them again!

26:30 A perfect example of contemporary realtime cinema

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Damien Valentine
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week, we cover three outstanding music videos, demonstrating different genres of music and different game engines - a re-imagined Simon and Garfunkel classic, a pop-tacular and a rap. We discuss the perfect match between the lyrics, the game and the images our three selected creators have demonstrated in these shorts. We suggest comparing and contrasting, but really we just mean enjoy them all for what they are.

1:41 Harry101UK’s Sound of Science, Source Filmmaker/Portal, music by Stupendium

4:49 Who I am, Blender/Minecraft/Portal by Cubical, music by CG5

6:16 Portal is darker than expected, and these beautifully illustrate it?

9:26 Why recreate Portal in Minecraft aesthetic; why?!

11:57 Why Portal and why now?

14:09 Both videos capture the creepiness in Portal well

15:57 Helldivers 2 – JT Music’s video is a mindblowing overview of this new game

17:59 No AI used in the making of by JT?

18:35 What is Helldivers 2 about: the galaxy’s last line offence!

21:11 An homage to Starship Troopers… and politics of our time

30:49 Our show: what do you think to the new format?

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week, we discuss one of the most outstanding presentations of space science, by @EpicSpaceman , called I put 4M Suns in a Blackhole. Made in Blender, we discuss the creative workflow adopted, from zero to hero - and why the @BlenderOfficial Foundation should take note. We make a few suggestions for enhancing the work even more and discuss the primary audiences for this type of conrtent. Quite simply, the narrative style and animation makes hard science relatable!

1:50 Intro to film and its creator: low output, high quality
6:47 Choosing the role of a narrator and making a connection with the audience
10:15 Carl Sagan reincarnated!
13:37 Just-in-time learning and visual storytelling
17:53 Citizen scientist, but not as we know it!
20:00 Outstanding presentation, beyond lockdown
21:30 A relatable way to make content
22:24 How is this a real-time production?
25:59 Could this be screened in a cinema theatre?
28:00 Going pro. The challenge of managing your values
30:15 Why Blender? Blender Foundation take note!
32:15 Playing a scientist vs being a scientist
35:10 One of the greatest #machinima films we’ve seen

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

A packed review this month, with some sad :( better :| and happy news :)

1:42 Demise of Rooster Teeth and yet RVB will outlive the corporate brand! We reminisce about the early days of machinima and the influence Rooster Teeth had on the emerging creator community

26:30 Drax Files: World Makers comes to a close

33:37 Awards! Sam Crane’s continuing success with GTA5 Hamlet at SXSW and UE5’s use in War is Over, the Oscar winning animated short

39:00 AI updates: YouTube’s T&Cs – we discuss the notion of ‘realistic’ in the context of the guidelines – does the sound of a Wookie farting sound real to you… Phil really gets on a roll with this topic! Other AI updates include ConvAI, Hume, Runway and Stability AI’s 3D generator

1:09:00 Godzilla Minus One model release, celebrating the creator’s Oscar achievement – and a side discussion about rigging a cat in iClone

1:16:32 Blockbuster Inc release date announced!

1:19:00 Dune: Denis Villeneuve discusses the use of UE5 in the making of the film – not the typical machinima approach!

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

The Dog Days is an unusual machinima that combines the glitchiness of AI generated content composited with a Second Life avatar. Whilst not realtime, the performative aspect of this work is evident and we reflect on the fit of the current state of generative AI with the Fluxus art movement. We discuss what The Dog Days means, metaphorically and literally, and how we interpret this film concluding it is not a happy outcome for the focal character. The Dog Days evokes memories of a long-ago childhood spent with a much loved pet but the non-sense words and images are of something far more sinister, contextualized by the current general media coverage of wars in Eastern Europe, Middle East and elsewhere. We also discuss our interpretations of the fragility represented in the avatar, including the role of generative AI in becoming cyborg.

0:20 Introduction to the film, created by Fau Ferdinand

6:00 Performance art context

7:23 Dog days… in other media

11:00 The significance of AI glitch in this film and generally in artwork

27:26 More about Fau Ferdinand and the Second Front movement

30:00 Fluxus and the role of chance

32:30 Interpreting the dreamscape

36:40 How we are becoming cyborg

39:30 The images plus me!

42:56 Performance art and female empowerment

Credits -
Speakers: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

In this ep, we discuss two machinima films dealing with thematically similar issues, albeit presented with different treatments: Vigilante is made in GTA5 and tells the shocking story of how the lead character became cyberpunk. The second is a futuristic yet somehow more traditional gender-based story made in UE5. It is presented as a proof of concept for a proprietary tool made by its creator, who is none other than the VFX Oscar-winner Tim Webber in his directorial debut.

1:36 Vigilante discussion
19:39 Flite discussion - its so good, how do we talk Phil out of quitting machinima filmmaking?!

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week, we take a look at a spectacular particle show in a machinima that has been documented and edited by Tutsy NaVaRaThNA in Second Life. The show is called Flowers of Evil and was created by Lalie Sorbet and Chrix as an interactive installation inspired by the most scandalous literary works of Charles Baudelaire, with the support of a Second Life Endowment for the Arts. Tutsy's documentary is accompanied by an hypnotic composition by French club DJ and musician Sahale (from his Bouddha Bar XXI album), music that takes its inspiration also from the Flowers of Evil (or Fleurs du Mal). All round, this is a mesmerizing rendition that we could well imagine being enhanced with VR as a live experience... and that's not something you hear us state all that often.

1:29 Inspired by Baudeliare

5:18 Portrayals of the complexity of life

12:51 A voyeuristic cosmic orgy

15:37 Is VR a thing in Second Life?

18:00 Demoscene

24:44 Avant garde vs realism

26:00 Artistic happenings in the 1960s

Credits -
Speakers: Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine
Editor/Producer: Phil Rice
Music: Animo Domini Beats

This week’s podcast episode is our curated news omnibus for this month. We cover lots, and enjoy reflecting on the significance of the stories we highlight for the world of machinima and virtual production. Links and show notes on our website, as usual – skip to our highlights about each item with our timestamps here –

1:23 Learn UE5 in less than 60 minutes – and yes, it seems you really can! Its an excellent tutorial

6:50 Valve getting tough with modders and what it means for machinima

10:23 New moviemaking toolsets: Blockbuster Inc and Replikant (UE5)

12:39 Steamboat Willie update – Minecraft and an UE5 ‘official trailer’

14:25 The origins of the Wilhelm Scream

16:54 SORA text to video and the implications for studios and creators – what is the language of movement?

23:40 ElevenLabs new SUNO model rap

24:05 Reflecting on Valve’s journey and the early days of Machinima.com

35:05 Just what is the kick back on Disney and Steamboat Willie all about? … platforms, content, IP and the community – Star Wars, Marvel, et al

52:25 Taylor Swift, AI misuse, the law, and the significant role of community in protecting a brand – the future of developing morals

1:10:50 Damien’s report on his iClone crowd sim test

btw, the international internet pipes failed and microwaves fried our apps during this recording session, video corrupted and monsters ran loose among us, so enjoy the voice data we’ve managed to resurrect and video clips we’ve added – we’ll be back next week in full glory!

#machinima #realtime #virtualproduction #Disney #VR #Reallusion #iclone #SteamboatWillie #valve #Halflife #Portal #TeamFortress #TaylorSwitft #AI #SORA #WilhelmScream #BlockbusterInc #Replikant #moviemaking #games #communities #UE5 #modding #podcast

Credits –

Speakers: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood, Damien Valentine

Producer/Editor: Phil Rice

Music: Animo Domini Beats