Production

The term machinima is derived from the combination of the words “machine” and “cinema.” The title refers to the fact that the movie is in fact the work of a machine. Machinima movies are, in the words of Red Vs. Blue creator Burnie Burns, “movie[s] inside of a videogame.” The filmmakers will use the engine, usually in the multiplayer mode of the game, to manipulate the in game characters and locations to fit a written script. By dubbing voices over the animated sequences, a machinima film resembles any other animated film, for a fraction of the cost. Rather than utilizing a team of animators working on top of the line computers in a Hollywood, machinima producers need only a few copies of a game, a few game consoles to match, a video capture card, and some basic video editing software. Films can be created in a week, rather than the year or so that other films would take to be released.
However, machinima does have its limitations and obstacles that producers must face when creating their films. For the sake of brevity, I will focus on a single established machinima series to describe and address the issues machinima producers face when creating their films.







The tools of the trade. Two Xbox 360 systems, with a color coordinated controller for each.







Although the production process remains the same as it did before the release of the Xbox 360, it became decidedly less cluttered.









Rooster Teeth staff member Geoff Fink with the old RvB production system.




















The new production system, including the winning faceplate design for the director's system.