Filming feature-length machinima
by Amanda Rivera 
Oct 30th 2007 at 11:01AM
How many of you remember the MMOvie trailer we posted back in August? Well AJ Loiacono and his marketing ploy for VOIG.com are back in the news, this time with an update on their work. Originally the MMOvie trailer was created purely as a promotion piece, with no intentions to turn it into anything more than perhaps a series of short films. That was until it drove millions of hits to the site and was translated into 10 languages so that it could be downloaded hundreds of thousands of times.
Suddenly their little machinima mash-up of movie scenes translated into WoW was hugely popular, suddenly it was something worth taking a second stab at.
And so Loiacono assembled his machinima strike force once more, only this time to turn their project into a feature-length film. Two hours of story is a lot to record, especially when you take into consideration that the game pauses for no man. And then there are the other challenges of working within a MMO, for instance the mobs that wander the landscape. For this reason the team has hired PAs, or production assistants, whose job is to kill any monsters that happen to get in the way of shooting. Think of it as virtually roping off a city block for filming. They have also had to bribe players to stay away from the set, so far shelling out more than 10,000 in gold to passersby.
In many ways this project is as labor-intensive as more traditional animated films. On average five minutes of film translates to five hours of video capture and editing. All this to give the fans what they want. Because this is a commercial shoot with a script, a director, and a massive concept, the team even hires extras when needed, at the rate of $200.00 a day -- dollars, not gold. I'd be curious to know if any of our readers have participated in this project. What was it like being a virtual extra? Would you do it if you had the chance?
Filed under: Machinima, Odds and ends, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pål Oct 30th 2007 12:19PM
I'd love to join, but my real life doesn't exactly allow me to plan my WoW time ahead any earlier than a day before.
hpavc Oct 30th 2007 12:48PM
Why no server emulation / private server? With all the time / energy it seems quite obvious. Not to mention if you want to ... kill all the mobs at the Bulwark as Horde or something its easily doable.
Hugh "Nomad" Hancock Oct 30th 2007 1:59PM
"In many ways this project is as labor-intensive as more traditional animated films."
Speaking as one of the seven or so people in the world who has completed a Machinima feature film - hell, no, it isn't.
BloodSpell, for example, took about twelve man-years to film.
Ratotouille took more like 8,000 man years to film - more than 200 people working for at least 3 years.
Some of that is the differing levels of production quality, of course, but more is just the fact that compared to conventional animation (and I've done both), Machinima is really, really fast.
"On average five minutes of film translates to five hours of video capture and editing"
That's damn fast shooting. BloodSpell was more like one minute per seven hours or so.
An animator will take up to about 40 hours to create 30 seconds of motion for *one* character, to Pixar (or Blizzard) standards. Again - Machinima, she be fast.
Gazoo Oct 30th 2007 4:05PM
Millions of hits on a website does not equal instant riches.
Not to mention, you dont just go shoot a bunch of footage without taking the time to get an agreement with Blizzard. You dont just go out and make money with Blizzards product, Blizz made that abundantly clear with their Letter to Machinimators.
There simply is not a market big enough to drive a feature. Distributors won't touch this.
I wish them good luck though.
Anonomouse Dec 7th 2007 12:38AM
"And so Loiacono assembled his machinima strike force once more, only this time to turn their project into a feature-length film..."
lie.