[spectre] machinima workshop in prague

[Denisa Kera]

Last chance to apply to TransISTor workshop http://transistor.ciant.cz 
in JUNE organised by www.FAMU.cz and www.CIANT.cz

TransISTor focuses on computer games technologies while opening up their 
creative potential for non-gaming storytelling domains including art, 
cinema, TV, educational applications and cross-media productions.

Session 1:     Game modifications and machinima films
14. 06. - 17. 06. 2007, Prague

Application deadline: 14. MAY 2007

Working language is English.

Game modifications and machinima films
 From combination of comics and video games to films created with game 
engines. This session will provide an overview of tools and techniques 
used for customizing and expanding computer games. We will examine 
issues of game design and game play in the context of cross media 
production. The goal is to explore the basics of how to create and 
modify game levels. In the intensive 4-day workshop your will create 
your first machinima film.

14. - 17. JUNE 2007 | Prague | € 400 (freelancer) / € 800 (corporate) - 
The price includes training, didactic materials, accommodation and meals.

Preliminary schedule:
14. June
9:00 - 12:00 AM | VIKTOR ANTONOV: Visual storytelling for Game worlds: 
designing and building a sci-fi universe
1:30 - 5:00 PM |  DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO: Independent Vs. Commercial games: 
from aesthetic to industry aspects

15. June
9:00 - 12:00 AM | FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: From game engine to machinima movie
1:30 - 5:00 PM | FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop I.: What makes 
a machinima?

16. June
9:00 - 12:00 AM | MICHAEL NITSCHE:  Machinima and performance
1:30 - 5:00 PM | FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop II.: Live 
Machinima Sketch.

17. JUNE
9:00 - 12:00 AM | MICHAEL NITSCHE:  Machinima and the moving image
1:30 - 5:00 PM | FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop III: A small 
Movie.

VIKTOR ANTONOV: Visual storytelling for Game worlds:  designing and 
building a sci-fi universe
Case studies of game design  by Viktor Antonov, the concept designer and 
the lead art director of Half-Life 2. On examples of his previous and 
current work, he will illustrate the different stages of world creation 
from research to architecture, lighting, and concepts, concentrating on 
the functions of visual design and visual storytelling. In the 
presentation he will discuss the fundamentals of game design and 
principles of creating game environments and spaces that provide good 
gameplay.
VIKTOR ANTONOV (USA/FR/BG)
Art-director and concept designer for Half-Life 2 currently working on a 
new game “The Crossing” which merges single- and multiplayer aspects 
into a new genre of "cross-play“.
www.vulkanbros.com





FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: From game engine to machinima movie
Machinima is a somewhat new and emerging medium that makes use of the 
realtime rendering capabilities of modern day computer systems to create 
animated movies. Often enough, machinima repurposes computer gaming 
technology to help „shooting film in virtual reality“. Though by 
definition not necessarily bound to computer gaming as such, the two are 
closely link, not only technologically, but also in their social 
relevance. Often using the characters and assets from the underlying 
computer game, machinima works as a way of criticising the games' 
content and enables the audience to become creative and expand the 
boundaries set by the rules of the computer game.
Machinima transforms into creative play, emphasizing the process of 
filmmaking as a socially relevant new form of expression and media 
awareness. With the way machinima is made come broader issues stretching 
from copyright infringement to new channels of distribution.
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop
I. What makes a machinima?
In this session we will look at the Workflow and Content Production 
Pipeline for Machinima movies.
II. Live Machinima Sketch.
In this session we will create a simple character setup and perform a 
live sketch.
III. A small Movie.
In the final Workshop session, participants will create a small 
Machinima sequence and render it to the disk for editing, sound and 
post-production.
The Machinima workshop will consist of a brief overview of the history 
of machinima, followed by a basic explanation of the concepts and 
workings and finally some hands-on experience. Through analysis of 
example movies, attendees will get an idea of what makes machinima 
unique. The larger context of computer games and gaming culture will be 
explained and the idea of the social relevancy of machinima will be 
discussed. We briefly talk about the legal aspects of machinima 
moviemaking and take a look at newly formed distribution channels like 
youTube or google video. Druing the 4 day workshop participants will 
create a small machinima movie with a tool based on the game Unreal 
Tournament 2004 called MovieSandbox.
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER (AT)
Artist and researcher at the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz working 
with the emerging genre of machinima films. www.zeitbrand.de


DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO: Independent Vs. Commercial games: from aesthetic to 
industry aspects
Should we consider video games an art form or they are simply a 
commercial product with no values? The presentation will discuss the 
need for an aesthetic of video games and evaluation of artistic merit, 
so consumers learn to appreciate what is and what is not relevant in a 
video game. We will talk about video game artists, their training, and 
the need to broaden our creator base to incorporate new ideas and 
creativity. The lecture is driven by examples, from Mario to Half Life, 
trying to bridge the gap between classic gamers and art critics.

DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO (ES)
Entrepreneur and one of the leading voices in game research in Europe 
who founded Europe’s first Master’s Degree in Video Game Creation. 
Sub-director of ArtFutura, Spain’s main multimedia festival, and a 
member of the jury at the Independent Games Festival.
www.novarama.com


MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and performance
'part theatre, part film, part videogame' [Salen 2002, 99]
Machinima grows from a performance in a virtual world. What are the 
conditions of this performance? We will look at theory and practice of 
the idea of the computer as theater for machinima.
Project presentation:
Tangible User Interfaces for 3D Real-Time Environments (TUI3D)
MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and the moving image
'Filmmaking + Animation + Game Tech' [Marino 2004, 3]
No matter what the appearance of machinima, it always deals with the 
question of the cinematic. But because it is generated so differently 
from established methods, the 'question of the cinematic' is a two-sided 
sword in the case of machinima. Is it a move of game media towards film 
or a simple acquisition of game technologies in the world of moving 
image production? What is the position of machinima in relation to film?
Project presentation:
Machinima editing tool
Pre-vis efforts
MICHAEL NITSCHE (USA)
Assistant Professor at the School of Literature, Communication & Culture 
LCC at the Georgia Institute of Technology who launched a website on the 
academic take on machinima and the first academic book publication on 
this relatively new field where games and film/ video merge.
ww.lcc.gatech.edu/~nitsche



TransISTor http://transistor.ciant.cz is a training initiative
organised by CIANT - International Centre for Art and New Technologies
in cooperation with FAMU - Film and TV Faculty of the Academy of 
Performing Arts in Prague supported by the MEDIA Training Programme of 
the European Union.



CIANT - International Centre for Art and New Technologies
Address: Kubelíkova 27, 130 00 Prague, Czech Republic
Tel.: +42 (0) 296 330 965, Fax: +42 (0) 296 330 964
e-mail: transistor2007 AT ciant.c, URL: http://transistor.ciant.cz