Stills from ‘Worship the Will’.

No matter how childish some people may see video games, the fact remains that these games have become serious business and are just no ordinary child’s play.

In 2008 alone, console video games made $21 billion in sales, while PC games amassed more than $700 million, according to the American market research group, National Purchase Daily. In comparison, the America’s film industry only brought about $10 billion in box office receipts.

Some video game fans are even taking that next step and using the in-game artificial intelligence and its digital elements to create films, music videos, even comedy and drama series. This has given rise to the movement called Machinima -- a colloquial contraction for “machine’’ and “cinema.’’

Machinima first came into prominence in 1996 with “Diary of a Camper” and culminated in the Emmy Award-winning 2006 episode of South Park entitled “Make Love, Not Warcraft”, which featured footage from the popular online game, World of Warcraft.

In 2002, the Academy of Machinima and Sciences was established, and has yearly been recognizing outstanding Machinima during the Machinima Film Festival. Even the Sundance Film Festival
includes Machinima films as part of its programming.

Here in the country, Machinima made its official debut at the Cinemanila International Film Festival recently held at the Market! Market! in Taguig. Outstanding Machinima short films and music videos from here and around the world were awarded at the Machinima Film Festival, the first-of-its-kind in the country.

MUSIC AND MACHINIMA

Two of the local winners at the recent festival are De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde sophomore Erica Cruz and filmmaker and screenwriter Ian-Dean Loreños, who won for Best Music Video and Audience Choice for Best Music Video, respectively.

Cruz won for her Sims 3 music video for the song “Inside Your Head”, by Icelandic musician Eberg, while Loreños work on “Worship the Will” -- a thinly-veiled jab at Wowowee host Willie Revillame, made using parts of 8-bit video games from Family Computer games -- proved to be a crowd-pleaser.

Both are newcomers to Machinima, and discovered this emerging art form by accident.

“I think it was about a year ago, after the popular game Grand Theft Auto IV was released,” says Cruz. “I searched Youtube and stumbled upon this video titled ‘GTA 4 - Gameplay Montage’ and was amazed at the things a person can do with a game. There isn’t really a story behind the video montage, but it got me interested.”

For Loreños, it was a trip to Berlin and an encounter with a fellow filmmmaker that got him hooked on Machinima.

“Around two years ago I got invited to attend the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin, Germany, part of the Berlinale International Film Festival Program. There I met a talented filmmaker from Taiwan named John Hsu, who showed me some of his new films made out of 3D video games. He’s the one who introduced me to Machinima,” he recalls.

Their interest would translate into a few measured steps into making their own Machinima films. Cruz experimenting with character movements on the popular simulation game “The Sims 3”, while Loreños began making video tests, one of which featured a digital representation of himself delivering a short Valentines’ Day dedication to his girlfriend.

However, it was the Cinemanila Machinima Film Festival that would provide the final push and encourage them to make a full-blown Machinima film.

Embarking on a full-blown Machinima film would not be as easy as just playing a video game and recording the images. Technical problems and the distraction provided by the games themselves
would prove to be challenging for both Loreños and Cruz.

“One of the most significant challenges that I faced in the making of this machinima was when I was capturing the video during gameplay. I was always having so much fun playing the game that I keep on forgetting to focus on my story to get the movements I wanted,” Cruz reveals.

Winning in the country’s first ever Machinima Film Festival came as a surprise for both, especially as the competition had entries from other countries such as the United States and Canada which have much more established Machinima communities.

“Since I’m a fairly competitive guy, I wanted to win. But the only expectation that I wanted was a lively reaction from my audience, not necessarily positive,” says Loreños. “I just wanted a strong connection with the audience. I was really glad hearing the laughter and seeing the amusement on the viewers’ faces during the screening.”

While both Cruz and Loreños are working on non-Machinima related projects as of the moment -- Cruz is busy with school and her internship, while Loreños is working on a full-length live action horror movie -- both are eager to jump at the chance to make more Machinima films.

In fact, Loreños already has a plan in mind for a full-length Machinima feature.

“I’ll have to make some short Machinima first!” he adds. “The beauty with Machinima is that it is still a new medium in filmmaking and there are still a lot of things yet to be discovered and learned from it. I realize that I’m still learning about Machinima and I have to make some experiments first before plunging into a full-length Machinima project!”