It is holiday time and I am enjoying some relaxing time in Sydney. My wife recently wanted to replace her PC with a laptop, so guess who her technical advisor was. After comparing prices and specs, the decision was made to purchase a Samsung R519 Notebook at a very reasonable price. It has the Vista Home Premium OS and Samsung promises a free Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade early next year (2010). I can’t wait for the upgrade. After transferring all my wife’s emails to her laptop and installing software, I was really impressed with the laptop, its functionality, ease of use and saw its potential when travelling. I decided to purchase exactly the same laptop for myself. This means while relaxing here in Sydney I can write blogs for my website.
The Search For Decent Machinima Films
Last night I searched the internet for machinima films that met my criteria of what I feel meets the standard for a decently produced film as opposed to a simple recording of game play. Half Life 2 is my preferred game for producing machinima films because of its high quality game engine and the graphical detail of npc’s, maps and effects. I stumbled on this film that astounded me in its creative visual story telling.
Exitium: Vae Victis V (Half-Life Machinima)
Producer and director, Eddie Smithson has done an amazing job manipulating the Half Life 2 npc’s manipulated by Garry’s Mod and the use of the game engine to produce an amazing technical feat. The film reminded me of Steven Spielbergs Saving Private Ryan. The Metrocops (Metropolice) battle scenes had a similar style to World War II battle footage. The story is thinly perceptible to audiences who are not familiar with the Half Life 2 narative. What amazed me was Eddie’s visual storytelling style, fast cuts and manipulation of the game engine and assets to produce an exciting action packed film.
Here is a tutorial video showing how Eddie Smithson made this film.
Eddie Smithson's Tutorial (Half-Life 2 Machinima Tutorial)
I have searched the internet for websites, blogs, facebook etc relating to Eddie Smithson to no avail. It would be great if Eddie had a website or blog teaching machinima filmmakers how he made his film.
Feel free to leave a comment. If you have any information about Eddie Smithson, please let us know.
