Machinima Premiere "morning Run Amok" Q&a

Machiniplex Premiere for Morning Run Amok”

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Skype Q&A chat with director Frank L. Fox (aka Fleef) & sound designer Phil Rice (aka Overman) Chat Moderator: Ricky Grove (with help from Ingrid Moon) (Please Note: this chat has been slightly edited to make it easier to read) Recorded on 2007 -09- 08

In attendance:

akirakenobi / animize / bllius69 / coyotv / flingfilms / jim.mcdougald / kradproductions / moomoney / philrrice / rickygrove / suhnder / supreme_overlord_angelus -Frank Fox and Phil Rice comments are in Yellow-

2007-09-08 Ingrid Moon: 5:11:35 so if everyone has watched the movie, why don't we begin some Q&A with Frank, Phil, & Ricky.

Ingrid Moon: 5:11:53

Mr. Grove, you have the floor for your intro

Ricky Grove: 5:12:16 Good deal. Let me begin by asking everyone to hold your questions until we are able to do some intros and have Frank comment on the film initially.

Ricky Grove: 5:12:26 Frank, are you up for that?

Frank Fox: 5:12:34 sure

Ricky Grove: 5:13:03 Ok. I'd like to thank everyone for coming to our Premiere for the new Machinima website "Machiniplex.com"

Ricky Grove: 5:13:27 This site was the brainchild of Jason Choi who then asked myself and Ingrid to come on board.

Ricky Grove: 5:13:50 It's been a collaborative effort of many months. Here we are at the Premiere!

Bill Klimke: 5:14:39 applause

Ricky Grove: 5:14:41 The idea behind Machiniplex is to create a site who's main focus are top quality machinima films in high quality versions. That is and will be the main focus of the site

Ricky Grove: 5:14:48 Thanks, moo and bill!

Ricky Grove: 5:15:15 We are featuring our first film, "Morning Run Amok" directed by Frank Fox today!

Jim McDougald: 5:15:23 claps

Ricky Grove: 5:15:46 I hope everyone has had the chance to stream the film at our site (http://www.machiniplex.com)

Ricky Grove: 5:16:00 If you haven't, head on over there and take a look.

Ricky Grove: 5:16:47 We will be having an "opening night" here with the director, the composer and the sound designer. Along with one or two of the actors, I think.

Ricky Grove: 5:16:53 We'

Ricky Grove: 5:17:05 We'd like to thank Frank for making his film available to us.

Ricky Grove: 5:17:30 And for helping us set up this event. Our apologies for not getting the skypecast thing working. This will have to do for now.

Jim McDougald: 5:17:54 Trying to drag you in Ricky

Ricky Grove: 5:18:06 And with that, I'd like to ask Frank to comment on his film. Basically, if you could let us know how you got the idea and how it developed.

Ricky Grove: 5:18:08 Frank?

Frank Fox: 5:18:24 ok

Frank Fox: 5:19:03 this film was started out as a blooper reel but I had no bloopers

Frank Fox: 5:20:04 I used CJ's little ad lib line in the beginning to practice motion and lip sync in Moviestorm

Frank Fox: 5:20:12 it just snowballed from there

Ricky Grove: 5:20:45 when you say "snowballed" can you go into more detail?

Ricky Grove: 5:21:30 Frank?

Frank Fox: 5:21:30 I wanted to come up with a story that pushed Moviestorm's limitations but still worked within them

Ricky Grove: 5:21:41 sorry..

Frank Fox: 5:22:21 I have amassed a bunch of jokes told to me over the years. I m terrible with remembering them and retelling them so I write down the ones I like

Frank Fox: 5:22:58 I hunted through my stash and found the more vaudvilian (sp?) one to string together

Frank Fox: 5:23:14 This is the result.

Ricky Grove: 5:23:42 What gave you the idea to use the morning run as the plot device to string the bits together?

Frank Fox: 5:23:47 I am so proud of all of the work my family, old firends and news friends have done on this

Frank Fox: 5:24:31 The runner was a good tie-in for all of the settings

Frank Fox: 5:24:46 he could take me anywhere I wanted to go

Frank Fox: 5:25:35 any questions>?

Bill Klimke: 5:26:05 still watching the clip

Ricky Grove: 5:26:13 I found it interesting that your central character is so completely unaware of what's going on. You feel for the schlemp.

Frank Fox: 5:27:01 The jogger is the catalyst and yet the unwitting pied piper of Hamlin

Ricky Grove: 5:27:13 There ya go, thanks.

Frank Fox: 5:28:12 I'm terrible at typing, so please bear with me

Ricky Grove: 5:28:32 Anyway, I enjoyed the story and I thought you did a good job because the visuals support the story very well.

Frank Fox: 5:28:55 the bit at the end was me free writing and I thank CJ Ambrisoa for playing along

Frank Fox: 5:29:03 Thank you Ricky

JOHNMARTIN2: 5:29:08 What would you say is the total production time to complete the movie? ...and.. Was there any timesaving treasure you discovered along the way?

Ricky Grove: 5:29:09 Next question: why the photo realistic backgrounds?

Frank Fox: 5:29:43 The backgrounds were me trying to make up for my compositing mistakes in Screen Scenes

Frank Fox: 5:30:21 and I wanted to see what realism looked like up against the Moviestorm models

Frank Fox: 5:31:00 The interior supermarket was fun to shoot I got busted by the manager for taping and shooting

Ricky Grove: 5:31:19 Did he actually hit you?

Frank Fox: 5:31:30 I also got busted at the local VA hospital for videotaping on federal land

Frank Fox: 5:31:47 It was a she at the market, she was very nice

Bill Klimke: 5:31:53 lol, I thought the only legal trouble machinmators got into was with game companies

Philip R. Rice: 5:31:57 (bow chicka wow-wow)

Frank Fox: 5:32:16 the cop at the VA watched me for a few minutes before approaching me in his golf cart

Ricky Grove: 5:32:33 I'm curious if everyone felt that the use of realistic backgrounds was effective in the film?

Ingrid Moon: 5:32:55 Yes, I thought they blended very well.

Frank Fox: 5:32:59 There are some nice ponds and waterfall there and he know I was just shooting scenery but the terrorism threat was a good excuse to brighten up his day

Jim McDougald: 5:33:05 very effective

Philip R. Rice: 5:33:17 Absolutely.

Frank Fox: 5:33:34 I'm glad to hear that

Ricky Grove: 5:33:45 Where there problems in matching the lighting?

Frank Fox: 5:35:55 Vegas has a good FX called bump map

Frank Fox: 5:36:36 it also lets you position the lights where you want them but I turn off the bump feature

Ricky Grove: 5:36:52 Franks typing...John Martin2, we'll get to your question. I promise.

Bill Klimke: 5:36:52 What version of Vegas is that?

Evan L Ryan: 5:36:58

*taking notes*

JOHNMARTIN2: 5:37:13

Thanks

Frank Fox: 5:37:19 I can get the dark scene in the fortune tellers place by focusing the spot on just the candle and keyframe it movements

Frank Fox: 5:37:31 vegas 6

Frank Fox: 5:38:14 you can drag the light source from any position and it under exposes or overexposes the clip as you desire

Ingrid Moon: 5:38:21 If you have a question you can IM me in a separate window and I'll queue you up.

Ricky Grove: 5:39:19 I was worried that the foreground figures wouldn't blend well with the realistic background. But you really got it to work, Frank.

Jim McDougald: 5:39:36 Who else wants into the voice chat? Got room for one more.

Ricky Grove: 5:39:49 Ok. can you answer JM2's question abou how long from beginning to end?

Frank Fox: 5:39:57

thanks. it was 50% accident and 50% determination

Ricky Grove: 5:40:31 And any time saving tricks you learning along the way.

Frank Fox: 5:40:59 I guess it started in may and was a consumer of much of my days

Frank Fox: 5:41:18 We finished it a little less than two weeks ago

Ricky Grove: 5:41:18 So thats how long?

Frank Fox: 5:41:33 about three months

Frank Fox: 5:41:56 it took around 3 months to make

Ricky Grove: 5:42:06 Got it.

JOHNMARTIN2: 5:43:01 TY

Ricky Grove: 5:43:43 I think I'd like to open the floor to questions from anyone in the chat now. Does anyone have comments or questions?

Ingrid Moon: 5:43:49 bill, go

Bill Klimke: 5:43:58 How does he feel about using Moviestorm as a machinima platform versus other software/game engines?

Frank Fox: 5:44:08 The music was the best part for me. Hearing what phil came up with after watching the rough cut was a very good feeling

Ingrid Moon: 5:45:01

one sec bill

Frank Fox: 5:45:50 I like the power it gives me, but like my other fav GTA it has it's need for workarounds

Frank Fox: 5:46:15 I can see MS being something that grows leaps and bounds just from community input

Bill Klimke: 5:46:31 Have you tried iClone?

Ricky Grove: 5:46:35 I agree with you about the community.

Frank Fox: 5:46:40 I can't wait to be able to mod and add my own content

Frank Fox: 5:47:34 yes I tried iclone's demo. it was very hard for me to use and get around in. I was in the middle of making Screen Scenes so my attention span was limited and stressed to the limit

Ricky Grove: 5:48:03 I have been using Iclone for the last year and although it's different from Moviestorm in emphasis, It's a very good program.

Ingrid Moon: 5:48:22 where did you find those amazing women for your voices? I think the "losing weight" girl is awesome. Is it true her name is Gina Davis?

Ricky Grove: 5:48:47 They were good!

Frank Fox: 5:48:48 I would love to have it all at my disposal and will use it all

Frank Fox: 5:49:16 the ladies were the coolest. I was told that their recording session had its quirks

Ingrid Moon: 5:49:51 a car is a really neat place to record

Ricky Grove: 5:50:07 Why don't we bring Phil Rice, the composer, into the mix now? Phil, can you talk a little about the music for MRA?

Ingrid Moon: 5:50:24 go bill.

Ricky Grove: 5:50:26 I think Bill still has another question.

Bill Klimke: 5:51:02 oh, ok, about the voices, how did that go, did you record them all together, were they all separate and then 'mailed in'?

Frank Fox: 5:51:58 some of my local friends let me drag them into my little makeshift studio, but the stars in LA and Florida and NY and where ever adam is from all submitted their own wav files

Ingrid Moon: 5:52:18 from my car.

Frank Fox: 5:52:28 no AC I hear

Ricky Grove: 5:52:30 It sounded like your car, too.

Ingrid Moon: 5:52:31 usurping coworkers and my work's wireless

Bill Klimke: 5:52:35 were they all ok as is, or did you have to go back and record again for do overs?

Ingrid Moon: 5:52:37 on company time even!

Frank Fox: 5:53:20 there was one do over

Ricky Grove: 5:53:34 The problem with multiple mics and recordings are that they all sound differently. I had to do considerable work to even

Ricky Grove: 5:53:38 out the sound for the files.

Philip R. Rice: 5:53:40 Ahh, that do over would be me.

Philip R. Rice: 5:53:43

Ricky Grove: 5:54:10 I don't know where you got the idea that a yiddish accent would work for your part, Phil.

Frank Fox: 5:54:32 I wanted to give Gina Davis top billing but Ricky said my intro was too long

Philip R. Rice: 5:54:34 LOL

Ricky Grove: 5:54:34 I mean it was good, but...

Bill Klimke: 5:54:38

Frank Fox: 5:54:42 oy vey

Ricky Grove: 5:55:15 Phil....tell us a bit about the score!

Philip R. Rice: 5:55:28

Alrighty.

Frank Fox: 5:56:21 I wasn't prepaired for the joy I got when I heard what phil came up with

Ricky Grove: 5:56:34

me, too!

Ricky Grove: 5:57:06 What a perfect score for the film. I thought it lifted the whole film up a notch.

Philip R. Rice: 5:57:07 Frank got me a cut of the film, and when I watched it the first time, I could hear that "bouncy" kind of shuffle in my head. And that seemed to go well with Frank's notes about what he wanted for the score.

Ricky Grove: 5:57:29 The kazoo chorus was a a great touch!

Philip R. Rice: 5:57:43 Those notes were, by the way, very sparse and open... which is a composer's dream, or at least for me it is. That kind of freedom (and trust) is wonderful.

Frank Fox: 5:57:44 It was friendly and inviting and casual like a jam session and reminded me of my favs childhood like King of the Road and Tennessee Ernie Ford

Ricky Grove: 5:58:25 Folksy is a good way to describe it. Kind of a modern "our town" but with some sitcom/laugh in vibes.

Philip R. Rice: 5:58:25 I really wanted to deviate from the electronic "programmed" sound that I'd been doing on some other recent stuff, and come up with something that sounded very human, real... and a bit silly / fun too.

Philip R. Rice: 5:58:33 Right.

Frank Fox: 5:58:47 I love how you segue out of the muzak back into acoustic

Philip R. Rice: 5:58:55 So I bought three different kinds of kazoos with different tones, etc.

Ricky Grove: 5:58:58 yessir. one of my favs

Philip R. Rice: 5:59:28 And while MIDI was indeed involved in the scoring process, I deliberately avoided any "quantiziation" - which is where you can have the computer correct rhythmic irregularities.

Philip R. Rice: 5:59:38

I wanted it to sound loose, imperfect.... like I said, real.

Philip R. Rice: 5:59:50 Almost sloppy, but in that good "folksy" way.

Ricky Grove: 6:00:12 Perfectly matches the style of the film, I think.

Frank Fox: 6:00:30 It makes the movie for me

Philip R. Rice: 6:00:46 What was REALLY amazing is the natural synchronicity the tune (which I composed independent of the edit lock) with the film's own rhythm.

Ricky Grove: 6:01:05 How much of that was accident and how much was planned?

Philip R. Rice: 6:01:10 That, I must admit, was NOT my craftsmanship as much as it just happened.

Philip R. Rice: 6:01:52 I'd say 90% accidental, the sync stuff. I did have to pick the right parts of the song for the right spots in the film, but when I did pick the right part... it slid into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

Philip R. Rice: 6:02:00

I love it when that happens.

Ingrid Moon: 6:02:19 Okay Hannibal Smith

Ricky Grove: 6:02:22 It seemed like it happened in other aspects of the film as well.

Philip R. Rice: 6:02:33 Yes, I agree.

Ricky Grove: 6:02:35 Go ahead, hannibal.

Ingrid Moon: 6:02:46 No I'm calling Phil Hannibal.

Ricky Grove: 6:02:52 Ok.

Bill Klimke: 6:02:53 lol

Ingrid Moon: 6:02:55 "I love it when a plan comes together" - sorry bad joke

Philip R. Rice: 6:03:09 Shut up, fool!

Philip R. Rice: 6:03:17 lol

Philip R. Rice: 6:03:37 The supermarket music...

Ricky Grove: 6:03:53 My favorite scene (soundwise) in the film

Philip R. Rice: 6:04:33 was of course, much more programmed sounding, a deliberate contrast to emulate that musak approach. But when I went 100% electronic with it, it seemed out of place. So I made it an acoustic guitar driven piece with that lock-step feel, it seemed to work okay.

Philip R. Rice: 6:05:08 The transition of the musak out to full stereo was not planned until I was working with the final cut of the film.

Ricky Grove: 6:05:38 It was a very nice touch. Helped move out of one scene into another.

Philip R. Rice: 6:05:43 I'd planned to just have the musak cut off when we left the market, but it didn't feel right. So I

played around and finally came up with that transition. I'm really happy with it.

Frank Fox: 6:06:02 so am I

Ricky Grove: 6:06:15 In fact, I like all of the transitions int he film. One scene to the next.

Philip R. Rice: 6:06:50 It was a real pleasure to score this film. Everything about it was enjoyable, the process, the freedom, and the team. A great experience.

Ingrid Moon: 6:07:11

Any other questions?

Ingrid Moon: 6:07:39

ask away

Frank Fox: 6:07:57 I hope you all enjoyed the movie and this party. I have had a blast and I hate typing

Bill Klimke: 6:08:01 So what's the next production that you plan to do? Are you going to continue in Moviestorm?

Ricky Grove: 6:08:19

We'll work out the kinks for chat in the future, so you won't have to do much typing in the future, Frank.

Ingrid Moon: 6:08:35 yes

Frank Fox: 6:08:50 I am planning a sequel to Play It Again Carl that will use both GTA and MS

Ingrid Moon: 6:09:06 that'll be an interesting combo

Frank Fox: 6:09:25 I had an idea for the 1 minute Filminute but it's too late this year

Bill Klimke: 6:09:29 in GTA3 or 4?

Frank Fox: 6:09:38

GTA

A

Frank Fox: 6:09:56 Until GTA4 is PC I will not be using it

Ricky Grove: 6:10:21

'

Ricky Grove: 6:10:49 So, would you say that you are going to work fairly exclusively with Moviestorm in combination with other programs?

Frank Fox: 6:11:47 Yes. I am excited by the possibilities of MS and want to help develop the content as well as make movies with it

Ricky Grove: 6:12:28 I believe that Moviestorm is is going be be released in Oct as an official release, right?

Bill Klimke: 6:12:44

Are you in any way associated with Moviestorm financially?

Frank Fox: 6:12:48 I haven't heard when

Frank Fox: 6:13:06 No, Bill, but I'd like to be. Can you tell? (nod)

Ingrid Moon: 6:13:14 Frank wasn't even using beta 2.... he was using beta 1.3!

Bill Klimke: 6:13:16

Lol

Frank Fox: 6:13:29 beta 1.0.3 through 1.0.4

Frank Fox: 6:13:51 or something like that. I can't remember

Ricky Grove: 6:14:31 Frank, let's talk about sound a bit.

Frank Fox: 6:14:41 ok

Ricky Grove: 6:14:59 I think we spent about 2 weeks on sound, right?

Frank Fox: 6:15:10 my philosophy befor eI met you was: if I put it all in there I want to hear it all

Ingrid Moon: 6:15:17 Folks, it's about time I go spend some time with my poor helpless deprived child....

Ricky Grove: 6:15:30 Ok. Thanks, Ingrid

Ingrid Moon: 6:15:30 before child services comes in and takes him to Grandma's

Frank Fox: 6:15:45 thank you ingrid for doing all of this!!

Philip R. Rice: 6:15:58 Thanks, Ingrid!

Ingrid Moon: 6:15:59

i'm sorry the skypecast didn't work

Bill Klimke: 6:16:01 resounding cheer!

Frank Fox: 6:16:07 golf clap!!

Ricky Grove: 6:16:12 Yes, I know that's what your philosophy was, Frank.

Ricky Grove: 6:16:21 What made you change your mind?

Frank Fox: 6:16:39

it's not any more. I took lots of notes

Ricky Grove: 6:17:47 Well, one of the things I admired about MRA is "mise en scene" (50 cent word there)

Ingrid Moon: 6:17:50 Nighters!

Ricky Grove: 6:18:15 By that, I mean that you've got foreground and background design in almost all of your scenes.

Ricky Grove: 6:18:45 It added detail in such a way that each scene seemed complete and real.

Ricky Grove: 6:19:10 I thought that the sound should reflect that kind of design. Layered is the way I would

Ricky Grove: 6:19:12 describe it.

Frank Fox: 6:19:15 I still get a laugh out of my decision to hard pan the vocals. I thought it logical that if he's on the left side of the screen he should be on the left channel

Ricky Grove: 6:19:58

Well, it makes sense, Frank. But it doesn't work in on screen most of the time.

Frank Fox: 6:20:32 Although the foley works when its stationed near a direction

Ricky Grove: 6:20:40 Dialogue is usually centered in most animated films. Not a hard and fast rule, but usually the case

Ricky Grove: 6:21:26 I was very pleased with how the sound turned out. You and Phil were very helpful in mixing the sound.

Ricky Grove: 6:21:43 In fact, I think this film is the best mixing work I've done so far.

Frank Fox: 6:21:49 It makes sense to me now. I also intened to isolate the sounds on their own tracks. for MRA I just threw sounds on any available space on any track

Philip R. Rice: 6:22:06 My favorite sound moment has to be that supermarket announcer.

Frank Fox: 6:22:08 I handed you a challenge to be sure, and you rose to it

Ricky Grove: 6:22:11

Yes, that was a bit hard to work around at times.

Ricky Grove: 6:22:27 But next time we'll get it sorted out perfectly.

Frank Fox: 6:22:50

I get the plan now, man.

Ricky Grove: 6:23:19 I'd like to recommend the Free Sound site as a place to get great CC sounds. I used several in this film.

Ricky Grove: 6:23:24 Here is the link:

Ricky Grove: 6:23:46 http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php

Bill Klimke: 6:23:52 I can't tell what the announcer says.

Ricky Grove: 6:24:10 Motorcycle, Street Ambience, Announcer in Grocery Store, etc.

Ricky Grove: 6:24:26

All Creative Commons and searchable. Great site.

Philip R. Rice: 6:24:37 Me neither, Bill.

Frank Fox: 6:24:43 that's what so cool about the announcer

Bill Klimke: 6:25:01 lol

Ricky Grove: 6:25:20 That was a choice, Bill. In my experience those kind of announcements all seem mysterious and indescipherable to me.

Ricky Grove: 6:26:05 Original sound from Free Sound is about 20 mintues long. Wav file of a guy walking through a grocery store in the East of the U.S.

Bill Klimke: 6:26:30 lol, I never pay attention to announcements, besides, I usually have headphones on

Ricky Grove: 6:26:40 LoL

Ricky Grove: 6:27:22

Well, I think we've pretty much wound down here if there aren't any additional questions. Anyone else?

Bill Klimke: 6:27:46 Can we ask questions about Machiniplex?

Ricky Grove: 6:27:52 Please do!

Dr. Nemesis: 6:28:19 Will it just show the films, or will the films have stuff written about em?

Jim McDougald: 6:28:47 yeah, so whats the mission of the site in general?

Ricky Grove: 6:29:37 Our main focus is to feature quality films, but we plan on having "special content" for as many films as we can. In addition, I'll be featuring a "Workshop" with very specific tuts on problems found in different films. We'll also have a three way blog with Ingrid, jason and myself.

Ricky Grove: 6:30:13 The main mission of Machiniplex is to promote and feature quality machinima in the best possible versions we can get.

Ricky Grove: 6:31:11 Of course, quality is a subjective term. We'll be using what Jason, Ingrid and myself consider to be "quality". We'll make some mistakes here and there, but for the most part I"m confident wi'

Ricky Grove: 6:31:32 we wil have a collection of excellent films with a great variety of styles.

Ricky Grove: 6:32:41 There is also work being done on an on-going tv series which is a combination of Monty Python spoof and real discussion which wil be shot in Moviestorm. it will feature a specific film and the actors, director in discussion.

Jim McDougald: 6:33:02 You've started off with a hell of a good vid.

Ricky Grove: 6:33:03 It's called "Film Free For All"

Ricky Grove: 6:33:28 Thanks, Jim. We hope to feature only the best we can find.

Frank Fox: 6:33:41 it'll be out In a week hopefully

Bill Klimke: 6:33:54 I want to see "Inside The Virtual Actor's Studio"

Jim McDougald: 6:34:01 What about older "classics"?

Ricky Grove: 6:34:37 Yes, indeed. We will have older classics as well. Hand picked by Ingrid, Jason and myself. Each of us will husband a film.

Jason Choi: 6:34:51

hi guys, sorry i was afk for a while, busy busy work

Ricky Grove: 6:35:01 I hope to contact filmmakers and work with them to create the special content

Jim McDougald: 6:35:16 no prob, great job on the site. Video streams like BUTTAH.

Ricky Grove: 6:35:26 Hi, Jason... maybe you could elaborate on the mission of the Machiniplex site.

Jason Choi: 6:35:58 jim - the biggest reason we decided to go ahead with the site was because we felt that there was a lack of unity and history in machinima

Jim McDougald: 6:36:21 amen to that!

Jason Choi: 6:36:25 you go to other machinima video sites and you get a mass of stuff with no direction or any kind of control

Jason Choi: 6:36:42 looking say, 10 years in the future

Bill Klimke: 6:36:53 hmmm...isn't that part of the fun free for all nature of the web though?

Jason Choi: 6:37:16 how will someone remember the beginnings of machinima, when they cant find the films that started it all?

Jim McDougald: 6:37:35 yeah, until you have to wade through 12 tons of crap looking for a couple ounces of gold.

Jason Choi: 6:37:46 my original idea for the site is a bit analogous to a "machinima museum"

Bill Klimke: 6:38:09 does that mean you are storing all machinima films that you are showing for posterity's sake?

Jason Choi: 6:38:16 any newcomer to the machinima scene can kind of look around the site and see pieces of history, and no filler in between

Philip R. Rice: 6:39:09 Someone is actually doing something similar for YouTube / etc. right now; I can't remember the name of the site, but it's basically intended to be a quality filter. It's a great idea, IMO. Time

saver.

Jason Choi: 6:39:22 were storing films on our server as a way of archiving all of the greatest and important machinima films

Jim McDougald: 6:39:30 There will always be sites where everything can be found, but it's good to have a place to find the upper level stuff.

Bill Klimke: 6:39:37 should also dump them to the internet archive if they're not already there

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:40:26 So who decides what will be part of Machiniplex? Is there a jury?

Ricky Grove: 6:40:59 I think we'll leave that to the director or producer of the machinima.

Jason Choi: 6:41:13 another important facet was that we wanted to give a complete newcomer the link to the website, watch ANY film, and go "oooh, i get it"

Ricky Grove: 6:41:26 Exactly.

Jason Choi: 6:41:51

if you go to any other machinima site like machinima.com, or the archive, you're gonna have to wade through hours of material before you really know whats going on

Philip R. Rice: 6:41:56 Just like the VGI Player!

Philip R. Rice: 6:42:01 (lol)

Frank Fox: 6:42:08

Jim McDougald: 6:42:14 Let me know if you guys want help capturing the older demo films. I've been meaning to get "Flash vs. Steel" Classic!

Dr. Nemesis: 6:42:39 lol

Philip R. Rice: 6:42:58 Re: older classics, btw, talk to Ben Grussi as well. He's been capping stuff like mad from the old days, quietly working away in the dark.

Jason Choi: 6:43:11 another thing i wanted clear up is that there will be no comments or forums on the site

Frank Fox: 6:43:17

Every now and then I think I stumbled on a new cool machinima just to find out it's been around for almost two years

Bill Klimke: 6:43:28 should create a channel in Miro Player as well.

Jason Choi: 6:43:50 we think having another community-oriented website will just further splinter the community, which i personally think is not in the greatest shape its been right now

Jason Choi: 6:44:13 so, we want the site to focus on the only thing we really care about - the films!

Jim McDougald: 6:44:27 That's a great idea.

Ricky Grove: 6:44:42 JohnMartin2, the three of us (Jason, Ingrid, Ricky) will decide what films to include.

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:44:52 TY

Jason Choi: 6:45:03

(and secretly we want to avoid youtube style "y00suxxxx" comments

Ricky Grove: 6:45:35

)

Again, it's a subjective decision. The films will reflect our tastes of what is "quality".

Jim McDougald: 6:45:57 Will there be a way to nominate films?

Ricky Grove: 6:46:05 But Jason, Ingrid and I all have different standards and imaginations, yet we share the same passion for quality.

Bill Klimke: 6:46:17 Definite 'quality'?

Ricky Grove: 6:46:22 Jim, we haven't discussed this, but personally, I don't see why not.

Frank Fox: 6:46:32 the nominating idea is cool

Jason Choi: 6:46:36 nobody can define quality, of course

Jason Choi: 6:46:48 there is a breaking point

Evan L Ryan: 6:46:49

Hey, I got some things I need to get done (dinner, firstly!). I really enjoyed “Morning” – excellent work Frank and everyone else involved! I’m very excited to see where Machiniplex goes as well. I hope I don’t miss too much after I’ve left. Have a good night (or early morning) everyone!

Bill Klimke: 6:46:58 But are you talking about technical quality, narrative quality, or something more ethereal?

Jason Choi: 6:47:01 between watchable and unwatchable

Ricky Grove: 6:47:02 Quality the combination of aesthetic elements that gives a films a unique reality or unique quality, a "soul", if you will.

Philip R. Rice: 6:47:04 See you Frank!

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:47:05 I think it will be good to have bios about you all so viewers can understand 'who' has selected the films and the credentials of each. That will help newcomers know about the filter for the site.

Jason Choi: 6:47:22 think of the premise as a sort of film-festival

Frank Fox: 6:47:22 Goddnight Evan, thank you for coming!!

Ricky Grove: 6:47:43 We will have some bios, but all of us have worked on several award winning films. You can see our work and know what we are about.

Jim McDougald: 6:47:45 See ya later Evan

Ricky Grove: 6:47:52 Thanks, Evan!

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:48:25 Sure, I know you all, but I'm thinking of the community and especially the newcomer who does not know you all.

Ricky Grove: 6:48:42 Tech quality, narrative quality, acting, all of those elements that go into making a quality film.

Bill Klimke: 6:48:48 Groovy. And a very appropriate time to premiere this site.

moo Money: 6:48:58

that's me, John

Ricky Grove: 6:49:03 Morning Run Amok is our idea of a quality film.

Bill Klimke: 6:49:18 I'm going to blog this, any objections?

Frank Fox: 6:49:53 not from me, Bill

Ricky Grove: 6:49:55 Please do, Bill. Would love to hear your comments!

Ricky Grove: 6:50:59 Machiniplex is still being developed. Even though the site is not complete, we wanted to get started. And thanks to Frank for allowing us to combine our

Ricky Grove: 6:51:12 premiere of the site with the premiere of his film! Thank you!

Frank Fox: 6:51:30 I'm very honored you invited me

Bill Klimke: 6:51:34 applauds all involved

Ricky Grove: 6:52:08 Thanks, Bill. Anyone have any other questions or comments?

Frank Fox: 6:52:43

Philip R. Rice: 6:52:55 Thanks for coming, everyone!

Bill Klimke: 6:52:57 Yes. There have been some phenomenal developments in machinima over the last few weeks. Let's all take a moment to reflect on these worldchanging events.

Jason Choi: 6:53:08 thanks everyone!

Jason Choi: 6:53:11

Jim McDougald: 6:53:18 So all videos will be available as high quality flash like this and as a downloadable file?

Ricky Grove: 6:53:42 YES!

Jason Choi: 6:54:20 very high quality download

Ricky Grove: 6:54:23 Extra Content will be of the same quality and downloadable as well (i.e. wav, QT, etc)

Jason Choi: 6:54:26

no low res mess here

Philip R. Rice: 6:54:44 Bill, I assume you are talking about the HBO acquisition?

Jim McDougald: 6:54:58 Excellent, again, just from the viewable side the video streams and looks fantastic. And I usually HATE streaming video.

Ricky Grove: 6:55:37 me, too, Jim.

Bill Klimke: 6:55:39 HBO, Microsoft and Blizzard's machinima announcements, Machiniplex, Machinima for Dummies, etc.

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:56:08 Thanks for including me in the launch. Site looks great. BTW, while you're here.. Realluson announced some news regrading release dates and some features for iClone 3 and CrazyTalk 5 today. Underscoring the commercial license. http://www.prlog.org/10029414-reallusion-announces-launch-dates-for-next-generation-ofaward-winning-products.html

Philip R. Rice: 6:56:09

I'm foggy on Blizzard's news... what was that again?

Bill Klimke: 6:56:21 brand new, read Oxhorn's post

Jim McDougald: 6:56:34 HBO what? What did I miss?

Ricky Grove: 6:56:36 Thanks, JM2.

Bill Klimke: 6:57:14 HBO bought the broadcast rights to a machinima shot in Second Life

JOHNMARTIN2: 6:58:19 SL Machinima series - http://www.molotovalva.com

Philip R. Rice: 6:59:26 Wow, interesting contrasts between MS and Blizzard's rules AND in their presentation (language). Amazing level of clarity in Blizzard's document; looks like they learned a bit from the way MS's initial rules were received, huh?

Ricky Grove: 7:00:07 Anyone have a link for the Blizzard announcement?

Bill Klimke: 7:00:29

Yes.http://shatteredkeyboard.blogspot.com/2007/09/more-gaming-companies-come-out-of.html

Bill Klimke: 7:01:00 http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/community/machinima/letter.html

Philip R. Rice: 7:01:08 And http://oxhornbrand.blogspot.com/2007/09/blizzards-official-position-onwow.html

Ricky Grove: 7:01:37 Thank you.

Philip R. Rice: 7:02:31 If this is the kind of trend we'll see (a generally open/permissive one), I'm not as alarmed as I'd have been two weeks ago.

Bill Klimke: 7:03:48

But you're an alarmist!

Philip R. Rice: 7:04:21 I think Valve will be quick to respond. id will be very slow.

Philip R. Rice: 7:04:25 LOL, Bill.

Ricky Grove: 7:04:43

Maybe a domino effect here?

Philip R. Rice: 7:04:49 Yes.

Bill Klimke: 7:04:58 Hmmm...not so sure about Valve, they've been very restrictive on cybercafes and Counterstrike tournies.

Bill Klimke: 7:05:36 Which is funny, since CS was a HL mod to begin with.

Ricky Grove: 7:05:38 with Gmod being used for a lot of machinima, they may come around.

Bill Klimke: 7:05:49 true

Ricky Grove: 7:06:21 Wishful thinking...maybe.

Ricky Grove: 7:07:36 Well, I'm impressed with Blizzards statement. Clearer and more complete than the Microsoft version, IMO.

Bill Klimke: 7:10:08

Is anyone going to the European machinima festival?

Ricky Grove: 7:10:42 I wish I could, Bill. Money makes the world not go round in my case though.

Bill Klimke: 7:10:52 Yah, I hear you, can't go myself.

Dr. Nemesis: 7:10:56 I'm in London, so I'm goin

Dr. Nemesis: 7:11:10 seems there will be very few americans

Ricky Grove: 7:11:10 Give us a nice report, Dr.

Dr. Nemesis: 7:11:14 I will

Dr. Nemesis: 7:11:26 maybe will take my minidv

Bill Klimke: 7:11:38 and live cast it?

moo Money: 7:11:38

it's too late to get my passport

Ricky Grove: 7:11:40 Yeah, baby. Love the video.

Dr. Nemesis: 7:11:56 doubt I'll live cast, hehe

Jim McDougald: 7:11:59 yeah shoot some video so that we can live vicariously through you

Bill Klimke: 7:12:27 I'll be intersted to see what the European machinimators are up to

Ricky Grove: 7:12:41 I'm thinking the same thing.

Dr. Nemesis: 7:12:43 I just submitted my film for it yesterday

Ricky Grove: 7:13:04 Hey, good luck, Doc!

Dr. Nemesis: 7:13:19

I wish I coulda done some kinda release party like this but I don't think I can organize such a thing

Dr. Nemesis: 7:13:21 thanks

Dr. Nemesis: 7:13:27 I never win, hehe

Bill Klimke: 7:13:45 gl, maybe Machiniplex will showcase the nominees?

Ricky Grove: 7:14:23 I'll talk it over with Ingrid and jason. Interesting idea....

Bill Klimke: 7:15:09 It's all about the sponsorship, I guess Red Bull is out of the question?

Ricky Grove: 7:15:55 Well.....

Bill Klimke: 7:16:01 lol

Ricky Grove: 7:16:40

Funny, Blizzard allows for 10 sec of sponsor ads or promo in any of their WoW films. Amazing!

Ricky Grove: 7:21:38 It was at the end of the Blizzard announcement. FYI

Jim McDougald: 7:28:22 I'll be back in 20min, gotta get cleaned up. Tawk amongst ya-selves.

Ricky Grove: 7:29:07 I think I'm going to close out this part of the premiere. Thanks to all for coming and for your intelligent...well, mostly intelligent...comments. Thank you!

Bill Klimke: 7:29:37 Alright, I'm out too. Thx for the films, sites, news, comments, lewd behavior!

Frank Fox: 7:29:59 Thank you for watching!!

Ricky Grove: 7:30:12 Take care! Good night!

Bill Klimke: 7:30:22 Later all!

Frank Fox: 7:30:23

Nice to meet you, goodnight

End of “Morning Run Amok” chat. Thank you, Frank & Phil, for making this possible. And thanks to everyone who came to our first premiere!

Machiniplex.com