Patrick Day writes:
IT started as a goof — an easy way for gamers to share their latest tricks online. An option in the first-person shooter "Quake" allowed players to record and save "Quake Movies" for later viewing. Soon, players were recording other games, dubbing in dialogue, creating characters and story lines, setting up impressive-looking shots and actually doing a bit of editing. ¶ Thus a running and driving game like "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" becomes the basis of a haunting science fiction film in which a deadly virus forces the handful of survivors to live on the roofs of L.A.'s high-rises. And the "true story" of American troops battling a giant toddler on the streets of Baghdad is created from the gritty action game "Battlefield 2." ¶ At first, this new form of creative expression — using video games to create short films — didn't have a name. Now it's called machinima (a combination of "machine" and "cinema") and as the genre turns a decade old, it is attaining new heights of artistry even as it bumps up against copyright ceilings. ...
Link: Los Angeles Times.
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