MachinimUWA V Results

The votes have been counted and the results are in....

For the third time in a row, Tutsy Navarathna wins the prestigious MachinimUWA contest - this time for his beautifully moving 'The Last Syllable of Record Time'.

'The Last Syllable' is arguably Tutsy's finest machinima to date - it is a brilliant synthesis of sound and vision; the colour palette of a true artist.

Congratulations on this marvellous achievement!

Additionally, Tutsy was also awarded the 'CinemaPop Award of Excellence in Film Direction' and Violette Naidoo's poster for 'The Last Syllable' (pictured above) took 1st place in the UWA Machinima Poster Contest.

2nd Place was taken by a machinima I have been raving about since first seeing it - Natascha Randt and Karima Hoisan's 'Seek Wisdom'. A stunning work. Congrats to both.

3rd Place was jointly awarded to Tikaf Viper for 'run RAM' and a number of others.

I am pleased to say that these three films are those I highlighted only yesterday as standing out for me and which I felt would win an award. Now, why oh why didn't I enter the Audience Participation again this year!

For myself, I was pleased to have been awarded a 'CinemaPop Award of Excellence in Film Narrative 2012'.

For a complete list of the MachinimUWA winners, visit the UWA site (link not available at time of this writing).

Congrats to all winners and thanks to UWA for staging the contest.

Here are a collection of pics I took at the Award Ceremony...

(click to enlarge)

UWA 3D & UWA V Grand Finale: $L1.3 Million Prize Pool

Tomorrow is the Grand Finale of this year's UWA 3D Art and Machinima competitions.

There have been ninety 3D Art entries (click here for details) and fifty-one machinima entries (click here for details). The standard is high in both categories.

The total prize pool is L$1,300,000 of which L$785,000 (approx. $3,400 USD) is for the machinima contest, split as follows:

·        1st Prize - L$140,000

·        2nd Prize - L$120,000

·        3rd Prize - L$100,000

·        4th Prize - L$70,000

·        5th Prize - L$55,000

·        6th to 10th Special Awards @ L$30,000 each

·        UWA Special Prize - L$100,000

·       Audience Participation Prize: Three prizes totalling L$20,000

·        Machinima Poster Prize: Three prizes totalling L$20,000

Very healthy!

Last year I came 2nd in the Audience Participation contest - a competition to predict the Top 10 machinima as would finally be decided by the judges. I didn't enter this contest this year for a number of reasons - but mainly time related.

My personal tips for a prize this year would be:

·        Tutsy Navarathna's 'The Syllable of Recorded Time'

·        Natascha Randt and Karima Hoisan's 'Seek Wisdom'

·        Tikaf Viper's 'run RAM' (embedded below)

Now, it has to be said - I have not watched all the entries! But of those I have watched, these three stood out for me.

One thing that did occur to me while watching some of the entries was that, even more than last year, there were quite a number of films that *conceptually* were really very interesting. However, in my opinion the filmmaking/camera/editing was not able to do justice to the original concept. This is simply a matter of "technique and practice" and so I assume we'll see more rounded and polished machinima from these entrants in future years.

Having written the above, it would now be cowardice to avoid saying where I believe my own entry - 'Fwd: Evolution' - falls. Despite many encouraging and enthusiastic comments about this movie - including a dedicated thread on SLUniverse, no less -  having seen some of the other entries, I am unable to rank it in the Top 5. However, of those I have watched, I was in fact able to rank it in the Top 10. We'll see tomorrow!

The Grande Finale ceremony starts at 6am SLT, Sunday. But arrive in plenty of time to secure a place - it is strictly a 'first come, first served' affair!

There are three entrances:

UWA Amphitheatre Left

UWA Amphitheatre Center

UWA Amphitheatre Right

Good luck to all, and give me a call if you see me!

Pixie xx

Tikaf Viper's 'run RAM'...

MachinExpo 2011 - A Worldwide Phenomena

185 machinma entered the contest. 61 were selected for screening. 11 were selected to compete. But there would only be 4 prize winners...

Tikaf Viper, Iono Allen, Pixie Rain, Tutsy Navarathna

MachinExpo 2011, probably the most important of all the machinima festivals, is being held this weekend.
A significant point about MachinExpo is that there are entries from numerous digital media, not just Second Life (SL). In fact, in the top entrants, SL machinima entries are easily outnumber by other forms of machinima.

Iono Allen, Pixie Rain, Tutsy Navarathna, Tikaf Viper

In a few weeks I hope to do a review of 3D cinematic tools such as MovieStorm and iClone - popular and *effective* alternatives to using SL for making machinima.
You'll see examples how these applications can be used in the film links below or by visiting their web sites.

Chantal Harvey, Pixie Rain, Tutsy Navarathna

MachinExpo is broadcast live across the internet from purpose built studios within SL.

Although there is a small studio audience, most avatars watch the broadcast from the UWA Theatre.
But even that doesn't really tell the whole story because, by far, the majority of the viewing audience watch over the internet.
Many of the viewers would never have even been in SL.

Chantal Harvey, Pixie Rain

I was asked to attend with Tutsy Navarathna whose UWA III winning 'A Journey Into the Metaverse' was one of the eleven machinima selected to compete in the contest.

My role was to answer the audience's questions about Tutsy's film and his film making techniques, on his behalf - due to language difficulties and chat lag caused by 

bandwidth deprivation.

The questions that the audience posed were intelligent and knowledgeable - and ranged from machinima techniques, software and aesthetics.

Tutsy's role was to provide much needed eye candy (joke!!).

Pixie Rain, Tutsy Navarathna

All eleven of the competing films are screened at the festival and each Director participates in a Q&A session.

The standard of these eleven films is really quite daunting. The Q&A was very interesting but what stuck me deeply is how machinima really is becoming a worldwide phenomena - and SL just a small slice of the bigger picture.

From the eleven competing films, there are four prize winners.
I have to tell you, all four are sensational.
But what is truly interesting to me is that only one of those four is actually filmed in SL - the others were filmed using alternative software.
"Mastermind" - the 2nd Runner Up - was particularly surprisingly to me personally because I had absolutely no idea that such incredible film making could be done within video games like Grand Theft Auto - even through I was familiar with Ian Chisholm's 'Clear Skies' series, filmed in EVE Online.
All four winning films are definitely worth watching and, imo, *should* be watched and studied by anyone serious about the emerging art of machinima.
In traditional reverse order, then....the MachinExpo 2011 winners are:


3rd Runner Up: The Goalkeeper and the Void by Marta Azparren (Pro Evolution Soccer 09)


2nd Runner Up: Mastermind by Ezequiel Guerisoli (Grand Theft Auto)


1st Runner Up:  A Journey Into the Metaverse by Tutsy Navarathna (Second Life/Real Life)


Grand Prize Winner: Haunter of the Dark by Phil Browne (iClone)

I accepted Tutsy's award on his behalf - electrical storms in India having decimated his broadband connection - and gave the following acceptance speech for him:


"I am so honoured to be presented with this award.
The quality of the entries are stunning in their scope.
It is humbling to be compared amongst them.
Machinima, as an emerging art form and as a form of social expression, is starting to find its own definition.
As early adoptors we are casting the foundations but, it is the future of the form and the changes ahead which are truly exciting! Thank you."


After the Award Ceremony, Bobo Puddlegum & I moseyed on down to the After-Event Party and boogied away with DJ Hathead to '70s dance music.

Bobo Puddlegum, Pixie Rain