A Message to Machinimators

Hey,

I'm currently in the middle of production for the first episode in new series I'm doing for Revive, but there are some things that I wanted to say here.

Recently I've been getting asked about how to become a better machinimator. While there is no magic pill that will make you become the next Jon CJG overnight, there are things that you can do to make you better.

I guess the most important aspect is practice. Take a look back at my first machinima that I made nearly 2 years ago. It's absolutely God awful. I had no idea what I was doing, but I made it in nearly 4 hours. It's very impressive how far I've come. Every machinima I made after that I got increasingly better. I started to figure out how to write a decent script and how to create dramatic moments that send a shiver right through your spine (I love creating moments like that in machinima.) It just took practice for me to get where I am now (As soon as Clash & Desire hits the internet for the first time you will really see my improvement.) Even since MLG EXTREME: The Movie, I've come a long way. The movie was absolutely instrumental in my machinima progress. I really learned a lot from it. It was very complicated and took a lot of thinking to create. Looking back at it, the acting (both voice and body), camera shots, and writing were horrid, but I learned from it. I guess that's all machinima is. A giant learning experience. No matter how good you are, you'll always learn and improve. So don't get discouraged if you're just starting out and you can't produce top-quality entertainment, it just takes practice.

The next thing you have to do is watch machinima. Study others' work. I've watched hours upon hours of machinima, just studying voice acting/editing/camera techniques. I've learned from those and have really stepped up my game. You can always learn from the competition.

You also need to develop your own technique. That means you gotta personalize your machinima with your own style; whether it be camera technique, editing technique, or writing technique.

As you advance in machinima you'll start to pick up on the more advanced things in machinima, such as character development in your script. But all of that will fall into place if you pursue it long enough.

Make sure you take every opportunity to promote and advance yourself, too. If it wasn't for all the work I've done in the past, I would've never ended up with Revive. And now I have the opportunity to really shine at Revive and help build a company with enormous potential.

Also, I'm not claiming to be an expert here. Like all of you, I need to practice and improve, and the only way to do that is to make machinima and study machinima. Trust me, I still make lots of mistakes.

Good luck on your machinima ventures!
-Scott