Back in November at the Machinima Expo, Ricky Grove tried to explain to us his ideals on the difference between professionals and armature filmmakers. Mike and I exploded into a fury of behind-the-scenes discussion about how many of the filmmakers in the audience with us were never going to achieve any sort of mainstream (Youtube, DVD, TV, or otherwise) success. It lasted all night.

Why? They could really give two shits about all that. They were making Machinima for themselves, and they really truly could care less if you loved it or hated it.

Mike and I were flabbergasted. We had just spent an entire summer with Barriccus fine tuning and crafting a script that we had hoped would rival the likes of popular animated sitcoms such as Futurama, Family Guy, and The Simpsons. We spent hours re-tooling a single joke comparing a characters drunkenness to a bevy of pop-culture celebrities until we finally settled on one that had us rolling in sicking fits of laughter. We pulled those all-nighters for one reason, and one reason only: To make the best damn episode 1 we could. One that would be hailed and accepted by a large audience. One that we could be proud of as entertainers.

Some time next year, Machinima.com is going to release new shorts by established comedic writers, professionals that worked on those shows we took our own inspiration from. These shorts are going to be insanely popular, and those directors Mike and I were so flabbergasted by are going to be looking around, asking, “Where the fuck were all these viewers hiding? Why weren't they looking at my stuff?”

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Machinima community, we're about to receive a royal kick in the ass by the very establishment we vowed to beat from the other-side. (Don't kid yourself, we've all secretly wished for it!) They're going to sweep in, with years experience for writing for an audience, and snag a viewership that we could only dream of. These viewers will be so hungry for this material, that servers will crash when new installments are released. These viewers will create fan pages, leave comments, have fights, spam inboxes, and in short, be enthralled.

And there's NOTHING you and I, or any of us can do to stop it.

But what we can do is learn from it. Watch the shorts and listen to their viewers. Discover which outlets prove most worthy, which formats gain most praise, and perhaps, even learn a new directorial trick or two! This kick in the ass, ultimately, will be swift and not last too long. It will sting, but it will not maim or cripple us. We are a force, we are creative, we are established, and we are brilliant. We are Machinimators, Filmmakers, Animators, and Story Tellers. We have paved the way for these clowns, opened the eyes of the world, without us there would be no stage for them to dance upon. They will come with a routine of moves that will be loved and remembered, but that does not mean they will dominate the floor forever with their Disco.

Watch and behold the difference between us Ammetures and the Professionals on the same playing field.

Fear not, my comrades, for this is not a fight, this is not a war. This is a lesson to be learned.

Last year I vowed to include more pictures and such with my post, to try to narrow my focus more toward the art of Machinima and the like.

This year I am vowing to include actual Machinima to my postings. I'm talking movies, animations, storyboards, scripts, and concept art, all for your viewing pleasure. In short, I would like to phase this sucker into an actual production blog, rather than my simple rant box with pictures.

Sure I'll continue to post about things that strike my fancy, but I think that YOU would be better served with the sort of content I imagine you were hoping to find: Machinima!

To start things off:



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What happened to my autumn? Things have been zooming by so fast these past two months, I'm not even sure where I'm supposed to be anymore. I technically don't even have a home, so much as a loving place to stay for a bit. For a fleeting moment, I even forgot who I was supposed to be. I did take some time to stop and photograph the changing trees, but it seems so long ago now that it's as if it could have been last year's camping trip.

Well, the move is 99% completed. All that's left is a big trash run, and figuring out what to do with the now useless the lawn equipment. In a weird way, it feels like I'm just on sabbatical, and everything will be like it was when I wake up tomorrow. That's stress to a degree I am quite unaccustomed. I even decided last night to completely skip the annual family Thanksgiving trip, when I realized that I was likely to fail my CCNA class next December without a serious time out to study up. One thing I dislike more than moving and loosing our office, and that's wasting time by failing classes.

As much turmoil has been floating about my waters these past months, I do take solace in those few bright lights that shone through clouds. Bush is finally out of there, and we elected someone who can at least form complete sentences. Can't say I'm a big fan of his politics, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't like him. The Machinima Expo went down very well, I had an amazing time at the panels and watching some quality machinima flicks. I was so impressed, I even felt the need to phone in my accolades. But, perhaps the greatest solace this month was a Quantum of Solace (come on, you saw this coming!) which, from an action movie junkies perspective, was the greatest 007 film ever made. Ever. God I loved that movie.

For now, I'm just going to kick back, relax, and enjoy the ever-living hell out of my weekend. Maybe eat me some of this really yummy looking candy.

First bounce, “hey that's really sweet!” Second bounce, “Wow!” Third bounce, “It just keeps going!” Fourth bounce, “Uh oh, getting shorter now!” Fifth bounce, “I think she's done...”

Then the stone sinks, quickly, welcomed only by a dark, cold, murky grave made of mud and moss.

That was the life of our first office. It was a hell of a toss.

This will be my last blog update from the office. It's bitter, but not a defeat. No, no, everyone has a job to do. Everyone has a task, deadlines to meet, an animation to create. This simple fact will not change. We must pick our battles very carefully, and fighting that hard for the office would have likely done nothing but destroy the dream. Nay, the dream lives on, emboldened and shining bright.

It is sad, to be sure, but the alternative would have been a daily struggle to merely exist. The sort that tears deep at ones soul. That is not what DoQ needs. What DoQ needs is to focus on the most important factor, the reason we're even here in the first place: To rock your freaking socks off with AAA Machinima.

That's just what we're going to do. Office or not.

We worked our asses off to build and make the office work, and it DID. I've never been more proud of DoQ, the motivation, the drive, the wherewithal to see the job done. It's been a long time coming, and I for one will not disappoint her now. From the depths of my new cave, I will go above and beyond, and see it done. And done well.


G'night, love.

They say no news is good news. Well, they don't work in the entertainment business! The golden silence has been brought to you by economic turmoil, and the wavering mirage that is the continued existence of our office. I don't know what the next month will bring, but what I do know is that the office is moving. Whether it be downstairs or split between two cities, I just don't know. What I do know is, that this will have no impact on production. We all have our orders, and there is no question as to what needs to be done.

We promised Phil that we'd hit'em up with some sideshows before too long. We've got some killer ideas, and I've been scouring our recording sessions for something clean enough to present in good conscience, but have so-far failed. Our outtakes are a little... too much, even for the internets. We are truly horrible people. I wouldn't even post this shit to YTMND. Tuesday's are the epic work-day, so the plan is to punch out a recording tonight, and have it sent along for your enjoyment. Then we'll read all the hate mail, and relish in it like Uncle Scrooge so dost unto his monies.

With the right people Warhammer turns out to be a lot of fun. By right people I mean super casual, and cool enough to not play 7 hours a day and level so far ahead as to leave me eating clouds of troll dust. (And then berate me for being too slow... Maybe if it were twitch, boom-boom-headshot I might be more inclined to oblige, but I digress) Not a bad feat for an MMO, considering I once vowed that I would never pay to play anything.

My 360 shat the bed last month with red ring spew. Went to the xbox website and they want $99.99 to look at it. One can get a brand new unit for only $170, so I'm pretty pissed off. Pissed enough to consider not replacing it, and picking up a PS3 instead. Of course, sticker shock put that impulse to rest... this time...