[artinfo] transistor movie workshop in Prague

[Ákos Maróy]

Az alabbi workshop-ok osztondijjal elerhetoek, csak utazasi koltseget
kell fizetni ertuk, pragaig...

info: Denisa Kera, kera at ff.cuni.cz


Session 1: Game modifications and machinima films
14. 06. - 17. 06. 2007, Prague

Session 3: Serious games, web 2.0 and future cinema

09. 07. - 12. 07. 2007, Prague

In case they oulw like to attend this one in Karlovy Vary during the
film festival they woul have to pay 200 EURO accommodation:

Session 2: Motion capture and stereoscopy for games and film
03. 07. - 06. 07. 2007, Karlovy Vary during the International Film Festival



Session 1: Game modifications and machinima films

>From combination of comics and video games to films created with game
engines. This session will provide an overview of tools and techniques
used for customizing and expanding computer games. We will examine
issues of game design and game play in the context of cross media
production. The goal is to explore the basics of how to create and
modify game levels. In the intensive 4-day workshop your will create
your first machinima film.

14. 06. - 17. 06. 2007 | Prague | € 400 (freelancer) / € 800 (corporate)
- The price includes training, didactic materials and subsistence.

Preliminary schedule:

14. June

9:00 - 12:00 AM
VIKTOR ANTONOV: Visual storytelling for Game worlds: designing and
building a sci-fi universe
1:30 - 5:00 PM
DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO: Independent Vs. Commercial games: from aesthetic to
industry aspects

15. June

9:00 - 12:00 AM
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: From game engine to machinima movie
1:30 - 5:00 PM
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop I.: What makes a machinima?

16. June

9:00 - 12:00 AM
MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and performance
1:30 - 5:00 PM
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop II.: Live Machinima Sketch.

17. JUNE

9:00 - 12:00 AM
MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and the moving image
1:30 - 5:00 PM
FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop III: A small Movie.

VIKTOR ANTONOV: Visual storytelling for Game worlds: designing and
building a sci-fi universe

Case studies of game design by Viktor Antonov, the concept designer and
the lead art director of Half-Life 2. On examples of his previous and
current work, he will illustrate the different stages of world creation
from research to architecture, lighting, and concepts, concentrating on
the functions of visual design and visual storytelling. In the
presentation he will discuss the fundamentals of game design and
principles of creating game environments and spaces that provide good
gameplay.

VIKTOR ANTONOV (USA/FR/BG)

Art-director and concept designer for Half-Life 2 currently working on a
new game “The Crossing” which merges single- and multiplayer aspects
into a new genre of "cross-play".
www.vulkanbros.com

FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: From game engine to machinima movie

Machinima is a somewhat new and emerging medium that makes use of the
realtime rendering capabilities of modern day computer systems to create
animated movies. Often enough, machinima repurposes computer gaming
technology to help „shooting film in virtual reality“. Though by
definition not necessarily bound to computer gaming as such, the two are
closely link, not only technologically, but also in their social
relevance. Often using the characters and assets from the underlying
computer game, machinima works as a way of criticising the games'
content and enables the audience to become creative and expand the
boundaries set by the rules of the computer game.
Machinima transforms into creative play, emphasizing the process of
filmmaking as a socially relevant new form of expression and media
awareness. With the way machinima is made come broader issues stretching
from copyright infringement to new channels of distribution.

FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER: Machinima workshop

I. What makes a machinima?
In this session we will look at the Workflow and Content Production
Pipeline for Machinima movies.
II. Live Machinima Sketch.
In this session we will create a simple character setup and perform a
live sketch.
III. A small Movie.
In the final Workshop session, participants will create a small
Machinima sequence and render it to the disk for editing, sound and
post-production.

The Machinima workshop will consist of a brief overview of the history
of machinima, followed by a basic explanation of the concepts and
workings and finally some hands-on experience. Through analysis of
example movies, attendees will get an idea of what makes machinima
unique. The larger context of computer games and gaming culture will be
explained and the idea of the social relevancy of machinima will be
discussed. We briefly talk about the legal aspects of machinima
moviemaking and take a look at newly formed distribution channels like
youTube or google video. Druing the 4 day workshop participants will
create a small machinima movie with a tool based on the game Unreal
Tournament 2004 called MovieSandbox.

FRIEDRICH KIRSCHNER (AT)

Artist and researcher at the Ars Electronica Futurelab in Linz working
with the emerging genre of machinima films.
www.zeitbrand.de

DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO: Independent Vs. Commercial games: from aesthetic to
industry aspects

Should we consider video games an art form or they are simply a
commercial product with no values? The presentation will discuss the
need for an aesthetic of video games and evaluation of artistic merit,
so consumers learn to appreciate what is and what is not relevant in a
video game. We will talk about video game artists, their training, and
the need to broaden our creator base to incorporate new ideas and
creativity. The lecture is driven by examples, from Mario to Half Life,
trying to bridge the gap between classic gamers and art critics.

DANI SÁNCHEZ-CRESPO (ES)

Entrepreneur and one of the leading voices in game research in Europe
who founded Europe’s first Master’s Degree in Video Game Creation.
Sub-director of ArtFutura, Spain’s main multimedia festival, and a
member of the jury at the Independent Games Festival.
www.novarama.com

MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and performance

'part theatre, part film, part videogame' [Salen 2002, 99]
Machinima grows from a performance in a virtual world. What are the
conditions of this performance? We will look at theory and practice of
the idea of the computer as theater for machinima.
Project presentation:
Tangible User Interfaces for 3D Real-Time Environments (TUI3D)

MICHAEL NITSCHE: Machinima and the moving image

'Filmmaking + Animation + Game Tech' [Marino 2004, 3]
No matter what the appearance of machinima, it always deals with the
question of the cinematic. But because it is generated so differently
from established methods, the 'question of the cinematic' is a two-sided
sword in the case of machinima. Is it a move of game media towards film
or a simple acquisition of game technologies in the world of moving
image production? What is the position of machinima in relation to film?
Project presentation:
Machinima editing tool
Pre-vis efforts

MICHAEL NITSCHE (USA)

Assistant Professor at the School of Literature, Communication and
Culture LCC at the Georgia Institute of Technology who launched a
website on the academic take on machinima and the first academic book
publication on this relatively new field where games and film/ video merge.
www.lcc.gatech.edu/~nitsche