Academy of Machinima Arts & Sciences

Machinima.org and Queens' own Musuem of the Moving Image are holding a machinima film festival in November. If you don't know what machinima (better spelled machinema) is, their description...

Machinima (muh-sheen-eh-mah) is filmmaking within a real-time, 3D virtual environment.

In an expanded definition, it is the convergence of filmmaking, animation and game development. Machinima is real world filmmaking techniques applied within an interactive virtual space where characters and events can be either controlled by humans, scripts or artificial intelligence.

By combining the techniques of filmmaking, animation production and the technology of real-time 3D game engines, Machinima makes for a very cost- and time-efficient way to produce films, with a large amount of creative control.

...probably won't help you. Mostly it's people playing around in Halo or other video games and dubbing their voices over the action.

The Museum of the Moving Image, btw, will always hold a special place in my heart as the first place I saw Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen. In addition to showing classic movies, they have been really gung-ho on new technology, as their sponsorship of this lawsuit-inducing art form attests.

The deadline for entries is October 6. Don't procrastinate.

RELATED: Example machinimas from IFC.
RELATED: NYTimes article on Machinima [reg. req.].
RELATED: Recording HD from an Xbox 360.