Working with Machinima

I am very interested with the possibilities of students creating their own machinima. I come from a video production background and see many advantages of using Second Life as a tool in teaching production techniques. Gary mentioned in his post that he was unsure of what makes a "good shot" in Second Life. I think many of the photographic and video conventions we are already aware of will be applied to SL. I also understand we may need to view things differently to take full advantage of the medium. I hope to gain a better understanding of SL's capabilities throughout this semester in order to create and manipulate machinima.

The ability to create the objects and settings a producer may need seems very valuable and to open more doors to interesting content without increasing costs. Being able to work without physical equipment also makes the learning video techniques more accessible. I think the possibilities in this arena are limited only by the individual' s imagination. Having a place to exhibit machinima will only help to improve each individual's work and allow them to receive criticism and examine different possibilities.

Last semester, I taught a class period on making machinima and was surprised at how excited each student was to immerse themselves in the process. They picked up the basics quickly despite having little or no production background. You can check out a short piece I put together in about an hour, here.