Machinima, real-time filmmaking, virtual production and VR. Four veteran machinimators share news, new films & filmmakers, and discuss the past, present and future of machinima.
Damien Valentine 00:44
Hello and welcome to the latest episode. Okay, now for something completely machinima, I'm your host, Damian Valentine, and I'm joined by Phil rice and Tracy Harwood. All right, we're talking about films again this week, and we're actually going to choose talk about mine, which is a Star Citizen film. It's kind of a star citizen film mixed with poetry, which is something I thought Ricky would enjoy watching, but unfortunately, he's at a horror convention, so he's not here to talk about it with us, but I hope he enjoyed watching it anyway, because I know he does watch the films we pick, even when he he's not here to talk about them with us. So yeah, I do hope Ricky, you enjoying yourself and you enjoyed this film. But anyway, back to it. It's called we were wanderers from the beginning, and it's kind of a video showcasing some of the beautiful scenes of star citizen and this narrator talking about the need for human exploration. And you know, I think you know, a landscape like this, different different environments in a stunning looking game, those two kind of things really go well together. And so I thought this is going to be my pick for the month. I actually chose it about 10 minutes after recorded last month stuff. So I've been sitting on this one for a while. So I hope you two enjoyed it. But if you know, if you don't, that's fine too. So what do you think
Tracy Harwood 02:21
till I go. Phil, sure this I loved, I absolutely loved it. It's, as you said, arts and crafts, Star Citizen in game creation of well, it's a take on Eric vanquist's film The Wanderers, and it's been released by a guy called Mr. Has gaha has, anyway, it's been released by him. He's one of the creators for the actual machinima as well. Now that the aim of these creators, the Machinima creators, was to depict each scene as true to the original film by verncus as closely as possible within the limits of the game, while showcasing the scope and the beauty and the diversity of just a few of the locations in the star citizen universe. And I actually watched the original film as well, and it is indeed almost a scene by scene recreation of the original. But what's interesting is that actually, in this there's a lot more depth to the animation and the soundscape than the original film. You've got, for example, spacecraft sounds, which you haven't got in the original. You've got kind of contemporary ships, obviously, they're a little bit sort of older in in the original, you've got things like bleeping noises. You've got a kind of a much more compelling music background. And of course, I think what's really good about it is the is the editing to the rhythm of the music, which is, which is just masterful. I think in this recreation, it's really interesting as well, because the animated characters are even more animated than they were in the original. And actual fact, that's a fascinating observation, because in the original they weren't animated. They were real actors. And somehow it's kind of, I think, once again, really another beautiful homage to the Star Citizen. We've seen quite a few of these now, and they are it just, they just showcase what this beautiful game is really about. It's just gorgeous. Now. Vanquis original wanderers was was actually based on scientific ideas and concepts of what our future in space might look like, and he used digital recreations of actual places in the solar system built from kind of real photo. Graphs and map data. And the aim was to show a glimpse of the fantastic and beautiful nature that surrounds us on our neighboring worlds, and above all, how it might appear to us if we were actually there. It borrowed from science fiction authors such as Arthur C Clarke and Kim Stanley Robinson. And it was actually inspired also by the painter Chesley bonestell, who was very well known architect and painter. He actually worked as an architect on the Golden Gate Bridge and also the Chrysler Building and films like Citizen Kane and it was actually his paintings of planets and star system systems that inspired America's space program. And the original film also borrow borrowed Carl Sagan voice to narrate it, using excerpts from his reading of the pale blue dot, a vision of the human future in space. Now, the creators of the Machinima state that they hope their version conveys the sense of what was originally intended in the in the other film, the kind of you know, hope, adventure, the wonderment, and and also from Carl Sagan readings. Well, I think it does that really well. But of course, what's great about this film is that it's a it's a cinematic using an open world game, and the game is there for all to experience, whereas in Vern quest film, that could never happen. It's a film. So I think what you've got here is something really quite important. It's a film that's taking some original ideas and presenting a further possibility of being that space traveler, albeit virtually. I think actually, Vern quest should sit and sit up and really take note of of a the point that's being made here. He's still a creator. He's still focused on doing these amazing space scenes. So there are many examples of films and clips that he's contributed that are space scenes on his website, which you can kind of take a look at, but, but this machinima, I think, is beyond the cinematic experience that he would have created. It's probably much closer, I think, to what bone still envisioned in his paintings, this kind of imaginary, imaginary becoming real, so to speak. It's much closer to that than it is to Vern quest, filmic version of it as gaha Get his name right. He also said that the video was a four year passion project created in their free time four years. Well, I mean, I think that attention to detail and taking the lead from a great editor, which obviously me and Chris still clearly, is in making the kind of shot selections that detail certainly comes through this. I think also another thing that's kind of worth commenting on is actually the voice acting in this which was done by a guy called calls himself space tomato. Now, obviously, in the original you've got Carl Sagan voice. Well, it's just so iconic that, of course, it was never going to be something that you could really emulate in this film, unless, of course, what you did was use something like a generative AI to sample it and recreate it. But I actually think these creators have done something far more important here, which is to demonstrate them their homage to the game by having respect for that original voice, not from the narrations, which is what vanquist has used from the from the book, but by using the book itself, and, you know, having respect for the content of the book. So for me, this shows an awful lot of creative craft. I mean, four years it's a it's a brilliant job. It's, it's, it's wonderful to see this. I think they've done an incredible job with with with creating this in the way that how they have and I think, as I said, overall, I think burklist would be, should be very interested in what's been achieved with it. So thank you, Damian. I really enjoyed it. I'll put some links up for the other things that I've been sort of telling you about as I've been going through through it as well, so that you can kind of check those out. But yeah, brilliant job well done.
Phil Rice 09:54
Yeah, I think almost without exception, the shots in the new film. Uh, were cinematically and more, just generally, more beautiful than the original. Just extremely well done. I think the shot that sticks with me the most is one of the final shots where it's the close, the first real close up we get of the female astronaut. You're only seeing the upper half of her face, but you could see her expression change. It's just beautifully done, the to show someone's smile without seeing their mouth. That's just a beautiful thing, like that's, that's, that's a, that's a level of detail and stuff that which emulates the shot of the original. I believe. I don't, I don't think in the original we could see her mouth, either, but the character that they chose for this, just these beautiful green eyes and just, I mean, it's, it's just a perfect, a perfect face, right? So, and then yeah, so many of the shots as well, I did too. I watched the original and this. And there might be, it seems like there was one shot that I thought I liked the original better, but for the most part, first of all, faithfully done, and then, in almost every case, improved upon, yeah, the originals. The fidelity of those shots, some of the wide shots, in particular, where the the desert landscape, and there's the ship approaching and the few astronaut and it's just, it was just stunning, stunning like, and I've seen quite a bit of stuff out of star citizen, and have been wowed by it many a time. But some of these shots were just more beautiful than I've I've ever seen from it. I mean it really the game continues to impress. Um, as far as the the voice, I love, the timbre, the tone of the new narrator. He's got a great voice, but yeah, man, how do you top Carl Sagan? I mean, just in terms of delivery, Sagan had such a unique way of speaking, and it was just entrancing the way he would pause in specific ways in his sentences. You're right. It can't be. You can't out. Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan, you know, it was, it's just magical. But this was a very well done job, and the the quality of the vocal, I mean, a really good microphone was involved here, and it was well done. And I think probably the actor would have been capable of trying to match the exact tempo of sagan's delivery, and it would have come off. It would have risked coming off almost mockingly, even though I don't think that would have been the intention, right? But if he was trying, if someone tried to do an impression, it would have been to the detriment of the film. And I think maybe someone involved here knew that and made that decision that, okay, we're not going to try and imitate Carl Sagan in this, but we're going to stick we're going to be faithful to the text. And the book is wonderful, by the way. It holds up really well today, too. Like, it's not a new book by any means. It holds up really well, and it reads very well too, like it reads in sagan's voice, if you know what I mean, like you can hear it. It's totally appropriate that he did his own audio book on it, because he wrote it and it's in his voice. So it's a wonderful book. It's worth looking for at your library, if you if you've never read it. And so, yeah, I think it was an, it was a really great choice for an homage, and I think it was a very successful homage. And it's, I mean, it's, it's not often that that an homage eclipses the production quality of the original like this. That's just not usually what happens. Usually an homage is respectfully lesser. You know what I'm saying? And in almost every regard, this one's not. This is an amplification of the strengths of the original and an improvement upon it based on the tech available now, you know, it's just wonderful. So yeah, I hope the original filmmaker, Eric, I hope he does take notice to this, because it should be very flattering, because it's not. It does show great respect to his original film. I mean, we can. Talk about shot selection, if we want to. But those, those shot choices, were inherited from the original, and they were brilliant. It was a brilliant edit originally. And, yeah, this, this, this emulated that in a very respectful way. And it's gorgeous. It's a gorgeous piece of film. So, yeah, excellent pick. Thanks for picking it. It was a pleasure to watch. Alright.
Damien Valentine 15:22
Guys, you guys enjoyed it. And Tracy, you mentioned something about that. I was to add that, yeah, because all these shots were in the game. If you have the game, you can go and check out these places and see them for yourself. But in the original it's a bit harder to do that absolutely. Yeah. And you know, there are some stunning shots in in this video from the game. And you know, there's nothing, if you've got the game, there's nothing to stop you going having a look yourself and explore these actual places. And, yeah, just have a look at them around and see what's there.
Phil Rice 15:55
Can I ask you something about Star Citizen Damien? Because, yeah, I've been, every time I see a film of this caliber that comes out of that game, I'm tempted, right? Maybe not so much for playing the game, because that it seems like it. You know, any universe game is going to be a pretty big time investment, right? But for the same reason that I picked up No Man's Sky as a scene generator for machinima purposes in the future, right? So I look at this one for it. It's a little bit more investment involved than No Man's Sky on the special that I picked it up on very cheaply, but it helped me understand a little bit and help the listeners to understand a little bit of Star Citizen. How does the how, how much should one expect to actually spend? Because I'm a little, I'm a little bit confused by this. You know, they've done a stylized sign up process right with the Robertson Space Corporation, and it, it's, you're buying a package with the ship and things like that. But it's like, if, if somebody really wants to experience the game, is this, is it going to be a money sink, or is it straightforward? You make a purchase and then you've, you can play the game and experience it in full. What's, what's your take on that?
Damien Valentine 17:14
Right? So I backed this game when it first launched its crowdfunding campaign, many years ago. Yeah, I
Phil Rice 17:21
wish I had
Damien Valentine 17:23
well, I mean, you've been in for a very long wait to have anything to play. But so the way it works is now, most games, you just buy the game in whatever the price is, and then you can start playing it. This one has many different packages, and what you get is basically the ship you start with. So if you want, if you're happy to pay the lowest, the basic amount, you get a basic ship. And there's nothing wrong with the basic ship, because you're perfectly able to fly it. You can make enough money in game, money to buy a better ship, but if you want a bit of an advantage, you can put a little bit more money in and then buy a start off the game with a better ship. And the different ships got different capabilities as well. So we're good for carrying cargo, so we're better for piracy and combat. And it really depends on what you want to do. And so if you're going to do something like that, if you just want to explore, don't go for one of the fighters ships, because they don't have a lot of fuel, so you're not going to be able to get very far. And so get one of the basic packages, and you can earn some in game money. So all the ships you can buy with real money. You can buy in game. It's not a play to win kind of thing where you can buy something really advanced and then just beat everyone. Because the thing about the more expensive ships, you can't fly them with one person, so you need a crew, and the crew has to be real people. Which sounds like I'm not actually gonna have to do that. I've only played it by myself. But the idea of having a bigger ship and then having different crew members take on different roles on the ship is very appealing, but I've got to find other people willing to play it with me to do that, right? So I'm having a look at the price page now, and at the moment, the the foundation is called the Aurora, Mr. Foundation, which is the very basic ship, is 38 pounds. Okay, I don't know how much that is in dollars at the time, recording, they've got a 10% off discount. I do know that in October, it's anniversary for the game. Yeah, and every so often they do like a free week where you can just download the game and play it for free, and you can play around with any of the ships, even if you couldn't that. Would
Phil Rice 20:00
be worth doing, yeah, yeah, to test the waters. So essentially, if you, if you go in at the lowest tier, the the least expensive package, you can eventually get to where you can get more advanced stuff, but you have to put in time in the game, yeah, to do so, or you can kind of have a head start by doing the more expensive package and and not have to wait, essentially, because it's either time or money. Is that? Am I understanding it generally right? Yeah,
Damien Valentine 20:31
there's several different starts packages, different types of starter ships, and then you hear that looking at the most expensive one is an exploration ship. So I I've been following the game that closely for a while, so I don't recognize it that much, but it looks the picture, the thumbnail picture I see now. It's quite a big ship, so you're going to need to prove for this. Okay, that's over 1000 pounds. So yeah,
Phil Rice 20:58
ah, yeah. But you
Damien Valentine 21:02
can buy the shipping game with enough, if you get enough in game money. I don't know how much it costs in game. Why does it take a while to to do that?
Phil Rice 21:13
Okay, yeah. Well, that gives me an idea. Yeah. Okay,
Damien Valentine 21:17
so I did. And if you get one of these starter ships. You're not if, and if you decide, well, actually, the bit more money and you can buy ships to add on to your account. Oh, okay, okay, as well. Well, that's, that's
Phil Rice 21:31
the, that's the money sink concern, right? Is, yeah. But if you don't have to do that, it's an option, yeah,
Damien Valentine 21:39
but if you do that, you're not getting anything special with the ship that you only get by paying for it. So you're not getting any special laser that can instantly vaporize anyone without having to do anything. It's going to be exactly the same as if you buy it with in game money.
Phil Rice 21:56
Okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Yeah. Maybe we'll if there's a two person crude ship, maybe, if I get, if I feel compelled to get in there, maybe we'll talk all right, because that does sound fun. I haven't, haven't gotten to do any, any Co Op play in many a year, and that would be a lot of fun. So yeah, well,
Damien Valentine 22:20
I have to give the game a try, because every time, last time I tried it, it wasn't optimized well, so my computer really struggled
Phil Rice 22:26
with it. So okay, I remember you talking about that, right? Yeah,
Damien Valentine 22:29
I need to give it. Maybe I'll do it again in October, when, usually in October they do a big update for the anniversary. So I'll keep it try then and try out the latest, see how it goes. Cool. Yeah. Well, looks like we've just finished this discussion about my film, so I'm glad you both enjoyed it. I hope, I hope Ricky enjoyed it, and I hope our listeners also enjoyed it as well. So yeah, if you'd like to talk to us about this film or about Star Citizen, please send us an email. Let's talk at complete emission.com and we will look forward to your feedback, and we will see you next week. So take care and bye from me and from Phil and Tracy. Bye.