Machinima - Red vs. Blue vs. the Law

It's not live action, but not traditional animation. Machinima is the new art of filmmaking using completely computer generated graphics, typically "filmed" using commercial computer and video games. Fans include amateur directors, computer geeks, and even cyberlaw scholar Ernest Miller. As machinima.org puts it:

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.

Machinima works can be produced much faster than a completely CG rendered animation because the authors can record everything in real time using a 3D engine, rather than having to make all of the animation from scratch. Although a machinima creator certainly could create a 3D engine with which to work, the vast majority of current works are made using commercial 3D games. The famous Quake series from Id Software has been the engine of choice for many of the higher profile machinima projects.

Probably the most famous example of machinima is Red vs. Blue, which uses the engine of the popular Xbox video game Halo. The creators of RvB release new episodes on their website and even create retail DVDs (the first two "seasons" can even be purchased at real stores - the huge video game retailer Gamestop sells the discs). RvB uses the engine of the Xbox video game Halo. In the 8 to 12 minute episodes, we get a glimpse into the lives of space soldiers - but not necessarily the action and explosions of a typical game or sci-fi flick. Instead, we get a lot of crass humor from bored soldiers waiting for the next battle. Fans of South Park would be right at home with the requisite sarcasm and profanity of an RvB episode. The series is becoming more and more popular among the tech/geek demographic with references spotted all over the internet and frequent mentions on Slashdot. The content and creativity of RvB is what keeps people coming back through almost 40 episodes, as seen by a quote here from a Slashdot user:

I feel it's one of the best examples of "some people with some ideas, some time and an internet connection can make something funnier than 90% of the stuff on TV". If you haven't seen the first and second series, you really should.

Now creative minds who can't afford even the thousands of dollars needed to make a very low budget indie film have an outlet for cinematic expression. Kevin Smith's mega-acclaimed Clerks film was released on a shoestring budget and filmed in black-and-white, but became a huge success due to great dialogue and word of mouth. Now Smith films blockbuster movies with stars like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Perhaps the next Kevin Smith will be some guy with a $150 Xbox, a script, and an internet connection.

What about the law? Some would say machinima is some sort of distant cousin to music sampling, and we know the legal battles about sampling (just read this blog!). Some say machinima is just an example of a derivative work. Others would grant no excuse for amateur directors to use game creators' works to create films that are set entirely in the copyrighted game's graphical world. Regardless, it seems apparent that in today's legal world, machinima creators can not make a profit from their work that uses a commercial game without permission from the game's copyright holder. Likewise, using copyrighted music as a score for the machinima film is a no go for commercial machinima (and knowing the recording industry, likely a legal battleground even for freely distributed machinima).

Halo's creator, Bungie, gave its blessing to the RvB team to use their game in creating the machinima show (and Microsoft actually published the game). The Quake II engine, once a commerical product, has been converted to open source under a GNU license thanks to Id Software's generosity and respect for the homebrew programming scene.

What about using a copyrighted game engine to create a machinima film and distributing that film for free (and recognizing that the game engine is a copyrighted product of "x" publisher) without the game rightsholder's permission? A little more hazy. Certainly nobody is going after the people who distribute videos of game completion runs or clips that show a spectacular feat of gaming prowess or that show viewers how to obtain a secret item. Why not allow creative art based on a game engine? Well, the machinima makers are still using software that they don't have a license to use. EULA provisions in most games also provide ammunition for copyright holders to claim infringement. Cetainly a rival game maker shouldn't be allowed to steal source code to make a competing game, but what is the conceptual problem with allowing people to use a game's physics engine to create a digital play? The general view is that the law is on the side of the game makers, but perhaps we will see a challenge to that view in future litigation. Regardless, for now machinima makers can either go with the available open source tools for creating their films or try to get permission from game makers like Bungie. Machinima groups are trying to negotiate for the use of several high profile game engines by aspiring directors.

A question that game makers will have to ask is whether allowing machinima to be created based on their engines is a good idea? Bungie/Microsoft certainly seemed to think so, and maybe their opinion was correct. Bungie certainly could have held the view that edgy comedy and profanity-laced dialogue using in-game visuals might tarninsh the game's image. However, they allowed the project to go on. Now, Halo 2 is going to come out on November 9, 2004 and is already a smashing success, with over 1.5 million preorders already. Maybe Red vs. Blue has nothing to do with the success, but maybe it does. I saw a RvB DVD playing in a Gamestop store with a cluster of people standing around it laughing. If nothing else, it certainly doesn't seem to have dampened the public's enthusiasm for the Halo game.

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