Machinima Journalism

[George]

Journalism in Machinima something new I've been seeing Machinima.com do, and it's something we've been dabbling here at Dot Swoof with.

A great example of this is Inside Gaming...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSwwlxNs6Yg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSwwlxNs6Yg</a>

Or as we did in Gears of War 3: Rumblings.

My question to everyone is, is this a good way to be going about this? While I enjoyed making the video, the problem I have with Machinima Journalism as a spectator, is that it's essentially news radio. Sure, there is a video feed, but the video feed is of a single person bobbing their head.

Is this worthy to be even labeled as a machinima? Perhaps it's simply a more interactive version of news radio, perhaps it can be looked at as an way "in" for people who don't have the money or equipment to film a live action news piece...

These are all just questions. Personally I feel it all lies in the writing. But what does everyone else think?

[NUXpatent]

Meh, it allows for more physical comedy and such to be slipped in to make the show a little easier to watch. Most video game news has jokes in there, this just gives more options for a wider variety of jokes.

I'm really at a loss for what format of video game journalism I prefer. Text has always been great but I honestly can't read three pages of certain writers. Live action video like the Bonus Round and IGN's The Daily Fix are new things I'm growing fond of. (And The Daily Fix has Jessica Chobot  ) Machinima format has been accepting the largest variety of stories though. You've got stories about the Machinima community and stories about upcoming games and stories about what's happening with games that have been out. Unfortunately, anything I hear on Inside Gaming that isn't Machinima related I've already heard somewhere else. It's the last place I look when I'm looking up new stuff.

It'll never be taken seriously though.

[George]

Yeah I don't think we'll ever see an "Inside Politics" Machinima about the government.

[NUXpatent]

Tru... tru...

Oh, and I forgot to add video game podcasts. My favorites are Epic Battle Cry, The Drunk Tank, and The Bungie Studios Podcast. Epic Battle Cry has the best balance of news and comedy, The Drunk Tank is more comedy but they link-dump all sorts of cool stuff that they mention every week. And The Bungie Studios Podcast is great for getting news on Halo from the source.

[George]

Well podcasts aren't really part of the discussion. Those are nothing more than the reformatting of talk radio...That's where Machinima Journalism is so strange. It's a radio report, synced with some footage of a guy bobbing his head up and down.

[NUXpatent]

Really, I think all you was talking about was video game journalism, and how well the Machinima format works as video game news. I was saying that I go to audio/video podcasts, live action videos, and articles, and that machinima is the last place I go for news.

[George]

I go to audio/video podcasts, live action videos, and articles, and that machinima is the last place I go for news.

That's kind of my point I guess. Why watch a machinima video about gaming news? From what I noticed, not just with Machinima.com's Inside Gaming, but also with Gears 3: Rumblings that I did....there's no value to the Machinima work being done. The visuals add nothing to the actual delivery of the news, or the entertainment from hearing it.

Essentially, if you were to turn off the video on a Machinima News piece, you miss nothing...

I'd like to find a way to change that, to make the visual just as important as the audio. But how do you do that when delivering straight news?

[NovaPow]

Basically, it's just the normal news in Machinima, video games, things of that nature, except presented in a comedic manner and in a Machinima form.
That's about the only way one would go about doing that, other than just not making it funny.

[NUXpatent]

I dunno, I guess you could reenact things like say... the IW/Activision debacle. If written well enough and it's funny enough, people would watch.

But still, the problem is, as you mentioned, missing facial expressions and body language, machinima has to overcompensate a little on the audio side. Thus making the video moot. You can't watch most television shows with just the audio (imagine one of the many times in a sitcom when somebody enters the room covered in cow doo and everybody just stares).

[Bijan]

Machinima news can work. Its actually kind of appropriate considering the subject matter. Like George said, its not like we're talking about a COG analyzing the latest treaty signed at the UN. It is essentially news radio, but that doesn't really matter much. Most tv news stations just overlay images and video clips while their announcers talk anyways. Its not like actually witnessing their lips move makes much of a difference.