In-Depth Interview: Creator of Halo Warfare 3 Talks Machinima – Part 3
By Ajané Celestin-Greer | August 1, 2011 | Interviews | No comments | Share
Note: Due to technical difficulties, this final part was belated, and I sincerely apologize for the wait.
In the last two parts of the interview, we got to know Jimbothy and how he became a machinimist. We also learned how he and a partner created Halo Warfare 3 through a painstaking process. Now, as we close, we talk about the future of machinima and Jimbothy gives advice to any budding machinimists. Also, if you’ve been following the pictures scattered through out the interview, you’ll now find out details as to exactly what Jimbothy is working on.
What do you believe is the future of machinima?
That’s a tough question. What I’d see for the future of machinima is possibly a small move to television, possible interest from a gaming-interest cable channel or something like down the road. Although for a lot of people internet content right now is honestly more impressive than what is on television, so we likely will see this stay as a net medium. And considering we’re using other people’s assets to making our creative works, which is a big legal issue, we’d likely remain on the net. A lot of people predicted gameplay overtaking machinima, I don’t see that happening in whole, as gameplay often revolves around flavour of the month type games which are played out until their popularity wanes. Additionally, actual machinima content is always being produced, a few hit shows can (and have) changed that course.
Although for a lot of people internet content right now is honestly more impressive than what is on television, so we likely will see this stay as a net medium
For what I see with Machinima.com in their future, likely a restricting of hiring new talent once their director’s program reaches a peak, this would likely be because with so many talent producers the channel would get “clogged” from their upload schedule. Right now I believe they upload each video individually so as to hit their subscriber audience as oppose to bulk uploading (which has some problems).
What kind of tips would you give to someone who wanted to start doing machinima?
Dive in, get your fingers messy in filmmaking. Take risks, but work within your limits (technical and financial). Think an idea, buy a capture card, which with Reach’s saved film transfer isn’t really even necessary. If affordability is an issue, buy a cheaper capture card, I’m using a Dazzle last I checked in stores it was around $40.00 and you’re in the machinima game. Next thing you need is an NLE (non-linear editing suite) most computers ship with one. Get some voice and body acting (puppeteering) talent from friends or ask in the community. You might need an effects studio like Adobe After Effects, depending on the project. Put together the project. Watch it, showcase it. See what went wrong. Take it as a learning experience, garner knowledge from failures. Reload and repeat the process again. The more times you do something the better you’ll be at doing it.
Also ask around the community, pick people’s brains for advice but do it in a courteous and friendly manner. Chances are you might be working with these people on a future projects. Listen to everything. That being said, take a critical look at their projects. At least half of information gathering is knowing who to listen to and who to dismiss. What I mean dismiss is, critically evaluate their knowledge, say someone gives you a tip on how to composite something – look at their work (preferably newest works). Examining their work will give you an idea if the person knows what they’re talking about, or if they’re talking for the sake of talking; ultimately this will save you from making mistakes. Personally I’ve followed others’ advice full-fledged and been burned when their advice was actually stupid (I lost what could’ve been hundreds of thousands of views). 
If you want to get started on learning visual effects, visit http://www.videocopilot.net. Andrew Kramer’s tutorials provide a comprehensive, easy-to-follow video guide that are packed with information. I definitely used them when I was starting out.
Also offer help in the community, if you help someone they may help you out later when you need it.
Another key thing is not getting too far ahead of yourself. I see a lot of people in the community stating their intended projects, usually massive epic series that would do well. The problem that occurs with 90% of these is that the whole thing falls apart, usually due to time being restricted, people losing interest or any number of factors. There is a lot of talk, but little action in terms of making stuff happen. If you’re the type that loses interest easily, then momentum is your friend. Actually come to think of it, this is true with any production. The faster you can get things done, the closer you get to production. Keeping good pace keeps most things in place, you’ll keep your sanity and interest (for yourself and everyone involved) if you can keep the train moving as oppose to slowing down, stopping, and trying to start ‘er up again.
Biggest keys for advancing is just to keep producing content and growing and acquiring skills. You won’t be an expert by doing nothing.
What are you planning on making next?
Biggest keys for advancing is just to keep producing content and growing and acquiring skills. You won't be an expert by doing nothing.
My next machinima project is not unlike the Halo Warfare 3 video, combining the same elements in one video. However this will not be a trailer remake. This project revolves around the premise of how Halo would play in the Call of Duty: Black Ops setting; first person of a Spartan using Halo weapons to fight CoD players in a gameplay-esque type of video. It’s exciting for me because I really get to experiment with the CoD engine and the dolly cam. Right now I’m about a third of the way completed and should be done later this week. All of the effects were done in after effects.
Is there anything else you would like to add or say to readers?
Well first of all thanks for reading this article, I hope you learned a bit about the in’s-and-out’s of production. I’d like to thank DeltaGamer and Ajané for providing me with this opportunity for an interview. If you’re going to get into machinima or even gameplay recording, now is without a doubt the best time to get started. Good luck on your future endeavours, and I hope you enjoy the summer.
We at DeltaGamer would like to thank Jimbothy for his time, and for giving us such an in-depth look into the world of machinima. You can follow Jimbothy’s work at McCallahan Industries.
