Hugh proved wrong
Apr
One of the great joys of being a filmmaker is that all the rules can be broken.
For many years I’ve been saying that there’s not a lot of point shooting a film in Machinima that you could shoot in real life. If you’ve got the locations, the people and the cameras, it’s faster and easier to shoot IRL.
Sam Goldwater just proved I’m totally talking rubbish there.
“Monad” is his wonderful dystopian story about virtual worlds and personal separation. This is the first really modern, post-World of Warcraft social questioning film I’ve seen that works, and it works marvellously.
It’s also just beautiful - the shooting is exquisite, the lighting is astonishing. It’s the first time I’ve seen a film using the HL2 characters which made me forget who they were originally. (To be fair, I’ve not seen “Clockwork” yet).
The writing’s spare, startlingly realistic, and generally excellent, and the acting is first-rate - such a relief!
Oh, and there’s basically no reason it couldn’t have been shot in real life, except that there’s no way it would have looked this good.
Watch. This. Now. And watch ANYTHING that Sam Goldwater does in future.
I wouldn’t say you were wrong exactly, I think in general your point about not shooting in machinima what you could in real life is well taken. As I recall, you also made the point in M for D that realistic characters don’t play well in machinima (paraphrased). I agree and, of course, Sam just blew the hell out of the argument. Monad is a really great film for all of the reasons you point out. I like to think Clockwork is moving in the same direction, but with a different style.
BTW, we’ll hosting a Premiere for Monad in May and Sam will be there for a Q&A. Probably in Second Life.
Actually, I’m not quite sure I was wrong either. Monad really couldn’t have been made IRL - sure, the setups are all simple, but there’s no way it could have been made to look that good without very expensive cameras, film, lighting setups and so on. Hence, Machinima.
I think Monad could have been made in RL. And it could have been a good short on a low budget. But anyway what I feel is important to add are two things: First: Sam (I dont know him so its just a thought.) is maybe - because of his skills - better in doing machinimas than in doing RL-shorts. So maybe Sam could not have made a better RL-short. But I am sure that there are other people who would get better results if they do it in RL instead of trying to make a machinima. Second: After all aesthetics are a matter of taste. I think I would find an equivalent RL-short more beautiful - but thats me.
But anyway I can understand why you like this machinima and I am happy to see a stylish non-action machinima. So if you read this here: Keep on the good work Sam. :-)
The irony would have been lost had it been shot in RL. That is, a movie about the impact of a virtual world shot within a virtual world. A lot of meaning behind that, I think.