Blog Posts from "Myndflame: The Blog!" - Gameriot.com

Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff - Episode 9

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:09:48 -0400

Halloween Machinima You Should Know

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:13:05 -0400

Each year the Machinima community celebrates their favorite holidays, and Halloween is no exception! Many of the top producers have submitted short stories including our own in-house collaboration, "A Hallow's End Special" with voices from Drewbie, Macheath, Oxhorn, Ian Beckman, Jesse Cox, Candace Holly, and Matt Greenberg.

For more great Halloween movies, check these out!

Keep up the great work guys, and have a Happy Halloween!

Oxhorn releases "Thunk Leaves Home"

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:50:42 -0400

LFW? Myndflame seeks 2 new members to work with our in-house Team. Flash Animator & Machinima Editor.

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:05:11 -0400

Applicants should be looking for the opportunity to work remotely with an experienced team and be able to work part-time to meet deadlines, build experience, and gain exposure. Please note that these positions are entry-level and compensation may only be available for commercial opportunities and will be based on your personal skill, experience, and commitment.

Please contact me by sending me a private message on this site with links to the information requested as well as the position you're interested in. Also, if you know someone that may be interested in joining the Myndflame team that has the above skills, please pass this information on!

DUMB BOB!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 08:02:55 -0400

While directed and written by a few kids, this short edited by Jun Falkenstein (creator of Snacky's Journal) isn't short on talent! Watch as Bob's car seems to take on a mind of its own. Warning! Contains blood-curdling screams!

There's Critters in my Yard...

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:03:40 -0400

This is the real deal, pictures taken from my yard. Waking up early in the morning has its benefits. For one, you get to watch the sunrise. Ok, so maybe that's overrated, but at least I get to check out all the crazy animals that seem to hang out around my house. Don't be lazy, just click on this article to see all the dumb critters.

Are these around the time that turkeys normally show up? Because Thanksgiving is coming up and honestly I don't seem to recall giant birds like turkeys hanging out in my yard during other times of the year. I think this turkey is an idiot.

This deer likes to eat stuff in my garden but it's really more of an investment because after I fatten her up I can pick her off during hunting season from my deck. That pile behind the deer is a giant pile of crap it made just before i took this picture.

Bats are kinda creepy and generally just fly around at night. But this one decided to hang out above my door for some unknown reason. And when I say above my door, I mean like, you walk out the door and BAM... there's a bat above your head.

When the deer aren't pilfering loot from my garden they like to hang out in the back yard. They walk around all pompous-like attempting to piss me off. I mean, this deer is obviously an *******. You can tell because he has antlers, and if you know nothing of deer, all deer with antlers are ********.

This monkey wants to eat your face. He's an ******* too, but who cares? He's behind a fence that he's too stupid to get out of it. Ok, so maybe he wasn't in my yard, but still I took the picture in Mexico which is practically the same thing as my yard give or take a few thousand miles.

I hope you enjoyed this stupid post for no reason. It's my website. I DO WHAT I WANT! BACK OFF!

Theory of a Death Knight 2 - Coming Soon?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:06:50 -0400

Theory of a Death Knight takes over Blizzard HQ! What changes will he make? Will mittens be found? Will the T-Rex make a cameo appearance?! Discuss!

Creating the Mythical Center of the WoW Machinima Community

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:41:40 -0400

This is a response to Whowho and Erunno who have recently posted some great blogs about the WoW Machinima community, its evolution and habits.

In my opinion, the mythical center of WoW Machinima is ultimately up to the community to establish. When the viewers, bloggers, and movie publishers come together it becomes much easier for everyone to benefit, and this has often been undervalued as I've been stating for years.

Early on it was difficult to find a place to host your videos where they could be viewed in high quality and wouldn't be removed for various reasons. The old school "more mirrors is better" philosophy has sent viewers through a maze of websites for years, some that have been long forgotten (remember stage6?).

There's now a large selection of places to host your content, but how many of them provide the right audience? The reason I encourage publishers to join us because

These are the people I've been reaching out to for years, and I'll boldly state, they are counting on this community to bring them the best and I can't emphasize enough how beneficial it is to everyone that we bring it to them.

This is not something that can be done by any single person. Our ideas, opinions, and methods are a unique and creative mass that appeals to a broad scope of viewers that goes beyond any individual. By aggregating our content, viewers are introduced to the collective mass and a true sense of the greater community that has created it.

This is why I ask everyone that has something related to this community to post it here. The viewers are certainly interested and many of them missed the tour bus that many of us rode around the Internet of yesterday to find today's best content.

Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff - Episode 8

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:21:34 -0400

Lilpuff accuses Puff of being a hippie and challenges him to a new poll to see who the fans like better. To vote for your favorite, visit the forum:

http://myndflame.gameriot.com/forums/thread/21392/

Blizzcon 2009 Machinima Meetup - See you there!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:36:18 -0400

D.W. and I will be arriving in California this evening to participate in our fourth Blizzcon! I don't have a complete list of Machinima participants that will be there, but I'm expecting to see Brandon Dennis (Oxhorn), Ian Beckman, Jesse Cox, Caruu, Terran Gregory, Tristan Pope, and Nathan Allen Pinard.

If you're planning to attend, sign this post and let me know! If you'd like to meet up for introductions and discussion you can contact me here or look for the guys in the blue Myndflame jackets. Each year I've helped arrange for fans and friends in the Machinima community to gather together for good times. In past years we've met at the Hilton bar just outside the convention center on Friday between 8-12PM so you might check there.

If you have any other suggestions, please share!

TheDeathTaco & Theory of a Death Knight

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:13:04 -0400

For your amusement.

Thoughts?

Theory of a Death Knight Episode 2 in Production - New Slim Jim Machinima - Illegal Danish 3 in Pre-Production - New Myndflame Albums Coming!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:34:54 -0400

is in pre-production and we intend to push it forward as soon as these other projects are scheduled to be released. An official teaser will be released after the episode has been completed with the date for the premiere following shortly after exclusively on Myndflame.com. Unlike the Prelude, the teaser will focus on revealing a bit more about the developing story. In case you're wondering, ID3 isn't going to be created entirely in 3D. We do intend to add some 3D animations but want to stay true to our previous mixture of in-game footage and compositing. Episodes are still planned to run between 12 and 15 minutes, slightly shorter but with a clearer focus on story progression and a shorter production time.

Lots of original music has already been completed and a new album should be available shortly before ID3 is released. I've written many new electronic compositions as well as a variety of soundtrack material like themes for Puff & Lilpuff's adventure, Dirti's story, Van Kraken, and even some fast-paced battle music for the epic battles to come.

Look for more updates soon!

Live Ventrilo Chat - Thursday 4-23-08 6-8 PM EDT (GMT-4) - Preview of Theory of a Death Knight Episode 2

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:05:21 -0400

As requested by the community, I'm hosting another live Ventrilo chat for our community to join and discuss Machinima, ask questions, or engage in general discussion. For our attendees I'll also be presenting for the first time some of the audio to the upcoming sequel to "Theory of a Death Knight" where the LFW Death Knight somehow becomes President of Blizzard!

Ventrilo Info:
Server Info: il3.leetvent.com
Port: 3938
Password: Hydro (cap sensative)
Channel: Myndflame

See you there!

Fixing video tags and bringing back the oldies! What would you like to see more of?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:29:12 -0400

I've brought it up before and it's a concern I hear from you guys all the time. You can't find the videos on this website. Either they sink down to the bottom of the site and disappear, you can't remember the authors name or the title and when you head to the search it fails you.

If this portal were a building, we moved in with white walls, no floors, and a bathroom with no door. But alas my friends, we're moving forward with a long list of priorities that will help convert Myndflame.com into a better place for our viewers without losing that sense of community that our active members enjoy - that is, the transparency between the fans and the creators of the content.

While the biggest driver to our website will always be the videos, I personally enjoy participating with the community and plan to add a more lively agenda like the Ventrilo chats that we've held both planned and unplanned for the past several years. For now the best thing for you to do is to keep making suggestions. If you stop by frequently, what would you like to see more of? What would help you pass the time between videos, and where does community contributed content play into all of this?

Live Ventrilo Chat Thursday 6-8PM EST - Guest Appearance by Brandon Dennis (Oxhorn!)

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:40:04 -0400

We had a great turnout at Tuesday's Ventrilo chat, even requiring us to upgrade our server to accomdate for the number of participants. For our US fans, our next chat has been scheduled later in the evening tomorrow, Thursday July 16th from 6-8PM EST (3-5PM PST).

Brandon Dennis (Oxhorn) is expected to stop by and chat with us for a few minutes, and I've got some other great machinimators lined up next week! Don't miss out on a great opportunity to meet some of the great members of our community and speak with the producers behind the videos you love!

Ventrilo Info:
Server Info: il3.leetvent.com
Port: 3938
Password: Hydro (cap sensative)
Channel: Myndflame

Download Ventrilo here.

NEW! Myndflame Beta Public Ventilo! Join anytime!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 09:53:47 -0400

Channel: Myndflame

Live Ventrilo Chat Hosted 7-11-2009

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:21:43 -0400

We had an exciting Ventilo chat last night nearly capping out our server! We discussed the idea of hosting a full-time live voice chat as well as other site improvements. Ian Beckman, Candice, Pinkhair, and Jesse Cox stopped by and I'm sure we'll see more talent from the community in future discussion.

So what do you all think about having a full-time live Ventrilo server with regularly scheduled e-celebrity appearances?

Myndflame gets an upgraded video player!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:38:11 -0400

The devs have been hard at work finalizing our new video player just in time for the Illegal Danish 3 Prelude release and the results are in! The new player is full of win, boasting a more streamlined look with an interface that dissapears during playback, better sharing features, and a built in HD/SD button. Now you can share your videos anywhere.. in style!

Learn 2 Play 2-CD Box set - Limited Availability

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:27:05 -0400

Click the blog header to open this page and activate the links below.

I've been getting requests for the physical copies of the Animation and MC Raider CDs since I stopped offering them earlier this year so here's your chance to grab one. This box set includes 2-CDs with 2 hours of music from Illegal Danish Super Snacks and Escape from Orgrimmar as well as a collection of the electronic music used since we began creating Machinima. The price is $17 including shipping worldwide and you can pay safely using your Paypal account. The CDs have been professionally manufactured in full color with original artwork and are packaged in a DVD box.

For a complete track list and demos, view the pages below:
MC Raider on Amazon
Animation on Amazon

Illegal Danish 3 Prelude - Final Screenshots

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:11:50 -0400

Here are a few final screenshots to hold you over until Friday!

See you here on Friday! (btw, I hear 10am EST is a good time to show up)

ID3 Prelude set to Launch Friday

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:28:38 -0400

If you've been waiting for the 4+ minute prelude for Illegal Danish 3, we're almost there! This Friday we'll be publishing it exclusively to Myndflame.com and I assure you it's nothing like you've ever seen before. The final touches have been added and the final render will be exported tomorrow.

The Prelude will be available in two versions, the primary being the standalone with a bonus secondary version with a side-by-side comparison of the original Starcraft 2 Cinematic trailer where you can see the detail and inspiration behind our production. I couldn't be more excited about getting this out there, and i'm anxiously waiting for your feedback!

Illegal Danish 3 Prelude - July 3rd 2009

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Fri, 29 May 2009 19:14:44 -0400

http://myndflame.gameriot.com/videos/Zinwrath-The-Movie

Myndflame Launches the Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff Audio Series

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:13:43 -0400

If you'd like to be the exclusive sponsor of a future episode, send an e-mail to sponsors@myndflame.com.

List of Episodes:
Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff - Episode 1 (Pilot)
Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff - Episode 2
Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff -Episode 3
Adventures of Puff & Lilpuff -Episode 4

Learn 2 Play 2-CD Box set with Pre-release Bonus CD!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:42:54 -0400

". *Note that these are not extended versions, but the sound effects and other dialogue have been removed so you can hear the singing clearly.

Perfect Weapon - (From the to be released "Firestorm" album)
Firestorm - (From the to be released "Firestorm" album)
Adventures with Puff & Lilpuff Opening Theme (Unreleased)
Defias Mightiest (Unreleased from the Illegal Danish 2 Soundtrack)
Sea Dogs (Illegal Danish 3 Official Soundtrack)
My cat Mittens (Theory of a Death Knight)
Razorblader (Theory of a Death Knight)
Razorblader Instrumental (Theory of a Death Knight)

P.S.
If you'd like to get a copy of "Learn 2 Play" without going through the auction you may inquire about one by sending an e-mail to the address above. However, the bonus CD is only available to the winner of this auction.

To grab one of the three remaining Myndflame work shirts, go to this blog.

Get Rare Myndflame Loot - and Help us out to!

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:16:57 -0400

To help support the continued development of the Myndflame website and future studies of Machinima science, I am asking for anyone interested in this stuff to send an e-mail to donations at myndflame dot com. Keep in mind that I can only accept a few offers since there are only a couple available.

To send a donation directly via Paypal, use the e-mail donations@myndflame.com. If you'd like to discuss becoming a community sponsor for an event or have an idea to help in any other way, I'd love to hear it.

P.S. If you're interested in getting a copy of the "Learn 2 Play" 2-CD Box, check out this page:
http://myndflame.gameriot.com/blogs/Myndflame-The-Blog/Learn-2-Play-2-CD-Box-set-with-Pre-release-Bonus-CD

What makes an "Expert of Machinima"?

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:08:25 -0400

Chances are the entire idea that there are experts of Machinima is new to you, and I think it helps if we first define exactly what an expert is.

This is just a short list of those who can be considered Machinima experts, but there are many more. My personal experience in Machinima production, marketing, and publishing is what qualifies me as an expert. That is why I'm called upon as a panelist, consultant, and community organizer for events and projects that go well beyond the scope of what you see here on Myndflame.com. I'd like to post more of what I do here, but that will require some extra time and to be quite honest, I need to see that our visitors are actually interested that I write up this type of content.

I appreciate any of you that made it through this blog and hope that it helps to explain why I've ademently disagreed with some of you for years that Machinima is just a pipe dream. There is real opportunity here and I've seen it first hand. We're still in the very early stages of life in virtual worlds.

Jon Gordon from American Public Media discusses Machinima

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:29:34 -0400
Jon Gordon produces a segment called "Future Tense" which brings you the latest technology topics in daily 5-minute capsules. On April 24th, he published a podcast (which was broadcast on many radio stations) that includes a snippet from an interview he had with me as well as other experts on Machinima. Check it out!

Oh, and if you can't see the links, just click the headline.

Play Machinima Law - Day 2

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:10:47 -0400
While day one focused on Machinima creation and limitations and how the laws apply to the creators, the second day brought another important topic: Preservation of virtual worlds.

In a hundred years will historians pull our movies from an archive and see our virtual performances, analyzing the effect it had on the evolution of Machinima or looking into the sociological impact it had? Curators and librarians think so.

This data includes much more than Machinima, but the preservation of online events, lifestyles, people and places in virtual worlds - much which is largely undocumented but has a significant impact on society. There's concerns that we're already losing huge amounts of information and the fix is a complicated one. Not only is this data all over the place, some of it is dissapearing. Even if you can get it, will you obtain permission from the author, game developer, or other copyright holders to archive it? What if those people or businesses don't exist anymore? The unanimous thought between panelists is that there needs to be a way to bypass or append some of the laws to allow archiving this stuff so that it's not lost.

As far as the late afternoon discussion, I can't really tell you anything! It was like being part of a modern day Knights of the Round Table. We discussed documents, non-commercial and commercialized machinima, preservation, and law. If you're interested in this kind of stuff, you'll see the results soon enough because I'm going to link to them when they're ready to enter the public domain.

So here are my final thoughts after several days and many panels and conversations!

As a guy who's tried to attend every opportunity i've been invited to that involves Machinima, this weekend was a historical point. It was an honor to see so many great people contributing their time and to know that my ideas and suggestions will be part of the solution. This is all going to take time, but I have a feeling that great things will come of this. In fact I know so because I'm not telling you a lot of stuff!

How far you take it is always going to be up to you, and remember that even if the law is on your side it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be any easier, but it can make you safer.

Play Machinima Law - Day 1

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:17:51 -0400
First of all, imagine a remarkable variety of Machinima panelists (myself included!) in a room full of seasoned with a pile of writers, bloggers, and news organizations chattering away on their keyboards.

Trust me, not a single one of you could have possibly made it through the first day of this conference without questioning that this was actually happening. An entire day of panels and discussion entirely devoted to the future of Machinima Law!

So I'd like to tell you about everything, but I don't have much time before I'm riding back over to the law center so here's a quick rundown.

My presentation went very well, I discussed why Machinima is a great tool for film makers, how difficult it is to abide by the rules, advertisers that are anxious to get their hands on Machinima but have no idea how to do it, content restrictions, third party software and what you could call the "grey area". Joseph DeLappe, J. Joshua Diltz, and Douglas Gayeton also gave excellent presentations during the morning panel moderated by Henry Lowood.

"The Rules of Play" moderated by Julie Ahrens helped to digest the EULA (end user license agreement, you know, that thing you click accept on each time WoW has a new patch), issues with Machinima Creation and Distribution, and even had attorneys debating on Copyright and Fair Use (these are the laws that protect many of us). I was surprised at the number of times the panelists brought up specific topics from my presentation and several times I questioned the panel to clarify positions I felt strongly about, like how their proposed legislation for non-commercial Machinima would quickly be capitalized on by everyone but the creator.

At the end of the first day, I felt good about the information that was shared. I really feel like the attendees pressed some very controversial questions to the panels and it was perfectly clear that the current path is flawed. Though it may never be perfect, there is certainly a better way we can move forward.

Today I have another panel to attend, then afterwards will be attending an invitation only discussion focusing on a draft guide for makers of game-based videos and how the law applies to our work (this will be very interesting!).

Last thoughts: Thanks to Brandon Dennis (Oxhorn) for coming out, we always have a good time! Also, thanks to everybody who attended the after hours fun at Gordon Biersch, especially Joseph for getting me back to my hotel! And big props to Henry Lowood, Lauren Gelman, and Julie Ahrens, and all the others who helped to organize the Play Machinima Law conference at Stanford Law School.

Live Ventrilo Chat Hosted 4-17-09

no.spam@gameriot.com (Myndflame) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:55:33 -0400
Before I crash tonight I thought I'd write something up about our , likely to take place late April or Early may, and don’t forget to bring your microphones! I’d like to give a special thanks to everybody that attended! I had a great time and I’m looking forward to seeing more at the next event!