What makes an "Expert of Machinima"?

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.

"An expert is someone widely recognized as a reliable source of technique or skill whose faculty for judging or deciding rightly, justly, or wisely is accorded authority and status by their peers or the public in a specific well distinguished domain. Experts are called in for advice on their respective subject, but they do not always agree on the particulars of a field of study. An expert can be, by virtue of training, education, profession, publication or experience, believed to have special knowledge of a subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially (and legally) rely upon the individual's opinion" - Source

Here are some examples of particular areas of study in Machinima in which a person may have excellent proficiency.

     * Producing, Directing, Editing, and Writing
     * Marketing and Publishing
     * Law and Licensing
     * History & Culture
 
To better understand Machinima, you first need to abandon the idea that having the knowledge to create it is the only area of study. However, it is not necessary to have excellent proficiency in all these areas to be considered an expert.

For example:
A superb painter doesn't know the first thing about marketing his work so he seeks an art dealer to represent him and build relationships with collectors and museums. When he orders brushes and paint, he contacts manufactures who likely have spent decades crafting those products. He also might think about consulting with a specialized attorney to make sure his paintings don't break any laws. And of course, being an incredible painter doesn't necessarily make him an ice sculptor or understand the history and origins of sculpting, even though a laymen would call them both artists.

It's unlikely that most of you even realize how vastly Machinima is being used. Let me site a few examples.

Bernadette Daly Swanson has an island in Second Life called the "Machinima Institute Island". She has contributed vastly to the Alliance Virtual Library with over 1000 librarian participants in the virtual world of Second Life. She has taught a variety of classes for UIUC Graduate School of Information Science in Second Life on camera controls and machinima workflow.

Douglas Gayeton has created award-winning work for traditional projects, also directing many professionally produced Machinima projects such as "Molotov Alva" and a documentary in Second Life that's been picked up by HBO.

Joseph Delappe created a controversial project titled "dead-in-iraq", an in-game memorialization of the 4,000+ U.S. military that have died in the Iraqi conflict using the America's Army recruiting game. He also documented a 240-mile march through Second Life imitating Gandhi's original protest of the British salt tax.

Henry Lowood has been the co-Principal Investigator for leading the Stanford group in a project funded by the U.S. Library of Congress called "Preserving Virtual Worlds". His projects feature more than 200 student papers, some specifically dealing with Machinima creation, law, and its evolution and impact on society. Not to mention he played a major role in organizing the recent Play Machinima Law Conference at Stanford.

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.