Moviestorm gets recognition at TEDx talk by Libertaria creator Sabrina Pena Young

Readers of this blog may remember an exclusive guest post in September 2013 from Sabrina Pena Young telling of the story of Libertaria: her virtual opera, created entirely online using Moviestorm.

Award-winning composer and published author Sabrina Pena Young composes works heard in Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe.

Production for Libertaria was entirely online. The cast auditioned virtually through Music Xray and other sites, the animators worked together using Moviestorm, communication continued through e-mail and facebook.

Libertaria has been growing in popularity ever since the world premiere screening in October 2013.

Recently, Sabrina shared her story at a TED talk, answering the question of how you stage an opera without an opera company, or singers, or a stage, or anything except your own ideas.

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives.

Since 2011, TEDxBuffalo has taken place each October at Canisius College’s Montante Cultural Center. 

See Sabrina's talk at TEDx below:

    

Sabrina told Moviestorm: "I spoke about Moviestorm in the live presentation, and I am working on a new "rock concert" project that will be shown in music concerts this spring, also using Moviestorm.

"I will be giving an upcoming online presentation on machinima and music this April. It will be for an online music festival."

Sabrina added that she chose Moviestorm for the TED Talk because without the 'easy-to-use animation software' she wouldn't have been able to create her work Libertaria: The Virtual Opera. 

She said: "I have been using Moviestorm for several years now and have found it an excellent program for multimedia and music works, as well as presentations like the TED Talk.  

"For example, I am currently finishing up the commission Destiny: Eondwyr that incorporates live music performance with fantasy comic book panels created using Moviestorm.  

"I am also using Moviestorm for my upcoming virtual online performance Urban Night: Sounds, which is a musical performance of animated characters in a virtual outdoor concert venue, to be presenting online and in New York this spring. 

"Moviestorm has truly taken my artistic expression to the next level."

Sabrina said one of the reasons she recommends Moviestorm to musicians is because it is very affordable and easy-to-use, not to mention fun and easily customizable. 

She said that right now another Moviestorm animator, Matt Pittsinger, inspired by Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, is using Moviestorm to create a truly cinematic Baroque opera Aetius. 

Sabrina concluded: "My hope is that other musicians use machinima to explore innovative ways to share their original music with the world without any of the financial and societal boundaries of the past. Technology is truly the great democratizer of our age."

WATCH LIBERTARIA HERE:

Further links

Artist Website: http://sabrinapenayoung.blogspot.com/
Official Film Website: http://virtualopera.wordpress.com/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQqnHt3a-Oo
Soundtrack : http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sabrinapenayoung4

Harb40 Passion Competition set to return this year!

Good news film competition fans! Moviestorm are pleased to announce the return of the Harb40 Passion Competition, which will take place from August this year.

The competition urges contestants to make a film set to a specific theme of passion. There are usually some restrictions on content, but films could be made using any animation program, video game or live action technique.

This year, the specific theme for the competition will be released on August 2, and the submission period will run from August 23 until October 11. 

All submissions will go through a specific thread on the competition forums which will be opened at theme release.

Competition winners will be announced on November 22/23 during the Machinima Expo (which is run by a group that includes Kate Fosk, aka kkffoo, and an actor named Richard Grove, aka Ricky Grove).

See below for the first promotional video for the 2014 competition, by Moviestorm user Joseph Kwong, aka JosephKW:

The

Competition creator, Craig (Harb40) began experimenting with animation back in 2005 after playing a game called 'The Movies'. After following a website called The Movies Underground, he was introduced to other games animation tools such as Moviestorm. 

Today, Moviestorm is now one of his primary animation programmes.

Competition creator Craig told Moviestorm:

"Animation programmes like Moviestorm, The Sims and iClone are taking over in the competition.
In 2013, BiggsTrek (Pioneer) took top honours with an iClone creation but has used Moviestorm since it's inception.
"Second place went to JosephKw, using Moviestorm, while fourth and fifth places were MysterysGames, aka mystery_egypt, and Nahton, both using Moviestorm.
"Also, in 2012, Animatechnica took first place with an iClone creation and Chatnoir Studios took second with a Moviestorm film.
"One of the nice things about the prizes like Moviestorm is the winner is given a choice of a free user license or to receive credits to purchase more gaming assets and enhance their animation video skills
"Clips from the winning films are shown at the Machinima Expo which in turn puts the name Moviestorm out to wide audience of machinima and animation creators.

Watch below for the film by Moviestorm user JosephKW that scooped second prize in the competition last year:

The winning films receive software prizes and the creators were interviewed on The Movies On Air Radio show.

Moviestorm will once again sponsor the competition this year. In the past, the competition has received other sponsorship from Sony and Reallusion.

Want to know more?

To find out more about the competition, visit http://www.harb40passioncompetition.com/
Visit the competition Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/211515672195252/.
You can also follow the competition on Twitter @Harb40PassComp

Free Greetingstorm iPad Moviestorm App

Happy Christmas from Moviestorm!

Enjoy an early Christmas present from Moviestorm with our free Greetingstorm app!

A fun way to create an animated video greetings card for your friends and family.

Get it from your App Store

Choose between a warm indoor scene with Christmas tree, presents and a blazing fire, or a snowy outdoor scene with friendly snowmen.

Both scenes include a screen that you can use to show photos of your family, holidays, school events or anything else that you want to illustrate your greeting with.

 

Looking for inspiration?

 

If you are looking for inspiration, check out the Pet Power Rankings by Nahton Studios on YouTube

Happy Christmas from the Moviestorm team!

Education: A Cinematic Approach to Filmmaking with Moviestorm

Here at Moviestorm we are delighted to bring you a case study by Gerry Paquette, Game Development Professor at Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada.

Mr Paquette discovered Moviestorm after searching for an filmmaking alternative for his students.

Here, he tells of his journey with Moviestorm and the effects it has had on his class, education and learning. 

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Video game cutscenes and cinematics are staged within computer generated environments populated by virtual actors whose performances are recorded using simulated lights and cameras. 

As experienced gamers, my students are inherently aware of this fact making it hard for them to justify all time and effort required in learning how to operate standard digital video.   

My efforts to resolve this inadequacy lead me to consider using machinima and further research along these lines eventually led me to Moviestorm - a tool which removes all these hurdles making machinima accessible to all.

My students took to Moviestorm quite readily thanks to its game-like features.

 

Popular features

 

One of the most popular modules was the Dressing Room where they quickly figured out how to create virtual representations of themselves and their classmates often with hilarious results as they pushed the various parameters for eyes, ears, and noses to their limits. 

Navigating within the Set Workshop and Directors View was equally intuitive through the use of the WASD keys commonly used in games. 

Female students, in particular, seemed to appreciate the Sims-like interface used to control a characters movements and interactions with the set or other characters.

As an educator, one Moviestorm feature that I greatly appreciate is how it imbeds the classic “rule of thirds” composition guidelines into the user interface. 

 Rather than simulate real camera controls such as tilt, dolly, and pan, Moviestorm presents users with compositional lines attached to the characters which facilitates the placement of their bodies and eye levels within a picture plane that is subtly divided into thirds. 

Reflecting real-world limitations

 

A few students did experience some frustration when they realized that Moviestorm did not provide complete freedom in the manipulation of objects and characters which they are accustomed to having when working with regular 3D modeling and animation software. 

However, I found that these virtual world constraints to be a great benefit as they reflect the real-world limitations that need to be overcome when making movies.

There’s a lot of trickery involved in making the audience believe what in what is presented to them on the screen and many of the techniques developed for film are equally effective in Moviestorm.

 

Student examples 

 

The illusions of a character falling into a bottomless pit, for example, can be created in both worlds through the use of a green screen. One of my students needed to make his character appear as if he had been shrunk down to the size of an action figure. 

Just as in real filmmaking, the way he found to accomplish visual effect was to place the character onto a wooden floor and surround him with oversized desk props such as a lamp and computer.

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Working with virtual sets, rather expansive 3D environments, is also useful in terms of screen direction.
Since most sets feature just 3 walls, it’s practically impossible to place your camera in such a way that will break the 180-degree rule which must be adhered to diligently in order to keep the audience oriented in a scene.

 

Thanks to this new approach, I’m finally able to see cinematic results in the work produced by my students.

There’s nothing so rewarding for me then to cut them loose for their final assignment and watch as the group together to create engaging movies featuring gun fights, bank robberies, car chases, alien encounters, and even cast themselves as the struggling protagonists in a zombie apocalypse. 

The time and effort they put into these movies, often going above and well beyond my requirements, clearly demonstrate just how powerful a tool like Moviestorm can be in enabling learners.

 

Read this and other education case studies on the Moviestorm website at http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/teaching/teaching_case_studies

Libertaria: The story behind the virtual opera, by composer Sabrina Pena Young

Award-winning composer and published author Sabrina Pena Young composes works heard in Asia, North America, Australia, and Europe.

In this exclusive guest blog post, Sabrina tells the tale of the story behind the virtual opera and why she chose Moviestorm.

"I've been wanting to create a film for a long time, and Moviestorm had the perfect tools that I need to make my dream of a sci-fi animated opera a reality.

Sabrina's work has been performed at venues like the Beijing Conservatory, the International Computer Music Conference, Miramax's Project Greenlight, the Athena Festival, the New York International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, Turkey's Cinema for Peace, and Pulsefield International Exhibition of Sound Art.
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The story behind Libertaria

In 2011 I started writing a story about a young geneticist that worked in a cutting edge facility that absorbed the energy from the ill and dying to make a new serum that rejuvenated the younger, healthy populace. In the short story, the scientist, orphaned at a young age, discovered that one of her test subjects was actually her mother.

The short story evolved over time and instead o ffocusing on the scientists, the young girl was placed in the genetics factory herself, escaping it to discover her addict father runs the resistance against the factory. With a hundred twists and turns, Libertaria tells the story with true operatic drama and sci-fi energy.

Libertaria is an opera for the Digital Age. Created with virtual characters in a computer-generated environment, Libertaria is easily disseminated through the internet and simple DVDs. An animated opera offers a lower cost than a full live production, although there has been acoustic versions of songs like Lonely Mother’s Cry.

In the end Libertaria is a groundbreaking opera experiment. Creating an opera for a fraction of a budget, an opera that requires no rehearsals to enjoy, appeals to the masses, and has a diverse cast of characters reflecting the global nature of our culture.

Libertaria questions our current sociopolitical reality and the actions of the government, it questions war and even family.

Libertaria challenges musically and ideologically and will change our time.

Production for Libertaria was entirely online. The cast auditioned virtually through Music Xray and other sites, the animators worked together using Moviestorm, communication continued through e-mail and facebook." 

Why Moviestorm?

"I enjoy using Moviestorm because it is very intuitive, affordable, and easy-to-use. As someone with a film and music background, it was easy to jump into animation head-first using Moviestorm's excellent tools and simple platform. 

For my film Libertaria: The Virtual Opera I needed to use a program that could quickly lip sync over an hour of original vocal music, and Moviestorm was up to the task with the help of talented Moviestorm animators like Kera Hildebrandt. 

The easy integration of Moviestorm footage with third-party software like Final Cut and the use of settings like Cel Shading helped Libertaria: The Virtual Opera have a distinct graphic novel with epic visual effects for a micro-fraction of the cost. 

The Moviestorm community is invaluable and incredibly supportive, even volunteering time and talents towards production. Moviestorm made my dream a reality. I look forward to using Moviestorm for many years to come."

More information

What:  World Premiere Screening of LIBERTARIA: THE VIRTUAL OPERA, by Sabrina Peña Young

Where: Calvary United Methodist Church, 301 1

When: 3:00 P.M., Saturday, October 5th

Cost: $10 Donation. FREE admission for students (w/ID).

Contact: Call the church office at 561-585-1786 or email shoreclare@aol.com

Further links

Artist Website: http://sabrinapenayoung.blogspot.com/

Official Film Website: http://virtualopera.wordpress.com/

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQqnHt3a-Oo
Soundtrack : http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sabrinapenayoung4

Baby Machine from Libertaria (Rough Cut) Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8x4ZUw-_oo

Opening Credits (Rough Cut) Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWdNH5rxpsQ

'Animation as a killer marketing tool, and Moviestorm's role' from the New York Film Academy

Moviestorm are pleased to promote a post from the New York Film Academy, which explores the history of animation, it's role as a marketing tool, and Moviestorm's role in advertising and marketing.

By Zeke Iddon, lead content consultant for the New York Film Academy

For decades, animation has been a major vehicle for advertisement. In fact, animated commercials actually predate animated features by many years. In the early 20th century, when Vaudeville was giving way to silent movies, animated ads for various products were often shown on the big screen, accompanied by sales pitches. By the time Gertie the Dinosaur, the first character-based animated feature, came to the screen in 1914, audiences were already accustomed to animated marketing messages.



As animation became more advanced, commercials continued to be important. Today, many well-known mascots and beloved advertising campaigns are delivered through animation: From talking M&Ms to the GEICO gecko, many brands have created iconic advertising campaigns through the use of animation.

Why Animation is So Effective for Marketing

Part of the reason why animation is so valuable for marketing is that it interacts with the brain differently from real-world imagery. Animations are a type of caricature that exaggerate the features of their subjects. The resulting combination of bright colors and simple shapes can be instantly absorbed by the brain, making animation extremely adept at triggering an emotional response.

Today, animation is just as relevant as it was a century ago. If anything, it's even more vital than it used to be as a generation of tech-savvy web users has little patience for text. The fast-paced, simple-to-digest nature of animation makes it very appealing for many businesses.

Of course, there are a few other reasons why animation is a popular option for marketers:

• Animation is not constrained by the limits or reality, allowing messages to be delivered through a more symbolic or fanciful approach than would be possible in live-action commercials.
• Unlike static print advertisements, animation can tell a story and capture the viewer's attention through motion and sound.
• Animated commercials age more gracefully than those featuring live actors, who can quickly become dated by clothing, hairstyles or other factors.
• Animation appeals to a wide segment of viewers, and it's possible to direct a marketing message at several demographics at once.
• It's simpler to brand animation than live-action advertising. Many of the mascots that serve as brand spokespeople have been “alive” for more than 50 years thanks to clever reimagining.

Whether a business is planning to launch a full-scale marketing campaign with animated advertisements or just wants to take advantage of animation to jazz up some existing informational materials, there are plenty of compelling reasons to use animation for your business.

The Cost of Animation: A (Potentially) Limiting Factor

If there's one thing that prevents many businesses from taking advantage of animation in their marketing campaigns, it's cost. A simple live-action ad featuring a single talking figure in a business setting may be boring, but it's affordable. Animation can be more labor-intensive and costly, especially if outside vendors must be hired to complete it. When businesses do try to cut corners on animation, the results can turn off potential customers who are accustomed to higher-quality work.

Animation is expensive because it's labour-intensive. Whereas a static image for a print ad must be drawn only once, animation requires 24 illustrations per second of film. It takes a staff of 15 artists approximately three months to create a single half-hour animated television show. Despite the many benefits of animated advertisement, that sort of expense simply isn't in the budget of many businesses.



Fortunately, there are a few solutions that can help make animation more affordable for marketing departments. Computer-generated animations are not as labor-intensive as traditional cel-shaded animation, and audiences are growing increasingly accustomed to the 3D-rendered look in animation. In addition, talented illustrators from places like the NYFA are constantly entering the workforce, willing to apply their degree-level skills for a comparatively inexpensive graduate wage.

In many ways, video games have paved the way for improvements in animation, and some creative players have learned to modify existing animations from games into completely new products through an artform called machinima.

Moviestorm takes advantage of some of the technology behind machinima to enables artists to create unique animated features. The software is affordable and intuitive, and it offers the first video-sketch tool. 

Users can utilize the content packs offered in the download and customize them to suit their needs, and affordable bulk licenses are available for business use. If you're curious, you can try a free 14-day sample and see whether Moviestorm can provide the advertising solution you've been looking for.

The 'Stars and Storm 2013' Movies FR competition now launched

A new machinima competition called 'The Stars and Storm 2013' has now been launched by The Movies FR (the French speaking community for The Movies, Moviestorm and Muvizu).

Alutt, admin of The Movies FR, said:

"After the first edition of Stars and Storm in 2010 which had great success, the French-speaking Moviestorm community felt it was about time to launch a new edition of this international contest.

"The Old Times theme condition came to us as we were looking for a concept that could gather various genre or subject of movies.

"In addition, we wanted to erase the language barrier, so the no dialogues idea emerged as a second condition."

The registration period for the competition runs from July 21st to September 30th, and the winners will be published in the results on October 15th.

Alutt added:

"The Movies FR has been a strong supporter of Moviestorm since 2008 and this contest is an occasion to encourage all users, including new ones, to create movies.

"It's also the occasion to acknowledge and encourage the great contribution of some very talented modders such as our partners Shirley Martin (Squirrelygirl) and Chris Ollis. It will also be a good occasion to enjoy new movies from all over the world and spend some good time creating or watching them."

More details about the competition can be found on the following forum here

Competition conditions:

The general conditions to enter the competition will be:
- free subject or genre but in adequation with a general theme : "Old Times"
- maximum one movie per director
- the movie must not have been published on the internet before 2013 - to enter the competition, directors must post a presentation of the film and a link towards the film on the special Stars and Storm topic on TMFR (so they will have to create a free account if they don't have one yet)

Prizes:
1^st prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusifs French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a £25 gift voucher on Moddingstorm by Chris Ollis: http://www.moddingstorm.co.uk/getmods.shtml

2^nd prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusive French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $30 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/

3^rd prize:
1) 3000 MS points on content packs from Moviestorm: http://www.moviestorm.co.uk/hub/content_packs?cat=0
2) The all 6 exclusive French mods on TMFR made by Cinecitta: http://www.themovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=6601
3) a $15 gift voucher on Mods and More by Squirrelygirl: http://www.modsnmore.net/moviestorm/


Further links

The Movies FR website: http://www.themovies.fr
Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/themoviesfr
More competition information: http://bit.ly/1b40OvE