An Update on Life

I think I have somewhere around three or four blogs on the internet because I keep forgetting the password and the username to them. Well, this blog should be good for awhile. I still know the login for this blog. A lot has happened for me lately! The most recent machinima I've posted, Astral, is my first Sims 3 music video, and the first music video I've made in two years. When I was thinking about buying The Sims 3 to check it out I talked to an old buddy, Pyro, who has made a few Sims 3 machinima videos. I asked him how he liked the new game, and he said it was good but he didn't know enough to give me some good advice. I took the plunge anyway and bought the game. I played The Sims 3 total 10 hours before I started making machinima with it. I made a short video called "Chase" to get my feet wet with the new game. I had no idea what I was doing. I just got really lucky getting the shots for the short. After I posted The Chase I had no idea what kind of music video I wanted to make. Mostly because I didn't know the game as well as I needed to. One day I was watching a few of my old videos and I came across a video I made in 2006 called Astral. I thought The Sims 3 would be perfect to remake that video, the way it should've been.

About a month since The Sims 3 version of Astral has been out it has just broke 4,000 views. I'm happy about that. It's pretty disappointing when a person spends a lot of time on a machinima and not many people get to watch it. That happens because the video doesn't get the right kind of exposure. Those things take time. I sent the video to The Sims 3 and they put it on their favorites. I'm glad it worked out.

I've been working on live action film for the past three weeks. Things seem like they are winding down with that. I try to put a new video out on youtube every month. Because I do live action, animation, and machinima I won't always post machinima. I've been slowly working on 3D animation for the past three months. When it's complete, that will be the next thing I post on youtube. Look out for that sometime in the future. I don't post my live action stuff on my nittens youtube channel. It's just a rule I have for my nittens stuff. I tell you my movie making patterns so when you don't see a video from me in awhile, you'll know why. I'm always making some kind of video.

I don't know the exact dates for every video, but here are some rough deadlines I give myself. The live action stuff isn't going up on the nittens channel.

April 22 2011: We Believe - Live action
May 12 2011: Untitled - 3D animation
May 31 2011: Spring - Live action
June 16 2011: Untitled - The Sims 3 Machinima

So there you have it! All my ramblings in one blog. Peace

Wendy

The movie that has taken soo much time and effort is finally out and has gotten great reviews from everyone. All the negative feedback I got were from things that I already knew about and I didn't change because of my impatient ways. Now that my movie is out and is successful I have cleared my mind of any ideas for future movies. This being said you should expect a long dry spell of no movies from me. During this time I will be finishing and putting up my new look for the website. It's all done in flash and looks very spiffy. After I do that I can then fix bugs and promote the new website as the new hub for all things nittens. It will hold basically any fan would want from a celebrity... not saying I'm a celebrity but I'm just giving an example. After the website I hope to still film but in a more calm way. Two things that I wish to get done will be for the website. Look forward to that. I won't post them on sims99. I also hope to "evolve" my skills a little bit more. This Wendy movie probably stood out to you because it's something I've never done before and I wanted to expand my ideas and it was basically the point when I wanted to start evolving my skills. To get better at what I do I plan on doing a few things. First off I won't post anything I create, second I won't use many effects in terms of tint and brightness and contrast. third i'll be going back to traditional sims movie making.

Since The Sims 2 came out movie making on it has evolved A LOT. I remember a few classic sims movies when sims99 just began that really set the bar for sims movie making. Now they would be considered crap. But I call them classic because they are like the Charlie Chaplin films which were short, terribly made, and low-tech. But, they are classic because not only did it define movie making but it was one of the first made so of course it's going to be bad but without those classics where would movie be today?

So I figure if I go back and try to become more traditional with no strings attached then I can experiment more and test and use all the things that The Sims 2 provides. There are a lot of objects and options in The Sims 2 now but it takes creativity to figure out how to use that stuff properly and what to use. I think videos now in 2007-08 lack that creativity. Back in 2005-06 all we had was The Sims 2 and one or two expansion packs. It wasn't until later did we discover the boolprop cheat code, which even later actually became more helpful to movie makers through EA realizing that it wasn't just a game testing cheat but it was now a movie making cheat.

That's it from here for a while until the website is complete. peace.

okay.

after three loong and boring days i can now tell you the title of the movie. Wendy. That's all I'm saying for now. I'll release a poster later.

p.s. i filmed 113 shots today.

Full Swing

After hours and hours and hours of prepping and figure stuff out I'm officially in production. Yesterday I spent the ENTIRE day figure out some new techniques and getting them down pat. Last night I began building the sets and downloading the necessary downloads for the movie. This morning I finished most of the sets and started the long and tedious process of filming.

I feel a lot better about this project now that I've seen its potential because this isn't something I would normally do. I did a few test shots and began shooting the real shots and put them in the editor. They are turning out really nice. I wouldn't say this is the most green screening I've even done but it totally is the hardest I've ever attempted at. I've got to be careful to get everything right with the green screens because it'll look really funky. I'm rendering some test footage right now just to see it in the media player and then I'm going to watch it on another computer to see how it looks.

I'm glad I was wrong when I said it'll probably take me months to finish this movie because I can't wait months! I understand I have to be careful and focused while I work but this really isn't going to take months to complete. Maybe two weeks at most.

I'm going back to filming now....

Ooookkayy

Now Moirai is done I asked myself a question. What am I going to do now? Well, I've been throwing around some ideas and catching up with sims movies on the internet... Trying to figure out the latest mods and "technology" out there for sims machinima. When I was watching some videos from a wonderful and amazing creator/artist I saw that she did something that no body else does often if at all. I looked it up and have been working on perfecting this literally all day. It's past 7 and I'm still not satisfied with my results. This thing I'm working as well as a few other techniques will be very much included in my next project. I'll tell you one thing about it. It's a music video. It's like nothing I've ever done before and I can't wait to get started. A few things have to happen before I begin shooting though. I have to get more ideas and develop a solid plot, find a song that matches my ideas, become confident with these new techniques I'm working on, get the Freetime EP, and build sets. You won't be seeing this music video for a very very long time. I'm also getting an iMac to replace my Windows XP computer that is currently my filming computer. I start production on another XP I have which has more power and will give me more quality. Quality will be everything for this.

This is not to mention I'm starting school next week, and I'm starting my job too. I'll be really busy outside of filming. Whenever I get the chance to do that. So it'll be many months before It'll be ready for your viewing pleasure. Right now this music video is just a dream...

Moirai Part 4 Script

Moirai – 4

EXT. ACENIT AZTEC RUINS

LEADER:

On this day we come to

Persecute this man who has committed

treasury. How do you plea?

MOIRAI:

Guilty.

LEADER:

You shall be cursed for

1000 years. You shall be trapped inside the

Oak of a plant.

MOIRAI:

The oak of a plant?!

LEADER:

This is destiny.

This is the way it is supoose to be.

You cannot change destiny.

CUT TO:

INT. WHITE ROOM

FATE:

Do you love her Steven?

STEVEN:

I do.

Before we got married I always dreamed

Of us together somewhere like the forest or a beach

Just enjoying life. No worries, no problems. Just her and me.

FATE:

Sometimes fate and dreams collide.

The most important thing is that you love her.

That is something that will never change.

STEVEN:

Do you think I loved her before this?

FATE:

Of course you did Steven.

STEVEN:

I wish I could see her face again.

I miss her a lot.

FATE:

You have reached a wonderful stage in your life.

You understand how to care again.

STEVEN:

There’s no way I can get out unless

I watch the rest of those images huh?

FATE:

Yes, you must watch all the images.

STEVEN:

If I watch the rest will I be able to see her again?

FATE:

Steven. I… I

STEVEN:

Why didn’t you tell me?

You force me to watch her

and my son and I’ll never see them again?

FATE:

Here there are no second chances.

That is destiny. That is fate.

STEVEN:

Answer me one question fate.

Promise not to lie.

FATE:

I cannot lie Steven.

STEVEN:

I’m dead aren’t I?

FATE:

I think you know the

answer to that question Steven.

STEVEN:

How did this happen? How did I die?

FATE:

You must watch the rest of the images.

STEVEN:

Please show them to me.

I must know.

FATE SHOWS THE REST OF THE IMAGES OF STEVEN JUMPING OF A BUILDING.

STEVEN:

What have I done?

FATE:

Steven. Your life wasn’t great.

The end wasn’t great either.

I hope you are aware of no second chances. That is Destiny.

STEVEN:

You are right. That is destiny. That is fate.

The mercy you have shown me has been incredible.

FATE:

Your ability to learn is amazing Steven.

It’s been a unique time being with you.

Now that you’ve seen all the images

It’s time for you to go on.

STEVEN:

Can I ask you one more question?

FATE:

Of course Steven.

STEVEN:

What’s your name?

FATE:

My name is Moirai.

STEVEN:

Well Moirai. Thank you.

FATE:

Your welcome Steven.

STEVEN:

If for some reason my

wife or my son comes in here

tell them I love them.

FATE:

You love them?

STEVEN:

Yeah, I do.

FATE:

I’ll let them know the best I can

STEVEN TURNS AND WALKS THROUGH A DOOR IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROOM. A WHITE FLASH BOOMS.

CUTS TO:

EXT. HOUSE – AFTERNOON

STEVEN STANDS IN THE SNOW OUT FRONT HIS HOUSE IN HIS CLOTHES JUST STARING. THE DOOR OPENS AND HIS WIFE STANDS OUTSIDE.

STEVEN:

It must’ve been love.

THE TWO WALK UP AND KISS EACHOTHER AS THE IT ZOOMS OUT AND FADES OUT.

CUT TO:

EXT. RUINS

LEADER:

You have committed the crime

against us again. Do you realize you must go

another 1000 years?

MOIRAI:

I know what I’ve done.

This is my destiny. This is my fate.

FADES OUT TO SHOW THE PLANETS AND THE GALAXY.

FATE:

Have you ever wondered why we act the way we do?

Why our desire for something tears us away from our love for

another. We loose focus on what matters most and it takes

something grand and unforgiving to make us open our eyes

and understand what we truly love.

THE END

The Secret is Out!

During filming of Moirai part 4 I took pictures of the sets and things that happened on set. If you know my work you know I love doing this kind of back stage stuff. Maybe it'll give you a few ideas for sets...