Inspired animation tools from an uninspired sitcom

March 18, 2004 D. H. McKee

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Never mind that “Game Over,” the new animated sitcom on the UPN Network, isn’t very good. Perhaps disappointed viewers can produce something better. UPN is giving them the tools for the task, in the form of a free video game that’s more than a game. It’s also an introduction to “machinima,” a gaming-inspired technology that may become as vital to filmmakers as colored ink was to Walt Disney.

As for the TV show that inspired the game, let’s just say that it’s one of those ideas that probably sounded great at 6 a.m., after an all-night computer gaming party fueled by endless rounds of Red Bull.

What if the characters in video games were really working stiffs, killing monsters and punching out ninjas for a paycheck?

What would they do the rest of the time? Would they have “real” lives, with friends and families?

According to “Game Over,” they do. Alas, their “real” lives are as dull and unfunny as any served up on the typical sitcom. The myth that only adolescent boys play computer games is alive and well at UPN, to judge by the sexual innuendo and flatulence jokes on offer here.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/077/living/Inspired_animation_tools_from_an_uninspired_sitcom+.shtml

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As a guy who occasionally curates art shows and wrangles artists together, I often have to edit and post artist bios, profile pictures, and artwork images. This can be a problem, since many artists and writers aren’t used to selling themselves. Artists rarely know how to present their art for display in a brochure, and writers aren’t used to writing about themselves.

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Like blogs of old, this one is a personal document of the comings and goings of me. Articles I’ve written, links I’ve posted, videos I liked, etc. Here, a first-person perspective is the way to go, at least for now. So, this is my site. I’m D. H. McKee, a sometimes artist, sometimes writer. Mostly just a guy on the internet.