WarLord's WarBlog

OK… as stated that is a LOADED question because of one word… commercial. If you are a machinimist that is strictly in it for the artform/storytelling and so forth then this won’t be of interest to you. If however you would like to monetize your machinima experience then what are you willing to do to make that happen when the opportunity arrives?

When your project becomes “financed” are you prepared for the limitations that may come with financing? Even though you’ve already decided commercializing your work might not necessarily be the ultimate evil or betrayal of your creative soul are you willing to accept the fundamental concepts of commercialization? Making a profit so you can keep doing it?  Playing to the largest audience possible and so on? Again… if you think compromising aspects of your project is selling out then you might want to move along as there is nothing that will interest you here.  This entire post is based around the idea that commercialization of your work can actually be… GASP… a good thing!

Not all projects require that everything be compromised or dictated (dictated is a word you might want to become familiar with if you want to stay busy in the industry) but there will be compromises when you are not given total control. When someone else is paying the bill then they usually retain a significant amount of control both administrative and creative.

Where does that loss of control come from? As most of you have already guessed by now its the contracts you sign to finance and administer the project.  Something tells me that machinimist will be a bit shell shocked after seeing their first contract offer and that doesn’t count the fact that machinima as the platform for their project (excuse me… what used to be their project) is dead in the water.  You will no longer have control of every aspect of every scene. In fact… you will not be animating it or shooting it live as that will be for others to do and they most certainly won’t do everything like you envision it.

This is just the tip of the iceberg in a wave of changes that could overwhelm the machinimist that finally gets a break unless they somehow maintain control which is a rarity.

So… hence the question… are you ready for commercial success?