Left On Stonehaven, The Machinima

Is seventeen-year old Julian a prophet or a lunatic? His visions have come true before. . .but a girl with fairy wings running through a cornfield at night? A severed hand on the road? And the Navajo boy stalking Julian's nightmares--he could be the devil himself, or a kid no one cared enough about to put on a milk carton when he went missing. The more Julian sees, the more he suspects that an entire Wisconsin community might be hiding more secrets than any he could have imagined.

Adapted from the novel Left On Stonehaven, this machinima is a tribute to author Carol Kean's brilliant storytelling and insight into the complexities of human nature.

EXCERPT AVAILABLE HERE: http://dolittlesaymuch.wordpress.com/

PDF and Kindle formats

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• book trailer
• bring me to life
• runaway
• sex trafficking
• kidnap
• bilocation
• remote viewing
• Native American
• Sims 2 machinima

[ScarlettxDiamond]

this was the best sims machinima i've ever seen. ever. everevereverevereverEVER! soo many animations I've never seen before! did you make them all yourself?! I am in such awe right now, I can't even tell you. Just--so good. So many things i've never seen before. AMAZING. Mentor me? xD lol.

[dolittlesaymuch]

@ScarlettxDiamond Thank you! Yep, I made most of the animations and custom content myself. Some were downloaded, though--I used a bunch of Decorgal's stuff. I'm blogging about my learning experiences with 3D animation (blog link is on my channel page; it won't let me add it here or I would). Contact me there, or pm me if you want. :-)

[bluebethley]

Carol, I loved this "machinima" rendition of LEFT ON STONEHAVEN. Yes, I noticed the teeth and the somewhat wooden movements of the characters, BUT Julian's character was so subtly and beautifully evoked, especially with his vision of the "bride", and the trailer was true to the story with layers of mystery inviting the reader in. Don't worry about George Lucas. He was a creative genius, but so are you. And Rhonda.

[dolittlesaymuch]

@bluebethley You guys make me want to do a Snoopy dance all around the living room. But I'd probably break my neck if I tried. Never mind that--I appreciate this support and encouragement from the writing community. One of my main goals from the beginning was to bring writers and machinima directors together in such a way that both could benefit. And I think I see it happening. :-)

[dolittlesaymuch]

Carol, such is the nature of comments we're likely to hear from mainstream viewers who have no previous experience with machinima. They start watching on our recommendation, expecting Pixar-type animation, never considering that machinima engines are designed to accomodate the average graphics capability of a casual gaming machine. We're at the mercy of our platform. But those particular comments are quite funny, actually. I read them and spit coffee halfway across the room. Bwaah ha ha ha ha!

[TheKean88]

Last spring, you took that literature class at a local college, chose "make a machinima video" from a list of projects, and "Hurricane" was your first film -- and who'd believe you weren't an old pro at it? You impressed not just your teacher, but several renowned and accomplished machinima directors. I was so taken with this new (to me) genre, I hinted how cool it would be to see Stonehaven in this form... and look what you've done!! Green? What will you do when you're golden??

[dolittlesaymuch]

@TheKean88 Well, it wasn't the literature class, actually, but close enough. :-)

[KAYLOA2009]

Fascinated by your work! Wow, I have so many questions for you I don't know where to start. I have to watch it again and gather them all. Bravo!

[TheKean88]

No surprise that Joseph Campbell, the myth meister, inspired Lucas -- but so did the Flash Gordon serials. And what inspired those? COMIC strips -- namely, Buck Rogers. So to those who scoff at machinima, go read Proust if you will while the rest of us enjoy work like Rhonda's. :-)

[TheKean88]

Every storyteller would like to connect with people as deeply as Lucas did withStar Wars, and everyone has access to the same raw materials. So why isn't every story just as good?

[TheKean88]

@TheKean88 Rhonda, is this the first Sims2 trailer for a book? You're on the cutting edge of a new market. And you show signs of being the George Lucas of this genre. Oops, I can't post a URL here...

Where did George Lucas get the ideas for Star Wars? What were his inspirations? How did he combine them into one of the most powerful stories ever told?

[TheKean88]

Star Wars, first movie, 1980. Special effects were the most impressive ever seen. 20 years later, our kids were laughing at the crude special effects (but still enjoying the movies). Thought of this when one of our writing workshop members said of your video, //The bottom teeth of everyone show, not the top ones. I kept thinking everyone would turn into some kind of vampire or dangerous carnivore. Totally distracted me throughout." Well, that's Sims2. But you, like George Lucas, set the bar!