For all you budding film-makers out there, Channel 4's IDEASFACTORY Scotland and the Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival have teamed up to challenge you to "Machinimate" at this year's EIEF.
There are four places to be won at the EIEF's consumer Go Play Games festival, which, among other things (like the UK premiere of a new game beginning with Z) is host to a series of machinima masterclasses with Strange Company and Machinima.com's Hugh Hancock. If you've got a brilliant idea for a short film and basic computing skills (and I mean basic - a word processing package is enough) and can convince the panel of judges (including me) that your proposal is the best, you could get a free place on a masterclass which will take you through the process of creating a motion picture masterpiece using a computer game.
All of the finalists will receive copies of Fountainhead Entertainment's Machinimation software, a copy of Doom 3 and will have their movies finalised by Hugh and author Paul Marino to be re-submitted to a committee of animators, designers and TV and film professionals for a go at the big prize: the chance to be broadcast on Channel 4's IDEASFACTORY website and on the silver screen as part of a special Whatever Works at Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire with exclusives from Strange Company and others.
More prizes will be announced shortly, but the competition ends Monday 1 August. The workshops will take place on a day of each winner's choosing between 10-14th August. The competition is running in conjunction with the EIEF's Screenings and Edinburgh Interactive programmes, where you can check out Paul and Hugh showcasing some of the tip top machinima on the circuit today.
To apply, head to the Channel 4 IDEASFACTORY Machinimate site and read up on the film phenomenon with a special interview with Hugh and a feature by UK machinimator Ricard Gras. Alternatively, you can bypass all the useful information and get to the application form directly, here.
Get those creative juices flowing!
