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Massively interviews Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm
One of the most significant works of machinima created in recent years is Clear Skies, an unconventional amalgam of the gritty, far future setting of EVE Online tempered with a more human touch, imbued with life through clever writing and exacting manipulation of Half-Life 2 character models. Fans and critics alike have praised Clear Skies since its release. Indeed, the film recently took top honors at Machinima Filmfest 2008, garnering a Mackie award for Best Long Format Film. This success at the festival was met with astonishment from Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm as well as from his collaborators, John Guthrie and Richie Powles. But it was decidedly less of a surprise to the many fans of the film, a seemingly ever-growing number judging by the number of times Clear Skies has been downloaded from EVE-Files. Massively recently caught up with Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm, who was gracious enough to provide us with a sequence of production stills from Clear Skies 2, explaining how he brings a scene to life in stages from voice recording, to choreography, to the culmination of this work in the final footage. While we had his attention, Ian also discussed what drives a man to dedicate years of his life to a project of this caliber, and what he has in store for us with Clear Skies 2.%Gallery-36336%
EVE Online film 'Clear Skies' wins at Machinima Filmfest 2008
It seems like it wasn't so long ago when Massively reviewed the EVE Online machinima "Clear Skies", an imaginative blend of EVE's backstory with Half-Life 2 character models and sets. We recently mentioned that Clear Skies had been nominated for consideration at the Machinima Filmfest 2008, but have gotten word that it won a Mackie award for Best Long Format film this past weekend. Massively got a hold of Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm today, who shared with us his reaction to having won the Mackie award. He quipped, "I was sort of wondering if they had made a mistake -- it's really nice to get that sort of recognition when all I set out to do was have some fun with my friends and have a creative outlet." But more than anything, Chisholm is pleased with the overwhelmingly positive response he's gotten from the EVE community itself. "I never set out to do any of this, so it's completely organic... it's just a fantastic thing to be able to do, to reach out and make all these thousands of people's day go with a bit of a smile when they watch the film" he said.
EVE Online films nominated for Machinima Filmfest 2008 awards
CCP Games announced that two EVE Online machinima have made the list of nominees for awards at Machinima Filmfest 2008: "Clear Skies" and "Havoc." The Machinima Festival is one of the major machinima events held annually. The full day event will take place on November 1st in New York City. Clear Skies is an imaginative blend of EVE Online's galactic backdrop with Half-Life 2 character models, and is a Best Long Format nominee. Much of the film takes place within ship and station interiors, and represents two years of hard work by its creator, Ian Chisholm, as well as Richie Powles and John Guthrie. Clear Skies has been well-received by the EVE Community, with the announcement thread garnering 50 pages of praise and climbing.Havoc is a newer machinima, nominated for Best Sound Design, Best Short Format, and Best Voice Acting. Havoc was created by Anil Kamath (Sound Design and Music), Chris Newcombe (Visual Design and Editing), and voiced by Sarah Murray. Like Clear Skies, Havoc is proving to be quite popular with the EVE playerbase, but holds appeal for a more general audience as well. The film is short, clocking in at one minute in length, but in that time nicely juxtaposes the grit of New Eden's setting with gorgeous visuals filmed within EVE. Like Clear Skies, Havoc is well worth a look. Video embeds of both machinima are found below the cut:
