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  • EVE Spotlight: An interview with Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm

    by 
    Brendan Drain
    Brendan Drain
    06.02.2011

    EVE Spotlight is a biweekly feature in which we interview prominent members of EVE Online's player community or development team. Every two weeks, we'll be shining the spotlight on a player or developer who has a significant impact on EVE to highlight the efforts of EVE's most influential people. EVE Online is well-known for its community's awesome cinematic productions, and no film is more renowned than the incredible machinima Clear Skies. Directed by Ian Chisholm, Clear Skies seamlessly merges in-game EVE footage with scenes composed using Valve's Source development kit. The films follow the adventures of captain John Rourke and his crew aboard the Minmatar Tempest class battleship Clear Skies. With more luck than sense, the Clear Skies crew continually finds itself in sticky situations but manages to come out on top. The first Clear Skies film won the award for best long-format film at the 2008 annual Machinima Filmfest, and a second film solidified the series' huge cult following. Clear Skies has even inspired other players like Kyoko Sakoda to produce their own cinematic masterpieces set in the EVE Online universe. The third and probably final film in the Clear Skies series was released earlier this week, absolutely shattering all expectations. In this massive edition of EVE Spotlight, I interview Clear Skies creator Ian Chisholm to find out all about the production of Clear Skies III.

  • Clear Skies 3 machinima undocks to excited EVE fans

    by 
    Brendan Drain
    Brendan Drain
    05.31.2011

    Three years ago, the EVE Online community stood in awe of the incredible EVE machinima Clear Skies, directed by Ian Chisholm and written by Ian Chisholm and Richie Powles. Featuring a combination of space footage filmed in EVE and scenes inside ships composed using the source SDK (Not Garry's mod), the 40-minute masterpiece delivered an impressive blend of action, story and British humour. The film spawned a cult following both inside and outside the EVE community, going on to win the award for best long-format film at 2008's annual Machinima awards. Fans cried out for more, and around a year later our patience was rewarded with Clear Skies II. It was somehow bigger, better and more polished than the first film, with a wide range of new voices and some old favourites making a return. We once again followed the adventures of captain John Rourke of the Minmatar battleship Clear Skies and loved every minute of it. The film was a huge hit with fans, but with the story wrapped up in a somewhat neat package and Ian expressing a desire to take a break from production, we weren't sure if a third film would ever see the light of day. Fans of the series were excited to find out this week that Clear Skies III has now officially undocked. Skip past the cut to watch the Clear Skies III trailer and find out about the third film in this incredible series.

  • Clear Skies III teaser trailer released

    by 
    Brendan Drain
    Brendan Drain
    01.27.2011

    EVE Online is a game known for producing some fantastic screenshots and video footage. Fan-made videos like Kale Ryoko's Future Proof and Dire Lauthris's Day of Darkness II have proven incredibly popular even among people who don't play EVE. Among the impressive cinematic trailers and PvP videos, one film has always stood out as undeniably the best EVE video ever made. Created partly in EVE Online itself and partly in HalfLife 2's Source engine, Clear Skies follows the adventures of John Rourke and his disheveled crew of a Minmatar battleship that always seems to find itself in trouble. The first part of the Clear Skies series won first place at Machinima Filmfest 2008, confirming that it wasn't just a hit with EVE's playerbase. The second installment of this popular machinima was as big a hit as the first, securing a cult following of fans demanding a third part to John Rourke's epic space saga. Creator Ian Chrisholm said that he was taking a break from video-making for a while and might then move on to other projects rather than making a third installment in the series. Fans of the series will be glad to know that not only is Clear Skies III definitely being made, but it's also only a few months away from completion. Ian released a trailer for the upcoming video to excited fans earlier this week, stating that the film will be released in three or four months Skip past the cut to watch the trailer in full HD.