The Director
My name is Jonny Simms & I am currently an independent writer & film-maker, creating videos for my YouTube Channel,
CleverBox Pictures. Out of my love for television & film, I attempted to sit down and write my own TV style show. But of course had no means of bringing it to life. This is when I discovered Machinima. In a nutshell, Machinima basically means movies created in a virtual world such as a video game. This intrigued me, so I decided to try my hand at movie making with the popular life simulator video game, The Sims 4. With powerful creative tools & unlimited character creation, the game was perfect for the story I had in mind , so it wasn't long before my idea came to life. 'Alone' was born, a supernatural episodic series that I uploaded onto YouTube. The pilot episode soon gathered momentum & before I knew it, a solid fan base was emerging that were eagerly awaiting the next instalment. Not long after, 'Alone' was noticed by the creators of the game itself and the official team behind The Sims took interest in the series and provided much appreciated fandom. Now, each new episode is receiving great viewership, with the pilot episode at 43,000 total views. This success has launched the whole series into the sky and has given me the boost I needed to stay dedicated to such an ambitious project. With amazing voice actors on board, it shows no signs of slowing down. None of this could have happened if it weren't for them. A big thank you to all who are involved with "Alone". You can find out more about the series on the 'Alone' page. |
What is Machinima?Machinima is an art form like no other, and I use the graphics engine from The Sims 4 to create a realistic episodic web series with real life voice actors.
Machinima has its advantages and disadvantages when compared to other styles of filmmaking. Its relative simplicity over traditional frame-based animation limits control and range of expression. However, my aim here at CleverBox Pictures is to enhance the control and emotion that is often lost in machinima, and create fully animated episodes that use mostly custom made animations created by myself. Not only this, but machinima is also cost effective over pre-rendered computer animation that often takes months or years to complete. Virtual acting is less expensive, dangerous, and physically restricted than live action. My machinima is filmed by creating characters, controlling their actions and movements, creating sets and environments and controlling cameras through digital puppetry. Scenes are precisely scripted, and are heavily manipulated in post-production using video editing and visual effects techniques such as chroma keying, masking and virtual cameras. Editing, custom software, and creative cinematography is what makes my machinima stand out from the crowd. Each episode of 'Alone' takes anywhere from 7 - 20 days to complete, depending on the nature of the episode. Aside from 'Alone', I am planning many other, more ambitious projects here at CleverBox Pictures and I hope you will take a look once they're unveiled. You can see all of my machinima work on my YouTube Channel. If you enjoy what you see, please remember to subscribe so you don't miss any future updates. |