April Machinima Interview - Decorgal

Decorgal shares a few tips and tricks in Machinima making and what inspires her to create.

Decorgal's Interview

Interview with Machimima Artist - Decorgal

We sat down with the creator of the widely popular "Adventures in Dating" for a personal interview. Decorgal is one of the leading machinima artists in The Sims 2 community. Creating machinima since 2004, she talks about the challenges of making machinima, her creative process and some words of wisdom for aspiring directors!

You can visit her site at www.decorgal.com. From there you'll find her popular mini-series, custom content downloads, personal blog, and more!

How long have you been making The Sims machinima?
I pretty much started making Sims machinima soon after getting it in 2004, a couple months after the game's release. I actually had to wait because I had to have a new computer built to support the game's system requirements (it felt like a long two months!). I had heard about the video capture feature before the game came out and was interested in using it. I absolutely loved reading stories in Sims 1 and tried to write some but failed miserably and figured that I might be better at making videos. Also, I found some amazing movies by other Sims players and that inspired me further.

What inspired you to start making machinima?
Seeing movies by other creators really inspired me. Back in 2004 when I started this, the movie making community was very small since we were all new to 'machinima' - a term we hadn't even heard of until much later - and it was really fun to 'learn' the skill together. Seeing amazing movies by other creators continues to inspire me today. I think movies that push the boundaries of what can be done with The Sims (or any platform, for that matter) really elevates machinima to an art from and it forces us to try to continually improve our own work.

What do you feel you specialize in with machinima creation?
I'm not sure if I specialize in anything but if I had to choose, I'd say making talkies. Voiceover work using Sims is a difficult thing because the sims, obviously, do not speak English. I've really had to learn to manipulate the game because of my series. When you watch the first episode which was made in 2006 versus the finale which was in 2009, the lip-synching is completely different. I've also had to create tools/game modifications as well for better lip-synching. All of this was more of out necessity than anything.

What process do you usually go through when creating machinima? Do you draw it out on paper? Draw out storyboards?
For both talkies and music videos, I spend a lot of time formulating my stories mentally. It isn't until I get concrete, specific ideas that I start writing scripts for talkies. It took me about six months to think up the complete storyline for "Adventures in Dating" until I finally sat down and wrote a script. When I did do that, I wrote the first draft for the first seven episodes and the closing monologue over a couple of days. I wrote the rest of the scripts, as well as the revisions, as the series went into production. I don't write or do storyboards for my music videos since those are completely visual so I just put the scenes together in my head. I listen to the song repeatedly until I can visualize most, if not all, of the scenes. In fact, this is how I pick the songs. I love music and listen to it often. Usually I'll just be listening to something when I get a strong visualization of a specific scene which will be thematic of the video. Then the rest of the story forms around that.

How do you get into your "zone" when you're making videos? Do you have a particular ritual?
Since machinima is a hobby, I really can't work on anything until I really get in the mood. I've tried to work on movies when I've not been in the mood and they don't turn out very well. This is why it took me so long to work on "Adventures in Dating." There are episodes that lag many months in between because I just wasn't in the mood to work on it. Usually, when I do start working on a movie, I get in the 'zone.' It takes so much work and investment in time that I'm eager to be done and to see the finished product. I don't really enjoy the whole process of filming and like editing much more (except for lip-synching) but the big satisfaction and enjoyment I get with this hobby truly comes from seeing the completed movie.

How do you remedy Artists Blocks?
I've actually been lucky enough not to experience blocks. I actually have the opposite problem where I have many ideas but not enough time or energy to translate them into movies. If you can loosely define 'block,' I guess my problem is getting into the mood to work on them. Completing one is so consuming that after I've finished, I'm usually burnt out and it will take me anywhere from a couple to several months to get back in the mood. Working on "Adventures in Dating" was hard for me because it was a multi-year project and there were always more episodes to complete which was sometimes overwhelming. During long periods when I couldn't sum up the energy to work on the next episode, I'd get back into the 'Sims zone' by working on clothing for the characters, updating my site, going on a dowload spree, etc. Getting back into the mindframe of 'simming' helped me keep going.

What cheats do you use the most?
I use game modifications/tools that I've created the most to queue in-game animations. As for in-game cheats, the basic ones like setting time, the boolprop testing cheat, and move objects are the ones I use the most. I remember when I first started making movies, none of the cheats and modifications were available at the time (aside from the basic in-game ones although we didn't get the boolprop testing cheat until later). Making movies was so incredibly frustrating- I had to actually play the game to manipulate relationships to get certain reactions, keep their needs at certain levels, etc. Movie makers want as much control as possible so that we don't have to actually 'play' the game in order to complete a scene. Making movies today is so much easier because of the custom content we have today.

How long does it normally take you to make one Machinima video?
It really depends on what I'm working on. I spend a considerable amount of time thinking of the storyline and themes which can take a month to several months. Then there's all the pre-production work like building, designing characters, downloading and creating custom content which can take a few weeks. Finally, filming and editing alone will take a few weeks. The more preparation is taken care of ahead of the time, the quicker the actual filming and editing will take. For "Adventures in Dating," I did as much of the pre-production work as possible before I even started the series so that when it came time to work on an episode, I mostly had to just send out scripts and do a bit of pre-production work. Aside from that, each episode took about a full month to two months in production, working full-time. Making a movie can really take as much time as a full-time job.

Do you work alone or collaborate with other artists?
I mostly work alone when it comes to writing, filming, editing, etc. I have, however, made one collaborative movie- a fun Christmas themed music video- that was such a joy to work on. We had the participating directors film a scene and I edited them all together. I would like to work on something more serious with other directors someday- something creative and interesting with voiceover work.

What would be your biggest influence in choosing music and themes for your videos?
I know this sounds funny but for the most part, I don't choose the music, the music chooses me. I can say the same about the themes of my movies. I've made quite a few music videos and the music itself was what really inspired each story. I listen to music a lot and I will suddenly have very strong visual scenes in my head and a story eventually forms from that. I actually have a whole list of songs I'd love to make videos for but I can't visualize strong scenes for them. The music inspiring the story even applies to my talkie series "Adventures in Dating". Although I had a general idea of the storyline when formulating it, it was the music that really inspired some of the specific scenes and direction of the storyline.

Of all the machinimas you've created, which do you feel is your favorite and why?
I've done almost nothing but work on my series "Adventures in Dating" for the past three years (16 episodes, ranging from 7-20 minutes each) so that is definitely my favorite work, albeit partly because it's the most recent. I knew when I undertook this in 2005 that it would be a huge, difficult project and I'd have to stay committed to it. I didn't expect it to take three years to make but knew it would be quite a project. I'm proud of sticking to and finishing it. Also, I've had so many amazing people, fellow Sims directors, who generously volunteered their time to act in the series and there is some really professional acting in it. I have a handful of favorite scenes from the series that I absolutely love because of the quality of acting.

Among my music videos, "A Lack of Color," which was my second movie, is my favorite because it's one of my favorite songs and it has great personal meaning to me. I really would like to remake the video today. I do cringe a bit at my earlier work but at the same time know that's a sign of my growth as a director.

As an artist, what are the most important things you take into account to get the feeling of your piece across?
I think that the secret to getting your audience to experience your intended feelings is to feel those feelings yourself when you create. There has to be something that you connect to and understand emotionally about your movie for it to come across to the audience. This doesn't mean that you can only make movies about experiences you've had- it just means that there has to be something about that experience to which you connect. My horror series "The Visitors," for example, is about a woman who is haunted by ghosts. I've never experienced that myself but I thought about all of my visceral fears and used that as a jumping off point for the story. The audience is more sophisticated than I think most people give credit. They can immediately sense when there is something disingenuous in a movie. On the flip side, they can sense when something is genuine. This sounds weird but I absolutely love when someone tells me one of my sad movies made them cry because it means that I connected to them in a real way.

What's the most challenging aspect of making machinima?
The most challenging thing is that you have to limit your imagination to what is possible in machinima. This doesn't mean that you can't push the boundaries and create scenes that don't exist in the game, it's just that you have to modify and sometimes conform to its limits. The only thing that makes this a bit less of a challenge is that I've been making Sims movies for a while so when I think of machinima ideas, I automatically think of it in 'Sims mode' and think right away about what can and cannot be possible with the game. I have to say though that with all the amazing custom content and tools out there along with some creative cinematography and editing, almost any type of scene is possible. Since I've been creating mostly talkies, lip-synching is particularly challenging when I'm working on dramas or going for as much realism as possible. The sims, as you all know, are very animated when they talk and that doesn't work well for serious dialogue. It's quite challenging and frustrating at times to film dialogue, but more so editing that dialogue so that lip-synching is as close a match as possible. It's really forced me to dissect the game and create tools to overcome that.

What are your favorite genres to watch?
As long as the movie is good, I truly enjoy watching movies in any genre. I particularly enjoy comedies because they are so difficult to do but when done well, can really make me laugh and be a joy to watch.

Many people make Machinima from other video games. What do you think is the best/fun feature about making Sims Machinima?
I learned about making machinima from The Sims so it's really all I know. I really love that the game is completely open-ended so there are few restrictions. Building sets, creating characters, etc. are very easy and something anyone can do and if you're not good at it, there are plenty of community created content to download. There are also many game tools and modifications out there, including ones I've created, to make movie making much easier and less time consuming.

Is there a particular genre of Machinima that you hardly touch, but would like to make a few videos? Comedy? Drama? Mystery?
I have been interested in creating in all genres not just because I was curious about the creation process for them but so I'd know of what I was capable. I've tried my hand at horror, comedy and of course my favorite genre drama. I've made series in each of these genres and already have ideas for making more movies for them.

Which do you feel that you need to improve with your machinima making techniques?
I'd love to get a stronger handle on the camera. I feel the camera in Sims 2 is good but limiting. As someone who does invest a lot of time in making movies, along with my desire to make something of quality, I always work to improve everything from writing to cinematography to editing. I think experience is a great teacher so I'm always hoping to continually improve.

What are you looking forward to with The Sims 3 and how it may change the art of Machinima?
I'm looking forward to the improved camera controls and lighting options. I also like how some of the cheats that players have had to make game modifications for are already included in the game. I'm not sure that that Sims 3 will change the art of machinima since it's basically the same game as the Sims 2 but I think that the movies, once players are able to make the same movie making tools/modifications, will be easier to make and visually richer.

Any words of wisdom to any aspiring machinima artists?
I get a lot of emails from aspiring machinima artists who see all the work of seasoned veterans and are worried about embarking on their own projects. They want to make movies but are afraid of falling short compared to the quality movies out there. I think what these aspiring directors need to remember is that some of us have been making machinima for years and that we all started on the bottom. Our first work was certainly not as good as the movies we create today and that growth is part of the machinima making process. Machinima itself is a young art form and peoples' work are always changing and improving. Another piece of advice I have touches on my response to an earlier question. Writers are always told to write what they know. I think the same applies to creating machinima. There should be some aspect of what you create that you identify with or understand. Also, don't be concerned with how many people you get to watch your movies. I think the first movie I made got two responses. Focus instead on improving and producing quality and believe me, the viewers will follow.