Machinima
1. Machinima is the practice of making movie documents using videogames.
2. Machinima began with the Quake engines and the used the still existant 'demo' file format to record battles.
3. Machinima usually employs 'in-game actors' and camera operators, that use themselves or cameras in the scene as viewpoints.
4. Some games have started to ship with tools to help the making of Machinima ('Doom3' and 'The Movies' are examples).
5. Content is usually captured out to a video camera or saved in the 'demo' file format.
6. Machinima has grown quickly. Now an established art-form in itself with several film festivals supporting the medium.
Trends in Machinima:
Music Videos / Choreography
Anomalies of gameplay
Experiments in virtual being
Comedy
Historical re-enactments
Appropriations of TV shows and films.
Examples: