Machinima

What is it? I just learned about it the other day. It's basically "machine cinema" or "machine animation" according to our friends at Wikipedia. Machinima is making movies from 3-D gaming platforms like Second Life. You set up a scene with all the appropriate characters and backdrops and then say, "Lights, Screen Capture Software, Action!" and away you go.

Can this be used in education? It already is. Here's a machinima production of the Dred Scott Case, where they mix action from Second Life with photos and Google Earth.

I'm not sure what the production time would be for this but it definitely looks fun to explore.  Here are a guide and tips for making Machinima in Second Life.

I learned about this technology from the blog Liberal Education Today - a GREAT blog!