摘要: | Combining visual game scenes, actions and narrative, Machinima, a by-product of the digital game, has been seen as a storytelling form of artistic expression and creation. Machinima means animated films made by machines. Specifically, Machinima is an art form involving videos created by using cinematic production techniques within computer software, usually games. Machinima differs from conventional computer graphic techniques because it allows creating films in real-time. Thus Machinima can be understood as either the method of making animation through 3D game technology or the animations made through the method.In this research project, we planned and conducted a course called “Game Arts” at the University of Taipei. Eighteen non-arts majors were recruited and encouraged to use the video game The Sims 3 (TS3) to tell a story. At the end of the class, they were asked to present their animated story and then discuss it with classmates. Through class observation, a class survey, group discussions, and collection of students’ personal artifacts (including their story script, sketches, charters, and animations), we gathered both qualitative and quantitative data. Most students enjoyed using TS3 to visualize and present their ideas, and indicated a desire to create more Machinima in the future for telling and sharing stories. Moreover, making Machinima not only provided non-arts majors with a convenient tool through which to express and visualize their stories, but the Machinima process itself offered them a distinctive opportunity to discover and rethink meanings revealed in their stories. |