Word-validation of terms « machine » and « cinema », Machinima defines all audiovisual productions made inside a 3D engine, most often that of a video game. Since the release of the first machinima in 1996, the genre has remained very confidential. Generally, it is short formats that tell stories within the game universe that house them. Knits Island completely free from these peculiarities. Feature documentary offers a particular experience on an unknown island, floating in an unknown sea, beaten by anonymous winds. In this isolated space where everyone creates his character and his stories, we follow three young documentaries who survey this digital world to meet those who make him live: the players who populate him.
Invisivize the game
From the outset, the film makes a strong aesthetic choice. Propose only captured images within the video game. The native vision of the first person player is used as a camera. With their lot of imperfections and sizzling, the sound recordings come from the players' microphones. If this raw material can first throw away those who are not familiar with X art, we get used to it very quickly. Every effort is made not to give the sensation of attending a game, such as the suppression of ATH and the occultation of gameplay mechanics. Relevant choices that allow both to be faithful to the subject, to forget the curiosity of the process and to reinforce the film aspect of the feature film.
With this naturalistic system, a new form of cinema-truth which follows the rules of this other real, that of the environment of the game. A paradigm that is particularly well based on the dreamlike and contemplative aspect of the film, which alternates between the discovery of landscapes that extend as far as possible and generous conversations, ranging from the interview to the most trivial banalities. While some scenes can drag in length, they are justified by the need to be constantly anti-spectacular to detach themselves to the maximum from the classic image of the video game.
Peel onion
If the image is stripped of all its video-based fireworks, it is also the case in the very construction of the documentary. The directors thus remove one by one the barriers that separate them from the other players. Thanks to the chronological unfolding of the film, they gradually become closer to their subject and reach the heart of their target. As they begin by interviewing a group that will never leave its role, they will end their journey by discussing with the players their occupations far from the screen and the game.
To obtain these more intimate exchanges, the aspects of non-communicative gambling are gradually disappearing. One of the best examples is firearms. A central element of the original game, they are heard to resonate in the distance during one of the first sequences. A few minutes later, the cameraman will be coldly shot by another player. This will never again be the case. The documentary thus presents their presence from the beginning of the game and in a frontal way, before making a 180 degree turn to mean that the subject of the film is elsewhere.
Revising the Human
Because the heart of the project is the players behind the avatars. Fascinated by the possibility of observing and not playing, Guilhem Causse, Ekiem Barbier and Quentin L-Helgoualc-h, the trio behind the realization, know both to ask the right questions and to be attentive ears for their interlocutors. The discussions that emerge from it work perfectly. A master's degree that was already present in their first short film, Marlowe Drive, released in 2017 and using the engine GTA V. As the encounters progressed, the documentary showed careful construction and the important work of reflection on it. It is a sharp proposal on how not to make a film about the video game, but using it. Undoubtedly, they allow vast territories filled with potential still little explored by cinema. We can only look forward to seeing what this small team will have to offer us in the future, so much the experience of Knits Island was striking.
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