Mods och Machinima and Interactive Fiction

Male Restroom Etiquette by Overman at Zarathustra Studios won the 2006 Machinima Award for best writing presented by the Museum of the Moving Image in New York on November 5 and 6. It is a clever parody in the style of 1950's sex education films, which discusses how men should behave in public toilets if "the fabric of civilization is to be maintained". It was made using a Sims2 game engine and - oh I'm sorry, maybe you don't know what Machinima is, well in that case you should come along to a short course next Thursday from 13:15-16:00 in HUMlab where Machinima will be discussed, viewed, theorised and even created (a very short segment anyway). The course is titled Mods och Machinima and Interactive Fiction and we will be looking at how tweaking and changing of such digital objects as computer games can result in stories emerging. While interactive fiction is a huge area, in this course we will be pinning it down with the concept of modding; "the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software to perform a function not intended by someone with legal rights concerning that modification" (Wikipedia). Perhaps there is no more "interactive" a fiction than that which is a product of modding, as the fiction is created through a regime of complete interaction with the materials used; code, images, sounds, visuals and even lighting and Point of View. Yours truly, Jim Barrett and Stefan Blomberg will be leading the course in a delightful mixture of Swedish and English.
If you would like to sign up for this course write to: anmal@humlab.umu.se
More information on HUMlab short course can be found HERE (In Swedish).