Photo by Zoey Zuko
SIFF returns again in the Fall - September We have a few important announcements inside this issue so look for the SIFF Buzz section to see 2nd and 3rd place Masters and voice actors revealed as well as info to help you prepare for our 12th season. We hope to see you there!
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Letter from the editor Our monthly themes bring out new creativity every issue, and this theme brought some fun surprises in the form of machinima, set design inspirations, a lot/build and character creation so don’t miss what our contributors have shared with us. This issue is a bit smaller than usual as we take a bit of a breather after the busy months of SIFF, but we have some fun stuff in store for next issue so be sure to check out our next theme and join in on the fun. We would love to see more Sims 2 players getting in the action too so don’t be shy. The Sims 4 is coming of age, with more and more CC by the minute. Sylent Whysper shows us how to push the limits and create a set design that defies the current offerings of The Sims 4 worlds by composing an illusion of a cityscape. Don’t miss this! Remember, this magazine is about showcasing your talents so don’t be afraid to share your work or to lead us to the work of others so that we can feature more great talented simmers each month. Assistant Editor Contributing Editors and Freelancers
Jorgha Haq
Sylent Whysper
Gus Rockman
TenderWolf
This month’s theme was inspired by Mad Max (some of us were around for the original movie) and our love for the gritty and grungy and edgy side of the Sims. We were given the suggestion by our long-time friend Nanami this time around. Post Apocalypse themes are seen all over our communities with loads of available CC to transform your pretty Sims worlds into something a bit more scary. For some, the theme means zombies, for others it may mean the human race surviving nuclear fallout so keep flipping the pages to see what our contributors have in store for our dystopian future.
Photo by Jorgha Haq
Join us for next month’s theme
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STILL a short machinima for this month’s theme It is so exciting to have some machinima to share for this month’s theme. This is the first of two that were entered. I hope you will all agree that Maddi did a great job convincing us that this theme can be pulled off in The Sims 4, even though the worlds we currently have are far from post-apocalyptic looking. She did an excellent job with the set design and filter to create the effect of a dystopian future.
Watch this machinima short by MaddiSims HERE on Youtube
Kiss After The Storm by Sims Berrry
Zoey Zuko caught on to the theme quite litterally with one of our favourite films. Just in time for the release of the newest addition to the Mad Max series of films - Fury Road. This one is a classic for those of us old enough to remember it. If you see Fury Road and love it, you must go back and watch the older classics that started it all. Thanks Zoey - these are great!
By Sylent Whysper
ALIVE a machinima short by Sushi Cat Series We always hope to see some machinima submissions for our themes, but sadly we don’t get too many. This time we had two, so this is the second for this month’s theme. Thank you SushiCat for joining in with your short machinima.
Watch it HERE on YouTube
By Jorgha Haq
Above - Designing for the future, because even after the apocalypse we need to be fashion conscious.
Below - Zombified - an old shot from a photo challenge
Above - Ready for action - our protector
Below - When all else is dead, you will still get your icecream on a hot day. A determined ice cream truck driver always delivers. By Minraed
A HUGE thank you to Tinkerbelch for contributing this awesome lot. I don’t think we have had a lot submitted for a theme before this. Find this lot in the Sims Gallery Her Origin ID is Tinkerbelch26
Here is the CC list of things you need to have in order to get the build to look as it does in the pictures. Clutter: Ajoya-sims (Food Clutter all that is in that section, Medications ) budgie2budgie (jam jars, Sugar, light-up wall stickers, dinner cans, soup cans,fruit cans) Tukete (posters) Walls: Underground Sims Raize-On Floors: Peacemaker-ic Granny Zaza @ The Sims Models Other: Rugs Furniture OK! I do believe that is everything that I used, aside from anything from lina-cherie, I used some stuff from her kitchen clutter but it has been taken down for whatever reason, and I do not feel comfortable posting it up myself so yeah. Anyway let me know if you have any issues with the lot!
THE END IS HERE! You could be safe &sound (mostly) with friends & family in this nicely enclosed trailer home! So come on out and claim it for yourself! (if you dare) and fight to survive the apocalypse in style!
Photo by Demeter
Left 4 Dead and Brains By Tenderwolf
By Tenderwolf
By Leticia Phiri
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By Jorgha Haq
Click HERE to get details
Get more info HERE
Inspired by The Walking Dead this prison lot will make a great set design stage. Open spaces and big rooms should make for easy camera movement and there are so many great spaces and themes both inside and out making this an exciting multi-purpose film set. DOWNLOAD IT HERE
Samantha Copeland - a treasure hunter and eager explorer. She's very curious and likes to find ancient artifacts and relics in lost places.
DNL films has always blown us away with amazing set designs, but for this issue’s theme our attention was drawn to these recent Sim actor / characters that we felt fit into our Post Apocalypse Dystopian Future idea. Meet the rest of the characters by following DNL on social media, and by watching Unbreakable Fate.
Hunter Mason - an eccentric orphan girl and weapons expert living in an old warehouse in Africa along with her friend Nigel.
Mark Wallace - a mysterious friend of Hunter and Nigel who has been kept prisoner in the Umbra corporation, Bridget's company.
Nigel Lawrence - a very strong man and mechanic living in the old warehouse in Africa along with his friend Hunter.
ECXIA by Sylent Whysper
The Sims 4 worlds are beautiful in their own way, but many like Sylent have been yearning for something with a bit more of an edge so she was inspired to create this massive and ambitious set design.
ECXIA is not currently available for download as it is still a work in progress and as it would be a massive undertaking to list all of the CC included, but this fabulous overhead shot will hopefully be an inspiration for your own urban “city�. Follow sylentwhysper.tumblr.com for future updates.
Small apartments and lofts, shops and bars line the streets in the warehouse district. Where another area, Main Street, has big buildings, boutiques, bookstores and luxury apartments.
A teeny tiny apartment on Carlyss Street.
Warehouses, factory and alleyways would make for some great scenes.
A little corner of the gated area of the scrap yard
Do you wish you were here in our Simspiration Showcase? You can be! At Simatography Magazine we are a small staff so it is impossible to keep up with all of the amazing stuff that all of you are doing. Simatography Magazine is a COMMUNITY magazine. One of our goals is to share and show off everyone’s talents. That means YOU! Just because we didn’t discover you on your own doesn’t mean that you are not worth showing off. Each month we have a different theme. You don’t have to create something new for this. If you have a SIMSPIRATION-worthy project; a machinima, a build or anything else that you can think of that will inspire film makers, story tellers and photographers then don’t be shy. Let us know so that we can be SIMSPIRED !
Next is
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This month Gus and I interview OMG! That Girl is Psycho, a true Master of the horror Genre. Spring 2015 marked her 6th season participating in SIFF with the film Tangled Wires. Previous Entries: The 6th Born, Circles, Scarecrowe, Nightmares and Lullabies, and Lilly, She Whispers. All of her films can be found on her YouTube Channel.
Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. It’s an honour to be able to talk to you. The honour's all mine. First and foremost, how did you get started in machinima and how long have you been doing it? I first started making machinimas about three years ago after my sister, ApocalypticDogFilms, had first discovered SIFF. I think it was SIFF Spring of 2012. At that point I had never made a machinima but it sounded like fun so I just jumped right in. I was so green and for some odd reason I didn't watch any tutorials or even a machinima before I started and it definitely showed. But I had so much fun that I couldn't wait until the next SIFF cycle. And I have been participating in SIFF ever since.
Why did you specifically pick horror machinima to specialize in, as it were? I actually never intentionally picked horror. My whole thought process was just to create the stories that I wanted to tell. And I think that my love for darker themes was just such a natural fit for horror machinimas. Someone on Tumblr actually stated a while back that horror and sci-fi machinima were hard to do and that is why *no one* did it. I ended up getting into an argument with them about it. Gus and I had a lengthy discussion about and part of my argument was “But Tali does it!� Anyway, do you find it particularly hard to do horror machinima? What is the most challenging aspect of it? I don't really find that it's any harder but I do think that it can be much more time consuming, especially if you're making monsters or designing sets. You do have to spend a lot of time scouring the internet for good cc and custom animations which can be hard to find. Thankfully there are so many great cc creators out there who allow you to create that great horror setting or characters.
Where do you draw your inspiration from? I draw my inspiration from two things, video games and music. Almost all of my machinimas are born from a song. It's not just the lyrics that inspire me, sometimes it's more the tone or ambience of the song. When I hear a song that truly speaks to me I will create a short machinima in my head to that song. For me the music really drives the creative process and as my idea outgrows that song I will continuously add more songs until my story is complete. As far as overall inspiration it would definitely come from video games. Games are so intricate and have to do so much from music, to storytelling, to editing. There are just so many layers and I really try to incorporate that sense of diversity into my machinimas. I really want it to be a complete experience for the viewers. What is your workload like? How long does it take you to complete a machinima from start to finish? After I get the initial idea I will work on creating the story off and on for about three to four months. All completely in my head, mostly because I'm lazy. The making of the machinima itself takes me about two and a half months of pretty much working nonstop. That includes creating sets/characters, filming, making animations, and editing. For spring SIFF as
soon as January hits it's go time. Each of your films is very distinct. How do you achieve that? I think that comes from my own personal preference. When I watch a movie, play a video game, or am listening to a new album I want to feel like I'm experiencing it for the first time, and because of that I really try to create a new experience for not only the viewer but for myself. Plus, when I'm done making one of my machinimas I'm usually so sick of it that I can't wait to start working on something new. It also helps that I haven't run out of ideas yet.
What is your favorite film of yours that you have done so far and why? My favorite film I have done is Circles and it's my favorite because the story was told solely through the sims and music. I think sometimes you can forget just how many different ways you can tell a story. For me, dialogue and narration is one of my weaker attributes as a machinima maker and because of that I've always tried to make sure that if you were to watch my film on mute that you could still see the story unfold. So then when I do use dialogue or narration it will enhance the
story but not necessarily tell the story. I think Circles really helped me grasp that concept and in a weird way I think it has made me better at narration and dialogue. Correct us if we are wrong here‌Gus seems to recall reading somewhere that you were related in some way to Apocalyptic Dog Films. How does that relate to your film making? Do you two bounce ideas off each other, do you inspire each other, etc? Yes, ApocalpticDogFilms is my little sister. It was great because we both started making machinimas at the same time so we got to grow as machinima makers together. I definitely don't think I would have progressed as much as I have if it wasn't for that friendly competition. ApocalypticDogFilm's films are absolutely amazing so that continuously pushes me to step up my game just to keep pace. I think she would argue the same point about my films. But the thing that I love most is that our films and filming styles are so different, we never try to be each other. It's also great to always have someone to share your ideas with or ask for opinions. What is your experience with voice actors? Do you find it difficult communicating what you need? I have had a great experience thus far with voice actors. I've been lucky and have only had one voice actor drop out on me. As far as communicating what I need from them I pretty much just give them a general description of what I want for that role or line and then if they need more direction they just simply ask.
How do you go about finding them? Early on I would do auditions and I always got a good response. It's great because then you have more options and you can pick the one that you feel fits the role best. More recently I've just started asking or scouting people especially when it comes to finding male voice actors which can be much harder to find. Sometimes you just have to ask because not all voice actors are aware of auditions.
Do you have any recommendations/advice for new machinima makers? Never be intimidated by other machinima makers, be inspired. Very few of us are great right away. I know I wasn't. It took me a long time to truly grasp all the different elements that go into making a great machinima. It's important to recognize that everybody progresses at different rates and I think that as long as you strive to get better with each machinima eventually you'll get there. And when you get there keep going because you can always learn more. Thank you for interviewing me. If it wasn't for Simatography and SIFF I honestly don't think that I would have ever gotten into making machinimas.
The BUZZ returns SIFF. In the meantim prepare for what
in July to keep you informed about all things me, check out the next few pages to help you we have in store for you during THE one and only SIMS film festival.
Off-Season Updates Whenever I want to say something with a more serious tone, I like to step up as my real life self and not hide behind Minraed. I made a mistake this past SIFF, or rather an error in judgement. I am going to admit it because I feel that I may have disappointed or hurt some people because of it. Our SIFF film makers work very hard to follow all of the rules and steps involved to get their films seen at SIFF and I didn’t follow through on my end when it came to the Masters’ awards. In the past we always had 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards, but this year since I split it up into short and long format for the Masters I made a quick, last minute decision to only award the 1st place winners in each category. I didn’t put much thought into the decision, I was rushing to get things done. So for that I apologize. Here we have it - the 2nd and 3rd place viewer’s choice in Masters short and long categories.
Watch for our June magazine release for a full SIFF season 12 update - that is SIFF Fall 2015. We are reworking the rules documents to make them easier with less to read and more direct information, and we are reviewing the processes that need some more fine tuning. We will keep you all up to date so that you can prepare for your next big SIFF project success! See you soon at SIFF
Best of the Masters Viewer’s Choice
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get it here
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get it here Discovered and shared by Sylent Whysper
by S-Club get it here
by Sims4Nexus get it here
by Karzalee get it here
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