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| Interview with PaulMarino |
Interviewed Paul Marino (ILL Clan)
Author's name: Relix
Website: Relix's Site
Relix : Can you give us a little background about yourself and the rest of your team?
Marino : Sure. I'm the Paul Marino (aka ILL Robinson and I lead The ILL Clan , heading up the group's focus & mission as well as directing/creating the majority of the design work. My experience includes doing animation & special effects for television (winning an Emmy for my work) as well as heading up art departments for various web-based businesses over the last 4 years. I also directed our second film, Hardly Workin', which was the winner of last year's Showtime Network's Alternative Media Festival as well as winner of Best Animation in this year's Pixxelpoint Computer Arts Festival. Besides myself, The ILL Clan is: Frank Dellario (aka ILL Bixby - director of photography, project manager, assistant director), John Clavis (aka ILL Rogers - Lead writer, improviser, voice talent & musician), Manu Smith (aka ILL Smith - Sound design; music direction & musician; editing; puppeteering), Paul Jannicola (ILL Spector - Improviser, voice talent; musician) & Matt Dominianni (aka ILL Clinton - Improviser, voice talent, storyboards, character & texture design, director of "Apartment Huntin'" - currently on leave of absence).
Relix : What was your first project?
Marino : Apartment Huntin' was our first project & directed by Matt Dominianni (ILL Clinton). It was a proof of concept piece for us, allowing us to bring our filmmaking backgrounds (Dellario, Dominianni & myself are film school alumni), improvisation talents & love of gaming together to produce something entertaining - particularly using a game in a way that was never it's original intent. We received a lot of positive feedback for the short & to this day is the one of the only officially sanctioned machinima films by id Software (and can be found on Wired's Animation Express).
Relix : What prompted you in starting your movie making?
Marino : Well, as I said, three of us were filmmakers in our college days, so there was a natural gravitation to creating a movie already in place. We had aspirations to create a mod but filmmaking talents aside, none of us were straight-up programmers. From the machinima side, it was upon seeing Operation Bayshield. That made us take notice of what we could do with the Classic Quake engine (and wasn't a mod) & how to apply our filmmaking skills to it. The rest, as the cliche goes, is history.
Relix : Can you indulge us with any particular technique for creating a great movie?
Marino : There arent any real sure-fire recipes for great filmmaking, but there are certain approaches that will help get there faster. One in specific is making sure you have good story "arc". This basically implies that your story has an arc of narrative - story begins slowly & starts to become more involved, a conflict is identified, the conflict is addressed & resolved. That "arc" should serve as a good template for general story-telling. We also use another technique that isn't appropriate for every production, but helps with our own. It's a process the old Warner Bros. animators used called "creating business". This is essentially developing individual scenes that tie together a short with a common thread. Case in point, the Roadrunner vs. Wile E. Coyote series of animations. The overall theme is Wile E. trying to finally catch the RoadRunner, but it's fleshed out with all these little scenes that usually have a very similiar outcome. These scenes are pieced together for an overall structure to create a completed short. Again, this approach isn't appropriate for all instances, but works well for us.
Relix : Exactly how many movies have been made to date, and which is your favorite?
Marino : We've made two full length shorts so far, Apartment Huntin' (Classic Quake) & Hardly Workin' (Quake II). We also have some smaller pieces such as The Grind-o-matic commercial (which is actually a pulled segment from Hardly Workin') as well as a small improvised scene called "Sorry, Mrs. Ioco". My personal fave is, of course, Hardly Workin'. While I feel Apartment Huntin' is the funnier of the two, Hardly Workin' holds a special place with me as I directed the film, developed about 90% of all the custom assets as well as art directed all the visual components.
Relix : When creating a new movie, what determines your goal for the movie?
Marino : There's a somewhat democratic approach to this as we usually bounce around ideas within the group to determine the overall arc of a film & what audience we're trying to reach. Depending on intent of the film (dramatic, comedic, etc.), this will weigh heavily on what the film's goals are. And that's from the creative standpoint. There are other goals for a film - some of which are purely business based (are we looking to present this to anyone? Do we want to enter this into festivals?). All these facets are considered when developing a new project.
Relix : Is there anything currently in the works?
Marino : Yes, there is. In fact, we are in pre-production on the next series of machinima shorts - looking to enter the production phase within the next month or so. Naturally because we're just getting involved with this, there's very little to show, but hopefully as the year wears on, there will be more. We're also looking to pitch the work to several broadcast networks we've been in contact with so there's a chance for a wider audience for our films. On another note, I've been selected as a participant for Weblab's Crossover workshop - a week-long studio that involves such notable filmmakers as David Lynch & John Cameron Mitchell. My being selected has largely to do with my machinima work and I'm very excited about presenting it to someone as famous as David Lynch.
Scott O'Dell - a.k.a. "Relix"
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