Prior to taking this class, I wasn't aware of what machinima as a concept was, however I'd come into contact with it before without even realizing it (e.g. shrek is love and a bunch of other odd ones I can't think to name at the moment). Every time we entered a new section on the syllabus, the possibilities of creation within video games has been opened up to me, but I think I really felt it during the machinima discussion and after watching both Red vs. Blue and RECKONING 3. It sounds obvious to me now, but I can't believe I never truly thought before that video games don't have to be as straightforward as: play the game, win the game, the end.
In both Red vs. Blue and RECKONING 3, it's really fascinating how detaching gameplay from the context of a game, and placing outside audio on top of it (or, like Kent Lambert mentioned in class, audio from people playing the game) can work to create a narrative structure that one may never have thought of in conjunction with those video games. RECKONING 3 obviously uses a lot more source material than Red vs. Blue, but I really like how the latter essentially uses the avatars as vessels for the story, rather than communicating that story with some form of gameplay.
I think even in playing PS2 video games as a kid, my friends and I would use our avatars to create alternate narratives and just mess around with each other in a way that is very reminiscent to me of machinima. Even now, I feel the urge to revisit The Simpsons: Hit & Run (a game in which I liked driving around more than the actual gameplay) and create my own machinima piece (although I can't imagine how incredibly difficult that must be to compile) - because what would it mean to use a television show's reimagining of a video game (GTA) and to then turn that game back into...a show, of sorts? Anyway, I digress. I thought machinima was a really eye-opening topic to learn about and I wish we could've gotten a little more time to spend on it.