Machinima

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /məˈʃɪnɪmə/

Definitions

1. A form of digital filmmaking that uses real-time computer graphics from video games to create animated movies
2. The production of animated videos by capturing and arranging scenes rendered within a video game's environment
3. Creating cinematic presentations by manipulating virtual game worlds to generate animated storytelling

Etymology: Machinima is a blend of "machine" and "cinema," and the joining is the whole story: the word packs two ordinary nouns into one new term for a practice that neither word described on its own. Its meaning is the making of films by recording and directing action inside video game engines, so that the game's virtual world becomes the set, the cast and the camera. The blend tells you what the form is built from. The "machine" half points to the computer and game software that runs the scene, while "cinema" names the storytelling and visual language being borrowed. Put together, the word describes animated filmmaking produced with machinery rather than with a traditional animation studio, a pairing that fits how much of the form was developed by players rather than by professional animators.