100 themes showcase
Photo by Dice Smith - Celebrating Dogs’ Birthdays
Since there is no SIFF Buzz this week or next (the final issue for the season will be the BIG BUZZ at the end of the festival) we have added a little bit of a nibble of SIFF updates. The films are on and voting is open so we don’t want to distract you too much from the machinima watching fun. Watch for the BIG BUZZ mid April, after the polls close
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Letter from the editor We are on a tight schedule this week with SIFF films opening, viewer’s choice polls going live and with the staff going on machinima watching marathons to make sure we get to see them all. But despite this, we wanted to keep on schedule with our new monthly magazine so that we can continue to showcase and feature the talented community members who are doing things other than SIFF. There is more to Simatography life than SIFF afterall. This little issue is packed full of community features and showcases from a variety of talents. Next month Simatography magazine will take a break, but we will be back again in May so keep your eye on us on issuu, enjoy what SIFF has to offer and we will see you again in May! Assistant Editors
Jorgha Haq Contributing Editors and Freelancers
PeacemakerIC
Sylent Whysper
Lunxi Weis
TenderWolf
With so much going on with SIFF, and so many serious projects going on we decided to do something completely weird and fun and crazy, so we decided on Wacky Holidays. Around the world there are all kind of crazy non-traditional and not well known and sometimes bizarre holidays and celebrations so let’s see what our members are celebrating this month . . .
Photo by TenderWolf
Next Theme - May
Post Apocalypse Our next issue was a suggestion from Nanami. Post Apocalypse, zombies and walking dead inspirations, neo=military futuristic and many other interpretations of this concept are seen in so many of our communitie’s machinimas so we are dedicating an entire issue to the genre. Join us later in April when we kick this off for our May magazine. DETAILS will be shared soon
National Joe Day is a chance to change your name, if only for today. Many people do not like their given name. They wish they could change it. A few actually do. On National Joe Day, it is perfectly okay to have everyone call your "Joe". Why Joe, and not Bob or Mike or Radcliffe? Simply, because everyone likes the name Joe. If you are called Joe today, we know that you're "Joe cool"! Misty4m
International Goof Off Day Simsapience
Above - World Story-Telling Day Below - Lips Appreciation Day
by Simsapience
By Tenderwolf
By Tenderwolf
National Salesperson Day is established to recognize the value of the truely professional salesperson. This day also recognizes the hard work performed by professional sales people. Misty4m
By GemBobMarley - Gemsims
Goddess of Fertility Day is today. It celebrates Aphrodite and other gods and goddesses of fertility. In ancient times, many cultures had multiple gods and goddesses. Each one represented various aspects of life. The ancient Greek goddess Aphrodite was by far the most well known goddess of fertility. People would pray and make offerings to Aphrodite when seeking to create a family. Misty4m
By SylentWhysper
For my wacky holiday I present a doggy birthday party! :lol: A lot of people tell me I'm wacky for celebrating my dog's birthday every year so I figured this was quite fitting! By Dice Smith featuring Kodi (by now Kodi could be the SIFF mascot)
Join us for our next monthly theme
Post - Apocalypse Neo-Military Futuristic Honestly, we don’t know exactly what we will call it yet, but you get the idea. Since there will be no Simatography monthly magazine in April this will be the theme for May. Details will be available soon. In the meantime, watch for the SIFF BIG BUZZ in April as we wrap up this season’s festival.
See Issue 10 for Minraed’s latest reviews. It is an honour to have been asked to join the Smag team as a contributor for a new section featuring machinima. I will be there representing SIFF and Simatography as well as all of you, the machinima makers that inspire us. My first appearance was in the most recent issue, click the cover below to read it. I will be writing about machinima so there will be reviews, SIFF updates, and various other features depending on what catches my eye around the time that the magazines are due to be released. I should also mention that smag is a very well put together magazine, visually stunning with a variety of features and community showcases including builds and interior design. Be sure to check it out. In this issue I showcase 3 different examples of machinima made in The Sims 4 including a film with stunning cinematography, a music video that will make you chuckle and a full length feature series.
Visit SimDoughnut on tumbr for all of his great builds!
Enjoy this special issue, magazine. We hop celebrations while Don’t forget to watch t
, tucked inside this month’s awesome monthly pe you are enjoying all the WACKY HOLIDAY watching the HUGE collection of SIFF films. them all and vote for your faves by April 11th
What’s Hot at SimsVIP Alexis from SimsVIP attended a community insider event at EA so she has all of the most up-to-date information on the topic that is on every Simmer’s mind…
Everything you could ever need to know is available on the website at http://simsvip.com/category/the-sims-4-get-to-work/
And be sure to check out the MEGA POST with links for all of the news that the various representatives have shared with us.
It has been an awesome season and an honour to review the films and to interview so many great machinima makers. I hope you all enjoyed getting to know them. Some of our film makers were missed out due to not having enough time. Next season we are going to try to come up with a plan to make it easier for everyone to get involved. Also, since we now have this monthly magazine, we will always be looking for interesting ways to feature, showcase, interview and otherwise promote the film makers of SIFF and our community.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
JAMES TURNER
INTERVIEW BY SYLENTWHYSPER
Seriously, James Turner needs no introductions. This Youtube enthusiast and long time Sims fan is multi-talented, passionate and an inspiration in the Sims community. Maintaining several Youtube channels require constant motivation and James does it with ease and with success. It is a pleasure and an honor to interview him.
Thank you! It may seem odd, or even overwhelming as to why I have three channels, two of which are full fledged ones in their own rights. The Sim Supply, as I’m sure you can tell by the name is all about The Sims franchise. From time to time I branch off into other related games from Maxis (SPORE and SimCity). As this entire channel is dedicated to one franchise, I try my best to cover all aspects of it from live mode to build mode, from tutorials to news. My other large channel, Flabaliki, is essentially a gaming channel much like The Sim Supply, however it is about any and all games I hold interests in. There is a heavy focus on tycoon and simulation games as those are some of the games
I love to play the most, so naturally my content gravitates toward that. The last channel, James Turner, simply named after myself, is the place I will post other random videos that simply don’t fit the audiences of the other two. It’s much more a channel for fans of me, rather than fans of the games I play. I will post vlogs, and sometimes an extra game series on there. These three channels more or less occurred organically. I never set out thinking, “Hey, three channels will be a good idea!” It fell into place that way. The Sim Supply used to be a website I ran with a group of others. We progressed into making videos and posting them on YouTube. In the meantime, I had a channel of my own, Flabaliki, where I would post only my own content. Once The Sim Supply died down a little, I took over it completely and it became my default place to post Sims content. As such, the two channels grew independently of each other for a long time. Recently I’ve been wanting to branch out a little more with vlogs and tech videos, as such I created my third channel. Long story short, they all started for a different reason and cater to different audiences.
I try my best to post videos everyday on The Sim Supply and Flabaliki, however this is not always the case and I’ll occasionally miss a day due to a busy schedule. Speaking of schedules, I have never been one to stick to a strict schedule on my channels. I create content based on how I am feeling that day. Usually, if I have a few series running I will try and keep new parts coming up regularly, every week or so. The only time I will set myself a strict schedule and not deviate from it at all is when I will go away, be it on holiday or business. I make sure
music video style machinimas. I believe the first one I made was to D’yer Maker by Led Zeppelin, odd choice for a 10 year old yes, it was my Dad’s music library. This was posted on a website called Sims99, and I don’t believe it really got any comments, or at least, I can’t remember. I know it most certainly wasn’t an instant hit.
My most viewed series would definitely be my house builds in The Sims 3 and 4. I think people love to get some new ideas for their own creations, and that’s exactly what these builds aim to do. I create a house or community lot from scratch and try to make them all a little bit different and present a new way you could design a room or present an interesting architectural idea. I often get comments from people saying that these videos have helped them to create their own interesting builds too!
It is honestly such a passion of mine, it’s a hobby that I have the privilege of enjoying daily. A lot of the motivation comes from the viewers, the commentators, the tweets, etc. The feedback definitely drives the direction of my content and gives me new ideas. Without the audience and support I’ve received from the awesome community, it’d be really hard to sink so much time into this. Even if it’s just one comment, or one suggestion, it is so important.
that viewers wouldn’t even know I’m not there.
This is an interesting one. I’ve been creating Sims videos since 2004. I was 10 years old at the time, and had just discovered that The Sims 2 had a “cameraman mode”. I used this to create some
Live streaming just seems like a natural extension for YouTubers. I started doing it just because it seemed new, fun and exciting. There is a huge difference to regular YouTube videos. Live streaming you get instant feedback on what you’re doing. When recording a regular video, you go about your business for 30 or so minutes and can’t take any input. It’s especially helpful when building a house for example, the minds of the many are greater than the minds of the few! I’d never be able to come up with some of the ideas that viewers suggest.
You can’t please everyone, so do not try to. This is super important and applies all throughout your life. Not one video I’ve ever made has had 100% positive response, someone will always have a different view, or opinion. After understanding that, you must also be able to spot the difference between constructive criticism and a “hater”. Criticism is extremely important to how you develop your content. On the other hand, a “hater” is someone who simply exclaims that you or your content are worthless with no explanation. These you must ignore, do your best to not let them get to you. Once I got past caring about what they were saying, it made my personal experience a lot more enjoyable.
It’s unbelievable. I have had the amazing privilege of visiting the place where they make the game I love so much. I can’t express how grateful I am to all of those dedicated fans that I have and the support they have provided throughout the years, without them, none of that would have been possible. It’s kind of scary that The Sims team think of me as someone who should have some form of input on the game. Every time I visit, I make sure that I have some important feedback I want to relay, either from myself or my audience. Being able to converse with the SimGuru’s face to face is really helpful in getting the communities feedback
I have been contemplating this for a while! I’ll definitely have to give it a shot.
Be prepared to work for it, and work hard for it. Sure there are some individuals that can hit it big overnight, however, the vast majority of the big guys out there have spent years developing their content, style and their demeanor. Personally, I’ve been creating and posting videos publicly for 6 years on YouTube. Prior to that for 5 years I was creating little machinimas and tutorials and posting them on other sites. If this is not something you genuinely enjoy doing, then this is not for you. Managing and maintaining a large channel is a lot of work, contrary to what people who have never tried it believe. Not to mention, my other two channels. Don’t get me wrong, this is the best job I’ve ever had, but like any job, if you’re not dedicated it’s not going to help you move forward.
across. .
I definitely have some interesting collaborations in mind for the future, so keep an eye out for those! I also have some fun ideas for Let’s Plays in the upcoming Get To Work expansion pack, and will most certainly be building my own hospital and police stations in it! Plenty of content to come and lots of new ideas!
You’re more than welcome! Specifically relating to YouTube, don’t be afraid to be yourself, take on board feedback, ignore the blind hate and make sure to do something you love! Even if you don’t hit it big, as long as you are doing something you love you’ll have an absolute blast.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT JAMES TURNER AND FOLLOW HIM AT THE FOLLOWING SITES THE SIM SUPPLY (official website) THE SIM SUPPLY (youtube) FLABALIKI (youtube) JAMES TURNER (youtube) TWITTER FACEBOOK
One of the most important things a filmmaker must decide before proceeding with a machinima is the genre. There are so many choices out there, and so many unique ways to bring them all to life. Here, some inspiration for a few of the lesserrecognized, but still popular, genres, be they actual characters from another world or a Sim that just happens to be a fan of a particular theme to tie it all together.
Sometimes, sty have to go h Surviving som apocalypse an dystopian world time. Look good survivors (you repopulate so make sure yo clothes that are to run fast in or hungry zombies
It doesn’t aliens. Somet is indicative o wearing. May geek who h creature from maybe an oth that much diff from their cho
yle and comfort hand in hand. me sort of nd living in a d is one such d to attract fellow may have to omeday!), but ou’re wearing comfy enough rder to escape s!
t always have to be times, science fiction of the clothes one is ybe your Sim is a sci-fi hopes to meet a m another planet. Or her-worldly being isn’t fferent from us, apart oice of dress and hair.
For a classic 1920s-sty whodunnit, one must look t part! Dress your detective up a classy, all-business pinstri suit and matching hat, wh your femme fatale is litera dressed to kill as she dons elegant evening gown a hides her deadly nature behi a pretty face.
Western feature arrows a duke it shelter days. A easily be sporting Step into walkin’ plaid sh look! Sp splashe the wes it can al
yle the p in ipe hile ally an and ind
ns don’t always have to blazing guns and as cowboys and Indians t out over food and in horse and wagon A western can just as e modern-day cow folk g simple country styles. o your boots made for and add a hat with a hirt and you’ve got the pice it up with bright es of color to show that st was indeed won, but lso be fun!
Meet Sylent Whysper
Character Study Putting your Sims in the spotlight Who is Sylentwhysper? Where did she begin? Sylentwhysper, the avatar, debuted in 2010 when I made my first entry into SIFF with the movie, "The Lonely One." She was created simply because I needed a face to represent my work as a machinima director. As a new contributor to SIFF and first time to join any Sims community, I was anxious and held certain reservations. As a reflection of me, my avatar was introduced as a reclusive writer/director who only ventured out at night. Her very first story was posted at Simatography where she was running around Sunset Valley in the night avoiding paparazzi as they tried to snap photos of her. Even to me, she began as a mysterious creature.
Is there meaning to the name? How did you come up with it? Thought forms are the essential building blocks of the imagination. Thoughts are not audible in the real world but they are constant whispers in the creative mind. They are silent whispers echoing across the elusive reality and non-reality of the imagination. Therefore, the name Sylentwhysper was the result of such musings. Created as an artist's name, the handle was used for many years across art sites and drawing sites before I dedicated it to my simming persona.
Does Sylentwhysper have a backstory? Sylentwhysper's traits included Friendly, Loner and Perfectionist - aspects of my real self. In the beginning, her Loner trait played a big part in her story. She started off really reserved and aloof. She didn't like people or crowds and only explored outside of her house during night time to minimize the odds of meeting people. She didn't even show up on the Red Carpet for her first movie event which won an award. But her Friendly trait eventually helped her make friends which got her more involved in the community. She has guest starred in a few ads and stories.
Sylent Whysper 2011 above 2012 right 2014 below
How has she changed over the years and what is her most significant transition? My avatar certainly changed over the years as I learned and became more confident of my work. There were two major transitions. After my first success at SIFF, I learned about sim photography and came to love it as another art form. From Shutterbugs and other contests, I started taking a ton of photos and Sylentwhysper was the subject in a lot of them. Soon, she became part time model, moving from the directing chair to being in front of the camera.
The second change came when I joined SF Magazine. Joining the high profile fashion magazine taught me a lot about putting together a complete look for my sims. My avatar suddenly became more fashion forward and more conscious of make-up and accessories. This motivated me to give Sylentwhysper a make-over leading me to tweak her facial features for the first time. The changes were subtle but she definitely looked different from 2010 to 2014.
How did Sylentwhysper transition into Sims 4?
It wasn't my goal to duplicate or mimic the look of my Sims 3 avatar. Only keeping the signature long black hair, my new avi was a new creation from scratch. Her features were more delicate and better proportioned. Compared to the old avi, she has gotten a lot more compliments. And I've given her a new nickname, Sy Whyspie.
Most Avatars represent some part of us, if not directly, they may represent something we dream of being. What does Sylent represent to you? Syentwhysper is an agent for my creativity. Since she is the face of my work, she adheres to a level of professionalism when presenting or promoting my projects. Ultimately, it's a business relationship. Her digital life is devoted to me. She will never have a life of her own, no lover, no family, no dreams of the future. She exists solely to take credit for all that I do.
k e
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Hahaha I love that answer. Sylent Whysper has been involved in Simatography and SIFF since very near the absolute beginning, contributing her talents and insights along the way, helping to form the community that we know and love today. This is the first time in over 5 years that I have taken to actually get to know the Sim character directly. This is a fairly new project for us, but we hope to continue with these features. If you have a particularly interesting sim, or a good backstory or history for your Sim avatar, send us an email at simatography@gmail.com and let us know that you are interested. We will contact you to find out more and to give you necessary details.
# 7 Friendship by Sylent Whysper
We would like to ex tend the invitation to you too, our friends, to join us in this ongoing, no deadline, almost no rules photography challenge. There are 100 themes for you to interpret in your ow n way. Share your photos with us and we will showcase them each month in our Simatography magazine for everyone to enjoy.
Click HERE to join in
Above #71 Perfection By Sylent Whysper
Below #29 Hmm Interesting By Sylent Whysper
right #13 Water By Sylent Whysper
left #12 Fire By Sylent Whysper
#62 Flying By Sylent Whysper
# 58 On The Bridge By Dice Smith
TenderWolf is all about films this close to SIFF
Left # 12 Fire (Katniss’ flaming dress - Girl on Fire)
Below #31 Fangirling
right I Dare You By Jorgha Haq
left Fear By Jorgha Haq
right Oops By Jorgha Haq
left Wrong Turn By Jorgha Haq
#100 To Be Continued by ChristieL
#41 The Weather Outside by Sylent Whysper
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