Document:Q10867

The Buff and The Brutal is a Machinima soap-opera parody. In it the very tough, mutant characters of Quake 3 Arena become emotionally vulnerable, jealous, gay lovers caught in an intricate web of treachery and deceit. Fragging is synonymous with sex, linking in-game pleasure/pain responses to S&M sexuality.
The Buff And The Brutal inverts the semiotic mechanisms of 3D character design to suggest a deeper, psycho-sexual motivation behind virtual murders and deaths. It also emphasizes the lo-fi, DIY appeal of Machinima by using a hand held camera to film the computer screen rather than recording the gameplay internally within the computer.

Machinima movies are a type of animation made in a networked game environment. Instead of playing the game, players use their game avatar as a character who acts out a role in a script. The game-play/acting is then recorded and edited. More information on machinima can be found at machinima.com and machinima.org.