Encoding Liveness: Performance and Real-Time Rendering in Machinima

Cameron and Carroll's paper, presented at DiGRA 2009, examines machinima as a form of performance whose "liveness" is ambiguous because game software renders it in real time in response to human input or coded parameters. This ambiguity makes it unclear whether the true performer is the human player, the coder, or the software itself. Drawing on Auslander's reframing of liveness, Schechner's concept of reflexivity, and process drama conventions, the authors argue that any adequate definition of liveness must accommodate real-time rendered, mediated performance. The work traces machinima's origins in captured gameplay, or demo files, whose replay resembles film or television viewing while still retaining a sense of human performance.

The authors position machinima as a virtual performance art spanning a range of "performance liveness," from live puppetry to fully scripted, post-produced content. They highlight the considerable technical skill of machinima practitioners, which award structures rarely recognize, and describe a community of practice that favors a cinematic aesthetic and often works within one or two game platforms. Limitations of those platforms are treated as technical workarounds rather than dramatic choices. The community's practices, the authors conclude, resemble improvisational process drama recorded and edited for broadcast, offering a useful framework for studying the relationship between live and mediated performance.

The paper's final argument situates machinima along a continuum of performance conventions shaped by "Role Protection" and "Role Distance," with parallels to improvised film and process drama. First-person shooter positions afford performers the least protection, while observer or signed-role approaches provide greater distance. Machinima's liveness remains ambiguous because it depends on real-time game-engine rendering. To support future research, the authors propose more detailed categorization of machinima sub-genres, including live puppet machinima, demo recamming, and scripted bot interaction.