What did I find? Bloodspell!
I’ve been a fan of anime for a few years now, but lately something else has been drawing my attention – Bloodspell.com
Bloodspell is an episodic animated series set in a fantasy world beset by persecution; a rigid authoritarian church and a constant fight between good and evil.
Figuring out just who are the good and evil guys is becoming part of the fun in watching this well crafted movie.
Spawned from the bottomless pit of creativity at Strange Company (SC) in Edinburgh it’s been a very distracting and enjoyable journey so far.
Now before I describe more, let me quickly warn you this isn’t WETA Studios level LOTR animation and if you expect it to be, you will be disappointed. It’s machinima (trying say that with 10 pints in you!)
Machinima
Bloodspell is a machinima movie, created using video game graphics engines, and in this case, the Aurora engine used in Neverwinter Nights.
It allows, from what I’ve been able to glean; cheap, fast, epic film making without many of the barriers associated with traditional techniques and from reading Strange Company’s blurb, created in the spare bedroom of the director’s house. So what monster could be created from the depths of someone’s bedroom?
Plot
The series has been following the adventures of Jered, a monk of the aforementioned hard line church that seems to pervade many levels of the society the movie is set. From faceless units of church soldiers, to an epic set cathedral above the city, there is a sinister feel to the holy protectors of the Bloodspell society
Jered is charged with hunting down the Blooded, a race of specially gifted people whose blood seems to contain magical properties. Persecuted by the Church as unclean and unholy, the Blooded hide away in underground societies fighting against the tyranny of the Church. Our hero seems to fight his own internal battle going on as to whether what he is doing is right. There are various reasons for that; primary amongst them a woman, but what story would be complete without a bit of romance
I shall not spoil anymore of the story but to say that after six episodes there is definitely more to this than meets the eye. I think the plot is developing nicely and will not stop and turn into the shallow storylines reminiscent of so many Hollywood blockbusters.
Animation and Music
As I warned before, Bloodspell is created from the video graphics engine used to make Neverwinter Nights. This limits the sharpness and quality of the animation to the level used in that game. That doesn’t distract you away from it, but you have to get used to some of the limitations of the engine.
At first it’s like watching someone else play a computer game or one of the intro movies you get when you start a new game. That familiarity is quickly dispelled when you see what SC have done with this particular type of media.
Camera shots echoing from epic to moody, thumping soundtracks, excellent action scenes and a select dip of humour (the chase scene with a dress). It does seem a little rough cut in places but that lends itself to the whole “indie” feeling of the genre.
Strange Company seem to have used small and upcoming bands for some of the soundtracks and the opening sequence by a band called the Angel Conversations, seems to fit perfectly with the ideas used in the movie.
What’s that got to do with RPG’s then?
I’m about to start a fantasy campaign for the first time in a few years and Bloodspell, while I’ll never plagiarise the ideas, has given good inspiration with some of it’s base ideas. The power of blood and some of the effects it has in the movie have already inspired some new spells for D20.
Where to find it all
The series itself: http://www.bloodspell.com/
Strange Company: http://www.strangecompany.org/
Machinima: http://www.machinima.com/
You will need Quicktime, DIVX/Xvid or Window Media Player 9 or above to run it.
You will need a broadband connection to stream the video or you can just download the episodes
