cinematic

ARTICLE: THE MACHINIMA OF ATTRACTIONS

VRAL is currently showcasing Regression 4, Jordy Veenstra’s latest installment in his ongoing monumental investigation of San Andreas. To accompany the screening, we are delighted to present Experience, a 2021 machinima developed with a playable simulation titled Virtual Rides III.

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Jordy Veenstra’s collaborative machinima project Experience transports viewers into the lush, vibrant world of Pixelsplit’s Virtual Rides III (2017). Developed over two years alongside the game’s creators, this experimental short film leverages the malleable possibilities of virtual spaces to construct a heightened cinematic reality. Experience represents Veenstra’s most ambitious and imaginative machinima project to date, recasting a familiar carnival setting as an avant-garde spectacle. Through kaleidoscopic colors, impossible camera angles, and hypnotic motion, the film redefines the sensory possibilities of interactive environments. This is the polar opposite of ONRIDE’s dystopian attraction.

From its opening shots gliding over the fairgrounds, Experience signals its intent to revel in the limitless perspectives unique to simulations. The camera swoops and pans across the setting, freed from physical restraints to showcase the scale and details of the space. Tracking shots follow the coasters’ winding motions, abstracting them into studies of shape and texture. Veenstra describes this disembodied viewpoint as “exceeding audience expectations”, leveraging the machinima format to highlight aspects of the world beyond what players see. The cinematography foregrounds sensory experience, allowing time to appreciate the setting’s rich sights and sounds.

This immersive effect stems from Veenstra’s custom augmentation of Virtual Rides III’s assets, part of his “practice of distortion” for enhancing game environments. Wildly colorful and asymmetric patterns adorn each ride, evoking an imaginative, pataphysical mood. Typography and pop culture images further transform the familiar carnival into an otherworldly realm. As Veenstra explains on his website, this surreal digital set...

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Matteo Bittanti


Works cited

Jordy Veenstra

Experience

digital video (1280 x 544, aspect ratio: 2:35), color, sound (Stereo, -14LUFS), 9’ 20”, 2021, The Netherlands

Produced by Pixelsplit and A Pixelated Point of View

Made with Virtual Rides III, Pixelsplit, 2017

Mods: Freecam adjustment by Pixelsplit

Film Score: FEX.

All images and videos courtesy of Jordy Veenstra

This is a Patreon exclusive content. For full access consider joining our growing community.

ARTICLE: LIBERTY CITY’S EXTERNALITIES

VRAL is currently showcasing Regression 4, Jordy Veenstra’s latest installment in his ongoing monumental investigation of San Andreas. To accompany the screening, we are delighted to present Collateral Damage, an experimental machinima developed with/in Grand Theft Auto IV.

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Jordy Veenstra’s re-edited version of his machinima short Collateral Damage utilizes the open world of Grand Theft Auto IV as a canvas for an experimental narrative that defies expectations. Originally created in 2012 as a more traditional crime story, the 2018 cut runs just 2 minutes but packs a provocative punch. Veenstra transforms the possibilities afforded by Rockstar Games sandbox into an avant-garde work that challenges both artistic and gameplay conventions. Through innovative editing and a focus on psychological tension, Collateral Damage provides a mature reflection on violence and chaos within the criminal underworld.

As a machinima created using assets from Grand Theft Auto IV, Collateral Damage immediately cues certain expectations about the chaotic, crime-ridden nature of Rockstar’s fictional Liberty City. However, Veenstra subverts these themes right from the start. The opening shots follow two men driving through the rainy night time streets not on some criminal escapade, but engaged in muted conversation. One man seems to be confiding in the other about being framed by an acquaintance. Veenstra then cuts to the interior of a nondescript apartment, where the atmosphere grows increasingly tense and surreal between the two men. Extreme close-ups, off-kilter angles, and disjointed editing introduce visual disorientation and psychological friction. Strange flashes fill the screen at key moments, suggesting internal turmoil. Rather than depicting high-octane gameplay action, these oblique sequences focus on building an atmosphere of brooding unease.

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Matteo Bittanti


Works cited

Jordy Veenstra

Collateral Damage

digital video, color, 1’ 58”, 2012/2018, The Netherlands

made with Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games, 2008

Mods: Rockstar Editor, by Rockstar Games; Simple Trainer by sjaak327

All images and videos © Jordy Veenstra 2022

This is a Patreon exclusive content. For full access consider joining our growing community.