A grieving husband. A body he can no longer control. This week, we revisit Corpus Meum (2006), a gothic machinima horror film made in Lionhead’s The Movies, and discover how an archive playback problem changes the viewing experience.

Phil Rice, Ricky Grove, Tracy Harwood and Damien Valentine explore The Light in the Dust, Part I: Corpus Meum, created by @sherwinliu, Kate Lee and Lizard3209 aka Decadent Pictures (later becoming Chat Noir Studios). Ricky’s archive pick opens a discussion about grief, possession, fractured identity and the ambition of early machinima filmmakers.

There’s a twist: some of us watched an archive playback consisting of still images, while others found the fully animated WMV. We compare how movement, editing and facial close-ups affect the story, alongside Sherwin Liu’s atmospheric original score, which prompts a comparison with Twin Peaks.

We also discuss the filmmakers’ cited influences - Anne Rice’s The Tale of the Body Thief and Quantum Leap - and ask whether dated game graphics still deliver convincing emotional horror. Plus, Ricky shares his own unexpected Quantum Leap connection.

If you watch the film, look for the fully animated WMV on its Internet Archive page so you can compare the viewing experiences. Which version did you watch, and did you read the story as supernatural possession, psychological collapse, or something else?

Tell us in the comments (and feel free also to comment on Damien's new headgear).

01:00 Welcome to Completely Machinima
01:25 Ricky’s pick: Corpus Meum and The Movies
05:28 The score: atmosphere and Twin Peaks echoes
07:56 Discovering the fully animated version
10:25 The Movies community and The French Democracy
11:20 Stills versus animation: spotting the playback problem
13:26 Grief, possession and losing control of your body
15:06 “My body”: Anne Rice and Quantum Leap influences
18:10 The filmmakers’ wider work and gothic visual storytelling
21:47 Changing faces, identity and Dorian Gray echoes
23:46 Does the emotion work, and whose story is being told?
25:47 Can this horror story outlast its dated graphics?
28:26 Reframing old machinima as stylised animation
29:28 Ricky’s unexpected Quantum Leap connection
30:50 Your verdict and how to contact us

Explore more machinima, virtual filmmaking and animation... and note that we've moved our website to https://substack.com/@completelymachinima

Film link: https://archive.org/details/TheLightInTheDust1 (not on YouTube or Vimeo) - make sure you check the WMV version for the full film!

Contact: talk@completelymachinima.com

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Credits -
Co-hosts: Ricky Grove, Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer: Ricky Grove
Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice & Suno AI

Tracy Harwood and Phil Rice review RUS-T, John Martin’s science fiction short about a robot abandoned on Mars. They discuss its expressive character design and story of care and disposability, then trace the production workflow through Reallusion AI Studio, Character Creator and Seedance 2.0. How much control does image guided video generation give a filmmaker? And can a film succeed as both a story and a demonstration of new tools? Alongside praise for RUS-T’s character consistency, Tracy and Phil examine its visual slips, frequent crossfades and unresolved questions about its voices, music and sound design.

Key moments

01:00 — Why RUS-T is an unusual choice for the podcast

01:43 — Tracy introduces the film, its maker and its Mars setting

06:57 — Abandonment, robot labour and the discovery of life

12:22 — Visual continuity, sound design and the tools behind the film

17:36 — What AI Studio and Seedance can do, and what the production notes actually establish

24:38 — Phil on RUS-T’s expressive face and emotional range

33:38 — Image guided generation versus animation control and style transfer

37:31 — Why character consistency is the film’s strongest technical achievement

41:17 — Crossfades, short clips and the film’s editing choices

44:23 — The AI voice and the mystery of the soundtrack

50:14 — Comparing RUS-T with another AI film made as a proof of concept

Credits -
Co-hosts: Phil Rice, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice, Suno AI

An eight-year labour of love made in Garry’s Mod, Dan Shetter’s Avalon takes us into the world of Half-Life for a feature-length story of occupation, memory and survival. Damien, Phil and Tracy discuss its extraordinary cinematography, animation, sound and music, and why it works even for viewers who have never played the games. Tracy explores the film’s characters and layered ending, while Phil asks whether this is the best machinima film he has ever seen.

Spoiler warning: The story discussion begins at 15:28. Watch the film first if you want to experience its twists for yourself.

Key moments

01:17 — Damien introduces Avalon and explains why he chose it.

04:37 — Phil makes the case for its place among the greatest machinima films.

11:27 — How exceptional work can inspire other filmmakers.

14:30 — The brief behind-the-scenes video and the mystery of its production.

15:28 — Spoilers begin: Tracy introduces Dan Shetter’s eight-year project.

17:40 — Camp Haven, Teagan and the film’s opening attack.

20:30 — Breen, Freeman and the film’s relationship to Half-Life.

22:03 — Memory, extraction and the Combine’s plans.

25:30 — Portals, the final battle and collective resistance.

27:44 — The meaning of Avalon, restoration and the recurring crows.

29:27 — Atmosphere, sound, visual storytelling and the film’s limitations.

33:29 — Earlier Half-Life machinima and the achievement of finishing such an ambitious film.

36:39 — What makers working in any engine can learn from it.

Credits -
Co-hosts: Phil Rice, Damien Valentine, Tracy Harwood
Producer/Editor: Phil Rice
Music: Phil Rice & Suno AI