Storytelling Inside a Game: Black Plasma Studios & Minecraft Animations

Tori Martinez

Along with the rise of technology has come a multiplying and endlessly creative stream of new storytelling methods. One of the most fascinating trends to emerge primarily in the last 10 or so years has been the use of certain narrative devices within different mediums. While there are examples across culture—like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s use of comic book text boxes and onomatopoeia—the one that has stood out to me most recently has been the use of the popular video game Minecraft to tell different stories.

I am not a gamer and never was; the farthest into Minecraft I got was playing the free version on my phone. Still, I have very fond—if limited—memories of playing the game with my sister and cousin, trying desperately to survive my first night in the game or creating our own city where we never actually got past building the streets. Eventually, I discovered the videos of other, better players using Minecraft: Story Mode or similar narrative-based stories within the Minecraft universe. Minecraft is uniquely positioned among popular games as the proverbial blank slate upon which an infinitude of stories can be created of every genre and style.

ing that has nothing to do with the blocked world.

Black Plasma Studios (BPS) is a YouTube channel that tells stories using the blocky look of the Minecraft world. Their stories range from classic Minecraft games like Bed Wars to Star Wars spin-offs and original fantasy worlds. According to their website, “the channel started as a studio specialising in Halo content [in 2008], primarily making movies called Machinima. In 2015, David and his team decided to switch to Minecraft animation to tell stories and entertain viewers.” Founded by David R.B.—better known as Arbiter617—the team is currently made up of six animators all of whom go by their gamer tags. They currently have just over 10 million subscribers and post content about once a week.

I discovered BPS when I was in my mid-teens, and I was captivated by their stories and the fun way they told them. I have always been fascinated with unconventional storytelling, so perhaps it is no surprise that I was drawn to this new style. I was looking through their channel recently, and I was caught by the complexity of the stories and emotions the creators manage to convey through what is seen as a primarily childlike game. One of the best examples of this is Animation Life, an hour-long film, which follows Steve (the standard player character for beginner Minecraft players) on his journey to discover who he is and defeat Herobrine (the mythological “bad guy” of the Minecraft world). When I first saw it, my fourteen-year-old self was so awed by the level of animation and the complexity of the story that I immediately went back and watched it again just to soak it in. I have rewatched it over the years because it is so much more than just a simple fight between Minecraft characters; it has depth and personality.

has a total of 209 million views and 2.8 million likes. Though it is made for a much younger fan base, many of the comments have been left by older people (like myself) who remain impressed by the animating skills and style. Using the notoriously time-consuming Blender software, animators have consistently created fantastic graphics and enjoyable stories set within the Minecraft world.

Minecraft was first released by Mojang Studios in November 2011. It falls under the category of what is called a “sandbox game” because it allows players a high degree of creativity and the ability to mould the world how they see fit, with no overarching game objectives. A world made entirely of cubes, Minecraft features a variety of game modes that enable different styles of play, such as creative building or survival. Entering into the 2010s, the game’s popularity skyrocketed: Minecraft music parody videos, pre-scripted adventure series disguised as simple survival stories, downloadable RPG-type maps, mods, and more abounded. Animators and creators alike soon saw the potential for telling a different kind of story as well; people began using animation software to tell stories either set in the Minecraft world (the game has many of its own stories and legends within its ‘canon’ and large fan base) or of their own mak-

Animation Life actually takes place in two dimensions: the “outside” world of the creators (still animated in Minecraft form) and the “inner” world of Steve, Alex, and Herobrine. The two overlap often, with Arbiter even entering that inner world to help his digitized friend. Steve is never a static character, but one who grows and learns who he is and who he is meant to be. One of the biggest twists, of course, is that he and Herobrine are one and the same, two sides of the same coin. He sacrifices himself to remove Herobrine altogether—but the story does not end there. We actually get to see Steve struggling with the consequences of what this means for him and how to conquer this side of himself.

Released in 2018, fans were delighted when four years later the creators picked up the story again, this time with Herobrine’s followers hunting for Steve to take his place as their rightful leader. The video currently

Though Minecraft was certainly not the first video game to be the basis for animated stories, I believe that it is a hallmark of this generation’s animation: a true example of what people are capable of when given full freedom and a different world to create in. We have the internet to thank for that. While it is likely it will never become as mainstream as other storytelling methods like movies or books, I believe it has earned its place among them as the unique and different style it is. It certainly has for me—and I am not even a gamer. I just happen to enjoy a good story and seeing the internet give people a chance to explore niche areas that might previously have been, if not ridiculed, then at least not commercially viable.