My Virtual Machinima Film Festival
I did get to go the ball kind of (or I should say Machinima Film Festival), despite my whinging earlier on in the week about not being able to go to NY this year. Due to a simulcast in Laguna Beach Theatre (thanks to the Electric Sheep Company, they did an awesome job) in the virtual world of Second Life, I was able to see the awards ceremony, as well several presentations earlier that day.
My previous experience of SL has been a little patchy, a spell in beta and a week last year, but couldn’t really match the fun last night of watching people watching the awards and actually for the most part, feeling like I was there. I was lucky enough to sit with an enthusiastic machinima crowd - Hathead, Pegasys, Ebayfan, Jonathan Perry (Inside The Machinima) and Cross, who was nominated for his film “Desolate”.
As well as virtual popcorn and champagne, we were were treated to dancing by Hathead and Cross in the interlude, while I learnt to lap dance, as well flap my blue fairy wings and fly around the theatre. At times, it was quite surreal..what other awards ceremony would you have a robot, vampire and a giant Mr Kool-Aid sat in the row behind you?
A hearty congratulations to friends Mu, Todd and Overman on their awards! Sadly I missed Overman picking up his award and a couple of others due to technical difficulties, but I hope to pop back this evening and see if I can catch a couple of the presentations as well the live show.
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Posted in Machinima
November 6th, 2006 at 2:48 am
I can’t believe I missed the festival :(. Heck I can’t even believe I’m missing out on Second Life. Looks like you had a lot of fun :). I’ll try to make it the next time around.
November 6th, 2006 at 9:32 am
Dammit, Jule, I left a post on the forum asking who wanted to go!
I’m sure it doesn’t compare to being there (and the open bar ;)), but one of the advantages or good points is we were able to discuss the films/presentations as it was happening real time, unlike the audience there.
Let me know if you try SL and I’ll meet you in there. I’m still a noob - kept banging my head on the ceiling trying to fly and trying to walk through full length windows, but there’s definitely machinima potential.
November 8th, 2006 at 5:43 am
Wow, they actually broadcast the whole show? Maybe I should’ve prepared a more entertaining speech. Though the show certainly wasn’t lacking. Heheh. Now I wish someone had recorded the SL broadcast, so we could see what it was like in the virtual world.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:09 am
It was nice to see you, Mu!
Not only did they broadcast the whole show, but the earlier panels too. Sadly, we didn’t get to see the Sunday panels, but we did get treated to the live show. Mach has left a very short video clip of the event from inside SL at mprem in the news/comments.
November 9th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
Like Nathan, I had no idea that the entire festival was being broadcast in SL. Man, what a great idea. I think I prefer the idea of being able to fly around the room with great Joy when Mu, Overman and Todd were announced as winners. Eric Call’s presentation on SL on Sunday combined with a well-staffed table at the festival went a long way towards convincing me it was time to journey into the world of SL. I have the same fears you do, Michelle. Actually, many of us there we talking about organizing a land buy near each other and opening up a machinima studio. I plan on discussing this more in a long essay/blog coming soon.
I also did a lot of filming for a short doc on the festival and people there. About half a dozen “flash interviews” of about 60 seconds each will find their way into coverage of the festival and events. If I get my nose to the grindstone, should have it up in a week.
With the grim assessment of the copyright panel on Saturday, many filmmakers are turning to machinima programs that will allow them to own their own works. Second Life smartly emphasized individual ownership at every opportunity. I suspect there will be a literal explosion of SL machinima in the coming year.
November 9th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Welcome back gToon! That would be a smart approach to start up an SL machinima studio as a team effort, I don’t think it would work otherwise. You can certainly count me in if you do organise something or need help with the organising.
I missed some of the copyright panel unfortunately, but I’m not surprised it was a grim assessment, especially as the game companies didn’t care to be represented on the panel. I’ve been giving serious thought myself lately to looking for some copyright friendly alternatives for filming machinima.
Anyway, looking forward to your interviews very much