The Drax Files – Page 3

June 12, 2015

The Drax Files World Makers Episode 30 – Listen, Do You Want To Know A Secret … Store?

I’ve known a secret video for a day or two ….

Drax Files World Makers 30

Episode 30 of The Drax Files World Makers features Maylee Oh, Second Life fashion creator and owner of The Secret Store. I’ll follow my traditional pattern and embed the video at the end of this post.

Regular and irregular readers of this blog will know that I’m not a fashionista. Indeed when I realised this was about fashion I thought, “They do it over there, but we don’t do it here …. Fashion!”

However in Draxtor Despres we trust and this is another excellent addition to The Drax World Makers series, with Drax doing what he does best, gaining insight into the person behind the avatar and allowing that person, in this case Maylee Oh, to describe and demonstrate their Second Life and outside of Second Life personality with words, images, video and machinima. There’s also a funky scene near the end in a park with Draxtor and Maylee Oh chatting to each other.

Maylee Oh is 28 years old and lives in Paris. Maylee makes mostly female apparel in Second Life, along with some quirky things, which you will see in the video.

Maylee talks of how she makes commercials for her store in Second Life, using a variety of tools including Adobe After Effects and her own illustrations. This is an excellent example of something that doesn’t really get talked about regarding Second Life or other virtual worlds, the ability to create advertisements in a digital realm.

Maylee admits that she quit art school in her third year, but does not regret it and that via Second Life she has been able to bring her artistic talents to a medium that has allowed her to generate enough income to earn a living. Now, as I have links to education outside of the virtual world I have to frown somewhat at this point and say “Don’t try this at home kids“, please, finish your art school classes and any other classes. Pretty please?

Continue reading “The Drax Files World Makers Episode 30 – Listen, Do You Want To Know A Secret … Store?”

May 1, 2015May 2, 2015

The Drax Files Episode 29 – InSilico

Episode 29 of The Drax Files World Makers takes us to the dystopian cyberpunk world of InSilico. The storyline on InSilico takes place in the 25th century, although it should be pointed out that Buck Rogers isn’t involved.

This is an absolutely fascinating episode because in five minutes it packs in so much about the disparate parts of Second Life that make up the whole. Here we learn about people who are storytellers, scripters, builders, landlords, tenants, roleplayers, photographers, bloggers, the curious and more all converging on this dystopian landscape.

We get to hear how the story of InSilico evolves every day, something which a virtual world environment allows. This is the power of user created content and in particular here, user created storytelling. This is an area oft overlooked when people talk about user created content. People think of clothing, buildings, scripts but storytelling can very much be user generated content too.

Continue reading “The Drax Files Episode 29 – InSilico”

March 30, 2015

The Drax Files: World Makers Ep28 – Whiskey (Monday) In The Jar

Episode 28 of The Drax Files World Makers features an interview with artist Whiskey Monday and it’s a fascinating interview. The interview starts with the revelation that Whiskey Monday turned down Draxtor’s initial request to feature on The Drax Files because she was using Second Life as a means to express her frustrations with the real world and it seems that she did not want to bring her physical self into that realm.

This is a stark honest opening to the interview that many people are likely to relate to. Virtual worlds can be a means to escape or express ourselves in ways that outside of the virtual world we find stifling. This episode also touches upon mental illness, which is still far too much of a taboo than it should be in this day and age.

Whiskey admits that she has suffered from depression but she also talks of something regarding virtual worlds that is often missed, that you can find people who have experience and empathy of these matters. In many ways the anonymous nature of an avatar by default may play an important role as the safety of talking about such issues from behind an avatar can help people express themselves when they may be afraid to do so in a real physical environment.

However that’s not to say that this episode suggests that people shouldn’t talk about their feelings to those close to them and Whiskey talks of how showing her art created in Second Life to her Mother and Daughters meant she had to explain her feelings about the work she created. This was a relatively recent development as prior to October, Whiskey had not told her family about the work she creates within Second Life.

Continue reading “The Drax Files: World Makers Ep28 – Whiskey (Monday) In The Jar”

February 27, 2015

The Drax Files: World Makers Episode 27 – Nylon Pinkney

Episode 27 of the excellent Drax Files : World Makers features Nylon Pinkney, a wedding photographer. However a small twist in the introduction informs us that Nylon is a wedding photographer outside of Second Life but not inside it. There’s a clue on why Nylon made that choice later in the video.

Nylon informs us that she makes clothing, accessories and skins, Nylon even informs us that she once made some of the Second Life starter avatars.

Again we see the Second Life avatar and the real person behind that avatar, which is a technique Draxtor Despres uses regularly and to good effect. Seeing and hearing the real person brings an element of realism to the Second Life experience.

We see Nylon at work, hand drawing textures, which Nylon admits aren’t perfect but Nylon also admits that she isn’t looking for perfect and that’s a good point, imperfections often bring something extra to a creation.

Nylon’s mainstore is Nylon outfitters and is based on her sim, Tableau. Nylon also has a more upmarket stores known as Paper Couture. There’s also another brand mentioned in this video, the Wrigglesworth residents which is a line for people who, look a tad older than the traditional Second Life avatar.

Continue reading “The Drax Files: World Makers Episode 27 – Nylon Pinkney”

January 30, 2015

The Drax Files World Makers Episode 26 – Absinthe, Portrait Of A Virtual World Fashion Model

An Image Should Be Here — Drax Files Episoed 26

Episode 26 of The Drax Files : World Makers takes a dip into the world of Second Life fashion, more notably the world of a Second Life fashion model, in this case, one who goes by the name of Absinthe.

Now regular readers of this blog may well be aware that fashion in Second Life is not my comfort zone, but this is part of the beauty of Draxtor Despres’ excellent series, it breaks down barriers in a simple fashion by letting the person being interviewed do most of the talking.

In this case we also see someone who plays a role in Second Life that is not a direct representation of their RL self. Absinthe in Second Life is a white female. The person behind the avatar is an African American female. An interesting point to note here is that the person behind the avatar admits that she doesn’t really see colour when it comes to people and she puts this down to growing up with a father who was in the armed forces. This meant that she grew up with different cultures and different races.

This even extends to the point whereby the RL person behind Absinthe doesn’t really view her as white, more of an extension of her inner self.

We also get an insight into what being a Second Life fashion model entails. The Second Life fashion scene is huge and plays a major role in the economy and therefore plays a large part with regards to the content users create. However being a model entails a bit more than some may think, you need to know about animation overrides, poses and Absinthe even admits that she gets performance anxiety when performing at a show, even though she’s only pushing arrow keys.

Continue reading “The Drax Files World Makers Episode 26 – Absinthe, Portrait Of A Virtual World Fashion Model”