Machinima – Ciaran Laval

April 25, 2014April 25, 2014

Fantasy Faire 2014 – Call For Second Life Film Makers To Tell A Fantasy Faire Tale

This year’s Fantasy Faire is taking a bold extra step in terms of movie making for the event. Five Machinima makers will have the opportunity to create a Fantasy Faire tale before the Faire opens. Now, let’s clear something up first, this does not mean other people are forbidden from making films during the event, it’s just an opportunity for five film makers to create a tale before the Faire opens and therefore whilst the streets are free of visitors.

If you are a machinima maker and fancy telling a tale then head over to this Fantasy Faire blog post and read the details. However there is quite a short deadline on applying for this, you will need to apply before midnight on Saturday April 26th, I assume this is midnight SLT, but you’ll have to clarfiy that with Saffia Widdershins. So what sort of creation are they looking for? Well, from the blog post :

Explain what you would like to film (whether you you want create a story with actors, an abstract pieces of a travelogue), and supply a link to a previous film or machinima you have shot.

So the next obvious question is going to be why only five people, well again it’s best to quote from the blog :

Well, people are still building, and each film-maker will need to work with us to ensure that they are filming what is finished (or certainly ready to film!). And as this is the first year we have done this, we want to ensure that we are able to help you to the best of our abilities.

So basically you will be given the opportunity to film but it needs to be coordinated to fit in with the work going on behind the scenes.

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January 17, 2014

Catch Up With Season 2 Of The Blackened Mirror

Blackened Mirror poster should be here — The Blackened Mirror Poster

Season 2 of The Blackened Mirror is currently taking a mid season break, which is good because it gives people time to catch up with the series before the next episode is aired. So far three episodes have been aired, a further three episodes are scheduled to start from Sunday January 26th.

For those of you who don’t know, The Blackened Mirror is a machinima based series filmed in Second Life. The show is written by Da5id Abbott and directed by Saffia Widdershins of Prim Perfect fame. treet.tv also happily put their name on the credits.

I’m a big fan of storytelling in many forms and The Blackened Mirror certainly uses the Second Life well as a means of telling a story, but credit has to go to Da5id Abbott for scripting that story.

To get the best from the show you really need to visit the website. The news section in particular is an excellent resource as it gives you background and information on the episodes. The episodes themselves can also be viewed from the episodes page, there you will get a little bit of blurb about each episode. I’ll embed the first three episodes below the cut.

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November 27, 2013

The Blackened Mirror Season 2 Starts Sunday December 1st

Noir, 1930’s detective thriller, sci-fi story, Lovecraft inspired, Steampunk laden is how some critics described season one of The Blackened Mirror. Some claim that some critics mean me but I can’t comment on that! However, season 2 will begin rolling out on Sunday December 1st.

Picking up where season one left off, which was on a cliffhanger, the new season will reunite the viewer with familiar characters as well as have more plot twists than a twisty turny thing.

Now if you’re not familiar with The Blackened Mirror, I’ll provide some links:

Website: http://www.theblackenedmirror.com/

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/theblackenedmirror

The website has some fun ideas on it and is currently running a poll to see where you’d like to travel with some of the main characters.

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November 26, 2013

[Vengeance + Vengeance] Shows Why Machinima Growth Could Be Good For Content Creators

I love the art of storytelling, in all its forms. I’d love to have been able to present a story within Second Life, to direct it with my own vision. There are other places where this is more feasible and I’m currently liking the look of Cloud Party for this sort of venture.

However for a good story you need good content too, especially when it’s visual. This is also true for those who make machinima. I have recently been looking at a science fiction machinima short entitled “[Vengenace + Vengeance]“.

This wasn’t shot in Second Life, although Second Life is home to many good examples of machinima. [Vengeance + Vengeance] was created with the Unreal Development Kit 2010-08-Beta , Autodesk Maya 2011, Adobe CS5 Master Suite and ZBrush 4.0. However many of the props could be used in Second Life style machinima, some of the effects and certainly the facial character animations aren’t what you’d see in Second Life but the content, textures, etc they could certainly be at home in Second Life.

One of the things with machinima, due to the fact that it’s often a short production, is to try and find some background to the story. There won’t be much time for character development, especially in a story that lasts less than twenty minutes. Fortunately this example has a synopsis:

“In a world where technology has leveraged politics and military is controlled by corporations, only the cleverest or most brutal survive. The Resnick Corporation through advanced genomic research stands poised to control weapon development with an advanced soldier prototype. The only problem, the prototype has gone wrong.

[Vengeance+Vengeance], a contemporary adaptation of “The Hunter” by Richard Stark (AKA Donald E. Westlake) places an Asian female in the role of the main character Parker. It’s a world set in a dystopian future where human life is a commodity to be toyed with by the powerful. Science has become the key to domination and those who control it the rulers. Lily, our protagonist is blessed with natural talents of athleticism and intelligence. A research scientist who’s specialization is in nanotechnology and its use in biomimetics and organic synthesis is employed by the Resnick Corporation. We find her discarded in a hostile wasteland where the results of diabolical genetic engineering have produced a distorted population of mutants. Who has put her there and why? Using brute intelligence and raw violence to overcome her adversaries Lily finds that all is not as it appears. Her efforts have been distorted and corrupted. Is she the only one who can set things straight?”

Reading that will help you to get more out of the story if you find the time to watch it, you can view the movie and more about it at the link I’m about to post now:

http://vengeancevengeance.com/index.html

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August 30, 2013

Blackened Mirror Season 2 To Feature Babylon 5 Star

Above you can view the first trailer for The Blackened Mirror Season 2, which is filmed in Second Life. The word on the street, and I’m not making this up, is that Season 2 will feature a star from the science fiction series Babylon 5. Those of you who pay attention may already know who it is, but for now my lips are firmly sealed!

For those who are unaware of what The Blackened Mirror is, it’s a machinima based drama filmed in Second Life, with a noir setting. Season 1 can be viewed on Treet TV. The first season, featured people who have real world experience of stage and film and the second season will too, but there’s also the opportunity for Second Life residents to get involved as extras.

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