Sunday July 19 was the last day of the SL23B, the Second Life Birthday. And the sims got a bit more active with people enjoying the sims one last time, at least most of us. One spot of activity was Bay City's exhibit.
They were gathered in some movie set seats at one point, but before the red clouds faded, they leaped into the pool for a conga line dance. Marianne commented it was a good thing the water wasn't much deeper, otherwise she'd have trouble breathing.
At the Belessarian Bureau of Bureaucracy's exhibit, they were watching a movie.
And there was a party at the Seawall Cruising Club.
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay the whole evening. But no doubt the parties went on to Midnight and beyond. For exhibitors and the Moles, they have a few days to go about the sims to see what they missed or check some one more time. But for the rest of us, it's over, with only the screenshots and the memories.
The Second Life Birthday is full of noteworthy exhibits. One that caught my eye was "The Great Carrot Caper" in SLB Marvelous by Owlie Fairlander, Beth Ghostraven, and several other contributors. In this tribute to Abbot & Costello and Alfred Hitchcock, you take part in a mystery comedy in which the goal is to find fourteen golden carrots (a pun on 14 karat gold).
"The Great Movie Ride" at SLB Breathtaking by On A Whim Designs
Welcome, movie lovers, to the On A Whim Great Movie Ride! Please keep your hands, arms, feet, and any runaway screenplays safely inside the vehicle at all times. We're hoping to catch a little movie magic today, and you've picked the perfect cast for the job. Please do not exit the vehicle once you've sat down. I'm Cody, and alongside me is Roxy. Together we'll be your guides through some of the most memorable moments in cinema history. Lights, camera, action!
"Expendable Space - The Ocean Floor" at SLB Stupendous by the International Spaceflight Museum, and Helena Kiama and Roy Sutton.
What goes up must come down. While we often look to the sky to see the future of spaceflight, the history of our journey is written on the ocean floor. Come explore a detailed underwater graveyard featuring discarded boosters, fuel tanks, and engine clusters from the rockets that built our modern world. Also, discover an underwater habitat used for astronaut training.
From DeniseUnicorn Toonie, "Visited the SecondLife 23 Birthday today. Noticed that they had movie backdrops you can take a picture on. So, I took this moody one over there. :)"
It's finally October, and more Halloween-themed places are showing up in Second Life. Gemma Cleanslate took a look at an old favorite: All Hallows at the Moochie sim. There she found a Halloween trail to follow, filled with spooky sights. But that wasn't all. There are scary vendors to pick up something, a trick or treat game, a theater, and more.
From AVTV on December 2022, "AVTV
proudly presents, for the first time in Second Life, the Greatest
Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year. Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
From AVTV on December 2022, "AVTV
proudly presents, for the first time in Second Life, the Greatest
Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year. Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
From AVTV on December 2022, "AVTV
proudly presents, for the first time in Second Life, the Greatest
Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year. Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
From AVTV on December 2022, "AVTV proudly presents, for the first time in Second Life, the Greatest Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year. Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
Readers will likely recall the Newser has been showing parts of "Scrooge: A Second Life Christmas Carol" by AVTV. Well, we can be forgiven if Linden Lab saw what we were doing and got an idea. They recently announced the movie, in full, will be shown at the WelcomeHub Cinema.
Calling all Second Life machinima enthusiasts! Embrace the spirit of
the season and join us for a special screening of "Scrooge - A Second
Life Christmas Carol" directed by the talented Caligula Aquila on Wednesday, December 13th, at 12pm PT at the Second Life Cinema.
Immerse yourself in the timeless tale of Scrooge as reimagined within
the immersive world of Second Life. Caligula’s unique vision brings
Dickens' classic to life, blending the magic of virtual cinema with the
charm of a holiday favorite.
As mentioned the movie will be shown next Wednesday, December 13, at Noon SL time.
From AVTV on December 2022, "SCROOGE - A Second Life Christmas Carol
AVTV proudly presents ... the Greatest Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year.
Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
From AVTV on December 2022, "SCROOGE - A Second Life Christmas Carol
AVTV proudly presents ... the Greatest Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol - Second Life Version.
Tribute to Second Life in its 20th Anniversary Year.
Filmed @ Second Life virtual world."
Last week on Thursday November 15 at Noon SL time, there was a premier film short screening at the Cinema in the WelcomeHub area. The featured show was the Episode One of "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex." The machinima takes place in the Fairelands of the yearly Fantasy Faire event. and was directed by Saffia Widdershins. It was mentioned in the Fantasy Faire and Linden blogs.
Calling all Second Life film buffs and machinima mavens! Get ready to
be enthralled by the cinematic magic of "Harland Quinn and the Omega Hex
Ep 1," directed by the talented Saffia Widdershins.
Join us on Wednesday, November 15th, at 12pm PT at the Second Life Cinema
for this exciting movie screening. Immerse yourself in the world of
Harland Quinn, where fantasy and adventure intertwine, leaving you at
the edge of your seat. The screening concludes with an exclusive
promotional commentary on the Fantasy Faire in Second Life, offering a
glimpse into another spectacular event within our virtual world.
I dropped in a little late, but the video started from the start for those just walking in. Saffia was there, as well as Strawberry Linden. It started off with a reporter asking one of the Fairelands officials about a supposed major threat called the Omega Hex, and the official playing down the threat as overblown. The scene then changes to a man going about a town in a desert in native garb who "ended up here because of a good run of bad choices" as he says to himself in his narration, and instead of magic would rather rely on his pistol. While going about, he's approached by an old adversary who offers a certain proposal.
The audience applauded at the film's end, "Bravo!" "That was amazing!" "It was a wonderful episode, congratulations to the entire team!" "This is so well done." And there was thanks for the theater, "Huge thanks to Linden Lab for letting us open this spectacular venue." Saffia was appreciative, "Thank you so much for watching!" She would also announce, "and in a few minutes ... there a PARTY!"
The party itself was in a skybox high above in the Garden of Dreams sim. Over two dozen went there, and danced to the music.
Saffia would mention several people who helped with the film, "Terra Volitant created the special effects. Bain Finch did those fantastic tracking shots. Aisling Sinclair created the avatars. Ketsui was the assistant director. And Julala and Lil Cinnamon organized the fantastic market in the desert!"
Episode One, "With Friends Like These," is still showing at the WelcomeHub Cinema until the end of the month. Episodes Two and Three can be seen on the Fairelands media website.
Last week on Thursday December 15, the made in Second Life movie (or machinima) "Waarheid" premiered at the "Film Threat" theater. Scheduled to start at 10AM SL time, the 100 second countdown started at 10:30. There were over a hundred people in the sim.
The movie is a dystopian sci-fi tale of which the script was written by Huckleberry Hax, who has also done over a dozen novels and numerous short stories in Second Life, the most noted being "AFK", and also plays the part of the antagonist, Belletristik. Caitlin Tobias is the actress behind the protagonist Erika Janssen/Waarheid. Other roles played include AvaJean Westland, Ylva (Soulfullife ), Boudicca Amat, Lydia Lindemann (Lydiadecremorne), Mich Michabo, and Strawberry Singh (Strawberry Linden). The movie is a sequel to Stomol, Huckleberry's first major SL film, which debuted in July 2020.
The movie starts with Waarheid / Erika trying to track down the location of the man who nearly killed her, recalling what happened to her, losing her arm, and her recovery. But things do not quite go as she planned. She eventually wakes up in what apparently is a very sophisticated virtual reality simulation, placed there by someone who says she wants to help her accomplish her tracking down her attempted killer, but wants her to trust him, which she's reluctant to do.
The movie ended with applause, and afterwards much of the cast and audience went to a club to celebrate at an afterparty, Huckleberry saying at one point, "We have this amazing venue tonight due to the generosity of Amelie (amilee34) and Ylva - please show your appreciation to the venue and DJ."
Yours truly doesn't want to give too much away about the movie, though with her in an ultra-realistic virtual reality simulator comes the question how does she truly know she's out of it (Total Recall anyone?) I was pleased with the ending. A lot of work was done on the movie and it was well-done.
A few days before on December 9, Strawberry would interview Huckleberry, Caitlin, and AvaJean in a Lab Gab episode. Huckleberry would say he didn't plan on doing a sequel to Stomol at first, but hearing what people thought eventually came up with the idea for Waarheid. It was filmed in a number of locations, some of which are no longer around. Huckleberry spoke that he has no plans for a sequel to this, though he won't say "never" either.
To see the movie, head to Film Threat (48/126/23). It should be there for a few more weeks. Exactly when the theater's next movie is scheduled to be up is unknown.
On Saturday April 2 at 1PM SL time, Draxtor Despres' full-length movie "Virtual Cultures in Pandemic Times" premiered at the "Film Threat" theater. The result of months of work, Draxtor had gone through both Second Life and the game of Animal Crossing, "following UC Irvine Department of Anthropology researchers Tom Boellstorff, Evan Conaway, Chandra Middleton and Sandy Wenger around Animal Crossing and Second Life to find out how the COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping online interaction,"interviewing many people.
The premiere was shown in front of a live audience, of which I was part of, as well as a number if Lindens and Moles. And Draxtor talked to a few people in the film for a few minutes after the showing, Boellstorff among them.
While Drax wasn't putting down Animal Crossing, he felt Second Life was so much more versatile, that the comparison between the two wasn't just apples and oranges, but more like "apples and a lamborgini."
Last month's Spooky Strides event had a number of events. Among them was an interview with a movie and TV actor whom had come onto Second Life. This was Yee Jee Tso. He answered a number of questions concerning his career. And he had a question of his own, about how to donate to the nearby kiosk.
There's been a change with the beach venue of the Sunweaver/Angel community. The Happy Vixen Beach club now has a theater one can enjoy watching one of many dozens of movies from cartoons to live action, classics from several decades ago to more recent releases, from memorable films to cheesy flicks. I had a few words with one of the two people behind this new attraction.
With this being Thanksgiving week, no doubt a network or two is showing a "turkey" of a movie or two. Here in Second Life, there's a place where you can watch turkeys every day: the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" Theater. Playing some of the worst movies ever to hit real life theaters for over ten years in Second Life, the MST3K place is still around and allowing fans to "riff" at their hearts content. The Newser had a look at the place as it stands today, and a few words with the current owner.
From Draxtor Despress on May 17, "'Our Digital Selves: My Avatar is me!' tells the story of 13 global
citizens and their avatars as they transcend their various disabilities
through artistic expression and making a home for themselves in the VR
Metaverse.
The film follows researchers Tom Boellstorff and Donna Davis as they
facilitate deep connections between real human beings in virtuality by
giving away digital land to build anything the participants of this
project can dream up.
As Boellstorff and Davis finish up their 3-year study made possible by a
grant from the National Science Foundation [entitled 'Virtual Worlds,
Disability and New Cultures of the Embodied Self'], the film provides a
window into a world of seemingly unlimited possibilities for borderless
human interaction, irrespective of physical location and or ability. 'Our Digital Selves' weaves together physical and virtual cinematography
as the protagonists’ backstories are re-enacted via Machinima.
The film will is available for free on YouTube and as a download for
qualifying institutions at http://ourdigitalselves.com/documentary "
