The Month of Machinima Launches in Second Life

Crap Mariner, known gridwide for his/her sunny disposition

Picture a giant, oddly shaped, metallic geodesic dome on a small island in the middle of the ocean.  Inside there is a dissolute robot standing on a stage surrounded by comfortable seating for hundreds. This was my first glimpse of the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) machinima theatre built by Werner Kurosawa.

Ignoring the rusty robot for the moment, this place is cool and it is the home base for the first Month of Machinima (MoM) event starting today.  The talented SL film artists now have a central inworld location to be viewed and appreciated.  I don't think I was supposed to be there when one of the organizers was testing the functionality and I'm certain I wasn't supposed to click on things.  But I was, and I did, and it worked and I am impressed.

LEA Theatre (moderate)

The films are available to view in the theatre and all viewers will be able to see the video. Let me repeat that before the whining about V2 starts up, all viewers can see the videos.  New machinima will be launched on the first wednesday of every month and then also available on the MoM YouTube Channel which is being activated today. Go to the MoM Wiki page to learn how to submit your own entries.

The is the first project of the LEA Committee and they have obviously been working very hard to not only organize this event but also to create a multi sim destination that highlights and celebrates art in Second Life.  Construction isn't complete yet  but there will be more to see than I had expected.  This includes 3 sims hosting exhibitions by SL Artists and the application process for those exhibits will be announced shortly.  There will also be Bryn Oh's wild new Avatar Games which should launch next month.

LEA Sandbox Under Construction

The LEA Committee members are:

• Bryn Oh
• Chantal Harvey
• Dancoyote Antonelli 
• Dekka Raymaker
• Dizzy Banjo
• Jayjay Zifanwe 
• L1Aura Loire
• Rez Menoptra 
• Sasun Steinbeck 
• Werner Kurosawa
• Courtney Linden

According to Sasun Steinbeck "Our plans for the future include some great things - a welcome center with information about the arts in SL and educational materials for aspiring artists, a full region for Architectural arts, another full region dedicated full-time to Machinima, the Art Sandbox to help build community and encourage creativity and collaboration, and we will be starting an Artist in Residence program for some deserving artists with plenty of land to experiment on. We also plan to build an education center, perfect for hosting lectures, classes, and discussions related to SL art. We also have one region allocated to adult art, so the good stuff won't be left out! :)"

You need to bookmark their blog so that you can keep up with what's happening!

Bryn Oh's Rusted Orrey

The launch of MoM this morning was very successful and honestly had the funkiest audience I've ever seen at an inworld event.  We were entertained by a distinguished monkey playing the accordian and all spent time ducking the tiny ghost with a bloody chainsaw.  Then we had some speeches and viewed 13 wildly diverse but fabulous films. There were a few little glitches but nothing that spoiled it for anybody (but the one Tiny who pointed out the lack of appropriate seating for avatars his size, I hope somebody is fixing that).  You should go visit the theatre and check out both the machinima and the unique technology being used. 

Oh yes, that rusty piece of scrap metal in the photo at the top?  I don't know exactly what the Committee was smoking when they deliberated but, the very first machinima shown in the new theatre was..... you guessed it .....Crap's.  I think s/he's finally forced to wear the title "artist" although I suspect the word "grumpy" will find its way in there somehow.  You can watch his film here but do go check out the rest on the MoM Youtube Channel.