November is Machinima Month!

In recent news, Lowe Runo Productions contributed to the wonderful tribute show "Gladys Knight & The Pips," featuring William Guest, an original pip, who came into Second Life with a customized avatar to speak to event attendees on November 9th!   Pictured, William Guest, Lady Dhyana Ziegler, Lowe Runo, Belinda Barnes & Sonicity Fitzroy.   Full article and pics featured in December's Best of SL Magazine, http://magazine.thebestofsl.com/

It was great to get our Machinima Artist Guild Founder Lowe Runo out on the virtual town this month.   And what a perfect month to drop into Second Life.   The buzz of machinima was in the air.

Here's a quick review of Machinima, as we wind down 2013.    

The Machinima Expo had another successful run this year.   Machinima was screened throughout the day, live, from www.machinima-expo.com and its Facebook page this past Sunday, November 17, 2013 in the one day virtual film festival.   It is the ideal place for professionals and amateurs to share advice and swap techniques.  So once again, the machinima community comes together to enjoy a new year of films.   If you missed the festival, the expo runs 24/7 until November 24th, at http://machinima-expo.com/v3/.      

The winners are listed here, http://machinima-expo.com/v3/winners-of-the-machinima-expo-6-jury-awards-announced/.   Congrats to Executive Producers Ricky Grove and Ingrid Moon and their team for 6 successful years.   Hope you got a chance to attend the post festival party in Second Life.

On November 16th, the day before, another long running competition is the Machinima 48 Hour Film Project, and this year it introduced us to a new year of winners.   View the films here, http://www.48hourfilm.com/en/machinima/

"Here we go!.... MY FIRST BLOG EVER!"

That headline was posted five years ago by Machinima Artist Guild Founder Lowe Runo!   This Thursday is a special day in MAG history.   On November 21, 2008, Lowe Runo posted his first blog on the Second Life Machinima Artist Guild, http://slmachinimaarts.ning.com.   He started off, admittedly nervous about this new venture:  "Am I nervous? Yes I am, but I'm also excited. I hope everyone who enters here learns something new concerning the creative process."

He continued, "I am a NOOB at making machinima. My first barbaric machinima was made in August of this year (2008). My formal training is as a professional still photographer [but I] suffered some 'creative burn-out.'  Now, I find the challenge of making motion pictures in a virtual world intriguing and enjoyable."

Lowe has moved behind the scenes, but has always supported the guild financially.   All he has ever asked of his membership is to be respectful to one another's works and ideas. 

He closed that first blog with, "... I believe we will have a successful and creative network here." Five years later, MAG continues strong, due also to the long-staying dedication of its moderators, who provide a comfortable atmosphere for critique and experimentation.   

 

I found what I believe to be his first full-length video - a "barbaric" machinima as he calls it.   "Second Life Kung Fu Fighting" will bring a smile to your face, if you can remember your first machinima.  So be gentle, and remember all those projects helped to develop his skills that he uses professionally today. 

Here's a few others from those early days just before MAG was born:  The Far Away - August 25, 2008,  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmmCvEJzgoA  and Second Life Swing - August 29, 2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTuOOUIi69k

Oh then there's this one, posted in September 2008, titled A Hobo Second Life -  ah, those early days!   How did things get so busy and complicated in Second Life?!  Now it seems one project after another consumes his time in real life and in the virtual.

You can visit his Lowe Runo channel, which has not been updated on YouTube for awhile due to real life work & project contractual reasons.  But it is always fun to see the early works of the first Second Life machinima producers.  There are quite a few out there, and they are always watching for new talents on the horizon, and pleased when they see machinima is much alive and evolving.  November has been a great month for machinima!   Lowe promises good things to come for MAG.  

 Happy 5th to Founder Lowe Runo and to the Machinima Artist Guild.   

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And congrats to all of November's winners!  

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 The Professional Machinima Artist Guild and Lowe Runo Productions graciously host Magnum:  The Machinima Review.  Sonicity Fitzroy, author of Second Life, Media and the Other Society (Peter Lang, 2010) and Machinima:  The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking (with Lowe Runo, McFarland, 2012).   http://www.amazon.com/Phylis-Johnson/e/B001HOW4U2/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1354606175&sr=1-2-ent