All Welcome!

Hosts:  Sonicity Fitzroy & Lowe Runo
Special Guest:  Persia Bravin

AGENDA

USA Launch - Friday, May 11, 2012 @NeoVictoria's SkyClub
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeoVictoria/8/6/0
*6PM SLT:  Welcome/Greet Guests, Radio Riel Live Broadcast with Gabrielle Riel.
*7PM SLT:   Gabrielle Riel Interview with Lowe Runo and Sonicity Fitzroy, Authors of Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking.

Brief Bios of Book Authors:
Lowe Runo is an independent filmmaker and professional photographer.  He is working on two RL documentary projects, related to two forthcoming books by Sonicity (under contract) to be published over the next two years.

Sonicity Fitzroy is a professor and media studies & practice author, as well as virtual journalist for Best of SL Magazine and Retropolitan.  She is working with Lowe Runo Productions filmmaker Belinda Barnes on a steampunk series, The Adventures of Bel and Soni, featured in Retropolitan Magazine.  Teaser at:  http://vimeo.com/38985715

Persia Bravin (Forward) is Best of SL Magazine Editor and BOSL Radio CEO, virtual journalist-at-large, and partner with Pop Art Lab (supporter of machinima/arts/music/media).

*Special Thanks to Persia Bravin for writing the Forward

*Acknowledge The Many Contributors (Roundtable discussions; Interviews/ Features/Chapters)
*Acknowledge contributor Skylar Smythe, author of The White Pigeon, a featured short story used to demonstrate the making of a machinima from story to script to animated film. Separate Screening with author  TBA for this summer.

*Q&A with Gabielle Riel, discussing the process, and significance of machinima.

*7:30PM SLT - Resume Radio Riel Music with Gabrielle Riel of Radio Riel.

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European Launch - Saturday, May 12th@NeoVictoria's SkyClub. Repeat Broadcast, beginning at Noon SLT.  Brief presentation break at 1PM SLT.  Music resumes at 1:30PM SLT.  Authors will be present to greet guests.
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/NeoVictoria/8/6/0
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From the Authors:
We appreciate all those involved in this project  and we consider it a collaborative effort among numerous people inside SL as well as those looking in from the outside.  This book is not intended to promote SL, but we seriously view it as a major platform for the creation of innovative machinima. 


This is not the definitive voice in machinima, but a collective voice within the virtual filmmaking community that represents many perspectives.   The machinima story will continue to evolve, and we are pleased to document this point in history, as well as to encourage so many to experiment with this medium through this book. 


Thanks to members and administrators/reviewers of the Second Life Machinima Artist Guild and the Professional Machinima Artist Guild and to AVIEW TV and Rockcliffe University Consortium for continued support - as well as so many others.  

Thank you to Best of Second Life Magazine for its monthly series, Masters of Machinima, written by Sonicity Fitzroy and initiated by Editor Persia Bravin.    So far featured Rysan Fall, Hypatia Pickens, and Emanuelle Courtois.  To be featured soon, Chantal Harvey (MaMachinima) and Tony Dyson of Star Wars fame (and many more Hollywood features in the past and to come). Dyson and Harvey are partners in the new real time production company, Scissores. 


Thanks to NeoVictoria's founder/owner Asil Ares for her organizational skills and making this book launch a reality.   Thanks to Gabrielle Riel for lending her DJ talent and station for this event. 

Special thanks to those who participated in the roundtable discussions that helped to inform the authors on the diversity of opinions with regard to machinima. Roundtable participants included Graceful Aeon, Juris Amat, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, Asil Ares, Ataro Asbrink, Baird Barnard, Pyewacket Bellman, Code-Warrior Carling, Penumbra Carter, Pamala Clift, Evie Fairchild, Clover Fenwitch, Moto Gamba, Kit Guardian, Chantal Harvey, Laurina Hawks, Brenda Jericho, LaPiscean Liberty, Alley McNally, Thinkerer Melville, Moo Money, Joel Savard, Almo Schumann, Kara Trapdoor, Cisko Vandeverre, ke Violet, Tikaf Viper, xox Voyager, Johnathan2007 Whitfield, Gene Williams, 1angelcares Writer, Gwenette Writer, and Suzy Yue, among others. Not all were cited but your views were significant toward formulating themes in this book.  Others interviewed included Al Peretz, Judy Lee (Decorgal), Iono Allen, Kate Fosk, Michael Gray, Rysan Fall, Wiz Nordberg, Draxtor Depres and Yani Jowisz.  Special thanks to author Skylar Smythe for her story “The White Pigeon” used as a machinima example.  Feature and chapter contributors are listed in the Table of Contents. Of course, Torley Linden is mentioned as a valuable resource, and so is Ricky Grove for sound. Others are listed in the index. So many others...

Hearty thanks to professional machinimist moo Money for her ideas, coordination of interviews, and her transcription skills that she offered to the authors. Sonicity also thanks her co-author, Lowe Runo, for his idea to write a book on this topic, and for introducing her to the world of machinima and involving her strategically in Lowe Runo Productions@.

Voices in the Dark

Reflections through Machinima:
The 20th Anniversary of the 1992 LA Riots...April 29th-May 4th.
I have to admit as much as I advocate machinima as a wonderful storytelling format, I do think one should seriously consider what platform might best serve to present a message or simply reach an audience.  In 2009, my book KJLH-FM and the Los Angeles Riots of 1992:  Compton's Neighborhood Station in the Aftermath of the Rodney King Verdict (McFarland), I wrote the story of one African-American radio station (owned by Stevie Wonder) and its crew that reported on the civil unrest as it unfolded in front of the broadcast studio.  

The book relies on transcripts, interviews, and other resources to tell the story of the station.  Since then I have had requests for the audio - the actual coverage and my interviews - by several people and media companies for a variety of purposes.  I provided "background" for both StoryCorps and the new documentary Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots by VH1 producer Wesley Jones, and to the extent that I was useful I don't really know.  But I will be looking for my name in the credits, in the latter instance. Over the past two years, I have tried to find many ways to get the word out about KJLH-FM, a commercial but community-oriented station that rose to the moment as media makers, to help seek solutions in a time of crisis, and more importantly to serve as a voice in the dark.  So what has this to do with machinima? 

 I produced a machinima - Voices in The Dark -  based on my research and interviews, and sound archives. 

As many of you know, my strength rests with sound practice, but I wanted to experiment with an audio piece that I made, taking it to a new level, conceptualizing it with machinima (for the visual component, although none was truly necessarily).  Due to the gravity of the issues discussed by Carl Nelson, Eric Reed, and others on the soundtrack (actual KJLH broadcast and my interview excerpts), I did not want to approach this topic by reenacting the riots:  rather I decided to make this a reflective piece, one that looks back at a particular event through the eyes of the present, or perhaps the (virtual) future. 

To my amazement, I found a station that reminded me of KJLH-FM located in District 8 of Second Life.  The sole character portrays myself, as a virtual journalist (which I am), looking back as I encounter this vacated station 10 years in the future.   Given the drop in minority media ownership to dismal numbers, that well might be the case for the remainder of independently owned black radio stations in the USA  - regardless I hope not.   I have mixed feelings whether this piece works as an appropriate, reflective creative work fitting of the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles civil unrest.  I did want to try, experiment, with respect.   It is interesting that the same company that published my KJLH book also contracted the recently released machinima book (with Lowe Runo).   I will consider this a sign (in jest or not) foreshadowing that the two - the radio broadcast and the machinima visuals - were meant to partner, at least in this instance.   

So I offer you some contemplation on what works for machinima, and what might not.  Is it just something you feel?  - how do you determine appropriateness of topic to a particular medium? - machinima as real-time animation in an artificial environment compared to creating a traditional video piece where I might have wandered down those streets once torn with conflict in the early 1990s, like a journalist revisiting a former war zone.  KJLH's listners are good people, and should not be judged by what was show on much of mainstream media.  I chose to refrain from showing too much of that, what we have  already seen the news.

The community of listeners simply needed a way to express dismay and grief, and this particular radio station was there to listen and help when possible - keeping so many people off the streets, and helping them locate loved ones.  To me, that is radio at its best - it is the people behind that station that provided the opportunity for communication and even healing. Radio was powerful that day.  What is the power of machinima?  Who are its producers and storytellers with messages to tell, that might bring people together, shed some light on an issue, or engage people emotionally to new levels, in contemporary and creative ways to reach a new generation. 

An addendum to all this, one of my students, Phusion in SL, viewed my piece and created a take-off from another perspective - one of an African-American filmmaker from South Chicago.  This perspective was one that I could not present as merely an observer.  When we went back to the SL radio station to reshoot, the call letters had fallen to the ground, and that added to the feeling of his piece. 

He added new footage, changed things around, and inserted his SL-self into the work, and certainly has a few more slick moves than his professor.  He's been a filmmaker for awhile, and had learned animation - machinima was new to him (but he's picking it up quickly).  Add to that he composed music for the machinima.   He just completed his graduate thesis project, a documentary about the importance of African-American father figures for young men.  This is his first "official" machinima, other than a couple of fun ones that he put together while learning.   

Thanks to Lowe Runo Productions and Rysan's Fall Films for their warm welcome to him in SL as a beginning machinimatographer. In hindsight, if we had more time, it would have been incredibly powerful if we had merged our characters into the same work.  I continue to seek new ways to expand machinima as a tool for cultural expression.  

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KJLH and The Los Angeles Riots
http://www.amazon.com/KJLH-FM-Los-Angeles-Riots-1992/dp/0786443863
Voices in the Dark by Sonicity Fitzroy (the observer, original version) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQGSE4V0QNs
Voices in the Dark w/Phusion's perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35mg7DNNoFk&feature=youtu.be

On lighter news, please join me and Lowe Runo for our "machinima" book party, Friday/Saturday, May 12-13th, with full details coming the first week of May.  Thanks for all who have been our friends and colleagues since the start, as well as now and those we hope to meet on our journey to explore media to the ends of the virtual worlds. 

Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking http://www.amazon.com/dp/0786461713

The Professional Machinima Artist Guild and Lowe Runo Productions graciously host Magnum: The Machinima Review. All Rights Reserved.

Book Release - Thanks to So Many!

Building a Virtual Machinima Community

March 10, 2012.    That is one of those days of relief - the release date of Machinima: The Art and Practice of VirtualFilmmaking.  This is my fourth book, and co-authored with Lowe Runo.   It is published under our real names, and I have to tell you we put some real life hard work into it.    What we are most proud of is – its inclusiveness, all the people that were willing to contribute to our public roundtable sessions and the others who granted us time and permission for interviews, and others who contributed chapters and featured discussions after the chapters.   

Birthing a book is a labor of love, and the process typically takes more than a year when dealing with academic presses.    We had the opportunity to go back before the final printing and make some updates.  But you know really, although there are many more people engaged in the process of making machinima, there are some basic tenants that remain timeless.  Machinima, even at its most abstract level, is about communicating to and connecting with audiences.   The people involved in this project are far too many to completely list here, and the book index and acknowledgments pay tribute to them to some extent.

The Contributors

A special section of interviews featured Al Peretz, “Decorgal” Judy Lee, Iono Allen, Kate Fosk, Michael Gray, Rysan Fall and Wiz Nordberg. End of chapter comments were provided by Chantal Harvey, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, 1angelzares Writer, Toxic Menges, Jonathan Pluskota, and Jay Jay Jegathesan.  Two invited chapters were presented by copyright expert Todd Herreman and Dr. Bryan Carter, owner of Virtual Harlem in Second Life.  Phaylen Fairchild gave some closing thoughts. Skylar Smythe’s The White Pigeon was featured as a storyboard example. 

Roundtable participants included Graceful Aeon, Juris Amat, Pooky Amsterdam, Larkworthy Antfarm, Asil Ares, Ataro Asbrink, Baird Barnard, Code-Warrior Carling, Penumbra Carter, Pamala Clift, Evie Fairchild, Clover Fenwitch, Moto Gamba, Kit Guardian, Chantal Harvey, Laurina Hawks, Brenda Jericho, LaPiscean Liberty, Alley McNally, Thinkerer Melville, Moo Money, Joel Savard, Almo Schumann, Kara Trapdoor, Cisko Vandeverre, ke Violet, Tikaf Viper, xox Voyager, Johnathan2007 Whitfield, Gene Williams, 1angelcares Writer, Gwenette Writer, and Suzy Yue, among others. Not all were cited (and some just came to listen) but all comments in voice and text were significant toward formulating themes in this book.

    

As would be expected, other machinima leaders and filmmakers are cited as well, and their accomplishments and advice were noted (i.e., Eric Call, Frank Dellario, Tony Dyson, Peter Greenaway, Ricky Grove, Hugh Hancock, Peter Jackson, Katherine Anna Kang, Kate Lee, Torley Linden, Sherwin Liu, George Lucas, Paul Marino, Phil Rice, Steven Spielberg, Jason Springarn-Koff, ColeMarie Soleil, and David Lewis Yewdall).

About the Contents
This book presents an overview of machinima’s rich and significant role in modern cinematic history, but it leans toward filmmaking in virtual worlds unlike other books.  Admittedly our book has an inherent bias to virtual worlds like World of Warcraft, The Sims and (particularly) Second Life, and touches upon emerging opportunities.   The Machinima Reader (MIT Press, 2011), edited by Henry Lowood and Michael Nitche, offers a significant analytical lens through its curated essay collection from film and media scholars and industry leaders from the gaming world.  I recommend it highly as a critical study into machinima’s evolution, and applaud it as the first of its kind to contribute to scholarly discussions of this maturing genre.    Our book, Machinima: The Art and Practice of Virtual Filmmaking, attempts to situate machinima in the mainstream of cinema, television and animation, and aims to develop the conceptual and technical skills of the amateur and the intermediate machinimatographer.   Topics covered include story and character development, setting and lighting, audio, post-production, and copyright considerations.   Those interviewed are mainly filmmakers, writers, actors, and artists producing and working within interactive immersive platforms. 

Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference

The book was released in time for us to take a break, and attend the Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference (held March 15-17).  Lowe Runo co-presented with me for a session on machinima storyboarding in the Machinima Auditorium, near the close of the conference.  It was really a practical way to consider conceptualizing your machinima in an interactive environment like Second Life.  The idea is to develop your characters and plot in storybook form, so it becomes a creative means to pre-visualize the lighting and setting of the filmmaking environment and to allow for experimentation with animations and shot sequences; it also serves as an added-value to any machinima project.  A Steampunk Christmas: Adventures of Bel and Soni became a keepsake for us, and a roadmap to some creative projects in the future.  On stage with us was Best of SL Magazine's Society Columnist Kara Trapdoor and LRP filmmaker Belinda Barnes, a talented actress as well.

A significant amount of time was dedicated to the educational and creative practices of machinima through this conference, and kudos to all the MAG members that presented this year and those who entered their films in the competition.  (Special acknowledgement of media sponsors, Treet TV and Pooky Media, for being out front in promoting machinima to its fullest).

In Closing
I would to love to say that Machinima: The Art and Practice of VirtualFilmmaking (March 2012, McFarland) is the definitive voice on the history and practice of machinima.  We did attempt to do so, but really it is the latest so far - and such chronicling of past and present contributions are a community effort amidst a variety scholars and practitioners over time;  as I write this, there are so many uncovering links to its evolution  - most recently one being machinimist SpyvsSpyAeon on his site, Your Machinima.  Also there you will find information to the upcoming 48 Hour Film Project  - Project48Machinima, a wonderful but grueling event that ignites healthy competition and showcases machinima in all its fun and fury.  Legendary Hollywood special effects guru Tony Dyson (notably Star Wars) is one of the judges, by the way.

I would like to suggest, in closing, that our book offers a very practical guide to the making of machinima, and contextualizes it within the larger framework of media making.  We hope to engage many newcomers and media students into its potential as an art form and commercial applications.  We look forward to the continual growth and maturity of the machinima community.  

We will post announcements on a BOOK PARTY and some related events coming up in the month ahead, tentatively April 20-21^st, taking into consideration the various time zones across the globe.  More to come…

The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously sponsors Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review.  

What’s in a Song? Hearing Imagery

The soundtrack of a film, beyond its soundscape, brings to mind a whole host of favorite tunes that we occasionally hum, particularly when triggered by the title of a movie.    Grease!   Just one example I offer you on Australian Day today.   Olivia Newton-John – both teen sensation in the 1980s (although much older in the film) and song seductress with her sweet vocal cords – captured the hearts, eyes, and ears of a generation.   The use of silence, as well, is no doubt powerful in a film, but often more so when juxtaposed to a well-planned soundtrack. 

Beyond those well-timed explosions or perfectly sonically cued scenes where a rumble foreshadows trouble ahead, the music of a film makes the imagery and dialogue memorable.   The music of Apocalypse Now is one I return to from time to time – notably the music of the Doors, the sound of a military helicopter and shot of its propellers transitioning into a fan rotating above Martin Sheen as he lay on his bed.  These elements work together to create stunning imagery, which for many of us remains imprinted in our mind and triggered to recall when we hear Jim Morrison’s voice singing this song on a classic rock radio station.  

Do you remember that song?  The music and lyrics are haunting. 


Enter Leonard Cohen    


A timeless lyricist.   

“In dreams the truth is learned that all good works are done in the absence of a caress.”

His words are the substance of life.  I recently attended a Second Life exhibition (conceptualized and curated by Morgana Nagorski, January 21-22) that paid homage to the very much alive songwriter/singer Leonard Cohen, and I was reminded of how much his music has impacted our viewing experiences.    His words are often raw, passionate and lingering.   For a man who sings of loneliness, he certainly has been a wonderful lover to the image.   

The exhibition I speak of was Unified Heart, with the ultimate results of bringing together 20 artists to create photographic art to reflect the meaning behind Cohen’s work – primarily relying on a line or two of the lyrics or merely the song title.    

The imagery was stunning, and if a photograph can truly represent 1,000 words, I must muse at how each frame in a movie accompanied by his music impacts our cinematic interpretation.  Cohen spends sometimes as long as one year on a song, and its impact spans cinematic generations.

I invite you to review one site particularly – a simple listing of Leonard Cohen’s songs (more than 50 songs) that were included in film soundtracks that have spanned decades.  

Let’s not forget that the image can be strengthened or weakened by the sound – be it a song or effect. 
  


In Closing

Happy Australian Day, Olivia!  Leonard is from Canada, but I wish him well too.   On a side note, in 2006, a documentary was released on the work of Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man.   The premise was to pay tribute to his work, with the narrative woven around interviews with Cohen and footage from a staged concert of his work in Australia by some major singing artists who shared their lyrical interpretations.   The film features Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Bono, Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, Rufus Wainwright, Beth Orton, Kate Mcgarrigle, and Anna Mcgarrigle.   The documentary was produced by Mel Gibson, Lian Lunson, and Bruce Davey.    

There you see the connections here – Leonard has a special place in the heart of Australians.   Sometimes I have no idea how might this column evolve, but I am pleased at how things come together when I seek to explore an idea or theme.    Perhaps that was the intention behind the Cohen exhibition  - Unified Heart.    

The imagery in this blog was captured at the Second Life exhibition.  Special thanks to Morgana for inspiring us to look back at one of the great songwriters of life and cinema.  To be released January 31st, Cohen brings forth his 12th studio album, Old Ideas.  It was streamed online at NPR and The Guardian on the 22nd and 23rd.   He is 78 years old, and his ideas are very much relevant to today. 

Sites of Interest - 

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/leonard_cohen_im_your_man

http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/filmo.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgana_nagorski/6714345371

*Photo credits:  Various artists, curated by Morgana Nagorski.  Photographed by Sonicity Fitzroy at Unified Heart exhibition, January 21, 2012. Public exhibition.

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New publication release date, Machinima: The Art & Practice of Virtual Filmmaking (McFarland, March 2012) by Sonicity Fitzroy and Lowe Runo (Forward by Persia Bravin). The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously provides syndication of Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review to AviewTV.com

It’s A Wonderful Machinima Life

Let’s take a step back and look at the year in machinima, by reflecting on the plethora of talented contestants that participated in the UWA MachinimUWA IV:  Art of the Artists Challenge.  Such participation shows the growth of the machinima community and the maturity of the art form in and of itself.  

I would venture to conclude that it was a wonderful year for virtual filmmaking in Second Life.   The UWA machinima screening in December is merely one indication of machinima’s acceptance in-world, and of course a growing appreciation of it as an art form, particularly as real-time animation, from those looking inward from the outside media world.  2011 was an excellent month for the art and creative world of Second Life, and machinima is no exception here.   Such success can be attributed to the hard work behind the scenes of premiere curator FreeWee Ling and UWA SL Founder JayJay Zifanwe.   The MachinimUWA IV: Art of the Artists rose the stakes for prize money and talent inside Second Life, and demonstrated the role of virtual creativity to those watching from the outside.  

The MachinimUWA IV: Art of the Artists rose the stakes for prize money and talent inside Second Life, and demonstrated the role of virtual creativity to those watching from the outside.   In the machinima awards, top honors went to Tutsy Navarathna’s Welcome to the Other Side (a tribute to Marshall McLuhan).   Other winners included:  Artwashers by Friday Siamendes (USA), Art of the Artists by Fuschia Nightfire (England), Qubit: Cognitive Distortion by spyVspy (Portugal) and Virtual Love by Iono Allen (France).

Other winners of various machinima categories included Hypatia Pickens (Yeah), L1aura Loire (Transformation  Virtual Art on the Brink), Veruca Vandyke (Dual),  and Cecil Hirvil (Citizen of the Universe), among others.  The awards ceremony and special machinima screening was held at the BOSL-UWA Amphitheater last Sunday, December 11^th.  

Machinima, as an art form, is a powerful filmmaking and storytelling medium, and that is acknowledged through UWA’s special awards of various categories:   Emotion (Hypatia Pickens’ Yeah), Breaking the Barriers (L1aura Lorire’s Transformation Virtual Art on the Brink), The Soul (Veruca Vandyke’s Dual), The Human Heart (Hypatia Picken’s Love Prayer), and a series of excellence awards for film direction, narration, investigation, description, and so forth.  Such honors of excellence included Fuschia Nightfire, Hypatia Pickens, Oono Eiren & Sayzee Ishtari, Urban Steampunk, Iono Allen, SpyvSpy Aeon, Tutsy Navarethna,  Braclo Eber, Glasz DeCuir, Cecil Hirvi, Miso Susanowa, Blue Oleader, Friday Siamendes, L1aura Loire, Nicolex Moonwall, Ormand Lionheart, Penumbra Carter, Spiral Silverstar, Haveit Neox, Ginger Alsop, JJCCC Coronet, Moana Littleboots, Sophia Yates, and others (in no specific order).   

Some of those names are seasoned pros, but so many new filmmakers have found their way into Second Life.    Much credit must be given to UWA, MaMachinima, Second Life Machinima Artist Guild, Pop Art Lab and other machinima friendly communities for fostering growth and allowing for exhibition.    Hats off to all!   It’s been a wonderful Second Life for the machinima world!

The UWA blog has links to the winning machinima (along with links and additional information about other categories, winners, and honorable mentions - http://uwainsl.blogspot.com.

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Forthcoming, Machinima: The Art & Practice of Virtual Filmmaking (McFarland, Fall/Winter 2011/2012) by Sonicity Fitzroy and Lowe Runo (Forward by Persia Bravin). The Professional Machinima Artist Guild graciously provides syndication of Sonicity’s blog Magnum: The Machinima Review to AviewTV.com