For a couple of months we’ve been really looking forward to the International Machinima Expo - one which, by some circumstance will be held in Second Life this year! Woohoo! In our very own backyard! Now, there are many reason to be thrilled about this, it introduces people who may be otherwise oblivious to this new media film-making. Secondly, it’s happening in Second Life, a platform largely ignored by many of those who work across other platforms because of the unpredictability SL can throw at you - We know all about lag, clunky animations, sim crashes, oftentimes it can be frustrating, but we know the potential is HUGE, and we love it! So it’s nice to see many external machinimists step into the world and see… well, films mostly made outside of SL. Remember - It’s not an event intended to be SLcentric - It’s about machinima created globally in various engines and platforms - but it would have been nice to have seen a couple films made by some of SL machinimists, in my opinion - whatever thats worth! (We all know what they say about opinions!)
They will be hosting a panel called “Women in Machinima” during the festivities - Michelle Pettit-Mee will be on the panel. She has made some amazing shorts in the Sims 2 platform including the enchanting and poetic feature called “The Snow Witch” which is something every machinimist should see! Michelle is just one Machinimist whose talent was noted and embraced by real world game development company BioWare! Also serving on the panel is Beans Canning, who, along with her partner Michael, established a virtual office in Second Life for their production facility Pineapple pictures - together they have created quite a few animated shorts using Moviestorm and various other programs, and are filming a feature length film in SL (I think!) which should be really exciting!
I’m not altogether familiar with the other panelists, someone named LifeFactory Writer, and Lainy Voom who did a really lovely Sherwood Anderson adaptation entitled “The Dumb Man” about a year ago - but I was surprised and a little disheartened by the lack of presence of consistent machinimists who are, and have been making regular machinima content, or who are incredibly familiar with the trials, tribulations and triumphs of virtual filmmaking in a platform such a Second Life - Women who I would have tripped over my own feet to hear speak, and whom i would take notes from! There was no Chantal Harvey- a SL machinimist who has made some brilliant Machinima and also works in real life television production in the Netherlands, a woman who has crossed mediums and recognized and utilized virtual filmmaking as a viable storytelling tool again and again. Also, Kerria Seabrook, part of IllClan, who is breaking new ground with her fantastically funny Tiny Nations machinima is certainly a fresh voice that I think many budding or hopeful machinimists would love to quiz! Susi Spicoli is another ingenious machinimist who has made it a profession, she has done work for many real world businesses as well as documentaries within Second Life. CodeBastard Redgrave is a magnificently talented machinimist and innovator who invented the Machinicam AND the brand new FilterCam that many in the industry use within the platform, it has become a staple in the creative process, she, along with DiVAS, were invited to exhibit at the Virtual Renaissance at the Museum Of Natural History in Florence. She was also voted machinimist of the year by readers of The Avastar and is a remarkable photographer on top of everything else! Lyra Muse who does Machinima for Millions of us and has had her work shown internationally via the official GossipGirl Website and has translated many real world brands into Virtual machinima! Unfortunately, you won’t see any of these women at the Expo. 
There are so many women (And Men!) who are redefining machinima in Second Life and beyond, giving an industry that seems to typically get a dismissive eye-roll from outsiders some true validation! There are many exciting benefits to having the expo in Second Life, and, okay, aside from this small issue that makes my nose wrinkle, It truly deserves your full support! A whole new demographic can learn about machinima and get to know people making it happen, perhaps even be inspired to make some their own - that’s the original intention of Second Life, inspiration, imagination.
So head on over to the International Machinima Expo on November 9th, from 9am to 9om SLT. Visit the SLURL here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jamville/151/214/23 watch some amazing films!
See the program of events HERE.
***Edit***
It has been brought to my attention the indeed Kerria Seabrook is in fact participating in the expo! I’m thrilled! Their Tiny Nations machinima is one you shouldn’t miss! Thanks LifeFactory for correcting me!
Tags: DiVAS, International Machinima Expo, Machinima, Machinima Expo 2008, second life, virtual reality
November 8th, 2008 at 6:16 am
Hi Phaylen, I can’t agree with you that the panel is somehow not current or not relevant. Most of the panelists chosen have been creating machinima for over 4 years. One creates machinima for a living, 3 are active SL machinimists, 1 uses multiple engines, and 2 have huge presence in the Sims2 machinima community. Most of the panel have created 5 or more works this last year (including myself), with at least 2 artists creating a handful of SL commercial works for companies including MOU. The panelists have also had works shown at various RL film and machinima festivals globally. Their work also translates well outside their engine of choice into the greater machinima community, not all machinima does that. As much as I love SL, this is not an SL centric festival and the movies shown and artists chosen reflect that. Thanks, Lainy.
November 8th, 2008 at 6:26 am
That came across as quite harsh when I wasn’t meaning it to be. I understand what you are saying, the panel is okay, but why is this person missing, and this other person missing. I guess that is true on all panels at all festivals, it’s a subjective decision?
November 8th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Would just like to point out that the original post I replied to has been edited.
Thanks.
November 8th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hi Lainy! You’re absolutely right, it is subjective (And I didn’t see it had been commented, I was still trying not to appear harsh in my wording so that i didn’t leave anyone with the impression that I opposed the event or the decisions made! I apologize for editing as you were commenting!)
I support the event wholly but felt, regardless of that, compelled to voice my thoughts. Above and beyond all else, I expect it to be hugely successful, beneficial and educational to those who attend! It was not intended to be an attack or a question of qualifications regarding those participating, (If it appeared that way, I apologize profusely!) more of an opportunity for me to tip my hat to those within the machinima community whose creations I, myself admire personally and professionally, people who have advanced the perception of Machinima created within SL by leaps and bounds.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:16 am
Hi Phaylen! I don’t think I read your initial post correctly in the first place, I had just woken up and not had IV injection of coffee yet. I’m known for jumping to conclusions so the fault is probably with me. I regretted my first post as soon as I had sent it anyhow. I totally understand the points you were raising, there probably isn’t a festival in history that pleased everyone.
November 8th, 2008 at 8:40 am
You’re absolutely right, and you weren’t harsh. I think you make some very valid points, and I appreciate the dialogue - Today I had the great pleasure of meeting LifeFactory (Right now, actually) and I am glad the expo has given me the opportunity to meet an artist like this i had been previously unfamiliar with! I believe strongly in mutual support and a sense of community, one individuals success is a success for us all as an industry. I hope my views don’t leave anyone with the impression that i feel bad choices were made, or anyone is unqualified. It was a chance for me to vocalize my support of a great many artists. And i look forward to the opportunity to meet you as well, i am a great fan of The Dumb Man!
November 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am
All your points are valid ones. I believe in community as well. Strange way to meet, but Hi, and I hope to see you at the festival this weekend!
November 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
It was nice to meet you today Phaylen and chatting together with Chantal, who I think is terrific. I look forward to seeing you at the festival tomorrow.
Hello also to Lainy *waves and smiles!*
As we discussed today–and this was news to me– there appears to be a disconnect between the SL machinima community and the “external” machinima community. From what I gather, this is a cultural divide as much as anything.
I know efforts were made to promote this event to the SL machinima community, but that it is also a notoriously hard one to reach. Very few SL films were even submitted to the event. The disconnect between the two “cultures” appears (to this outsider)to be dual-sided.
I do my best to remain independent of circles, and have met lovely people in this field both in and out of SL. I look forward to and encourage others to find a way to do so, as well.
For anyone who may be interested, my film “Life on Life” can be seen in my theater in SL at: http://tinyurl.com/TheLifeFactorySL , and I would love to invite any of you to come and to please say hello to me.
Hopefully I will meet many of you soon!
Best wishes,
LifeFactory Writer
November 8th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Hi Life!
I think you’re absolutely correct on every point in the assessment. But in circumstances like that, it really challenging because the divide almost seems self imposed, and no one is really singularly to blame because it’s unintentional. Just an unfortunate dynamic that somehow developed apparently before us! But the great thing is the chasm between the two cultures can be bridged. Phil made an excellent point in stating that people have to realize across platforms that people aren’t *just* making machinima in their platform- it’s important to acknowledge creators and work from across the board. We heard someone today, an SL machinimist state that they are ignored by the external machinima industry, and we know that efforts to get word out about the expo fell on deaf ears in SL for the most part. Somehow, we need to get everyone, regardless of their choice of platform, to the same table. Then we could really learn from one another. Sad, I think, because organically we are really all coming from the very same place, a desire to tell stories.
November 8th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Good to hear from you again, Phaylean, and so soon!
For the sake of the blog readers, I do want to say that Kerria Seabrook’s Tiny Nation piece is a part of this year’s event, and was also included in the machinima festival in New York last weekend, where she and her partner Paul (also of the IllClan, spoke on a panel.) Best wishes, All!
November 8th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Oh Yes! Thank you very much Life! I’m going to ammend that post now to reflect that! I’m really excited about her work, i think they have wonderful things in store for us!
November 9th, 2008 at 3:25 am
Hi Lifefactory *waves back!
There are loads of machinima groups out there that don’t connect with each other for whatever reason. Take the Sims2 machinima group, only a very small percentage of that group will watch anything other than sims machinima, and only want to connect with other simmers. It’s very much cut off from what other groups are doing and has it’s own culture, it’s likes and dislikes (I have a completely different set of people watching my sims movies than my SL movies, which sometimes baffles me). I see a similar thing with SL machinima and WoW machinima. I suspect it might be true of all machinima groups and I have no idea why this is or how bridges can be made.
In some respects SL machinima is quite special in that we can document virtual events, art installations, builds. I don’t believe this type of machinima will ever be really accepted outside of SL culture because the wider machinima community are mostly interested in fictional story based machinima.
A small number of people don’t care about platforms, they just want to see well crafted machinima and those people tend to hang about somewhere in the middle, sometimes also being a part of many different groups at one time. That middle group also has it’s own culture, it’s likes and dislikes. Phil has become somewhat of a meeting point for this group through his Machinifeed, Overcast, blog and forum and I would encourage anyone who wants to be involved in the wider community to start with those things. I read your Diva blog, Phaylen, because it’s on the Machinifeed.
Of course, this is only my opinion and I can very well be wrong on all of it!
November 9th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I think this is absolutely true. I suppose since my experience in crossing platforms has been very limited, I hadn’t really had the opportunity to witness the self imposed segregation that you and Phil mentioned. That it exists is heartbreaking because such amazing material comes from every corner of the field. But if a Bridge can be built, I think people like Phil and others have laid a substantial foundation via things like machinifeed and open gatherings. I discovered many tremendous artists because of it.
It’s 9am here and my turn on the caffeine IV drip, Lainy! Good Luck today ladies!
November 9th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I don’t know if it’s self imposed, I guess various communities are self contained units that function, they don’t necessarily need to look outside?