Visual Effects Society

Event - Immersive Experiences: The Future of Entertainment (Los Angeles) Date: Saturday, 25 February 2012 - 10:00am - 1:00pm

 If you happen to live in Los Angeles then there is an event at the Visual Effects Society this weekend which should be pretty interesting.  You can read about it here.

What should be fun is that at one point during the event they will navigate through Standby on Immersiva live, then show one of my machinima as well, giving the audience an idea of the kind of artwork I create in immersive environments.

Ronnie Burkett marionette

Ronnie Burkett marionettes

I just saw on their website that Martin Scorsese was there recently to talk and next week they do the making of the recent Muppet movie which I bet would be really interesting to see all the behind the scenes things they need to do.  Some of my friends created a puppet company a few years ago and it is just crazy all the elaborate sets they use.  And if you have heard of Ronnie Burkett then you know just what a marionette show can really be.  "The Visual Effects Society is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games." - VES

I am told that Douglas Trumbull should be there.  Don't recognize that name? well I didn't either but have a look at his wiki!  His dad worked on the Wizard of Oz and he himself on everything from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 2001: a space odyssey to Blade Runner.  He even turned down working on Star Wars ... whoops!  Nominated for five academy awards too.  I bet he has a story or two.

Dr Morie will be talking about Bryn and she is one of the early members of the VES, and has been working on expanding the boundaries of immersive media since 1990.

 

     Actually speaking of Ronnie Burkett, people have often asked me in the past why Bryn Oh is anonymous.  Would it not be much better to include my RL name so that I could benefit from the work I have been doing with Bryn the last five years or so.  The answer is most certainly yes it would be good to combine my RL with Bryn.  

     So let me explain, this is often how I think of Bryn and after seeing some of Ronnie Burketts marionette plays it gave me a context to explain.  When you go to a marionette show you enter the theater and take your seats.  The puppeteer  is often all dressed in black so they are not seen by the audience.  The lights go down and the curtains are pulled.  Before you might be a 1/3 scale set with a marionette moving across it on strings.  You see it and know it is made of wood, glue, wire and string but after just a few minutes you forget this.  The marionettes come alive and they gain personality.  

     If someone were to suddenly turn on the lights in the theater and you saw someone controlling them then the illusion would be broken.  They would again become wood and string tools of the artist.  What I wanted to do when I came into Second Life was to see if Bryn could succeed in first life or real life as a digital character.  Would people accept her or scoff at the idea?  Essentially I want to keep the lights off so that it is Bryn who remains the focus.

Further along the Path

 About four months ago a group of nine outstanding virtual artists came together to create an exquisite corpse build called the Path.  I have just finished the machinima which you can see above.

The artists by order of scene were..

1-bryn oh
2-colin Fizgig
3-marcus inkpen
4-desdemona enfield / douglas story
5-Maya paris
6-claudia222 jewell
7-scottius polke
8-Rose borchovski 

 Sadly, the build is being taken down right now but I have just selected a new group of artists for Further along the Path which is the Path 2.  Didn't want to call it Path 2 because that sounds like a movie sequel.  It was an interesting process inviting artists to this second part because two declined fearing they could not fill the shoes of those artists of the Path who they would be following.  I wasn't expecting that, but it really compliments the fine work done by these artists above whose skill level intimidated some notable artists.  Further along the Path  will not be completed for another few months but I am really excited about those taking part.  Again I have selected a range of talents ranging from script based artists to narrative, some well known to others who have quietly been around for ages or who are fairly new and keen.  We have not selected the random order yet but I will do another post in a bit to introduce the artists for Further along the Path.
     To the side you can find a great post by Rowan Derryth at Prim Perfect on the Path and below an interview done on Treet.TV.

Standby

     Lets try this again.   After a hiccup Standby is again open on Immersiva.  For those of you unfamiliar with the narrative Standby is the third and final part to the Rabbicorn story.  The title itself refers to the state your computer goes into when left alone for too long.  The hibernation and waiting.

   The first room contains some sketches I have made over the years as I planned out characters and poems.  So for example the poem shown here was never used for the story but it shows the process I went through.

 The ones below show the daughter from the first sketch as a girl skipping to her transformation into a machine with a girls soul.  I go back to the skipping idea but now her legs are too long and ungainly.  She is still the little girl but now learning a new body and beginning to recognize the new world around her.

The build will be up perhaps a month or two depending on how quickly I get the filming done.  If you do not know the previous two parts to the story then it would be a good idea to watch the movies that I have placed in the room (just click the ball on the pedastal to be taken to youtube) or watch them here in this blogpost.  I will place them down at the bottom.

    If you were a fan of Annas Many Murders or were unable to see it before then good news it is coming back.  I am just in the process of setting it up again but won't likely be ready for another three weeks or so.

LEA Full Region Endowment - second round

Second round applications to the LEA Full Region Endowment.

Linden Lab have generously donated 20 regions for art in Second Life, and the first set of endowments are coming to a close.  If you have a big idea you have always wanted to try whether as an artist, curator, musician, performance, scripter or really anything just fill out an application.  And don't be scared off by the word "art" as most of the committee have not closed their minds on what constitutes art in this new medium.  Think about what makes this medium unique over others such as painting, sculpture or film.  Want to experiment with Kinect?  build a roller coaster through the veins of the human body?  Augmented reality or a show in a first life gallery?  Pitch your ideas I am open to anything.

Click on through for info and deadlines: LEA Full Region Endowment Application, Spring 2012

 Ah the sweet irony.  This lady contemplates the effect on her unborn child of local jackhammers...
while smoking a cigarette.