Archive for the 'Music' category
Full 44 Minute Machinima of The Wall V-2 in Second Life
September 14, 2008 7:51 amAnother Sensational Machinima in The Wall
August 31, 2008 7:28 pmI spent three early mornings last week capturing three times, in its entirety (a full 43 minutes) CARPs inventive and emotionally driven version of Pink Floyd’s 1980’s album, The Wall. It was a truly international group that spent many hours developing and performing a Virtual Show to music that reaches a new audience every few years. Thanks to NMC as usual for hosting this and other cutting edge Second Life events!I will be editing down the full show in the next few days, in sequence as performed, but this upload is my personal expression of what I experienced.
A well known track from the album was wisely left off by Director Debbie Trilling due to it’s popularity but while I was putting together this ‘mash-up’ compilation I tried a recording of the reunion performance of the Comfortably Numb at Live 8 a few years ago and was entranced by the synergy of visual and song. Hope you do too. Credits after the embed of my film below.
Medium quality (90MB MP4) download available here. Worth playing full screen with the volume up and the lights down 
SECOND LIFE - THE WALL V-2 FILM
A special long form promo edit of the Live Virtual Show…Machinimatography & Editing: GARY HAZLITT
SECOND LIFE - THE WALL V-2
Creative Director: DEBBIE TRILLING Producer: VELAZQUEZ BONETTO
Special thanks for valuable contributions from: Haven Colville, Scio Kamanchi, Gypsy Paz, Lyddyn Tzara, Celeste Moonlight, DJ Jenns, windyy Lane, NMC Campus and George W Bush and, of course, Pink Floyd’s incredible album ‘The Wall’
Song selected for this compilation by Gary Hazlitt, The ‘Live 8′ Version COMFORTABLY NUMB (please note: not featured in the live show)
Creative Director: DEBBIE TRILLING
Producer: VELAZQUEZ BONETTO
Wall Design and Build: ELFOD NEMETH
Animated Puppets: DUGGY BING
Animations: CARAVAGGIO BONETTO
Original Music: JUNIVERS STOCKHOLM & JOSINA BURGESS
Stills Photography: ADEC ALEXANDRIA
Dancing & Joyfulness: KLUTE CUPPLOA & SOUTHERN RIPTID
Filmed & Edited: GARY HAZLITT © JustVirtual.com 2008
SECOND LIFE - THE WALL V-2 FILM “Mother Should I Trust the Government” Full 43 Minute Version Available Soon
I am continually beta testing up coming virtual worlds and one that is showing early promise is Twinity. Although lacking many of the ‘detailed’ features of Second Life it has its own specialities that I will cover in a longer post. One thing that is very impressive off the block is the scale of the world built, unlike Second Life, at scale and gives a real sense of distance in comparison with the real world (which Twinity is focusing on).
So for this next Gary Hazlitt machinima I fiddled with SilkCharm’s avatar (or is that SilkCharm herself?) uploading some portrait faces to map onto the face & body and equipped her with suitable running attire fore this ‘Run Lola Run‘ lookalike (and big soundalike thanks to Twyker’s music). The film features Franka Potente running around the backstreets of Berlin trying to get some money for her criminal boyfriend (and goes back in time twice). SilkCharm though was just getting some exercise…or as she suggested in the comments on the video ‘in desperate search of chocolate’ ! Enjoy…oh before that one interesting effect in here. At one point in the recording I fell off the world and started hurtling south/down or just out of the sim - the running SilkCharm began to ‘break up’ slowly. As I still had the record on you can see the effect at the start and end of the movie which is quite an attractive ‘inworld’ effect
A Machinima by GARY HAZLITT starring SILKCHARM
‘Run SilkCharm Run’ Filmed in the Beta Virtual World TWINITY (Alpha City Berlin) - more info on the Twinity site
MUSIC “Believe” by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil Feat: Voice of Franka Potente from the film ‘Run Lola Run’
Filmed & Edited (in 3 hours) by GARY HAZLITT
Shot in the ‘massive’ Berlin simulator in Twinity featuring areas around Brandenburg Gate and Alexanderplatz
Many thanks to SilkCharm & A ‘New World’ Twinity
© JustVirtual Productions 2008
http://www.justvirtual.com
Film of the Virtual Pink Floyd ‘The Wall’ Show
August 25, 2008 4:38 pmI was asked by Debbie Trilling, the creative director of this show, to be the machinimatographer on the last two performances of Pink Floyd’s The Wall in Second Life recently. It was great listening to music I remember growing up with being performed by a passionate group of people from all over the world who recreated elements of the film, animated sequences and live show in one of Second Life’s most spectacular displays of creative coordination. It was created by The Cybernetic Art Research Project CARP.
There were audiences of 60+ crammed into the NMC sim which slowed things down a touch, but not noticeably (I was still getting 15 fps or so ). I have a lot of footage to edit into a short 10 minute and the longer full 90 minute film but for now I selectively scanned the footage for interesting frames and created 107 medium resolution photographs which capture a little of the atmosphere and thought put into this.
The performances have received rave reviews over the past few weeks and over 2000 avatars have now seen the show…
- “Amazing. Not so much viewed as it is experienced” ~ Metaverse Messenger
- “All I can say is WOW. GREAT show” ~ Second Arts
- “Nothing short of spectacular. A complete immersion” ~ Looking Glass
- “Impressive, touching and thoughtful. Second Life at its best” ~ MixedRealities
- “Never seen anything like it.20A perfect amalgamation of creativity” ~ sl-newspaper
- “Cutting edge art and performance” ~ NMC Observer
Stills (on this page and on flickr link here) - Taken from Gary Hazlitt’s Machinima of CARP’s “The Wall in Second Life” - video available soon. Stills medium ‘video’ resolution.
Production Credits
The CARP Wall Team:
- Creative Director: Debbie Trilling (UK)
- Producer: Velazquez Bonetto (Germany)
- Wall Design: Elfod Nemeth (UK)
- Animated Puppets: Duggy Bing (US)
- Animations: Caravaggio Bonetto (Austria)
- Original Music: Junivers Stockholm (Sweden) & Josina Burgess (Holland)
- Stills Photography: Adec Alexandria (UK)
- Dancing & Joyfulness: Klute Copploa (France), Southern Riptide (US)
with valuable contributions from:
- Scio Kamanchi (US)
- Gypsy Paz (US)
- Lyddyn Tzara (US)
- Celeste Moonlight (US)
- DJ Jenns (UK)
- George W B ush (US)
Full Performance Machinima ZeroG SkyDancers “Second Spring”
June 8, 2008 11:18 pmI was lucky to attend another amazing performance, from Dan Coyote and the team, three times and was able to draw on three full length sequences for my edit of the performance. I then set up a Multiclip in Final Cut Pro which allowed me to edit the piece in its entirety as if live with the three parallel continuous shots. The two YouTubes below give a feel for the work but there is also a medium rez 103MB MP4 here. I would have preferred to move the shots and music around a bit as I always have my own take on how the dance, visual and music fit together but this is far more documentary than usual for me. If you liked the other works by the SkyDancers you will not be disappointed by this 16 min special.
UPDATE: We are producing a special DVD so the videos have been temporarily removed for the moment.
The Full Credits for the above film:
- Created by DC Spensley
- Produced and Directed by DanCoyote Antonelli
- Machinamatography by Gary Hazlitt
- Editing by Gary Hayes
- Original Score ZeroOne Paz
- Technical Director ZenMondo Wormser
- Costumes Queue Marlowe
SkyDancers:
- Assistant Director Anhinga Chaika
- Deborah Stranglove - Prima
- Angelique Menoptra - Prima
- Lina Lageos
- Pyper Dollinger
- Buffy Beale - Training Director
- Pielady Smalls
- Tatiana Kurri - Puch
ZeroG SkyDancers are Produced and Directed by real life artist DC Spensley - below is earlier descriptive synopsis of the work.
Second Spring is a completely LIVE story performance. SkyDancers perform in-flight choreography without the benefit of animations or gestures of any kind following cues given in REAL TIME on a private IM channel. DanCoyote “calls” the show to keep time with the score written and performed by ZeroOne Paz.
DanCoyote and Technical Director ZenMondo Wormser have pulled out all the stops this time and created the most dynamic stage set ever. Set pieces will evolve, vanish and change position as the story plays out.
Production Designer Queue Marlowe has created an incredible array of SkyDancer costumes called “cascades” that change many times over the hour long show.
Set pieces have been created by venerable Second Life artists Jopsy Pendragon and Nand Nerd. Expect the unexpected!
=========Earlier Press Release Jan 1, 2008=========
For Immediate Release
New Media Consortium Presents
ZeroG SkyDancers III - Virtual Flight Choreography
Pioneering Performing Arts Soar in the Metaverse - Again - Under the Direction of DanCoyote Antonelli ††
January 1, 2008, (Second Life) - Avatar DanCoyote Antonelli is accustomed to breaking new ground. Even in virtual worlds he is considered avant guarde. The real man controlling that avatar, DC Spensley, has been wowing virtual audiences since 2006 with art installations that would not be possible in real life, but perhaps the most coveted ticket in all of Second Life is one to a performance by his ZeroG SkyDancers. On January 6, 2008, the premiere of the highly anticipated, third, completely redesigned production of ZeroG SkyDancers will debut.
Second Life’s history making, critically acclaimed world performance group, the ZeroG SkyDancers is a new form of ensemble performance that uses the airspace of this virtual world, resulting in a cross between water ballet and aerial acrobatics, in ways that would not be possible in the physical world. Wearing spectacular, flowing costumes called cascades - that are many times larger than their avatars - the SkyDancers move through space, and become part of the stage themselves. Altering and evolving, their flight triggers audio samples, which provide a unique layer to the original musical score commissioned for the production.††
The production, sponsored by the New Media Consortium (NMC), will introduce an all-new reactive-interactive stage set that is repeatedly and dramatically transformed over the hour long performance. The ZeroG SkyDancers III will formally debut at 9PM Pacific Standard Time, Sunday, January 6, 2008 in the virtual world of Second Life. Seating is limited, but the show will run every week during the first 90 days of 2008, to accommodate the most guests possible. Tickets will cost $10 US ($3000 Lindens) a piece. For ticket information, please contact Spensley directly at dc@spensley.com.
Those with tickets will need to complete a 5 minute registration process with Second Life, http://www.secondlife.com , in order to access the ZeroG SkyDancers III performance.† A basic account is absolutely free, includes unlimited access to Second Life’s tools, events and communities.†Spensley recommends that audience members spend a minimum of 15 minutes learning the basic skills of the Second Life world prior to attending the performance. “Familiarizing yourself with basic navigation of Second Life will add even more enjoyment to the show,” said Spensley.
Gary Hazlitt’s video of a ZeroG SkyDancers II performance is available at YouTube and has received more than 10 thousand hits.†† “It’s difficult to convey the dramatic and immersive effects of the Second Life virtual world in a 2-D web environment, however this video by Gary Hazlitt does convey the overall concept of the performance,” said Spensley.
Hiding and Seeking in Second Life, Cyborg Style
March 23, 2008 12:45 pm
What to do on Easter Saturday afternoon? Why not create a quick “Cyborg questioning existance, looking for something and some meaning in her life” machinima. This idea came about from playing with one of the default characters in CT5 (Crazy Talk 5) and using various imported songs. I quickly made a spaceship so the ‘cyborg’ can be seen in full body, and in which I (the Golem Robot character on the right seat) can sit and drive around various sims. The lip sync character is a CT5 ‘auto lip-sync’ take against one of my long time ago ex students (now a fully fledged pop diva) Imogen Heap’s wonderful track “Hide and Seek” (I wanted something vocoderised, slightly robotic) although this goes a lot deeper thanks to Immi’s great words. Also the subtle head movements and eye positions were recorded in separate live takes withing CT5.
I needed three appropriate sims for the three phases of the song. Ones that had a sense of dawning, evolving and evolved - also that were off the ground, so the spaceship could move around, inside, under, over etc: Three sprang immediately to mind. Planet Mongo a space city (evolved - spelt wrong on video, not Mondo! sorry rush job ;-(), Svarga (dawning) and Deakin (that I built - evolving). The main process was a quick 5 hours but editing took about an hour longer than normal because of rendering, all those green screen shots (the head shots against the reversed Space Navigator backgrounds).
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A medium rez, stereo MP4 52MB version can be downloaded here
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Anyways hope you like this quick ’sketch’ - the following info is mostly duped from the YouTube description.
A machinima by Gary Hazlitt completed on easter Saturday afternoon 2008. The song ‘Hide and Seek’ is by Imogen Heap from the album ‘Speak for Yourself’.
Special thanks to the creators of Second Life sims Planet Mongo built by Lumiere Noir (spelt wrong on video sorry, rushed, not Mondo!) and Svarga built by Svarog Laukosargas. Deakin sim and spaceship for this video built/designed by Gary Hayes.
Lip sync animation created using Crazy Talk 5, green screened in Final Cut. The spaceship shots were filmed live in Second Life.
Avatanimation, machinimatography and editing (in the usual 5 hours total!) by Gary Hazlitt
A JustVirtual Production
© Gary Hazlitt 2008
DC Spensley’s SkyDancer’s “Second Spring” into Life
January 8, 2008 11:28 amAs official documenter/machinimatographer for the SkyDancers I was lucky to have been at the dress rehearsal and premier of this groundbreaking new show by DanCoyote’s troupe and created this trailer to help get those virtual bums on seats.
You can download a 15MB medium rez MP4 here. It was fantastic to experience this next generation performance and witness a new layer, a narrative across the three musical movements in addition to what has been visually more abstract in the past. Other exciting elements included the movement by the dancers around the volumous space triggering elements of the soundscape and the long prim cascades they are wearing integrating seamlessly with the more static set elements. A show well worth going to (if you can get tickets) and yes, I know, my little trailer and previous well received captures of the shows only gets half way there in terms of capturing the essence (see bottom of post)…but you who are not in this world are watching/reading this 
75 still photos on flickr here. Here is the official blurb
New Media Consortium (NMC) proudly presents:
DanCoyote’s ZeroG SkyDancers Third Production:
“Second Spring”.Second Spring is a completely LIVE story performance. SkyDancers perform in-flight choreography without the benefit of animations or gestures of any kind following cues given in REAL TIME on a private IM channel. DanCoyote “calls” the show to keep time with the score written and performed by ZeroOne Paz.
DanCoyote and Technical Director ZenMondo Wormser have pulled out all the stops this time and created the most dynamic stage set ever. Set pieces will evolve, vanish and change position as the story plays out.
Production Designer Queue Marlowe has created an incredible array of SkyDancer costumes called “cascades” that are change many times over the hour long show.
Set pieces have been created by venerable Second Life artists Jopsy Pendragon and Nand Nerd. Expect the unexpected!
To be our guest at this performance please send a message to DanCoyote Antonelli. DanCoyote will invite you to join the tickets group. Seating is very limited so only members of the tickets group will be admitted to the performance space.
Please contribute generously to the donation kiosk. A production of this quality and depth takes many hundreds of hours to prepare as well as tens of thousands of Linden dollars to produce. Suggested donation is $3000 Lindens with a sliding scale from $1000 up.
Cheers!
DanCoyote Antonelli, Producer Director, ZeroG SkyDancers
=========Press Release=========
For Immediate ReleaseNew Media Consortium Presents
ZeroG SkyDancers III - Virtual Flight ChoreographyPioneering Performing Arts Soar in the Metaverse - Again - Under the Direction of DanCoyote Antonelli
January 1, 2008, (Second Life) - Avatar DanCoyote Antonelli is accustomed to breaking new ground. Even in virtual worlds he is considered avant guarde. The real man controlling that avatar, DC Spensley, has been wowing virtual audiences since 2006 with art installations that would not be possible in real life, but perhaps the most coveted ticket in all of Second Life is one to a performance by his ZeroG SkyDancers. On January 6, 2008, the premiere of the highly anticipated, third, completely redesigned production of ZeroG SkyDancers will debut.
Second Life’s history making, critically acclaimed world performance group, the ZeroG SkyDancers is a new form of ensemble performance that uses the airspace of this virtual world, resulting in a cross between water ballet and aerial acrobatics, in ways that would not be possible in the physical world. Wearing spectacular, flowing costumes called cascades - that are many times larger than their avatars - the SkyDancers move through space, and become part of the stage themselves. Altering and evolving, their flight triggers audio samples, which provide a unique layer to the original musical score commissioned for the production.††
The production, sponsored by the New Media Consortium (NMC), will introduce an all-new reactive-interactive stage set that is repeatedly and dramatically transformed over the hour long performance. The ZeroG SkyDancers III will formally debut at 9PM Pacific Standard Time, Sunday, January 6, 2008 in the virtual world of Second Life. Seating is limited, but the show will run every week during the first 90 days of 2008, to accommodate the most guests possible. Tickets will cost $10 US ($3000 Lindens) a piece. For ticket information, please contact Spensley directly at dc@spensley.com.
Those with tickets will need to complete a 5 minute registration process with Second Life, http://www.secondlife.com , in order to access the ZeroG SkyDancers III performance.† A basic account is absolutely free, includes unlimited access to Second Life’s tools, events and communities.†Spensley recommends that audience members spend a minimum of 15 minutes learning the basic skills of the Second Life world prior to attending the performance. “Familiarizing yourself with basic navigation of Second Life will add even more enjoyment to the show,” said Spensley.
Gary Hazlitt’s video’s of two previous ZeroG SkyDancers II performances are available at YouTube and have received nearly 15 thousand views. “It’s difficult to convey the dramatic and immersive effects of the Second Life virtual world in a 2-D web environment, however the videos do convey the overall concept of the performance,” said Spensley.
New World Expectations - Seventh Heaven ‘Windlight’ Machinima
December 26, 2007 12:18 pmI was in the middle of putting together an end of year compilation of some of my builds and sim developments and as I have regularly been using the Windlight viewer and I saw my creations in a whole new light, literally. So I got a good bio friend of mine, Gary Hayes to do a quick grand piano and classical guitar improvisation so I could put together a film that promises a bright new future for our Second Life world in 2008.
Some creation details for those who like that kind of stuff: I used the wonderful space navigator for nearly all the ‘tracking/pan/crane/dolly’ type shots combined with fraps PAL capture, then converted using Canopus Pro 3 to PAL Quicktime DVs for a final edit in Final Cut Pro. A final save out to DV at same resolution and converts down to MP4s for online distribution. The whole process, capture, processing, editing took just over six hours - I know, I am slacking! The builds and sim terraforms took significantly longer (!) but the music a quick 35 minutes in two single takes, so excuse a few ‘bum’ notes!
A Second Life ‘Windlight’ Machinima, Filmed and Edited by GARY HAZLITT
Higher rez 95MB MP4 640/480 download available here.
Steinway Grand Piano and Classical Guitar improvisations both performed, in one take, by GARY HAYES
All featured sim builds and terraforms created and designed by GARY HAZLITT (some unamed builds still in development)
Gary’s builds or sim creations featured include: Esperance, The Pond, ABC Island, Cog Island, Marni, Thursday’s Fictions, Melbourne Laneways and others.
A Just Virtual Video Production © Gary Hazlitt/Hayes 2007
Haunted Goth Dreams, a Halloween 2007 Second Life Machinima
October 16, 2007 9:51 pmIt’s that time of the year where avatars wear pale skin, dark make-up and generally scare each other to relog. So armed with a secret camera in trembling hands, Kylie and I ventured into the darker recesses of Midian City, Liquid Heat and City of Lost Angels to make a rather special film. I personally love the avies that frequent these wonderfully crafted places, avatars full of character, individuality, unique clothes, deep role playing (whatever that is) and strange protruding teeth. Sprinkle on one of my favourite songs, Haunted by Poe, a little sneeky editing and voila…enjoy, but make sure your not alone!
“A machinima by Gary Hazlitt based on and using as background, the great song “Haunted” by Poe. Special thanks to the creators and inhabitants of City of Lost Angels, Liquid Heat and Midian City sims, you are wonderful people. Avatanimation, filming and editing by Gary Hazlitt. A JustVirtual Production © Gary Hazlitt 2007″
Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life © 2007
Second Life ‘Chances’ - Machinima “In Memory of Lost Love”
October 1, 2007 3:06 amThe virtual stars aligned and I was compelled to make this kind of sad, but moving machinima. The story grew from a combination of 1) a great song, 2) some private sims I am developing, with a new terraform, 3) a space navigator and most importantly 4) a couple of new places I visited. Less than 5 hours later a new machinima was born, you can see the results here.
Also available medium rez 70MB WMV download
The story grew rather organically. I was playing with one of my new Space Navigator joysticks, which gives me unlimited camera control and is great for flying across mountains - I had just terraformed three sims with some ‘placeholder’ vertical interest. So I got Kylie Wollongong to join me on a private sim to do some walking, talking, romantic shots.
About half way through we went shopping to get a new skin. Next to the sims only store was a rather bizarre ‘camping’ area - around 50 avies all sitting around. Not a normal one, it looked positively like a wake, no one chatted, they just sat rather miserably. Gong. Mountain walking plus wake, a story was born.
“A couple in love. It starts with her funeral then flashes back to their recent life, ‘climbing together’. At the funeral again he sits with their friends. Flashback to the decision to be together and then reaching ‘the top’. She walks off by herself and tragedy. Just before she ‘ascends’ they recall a happy moment in Venice, tinged with sadness at the end when she has a premonition of her own short future…”
So I shot some sequences of just me and the crowds quickly and then went back and added some extra elements to the mountain journey - which obviously extended the narrative. I also wanted a few flashbacks of earlier romantic times, so Kylie and I visited Venice for three simple shots.
When I added the music during the edit the whole piece took on extra power and poignency - the emotional quality forcibly reminded me of past lost loves. It became a metaphor for the spirits of love. As it says on my YouTube decription “The story of a couple very much in love whose upward journey ends in tragedy. Flashbacks from the wake and their favourite time in Venice”
Some production stills on flickr here.
Avatanimation, Machinimatography, Editing, Story Written, Directed and Produced by Gary Hazlitt - Copyright 2007
Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life ©2007
