As 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 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’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.

Categories: Creative Collaboration, Dance, Digital Art, Environments, Events, Exhibition, Experimental, Identity, Machinima, Music, Music Experiments, Performance, Second Life, SkyDancers, Sound Design, Spiritual, Virtual Worlds
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I 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

Categories: Architecture, Building, Digital Art, Environment Design, Environments, Gary Hazlitt Builds, Machinima, Music, Second Life, Spiritual, Travel, Windlight
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It’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

• Playing mp3 file hotel california (by Multimedia Center Windows LiveWriter Plugin)

Categories: Architecture, Deviant Behaviour, Environments, Experimental, Identity, Inhabitants, Inworld relationships, Machinima, Music, Performance, Role Playing, Second Life, Sent In-World, Social Experiment, Spiritual
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…makes countless thousands mourn! “ Robert Burns

I created a temporary Burmese themed altar, a place to mourn and share in my build of Thursday’s Fictions, for my friend RichardJamesJiva Allen to give a moving recital to around thirty five avatars in memory of those murdered in Burma. Here is a short machinima I also made of the ninety minute event. More below:

A Prayer for the Burmese Dead - To honour the souls of Buddhist monks and others who have perished in Burma in these last days, Dr Richard James Allen (Second Life: RichardJamesJiva Allen) read from The Tibetan Book of the Dead in the build of Thursday’s Fictions in Second Life on Friday October 5, 2007.

The Bardo Thodol, or The Tibetan Book of the Death, is a text traditionally read to the dying and the dead as a guide in their passage through the ‘bardo’ or intermediate state before they are reborn. Thursday’s Fictions in Second Life, an immersive space explores ideas about reincarnation and karma, will offer a place for people from all of the world to meet virtually and pray. SLURL here.

Posted by Gary Hazlitt from inside Second Life © 2007

• Listening to greatest hits (WinAmp Windows LiveWriter Plugin)

Categories: Bio World, Charity, Community, Environments, Events, Friends, Inhabitants, Second Life, Spiritual
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