Behind the scenes with Musica Poetica

Dear friends,

after more than two years of exploring the commercial and artistic opportunities for Machinima using Second Life® as a platform, Sound’r has entered into a somehow new, yet familiar spectrum of production.

No longer do we fight with frame-rates, server lag or as we like to call it “Virtual Weather”, however we do now once again fight with the classical hindrances of real life production such as bad lighting, real weather and dealing with the fact that you can’t just change the background of a set with the flick of your mouse anymore (damn-it).

Indeed, with the acquisition of a broadcast grade professional full HD video camera and tons of production accessories, Sound’r has (re-)entered “real-life” film production.

With several great projects on the table, the first one a co-production in partnership with Dirk Fischer and Tobias Fischer, already wrapped mid-February and now in post-production, is a short format documentary following the preparations leading up to a mind boggling concert performance of the amazing Musica Poetica ensemble. A group of unique musicians, under the musical direction of Jörn Boysen a young, energetic conductor and musician, that has garnered respect for their historically accurate, faithful and musical performances.

While Machinima is still an avenue of our productions that we continue to explore, experiment and support, it does feel good to once again hold a real clapboard in hands and haul lights, tripods and cameras from set to set.

Check back soon for some more production notes and behind the scenes footage of the Musica Poetica project and thanks for reading!

-André

More costumes… more golden oldies.

The next scene of Impressions, which was again shot on the Sound’r sim, was all about the windlight, and my favourite outfit at the time – Disturbia, by Winter Moon (who is currently, I’m very sad to say, having an end of business sale. Snap it all up, because her stuff is fantastic!) It went perfectly with a hunt gift skin Tuli had set out called Maya, with black bleeding eyes, and Naoki hair by Kin. The guns were by Breach and the boots – shocking, I know – were Ving Boots by Shiny Things. Further proof, were any needed, that I seldom took those boots off once I’d bought them.

The rose garden we found in the courtyard of a temple that’s sadly no longer there – a shame, as it was a very pretty build. It featured Roewan Silks in crimson by Analise, with Tiana hair by ETD and Belleza‘s Jesse skin.

The pirate scene was shot at Dead Man’s Chest among the ships – a brilliant place to play if you entertain swashbuckling fantasies. The whole outfit was a Halloween special last year by TCKZ, called Bootleg Annie, and is no longer available. I’m wearing it with one of Dutch Touch‘s gorgeous new skins.

Chou Chou is one of my favourite sims for its simple elegance – much like the dress I picked, Darken Bliss by Phoenix Rising, matched with ETD’s Tiana hair again and Laqroki‘s Lacie Glow Skin. Barefoot, of course, while walking through the shallows.

And finally Artilleri, my favourite retro sim and favourite retro clothing. Almost everything shown, apart from the Catalyst Thigh High Boots from The Abyss, came from Artilleri: the Lily skin in Kiss, Sabrina hair in black, Corinne poof dress and Leopard Pants to finish off the look – another of my all-time favourites.

One more set impending…

Impressions was actually the first video that Sound’r (in its current incarnation) made, but since Hamlet shared it with the virtual world in general last week I’ve had a few questions about the places and the clothes. Though some of the outfits now qualify as golden oldies, I thought I’d share…

The first scene was shot on Ark Gullwing’s home sim as it was at the time – he’s an incredible builder and I’d fallen in love with the place. The outfit (shown far left) was Bijou‘s Riding bathing suit in black, with Claire II hair from Dernier Cri, with Nadia Runway skin from Staged.

The warehouse, on the other hand, was my own home – built by Ghost on the Sound’r sim. It eventually evolved from work space to chicken barn and was replaced with our Halloween house when the chickens flew off to the great coop in the sky. The hair, Comrad (central outfit), was by Gritty Kitty, as were the Prehistoric Glasses. The skin was Belle by Belleza and the outfit was a combination of the Knit Hood Coat by Aoharu and Iki’s Skinny Jeans in indigo (not sure they’re still available). The boots, which were a bit of an obsession of mine at the time – as is fairly obvious from how omnipresent they are – are Ving Boots from Shiny Things.

The third scene was filmed on the Canimal sim, which is a fabulously eerie place to explore and great for photos. The Fashion Militia coat (shown above as the fourth outfit), fittingly, was by Canimal, worn with hair from Teku Teku, Hope skin by Tuli and Roughed Up Socks by EtchD.

If you haven’t heard of Four Yip, you’re missing one of SL’s best treats. Usually offered free or very cheap, her art builds and outfits are imagination brought to life. We used the Charlie Girl outfit (shown second from the left) and cinema package for the next scene, worn with Justine in twotone by Zero Style and Lazolli‘s Keira skin.

Doubtless most people will recognise the battered city in the next scene – it is, of course, The Abyss, and the outfit is the Opium avatar (shown far right), which comes with the skin, hair and all accessories shown.

More to come later…

Credits: costume by Moonshine (“Charm”), skin by Belleza (“Jesse” – Sunkiss 4), hair by Truth (“Melanie” in ivory), boots by Adam n’ Eve (“Tia Boots” in black), decorations by Botanical.

Streaming live from the Coolsounds & Magick Studios in Amsterdam, the Born Again Pagans have been travelling the grid in their tourbus for over a year, sharing their unique sound: reggae sidetracked by synths and heavy guitars.

“We’ve been touring the grid since the early spring of 2008,” says vocalist (plus guitarist and percussionist) hexx Triskaidekaphobia. “What got us started was all the other musos: the more we invited to jam at our own place, the more we started thinking about getting ourselves out there as well. So once we found out how easy it is to set up a stream, we just did it. And after we got used to the weird feeling of playing tens of seconds earlier than the people actually heard it, we got the groove.”

With Madame Amoufhaz on synths and percussion, the Born Again Pagans play an average of two shows a week.

“A lot of our shows are regular ones and those are always at venues we really like. Santir on Bayou Noir comes to mind, the Memphis Pavilion of course, the Stream Life Gallery, the kitchen table in the Greenies home. We’re also invited to take the stage at the Phantom Theatre on Eerie Isle every other month or so. Oh, and we really should jam more often at our own place, Rastafairy Beach on Prankster South,” says Triskaidekaphobia.

The band’s website includes a calendar of upcoming shows, as well as pictures and links to their music online. You can also hear original songs on the Born Again Pagans’ MySpace page, follow the band on Twitter or IM hexx Triskaidekaphobia in-world to request a free copy of their live album, released earlier this year.

The sim itself was designed by O-magine, with furniture by MudHoney, and it’s such a welcoming place to browse; it puts me in mind of village shops where you end up buying everything you see because the whole place makes you feel happy to be alive (we even have our very own cubby hole there if you have a spare five minutes and feel like visiting!)

Which works very well with the Fusemelon collection, because it has the same effect: comfortable, comforting and easy to wear – yet cool! There’s a little bit of everything going on already in the opening range, from hair and clothes to bags and accessories.

Above I’m wearing the Workit Tank and Shorts, in gold and liqorice, with the Warning Sign shoulder bag (you really have to see her bags, they’re bloody fabulous), the Close Drop pendant in silver and Two Hearts hair in onyx. See? Comforting cool, that’s my buzz-phrase for it, oh yes.

The hair above – Cyclone Harvest in onyx – is a finalist in the New World Notes contest! Click here for more details! Go see for more apples! Also shown are the Forget Me Knot pearls in black.

I must also bow down to Aems for her new eye collection – I am both obsessed with my avatar’s eyes and unwilling to change them from my favourites, but the Fusemelon collections are just so startlingly beautiful I can’t resist… damn her.

Above are the Radiance eyes in ‘icicle’ and the Intense eyes in ‘need’ and ‘fire’. They come in three sizes and with optional prim attachments – the part that gives the otherworldly glow I can’t resist… dammit.

Also in the picture is the Just A Ride hair in (gasp!) onyx and the Say It necklace. You can click to play with the text according to your mood. Mine says ‘Dream’, because I am sleepy. And because, well, why not? When you have pretty new things to play with, you have an excuse to dream.

This video was one of the first Sound’r made, a couple of months ago – we worked with Shelly, Dazz, Aems and Luth to give a proper demonstration of how their fabulous new collaboration ought to be enjoyed.

Well, how we all thought it should be, anyway. The shoot just so happened to coincide with a set of new armour at Monolith, called the Helljumper (available soon in both male and female versions – click the SubscribOMatic if you’d like to be told when it’s released), so we told a little sci-fi tale.

The end result might be dark, moody and meaningful, but filming it certainly wasn’t. We discovered that Shelly cannot run to save her pixel life, and I can’t shoot for toffee when in mouselook (or at any other time, for that matter).

Perhaps those of you with a little more hand/eye coordination might be able to do it more justice – the Crusader outfit, with belt and leg accessory, can be found at Moonshine, and comes in both a male and female version, as space cowboy is a profession of gender equality.

The hair is by Philotic Energy and is called Sloane, and is again unisex, and the poses are part of a set created to complement the look by Reel Poses – if you’re not a fan of gun-toting, there are alternative versions with finger pointing instead.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because we’ve just finished filming a new episode! So many people asked us what happened after the ship blew up that we decided it was only right to finish the story, which prompted us to make a whole series to answer the question… here’s a sneaky screenshot Shelly took on set – watch this space!

I spent hours looking for an Alice in Wonderland costume – one that was just the right mix of adult Alice, playful and not too dark. While my own tastes might run that way, the people we were making the video for probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

Fortunately, Laura Leandros of Mojo rescued me with her “Sugar n Spice” dress, which was exactly right. Alice, in our version, could be an adult without being too… well… adult.

I chose one of 42‘s “Serenity” skins in Tan to keep her looking wide-eyed and innocent, with Tuli eyes in silver.

Incidentally, Imandra of 42 is currently having rl difficulties that mean she’s struggling to stay in business right now. The new range of skins she has lined up will be going up in price, but if you go visit now you can both help her out (and considering how insanely generous she’s always been with hunts and gifts, not to mention prices, not to mention the sheer variety she produces, she deserves it) and snag a bargain – 4 skins for a measly $300L. Plus a shape. Tempted yet?

The hair is “Ellie” in Platinum by Deviant Kitties, and the shoes are “Criss-cross Ballet Flats” by Shiny Things. And there you have it – an older Alice with a conscience.

A proper bit of dressing up was called for when we shot the Hiawatha scene of the Storybook video. It was also one of those times I managed to pull the right outfit straight out of my inventory, because it had caught my eye some time ago and had been peeking out of my clothing folder ever since, waiting for its moment.

The outfit is called “Unyielding Huntress” by Sinful Thoughts and is mostly prim-based, with a knifestrap for your thigh and a feather for your hair – it needed a little modding, but not a lot.

The hair needed to look wild and untamed, for which “Sexy” by Shop Seu was perfect, and the eyes are Eden “Becky Blue” by Belleza. I’ve clean forgotten what skin I wore when we shot the video, but fortunately the League “Misty” skins look perfect with absolutely everything, so that’s what I have on in the shot below.

Hiawatha himself, meanwhile, didn’t  have a proper pair of trews to hand, so we hunted high and low (see what I did there?) until we found “The Mission” by Emo-tions, and “Elements” hair at the same store. After which success, he was ready to hop in his canoe.

Well ok, it might get tired quite quickly, but I’d volunteer to be her for a day – and I have my flowing dress all ready, because I had to find one for the Le Morte d’Arthur scene shoot: “Leia’s Forest Elven Gown” by Husky GFX, a fab store if you’ve a need to play dress-up. The arm ruffles flow very gracefully, which looked great on film.

The hair is Truth‘s Sophia (my all-time favourite hair until a few days ago, when he released my new all-time favourite hair. I sense a pattern), which has a similarly natural movement that translates really well in video. The skin is Uma “E” in Light, by Rockberry.

Sir Launcelot, meanwhile, is wearing “The Black Knight Armour” by The White Armory with KBoots by Ju Weissnicht – I’m not sure there’s an in-world store, but you can get them here.

This scene was shot in one of Alex Bader’s Skye Castles – if you’re in the market for a medieval or gothic castle to tromp about in, I recommend his.