Machinima Learnings from Namara: Episode 1 Part B
Invoking the ‘Right of Pilot’
Okay - so you know how the very first episode of a series is the Pilot episode…and it’s considered an industry standard to be able to make changes to things you’ve seen in main characters after that first episode? Yeah, I’m ‘invoking the right of pilot’ for some minor tweaks to Romy’s appearance. The purple color of her hair was softened, the length extended, and we swapped out her eyes. The ‘essence’ of her former self is certainly still there, but now I think you really get a better sense of who she is as a woman.
Spot On! Choreography & Stairs
I got to test the ‘stairs’ scenario for the Spot On! Choreography products; they have one in the store in world that shows how the ‘stair process’ works with avatars moving up and down the steps. I got to do it with almost 80 Way Points and over a minute of actual stair walking in an epically beautiful Fanatik castle. It was a cool scene to film - even if it was only a few seconds.
FANATIK
If you are a ‘seasoned’ Second Life resident, you likely know Fanatik. If you don’t, I can’t say enough how much I love the detail of pretty much everything they make. I’ve got an embarrassing number of Fanatik items in my inventory, but this one really is special to use as a filming tool because of the epic stair case in the tower, the long sprawling bridge, and even the fireplace in the library is a really pretty center piece. It’s easy to imagine fantastical fantasy things in a Fanatik building, and I’m grateful that creators like this exist in our little corner of the metaverse so I can continue to make films using their work.
BeSpoke Ryker Head - ‘The Physician’
Let’s be honest here; the coolest avatar in this entire scene is 100% ‘Edgar’ - the guy that seems to take the ‘butler’ role throughout this episode. More will be revealed about him in the next episode, but for this one, his appearance had me screaming with laughter when my husband turned this FIERCE looking spartan guy into a thin awkward ‘stache man. I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’ve been running around as him when I was setting up almost every animation simply because me makes me so happy.
Check out the BeSpoke Caravan store to make your OWN heroes AND monsters as well! :)
Marketplace: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/227046
In World: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Honeydale/128/121/30
Bay City Studios Website
I’ve been working on one in the background for two reasons:
The first is that I need to be able to house information somewhere to provide to possible voice actors, and a place for people to easily find the types of positions I’m casting for. Theater, in general, isn’t really possible without other people. I need more ideas, feedback, voices, lights, sets, actors, singers, everything. My tiny production team and I can’t do everything, and I’ve got to have a way to cast people for roles I need filled.
The second is that hosting a video that’s going to be somewhere between 21 - 28 mins might be a little tricky, and honestly, I want that web traffic in a place I control 100% (without YouTube ads). That means I have to host it on my own website - thus Bay City Studios was born. (…or will be soon when I’m done with it :)
This Is a Story
I know for some people, there have been some questions about whether or not each episode is connected and the answer is yes. In theory, Bay City Studio’s hopes to produce twenty two 21 - 28ish minute episodes as a whole season. Our production team is small, so each segment we release was created in roughly a two - three week time frame. Each one is a series of scenes that eventually will be spliced together into a complete episode (with all the credits listed at the end) hosted on the Bay City Studio’s website. So yeah… we’re in this for the ‘long haul’. :)
