Sunday, June 26, 2011

Iono Allen & SL Adult Filmmaking

Iono Allen is a French machinima maker who is respected not only for his own work but also for his appreciation of others’ work. He is down-to-earth, friendly and very approachable.

Iono was the winner of the Hosoi Ichiba Machinima Award 2010 for his wonderfully atmospheric “A Question of Honour” (embedded below).

Within the machinima community, Iono is also respected for his measured and balanced views of others’ work. If Iono calls a particular work “great” or “beautiful” then you can pretty much guarantee that it is!

Iono has watched all of my films – either on NaughtyMachinima, on my own blog or in-world and was pleasingly complimentary about them, especially the later films.

In one of his own upcoming films he intends having a love-making scene and asked me to provide a few URLs of SL adult films so that he can not only see how it is best done but also learn what else is happening in the SL adult machinima scene.

The three films I selected are:

'The Executive Encounter' by Deelite Zenovka & Rysan Falls

'Summer Wine' by Quinn Ying

'Pandora's Box' by Arwen and Serenity Juneberry

There are plenty of other films I could have selected but I chose these because I feel that taken as a whole they demonstrate good quality film making, good post-production, good story telling, the willingness to be experimental and evolve – both technically and aesthetically – and also show artistic and creative ability.

I believe they support my view that SL adult filmmakers could very well become a force to reckon with in the next few years and that we will naturally earn the right to be screened at UWA, MMIF and other such SL machinima events.

Enjoy Iono Allen's "A Question of Honour"...

Pixie
xxx

Saturday, June 18, 2011

The MaMachinima International Festival 2011

Last night saw the first of two MaMachinima International Festival 2011 (MMIF) sessions.

This is an annual mixed media event being broadcast simultaneously from SL and from RL Amsterdam. The event was hosted by Chantel Harvey and Toxic Menges, amongst others.

The second session starts Saturday at 11am SLT at the LEA Theatre in Second Life. Say 'Hi' if you attend!

I attended the first of the 5 hour "Machinima Showcase" sessions with Tutsy Navarathna whose recent UWAIII winning 'A Journey into the Metaverse' topped the evening off beautifully.

The quality of many of the films was exceptional. I enjoyed re-watching Byrn Oh's 'Rusted Gears'  and Iono Allen's 'Fears'.

Films which I hadn't seen before but especially enjoyed include Pia Klaar's 'The Red Shoes'  and Osprey Therian's 'Forest of Scissors'.

Now, it has to be said, for the sake of honesty and balance, that not all of the films were of the same high quality as those linked in this blog.

And this fact was actually quite heartening and encouraging.

There are already a handful of SL adult film makers who's films would slot quite comfortably into the MMIF "machinina showcase" schedule, quality-wise. Moreover, imo, there are another handful of film makers coming through who quite clearly have a natural cinematic "eye" and "feel" but merely need to practice the mechanics of camera work and software.

In both cases there is a pool of talent such that I see no reason why MMIF 2012 should not include contributions from SL adult film makers.

In the meantime, if you have not already watched Phaylen Fairchild's 'Harbringer' (below), then, well, you simply should:

Pixie
xxx

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Golgothica & The Art of Capture Roleplay

Golgothica is a glorious sim; beautifully constructed and textured, imaginative and surprising. It feels authentic to its central theme.

It is like a 256m x 256m x 4096m three-dimensional interactive sculpture.


Golgothica was recommended to me by Lar Jun, owner of my favourite hang-out 'Old Lar's House' .

"Go 'un take yah knickers off  thur, dearie," Lar said, "You'll like it."



A few days later, Tutsy Navarathna and I tp'd over.

You arrive in the lower decks of a galleon ship. Make your way to the upper deck.



Once on the upper deck, camera out to view one of the most magnificent sights I have had the pleasure of seeing in Second Life. It is like walking into a 19th Century oil painting...(click image to see enlarged view)


This snapshot really doesn't do justice to the view and I urge you to go see for yourself.

Go into the Captain's room to get an OOC tag.


Tutsy remained on deck filming while I teleported to explore ground level. To get to ground level, left-click the life boat hanging off the side of the galleon.


The first thing that strikes you on landing, after the sculpties have resolved, is the astonishingly high quality of the textures and texturing. Everything in Golgothica is just so well done; everything has a breathtaking level of depth and detail.


 I made my way to a gypsy encampment by way of a Stonehenge-like structure. It was only then I noticed that the region description said "Golgothica: BDSM Capture Roleplay"!



"Tutsy!," I screamed, "Did you know this was a BDSM Capture sim??? I might get kidnapped!!"

"Do not worry, Mademoiselle", he replied, "No kidnapper would want you. A kidnapper would even pay me to take you back. Are you wearing your 'Out of Control' (OCC) tag?"

Allow yourself plenty of time to explore....


Saturday, June 11, 2011

A Challenge to the SL Porn Community

I took a break from SL porn.  I haven't worked on any porn movies of my own since February.  I'm planning to get back in soon, but something has been on my mind...

I've always tried to tell a story with my movies.  Originally, they were homages to 70's porn flicks, with cheesy plots and dialog.  The last two, "Serving It Up Hot" and "Life Goes On" (written by Groove Taurus and Ainsley Wirefly) had more developed stories and characters.  The next movies I do will experiment more with storytelling.

Other directors are advancing the state of technical effects, adding more realism and producing professional quality special effects.  For example, Serenity's work with 3D and HaileyMarie's "Sultrina" are expanding the boundaries of SL porn and inspiring a lot of creativity from the SL porn community.  (Please don't be offended if I didn't mention your name and your achievement here.  A lot of you have done some great work in storytelling, voice acting, special effects, and more.)

Yet I still see movie after movie being posted that are basically music videos with sex.  I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that.  Some of them are shot well and have nice effects and lighting.  But I can't help but wonder what some of these directors could do if they tried to create something more.

In just the year that I have been involved with the SL porn community, the movies have advanced dramatically through the hard work and creativity of a few.  Imagine what the next year may bring if more of us worked as hard to make SL porn better than it is today. 

This is my challenge to the community.  Don't keep making the same movie over and over.  Come up with something new.  Try something no one else has tried.  Give us stories that draw us in.  Make MOVIES, not just sex videos set to music.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

The Alanis Gallery of Sensual Images

I recommend to you a visit to the Alanis Gallery of Sensual Images .

Go with a lover.


The gallery owners, Michiel Seetan and Sylvia Fitzpatrick have collected together many admirable pieces from numerous different artists.

Other than the obvious "sensual" theme, the other common feature in the collection was the high quality of all the pieces.

The curators clearly have a good eye

A number of the artists caught my eye and I would specifically name Roger Woods, Emiel Drascol and Sylvia Fitzpatrick herself.

For this blog, however, I'd would like to particularily draw your attention to the work of Carolyn Weltman.

Carolyn is a UK artist and studied at the wonderful Goldsmith's College, University of London. She has been a street artist and her work is well known in Soho (London and New York) . It has been sold at Christies and Sotheby's as well as appearing in Penthouse International!

 

"I am utterly and unashamedly ecumenical in my fascination with the human form and the imaginative capacity for loving of its inhabitants." – Carolyn Weltman






Pixie
xxx

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Yann Minh and the French BDSM Cyberpunk Movement

Yann Minh is an accomplished artist, talented in multiple disciplines.



His Second Life gallery is currently showing the works of various French BDSM and Cyberpunk influenced artists, his own included.

The work at the gallery ranges from the disturbing, to erotic, evocative, sexy, intriguing. The range is so great that I don't think it would be possible to "like" them all.


And this fact is of great interest in and of itself. No attempt is made to pander to the viewer's likes or dislikes. The artists come across as simply not caring what we as an audience might think of their work. I respect that.

Some of the images are from RL or have both RL and SL elements in them.


Click this link for some of Minh's RL BDSM photographic work.

For me, one of the most interesting pieces at the galley was Minh's "Le Point De Vue Du Miroir" which is a 3D graphic analysis of Diego Velázquez famous 1656 painting 'Las Meninas'.


It is not possible to describe what Minh has done with this work using words and 2D images. It has to be seen in Second Life at the gallery. Click this link to watch a short film which reveals the work's secrets and mysteries or visit this web page for a more detailed analysis.

It was a real pleasure meeting Yann, the introduction being made by tutsy.


tutsy and Yann are RL friends.

I imagine them sitting on a terrace next to the Seine, smoking Gitanes, sipping black coffee and red wine, casually admiring the legs of passing Parisienne ladies, discussing Sartre and the nature of the reality of the avatar...


Pixie
xxx