March 2010 Issue by ioleJanana Chajit

Travel-LOG MACHINIMA Friendly Sims Holistic Point of View

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Horoscope for the Month of March

Designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Den The Glamorous Designs From Leezu

Red Carpet on a Budget Make Me Over! Virtual Make Over with T&A Bodyworkx

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Human Interest

80 Years of Oscars Best Pictures And The Winner Is.... Attraction and Romance in Second Life Lights! Camera! LAG! RFL 2010 Kick-Off

contents

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Editorial Staff

Ariel Lingiuan Iolejanana Chajit Publishers Sherrie Shepherd Features Editor Nadia Felwitch Fashion Editor Aristipuss Larsen Copy Editor Kimmie Rayna Pam Astonia Nellie Choche Nakari Tolsen Photographers

Shartan Silverstar Rajeesh Navarathna Willow Wonder-Morane Luscious Giano Brendan Tsarchon Carey deCuir Alicia Chenaux Rusty Ses Contributing Writers

On the Cover: Glitter Bolissima and Tesan Lane models got hit by the papparazzi on their way to a red carpet event. Pam Astonia, photographer got the best shot of the two. Special Thanks on the Editors Photos : Styles By: Viola Rookswood Photos done by : Nakari Tolsen 5

Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Notes To Our Friends, Movies, we all love to watch them. Often times see a preview, hear about a movie being made or even wonder if a certain book is to be made into a film. We wait and wait until we are first in line to watch it. At times, we watch a favorite movie so many times that we even end up buying a dvd. This month, we all eagerly await to see which movie or who will win the infamous OSCAR. Just like in RL, we also have movie making in SL. This month aside from presenting to you the list of Oscarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best, we would also like to present to you MACHINIMA, the people that dedicate themselves to it, how it is made in SL and its version of a virtual Oscars. Now sit back and watch...err..read over as we present to you..... MARCH ISSUE OF VR STYLE! Virtually Yours,

Ariel Lingiuan

Ariel Lingiuan Publisher + Editor-in-Chief Virtual Style

Publisher’s Message Dear Friends: And the Oscar goes to.... Those famous words have been repeated now for 80 years! And the world’s love for movies grows more and more. This year one particular movie that struck a chord in everyone’s mind was Avatar. From the ecological to political statement it brought forth, we are seeing how movies are becoming more than just another form of an entertainment but also a forum to bring some level of consciousness to mankind. And of course since SL mimics RL we also have our form of expression through the reel called Machinima. We are very excited to bring to you our readers a close look into the world of Machinima and how even that is crossing into RL. So grab your bucket of popcorn and enjoy. And now Lights! Camera! Action! Always,

Iolejanana Chajit Iolejanana Chajit Publisher + Managing Editor Virtual Style

Human Interest

80 Years of Oscars Best Picture I like collecting videos, and one day, I was talking to my officemate and he said it would be cool to have a collection of the Best from the Oscars. I thought of it and told myself “Yeah! It would be cool!” The following day I searched for a list of all the best pictures and found that I have most of them, my quest then….complete my list! I went to the US in 2001 and with the help of my cousin, completed part of that list. Now I have the entire collection, and waiting for the 2010 Winner. For the purpose of this article, I lifted this from Wikipedia, “The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only Category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only to vote on the final ballot, but also to nominate. During the annual Academy Awards ceremony, Best Picture is reserved as the final award presented and since 1951, is collected at the podium by the film’s producers. The Academy Award for Best Motion Picture is considered the most important of the Academy Awards, as it is the final result of the collaborative producing, directing, acting, and writing efforts put forth for a film. The Grand Staircase columns at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, where the Academy Awards ceremonies have been held since 2002, showcase every film that has won the Best Picture title since the award’s inception 80 years ago. On June 24, 2009 it was announced that the Best Picture nominees would be raised from 5 selected films to 10 selected nominees for the award, starting with the 2010 Academy Award Ceremony. Here is the list of Best Pictures since it started: 1928 - Wings 1929 - The Broadway Melody 1930 - All Quiet on the Western Front 1931 - Cimarron 1932 - Grand Hotel 1933 - Cavalcade 14

1935 - Mutiny in the Bounty 1936 - The Great Ziegfeld 1937 - The Life of Emile Zola 1938 - You Can’t Take It With You 1939 - Gone with The Wind 1940 - Rebecca 1941 - How Green Was my Valley 1942 - Mrs. Miniever 1943 - Casablanca 1944 - Going My Way 1945 - The Lost Weekend 1946 - The Best Years of Our Lives 1947- Gentleman’s Agreement 1948 - Hamlet 1949 - All the King’s Men 1950 - All About Eve 1951 - An American in Paris 1952 - The Greatest Show on Earth 1953 - From Here to Eternity 1954 - On the Waterfront 1955 - Marty 1956 - Around the World in 80 Days 1957 - The Bridge on the River Kwai 1958 - Gigi 1959 - Ben Hur 1960 - The Apartment 1961 - West Side Story 1962 - Lawrence of Arabia 1963 - Tom Jones 1964 - My Fair Lady 1965 - The Sound of Music 1966 - A Man For All Seasons 1967 - In the Heat of the Night 1968 - Oliver 1969 - Midnight Cowboy 1970 - Patton 1971 - The French Connection 1972 - The Godfather 1973 - The Sting 1974 - The Godfather Part II

1975 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 1976 - Rocky 1977 - Annie Hall 1978 - The Deer Hunter 1979 - Kramer vs. Kramer 1980 - Ordinary People 1981 - Chariots of Fire 1982 - Gandhi 1983 - Terms of Endearment 1984 - Amadeus 1985 - Out of Africa 1986 - Platoon 1987 - The Last Emperor 1988 - Rain Man 1989 - Driving Miss Daisy 1990 - Dances with Wolves 1991- The Silence of the Lambs 1992 - Unforgiven 1993 - Schindler’s List 1994 - Forrest Gump 1995 - Braveheart 1996 - The English Patient 1997 - Titanic 1998 - Shakespeare in Love 1999 - American Beauty 2000 - Gladiator 2001- A Beautiful Mind 2002 - Chicago 2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2004 - Million Dollar Baby 2005 - Crash 2006 - The Departed 2007 - No Country for Old Men 2008 - Slumdog Millionaire

WATCH OUT FOR THE LATEST ON March 7, 2010!!! 16

Award Winning Machinima Team, Paul Jannicola, Kerria Seabrooke and Damien Fate pictured with the lead character of the award winning â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tiny Nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; machinima, Bob the Bunny.

Human Interest

And the Winner Is.....

By Sherrie Shepherd Photo By: Carey deCuir With the excitement of the Academy Awards in the air, it’s fitting that we focus on the machinima art form of a creative and talented team who uses SL as the backdrop for award worthy productions. Creative Directors, Kerria Seabrooke (a.k.a. Skyla Volitant) and Paul Jannicola (a.k.a. Spector Hawks), head the top notch team of ILL Clan Animation Studios of which they are the co-owners. VR Style met with them on the set of one of their machinimas that most SL residents would immediately recognize. The “What is Second Life?” machinima is the very first tantalizing glimpse of SL that greets potential residents enticing them to join. It’s also what seasoned SLers see when they access the Second Life website. Jannicola and Seabrooke, who are RL husband and wife, share a background in performing in improvisational comedy groups, writing and working on film projects. Of machinima, Seabrooke says, “Machinima levels the playing field by creating art without the overhead cost of film.” Virtual pioneers and veterans of the machinima art form, Seabrooke and Jannicola have taken that expertise and applied it to their projects with great success resulting in some prestigious award recognitions for the team. Their popular news show, ‘Grid Review’, billed as “your weekly second glance at Second Life”, delivered the SL news 21

with a comic twist similar to the RL ‘Daily Show’. In 2007, Seabrooke and Jannicola were proud to travel from New York to the UK to receive the “Best Series” award for ‘Grid Review’ at the UK Machinima Film Festival. At the time, this was considered the equivalent of a machinima Oscar. Seabrooke described the experience, “It was a fantastic experience! One of the highlights along with winning was being interviewed by the BBC on what machinima is and how it can be used.” ‘Grid Review’ was one of their first projects in SL and holds a special place in their hearts. Seabrooke added, “Now, almost three years later, it’s already an historical document of the earlier days of SL. We are no longer producing The Grid Review but you can see the episodes still on line at gridreview.com.” Following right on the heels of ‘Grid Review’ is another successful series called ‘Tiny Nation’. ‘Tiny Nation’ is a story line that follows a scrappy band of backyard animals, Bob the bunny, Sid the Mole, Phil the ferret, Frank the warthog and Garbo the Squirrel, who have had enough of being on the bottom of the food chain. They are committed to take back their planet, one backyard at a time. ‘Tiny Nation’ has amassed a number of award recognitions. The most prestigious of which was the Jury Award at the 2008 Machinima Expo. Seabrooke reflects, “People who saw it, didn’t believe it was shot entirely within SL, which is a high compliment in and of itself. We had to set the record straight that the sets, characters, animations, facial expressions, lighting, and camera moves were all done in-world. Most 22

Kerria Seabrooke, Paul Jannicola and Damien Fate underwater SL set of ILL Clan Animation Studios.

e at work shooting a machinima on the

of the post work was in CrazyTalk and that was to make the characters lips move. A few select shots, like a big explosion and title sequences, were done in AfterFX. Also, the Machinima Expo, even though it is held in Second Life, is open to all machinima created in any engine, so we were honored to be among some fantastic films that year.” Another award presented to the team for ‘Tiny Nation’ was the Best Series at the 2009 MPrem Online Machinima Festival. This is an online festival where the initial voting is done entirely by the community, after which a board of fellow machinima makers also votes. Seabrooke added, “We were really honored to receive this award.” They are most proud that ‘Tiny Nation’ was also accepted into the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. Seabrooke explained, “This was amazing news for a few reasons. First, it was accepted as a film in its own right, not as a “machinima” film or as part of a machinima screening program. It was accepted as a short film. As a matter of fact, there wasn’t even a machinima category! The other thing that got us really excited was that it is a qualifier for the Academy Awards, so any film that wins its category is automatically on the qualifying list for an Oscar. To have a machinima film honored as a proper film was a huge leap forward for the medium in our minds.” In October 2007, while working for the Electric Sheep Company, Seabrooke and Jannicola had the amazing opportunity to collaborate with CBS to incorporate SL into RL in CSI NY Season 4, Episode 5, “Down the Rabbit Hole”. In the episode, which was followed up by another episode 23

(Season 4, Episode 15, “DOA for a Day”) in February of 2008, Detective Mac Taylor was thrust into the virtual world of SL to catch a political assassin. The team were challenged to maintain the idealized vision of SL, vibrant and alive, but tailored to the feel of a crime show. Seabrooke said, “It was important that textures not cross over to a cartoon feel… not have a flat cartoon look.” Jannicola emphasized, “On the record, everything seen in the CSI NY machinimas was 100% SL.” He also expressed his gratification that at the time, “machinimas, so long on the fringes, were about to hit mainstream”, and that was in his words, “mind blowing”. Screen Shots from the episodes can be accessed via http:// www.illclan.com/ill-blog/75-csiny-doa-foranother-day. Of directing machinima, Seabrooke said, “I love directing machinima, particularly in SL, because it is like Fantasy Island for filmmakers.” Seabrooke acknowledged Damien Fate, their animator and builder, as being a major key player who contributes to the success of the team. She went on to say, “With Paul’s (Jannicola) amazing camera work and Damien’s (Fate) fantastic animations, we can recreate any shot made in real life as well as shots that would never be possible with an actual camera.” When asked about enhancements in technology that have aided the production of machinima, Jannicola cited several: CrazyTalk, which provides audio lip synch to avatars; Windlight Viewer, which with ‘advanced sky’ allowed the ability to control the atmosphere/environment; the Second Life implementation of ‘dynamic shadows’ 24

VR Style Features Editor, Sherrie Shepherd, center, interviews ILL Clan Animation Studios’ Creative Directors Kerria Seabrooke (left) and Paul Jannicola (Right) on the set of the “What is Second Life?” machinima..

in the Release Candidate allowing the avatar and all objects to cast a true shadow; and Moviestorm which provides the tools to build sets, control the movement of avatars, set up lighting and much more. Looking to the future, expect more exciting news soon on upcoming projects sure to win awards based on the track record of this talented team. As far as ‘Tiny Nation’, Seabrooke said, “We’re absolutely making more ‘Tiny Nation’ episodes. As a matter of fact, we just recorded dialogue from two guest stars, Phil Rice and Ricky Grove who will be featured in the next episode. We have Mitch Wagner (a.k.a. Copper Robot) making a cameo as well so be on the lookout for a few more.” SLers can catch up with the antics of the backyard gang of ‘Tiny Nation’ by accessing http://www.illclan.com/tiny-nation.

Dear Readers: this month we examine romance in SL as compared to romance in the movies. In a sense, all of us are making a movie, or maybe several movies, as we engage in SL. Perhaps the difference is that RL movies are directed and extremely well choreographed. However in SL you control, at best, only your part in the movie and have little over the myriad of movies you interact with. I have asked three SL residents to discuss their thoughts about attraction and romance in SL. Carey DeCuir: Marigould Parx, you have been in SL for over a year and have found a serious relationship. What is it that attracts your attention to another avatar?

Human Interest

Attraction and Romance in Second Life By Carey DeCuir 28

Marigould Parx: Hmmm, attention to detail, a unique sense of style. This sounds silly, but something in their bearing that appears strong, confident, yet with good humor and is willing to step outside the “typical” and express themselves. I suppose that comes through in their words as well as the way they choose to decorate their avatar. CD: Can you explain what you mean by “typical”? MP: Well, there are some, I guess, niches, that a lot of people fill with their avatar. The DJ jock look, or the slightly ruffled male model look. When someone has added something unique, an interesting different look, that attracts me. CD: Bolero Trenkins, you are an un-partnered male and seem SL worldly in your wanderings and experiences here. Can you describe what qualities attract you to women in SL? Bolero Trenkins: I’ve always found that beauty in a woman is extremely important to me. In RL, I see too much that is ugly... in work, in society, in the interactions with others. I crave the beauty that only a woman can express, to help me find peace and balance in RL. And so... I search for the same thing here. But that beauty extends to dimensions beyond her physical appearance. A woman’s appearance is still important... just not all. I crave her sensual nature, her sexual appetites and needs... whether it is simply slow dancing... or passionate embraces in a hot tub... ;-) CD: let’s focus on physical beauty for the moment.... what physical characteristics attract you to a woman? BT: How do you define the perfect diamond? Each is unique in how it captures the light of her features, her clothes, her hairstyle ... and, it is that ever-changing dazzle that can captivate me. I prefer to be the bedrock of stability, from which the woman can shine her rainbow of multiple looks. CD: Reign Congrejo, you are a very successful fashion model and clothes designer in SL. You have obviously given a great deal of thought about avatar design and what it says. What do you find attractive in a male avatar? Reign Congrejo: The first thing I look at is his profile, that tells you a lot about his quality, style and if he takes the time to make sure his spelling is correct. I love a man that is well put together, everything is in sync. I love a man with a six pack, some hair on his chest, beautiful colorful eyes, a GREAT smile and white teeth. Overall, he should be well 29

proportioned, the entire package needs to fit and everything needs to flow together. CD: I have noticed many men use those sliders to bulk up to the max. Women, of course, can use a similar strategy, making the biggest breasts possible, for example.... is enhancement of those sexual characteristics what we are looking for? BT: A man that is bulked up may not be attractive to some women, but will be to those the man wants to attract. I consider it similar for women. I know women that are incredibly erotic, with very large breasts … and others that are steamy with small breasts. Personally, I look for proportions - how the woman’s head / breasts / hips match proportionally, nothing standing out. It is the difference between my saying, “you have a gorgeous face”, or, “that’s a beautiful dress” ... and saying, “... you look fantastic”. Nothing stands out, yet everything looks good and works to enhance everything else. CD: What do you want an avatar’s look to say about their personality? RC: I want it to say that he is assertive not afraid to go after what he wants, take risks and that his personality is fun, that he is articulate, has a brain and can hold a conversation. CD: Going beyond that first glance across the room.... what is it that holds your attention when you do meet someone? RC: The only way to hold my interest is there has to be that connection. Sex and all is good, but what about after that is over, what do you have left? There has to be an intellectual connection, you have to be able to talk to one another. MP: A generosity of spirit, definitely. Meaning, someone that is not absorbed with talking about themselves or trying to attract everyone to himself, but instead enjoys chatting and sharing of himself while helping draw those around him out and helping them enjoy themselves as well. Also, a sense of intelligence, that they have some broader interests. Usually meaning they are well read. BT: For me, the magic of a woman is not that I can define her beauty ... but that she just is. The whole of her efforts to be beautiful is far more than the sum of her parts. I’ve met many women in SL. Most are still learning what options they can explore, to define their beauty. Some have found one or two looks that work for them and then, there are the truly rare women, that have the magic ... everything about them, is … beautiful. 30

CD: Ok... you have found somebody who

attracts you and is a great conversationalist... what do you do for romance in SL? MP: I love finding beautiful sims to visit, also finding something fun to do together. Skydiving is a blast! And of course, nothing beats dancing to some romantic music in a quiet little corner. RC: My honey and I like to take long baths together and have breakfast in bed. We value our time together. He will even dj for me and plays music just for me. His music tells a story. MP: There is something I really wanted to mention. I think a lot of people get sideswiped by the intensity of romance in SL. I’ve learned it just takes you by surprise. And it’s tricky because you don’t have the usual things you have in RL to gauge the person’s quality. We learn so much from people’s mannerisms, and we just don’t have access to that here. So, I think honesty is super important. Taking your time as much as possible, developing interests that you share and building other social connections as well, outside the relationship. RC: Yes, you really have to read into what they are writing, which is a form of communication. If you are a good communicator it doesn’t matter how it comes, you understand it. It’s a daily experience for both my hubby and I. Any problems and we work through them. We create a place that we can go and not feel threatened with each other. We can be vulnerable and know the other person will not take advantage of that. There is so much trust. But, I agree, I think too many woman are too quick to jump into a relationship without knowing the person, get married one day and unpartnered the next MP: I think SL offers the rush of first love so readily. Also, it seems like things advance very quickly. The stages of a relationship kind of whizz by! CD: How do you feel about your intuition… do you trust it here in SL? MP: NO! Laughs. Like so many, I got my heart totally trampled on in the beginning. And so often, my gut is just wrong! So, communication and taking your time are huge. So, dear Readers, it appears that the secret to making yourself attractive is really about getting the entire package of parts to fit seamlessly together, creating an impression that you have put a lot of thought and effort into developing a cohesive message. I suspect that a sense of artistic style would be icing on the cake. And the secret to lasting romance is... honesty, doing fun things together and intelligent conversation. 31

Who among us can resist the undeniable lure of the camera? It has been calling to people in different ways for centuries now. Some people find their calling in front of the camera while others make it their lifelong plan to stay behind it and direct the show. No matter what you really do in life, I can safely bet that you have felt that same lure of the camera at least once in your life, if not more. Common-sense and a vision of the hurdles in the path may have stopped you from taking the next flight to Hollywood or the next train to Bombay, but that little spark, that little thought of “what-if” is something you will have to admit to yourself in your most personal moments. Have you never looked at a scene and thought, “I bet I could do this better!”? “Hey, who’s directing this thing?” Movie directors hold the coveted and envied position of being the be-all and do-all of a movie. Everyone from the cast to the critics hold him responsible for the success or failure of the movie. But no matter how much you wish to say the oft-repeated trademark phrase, “Lights, Camera…Action!” the truth of the matter is that it’s not so easy to get into film direction. Even if you were willing to give up your day job and devote yourself to the pursuit of film direction, you’d find it an uphill task to break into this line. Enter Second Life. It’s very easy to be the director of your own SL movies. Or is it? “Hand me my tools, please!”

Human Interest

Lights, Camera, LAG..... 34

By Shartan Silverstar

It is true that making movies in SL is just a matter of getting the people on the screen and recording their actions, but this seemingly simple task is fraught with its own challenges and pitfalls. To start with, you need the right hardware and software tools to shoot movies in SL. Second Life client itself is quite resource-hungry, adding the video capture dimension makes it that much more demanding on the computer. Software is not hard to find, but not easy to choose. Some people use Fraps, others GameCam and still others XCam. And there are others. Surely, they all have their reasons for choosing that particular capture software but each one has its own learning curve and drawbacks. “Oh, just the face I was looking for!” Then, depending on the kind of movie you want to make you’ll need one or more actors. Now, that should be the easy part, right? I mean SL is literally full of people, isn’t? Aha, but try finding the right person for your “character” and you will soon be reminded of the needle and the haystack. When you come down to the actual shooting, SL all but sticks its leg out and trips you. For example, try saying, “John, you’ll start from that point and walk this way to that corner.” How do you say that without pointing? You can’t! And in SL, you can’t point that easily. So, you have to actually walk to the spot and then say it as you do it. Ever played follow the leader? Then of course, there is the all wonderful LAG! You get all these people together for the one scene that will define your movie, you have just finished explaining what they need to do and they are all ready….and you find that half your cast can’t move because you have created your own lag! Almost paradoxical, isn’t it? “So, that’s your angle, is it?” The most crucial thing that directors do is to control the camera angles. There have been scenes in Hollywood movies which were made memorable just by their picturization. 35

Remember Sharon Stone’s crossed legs in Basic Instinct? However, in SL you will find that all camera angles are not easy to replicate. Imagine your cowboy hero enters the dim-lit saloon and everybody does a onceover, looking him up from the toes of his boots slowly up to his Stetson. You’ll find that it’s just not possible to do a “pan” shot with the SL camera. Of course, there are workarounds but for once you wish for that crane that’s an integral part of all “Making of…” documentaries. “And don’t give me any lip!” No matter how much we identify with our avi’s it’s an undeniable fact that the power of flying and teleporting notwithstanding, our avi’s cannot perform the same range of motions in a spatial plane as we can in real life. But thanks to the innovative content creators in SL that gap becomes smaller every day. Still, something any director would miss is the lack of lip movement in the avatars. Sure, there are some products that can produce a smile or even lip movement, but that technology is still in its infancy at this point. “Houston, we have the location!” Unlike real estate the 3 laws of movie-making are not “Location, Location and Location!” but a good location still ranks pretty high on a director’s checklist of things to have. Once again, SL is full of places small and big and any kind of imaginable décor. The only challenge lies in finding the right one for your set. But this is one area where SL’s abundance comes to the aid of a movie-maker. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, it’s easy to create any set in SL. And it wouldn’t take months to complete either. Whatever the look or the décor your powerful imagination has conceived, SL can provide you the colours and patterns to bring it to life. You need only look. Even if you don’t have a clear idea of what you want, just start browsing through XStreetSL and ideas will wander in and things will take shape. “Make me a princess!” 36

The same thing goes for dressing up your

characters. You must have heard of the man who told his wife to get ready for the matinee when he had the tickets for the evening show. It does indeed take time and care to put together a feminine ensemble that’d attract the eye and capture the heart. Well, it takes effort in SL too, but thankfully not so much time. You can try 10 dresses in the time it takes you to try one in RL. And then there is such a vast selection of jewellery and accessories that we are really spoilt for choice. Unlike their real life counter-parts, SL actors don’t have to spend a majority of their time in make-up chairs waiting for the make-up artist to perform his miracles. Here it just takes a click or two and voila, you are ready. And a good thing is it doesn’t take a half hour with the nail polish remover to take it off either. “Let’s get you on the table…” After shooting the movie the hard part comes – editing. This is where it gets interesting. This is where the magic is made. However, the magic takes mucho sweat of the skull to perform and anyone who has ever uploaded a finished video clip from SL to YouTube will tell you that this is the most demanding part of the job. Usually the files you create from your shooting are so big in size that you cannot send them across the internet to someone else to edit, so the director ends up being not just a part of the editing team but the editing team itself. Editing is quite a detail-oriented process and it takes painstaking care and hours on the editing table before you can sit back and take a deep breath of relief while the world applauds your masterpiece. “..and I’d like to thank my dog Chi chi, my neighbour, his parakeet and…” After all is said and done though, the sense of achievement that comes when you finish a movie is worth all this and more! The plan here was not to scare you away from experimenting with movie-making in SL, quite the contrary, but to give you a sense of appreciation of why these people who are given these machinima awards really deserve them, just as much as an RL movie-maker.

Lights, Camera, Action!! It’s that time of year again for the Oscars and the Stars to step out on the red carpet. Any formal event calls for the royal treatment and the first step is always taken with finding the perfect outfit for the event to make you shine in the spotlight. After searching high and low for this feature I finally found the perfect designer to help create the red carpet look! LeeZu’s exquisite designs exude a sexy sophistication that will fascinate the crowd and have the paparazzi flashing their cameras as you step out of the limo in your gorgeous gown. Meet the creative force behind the designs of LeeZu; LeeZu Baxter. Find out what inspires her designs and more in our exclusive Q&A interview. Nadia Felwitch: Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? What’s your educational background? What are your general professional and non-professional interests? Leezu Baxter: I am Hungarian. I grew up in Hamburg. At the moment I am moving from one country to another, to discover this planet ;) I am a professional Media Designer with 17 years working experience but have done a lot of other jobs too. Mostly I created my own things (clothes, bags) and set them for commission in stores. My passion is my mac and designing. I have too many interests to list them all here. I am an explorer and a passenger. NF: How long have you been designing and what was the first article of clothing you made? LB: I started designing in early March 2007. My first 2 dresses were made in a sandbox. It was quite a weird working place. NF: What inspires you? LB: Anything can inspire me: a feeling, a moment, a picture, the clouds or a thought, friends, the city, culture, a sentence.....just 40

Designer’s Den

THE GLAM DESIGNS FR By Nadia

everything. NF: How would you define your fashion?

MOROUS ROM LEEZU Felwitch

LB: I pretty much focus on textures, colors and cuts and the whole ambience of the silhouette of a dress or piece of clothing. The main importance for me is also the mix and matching factor and being Creative, playful, feminine, and flexible with style and an artistic attitude. NF: What sets your style apart from other designers? LB: First of all I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make casual things. I do experiment a lot and I am trying to reach limits and to develop my creations into a consistently higher level, but still have my roots in the ground. So even if my creations are focusing on creativity they are still wearable. NF: What matters to you most as a fashion designer? LB: That I am happy and satisfied with my creations and also, of course, that my customers are happy and satisfied and enjoy what they are wearing. NF: Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your favorite part about conceptualizing a design? LB: Finally finishing an idea that I have had for a long time in my mind. The working steps in between are something that I enjoy all the time, no matter if its working in Photoshop, Illustrator, my 3D program or building in world. NF: What do you believe makes a quality article of clothing? LB: Very good skills in the popular graphic programs, 3D programs and building in world of course. The details of the clothing that when in the end everything fits together like a homogeneous painting. NF: What kinds of projects do you have 41

going on for the future? LB: Developing my store and creations of course. I also build furniture and want to focus in time on building houses too. Developing my Tutorial blog and releasing lots more shoes for Courtisane (the sister label in cooperation with Enktan Gully). I would also like to release another issue catalogue like I did already with the Forbidden book. But most importantly, I wish for the future that my staff stays happy and my customers stay happy with the house [LeeZu!] NF: What advice can you offer to our readers who are new to the design scene? LB: Be very, very patient but keep moving :) Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to be your own celebrity playing dress up with the latest glamorous designs of LeeZu! Go shine like the Star you are!! Your limo has arrived: http:// slurl.com/secondlife/To%20The%20 Nines/145/128/23 Happy Shopping! I would also like to share with you a wonderful organization, Kiva that LeeZu Baxter supports. LeeZu has several designs that were created just for this charity and she donates 50 percent of all sales to Kiva. As we are playing the lifestyle of glitz and glamour think about the many that would like to but are below poverty level and need the chance if given to make their dreams come true. Kiva is an organazition that helps by giving loans to third world people to help them start their own businesses and achieve their dreams by giving them an opportunity. For more information check out the web here: http://www.kiva.org/ 42

The red carpet has long been associated with glitz and glamour. Beautiful starlets in gorgeous dresses, strutting down with some eye candy on their arm – or vice versa! But what if you want that glam and your balance is low? Not to worry, you can still get all dolled up in Second Life for next to nothing! In previous articles, I’ve talked about hunting out blogs or fashion feeds to find the best deals, but there’s another option for those on a budget that most people forget. Xstreet.com! On Xstreet, you can find almost anything you’d want and often for a great deal. When putting together my red carpet look, I found this amazing black dress with silver trimmings from Marinoco Oceanlane for absolutely nothing. Just look at the fabulous back! By just hunting in the woman’s formals section of Xstreet, there were many many formal gowns for less than $100L, and in a world where a formal gown can go for well over $500L, that’s a heck of a deal. Although you cannot see them, I’m wearing the “Jane” heels by one of the leading ladies of sculpted shoes, Tesla Miles. A pack of 7 colors did not break the bank at all because…they were free! Hey, you can’t get better than free! Around my neck I’m wearing some elegant pearls by Alienbear Gupte that I picked up, along with matching earrings, for the low price of $20L. When looking for accessories on Xstreet, a good rule of thumb is to search out Jewelry Sets. That way, you get all of the goodies, and usually for a great price. A stunning gown, shoes, earrings and a necklace all for $20L and a few minutes of my time? Incredible! 54

Designer’s Den

Red Carpet o By Alicia

on a Budget Chenaux

And since I spent so very little on my outfit, I used the money I saved to get some great hair. You never can go wrong if you splurge on good quality hair! Also, one of my favorite benefits to using Xstreet is that there is now a Wishlist option. So even if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re on a budget, you can put those high glam items on your wishlist and maybe one of your more generous friends will treat you to a gift! You have to admit, Xstreet definitely is one stop shopping for those on a budget. Now where did that limousine goâ&#x20AC;Ś

Designer’s Den

MAKE ME OVER! VIRTUAL MAKEOVERS WITH T&A BODYWORX By Nadia Felwitch

We all want to look our best rl or SL but the most amazing part of SL we can look any way shape or form that we desire. We can spend countless hours and days looking for the perfect shape, skin, hair, eyes, clothing, shoes, and accessories and sometimes still end up wasting our precious lindens and still not being satisfied. Now there is a much easier way to achieve your desired look. With the help of T&A Bodyworx you can create the avatar of your dreams. First of all, let me introduce you to the founder, Than Vayandar, of T&A Bodyworx to give you some insight on what this amazing business has to offer.

Nadia Felwitch: Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? What’s your educational background? What are your general professional and non-professional interests? Than Vayandar: I live near Yosemite CA in the US, My education is in mechanical engineering, I have worked in other fields, but have been a Race Car Design Engineer for many years and that’s what I currently do, providing both the designs as well as testing the final prototypes we build. My non professional interests are graphic arts, Backpacking and camping and Photography NF: What is T&A BodyWorx? And why was it created? TV: T&A BodyWorx’s is simply a custom Avatar Studio, the name was kind of a inside joke my wife Aileen and I had on the classical T&A meanings, in our case it stands for Than and Aileen, When it was originally formed I did custom AO’s and poses which I sold to other shops in SL, as I spent more time here I painted custom one off skins and had people ask me to help them with their avatars, so we evolved into the custom Shaping, Skinning and Avatar Studio we now are, We also carry some select lines of clothing , AO’s and eyes which I change regularly so new designers 58

and styles are available every month. NF: Why should someone use your services? What do you offer that is unique from the others? TV: There are many Shape builders in Sl and many do wonderful work, but from the beginning I saw shapes that were interesting but lacked the precision of real life, forms that would not happen naturally, so I have always tried to design “real” not perfect. at first I did this by eye but about 7 months ago I began seeing the similarities to designing the shapes to my cad drawings for our race car work, so without giving away exactly how my shapes are created, I developed a system that allows me to design my shapes in my Cad software, MAYA, CS4 and a facial recognition package that checks face and body for realism and then converts it to Slider format and then create the shape back in world and put small finishing touches on it with the skin installed. I then complete the look with customer requested clothing or demos for final approval then delivery, it takes me approximately 4-5 hours for each original shape. NF: Why should someone want a makeover? TV: Well often someone just wants a completely new start and may want one our finished avatars, but more often they have a look they like part of, but not all of it ,so I can take their shape and enter it in my design program and correct any nonreal life areas as well as modify the things they just don’t like, and before I deliver a shape I wear it on one of my shaping alts and the customer can have the shape modified to exactly what they like, I will shape in their existing skin or will make recommendations for one of our Hi Def recommended skins, I keep approximately 1800 skins in inventory so can accommodate just about any taste. NF: What does the makeover consist of? What are the advantages of having a makeover? TV: The normal makeover consists of a first meeting were I discuss the person’s wants and needs and what specific areas we will be working with, @ just the face or entire shape. If they decide I can help them I provide a custom 59

shaping card that details existing shape details to use for the new design. The advantage of using T&A BodyWorx for a custom shape or avatar probably is in the high precision of the finished shape as well as the hand fitting of each one, the manner in which we build the shapes excludes anyone in SL from producing a more hand fit product. NF: What is the average cost for a complete makeover? TV: The average cost for the custom shape is 3500L - 4500 depending on the difficulty of the skin to be fit. If we do a special shopping trip and fit each item a person might want, like color matching prim feet and shoes and adjusting their wardrobe it can run more and is based on the time spent. NF: Are there certain designers that you mostly suggest or use when helping someone with a makeover? TV: Yes defiantly, We have specific Skin designers we work with, as well as clothing designers that make a range of clothing to our standards or to fit a specific look. I do not however receive any kickbacks or discounts from these vendors with the exception of some free copies for me to work with personally so when we spec a skin or a piece of clothing itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s from the very best available, not from someone who pays us. NF: How many makeovers have you done? TV: I will have created approximately 503 custom avatars or shapes by the time of this printing, we build in all ethnicities both male and female with equal precision, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indian, Middle Eastern, North Atlantic, South American, we have worked in all areas 60

of SL from professional models, Adult performers, Dancers, DJ’s, Wedding makeovers for entire party’s, People of GOR and Vampires. NF: Give us an example of one of your Avi improvement skills that you teach in your workshop? TV: I think the number one item I teach in my workshop is to build “real”, anyone can build the definition of “perfection” or cookie cutter model shapes, very few can capture reality, we will make suggestions for minor changes, better Ao’s a new style that will give the person a improved look and result. One thing they will never get is verbally abused or criticized for how they look, I have been asked to attend a few model schools were the owners just berate the student about how they look terrible and should just junk their whole appearance , I find this to be terribly unconstructive and mean, and I have always found that by making some private suggestions in private IM we can help each person with no embarrassment, My idea of the perfect shape and skin is the one that a person keeps relatively untouched for many years and continues to get good response about their look for the entire time of the look. We also send 61

Before

After

out frequent tips and adjusting details to all of our group members, we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t push the group much and I think it has less that 100 members but the people that sign up for this group get a ton of custom tips and skill sets that are not available to others. NF: What would you like everyone to know about you or your business? TV: Well I guess I would say that no matter how busy I am in the shop I still go out at least twice a week to the newbie sites and help new members of the community get started for free, when I was new I had one person that took me under their wing and got me started on the right course and I consider this to be best way for me to pay this kindness forward, to many times I have heard older avatars give some new person a rude crappy answer to a simple question and am amazed that I have yet found another person who either forgot they were once new or maybe were born as experts in SL, We also provide a great new person starter kit for free at the studio and anyone can pick it up if they come there, one for males and one for females. About the studio?? well to answer that we have built not just a store but an entire region to enjoy and explore, we have dozens of pose sets for people to cuddle, take pictures, a stage area we have concerts and stream music most of the time, we have 5 Intan dance systems spread around the sim to allow a person to come enjoy our island with that special someone 62

or meet someone new. Of course we hope that you will become one of our valued clients, but invite you to just stop by and enjoy the area and say hi, and if you would like to speak to me or book time please send me a note card as my Imâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get capped daily and I spend a lot of time in my shaping alts so Im often online but not in my everyday avatar. So after learning about this incredible business, I decided to give it a try and see first hand what could be done to enhance my avatar more (of course I have spent countless hours over the years that I have been here shaping and finding the perfect look for my avatar but as most I was not completely satisfied). So I threw on a simple red dress and headed over to the shop to meet with Than. First we discussed what I liked and did not like about my current appearance. Then we made a few minor adjustments to make my shape a bit more real life proportional. Than suggested since I already liked my current skin that I enhance it a bit with breast enhancements and I tell you they do make a difference. Ooo la la I got cleavage now! LOL Next was shopping time! My outfit and Jewelry are from Terra Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ombrA, Shoes from N-Core, and Hair from Truth. And Voila! instant makeover! See for yourself what a few minor features can do for the appearance of ones avatar. Of course my makeover was a very simple one. T&A Bodyworxs can do much much more

for you. They are a custom shape, skin and styling Studio, so don’t expect to find cookie cutter shapes or skin on the wall. Your one of a kind shape will be built off world with a high tech cad cam system. Than also has 1000’s of samples of skins, hairs, and eyes on hand to assist you instantly with creating the perfect avatar for you. Several Stylists are on hand to assist you with shopping at many of the best designer’s stores around. So what are you waiting for Here’s your special limo: http://slurl. com/secondlife/Shell%20 Shores/57/79/24 While your visiting the T&A Sim, remember it is not just about shopping and makeovers; it’s also a beautifully decorated sim for relaxing, exploring, and romance. Around the sim you will find dozens of couples poses for pictures or just hanging out together, intans for dancing, and many other places scattered about to enjoy. So get going….Time for a Virtual Makeover to be the Avatar of your Dreams!!

Press Release

Thursday February 25, 2010 – for release on March 2

RFL of SL kicks off on March 13! Relay For Life of Second Life (RFL of SL) is all set to start fundraising on March 13. For the last few weeks, the teams have been busy recruiting, registering, training, and planning events... and now they’re ready to KICK OFF!

Wishing On A Cure This year’s theme is Wishing On A Cure. Because Relay For Life represents the wish that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. After 16 weeks of fun and fundraising, the teams will build campsites for the main event which will take place on July 17 and 18. Team members, volunteers and members of the SL community will walk a track for 24 hours to Celebrate survivorship, Remember those we have lost, and Fight Back to save lives by making a personal pledge to fight cancer. In 2010 the fundraising goal is $300,000. This year’s Event Chair is Tayzia Abattoir, supported by two Event Co-Chairs: Nuala Maracas and MamaP Beerbaum. The American Cancer Society’s representative in Second Life is Stingray9798 Raymaker. From March 13 onwards, look out for the distinctive RFL of SL kiosks, vendors and event 68

boards ... and go RELAY!

About Relay For Life of Second Life Relay For Life (RFL) is the signature fundraiser of the American Cancer Society. RFL of SL is an annual activity that takes place in Second Life in July each year. It is the largest, most successful fundraising event in the virtual world, raising more than $650,000 since it started in 2005. Volunteers form or join teams to have fun while fundraising and raising awareness about cancer from mid-March through mid-July. The funds raised go towards the American Cancer Society’s research, support and education programs, with 12-15% going towards international projects. In 2009, RFL of SL raised $274,000 for the American Cancer Society and was ranked the 112th highest fundraiser out of more than 5,000 relays in the United States. There were 125 teams taking part. At the main event, 1913 avatars walked a track of 11,907 meters across 36 sims. RFL has become an international movement. Since 1996 the American Cancer Society has partnered with international organizations to hold relay events all around the globe. In 2009 RFL took place in 21 countries. RFL of SL is international, too - participants from over 26 countries took part in RFL of SL in 2009. ________________________________________________________________

MEDIA NOTES FOLLOW US on: Twitter: http://twitter.com/RelayForLife_SL, Avatars United: http://www.avatarsunited.com/groups/relay-for-life-of-second-life, Facebook: ‘Relay For Life of Second Life 2010’ on http://www.facebook.com and RFL of SL Updates: http://rflofsl.blogspot.com/. For background information and the history of RFL of SL see: SL Wiki: https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Relay_For_Life_of_Second_Life and Official RFL of SL website: http://www.relayforlife.org/secondlife For more information please contact: Poppy Zabelin (RFL of SL PR Chair poppy_zabelin@yahoo.co.uk) or Breezy Carver (RFL of SL PR Co-Chair seabreezegal@gmail.com).

Travel-LOG

MACHINIMA Friendly Sims By Rusty Seisenbacher Photos by: Kimmie Rayna

LOVE movies and who doesn’t? I’ll bet many of us have watched movies in SL ---classics, cartoons, machinima--- all the genres. What IS machinima exactly? Machinima is a combination of the words machine and cinema. The term is used to delineate the difference between traditional animation (using 3D animation software) and projects that record the actions in real time 3D environments such as SL. It’s kind of like movies made here, in SL. So I set out to learn about machinima friendly sims in SL. A quick search brought up a list of sims that allow filming without permission of the land owner. In addition, any land owned by Governor Linden can be used for filming. The list needs to be updated as many locations no longer exist (Gasp!! Don’t you hate that?). After talking with SL Machinimist Toxic Menges, it seems that most SL locations can be used by just asking the sim owner nicely and politely. Toxic told me that after carefully explaining what she’s doing, she’s never been denied access, even getting temporary rez permission. The first SIM that my photographer, Kimmie Rayna, and I visited was FRANCE3D Virtualya, owned by Koxinell Lane. Many famous buildings are found here including the Taj Mahal, Notre Dame Cathedral, Pyramids of Egypt and the Roman theater. I could imagine virtual Charlton Heston whupping some ancient’s butt among the amazing pyramids . One would think such heroic structures would make for some heroic cinema. 80

Next we trekked to Experience Italy, owned by Umbert Oh. This is an 8 sim area so there’s lots of room to roam and run. Experience Italy is a very green place with scattered buildings---it felt to me like an office campus. I found a Michelangelo tribute ... a very cool build. There were many signs in Italian which unfortunately I don’t read or speak so off we went to... LOL Opensource Obscure, owned by Gebedia Yoshikawa. Wow, is this place a visual feast. Some beer and a good hallucinogenic, maybe a good Johnny Depp movie and you’ll feel right at home. Also this place is a touch unusual in that temporary rezing of small objects is allowed all over the sim. The colors and variety of environments---from steampunk to snowy mountains all contribute to an optic nightmare that I think would be a machinimists dream. In addition, many of the builds are dynamic structures that react to your avatar’s presence. Lastly, we went to SL Botanical Gardens, a beautiful sim built by Isablan Neva. This sim is a public garden, free for the public to use (just pick up your trash please). There are various themed areas including a tropical lagoon, a mountain top Buddha cave, waterfalls, a gondola ride and generally all the good things that we love to see in a garden area including a exceptionally well done landscape.OK I So next time you are exploring SL, bring your camera. We all know, there’s so much to see in SL. I hope to see your home movies in an SL theater soon!!!

Horoscop M

By: R

PISCES Watch your tendency to live for today and to live just for fun. Instead, spend time with your children and family. If you don’t, you’ll regret it this month. Plan a trip to an exotic destination. Watch your eating habits this month. Be honest in your conversation and don’t lose your cool if someone backs you into a corner. ARIES You need to turn some things around. If you really want to do this, don’t ignore them. Don’t be too prompt to give your opinion, but listen closely to others. Having said that, you do want to have your say on family matters, despite the fact that other family members will try to prevent you. There’s a good chance you will take a successful business trip this month. TAURUS It’s time to take care of your health. Get out and consult with the people who can help you, and for heaven’s sake, listen to your body! Hiding things from others, especially co-workers, could be disastrous this month. Talk to your partner about a vacation: it may help a stagnation you are feeling in the relationship. Around the second week in March, expect to be isolated, so now is the time to reinforce your friendships to keep that isolation to a minimum. 94

pe for the Month of March 2010

Rajeesh Navarathna

GEMINI There’s a lot going on around you. First and foremost, don’t let yourself get overemotional over money. Someone will ask you to participate in a matter with them: if it is two young people and an older man, go with it!. You will finally get recognition for the work you do. CANCER Don’t spend too much time with your co-workers in order to avoid problems later. You have a surge of musical creativity this month. Also, this month will find you more emotional than usual. On the brighter side, your partner will step in to help you do things that you don’t want to do by yourself. LEO I hope you aren’t feeling lazy, because you are going to have to do more than you really want to this month. Channel your energy into your work. Cut your spending or you will find yourself in an embarrassing financial position. Like Cancer, you will find you are more emotional than usual this month. For you, that may affect how you react to the activities of an organization to which you belong. VIRGO This will be an emotional month for you, too (see Leo and Cancer), 95

and not in a good way. Break out of the normal and go out of your way to find new experiences and a few “different” people. Make sure you have all the facts before starting that new project. Despite the emotional difficulties, you will find it easy to learn this month, and that will help you to excel in your work. LIBRA Take time to visit close friends or family whom you don’t see often. Be very careful around vehicles or machinery. (I know that sounds like a drug warning!) Don’t hold your opinion back when it comes to your job – speak out or forever hold your peace. You’ll find yourself unusually sociable this month. This may be the time to make new friends or even consider a new relationship (if you don’t already have one, that is). SCORPIO Your partner is in a better financial position than you, so encourage them to help out more with daily expenses. A friend will seek help from you: be careful because it’s going to be difficult to help them out. Don’t commit time or money right now – use it wisely. This is a good time to work on your appearance. SAGITTARIUS Your close family will chafe if you try to hem them in too much, especially your partner. Be wary of friends asking for advice. You will receive information that will profit you in all aspects of your life. Children will be very demanding of entertainment – much more than you can afford. So don’t give in. CAPRICORN If you avoid your coworkers or employers, you will find that things you say will get back to them, and will be all distorted out of truth. Socializing should be the order of the day. This month you are part of a triangle: you, a close 96

friend or partner, and a third person who is not looking out for your best interests. AQUARIUS If you own your own business, now is not the time to expand. Instead, solidify your current position. Also, avoid anything that could cause litigation, and don’t start any litigation yourself. If someone presents you with an ultimatum, this is not the time to call their bluff. If there’s someone at work you don’t trust, do a little investigation and find out the truth.

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