On Actors and Second Life - The Actors' Sandbox, Part One

I love actors. I think the realization hit me only recently. I had another grand 90 minute session recently with The Actors' Sandbox in Second Life.

In case I haven't written about it yet, this is a collaborative effort between Running Lady, Corky Myrtle of Schoolhouse Earth and Wytchwhisper Sadofsky of TMU. Its evolving purpose is to allow actors of all levels of experience to come in and stretch a bit, do some scenes, discover and rediscover the tools of the trade, and generally relax and be actors together for an hour out of the day. At the same time, it is a place where directors and producers can come and observe these actors in preparation for casting of future projects. I'll post another blog on the evolution of The Sandbox and the particulars of the workshop sessions.

I'm excited about this project for a couple of reasons: it is providing a place for actors to hone their craft, and it is raising the profile of the role of "actor" in a virtual environment. In our case, it is Second Life that we focus on and in SL , frankly, the role of actor in machinima has been at best nebulous and at worst non-existent. For actors, filmmakers tended to grab the nearest avatar standing around, usually themselves, and basically place them in the shot as a prop.

In the last few years, I've worked to both seek out talented actors roaming the wilds of SL, and to show filmmakers that their films can be much richer and the experience of shooting a film can be greatly enhanced by using these talented actors. Not only talented, but trained, as well, in the craft of performing in SL.

I'm happy to report that the during the last three years, I have seen a rise in the both the awareness of an actor community in SL, but a desire to use these actors in films and live performances based in SL.

Here's to keeping that momentum going.

SSC&C Actor Profile: Avajean Westland

I promised to introduce you all to "The Crew" so I thought I'd start with Avajean Westland.

Avajean, or AJ for short, is one of SSC&C's talented actors. I doubt whether I'd get much of an argument from the rest of The Crew if I went to far as to say that she is our most experienced actor. Always prompt, always prepared, always doing just a little more to bring a character to life, AJ is the consumate professional. Not surprising, given the fact that she is an equally talented and hard working actor in real life. The virtual platform makes no difference to AJ. For her, Second Life is just another performance space.

Equally comfortable in front of a camera or on a stage, AJ brings all that confidence and skill she pours into her real life as an actor to her work as an avActor (a word I coined to describe an actor who performs using an avatar in Second Life, other virtual environment or game engine). For an actors their entire being is their most valuable asset. For AJ, her avatar is no exception. AJ's form is a thing of beauty, carefully sculpted by AJ herself and all accouterments are chosen by her with thoughtful consideration of her own unique style.

But beauty isn't all she she pours into this avActor form, she comes armed with an arsenal of intelligence and creativity. Not satisfied to simply allow animations to run randomly as some avatar puppeteers might be tempted to do, AJ meditates on, selects, and rehearses her movements, choosing a number of possibilities. This allows her to present a director with a number of options, each carefully rehearsed. Likewise, her voice-over performances are always a study in careful examination of the character.

AJ's name is well known and respected by many SL-based filmmakers and among live theatre troupes in world. Besides appearing in many Running Lady productions, she is a member of the Avatar Repertory Theatre. Equally at home with the classics and more modern fare, she is in constant demand. But never resting on her laurels, she continues to take classes, audition non-stop, and to look for more and better ways to hone her skills.

As competent backstage as she is onstage, AJ has worked as a PA on Running Lady Films and SSC&C projects and was the producer of A.R.T's popular adaptation "Alice in WonderSLand."

When AJ isn't auditioning, rehearsing or performing in Second Life or in the real world, she spends time in SL with her loved ones and friends, and frequents many, many virtual clothing shops. A self-professed "shoes"-o-holic, there's not a shoe place in SL that she hasn't given the once-over. She loves clothes as well, and even this hobby she manages to work into her film and theatre career. She also publishes a weekly newsletter for SSC&C highlighting sales and events in SL that might be of interest to actors.

To see some examples of her work for RLP and SSC&C, check out the 48 hour film project entry from RLP from last year, featured on our website.

Her most recent voice-over performance was as the co-narrator, with Kayden Oconnell, of our latest project for Cosmic Surrounding Technology, featured in the previous blog post.

Read more about AJ in her SSC&C avActor magazine/resume.

Thanks, AJ, for being a part of "The Crew."

Cosmic Surrounding Technology, LLC

SSC&C's latest gig. Lots of fun shot in half a day. :) Great job, you guys ;)



Presented by Cosmic Surrounding Technology, LLC as a part of the launch of NEWLIFE HEALTHCARE LLC and celebrating the Re-opening of NEWLIFE Fertility Center in Al Azaiba, on February 25th, 2011 at the Intercontinental Hotel in Muscat, Oman.

Film by Running Lady Productions
Animation Sections filmed in Second Life
Credits
Director and Editor: K. DaVette See (SL: Suzy Yue)
Camera: Robert See, K. DaVette See (SL: Gnueon Aeon, Suzy Yue)
1st Assistant Director: Bella Begonia

Costume Crew:
Lilibet Nightfire, Suzy Yue, Bella Begonia, Cody Juneau

Music: Beyond Music
Script: K. DaVette See and Fathi Al Riyami (CEO and President of Cosmic Surrounding Technology, Oman, USA)

Casting: Suzy's Super Cast & Crew

Narrators:
Avajean Westland
Kayden Oconnell

Cast
1angelcares Writer
Aisling Sinclair
Avajean Westland
Bella Begonia
Calamity Hathaway
Cherry Mahogany
GinGin Denja
Lilibet Nightfire
Mathilde Varghon
Olaf Barbosa

Getting to know "The Crew"

Running SSC&C is fun. I mean, it is work, of course and some days it is frustrating trying to promote it, organize it, etc. But it is, ultimately, a lot of fun. Mostly because of the people.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to introduce you to the people who make up "The Crew," the amazing and diverse group of actors and techs that make up SSC&C. Some of them have been with us from the beginning, and some are brand new. But they are all amazing, dedicated and talented. Not to mention fun!

Check out out latest project on Running Lady's YouTube site. That shoot was a blast and I will be posting out takes very soon.

More blogging tomorrow. Be there. Aloha.

Suzy

A very nice article in Avenue about...well...Me :)

Shameless plug, I know, but please check out the January issue of SL magazine, Avenue a fashion magazine focusing on SL based fashion designers and trends, published by Rusch Raymaker.

On page 215 is a very complimentary article about me and my work producing films of their in-world fashion shows.

http://issuu.com/avenue/docs/avenue.january2010

A bit about Avenue from their press kit:

*********
~ The Ultimate Fashion & Lifestyle Magazine by AVENUE Inc ~

AVENUE is the leading publication that is dedicated to bringing you the finest facets and trendsetters in fashion, lifestyle, business, entertainment and the arts. With over 300 advertisers and 40 staff and growing, AVENUE Magazine has established a high quality, stylish and luxe inworld and online publication that continues to steer publishing in Second Life to new levels.

AVENUE is the appointed Official Media Partner for Second Life Community Convention 2009 where the first fashion and lifestyle magazine out of SL was printed in real life. AVENUE will continue in this capacity for the 2010 convention and reproduce another real life edition.

******

I have to say the magazine is beautifully done and the photography is gorgeous. So check them (and me) uut this month! You'll be glad you did!

Best,
Suzy

The Not-So-Fun Part

Last year was a challenge for everyone. Nearly everyone I know or have talked to has said that financial and personal hardship was the order of the day.

For business owners, small and large, the struggle has been particularly torturous. Customers dried up. New development, new direction, new ideas were put on the back burner, or even tossed out permanently. Everyone hunkered down and watched for signs that the storm had passed.

SSC&C and RLP had the same issues, of course. Being a very new business, just under a year old last January, we were the ideal candidate for failure. And, indeed, it was grim for several months with only occasional small jobs here and there.

Fortunately, our reputation for professionalism and dependability was beginning to get around, and we started getting requested regularly by a few clients. Unfortunately, those clients had less work and the few new clients making inquiries were still not sure about paying for actors in an environment where recruiting for volunteers seemed to be the norm for rounding up talent for a film - even if it made for longer, less productive work days. What we offered, trained avatar puppeteers and voice talent, and guaranteed coverage for no shows, made sense and was attractive, but was regarded by some as a luxury that they could ill afford in the gloomy economic climate.

I tried not to dwell on the heady days of 2008, the year when a great opportunity became our jumping off point. During that time, when my methods and practices were still taking shape, I typically felt like I was hanging on for dear life, putting a car together as it hurtled down the freeway at 80 miles per hour. Frightening, but oh so thrilling!

2009, however, while starting out with a bang with a big project, slowly began to trickle away to the occasional small gig. The promise of a potentially exciting partnership never materialized. As for clients, I got nibbles, a few inquiries, but nothing bore fruit. I started to get requests for machinima shoots, but not with an accompanying call for actors. I began to wonder how to keep my actors and actresses busy. Interested. PAID. Many were new to acting, but had fallen in love with the work. They were excited, hungry for more work, paid or no. I began to fear that if I didn't feed that hunger, they'd give up on SSC&C.

I was lucky, however to have found, in the midst of so many SL residents who want to "camp" for Linden dollars, a group of genuinely dedicated folks. I lost a few along the way, in the beginning, but those that hung in there, to my amazement and delight, were not only supportive and patient during the crazy start and the lean second year, they believed, and still believe, in my vision for this company as much as I did. Their tenacity made me work doubly hard to be worthy of that level of loyalty by continuing to try to get work for us.

I'm happy to say the end of the year, normally a time for things to slow down, actually saw the beginning of new projects, a couple of which have carried over into the new year. This sudden, unseasonable resurgence in interest in my talent pool was like an unexpectedly early spring and promise of a fruitful new period in the life-cycle of our little company.

With fingers crossed, we will continue to move forward, together it seems, despite the odds.

Welcome 2010. We are ready for you.

Introducing SSC&C: A casting agency for virtual worlds...really

Hi there!

I'm Suzy Yue (that’s me in the director’s chair on the right wearing the black turtleneck in the group shot – very artistic, right?). I suppose, more accurately, Suzy Yue is my avatar in Second Life (SL), an online virtual world created by Linden Lab (LL) five years ago. I say that LL created SL, but in truth, its residents, a diverse group of people from all over the world, created it. And all of them are trying, in their own way, to make their mark in this brave new world. That is what makes SL truly unique among all other virtual environments - it is the only one that can state that it is not a game. But more about that in later blogs :).

I am the owner/CEO/Artistic Director of Suzy's Super Cast & Crew (SSC&C), the group for whom this blog has been created. Just stopping in to say hi and welcome you to our new blog!

Yes, your read the blog title right. SSC&C is a casting agency, based in SL. Don't get you brain stem in a twist, it is not as bizarre as it might sound! Within Second Life and other virtual environments, just as in "real life", there are people who make movies. This art form is called machinima. SSC&C provides skilled, talented individuals to filmmakers, called machinimatographers or machinimists, and to others, who need cast and crew members for their projects.

I won't dive into the particulars of how that works here. I will tell you all about it in my next post. If you're just dying to know what machinima is, and can’t wait, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinima where you will find a great explanation! And, please check out our page at www.runninglady.com/sscc to see clips from some of the projects we have worked on.

This blog is a place for us to tell you about SSC&C's past, present and future projects, and to share fun and funny stories from the set and from Second Life. I’ll be the primary voice for the blog, but our actors, designers, builders and scripters will also take turns as the mic and to fill in as guest bloggers.

Okay, that's it!
Talk soon!
Suzy