Alison Weiss what what

I forgot about these pictures from Alison's concert! These are the establishing shot, the close up and the pic of the audience.

My Concert Experience

At the harp concert in the beautiful castle arena, I enjoyed the music and the atmosphere to its fullest. Not only did I get to dance with Brett but my dad came to the show! My dad was at work and had a little free time so I told him he needed to come see the show. He was amazed. It took him awhile to find it and to find me - but once I found him flying around lost in the sky above the NMI Island I was able to get him and lead him into the castle. He was especially excited about the free tuxedo he got. :) Apparently, once I taught him how to dance, he had his friends at work come and see him in Second Life because he thought it was so funny that him and I were seriously communicating in Second Life. His co-workers were quite impressed and they liked the music. The rest of my time I was showing my dad around and explaining everything to him...

A Montage of Second Life Concerts

So I searched Second Life live concerts and found a pretty good amount on YouTube. I felt like most I found weren't quite as good as the U2 one we watched in class. However, they each had something I liked or didn't like about it. I decided I would just mention the things I learned from each of them.

First was the 16Down live in concert, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbiRoupnmmQ. This one someone had taken 16Down's live concert in real life and mixed it with the video of their Second Life performance. In the Second Life concert, what I thought was really neat and pretty smart on their part was they had a recording of the band during a live concert in real life playing in the background of the stage on a huge tv screen. This way, the audience could see what they really look like too. It had some pretty cool establishing shots of the stage too - it looked like they might have worked pretty hard on the stage because it was pretty neat looking. The only problem I really had was that they didn't do much on the stage besides move their bodies to the front and back, so it was a little boring.

The second one i looked at was of Suzanne Vega, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpGeRgkOUCE. This one had an interview and everything in the beginning which is what I thought was cool. What I wanted to mention in this one was how boring they made the actual concert/ singing part. They never changed the views or really the shots they were taking. This video illustrated to me how important it is to be creative and think of different ways to shoot the concert.

The last one was of Clint Live, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88yZZBlqlrg. I really liked this one. The performers moved around the stage and really looked like they would be performing in real life. The camera person got a lot of different angles too. However, the movements of the camera were very choppy and all over the place, which kind of distracted me. Also, they obviously weren't taping in Second Life like they should be because you could see the screen around the sides with all the Second Life buttons; for example, all the chatting that was going on in the crowd was popping up on the bottom of the screen and a notecard showed up in the corner of the screen at one point so the camera person had to delete that. It was a good show though. It made me like and want to listen to their music, even though I couldn't hear it clearly - which was an additional problem this video had.

Bart's Group Final Storyboard

Enjoy our story:
 

Music Video Breakdown

I chose John Mayer's song called Clarity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTemo3n61YE It was not a very easy video for me because there were many different shots; However, i love John so it made it more fun to listen to his song while working on homework.

So there were cuts to 50 different shots within the first 2 minutes and here they are:

Shot 1: Transition from black, Close up, Slow zoom in
Shot 2: Extreme close up
Shot 3: Close up
Shot 4: Extreme close up, Tilt up
Shot 5: Close up, tilt down
Shot 6: Establishing shot
Shot 7: Establishing shot, Tilt down
Shot 8: Establishing shot
Shot 9: Establishing shot
Shot 10: Medium shot, Tilt up
Shot 11: Establishing shot
shot 12: Close up, Pan left
Shot 13: Establishing shot
Shot 14: Medium shot
Shot 15: Medium shot, Pan left
Shot 16: Close up
Shot 17: Medium shot, Slow zoom out, Small pan right
Shot 18: Medium shot
Shot 19: Establishing shot
Shot 20: Extreme close up, Tilt up, Pan left
Shot 21: Establishing shot
Shot 22: Close up
Shot 23: Establishing shot
Shot 24: Close up
Shot 25: Extreme close up
Shot 26: Medium shot, Slow zoom in
Shot 27: Medium shot, Camera man moving backwards (no zoom) looking at John from front
Shot 28: Medium shot, Camera man moving to his left with side view of John
shot 29: Medium shot, Moving backwards looking at John from front
Shot 30: Close up, Moving backwards
Shot 31: Medium shot, Moving backwards for a second, Then Zoom out to establishing shot
Shot 32: Medium shot, Side View of John, Small pan left
Shot 33: Close up
Shot 34: Establishing shot, Zoom in to medium shot, Pan right
Shot 35: Medium shot, Crane view from above, Moving backwards
Shot 36: Establishing shot, Zoom in
Shot 37: Medium shot, Zoom in
Shot 38: Close up shot, Zoom out to medium shot
Shot 39: Medium shot
Shot 40: Medium shot, Zoom in to extreme close up, Small tilt down
Shot 41: Extreme close up
Shot 42: Establishing shot, Zoom out
Shot 43: Medium shot, Zoom in
Shot 44: Medium shot, Zoom out
Shot 45: Medium shot, Zoom in
Shot 46: Establishing shot
Shot 47: Establishing shot
Shot 48: Establishing shot, Pan right
Shot 49: Establishing shot, Tilt up
Shot 50: Close up, Zoom in to extreme close up, Crane up, Tilt down

My Snapshots

Well, I had a hard time (there is always something that gives me a hard time...) with finding good shots when it came to thinking about a grid being on the picture. So I finally just decided to pick something that I thought would be good to gradually zoom in on with different shots and then focus on my angle. So, this was my establishing shot, which turned out to be more of an ultra establishing shot, and I took the picture to the right and above the pavillion that I eventually zoom into.

Therefore, as I zoomed in I tried to make sure to stay above and to the right of the pavillion in each picture.

This was my close up shot.

Now this picture was one of my first ones that I took when I was really looking for something that had important parts at the specific areas of the grid that we talked about in class. My idea with this one was first that it definitely creates depth in the picture with all the different trees and the river running through the middle. And then, I was trying to make the line of the leaves/ branches hanging super close to the "lens" (if there was a lens) be in the right line of the imaginary grid and then the tree on the left hits the other line of the grid. Those were my thoughts - I'm not sure it works but it was my best and favorite of all my pictures.

Welcome to Scripting

I looked through so many of the options and the one I decided I wanted to do in the beginning was setbuoyancy because it said that it would make an object float - I thought that would be neat to see and to be able to make happen myself. However, there wasn't a full page on it in the lslWiki so it didn't give me an example to use in the script. So, I tried to make it work with what it gave me and it took awhile. I finally brought it to the water and realized that I needed to make the object a "physical" object to get it to work which by then I had tried so many things that at that time I had the settings on ultra float (which is anything higher than 1) and this means it won't just float, it will float UP above the water. Sooo, my object then went up out of the water and into the sky so far that eventually a note came up on my screen saying that my object was put in my inventory because it had went out of world. haha! So basically, I succeeded by making my object float so high that it went out of Second Life. It was quite the exciting ending to all my different tries to make it work.

When I got sick of working on the buoyancy, I also did one with llsetalpha which I made it turn my box almost invisible when I touched it. That's what my picture is of - You can see the box to the right of me in Second Life.

Close up of Andy

I decided you could barely see Andy in the last post so I got a close up of him. Also, his name is Winner Rogozarski in Second Life. I love it.

Creating Avatars and Objects

Meet Andy Roddick in Second Life! I am a huge tennis fan and I am specifically a big Andy Roddick fan, obviously, so I decided to try to create him. And this was quite a hard task. I searched everywhere for a hat and then I couldn't really change the hair that the hat came with. Then it was hard to find free tennis/ workout clothes so I kind of had to just make an outfit up which worked out just fine. It's funny though because when I was working on all the different parts of his face I thought he looked a lot like Andy but then at the very end when I thought I was about done I didn't think he really looked like Andy Roddick at all. haha so I might need some more work on this trying to recreate people on Second Life. It was a lot of fun, I just need to spend more time on it.

This is me and my first objects I made in Second Life! So, I tried to at least be a little creative and I made a tennis racket, because my avatar that I created is a tennis player AND that's what the random yellow ball is there for because I had made a tennis ball to go with it. However, I decided I wanted to play with my tennis racket so I left clicked on it and selected "take" on the menu and it disappeared and I haven't seen it since. I was pretty sad about this. So, then I just continued with my lamp post and decided I would just make a chair to go with the lamp post. The lamp post does give off light which I thought was cool. And it's shiney metal. :) And the chair does make for a nice picture.

Machinima Used for Multiple Causes

I'm going to talk about two machinimas I saw as the most influencial and useful out of all the ones I looked at. First, there was a machinima made by Global Technology Public Relations who made the machinima to get company's who are interested in being involved on Second Life to come to them to help with reaching their public. The machinima was very well done with one girl leading the video as well as clips being shown of meetings they have planned, or an area for a speech to be made, things like that. Their area for the meetings that they planned was very well built and neat looking. I thought this was a well done advertisement for them illustrating that their knowledge of specifically Second Life can help companies with their promotion in the virtual world.
The second machinima I liked was for a social cause illustrating the awful atmosphere and cruelty that is going on in Guantameno (I don't think I'm spelling that right) prisons. They made this virtual Guantameno to be able to put other people's virtual self through the same experiences that people are going through in this country in order to create a want to help in real life.

I liked how most of the machinimas, like we talked about in class, are very simple. They are just browsing around the area that they are talking about. This makes it easier for the audience to understand what is trying to be said and what's going on. Sometimes, the virtual people who were suppose to be talking weren't even moving their mouth, but it didn't matter. The point that was needed to be made was being heard through the different scenes and views shown in the machinima with the addition of the background voice. I think because Second Life is still so new, machinima needs to be simple to help others understand and not be intimidated by it.

Browsing Around Second Life

I had a very nice venture around Second Life today and I visited five new places that I have never been to before. The first place I visited was Hippiepay Island which was on the list of “popular places” in the search bar. This place was very colorful and fun. The main idea is you can go there and take surveys to get free Linden bucks. However, I tried to do one and the catch is that you have to give them your email and some other information so that the company can send you advertisements and stuff like that. I decided I would rather not do that. Maybe later when I really wish I had some money on Second Life. But, my trip there was still worth it because I found an area with two different kinds of drums that I could play and HEAR what I was playing. One of the sets of drums were the Congas. I even took a snapshot of myself doing this because I was so excited about it.
The next place I visited was Money Tree Island which is another site where you can take surveys and get money for it. The neat part of this island was it actually had trees with money on it but you couldn't take it. I left pretty quickly because I found another part of the island where there were just a lot of pictures of girls and that was just uncomfortable. So, then I just went to the NMI Island and looked at the map of islands that are around there. I ended up picking an island called Helicon Campus. It was a REALLY pretty island; I started in a forest next to a waterfall. It even had the sounds of birds and other animals in the background. Some of the other things it offered on the island were jetski, cliff diving, Holland stables, and a beach. I got to Jetski! I believe this was an educational island to get people more aware of things you can do in Holland and more aware of Holland college.
I wanted to go to some other university’s islands as well so I first went to Clemson’s Island. Their main idea is that it is an online community called Thothica SL which they want to be a place for discussion and invention with the area of Arts and Sciences. There wasn’t too much on the island yet but there were three posters of projects that people are working on. One is making an art show which the student is going to leave on the island. Another person is making a replica of a dutch historical building called the waag. This island interested me enough to want to come back later to see these projects when they get done. The last place I visited was Penn State Isle which is also being used for several research projects. The four projects were an art museum, the Hacienda for Spanish students, a virtual library, and an education technology services area. All of their different sections for each project were so elaborate, nicely put together, colorful and looked like lots of work was put into them. However, nothing was really finished or even started. For example, the art museum didn’t have any pictures or anything in it; But the building was huge and beautiful. This island and the Helicon Campus Island were my favorites because they were so sophisticated looking with lots of details. The details were what struck me as the most important during my tours because they made each island different in its own way. Also, it gave you more to look at.

New Media Island Adventures

My Five Things I did on NMI Island:
1. I threw the football on the football field in the UGA tailgate area.
2. I walked around the butterfly garden at the Chattahoochee Nature Center.
3. I stopped at the skydiving exit off 400 and went skydiving! This was my favorite activity.
4. I searched for golden nuggets at the Dahlonega, GA Gold Rush off 400, although I’m not sure I actually got any money from the nuggets that I found.
5. I danced on the Virtual Jam dance floor with a few other random people.

Orientation Experience

Orientation Island was very strange at first.  It was hard to tell if people were talking to me or not.  The hardest part for me was putting the ball on the table, which made me laugh because I knew it shouldn't be that hard.  I really enjoyed learning how to drive the cars around even though I wasn't very good at it.  Since my orientation experience, I have been able to walk and fly around Second Life a good amount.  The funniest part was when I danced for the first time because the dances were crazy.  It took me awhile to figure out how to get to the New Media Island but it was really exciting when I did because there was actually something I recognized there.  And I got free shirts at the tailgate! :)  Overall, it has been exciting to use Second Life but also a little boring because I haven't had anything specific to do while I am on it.  It will be fun to have actual tasks with this class.

My Real and Virtual Photos