By Nazz Lane
I attended the premier of “The Life and Times of Uncle D” in second life on Thursday, October 1st. The event and machinima were produced by The Virtual Worlds Story Project (TVWSP). TVWSP is a second life company, founded by Jena Ball (aka Jenaia Moran) and Martin Keltz (aka Marty Snowpaw), who have developed an approach to storytelling using second life as a “media”. Known as story quests, they are designed, “to engage, educate, and create community”. With the launch of “The Life and Times of Uncle D”, TVWSP tackles HIV/AIDS, where “participants will explore the life of an HIV-positive person known simply as Uncle D.” The machinima had been actively promoted and eagerly anticipated since first being introduced at the Second Life Community Convention in August of this year.
I arrived fifteen minutes ahead of the scheduled noon start time and took a seat in the rustic looking amphitheater where the film was to be shown. Several people had preceded me and I exchanged pleasantries with a few friends. While we waited, Cylindrian Rutabaga entertained us with a live piano performance. At the stroke of noon, Jenaia and Marty took their positions in front of microphones on the stage and began the event with an opening statement which was read into the chat log. The other members of the production team were seated on stage and included; Pathfinder Linden, Ariella Languish, Sawyer Quixote, and Emmy Emerald. Ms Morane spoke first, followed by Mr. Keltz.
“Welcome and thank you all for coming. My name is Jenaia Morane, and I am the co-founder and head Story Sleuth at The Virtual Worlds Story Project. Stories and storytelling – that remarkable ability we all share to suspend disbelief and step into a world of our own or another’s creation is what TVWSP is all about. We dream them, write them, collect them, preserve them, and for the first time here in Second Life, have had the chance to build and invite others into them to see, hear, touch, feel, and co-create them with us. We call these experiences “Story Quests.” Our latest Story Quest is entitled “The Life and Times of Uncle D.” It was imagined and created as a way to de-stigmatize and personalize the subject of HIV/AIDS by celebrating the life of someone known simply as Uncle D. But before we do, I’d like to introduce you to my partner on this journey of self -discovery through storytelling – Marty Keltz.”
When Jenaia Morane and I first met at the 2009 Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference, we immediately saw that we shared the same vision for the potential that Second Life offered as a purely creative medium. With Jenaia coming from a writing and journalism background, and me from film and television, our deeply held belief was that content trumps technology.”
Before the video began we were treated to the lovely voice of Ms Rutabaga who performed a rendition of a song by Missy Higgins, chosen by Jenaia for the event, “The Sound of White”. As Cyl said later when I spoke to her, “it really fit the theme”. After the song, Jen instructed the audience to click on our media players and launch The Life and Times of Uncle D.
I’d written an article that had appeared in this newspaper as the company prepared for the SLCC presentation. Jenaia had taken me on a tour of the set and we’d discussed the approach for the quest. I’d also seen and been wowed by the trailer produced so I knew that I was in for a treat as the machinima began playing. The opening scene began with a letter to Marty Snowpaw , the Reluctant Quester, who is accompanied by his therapy dog Cice. The quest adventure starts and they take us into and through the place where we’re introduced to Uncle D. It is through the imagery, their dialog and interaction with quest props that we’re drawn in as participants to explore the life this man.
I was completely captivated by the eight minute video and at the end, I typed out the following chat line; “Nazz Lane wipes a tear from his cheek and leaps to his feet and with hands clapping he joins the audience in a round of thunderous applause”.
After the applause died down, Ms Morane again spoke to the audience, thanking them and asking them to participate in the story. She said, “Now that you’ve all experienced Uncle D for yourselves, I’d like to invite you to write a letter or poem or phone message to him. Imagine that you are a friend, relative, student, or colleague from school. What would you like to say to him? Take 15 minutes to write your message now.”
Many in the audience did respond to her request and the submissions were read aloud by members of the production team. Afterward the audience was invited to the Café Ristretto, located on Karuna Island for an evening of dancing and live music provided by Inchino Melson.
During the event I had to the opportunity to speak with filmmaker Ariella Languish (aka Ariella Furman), who had this to say about the video and the event. “This event was incredible! It's amazing how there was a moment during the reading of everyone's letters that there seemed to be this interconnectedness of time and space, where everyone was just one. I know how I felt, free, inspired, a little solemn and in realization of how delicate life is. I can't help but feel others felt the same way. It was a little surreal to see my work on a screen that large!”
I also spoke with Marty Snowpaw who told me, “Absolutely the highlight of the day and clear proof of what we are attempting was the writing submissions done by the audience.”
“Was the video everything you expected it to be?” I asked.
“It was more than I could have hoped for. Ariella is a film maker that is what makes all the difference. Machinima is just the technique, like any other form of animation. Then you have to make a film … tell a story.” He replied and then added, “The payoff is the quest … that's the 21st Century piece … that is where the revolution is and will happen … just like it did today listening to everyone's contribution.”
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