So as I mentioned in this post, I've spent the last month and a half shooting movies in Second Life.
If you want to take a look right away, let me point you to my store on the Marketplace.
The new movies are sold in separate tapes as most are too long to fit on a single tape :
Alis Part 1
Alis Part 2
Alis Part 3+epilogue
By A Thread Part 1
By A Thread Part 2
My Sassy Maid Part 1
My Sassy Maid Part 2
New Life Part 1
New Life Part 2
New Life Part 3+Epilogue
Overworking Girl
Each tape costs L$200 except My Sassy Maid part 1 and 2 which cost L$170 each because the tapes hold less content than those for the other movies. That doesn't make it an inferior movie at all, but there are just a little fewer textures (170 textures each compared to the 220 to 250 textures per tape for other movies, but that's still a lot of content).
By "movie" I mean a story made of still and animated pictures with subtitles. Think of it as an illustrated story, like the ones you see on Deviant Art, except a lot longer with a lot more illustrations.
You have already seen movies of mine before, but that was four years ago, Second Life technology has evolved since then and so did we. Meaning the new movies look better, of course. For example, we can finally have facial expressions, as well as custom animations for the hands and fingers ! This changes everything and makes the characters look a lot more life-like. Likewise, the bodies and heads are a lot better defined since we use mesh now, meaning crisper skins and better looking and fitted clothes (when we uh... wear clothes).
I've also worked on props specific for the movies (especially for Alis and New Life), some of them are so elaborate that I'm considering keeping working on them until I can make commercial products out of them. Especially the ones from New Life, if you catch my drift.
Believe it or not, but although these movies are erotic, the stories are the most important part. The pictures may be sexy and entertaining, if there was no story, a movie would be a bit boring unless there is constant sex action, which is not the case here. This is erotica, not porn. Well, sometimes it's clearly porn but I don't let it get in the way of the story.
So I have taken great care in writing elaborate dialog, stories and background, and I hope you will enjoy watching them !
These movies can be watched both in RemVision and on the HD Video System (with a caveat : you need to update your HD Video System and rez the new TV screen so you won't see the section names as subtitles).
Each tape (except for the epilogues) is 25 to 30 minutes long average, some being longer, a couple being shorter. The epilogues are 8 minutes long for New Life and 12 minutes long for Alis. It is not the duration that makes a movie though, but its content. Each tape contains 220 textures in average, some even more. This number includes the textures used by HD videos of course, as videos often use 16 textures (although I try to lower that number when possible).
* Overworking Girl (1 tape) : Jenna is a beautiful single mother, she's alone at work late in the day, she is overworked and feeling down because of it, and she has a slight drinking problem. What do you think will happen to her ? This movie is for those who like vanilla sex, as there is no bondage at all. But it's a cute fun story with a lot of hot sex involved. You'll like Frank, I'm sure.
* By A Thread (2 tapes) : The story of Linda who likes it rough, extreme and dark (literally as well as figuratively). This movie has no text because dialogs would make no sense, but the screen at the beginning and the second one at the end explain the whole story. The movie features a lot of nude bondage, hanging by the neck, sex, and sex while nude, bound and hanging by the neck. The first tape features hanging and humiliation and a little sex. The second one features more hanging, more domination, more darkness, more sex, and a twist.
* My Sassy Maid (2 tapes) : This girl likes to please her man, and doesn't lack imagination when it comes to surprising him. Today is no exception but things do not really go as expected because her sluttiness gets the best of her (again) and her lover has to keep her under control lest things go out of hand (again). As a result, although she is the nicest and most enticing girl, she still has to spend a lot of time in bondage. Both tapes have a different theme, the first one being vanilla sex-oriented, the second one being bondage-oriented. This movie must be my cutest one ^_^
* New Life (3 tapes + epilogue) : This movie might be the best one I've made, ex-aequo with Alis. The cute Ellen is kidnapped and wakes up in a dark cell, nude and bound. She will soon realize that she is not alone in her cell, and that, well... I don't want to spoil the movie, so all I'll say is "tentacles". Lots of it. And they strike fast and with purpose. Each tape has its own theme, the first one being dark and very hentai (with tentacles you've never seen in SL as I made them for this movie), the second one is the sweetest and my favorite, the third one is just as sweet while being more sex-oriented, and the epilogue wraps the story up and explains it all, offering a sweet closure. You will see there are at least two reasons for this movie to be named "New Life".
* Alis (3 tapes + epilogue) : Along with New Life, this is my best movie so far, and a very long one too. The mighty Samantha Ryder wakes up in a dark room (what's up with me and locking girls in dark rooms these days ?). She's held prisoner, watched, monitored, tested, pushed, she's reluctant, she has a bad temper, significant resources and will do everything she can to escape. But will she ? What is this place she is detained in ? They also seem to have a lot of resources, what do they want to do with her ? Who is she and why is she there ? The movie starts slow to introduce the main character, then goes crescendo, increasingly faster, to end on a long, powerful note that will come as a surprise. Like an orgasm. The epilogue also offers a good closure, with answers to all the questions you could have about the movie. It's like aftercare.
Don't forget, these movies were made after I made RemVision, meaning they have sections to let you access them directly and play them in a loop for you or your sub. This means that if you watch them in the HD Video System, you must update it and rez the new TV screen so you won't see the section names. If you don't update it, you will see the section names as subtitles for 1 second each.
A little personal note
Making movies is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Over the time I learned new techniques, bought more tools and overall got better with framing, animating and such. There are so many things to be careful about ! Every little detail counts and I try to avoid continuity issues as much as I can. I think I spotted one, maybe two, in all these movies so that's pretty good.
From the moment I released the HD Video System, I was hoping to see people make their own movies and sell them, but I didn't see any. I admit the Director's notecard included in the product is a bit daunting as it explains everything from a technical standpoint. Maybe what people need is not a manual but a tutorial.
It is an art, really, and not an easy one. I love telling stories, but I also want to inspire people to make their own movies and sell them. This is why I will probably write a whole blog post in the form of a tutorial, in which I'll explain in detail how I make a movie, from how I shoot pictures to how I process videos. This will be a big blog post, no doubt, maybe several blog posts, but I really want to see more movies pop out in SL. If you like telling stories and if you have an eye for detail, believe me, you'll have fun making movies !
If you leave a review, please do not post spoilers so other viewers enjoy the movies like you did, thank you :)
Marine
Posts
