Category: Reviews

Update, February 29th: Sommer contacted me to let me know the Casablanca build will remain open for the foreseeable future – as long as visitors continue to behave themselves! – so if you’ve not already done so, done miss the opportunity of a visit!

Update, February 27th: TracyLynne dropped by to read this post, and afterwards IM’d me in-world to let me know she had, and that the chess table mention in the piece as missing, and which featured in Rick’s exchange with Peter Lorre’s Signor Ugarte where he is given the Letters of Transit for safe-keeping, has now been added. Thank you, TracyLynne!

It’s one of the all-time classic romance films of the 20th century, the tale of American Rick Blaine in Casablanca during 1941, trying to run his own bar and ostensibly stay out of the war. However, he is drawn into matters when his former lover, Ilsa Lund, now married to a fugitive Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo, walks into his bar, trying to find a way to reach the still neutral United States – and he happens to have the means by which they might do so.

At the time it was made,  no-one involved in it expected Casablanca to become the iconic film we know it as today. But in the years and decades following its initial release in 1942, it has become adored for its leading pair of Bogart and Bergman, its many quotes, its memorable theme song and its atmospheric sets. And, until around the end of the month, Second Life users can immerse themselves in this cinematic legend thanks to TracyLynne Carpenter and Sommer Shepherd.

Sitting above Sommer’s full region of Nantucket Island, lies a beautiful recreation of some of the key locations from the film. It started life as the setting for an in-world party, but Sommer has opened it up for public visits, and it is a place any lover of the film or great and photogenic Second Life builds is not going to want to miss.

Teleporting to the build brings you to the location of the film’s iconic finale: the concrete of Casablanca Aerogare, where an Electra aeroplane bound for neutral Lisbon awaits its passengers. It is here, on a foggy night that Rick persuades Ilsa to board the flight with her husband rather than staying with him, warning her that  if she doesn’t, she will regret staying. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.” Then, as the plane departs, Rick walks off into the fog with his new comrade-in-arms, Captain Louis Renault. Regarded as one of the finest endings to a movie (and one in places ad-libbed by Bogart), it is the perfect opening to your visit.

From the airport, you can walk down one of the winding streets of Casablanca, past the headquarters of the Vichy police, to Rick’s Café Américain, the central set of the movie, fabulously reproduced (perhaps only missing the chess board – see the comment at the top of this piece – over which Rick first learns of the means by which he will eventually be able to help Ilsa and Laszlo), when Signor Ugarte persuades him to look after two “letters of transit”  he has acquired, guaranteeing the holders free passage throughout German-controlled Europe.

But this is more than just set pieces from Casablanca, it is an imaginary glimpse into the making of the film. Cam along some of the buildings on the street leading to Rick’s bar, and you’ll find them to be wooden façades, propped into place from behind, indicating this is in fact one of the sound stages on which the film was made – albeit one lovingly blended into a suitable desert environment through the magic of Second Life.

Take a walk around the back of the set, and you’ll find film supplies, spare cameras, tented catering and make-up facilities, and the caravans which might have been used by Bogart and Bergman had they really been on location, offering them places to rest between takes or rehearse lines. Other hints that this is a film set can be found elsewhere, such as the camera and director’s chairs sitting alongside the arrival point, or the camera set up in Rick’s bar.

This really is the most marvellous build; one which shouldn’t be missed while there is the opportunity to visit. if you haven;t yet dropped into Rick’s Café Américain, neither Caitlyn nor I can urge you strongly enough to make sure you do. You may not encounter Bogart of Bergman when visiting, but if you love the movie, I can guarantee you’ll hear their lines echoing around you.

SLurl Details

• Casablanca Sets (Rated: Moderate)

Imesha (click any image for full size)

Arriving in Imesha, Shaman Nitely’s and Ime Poplin’s multi-level cityscape, one might be forgiven for thinking they’ arrived in a corner of a city made famous on the big screen though the likes of Blade Runner or on television via Total Recall 2070. Buildings rise on all sides,  elevated roads and sidewalks passing along the deep gorges formed between the gaudily lit towers, ramps and stairways providing links between the different levels, allowing passage between them. Each level is perhaps just a little darker than the one above, until at the lowest, the visitor eventually comes to  brick buildings of a much earlier era, graffiti strewn façades tired, old original roads, where visible, cobbled and aged.

But Imesha is no direct homage to either Ridley Scott’s film (or those which copied its approach to a dystopian view of future cities), nor is it an echo of the Los Angeles of Total Recall 2070. While it may contain similar fusion of occidental-Sino-Japanese influences, it is very much its own place, and a quite spectacular one at that.

Imesha

From the upper levels s setting sun can be seen, limning the tallest buildings, its glow competing with their own brightly lit surfaces and myriad lights. Flashing billboards stare down at visitors from side sides of some of the buildings, the oriental faces on them flickering and smiling, the ambient sound scape shifting and changing to suit the environment as one explores.

And there is plenty to be found when exploring! “We added as much detail as we could for a homestead,” Shaman informed me when I bumped into him and Ime re-working a part of the landing area. “That’s why we are constantly replacing stuff with lower prim alternatives!”

Imesha

As we chatted, a Chinese paper lantern drifted by, doubtless riding on the air currents winding around the buildings. Watching it pass, I commented on the nods to Blade Runner etc. “Yes we wanted that Sci fi look,” Shaman replied, “but we also wanted to make it a bit more homely; not cold.”

A teleport system is available at the landing point, providing the means to hop directly to the various local destinations – the club, the diner, the art garden, etc. However, I’d strongly advise anyone making a visit to eschew this and strike out of foot. The best way is through the doors leading to the club space, or up the stairs alongside them. Both will lead you to routes connecting the platform to other parts of the region.

Imesha (click any image for full size)

Finding your way between all the levels may take a little time, but this will also allow you to hopefully see all of the detail and care put into this build. Do make sure you have ALM enabled as well (you don’t have to enable Shadows, which are the big performance hit); excellent use of materials is made in much of the region, so having ALM on increases the visual appeal of the Imesha.

All told, this is a fabulous deign and build, and one that should be enjoyed by all who visit. Should you do so, please consider supporting Ime’s and Shaman’s efforts to offer it to Second Life, by making a donation at one of the tip jars found throughout the region.

SLurl Details

• Imesha (Rated: Moderate)

The Yorkshire Moors (click any image for full size)

It’s no secret I’m from the UK. In fact, while I now reside in the southern half of the country, my family has its roots in the north, and I have an abiding love of Northumberland and a deep affection for North Yorkshire.  So it was with interest that I heard PinkRayne had modelled the region on which her store is located after The Yorkshire Moors.

Now, I’ll be honest here. The Yorkshire moors have always been set in my mind as the rugged, rolling countryside with short, tough grass and oceans of summer heather one passes through en route to Pickering or Whitby in the summer months. A landscape split by meandering streams and dry stone walls and over which stone built farms outhouses are scattered. As such, I was a little surprised by the overall flatness of the region; I had expected to see something perhaps a little more undulating.

The Yorkshire Moors

Which is not to say the region does reflect the open countryside of Yorkshire; as you enter the region, Pink’s store behind you, there is no mistaking the parallels. The grass here is tough and tufted, many of the trees bend their backs to the wind, while the landscape is cut by dry stone walls behind which sheep and horses graze.

Towards the south-east corner of the region stands a single lighthouse, it’s Cyclopean light roving over land then sea, back to land again, reminiscent of the Flamborough Head lighthouse. Between it and the store, a meandering stream opens into an area of flooded land which offer a nod towards the North Cave Wetlands.

The Yorkshire Moors

A single path winds through the landscape from the store in the north-east, looping southwards and then back to the north before eventually arriving at a little rocky cove on the west side of the region.  A rowing boat sits on the water here, offering a place to sit for individuals or couples; one of several places people can sit and enjoy one another’s company or look out across the beautifully bleak and windswept landscape, the view uninterrupted by hill or rise, bringing the flatness of the region into its own.

With the ambient sounds matched to the landscape, the windlight suggesting a late autumnal evening, The Yorkshire Moors makes for an atmospheric visit, offering excellent opportunities for photography. And for those looking to add to their wardrobe, there’s also Pink’s store for a little after-visit shopping.

The Yorkshire Moors

SLurl Details

• The Yorkshire Moors (Rated: Moderate)