If you had the power to choose to make a film in any time or place in the Universe – when or where would you choose? Another planet or perhaps another time or reality on Earth? Filmmakers, Animators and Machinimographers’ will have 30 days in November, to write, shoot, edit, produce and upload their creative masterpieces.
So reads the opening piece for the WD Project Sci-Fi challenge. As noted, filmmakers, animators and machinima makers are invited to spend 30 days from the 1st November 2013 through until the end of the month writing, shooting, editing and producing a sci-fi short, with a total of $10,000 Aus. in prize money for the winners.
Entrants must make a short film between 5 and 10 minutes for live action and a promo piece of between 30-60 seconds. Machinima must be between 3 and 10 minutes in length, promo piece optional and no longer than 30 seconds.
To ensure no-one gets a head-start in things, all films submitted must be on one of four colour themes – “everyday life”, “the environment”, “network/connections” and “speed and technology”. Entrants are asked to nominate two of the themes as the potential subject for their film as a part of the registration process. One of their nominated themes will then be allocated to them by the organisers at the start of the competition on November 1st, 2013.
Calling Machinima Makers
As noted above, Project Sci-Fi is open to machinima makers. This section of the competition is being sponsored by the University of Western Australia, and has $1,500 Aus. (L$230,000) on offer as part of the main competition prize pool, with $750 Aus going to the 1st prize winner.
In addition, further prizes are on offer for machinima featuring the UWA Centum created by West Australian Artist, Len Zuks and brought into Second Life by FreeWee Ling. The Centum does not have to be filmed in situ, copies may be taken for use in filming anywhere in Second Life.
The UWA Centrum, Second life – right-click to obtain a copy for filming
Essential Points for Machinima Entries
Entry length to be between 3 to 10 minutes
If entering a promo – maximum length to be 30 seconds
All entries are to be made specifically for the ‘WD Project SciFi’ Competition
Entrants must register before the 1st of November & nominate 2 of the listed themes (see below for how they might be interpreted)
Prizes for machinima will be awarded as follows: 1st prize: $750 Aus (+WD prizes); 2nd prize: $300 Aus; 3rd prize: $150 Aus; 4th and 5th prize: $100 Aus
Entrants can also win any of the overall prizes, including the $,3000 Aus first prize
Further prizes for the inclusion of the UWA Centrum in machinima entries.
On Sunday September 1st, the University of Western Australia, in association with Virtual Ability Inc., and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses announced the launch of The Freedom Project: A 2D/3D Art and Film Event.
This is not a competition per se. Rather this is an opportunity for artists suffering from a disability or chronic illness, or associated with those suffering from either, to demonstrate how virtual life has enabled them to engage in activities and interact with others in ways which may not be possible in the real world.
As such, the organisers are inviting artists and film makers from all over the world who self-identify as having a disability or a chronic illness, to create an artwork or a film/machinima on the theme of ‘Freedom’, showing how virtual worlds have in some way helped them or those around them.
Films and artwork can be submitted any time between the 1st of September 2013 and the 28th of February 2014. Artwork should have no more than 200 prims, and films should be around 3-5 minutes (although no hard limits on film length will be enforced). Artwork will go on display immediately at the UWA Virtual Gallery, and films will be put on the UWA Second Life Blog.
Submissions do not have to be created in isolation or alone; they can be collaborative, so long as the project leader or primary driving force behind the creation is clear. The extent of collaboration and assistance by others should be detailed in the submission note card, and credit given as appropriate.
Submitted pieces will be displayed at the UWA gallery and blog through until the end of the project, when a number will be selected by a panel to appear in a special journal marking the project, which will be made available in print and on the web.
It is hoped that the journal, along with all the artwork, machinima, and stories, will inspire others, and will demonstrate how virtual worlds can be used to help some people who may have had difficulties finding other means of expression to believe in themselves more, or to connect with others. Those artists selected to appear in the journal will each receive a copy, and machinima selections will be represented as stills and a link to their on-line presence. In addition, ten pieces submitted to the project will be selected by the panel to each receive L$10,000.
Commenting on the project during the launch on September 1st, Dianne Elton, representing the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses said:
The Freedom Art Project invites people with illness and disabilities not only to showcase their art, but to share how SL may perhaps provide opportunities not available to them in real life. In my own case, being housebound, SL has extended my social world exponentially. I now have many friends right around the world. No longer able to attend art galleries, I was delighted to find I could come to UWA and enjoy stunning innovative art without leaving my bed. My illness has taken away many activities I used to do in real life but as I don’t have to leave my bed, I can do things in SL including attending and facilitating bookclubs. meditation and guided relaxation sessions and I can even go dancing with hubby!
This is how SL gives me “freedom”. Freedom to be active within the limitations of my health. Freedom to interact with others from the confines of my house. I am really looking forward to seeing the artworks produced for this event and to learning how sl might give others “FREEDOM”.
Key Details for Entering the Project
Artwork and film entries should reflect the theme ‘Freedom’, and should attempt to show how the virtual world has helped or how it could help
This event is open to all who identify as having a disability or a chronic illness (of any nature)
A maximum of 2 entries per artist for the art event with a 200 prim limit per artwork
A maximum of 3 entries per artist for film/machinima (preferred length between 3-5 minutes)
Entries will be received beginning 1 September 2013 until 28 February 2014. (Note that the earlier work is submitted, the longer it will be on view.)
Artists are additional invited to add, in 100-300 words, how the virtual world has assisted them and/or those around them, has helped create community, or has helped them to transcend difficulties and challenges real life has posed. This is an optional aspect of the project, but the organisers hope all artists opting to participate will provide such a description.
Entries should be placed Place the artwork in the receiver (drop box) for the Freedom Project at the UWA Art Challenge platform, along with a completed Artist’s Notecard form. (No perms required, but copy is appreciated if possible.) If you have problems with the receiver, you may give artwork directly to FreeWee Ling or Jayjay Zifanwe along with the note card.
For the complete set of rules and technical requirements for the project, please refer to the UWA blog post announcing the project.
About Virtual Ability and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses
Virtual Ability
Many disabilities in the real world can be a barrier to entry into the digital as well. People may have difficulties in dealing with the keyboard due to illness or disability; others many be reliant upon voice recognition software, and so on. Virtual Ability, Inc. helps people with these kind of challenges get into and become successful in virtual worlds like Second Life.
From an individual skills assessment undertaken during a unique intake process, Virtual Ability inc., are able to refer clients for help with assistive hardware and software as appropriate, and provide customised training and orientation. Once clients are in-world, Virtual Ability Inc., helps them integrate into the virtual society, and provides an ongoing community of support. The community offers members information, encouragement, training, companionship, referrals to other online resources and groups, ways to contribute back to the community, and ways to have fun.
The organisation runs a number of in-world centres, which can be read about on their website.
The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses
The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses provides resources, support and guided relaxation sessions, for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, and other invisible illnesses. They host general and research discussions once a week on Mondays at 18:00 SLT, and guided relaxation sessions every day, twice a day, at 08:00 and 20:00 SLT, in the Centre to help people manage their illness. This Centre is open to all, and all are welcome, including anyone with an illness, their families and carers to meet here and help each other. The Centre is located in Curtin University in Second Life.
On Monday August 5th, the University of Western Australia (UWA) announced the winners of both its Centenary 3D Art Challenge and the 6th UWA Machinima Challenge. All told, both competitions saw a total of L$1.7 million on offer for the winners, of which some L$65,000 was on offer to members of the public participating in the judging.
As always, the entries came from all around the globe, with 64 pieces submitted to the 3D Art Challenge, in which artists were tasked with creating a piece of 3D art which fits the theme of the challenge, and to do so using no more than 150 prims (LI 150). The theme was that of “Reflections”, in recognition of the fact that the UWA is itself celebrating 100 years of existence and pondering on what the next 100 years might bring.
The first prize of L$100,000 went to Australian artist Glyph Graves, and his piece, I Thought I Hated Him. described by the artist as “a romance of the old style pulp paper book variety”, and also a “dance piece, one conducted between the New York Stock Exchange composite index and The Shanghai Stock Exchange composite index.”
I Thought I Hated Him by Glyph Graves, winner of the UWA’s Centenary 3D Art Challenge (image courtesy of UWA)
In it, two figures dance a dance of cautious passion, with both the moves and the music generated by the interaction of the New York Stock Exchange (the male character) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (the female character). The characters, move towards or away from each other depending upon the “price” of their index, a reflection of the desires, thoughts and wants of the millions who trade on these markets.
The 6th Machinima Challenge similarly saw 64 entries from around the world, which was held on the same theme of Reflections, which the original challenge announcement described as:
Reflections in a pool of water… Reflections of light… Reflecting on the grandeur of the universe… Reflections of art…. An Inner Reflection…..Reflecting on opportunities lost, or seized… How ‘Reflections’ is interpreted is exactly like how beauty is interpreted…. in the eyes of the beholder… or in this case, the eyes and lens of the machinimatographer.
The video awarded the L$200,000 first prize came from Vilvi Rae of Finland, ending Tutsy Navarathna’s 3-year run as “defending champion”. Vilvi’s piece, Past I Beyondis described by Jon Stubbs, Director of UWA’s Student Services as “a hauntingly beautiful future fantasy autobiography that explores past choices and what lies beyond. Beautifully filmed: 5 stars from the judging panel!”
Tutsy’s own piece, Narcissus, was awarded the second prize of L$150,000.
The full list of all prizes winners in both challenges can be found in the UWA blog post. In addition, FreeWee Ling has put together a superb on-line exhibition catalogue for the 3D Art Challenge, and the pieces themselves can be enjoyed for a while longer by visiting the exhibition space at UWA. Links to the winning machinima can also be found in the UWA blog post, while all of the entries to this year’s Machinima Challenge can be found on Aview TV.
Fruit of Time by Rebeca Bashly, joint 8th prize winner, and one of my personal choices in the 3D Art Challenge
Audience Participation 1st Prize Winners
The first prizes in the audience participation competitions for each of the challenges went to Gisle89G (L$7,000) for the 3D Centenary Arts competition and Karima Hoisan (L$15,000) for the Machinima Challenge competition. In addition to the cash prizes, both will receive real-life prizes and offered the chance to be on the judging panel for the next art and machinima challenges. The full lists of audience participation winners are again available in the UWA blog post.
Entries recently closed for the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) 3D Art Challenge, which was open to artists from February 1st through May 30th 2013.
Entitled “Reflections”, the Art Challenge was run in tribute to the 2013 Centenary of the University of Western Australia, as UWA reflects on its 100 years of existence and ponders the question of what the next 100 years will bring. The 2012 Art Challenge was also run in tribute to the Centenary. 2012 is 100 years since the first staff were hired at UWA and 2013 is 100 years since the first students started studying at UWA.
Artists were challenged to come up with a piece of 3D art which fits the theme of the challenge, and to do so using no more than 150 prims (LI 150). In all 64 artists from around the world accepted the challenge, and their works are now on display for all to see on one of the UWA’s regions.
Judging is underway by a panel of invited judges, and the winners will be announced in August 2013, at a special event which will include the winners of the 2013 UWA Machinima Challenge, which is also being held on the same theme.
However, between now and midnight SLT on July 10th, SL residents have a chance to vote on the 64 entries – and in doing so, win a share of L$20,000 and some real-life rewards in the process!
All you have to do to participate, is visit the UWA exhibition of the 64 pieces, and a select your personal top 10 in order of preference. Send your entries either by e-mail (jayjayaustralia@hotmail.com) or list them on a notecard and send it in-world to Jayjay Zifanwe (please make sure you put your name on the title of the notecard with the words REFLECTIONS UWA Centenary 3D Audience Event).
The five entries which most closely match the juried top ten will each receive the following L$ prizes:
1st Prize (mostly closely matching the judges’ top 10): L$ 7,000 and an invitation to be on the judging panel for the next UWA grand art challenge.
2nd Prize: L$ 5,000
3rd Prize: L$ 4,000
4th Prize: L$ 2,500
5th Prize: L$1,500
In addition, aLL five winners will receive in the mail a special pack that includes a copy of the book, ‘100 Treasures of UWA’ which was produced for UWA’s Centenary.
For full details on the audience participation judging, please make sure you read the UWA blog article, which includes links to both the start of the exhibition tour, and directly to each of the 64 entries in the competition.
On Friday March 1st, the University of Western Australia (UWA) kicked-off their sixth MachinimUWA Challenge under the title Reflections.
This year is the biggest Challenge to date, offering are prizes totalling L$1.1 million (approx. $4,500 US) – almost a 50% increase over the last UWA Machinima Challenge. The figure includes a top prize of L$200,000 for the winning entry as decided by the judges, as well as 9 other prizes ranging from L$150,000 to L$40,000. In addition, the UWA Centenary Prize of L$50,000 will also be awarded to the Machinima that best captures the essence of 100 years of reflections on education, and the UWA Art of the Artists Prize of L$50,000 will be awarded to the Machinima that best incorporates one or a number of the artworks that have been submitted to the UWA Centenary 3D Art Challenge. Finally, all winners will also receive a special RL UWA package.
The theme for this year’s challenge is Reflections, which the UWA press release on the challenge describes as:
Reflections in a pool of water… Reflections of light… Reflecting on the grandeur of the universe… Reflections of art…. An Inner Reflection…..Reflecting on opportunities lost, or seized… How ‘Reflections’ is interpreted is exactly like how beauty is interpreted…. in the eyes of the beholder… or in this case, the eyes and lens of the machinimatographer.
The Major Rule and Requirements
As always, there is the familiar UWA Major Rule and entry requirements.
Your machinima can be about any type of ‘Reflections’ you may wish to portray. There is only one requirement to make this a valid entry. At least one of the 3 major spaces of Reflection at UWA needs to be included in your storyline (the Reflection Pond, the Sunken Gardens, the Somerville Auditorium). You may choose to film in any other area of the campus if you so wish or you could include all 3 locations, but the rule is you need to select at least ONE. You may use props at the location, or maybe want to change the footage later during the post process, this is up to you… as long as one of the 3 spaces you choose to be part of your machinima can be recognised and form part of your storyline.
The other key requirements are:
The recommended running time for entries is around 4 minutes 30 seconds in length. This isn’t a hard rule, but entries aiming for the UWA special prize must fit within the recommended length
Entrants are asked that they acknowledge the works featured in their submission and the lands in which the submission was filmed
All work must be free of copyright issues. If requested, entrants must provide detailed information regarding the source, creator and background information of their work. If any 3rd party materials, such as music, is used, permission must be obtained from the creator
Completed entries should be uploaded to a suitable broadcast medium (e.g. Vimeo, YouTube, etc.), and links to the film sent to the UWA’s Jayjay Zifanwe and LaPiscean Liberty.
Please refer to the UWA presse release for full details on all requirements.
Key Dates
Entries Close at Midnight SLT 30th June 2013
Winners will be announced in August 2013.
And The Audience Can Get a Prize
There are also audience participation awards totalling L$45,000, with a top individual prize of L$15,000. All audience members have to do is watch all of the entrants and compile a top ten list of their favourites. Those which most closely match the judges’ top ten winners list will be awards prizes.
The Sponsors
This year’s UWA Machinima Challenge is generously sponsored by: The Parramatta City Council, Aview TV (LaPiscean Liberty), MetaHarpers (Arhenn Oberlander), Freemnason Magic and a very generous anonymous donor.
Seek Wisdom: Second Place winner of the 2012 MachinimUWA Challenge, by Karima Hoisan and Natascha Randt
On Friday February 10th, the University of Western Australia (UWA) kicked-off their fifth MachinimUWA Challenge under the title Seek Wisdom.
On offer are prizes totalling L$700,000 (approx. $3,000 US), including a top prize of L$130,000 and a UWA special prize of L$100,000, with eleven prizes in total on offer. The challenge is being co-sponsored by UWA, AviewTV, Philip Vought & The Tornado Gallery.
The Major Rule and Other Requirements
To quote from the press release on the Challenge:
Your machinima can be about whatever you choose, but there is one rule all entries must follow. The only requirement is that at least ONE of the 100 Treasures from UWA must form part of your story. These are actual treasures, however at least 17 of them exist on UWA land in Second Life. You may choose to include as many of the treasures as you like so long as there is at least ONE. Apart from this, feel free to film anything, anywhere. You may use props at the location, or maybe want to change the footage later during the post process, this is up to you… as long as the treasure or treasures you choose to be part of your Machinima can be recognised and form part of your storyline.
The recommended running time for entries is around 4 minutes 30 seconds in length. This isn’t a hard rule, but entries aiming for the UWA L$100,000 special prize, which will be awarded to the machinima that best captures the essence or spirit of 100 years of seeking wisdom at UWA, must fit within the recommended length.
Additionally, entrants are asked that they acknowledge the works featured in their submission and the lands in which the submission was filmed.
Completed entries should be uploaded to a suitable broadcast medium (e.g. Vimeo, YouTube, etc.), and links to the film sent to the UWA’s Jayjay Zifanwe and LaPiscean Liberty.
Closing Date for Entries
Midnight SLT, June 30th, 2012.
About the Theme
“Seek Wisdom” is the UWA’s own motto, found in its coat of arms, and was selected as the theme of the challenge to honour the new way education is delivered at UWA, “New Courses 2012.” The requirement to include at least one of the 100 treasures from the UWA in entries is to mark the university’s upcoming centenary in 2013.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 