A few things that made the BlueOrange event a big success with a sweet enthusiastic public. You could argue that the chatter was a bit distracting - a classic issue in Second Life, you can't switch off "open chat" (so that you find your screen sometimes buried under a wood of text and shout-outs) - on the other hand, this fierce involvement clearly added to the sensation of being immersed in a crowd during a Life event. Another thing that left an impression was a smart technical trick build into the theater. By utilizing the Second Life "projectors" option, you saw a reflection of the video screen on the polished floor. At times you really had the feel of witnessing a cinema projection in a theater. The dedicated server by Sorin Todys streamed smoothly and I could enjoy the virtual movie theater running with 40 frames per second, very neat.
The program itself offered a comprehensive profile of today's digital film making, using computer generated scenes. One of the curatorial angles of incidence was the search for video makers who transcend the usual format. Some of the contributors mixed-in other video footage or shot their film by holding a mobile phone in-front of the computer screen. The reason I was selected surely has to do with this wild mixing of source material that I do all the time. All in All I think that BlueOrange presented an inspiring program and a landmark Second Live event.
Ohhh that sound! For me personally the big lesson was to dive deeper into audio editing. Some of my soundtracks are a bit bleak in comparison with some brilliant video makers who add really sensational acoustics to their work. Since the Roos Gartner Diaries are true audio-visuals the sound is evenly important, I should look into that aspect more. If you are interested, Grady Echagaray made an excellent visual registration of the whole event in 87 images.
