Tuesday, March 25, 2014

March LEA 6 Full Sim Gallery: Cinema II by Mary Wickentower

On March 5th, Cinema Take II opened with a grand particle show by Mary Wickentower. It is the updated version of Cinema! which made its appearance in September 2012. Details are here.

Cinema! Take II is an installation in celebration of Machinima brought to you by Mary Wickentower, with the help of her Girl Friday and most fabulous assistant, Danya Sadofsky.

Sponsored by the Linden Endowment for the Arts and AViewTV, this full SIM extravaganza will be open for the month of March on LEA 6.

Cinema! Take II features:
-->The magnificent Empire Movie Palace showing SL machinima in lush surroundings, with adjacent galleries featuring artisans from across Second Life, and a special viewing from "Photohunt" sponsored by  The Virtual Artist Alliance.
-->An old fashioned drive-in theater showing SL machinima in an outdoor setting that is a dying culture in RL..
-->Danya's Garden by danya.sadofsky, a place of peace & quiet. Outside is a lovely garden with a cherry tree.
-->The Swing Jim Dinner & Dance Hall - good foods & sock hops!
-->The Gallery of Art - Fine SL sculpture.
-->Dr. Petrol Gas Station - Gas up & get your green stamps & view a classic collection of pin-up posters.
-->Particle shows, sock hops, and performances to be announced.


http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/124/247/23

Movie Palace donated by  Khan Omizu
Swing Jim Dinner  donated by n0th1ng Ackland
Drive-in screen donated by Ethos Erlanger

Cinema II is grander than Cinema! When you get here, you hear the sounds of sprinklers. Head to the sound and you are now on a wide, green lawn in front of a magnificent Hollywood mansion, straight out of a movie.

Cinema Take II near arrival point


The Empire Movie palace looks bigger and more sophisticated. There are cars packed by the curb.



Inside was bigger and more stylish than ever. I remember the old Empire was smaller and more simple.The front facade does look the same though.

Mary added mesh to this wonderful build. Also, there were Exit doors so you could go out from there and be in a lovely garden created by Danya.

The gas station looks cleaner and less grungy.

I asked Mary some questions and below is what she said,

What made you decide to do a sequel build?

--The first Cinema was pretty well received and there was some nostalgia expressed to see it again. The machinima community has grown and is very active, there have been some excellent movies produced since the original Cinema!  build.  Cinema! Take II also has a few new twists.  The new Swing Jim Dinner was donated by n0th1ng Ackland.  My assistant / gal friday danya sadofsky, helped expand the diner into a diner/dance hall where we have hosted some pretty swinging Sock Hops, with vintage music provided by DJ imre bellic.  A fine arts gallery has been added, featuring a variety of sculpture from all over Second Life. The theater galleries feature photographic collections from myself,  Melusina Parkin, students of the Visionaire Institute of Photograph and the members of the Photohunt, sponsored  by the Virtual Artist Alliance . The old time gas station interior had a whole new look.  Betty Boop has been rumored to be among the visitors to be seen touring the grounds and there may be a special issue of a free Betty Boop shape before the sim closes at the stroke of midnight, March 31.

Did you add mesh?

 Yes.   While mesh has some limitations, I do not shy away from mesh.  Mesh has added a whole new dimension to SL and is here to stay.

Is it me or does the gas station look cleaner and less grubby?
-- It's the same gas station as before, however there are interesting new details. The mini mart coolers have been replaced with shelves stocked with products you might normally find in a gas station - cans of motor oil, anti-freeze, gadgets as well as tools and tool bench in the car repair area.  The gas station also sports a nice variety of vintage pin-up posters from both my own collections and danya sadofsky's collection.  The gas station has also added green stamps, a real classic vintage detail.   Zoltar has been replaced with a coke machine.

That mansion, why did you add it? It reminds me of depictions of the fictional Jay Gatsby's mansion.

--The "mansion" is an art gallery dedicated to some of SL's finer sculptures from your timeless classics to you more avant-garde . Most of the pieces come from my own private collection of sculpture purchased through out SL.  A few of the pieces were donated, such as the clever rendition of the Flying Spaghetti Monster , donated by Daaneth Kivioq and created by Kae Fox. The Ice Age piece was a donation from danya sadofsky, created by Rezago Kokorin. Stop in, help yourself to a cuppa from the vintage "Tropical Birds" tea set, ease back and relax in the pristine white sofa and enjoy the fine arts from Second Life.

What's the main difference about the drive-in movie theater? Are there more or less cars in the lot?

--The drive in movie sports an new screen provided by AViewTV, with many wonderful new films and a great many more machinima artist's represented. And yes, the drive-in car lot has really filled up.  In addition to the cars that were donated for the original CinemaI made a special purchase to add to my growing collections of cars from around Second Life.

Why add in the garden? One wonders how it fits in. It seems out of place.

-- Danya's garden, provided by my assistant danya sadofsky  was an idea brought forward from my Wonderful World of Particles full sim art grant.   As you noted, the garden's style is quite different from the minimalistic style of 1940's California  features on this build , however is quite in keeping with the mountain streams you might encounter if you ventured outside of the manicured  city landscape and trekked into the surrounding foothills and mountains.   I nearly perished as a child in one of those real life wild mountain streams. I am here today to bring you this build, solely as the result of a single little rock that caught my foot and keep me from plunging over a mountain stream waterfall to my death.


upcoming events:

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Photohunt  by the Virtual Artist Alliance
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Wednesday - March 26  6PM slt
Photohunt will host a photohunt for their membership on Cinema! Take II
Resulting photos  will be on display at one of the Empire Theatre galleries.

PhotoHunt is a contest in which participants must shoot their best Second Life snapshot that embodies a theme or landmark provided by a moderator. Photos must be shot within a  sixty minute time frame.  No outside manipulations are allowed.

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Visionaire Institute of Photography:
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Thursday- March 27th - 3pm slt
Students will have a field day to photograph Cinema! Take II as a class assignment. Resulting works will be displayed in a Empire Theatre gallery.

Photohunt is hosted by Bear Silvershade.

Thanks to Mary Wickentower, Girl Friday, AviewTV, those who provided the builds and cars, Danya Sadofsky, and others who make LEA possible!

 Come here to go to the Cinema! and prepare to be entertained: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA6/124/247/23

Have fun and enjoy the art!

Victoria Lenoirre


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