"Prometheus" Takes Second Life Expressionist Machinima Ever Closer to the Sun

In the Second Life machinima "Prometheus", the Greek legend is retold in bold imagery and blood-soaked symbolism, as if the story of the man who defied the gods had become a Dali-esque fever dream. Created by Luca Lisci, an Italian artist who is known in Second Life as Vive Voom, it's a glorious visual feast you should best watch in a darkened room with the lights turned low:

Prometheus - The machinima by Luca Lisci from Service Celeste Prize on Vimeo

It's one of the best and most ambitious Second Life movies I've seen in quite awhile, and it's also the latest in what can only be called expressionist machinima. Like Lyric Lundquist and ColeMarie Soleil, Vive heavily post-processes and composites SL imagery into a new video form rich with emotional tones.

Mr. Voom has had visions of Prometheus for many years, he tells me, and developed several concept art paintings for this project before even beginning work in SL. His art team, Wiknima, developed the SL stage and props. The avatar known as Nur Moo developed the dancing witch avatar herself.

"Most of the scenes were captured as you can see," Voom says, "but with double shooting: one for avatars and one for backgrounds." He shot the avatars in a virtual chroma-key built for the production, and captured footage as his performers improvised.

"I want the avatars to express themselves," he explains, so I never choose a single point of view in advance (that's a major value of machinima to me.)" After shooting the avatars and then the location backgrounds, he blended these elements together in post-production. "I edited sounds and musics from different sources like voices, free stock audio and sounds effects."

The most difficult shot, he tells me, is also one of the most striking: "I had absolutely that obsession in my mind: a bleeding man chained to a flaming moon. I spent so many night in doing sketches, drawings... even paintings, looking for the proper mood for it, but nothing satisfied me much." Exhausted and frustrated, he was ready to give up the shot, when a sudden inspiration struck: Vive Voom himself would play Prometheus.

"So it became really a matter of diving into my subconsciousness and let my alter-ego express himself," he says. "I played with it, programming virtual fires to go on and off in randomness, putting animated textures on the moon with moving shadows." He added a bleeding layer for his avatar skin, and chained his avatar to the burning moon. "That was a big event, very emotional to me."

"Prometheus" is currently being showcased in the Celeste Prize, a European art festival.

Hat tip: Diabolus

Comments

[Lyric Lundquist]

I really adored this, it's one of my favorite videos that were entered into the MAG contest. The opening long shot scenes are my favorite. Nice work Luca Lisci.