Second Life Machinima Integrated Into Multimedia Theatrical Production Co-Created By UK Director Peter Greenaway

While interviewing Italian artist Luca Lisci about his latest SL machinima, he casually mentioned an earlier project he worked on last year: creating machinima for The Blue Planet, a live stage multimedia show co-directed by Peter Greenaway. (Trailer above.) Film buffs will immediately recognize that name: the UK artist and director is renowned for a number of award-winning films he's created over the years, intellectually ambitious and visually arresting, often working with imagery that's extremely sexual or violent or sometimes both. (He's probably most famous for The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover starring Helen Mirren and her edible boyfriend, and The Pillow Book, starring an oft-nude Ewan McGregor and, well, his Scottish banger.)

Second Life machinima was incorporated into The Blue Planet (a re-telling of the Noah's Ark story) at the behest of Greenaway's collaborator (and spouse), Saskia Boddeke, who's active in SL.

"We make art which is crossing and combining the different medias and SL is an important tool for us," Boddeke tells me by email. The team commissioned Luca Lisci (known as Vive Voom in SL) to capture footage of an SL ark and animals, created by Timmi Allen. "[Greenaway] liked the 'synthetic' mood of machinima and asked me to push forward expression as much as I can, but without losing that 'videogame' appeal," says Lisci. Here's some of the footage he made for the production:

A longtime admirer of Greenaway, Luca considers working with the director a career highlight, and they had long discussions on the nature of art in the age of virtual worlds. "He thinks Cinema is dead, so he is seeking new definitions for movie and entertainment," Luca tells me. "He finds very attractive [a medium] where there's no single point of view anymore."

The Blue Planet was staged in Spain, France, and Italy, and Luca says it will be performed in Germany and the UK next. As for Greenaway and Saskia Boddeke, this is not the last of their planned productions with a Second Life element. "At the moment," Ms. Boddeke tells me, "we are planning a new multimedia performance about Susa Bubble, a creature that is born in SL."

Comments

[Pooky Amsterdam]

Fabulously done and wonderful to see this. Noah was extremely compelling, and his facial expressions so well rendered. Really glad to see use of Machinima in a film like this. Bravo!

[hexx Triskaidekaphobia]

Yep. Really amazing.

[qarl]

Greenaway's in second life?

you've made my day.

[Hamlet Au]

Well, his collaborator is, who drove the project.

[Bettina Tizzy]

I love the way they used Second Life's delayed rendering to his advantage early in the second video.