SLer Blaq Magik recently shot this excellent Second Life machinima dance video, and it's just about the coolest SL machinima I've seen in quite awhile. (And not because it's shot to what's just about MJ's coolest song.) For one thing, it's shot in a single take, which seems like a miracle of matching SL dance animations to every downbeat of "Smooth Criminal". (And the dancers hit their mark almost every time.) That's impressive in itself, but Mr. Magik does something to make it even cooler:
Instead of capturing the SL footage with an in-engine program like FRAPS, as is usually done, he shot this video by pointing a handheld video camera at his computer screen. (To judge by the brief reflections on the screen, a smartphone.) This is a great technique that's been done in other cool SL machinima, but it works especially well here: The natural shake of the handheld camera makes the action feel dynamic, live, exciting. And while the dancers are doing their best to make sure their different moves are staying on beat, Magik is making even more of an effort keeping up with them. (Probably at the cost of an achey arm.) Would love to see this technique used in machinima action scenes too.
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Wonderful machinima!
Posted by: EI Consulting | Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 05:14 AM
Why is she in her underwear?
Posted by: Jo Yardley | Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 11:12 AM
very good question, Jo Yardley . why is she in her underwear? it's a shame that the only way women are shown in these videos is with little clothing, doing disrespectful animations. while guys are shown doing actual moves that dont make them look like they are ready for bed :(
Posted by: bellahyae | Monday, February 16, 2015 at 12:32 PM
Wow, have y'all seen any recent music videos lately? Check out something like Nicki Minaj's "Anaconda" and get back to us.
Posted by: Wagner James Au | Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at 10:25 AM
Love it, exceptionally well done.
Posted by: ice petal | Saturday, February 21, 2015 at 09:17 PM