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(UPDATE: A blogger calling himself Overman, founder of Zarathustra Studios, says at his blog that my overview of machinima here is "all wrong;" I'm assuming he's referring to a debated issue within the machinima community, of whether films created outside of a strict videogame environment count as "machinima" or not. For what it's worth, what I meant to get across in my description here is simply how many third-party tools now exist that help the budding machinima creator; such as an app like Poser that helps a person create customized gestures, or Sketchup which helps set designers envision the film's backdrop. Although I agree that the majority of machinima that currently exists was created by manipulating avatars within traditional MMORPGS, what I meant here is that even more and more tools are being created all the time for the amateur CGI filmmaker; that one no longer needs a million-dollar Avid/SGI/Massive monstrosity packed in its own dry-ice, in order to make highly sophisticated computer-generated films anymore. I apologize for any misunderstanding my description causes here; and as Overman also points out, the Wikipedia entry I link to below has a great "traditional" history of the machinima movement.)

For those who don't know, there's a curious form of new creative output that's been recently gaining a lot of popularity online; what the Japanese know as machinima, or we in the Western world as computer-generated animation. Once the exclusive domain of the Spielbergs of the world, the only artists who could afford the millions of dollars of computing power needed to render such graphics, machinima creation has dropped dramatically in the last few years in both tech requirements and price, with it now for the first time appearing in the budget range of amateur filmmakers and tinkerers.

In fact, many of the first groundbreaking amateur machinima projects were done in a way that could almost be seen as "cheating;" instead of the filmmakers learning the complicated software for creating their own graphics, they merely acted out the scenes in their favorite videogames, later adding new dialogue and sound effects, then editing the bits into a narrative whole. Some of these films were celebrated, some were sued by the owners of the videogames; but all agreed that this was an inventive new form of filmmaking, something that finally put the power of CGI into the hands of non-tech artists.

It didn't take long, in fact, for many of these artists to realize the untapped potential of SL as a filmmaking platform; that with such cinematic elements as customizable clothes, fantastical sets, an out-of-body camera and more already in place, all one would really need to add is a digital recorder to be able to create movies within the grid, the old-fashioned way. And indeed, this is what's perhaps the most fascinating thing about machinima creation in the grid -- that many teams are now filming their movies in a traditional RL way, with actors and a dedicated cameraman, set designers and a director all holding it together, the entire "crew" assembled in a virtual space at the same time and working together as a unit.

One person highly interested in machinima these days is visual artist and arts-administrator Susi Spicoli; but what's different in her case is that she comes from a background of traditional creative media and spaces. Already a photographer in RL, as well as the owner of Susi's Mountain Gallery [Ochreous 36/150/139] for RL images, it was only after entering the grid that she first became entranced with this unique new medium for creative expression. She has since become a leading administrator and resource-provider behind the SL machinima movement; and along with her photography gallery, has recently opened an all-machinima showcase next door as well [201/121/248], handing out small spaces to filmmakers and in effect letting them each build their own mini-theatre for their work.

I recently had the chance to sit down with Susi at the gallery, where we had a freewheeling talk about the arts, RL versus SL when it comes to appreciation of creative work, and the future of computer animation when it comes to the grid. Our conversation went on so long, in fact, that it's simply too big to post as one entry; that's why I've split it in half, and will be publishing the other part next week. This is part 1, where we discuss Susi's first involvement with the arts in SL, the creation of her photography gallery, and the interesting thing she learned about patrons there; and then in part 2, we'll discuss her forays into the world of machinima, why she feels so drawn to it, and how the details of her "cooperative multiplex" work.

In The Grid: So why don't we start with your background? Were you involved with the RL arts before you started in SL?

Susi Spicoli: Well, I don't talk much about RL, but yes, I did a bit of photography and music, but as an amateur.

ITG: So it wasn't something specifically to promote your RL work? You keep the two lives separate?

SS: Correct, just for fun, nothing to do with RL promotion. So I started here by thinking about creating a new kind of photo gallery. I noticed that many photo galleries [in the grid] were sort of the worst of RL -- cramped rooms, small, closed.

ITG: You weren't happy with the way most gallery owners were designing their spaces?

SS: Correct, I thought they stuck too much to RL. Perhaps because they are professionals in RL.

ITG: And the process of showing RL photos here, it's not too terribly difficult, right? You basically "texture" them onto a flat prim, and then hang it.

SS: Yes, very easy. The work was in the design of the surroundings. The layout, the texture of the walls to paste them on, the floor, how to position them related to one another.

ITG: Does dots per inch (DPI) affect their resolution here? Or is it like the web, where after 72 dpi it doesn't much matter anymore?

SS: Good question. I didn't pay much attention, but [mine are from] 300-400kb, so if you come close or zoom in, it still has very high resolution. Because you can do that; I believe it matters.

ITG: So it's just a matter of importing .jpgs into your account? That's a L$10 fee (about 3 American cents) per image, correct?

SS: Yes. I basically compressed them somewhat in [Apple's] iPhoto, then uploaded them, and [then] you just paste them [onto a flat prim]. Scaling is separate, so you don't have to worry about [extra costs].

ITG: Okay, so then it was time to create the gallery space. Were there things going into it that you knew you wanted to try?

SS: When I was in Rome [in RL], I had the idea that I wanted to set up the gallery open, large, and spaced out, but also against a mountain background, so the backdrop would not distract from the pictures. You wouldn't see, as in the flat land, other buildings. That's when I found this land and bought it. I was at the beach originally.

ITG: Is it difficult to find land here that's away from other construction?

SS: Yes. The mountain was ideal for that. And people flying by would see it [too]. That's why some of the pictures are very big, as an eye-catcher.

ITG: Residents can't create mountains, right? That's a godlike quality of the Lindens, and they arbitrairily decide where they exist.

SS: True.

ITG: So, tell me more about what you mentioned earlier, about what you've found out about the way people actually interact with the space.

SS: Okay. It's my favourite topic, as you spotted. What I noticed is, that first I gave guided tours, had opening parties and such; and [would walk] people, a group, of friends or strangers, through the gallery and explain. People make comments, ask questions, talk amongst themselves, [just like in RL]. But [when you add] the SL interface -- [where] the human brain sees one picture, but in the background might spot another. Or [you might notice] where others are looking, and you get curious and go there. Very different from navigating a website, and very social if you do it with friends or people you just meet there. [It's something] only possible in SL, but very human. [It's] great fun for me as the creator.

ITG: So in some ways, very much a replica of the RL gallery experience, it sounds like.

SS: Well, true, but I think [strangers] here are not afraid to talk. In a RL gallery they are silent, mostly, unless they know each other. So yes, but better. And also, I noticed, perhaps a paradigm [shift because] of the human/computer interface. You see the picture in front of you, but also others, from different angles. Some catch your attention, you walk over; or because people are there and say, "Hey come over and look at this." Again, it's very social and clearly enhances the experience.

ITG: But is that in a different way in the grid than in RL? Because of the images maybe being much larger on average here?

SS: Yes. I mean for me, I couldn't afford large prints like that in RL. Then [add] the fog because of the [mountain] position. Different times of the day [create] very different experiences.

ITG: So almost not like a RL gallery, where photos can often be too small to see on the other side of the room; more like a 3D Flickr account, maybe?

SS: Yes; but of course, immersive and social. You can't really compare it to one single thing. It's a combination of the best aspects -- of Flickr, of people sitting around a coffeetable passing pictures around, of RL galleries and interaction, perhaps like at a vernissage.

ITG: And unlike a RL gallery, here you can zoom back your camera view, and still see a good overall view of the entire exhibit at once.

SS: Yes, or fly up and get an overview. Or teleport to another floor. Or objects can talk to you. I haven't tried that out here yet, but did in [last month's] Burning Life exhibit a bit.