New First User Experience Launched
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
The purpose of the these virtual spaces, SL Welcome Island and SL Discovery Island, is to simply and effectively teach the essential skills a new user needs to fully enjoy their SL experience as well as introduce them to the many aspects of SL they will want to explore.
The fanciful environment at both redesigned venues makes the first experience both user friendly and fun. Upon arrival at the new version of Welcome Island, new residents are met with greetings of 'Welcome, Willkomen, Bienvenue', etc. They are beckoned to follow the arrows for the six easy steps to learn the basics of SL. The arrows guide the new residents through six chambers where the tutorials are presented. At the last chamber, the residents are invited to visit Discovery Island by way of a teleport where they are familiarized with the various lifestyles available in their new virtual world. A stylish assortment of freebee fashions of various lifestyle genres complete their tour. However, it's likely that visitors will pause to enjoy some of the unique activities there. Simply clicking on an enormous out of proportion flower will catapult the visitor to a floating island of interesting places to rest while riding on a flower with the spray from a beautiful fountain showering down on them or sitting within a giant bubble while it floats around the island. It's a perfect setting to meet other first arrivals and share the marvels that all are experiencing. There's even a perfect spot for a photo op accompanied by instructions detailing how to successfully take a snapshot and send it on a post card email to their meat space friends.
It's no surprise that Linden Lab tapped ILL Clan Animation Studios for this important project since they are not novices in the concept of conveying an introduction to SL. They produced the "What is Second Life?" machinima that provides the first tantalizing glimpse of SL that greets potential residents enticing them to join. It's also what seasoned Slers see when they access the Second Life website.
Kerria Seabrooke (a.k.a. Skyla Volitant) and Paul Jannicola (a.k.a. Spector Hawks), head the top notch team of ILL Clan Animation Studios of which they are the co-owners. In terms of the Welcome and Discovery Island builds with Linden Lab, Seabrooke commented, "It was a labor of love working with Linden Lab and their dynamic team to create an entirely new approach to the first user experience." Jannicola added, "We're striving to continue to optimize the experience so it is positive for all users with all types of graphics controllers."
Jannicola and Seabrooke, who are RL husband and wife, share a background in performing in improvisational comedy groups, writing and working on film projects. Of machinima, Seabrooke says, "Machinima levels the playing field by creating art without the overhead cost of film."
Virtual pioneers and veterans of the machinima art form, Seabrooke and Jannicola have taken that expertise and applied it to their projects with great success resulting in some prestigious award recognitions for the team.
Their popular news show, 'Grid Review', billed as "your weekly second glance at Second Life", delivered the SL news with a comic twist similar to the RL 'Daily Show'. In 2007, Seabrooke and Jannicola were proud to travel from New York to the UK to receive the "Best Series" award for 'Grid Review' at the UK Machinima Film Festival. At the time, this was considered the equivalent of a machinima Oscar. Seabrooke described the experience, "It was a fantastic experience! One of the highlights along with winning was being interviewed by the BBC on what machinima is and how it can be used." 'Grid Review' was one of their first projects in SL and holds a special place in their hearts. Seabrooke added, "Now, almost three years later, it's already an historical document of the earlier days of SL. We are no longer producing The Grid Review but you can see the episodes still on line at gridreview.com."
Following right on the heels of 'Grid Review' is another successful series called 'Tiny Nation'. 'Tiny Nation' is a story line that follows a scrappy band of backyard animals, Bob the bunny, Sid the Mole, Phil the ferret, Frank the warthog and Garbo the Squirrel, who have had enough of being on the bottom of the food chain. They are committed to take back their planet, one backyard at a time.
'Tiny Nation' has amassed a number of award recognitions. The most prestigious of which was the Jury Award at the 2008 Machinima Expo. Seabrooke reflects, "People who saw it, didn't believe it was shot entirely within SL, which is a high compliment in and of itself. We had to set the record straight that the sets, characters, animations, facial expressions, lighting, and camera moves were all done in-world. Most of the post work was in CrazyTalk and that was to make the characters lips move. A few select shots, like a big explosion and title sequences, were done in AfterFX. Also, the Machinima Expo, even though it is held in Second Life, is open to all machinima created in any engine, so we were honored to be among some fantastic films that year."
Another award presented to the team for 'Tiny Nation' was the Best Series at the 2009 MPrem Online Machinima Festival. This is an online festival where the initial voting is done entirely by the community, after which a board of fellow machinima makers also votes. Seabrooke added, "We were really honored to receive this award."
They are most proud that 'Tiny Nation' was also accepted into the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. Jannicola explained, "This was amazing news for a few reasons. First, it was accepted as a film in its own right, not as a "machinima" film or as part of a machinima screening program. It was accepted as a short film. As a matter of fact, there wasn't even a machinima category! The other thing that got us really excited was that it is a qualifier for the Academy Awards, so any film that wins its category is automatically on the qualifying list for an Oscar. To have a machinima film honored as a proper film was a huge leap forward for the medium in our minds."
Seabrooke said, "I love directing machinima, particularly in SL, because it is like Fantasy Island for filmmakers."
