Unexpected news: I learned last night that someone nominated Paradise Lost The Movie for the Favourite Machinima Production Award category of Avi’s Choice Awards – The Art
To celebrate, I’m sharing the video with everyone, right here on this blog post. No sign-in is required. Just click the image above and watch. All I ask is that you turn the lights down, turn the sound up and watch it in HD if you can. If you like it, then vote for it.
About the Avi’s Choice Awards
I’ve never had my work nominated for an Avi’s Choice award, so I’m not exactly sure how it works. I suspect that whoever gets the most votes wins the award.
I’m not sure how I feel about awards like this. While it’s nice that someone nominated my work, and great if people vote for it, I’m not sure that winning an award like this reflects on the work’s quality. The award organisers themselves admit: “These were nominated and voted on by website visitors and SL residents in hopes of giving their favorites some appreciation and recognition… NOT for them to declare who is best.”
Winning an award like this is more like an election, better reflecting the nominee’s reach. I recognize some names in the list of candidates, as the very talented Draxtor Despres, Tutsy Navarathna, and Jackson Redstar. I’m honoured to be in their company because I’m nowhere near the experienced filmmaker as they are. I’m not familiar with the other ones, but I trust their work is equally good.
Why vote for Paradise Lost?
I’ll give two reasons:
The award nomination is for “Paradise Lost – Canary Beck”, but that isn’t the whole story. I worked on this movie for months as part of a team with my collaborator Forren Ashford. He deserves as much as the credit as I do for the film. With regards to the production on which the film is based, this movie wouldn’t have been possible without my producer, Harvey Crabsticks. Beyond that, we had a fantastic team of actors, sponsors and audience members that participated in the play, and as a result, the movie. I’ve included a list of everyone involved in this production as part of the end credits. This is not a vote for me, it’s a vote for a unique artistic product made by a huge group of committed people in Second Life. It will take you a moment to show them your appreciation for a job well-done.
I’ve tried getting this movie out there, but it hasn’t been easy. Part of that was probably my own doing because I first made it exclusive – selling tickets that included free audience avatars for the first few months of its release. This Christmas, I gave my subscribers free access to the movie. Today, I’m giving everyone a chance to see this film, subscriber or not. Please consider voting for it. If your vote helps this movie win this award, then I’m certain more people will hear about this movie and will want to see it. If anything, this film can be an inspiring demonstration of what we can do in Second Life. To me, it’s not only a personal record of our achievement, it’s also a permanent time-capsule of what we can do in virtual reality today.
If you have seen the movie and would like to vote for it – or any of the other nominees that you might find worthy of your vote – you can do so here. It’s the fourth poll on the page.
Thank you.
Canary Beck 