Encounters/Refinement of Research Question

Encounters

My encounters on SL about machinima have been positive.  I noticed that it’s been really helpful to talk to anyone about it.  A lot of the avatars I talk to I heard about from other people in machinima groups or through a person that I talked to casually on SL who referred me to a site or an avatar  because they knew that I was researching the topic.  I noticed that the machinima chat groups have been really informative for answering basic questions about machinima/technical questions.  Since I am new to the programs used and the techniques it has been really great to spark a conversation and have the avatars  that are online/interested partake.  Everyone is doing something different!  Some people do machinima for fun on SL, others own production companies in RL and do it with a collective, other people use it for education, etc...

I have been really happy to talk to HVX SILVERSTAR who is based out of UCD…I hope to continue a relationship with her on SL and volunteer at the machinima institute.  I like that she is using machinima within the academic sphere.  She mentioned intellectual  property rights and how filmmakers can retain them in SL.  Her interest in live broadcasting which could possibly relate to the tool that I proposed for the class.  She mentioned service learning proposals out of San Jose state University which I would like to find out more about.  HVX’s SL work interests me because it spills into RL through grants and the work that she does as a teacher.  

I started out wanting to learn about machinima from a practicing filmmaker.  My focus seems to have shifted into the machinima institute and the work that HVX has described.  I would also like to find a way to promote the institute.  I feel like some audiences that are involved with machinima do not know that it exists.  Initially I wanted to get on a production team but I noticed that production on SL is hard to get into.  People seem to do it alone and not have an entourage like RL.  Well…I guess that’s not always true…I shoot alone usually but I was expecting to be able to jump into it and just get on a team.  Not finding many teams/rigorous shooting schedules on SL.  Still messaging people and still trying to keep my options open.  Instead I think my participation could be as a volunteer at the machinima institute.  I want to look into it…

Also talked to Dash and might submit a RL film just because to see how that works in the world of SL. Not sure if this will help in my research but it might down the road   

Also…I also want to find some texts to use for my analysis dealing with “communities of practice”/maybe texts dealing with online education.  Still trying to refine everything but my interest/research has definitely shifted since last month.  I feel like i'm starting to engage in something that is interesting and refined.