Follow Me! ~An Ode to Code ~ The Movie by Natascha Randt & Karima Hoisan

Oh my oh my oh my!!
I can tell you, I haven’t been this excited to share a movie since Natascha Randt and I collaborated on the UWA V Challenge, “Seek Wisdom”
I feel like we were swept up in an on-rushing tide, a flash flood of ideas, and input that brought this film in, with the credits rolling in almost Olympic -Record -Time. One of the reasons Nat and I work so well together, I think, is that we are both pretty obsessed once we begin something. Sleep is pushed to one side, and the goal line looms ahead. It has a big YouTube banner (smiles) and we hopefully break that ribbon in perfect style as we make it public, with no other gain than to know we have finished it and to share with whomever in the world might be interested.
As I said in my previous post, I adore scripters. If it weren’t for them, here in Second Life, we would all be standing still in photographs (I sort of imagine it that way) no movement, no flexi, no sync dancing, no anything…no world. Linden Scripting Language is the common tongue, and it allows us to create and bring life to inanimate prims. It was time, I recognized the value of all the stuff that is whirling around behind the scenes. It seems in doing this, I got out of my funk about “Second Life losing its magic, see post: “SLip Away” and by looking deep into its backbone and its nervous system, meditating on all the collaboration that it took and takes to keep it going, I had one of those stingy-tears- in- my- eyes moments, when I felt thankful, so very thankful for all that work behind the scenes that we just take for granted.
Thank you my friends who script, and all those I have not met, nor probably will ever meet. I forgive you all for not being available to chat, because you are in the middle of some scripting process equivalent to “open-heart surgery” (Quote from scripter Jer Straaf)
I invite all the rest of us to celebrate our virtual worlds, by looking down inside and remembering the scripter’s role in it all. They are “the gods in a sandbox” They make almost any possibility possible (like Dale Innis’s hands- free- walking script, his “AvatarFollower” script which started me thinking about this in the first place.) I want to thank my sim partner, Odracir Wrigglesworth, co-owner of LINC Island where much of the film was shot, for being an elegant and graceful dance partner, and WaMark Basevi for his phrase “an Ode to Code”
But..my last and deepest thank-yous go to my gifted friend, film maker and collaborator,
Natascha Randt. With her innovative film style and her unique film concepts, techniques, and camera eye, I think she once again has taken my poem and music and made it lift off from my hand and soar into a beautifully finished piece of art , honoring those who make us move.
“Make it move…. because you can”
I present to you proudly and with much emotion, “Follow Me!” Please see in fullscreen and HD for best viewing….
Comments very welcome:)

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53 Responses to Follow Me! ~An Ode to Code ~ The Movie by Natascha Randt & Karima Hoisan

  1. Dale Innis says:

    (My name is in the credits! bounce bounce!)

    That’s astounding; I really wouldn’t have believed that such a lovely piece of work went from conception to polished machinima that quickly, if I hadn’t been a happy observer of both. 🙂 Definitely special things going on there…

    Like

    • Happy Virtual Thanksgiving scripter Dale..I am so pleased you enjoyed being a part of our homage to those who make our beautiful Second Life; builders , artists, Live musicians, and today’s honored scripters…All together you are the pilgrims of the prims and pixels…Thank you for being here and making us move!

      Like

  2. Beacon Becloud says:

    Thank you for the time the patience the love that went into this whole production and opened our eyes ( especially the day before Thanksgiving) to appreciate all that goes into simply being able to move in SL let alone all the countless other animations we can do! Love you scripters!

    Like

    • Thank you so much Beacon for your comment. I told Nat I had hoped we could reach every scripter in SL(smiles) so if you know any, please pass this along. Yes it is time to reflect on our virtual bounties:) and a very happy RL one to you too.

      Like

  3. Trinity says:

    WOW Karima, I just love how creative you are. I really enjoyed the way you showed the “code” along with how it works. You know, we all tend to take scripters for granted. We would not be here if it were not for them. They make our SL enjoyable. Great Video/poem.

    Like

    • Aww thank you Trinity. Well Natsacha must take all the credit for how. this film looks, rolling code, wireframe, lettering, all of it. I am just the sound girl, and the one who pushes her to do it hehe. Yes! our scripters ARE awesome..Thanks for your generous comment

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  4. CardinalWildflower Sommer says:

    Very impressive!! Well written and executed.. I enjoyed it very much! Nice job to Karima and Natascha !! Brilliant!!

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  5. Charlotte says:

    Wow, what an incredible video!

    It is amazing how much scripting impacts our everyday lives in SL. And like Trinity said, scripts and scriptors are definitely taken for granted. We wouldn’t be able to do anything in SL if it weren’t for them.

    Great job on the video, it was very well done 🙂

    Like

    • Yes, I got all klempty thinking of how we never think of the details to why we can even exist in SL (or play T.E. hehe “Arriba Kingdom of Rebels!” I hope that every scripter gets a chance to see how we feel about them.. so thank you so much Char for leaving this comment for them to find:)

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  6. Thanks so much Cardinal for taking the time to comment. I am so glad you enjoyed it. The subject has been in the back of my mind for more than a year, but it seems it came into being just in time to give thanks, while many in the USA are giving it on Thursday:) No matter when, it is always a good time to give honor and recognition to those who deserve it. I think our scripters and builders really do!

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  7. Yesikita Coppola says:

    Congratulations Karima and Natascha!!
    A very nice tribute for all the scripters who make our virtual life more special. What would be of us without them? Bravo Kari!!! 🙂
    Fantastic team-work. I love the integration of the script codes in the images and the use of the wireframe.
    Thank you for sharing this. Huuugs

    Like

    • Hola Yesikita!! Thank you so much for leaving your positive thoughts here.Yes truly, what would we be without them? hmm maybe a flickr page:)Yes, Nat did some amazing things in this film…she never ceases to amaze me. Abrazos mi amiga nueva y gracias:)

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  8. Shesa Qaundry says:

    Yes, Karima… she sure did *big smile*… and, you know, when I asked rhetorically, in my comment on Advice To A Flower, “Who’s going to top this?”… I already knew the answer. ;o)
    Oh my Natascha! What an amazing work… AGAIN! So many things going on that it really captures you. You have such a film director’s eye. There should be no more doubts about the personal touch either… its all there… in you. We can see, even more of it, in this one. Its beautiful, Nat. Just…. beautiful.
    What a wonderful tribute to those that write the code, and move our avatars, and give us that little bit of extra realism to supplement the thoughts and feelings we all express in our Second Lives… making the obvious even more pronounced… Hey! There’s a REAL PERSON there!
    Thank you both so much for sharing your creative expressions with all of us. Ok, ok… so THIS ONE is next year’s winning machinima… LOL (can’t wait until the next one… so I can change my mind again) ;o) You both SERIOUSLY ROCK! What a magical team!

    Like

    • Feeling tears again..I am just in the Virtual Thanksgiving mood..:) Thank you Shesa so much, for your comment, and your obvious and wonderfully supportive love of what we do together, and the amazing talents of Natascha..Sighs…this project totally brought me out of my funk about “Sl feeling tarnished” It feels new, renewed to me, now that I remembered to “look under the hood” and see the machinery keeping us all going. Love you scripters..love you builders, love you artists, live musicians, poets, and true friends like you Shesa!! Hope to rock your world again soon Shesa..with our next one..(*winks at Nat hint hint) Big hugs to you and deep thanks for your presence within the framework of this my Second Life.

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  9. kvrl.dk says:

    nice work agen i like it allot smiles

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  10. Spiral Silverstar says:

    OMG! This is so well done, Nat and Karima! Just love every aspect of this one. Bravo! Machinima Expo 2013? 🙂

    Like

  11. Mireille says:

    Absolutely brilliant, Karima and Natascha! All of SecondLife is founded in code and the simplicity and complexity of it is astounding – a magical world where (almost) all is possible! (And, perhaps in future, all WILL be possible…)
    Thank you for even thinking of making such a tribute to what makes our world work, what makes it so magical – US and the things we can dream and do.
    Many thanks to you for honouring this vital aspect of our virtual world in such a lovely way. This is indeed an Ode to Code!
    Mireille

    Like

    • Yes in the future Mireille, we might only be limited by our imaginations! I had been thinking of it since, I wrote a piece almost two years ago, about watching a bull (he’s in the video) come to life under the tenacious work of a scripter friend.I think it took until now to team up with just the right artist to make it come to life in video format. Natascha was who I had been waiting for:) so happy you enjoyed our “Ode to Code” to one of the special sectors of SL that allow us to live here:)

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  12. Makes me wish I was a coder! Brilliant film and beautiful too. Long live your collaboration!

    RAG

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    • Aww thank you RAG..I think that those wonderful flights of fancy you do in your Art can push you into the group of the honored:):) and thank you for those best wishes for Nat and I too in our creative collaborations… inshallah:)

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  13. joyce says:

    WOW! awesome, incredible, brilliant…..hunts for the proper words! VERY nicely done Kari. To date this is my fave!

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  14. Tube/Ron says:

    Wow. Just…wow. Gorgeous! Amazing gorgeous creative work. Natascha and Karima make more magic. Oh where will it all end???? Hopefully, not soon. Beautiful as art alone. Music alone. Graphics work alone. And yes, scripting alone (!) Such is the genius of collaboration between such talented boundary pushers. Interestingly enough, it parallels actual creation pretty closely. All the beauty…all the intricacy… the incredible imaginative painting by minds focussed on an idea. The turning an imaginative thought, an idea, into a visual, audible, palpable reality that can be shared together by many. Truly it parallels and describes the beauty of actual life creation. Part of our progressions thru lives and knowledge gained is to learn how actually create. For real. An eventual goal for those who wish it.
    What you have seen is a hint at the real thing. How minds can create brilliance from a thought. That’s how we got here. The created will eventually become the creators. With lots of practice along the way. They foretold the future here in so many so profound of ways, some there but unseen. All in good time. Such a wonderful collection of work including talents of so many like a symphony. And as usual-Karima with the baton……well done!

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    • Thank you Tube and welcome back…your comments have been missed. I think you left me wordless with this one.. all I can say is thank you for your loyal and totally unconditional support of me, my poetry, and any other crazy thing I got into, my humble machinimas, and my obsessive building of world after world. Thank you also for seeing the whole well-timed history of meeting Nat and beginning to make our first collaboration, which I think was actually her filming of my poem, “Her Name Was Noor” at a live performance, You have been a witness and have left me the most treasured comments for a long long time now..You followed my Colored Dreams and took it to the end, you watched The Two which in 13 installments was almost a full length movie, and you have never failed to spur me on and you have always left me comments like this one, that come from your special gift of observation and and your generosity of spirit towards me. I too hope that Nat and I make many more together as we both now say (our new phrase of the week) “Why not?” What do we lose to, as you say, get a thought and change it into a reality? It’s pure gain, and perhaps as you offer in this comment, we are practicing for another level when on some plane we actually do create, at will, maybe after we have left these tired bodies behind. Right now it feels rewarding and exciting, and I look upon the future with lots of ideas begging to become a reality. I guess I wasn’t as wordless as I thought* smiles, but there is much more I could have said, but in the end, it can all be distilled down into “Thank you”

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  15. Hoyt Heron says:

    Well…Runaway train? More like a runaway rocket ship. Karima and Natascha have succeeded in breaking the sound barrier with this one (pardon the weak metaphors). You both have taken the solid science of scripting and sprinkled it with art. Not always an easy task. The two of you continue to reach one apex, only to leave it behind and continue your climb. Your partnership continues to cultivate fantastic, imaginative works! I see no end to this concert that the two of you continue to propagate. I am proud, touched and amazed at your exploits. Please continue.

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    • Haha Hoyt!! A runaway rocket ship..I wonder if it runs straight or zigs and zags? I forgive your spacey metaphors and concentrate on your genuine pleasure in seeing our film, our new collaboration come into existence.I think as long as our partnership in these productions continues to “cultivate fantastic, imaginative works!” We will always want to push boundaries a little to see what else we might do.. Nat has that going on her own of course, and now and then, I have been known to take a chance, and try the untried.Your warm praise which I know, because I know you, is sincere, is always a starter motor for the confidence needed to not be afraid to try new themes and new sounds and new looks.I think we should take your advice to “please continue…” I mean…. “Why not?”

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  16. What an absolutely great piece here…a mesmerizing blend of technology, poetry and imagination! This one will require multiple viewings!

    Like

    • Thank you Scotti, our ode to code seems to have been waiting in the wings for quite awhile, although we didn’t know it, and when it popped out of the curtains, almost fully formed, it only took Nat’s powerful “finish it ethic” to make it look so easy:) Glad you wish to see it again!!

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  17. WaMark says:

    llShout(0, strExclamationPhrase); Love it – Love it. Apparently, when the Visualizer and the Vocalizer focus their superpowers in the same direction…booom…an explosion of pure enjoyment soon follows. Nat, you nailed this. It’s no accident how easily this entire work flows, and how one’s focus subtly shifts throughout, at your stealthy nudging. Karima’s crafting of words, warm-machine recitation and computeresque composition provide the pulse – the atmosphere that gels it all. You definitely get it. And, you get each other – a super collaboration. Thanks for sharing this! *** and as a scripter, thanks for noticing!! *** 🙂

    Like

  18. Oh WaMark! You and your great expressions..Now I see Nat as the Visualizer and me as the (big mouthed) Vocalizer.. (laughs) I see her wearing very cool tinted glasses, dressed in mesh and I am in a cape of course, with a super microphone…waiting to corral the next good idea and bring it in with credits rolling. Thank you for this great comment, and it seems you are very observant or you saw it more than once.. so glad you liked my “warm-machine recitation and computeresque composition” and Nat’s “nailing it” and bringing it all together with her imaginative graphic and lettering and all her choices. Yes this one goes out to you scripter WaMark. Thank you for being here..We need you!!

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  19. Nat says:

    Holy Moly! What can I say? First of all a BIG THANK YOU! Not only for watching our little movie, but also and most for eeehm…capture it I mean… I think you know what I mean. And for the very very nice comments:)

    At this point my comment could end. “Why not” 🙂
    But I know that someone will pinch me if I end up at this point 🙂
    I am sitting here, thinking about carrots and donkeys, eeehm…sorry… 🙂

    So let me tell you that coding, programming and scripting, for me it is like the book with the seven seals. But I made the math trilogy and a how-to of it, cause I was a bit proud to understand how this one-lined rotating script works. Eeehm…I mean on how I can change the speed and the direction:) And I know that binary is the very basic computer language, or something like this. And thats It.

    At that day I was in the mood to play with the Meteor, one of the first jet planes and a very special Windlight called “Torley special:Heaven” and shadows (“you and your shadows”, lol) doing it, Karima logged in and told me about her new poem. I read it and listened to it and being honest, my first reaction was “sounds a bit strange” and the “dingdangdong dingeling” Spieluhr sound was a bit loud for me.
    Anyway:)
    Ten seconds, or so, later, we were in that brainstorming “fever”. Sharing zillions of ideas. And Karima is so right, it was like when we began with seek wisdom. But this time it was special and I want to do it that weekend cause I dont want to loose the “fever”. As I wrote I was running in circles and I knew what I want and we start to shoot, meanwhile I was reading a lot and ok here’s a little secret I dont told anyone, not even Karima 🙂
    After reading WaMark’s term “An ode to code” I knew it! Cause the only Ode I know is from my eeehm fellow countrymen? (maybe thats the right term) Ode to joy from Schiller and best known in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. They both were real geniuses and I am far away to imitate that or being pathetic like that, but following the text of Schillers poem, it describes what second life is or maybe could be: equal people connected by the bond of joy and friendship.
    So I want it a bit as a joyful “symphony in the land of vectors” with some innuendoes, like the moving head:) Maybe it works in that way.
    With many many footage (Thanks to Karima and Odracir for being so patient while shooting) I opened the editior software and throw overboard many of our ideas, cause we talked about the credits roll, I want it as a part of the movie and technically some of the scenes doesnt work and I needed the music without the vocals and many other things…

    But thats what I like most, the editing process. You have all that, eeehm…sometimes more or less, beautiful footage and you know you have to trash 95% of it. Lots of lots of fx and you always ask yourself will this fit or better that? Does it need an fx polish? First steps are so easy, just put the music to an audio track, make room for an intro and an outro…and then select the scenes. Thats for me the hardest work. Sometimes you have a nice shot but it is to short or doesnt fits the music, or something like that and you must say goodbye to it. Its a bit like composing or cooking.

    Seems, that today my comment is full of me myself and I and before it will be too much, I am stopping here, not to bore you with confused thoughts 🙂

    I am so glad you all like it 🙂 THANKS A LOT!

    Hugs
    Nat

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  21. Maria Vought says:

    Wowee sis, I LOVE this film, I knew you could make scripting sexy and you and Nat did just that (apologies to all scripters, I was not suggesting you weren’t already, but I’m claiming a little bit of poetic license for my comment). Maybe it was just me, but I heard the smile in your voice the whole way through this celebration of the scripters’ art and it was so infectious I found myself smiling along with you.

    Thank you both for another incredible masterpiece *stands and applauds till her hands hurt* (grrrr where is the ‘end animation’ in this script?)

    Like

  22. Your comment made me laugh out loud sis.,,and of course we agree scripters Are very sexy..they just hide it away maybe a little and code it…but I give you all the poetic license you need to say what you will:) Yes it is an Ode to Code like Nat says in joy and awe and admiration..and that brings us right back to the top of the food chain here, our visible pretty colored world we so nicely function in because of all those scripts.. When I first opened a new script (of course by accident as I had no idea what to write in it) and it said to me in a “sexy voice” I mean it was only written, but it had an exclamation point on the end, which made it sound very playful to me,(lost in this sentence) and it said “Hello Avatar!” I felt a sensual beckoning, like a challenge..I just loved it said “Hello Avatar!” and that was the beginning with my fascination for all those who knew what to write after that part. So glad you enjoyed our poetic homage to this hard working sector of our Second Life. Bows graciously to your endless applause !! Hugs sis:)

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  23. GENIUS in every aspect! This, my dears, is a world contender for the ‘TITLE’ (smiles). Just loves how brilliantly coordinated the production is from start to finish; amazing visuals, unique angles, awesome music and of course, the voice that lives in infamy! Bows gracefully and joins everyone in a standing ovation. BRAVO!!!

    Like

    • Aww Sis Diz thank you! Sometimes, you just have that gut feeling something is special..and I had it with this one..and think we both did when we finally saw the finished version. How this film looks is 100% Nat, and how it sounds is 100% me, but how it finally came out, is 100% us:) and hopefully it will inspire (like Hung Tung below) many to see the profound beauty in scripting

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  24. Hung Tung says:

    Total Wow. I have just begun scripting myself. This is inspiring. Thanks for it.

    Like

  25. Steve Rogers says:

    This excellent and accomplished video reminds me how much Linden have given us to work with – and what a totally connected and connecting world Second Life is for all of us. Well done Karima and Natascha!

    Like

    • Thank you so much Steve for your comment.Indeed, our Second Life can be totally inspiring, and these collaborations between artists, builders/scripters are something sublime..and fulfilling. So glad you liked it (and thanks for the “Like” too..)

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  26. Darren Green says:

    Lovely film. And Karima and Nat have made a lot of LSL scripters very happy with some TLC 🙂 Oh dear – you guys are now the cheerleaders for LSL scripting – do you know what you’ve unleashed!!! 😀

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  27. laughing Darren..I can see us now, quite the “odd couple” in LSL cheering squad! Thanks for you input and knowing you are one yourself and fully versed, makes it all much more special. Viva LSL and those who speak it fluently! Viva!” (throws pom poms in the air)

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  28. jan betts says:

    Well i must say that the Karima-Natasha team is pure geuius!! I love this… and learned something i did not know about codes. The Machimina was brilliant, the poem, Karima’s velvet tones that invite our hearts to allow her words in…. the images and movements… that haunting ambiance… all magical….and giving life and romance to an aspect of the creating of all our digital realms that is mostly sorta mathematical . Thank you…. keep on with your play…. we await your next creation!!!

    Like

    • Aww thank you so much Jan..Yes without really trying we seemed to have formed a little team for these projects that are born , in that magical way, almost by themselves. Second Life is mostly physics..(not my best subject in high school either) and like Nat this big area was locked behind 7 seals in my mind too..but Second Life has made me look behind the curtain and see Oz is more gloriously fascinating there even than even “up on top” and the awe of it all, charged my waning batteries. Thank you so much dear friend for watching my journey down its rabbit hole from day one..:)

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  29. Bringing RoseDrop’s comment to where he meant to put it:)RoseDrop Rust says:
    November 27, 2012 at 12:26 am (Edit)
    Wanting art to represent connection between real longing and imaginative construction is an undeniable urge of many. Perhaps what created language was to represent comparison between the evidence of eyes and visualizing of the unseen extrapolations of our brains. The searching mind fills in spaces in the suspension of disbelief. Me? I believe it all. Thank you Karima for sending me soaring.
    RoseDrop Rust

    Like

    • Thank you RoseDrop for allowing yourself to enter into the depths ..No Fear and pure joy when the curtain is pulled back, and we glimpse how that connection is made..the imaginative becomes real.. and me too I believe it all:) The virtual has been proven to stimulate the brain in the same way that our real life sensory inputs do. We make memories here, and LSL makes that all possible..our collective genome

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  30. (Another redirect from Shepp who placed it in an other post by accident:)
    Shepp says:
    November 27, 2012 at 8:44 am (Edit)
    Superb in every way Nat …. and Ohh the Karima vocals make me swoon … Thank you ladies xxxx

    Like

  31. Thank you Sheppers!! Always nice to think I can cause a swoon or two in you *smiles..Speaking for Nat too, you are very welcome! (handsome friend down under the world:):) hugs

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  32. LunaelindaBranwen says:

    It really is astonishing how this went from your wonderful poem, to this amazing machinima collaboration, with Natascha and all. I just watched it again, remembering the process, as I got to see it unfold, and how that was not so many days ago. You are a marvel, and this is a tribute worth sharing with all scripters for sure, Kari.
    I am more in awe than ever of how the grid works and the “movers” make things move on those grids. And, also in awe of you and the words as you weave them together with music and photo and film. Natascha Randt, is a genius, as you say, Kari, and you, my friend are a poetic virtuoso.

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  33. Aww.. smiling big Luna, thank you for this beautiful comment, and your opinion on our film. I too find it amazing, how quickly this all came together, but we have an expression in Spanish which basically says, “Things meant to be, come fast and strong” This little movie is an example of that expression Thank you too for passing it on to your scripter friends, as really that is who we made it for, but yes, too for everyone, to help rediscover(as you say) the awe in the framework that allows us to live our Second Lives. Peace and much appreciated your thoughts Luna:)

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