Women’s Digital Cinema Talks to Natascha Randt

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Karima Hoisan

Glasz Decuirs is featuring various women machinima-makers in her video series. She asks a few questions, in order to discuss each ones’ individual process, and discover their approaches, techniques, examples and anecdotes. It’s fascinating and I want to reblog the one she made for my film partner, Natascha. Congratulations Nat! You deserve this recognition and honor. Nat speaks in German, but the English translations are well done and easy to read. Enjoy!! https://aetherisavidi.wordpress.com/2017/02/14/womens-digital-cinema-teil-2/

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“The Changes Changes” A Randt & Hoisan Production

Posted on February 11, 2017 by Karima Hoisan

This is our 20th collaboration!! It’s something we want to celebrate with all of you too!
(Clinks her glass against Natascha’s..Here’s to many more, my creative partner!!)

Only 5  years after we started thinking about  doing “The Changes Changes”  and 8 months spent in production (only;) we can finally say it’s finished and  send it out to the world today:) As I said to Natascha a few times during this process, “What were we thinking?  This poem was a very complicated,  and visually very hard, to turn into a film..We had to make sure we had the same vision, to even attempt it, and  as luck and  more than luck would have it,we did have the same vision.. for almost every scene. I guess that is why this one is #20!!. We have and are still garnering experience as collaborators and have many videos behind us now, to draw from. What we didn’t have was a life size lottery wheel, lottery balls that could spin or dice dropping from the sky, or a big city set, moving traffic etc etc. We also had very few prims to work with, so when Mainland got their extra prims first, we asked our favorite scripter and part of  our repertory cast, Dale Innis, if he would like to lend us a few… he said, “Sure!” So we started building a Casino set high above his land on Hughes Rise and actually invented the first working lottery ball spinner..(after almost crashing the whole sim with a super uncontrolled spin that sent physical balls raining down over his lands below. (giggle) Nat built a great Casino building, while I worked on the intricacies of trying to spin balls around (on roulette wheels and in big lottery ball machine) Just right after we filmed there, LL announced that Private Regions were getting their bonus prims, and we decided to migrate the Casino and its interior to our home island, LINC Island, this time we were 3500 prims richer.. and in just a few months we upped the prim count again so, we decided to build a permanent working city above our public sim below and  share it with anyone who enjoys photography or making machinima. Nat has poured her heart out on this set..It came alive right before our eyes and with the help of Dale’s moving traffic, sounds, and city sights, this is not just a set, it’s a place to visit, explore and enjoy. LINC City above LINC Island can be reached Here: Ground Level Landing Point and choose, “Linc City” as your TP option. So here it is, our healthy baby (almost took the full 9 months:) and we present it to you happily..The proud parents of their 20th!!! bouncing baby machinima ..made by us without interest in contests or  festivals, rewards or awards..We do this because we love to and we hope you love it too:) To all our wonderful friends, our cast,and all who have showed interest in our other productions, this one is for you!! We hope you will be entertained, and feel the beat and the message..,because, “Hey, the changes changes everything..” Full screen, HD and Turn up the soundtrack!! Dancing is encouraged:) Likes and comments here or  on YouTube, as always, are very welcome.
Thanks to Dale Innis, we have a few pictures of our little screening for cast and crew.

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The Changes Changes everything…

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A small welcome in voice

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3-2-1 Roll it!

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Screening for the Cast at LINC City Cinema

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“Hugs Nat! Here’s to # 21!”

Here is the poem, if anyone did not understand all the words or wants to translate it:
“The Changes Changes”
The changes changes, jingling change in my back pocket,
so shuffle the cards.
Sometimes it seems I was a co-star in this movie before,
when I had my suitcase, and a big bruised ego blocking the door
and each day was a lottery that I didn’t play,
and each minute they never called out my number.
If I had a two, they called out three, and it went on that way.
To state the obvious, I sometimes stand on red and sometimes black
and the little ball goes round,  goes round,
and everyone says I’m playing it fine
but I see it stopping… I just see it ending… my bad.
Am I the only one who sees it stopping?..who sees it ending?
Then one and one makes three, and the game is over and I call a cab.

I think the changes changes the billboards and the play,
and along the vacant highway walls, workmen glue a new one up
before they take the other one away.
It begins to look like a collage of some pasted posters present- past,
and the artist wasn’t that good anyway.
Then the shuffle’s in and I’m on the bottom again.
And the Director leaves and no one gives me my lines.
So this show is doomed to play out of town, sporadic, every off -Tuesdays,
and I lost top billing a few weeks back,
and could be out of work and in the streets tomorrow
crouching on the sidewalk gambling with my time.
Because the changes changes everything… I guess it’s all my fault… my bad.
Then one plus one makes three that’s how it adds,
and the game is over and I call a cab.

 The changes changes how I see it all,
and what we think is relative, depends upon the flipping of a coin.
Contrary to what we were led to believe, humanity inside a burlap sack?
It makes the sack worth less and I agree,
because  that’s an old wise Spanish saying,
but I will take it home with me… every time.
I will nurture scorpions and snakes until my nose is bleeding and my tongue goes numb.
“I’m a fool for love,” I shout it out, while I ride the karma wheel and the little ball goes round, goes round and I think it’s stopping,
but everyone says I’m playing it fine.
Then the changes changes my attitude,  
so that it’s hard for me to clearly see.
I don’t see the point.
I don’t see the joke.
I don’t see much hope.
And I don’t see that spirit running around that everyone says
 they all see, the one that’s very much a part of me.
Then one day,
when I am looking the other way, at dismal sepia-toned memories,
all of a sudden the changes changes everything.
I’m standing on black and and they call out “Black!”
Without buying a lottery ticket, I win. I win anyway.
I inherit a hope chest and it’s filled with hope.
Seems to be my good luck nowadays… so long…goodbye, my bad.
Then one plus one makes two, and I smile your way,
while you open the door for me, in the pouring rain,  
and the driver says “Where to? and we share a cab.
The changes changes everything… It changes everything

Karima Hoisan
May 16, 2012
LINC Island SL

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Krewe des Zombies Mardi Gras Party!

Posted on January 27, 2017 by Karima Hoisan
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Fabulous Party Poster by Natascha Randt

Come one …come all! It’s that time of the year again
in virtual 1920’s New Orleans!!
We have a great  Live Music line-up for everyone,
a week from today:
When: Friday, February 3, 2017
What Time: 6pm-8pm
Who’s playing:  Mamaa Saiz and Hogman ( back by popular demand)
6pm slt: Mamaa Saiz
7pm slt Hogman
Where: (Where else??) Kari’s Bar and Dance, New Toulouse, Second Life
Wear your Mardi Gras finest and Join us .
Take this link to get to the front door
Don’t you dare miss this one!!

 

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The Deep Way

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Karima Hoisan
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A composite of two images: “The Well” by J. Capela and “Chalice Well” by Arwen Grace. Deviant Art.com

The Deep Way
For U.

Down Down Down…not sure I know which way is up…
everything that gives me joy can stab me in the back,
if my eyes don’t stay open..then the fear creeps and crawls inside.
Always expecting the other shoe to drop…
Always imagining your first hello with someone new…
and then the rapid downhill slide to, “ Sorry but I think we’re through.”

When you share your vital organs with the one you love,
It isn’t just a metaphysical fling,
 the truth is, how painful to tear and separate,  after years
of growing it all together…
Voices in the ears, disbelief and tears …
Call 911! I am hemorrhaging.

Yet, we chose our path: danger and risk at every lap,
and here we are today.. still loving in our own way.
If I had to do it over again..I would not  change a heartbeat
Deep is how we played it, with all our risks, so bittersweet.
Love has metastasized in the well of our years…
So be it…when you go down down down until each one disappears.

Karima Hoisan
November 24th 2004
Karak, Jordan

 

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The Happy Ball

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Karima Hoisan

Does anyone remember the bag randomly flying, soaring and dancing in a very touching scene of the movie, “American Beauty”?
Well, I was luckily a witness to something in that category, of things just reacting spontaneously to Nature’s forces: Air, Water, Fire…etc. In this case, it was water that somehow “trapped” a ball in my pool and tickled it into a spontaneous, hypnotic and graceful dance. I knew immediately I was witnessing something so randomly wonderful, that I grabbed my iPhone and took a few shots. It is a simple movie, the ball is the star, and the only “special effects” added was  using some slow motion and near the end a few seconds of reverse…outside of that, how it looks is how it looked…and it did not go on for a few minutes..it went on for over an hour!
I hope my happy ball will relax, hypnotize and make you smile.. I found some great, creative commons music on Jamendo to go with it..and now it’s on YouTube. A new star is born…an inanimate one…such a happy ball who came as a sign to wish us a very Happy New Years..balanced, graceful and full of the good kind of kinetic energy.
A special thanks to Nat who hid the narrow iPhone look by adding two more:) Thanks Nat for that!
ENJOY!

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The Random Generosity Drop

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Karima Hoisan

In harmony with my latest poem, I am reblogging a post I did a little over 3 years ago. Tis the season to be generous:)

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A friend dropped off his gift today 12-12-2016)

Adding another one from a friend who sent his today:)

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East Coast 12-14-2016 Merry Christmas!

Karima Hoisan's avatarDigital Rabbit Hole

Sometimes ideas are born without even thinking about them. This one was, and I want to share it, because I think it might have an easy universal appeal. It’s a win-win-win kind of thing. Everyone wins, and directly two will know why, and one, will just see it as some good luck.
Sooo….you have someone who is having a birthday, or a special holiday, or a commemoration, and you want to acknowledge that. Gifts that run in the $5-$10 range would be considered pretty cheap, and perhaps not worth giving. You might have to go out and shop for something a lot more expensive, and they might already have two of them, or not really like it or have one put away in the closet. I can assure you this gift idea would not have that problem, and it costs only between $5-$10. It’s all up to you.
Here are…

View original post 469 more words

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This Winter’s Coming Colder

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Karima Hoisan
Snowstorm by Kushner Vladimir.jpg

Snowstorm by Kushnerov Vladimir-Moscow Russia

See what happens when we look away,
and the magician pulls out a nightmare from his hat?
How.. or why did he do it.. and why weren’t we aware of that?
Did you feel a sway in your reality on election day…
or when you were laid off with no severance pay?
Now we are in the times where things not possible can be,
where truth is less important than effect
and alone in the back seat sits, compassion tolerance and equality.
We wish we were raised in the woods by wolves, and had not studied  our history…
because when we add it up, it looks like a grim winter is upon us.
Store the wheat for it might be a siege and store some grains of sanity.
Talk to everyone you really care for, let them know it. Flutter handfuls of compassion like the first snow flakes and help everyone you love; find new ways to show it.
Love your friends, the strangers struggling in the streets, your distant family
and don’t stop there!
Repay the envy of your enemies with a smile.
Because, as the prophet said, even a smile is an act of charity.
Be generous of your time,  your human warmth, your equanimity…
Don’t be afraid to open wide your heart, along with your front door.
I can hear it in the whistling trees;
this winter’s coming colder than the year before.

Karima Hoisan
December 2, 2016
Costa Rica

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Catharsis and Serendipity

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Karima Hoisan

Do I believe in magic? Well of course I do. I have seen the proof of its existence so many times, I would be a fool to deny it. Magic is perhaps most easily seen in the creative world, the process that all musicians, writers, sculptors, poets, scripters, filmmakers, know intuitively and personally. It is woven into the very fabric of their creations. It has to do with surrender, trust, and releasing the brakes, while giving up control at the very same time. As I suggested in my last post, about Nat’s and my latest machinima, “Unmindful” there was a true air of serendipity and magic in the way that everything fell together perfectly, starting with the building of the world, to the last frame of the movie. Part of that process was finding the right music, and as all of you know who know me well, the music is of utmost importance to me to be able to write and to accompany my poetry when I perform. The music has to be just “right” before I can make a soundtrack for one of our films, and Akoviani’s track, “Aerial”, from his album Hypnotica was the perfect and only fit for “Unmindful.” Sharing talents and collaborating with people around the world is such a gift and one I hold dearly and what has happened since proves to me that magic is alive and well.Now, a little over 10 days later from posting our film, I found myself being asked to be a part of the composer’s brand new album which will soon be released. He also was looking for, the right voice in his case, and this time, the right voice was mine…smiles. His music was the right music for my project and as it turned out, my voice was the right one for his.. MAGIC! I proudly present a short 60 second teaser, with very good production values, to announce Akoviani’s new album,” Catharsis,” which will be released soon. I can hardly wait to hear it all, and I suggest that you stay-tuned and I will let you know when it is released. In the meantime, listen to the beautiful tracks from his album “Hypnotica,” found here : Hypnotica to get a feel of his mind, and great talent. He says this about himself: “We are all vibrations, energy and nature. We are in a balance of feelings and passions, somewhere in between the mind and the spirit.”Am sharing a video just posted using our Akoviani’s soundtrack and my voice with Sufi imagery. It’s beautiful. Enjoy!

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“Unmindful” The Movie by Natascha Randt & Karima Hoisan

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Karima Hoisan

On July 16th, I posted here in my blog, about a new world that Dale Innis and I were beginning to build on Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand, called, “Unmindful” See post:
As I said in the post, it was an experiment, to prove or disprove something I had come to believe: “You don’t need an idea to create…ideas come…all you need to do is start.”
So we started off  with no ideas about what the world would be, just making sort of odd stone structures, with off-sim wind turbines, and a parade of wild animals standing on rugs moving in a figure-eight. That was our first part of the build, but then unmindful to how the focus even began changing, we shifted in a very different direction. I had the concept, but I promise you, if it weren’t for Dale, we would never have pulled this off. (Have you heard me say that before?) Just know, that no animation was involved in this film, What you see, is how it is on the world, and the  innovative movement was made possible, by Dale,a very creative scripter and my building partner. A week ago, I was feeling a little down, as it had been almost six weeks, since I had written a poem. I knew I wanted to write something for this world, as the changes had all of a sudden become a giant metaphor, and this happened while neither of us was even aware. Hard to get more unmindful than that:)
So we found ourselves in this new stage of the world, a rolling metaphor and I expressed to Dale, that I hoped I might write a poem to it, as it was nearly finished on the building level.

I started writing the poem sometime in the afternoon last Sunday and by Monday morning about 6:00 am, I had not only finished the poem, but found the most perfect music, the only music for it, had made a recording and also a primitive but full 6 minute video!
My muse had not made me stay up all night for a long time, but I am smart enough to know, if your muse invites you to do that…just do it. Those creative bursts can be very few and far between. I wrote a note to Nat, and sent her my little simple video (which I am sure was very painful for her to watch..filmed with no shadows etc 🙂 and I said, Nat, I am obsessed. let’s do this right.”

Now a week later, and after many brainstorms, my  back-seat driving the editor:) and trying this and that, re-shooting, re-recording,  I think we have our movie. Our process is very much ours, and we can even laugh at ourselves, but it works! This is the 19th video that we have made together. Four years and 19 videos later, we still have the formula to combine, talents, swallow egos, and just give it our best until we both agree…”That’s it.” It’s Done.” Two perfectionists coming together again, trying to make an entertaining and hopefully thought-provoking machinima.

This time, we had a special gift, in the form of the composer, Akoviani, giving us his permission to use his piece  “Ariel” from his beautiful and haunting album, “Hypnotica”
found on http://www.jamendo.com. Even though this is for our personal use and not a commercial project, it’s very reassuring to be given the rights to use it, and we can proudly share our film with him too.

Last but not least, my deepest thanks to Nat, my film partner. Thank you Nat for putting up with all my “buts” 🙂 I love it but……. This is perfect but….” Lol!  Only you Nat, but in the end, we both agreed;  it is our 19th baby, gestated quickly, born with some labor and extra effort, but hopefully held and loved by our friends and audience alike..
We give you, “Unmindful” A Randt & Hoisan Production. As always HD and full screen is the best viewing. Comments here and on YouTube are always welcome.
https://youtu.be/x2lrzXP_roE
Please read Natascha’s blog post in German here:

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One Tally, One Grief

Posted on July 24, 2016 by Karima Hoisan
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United Nations Country by J Jasso Deviant Art

For Tube

From the first day when we breathe our first breath
to the end when we offer our last  one to death,
in Europe, or Asia,  South America, the Middle East
Humans have hopes, we make prayers, we dream,
we make plans, we want peace,
just a good life, a long one,  with health, hearth and happiness .

None of us want to be surprised by tornadoes, flash floods, or head- ons on the highway,
home burglaries. hate crimes, or positive biopsies.
Today what we all share, whether we know it our not, as  stitches in the fabric of humanity,
is the fear, of being in the wrong place at the random wrong time
therefore becoming the target, of someone’s private or collective insanity.

No human life is worth less  than another..no one more expendable than the other.
When horror attacks with an axe, or a truck or truck bombs, chanting mob rhetoric
inciting riots and rampages, proclaiming , torture, displacement, and cruelty,
no horror or grief is felt less than another, just because they live where the sun goes down first.

No one mourns for a little while, then goes back to their day.
No one shrugs off a loss, or a trauma, not if they were there,
knew or lived in that country or really cared.
49 dead in Orlando, 41 dead in Istanbul,
84 dead in Nice, 80 dead in Kabul
200 dead in Baghdad, in Saudi Arabia 4
9 dead in Munich, mostly the young
70 in Pakistan women and children among…
and the injured in the hundreds and hundreds,
The tally goes on and the reaper keeps reaping
and the news and the media forget them all rather quickly,
and some don’t  make the front pages, not even that fateful day ,
and the ones who fall first, are the ones never sentenced to pay.
All of them, innocent victims week after week, month after month.
All tears taste like salt, and all blood smells of rust,
Cry for them all, offer  prayers and your deeds, may they  return us to sanity…
but…light a candle, lay your flowers down on the ground,
not for just one… but for all of humanity.

Karima Hoisan
July 24th 20016
Costa Rica

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