The Two – Chapter Twelve – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

Finally! Chapter Twelve has just been uploaded to YouTube. It’s a longer chapter than the others (almost a full minute more) and it seemed like it took forever to be complete.  I hope I am not boring my readers by being on such a monorail-ride of creativity. I too miss the poetry, and the silly adventures that our virtual worlds present and I love to partake and document, but this series has been relentless, in not allowing me to do anything else but create it, as it yells in my ear, whipping me onwards. I feel this way sometimes, like I want to quit, and do something else, but it, or my muse, or whatever that voice is inside, just won’t let me get away with doing that. There is still one chapter to go. I will finish this series(inshallah) on a perfect baker’s dozen, and I hope you will approve of this episode, the next to the last, that leads up to Chapter Thirteen, the finale of “The Two”. As in all the others, this video was filmed in both Second Life and Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand  It has been quite a personal adventure on many levels, but certainly it has asked of me, to do things I never thought I could do… and I really like that part.
I will refer you to Chapter Eleven  to see my links for the art I used, a very special painting by my RL friend Jan Betts, and links to her website and an article about her. In this chapter everyone and everything sentient, is wearing her painting texture. I just love it and one chapter was not enough to use it either, I needed this one too. For those of you visiting my blog for the first time, this series can be found in order and auto-play on my YouTube playlist “The Two” or here in a Category “The Two” but in blog order, the first chapter on the bottom, and the most recent on top. The music is my original composition on Garage Band and yes, all voices are mine:)
I see the end in sight now, and so I happily present Chapter Twelve hot off the upload ether-highways. Please watch it all the way past the credits, and  play it in full screen, turn up the sound, and just…. Enjoy!

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The Two – Chapter Eleven – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

 Well, here we are on Chapter Eleven and I am so happy to share it with you all. I have a fond place in my heart for this one on several levels, the first being how much a new painting from my real life artist friend, Jan Betts, entitled “Fertilization” has sparked my creativity in the writing and the filming of this episode. Interestingly enough, I have known her almost all my life and have loved and bought her art, but just recently, since I have been in SL these last years, creating poetry and writing on my blog for ten months, have we started to inspire each other, without even trying. You can see her art on her website JanBetts Art and this latest painting with comments on its creation on the link above under its name. You will see this magic image briefly in the video, but know that her texture was also used to “clothe” one of the principal characters. The music that I wrote for this one, I used only one basic loop track and then added the other instruments, flutes, strings, organ and “odd alien beeps” myself. I will say it again, “Garage Band” has changed my life, and made it possible to write the soundtrack for all of these chapters, something I would not have dreamed possible a few months ago. So not to give out any spoilers, I invite you to enjoy this latest, and  just say “Yes, there are a few more to come. This is not the end.” For those of you coming upon my blog and this video series for the first time, I have made a category here called “The Two” where you can find them all, and for easy reference and playing them through in order, I have a playlist list called,   “The Two” on YouTube.
With this Chapter Eleven, there is a little over an hour of viewing time to see the whole story up to this point. As always, it is uploaded in Full Quality, so you can see it well in full-screen. I hope you like the latest episode of “The Two” and any comments are very much appreciated.
Enjoy!!

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The Two – Chapter Ten – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

Presenting Chapter Ten, which I admit, has taken me a bit longer than the others to post. After Chapter Nine where I introduced an important character from “The Colored Dreams,” The Intimate, I felt it important and necessary to make this chapter as sort of a bridge between the two series, as now it is very obvious to those who read the first series, they are intrinsically tied together. I guess we could say, that this is a spin-off story from the other, and in parallel worlds, parallel histories might be going on, especially when it all takes place outside of Time and Space. I want to thank my SL sister once again, Maria Vought, who is owner of the beautiful sim “Natural Wilderness” for looking so good as  young Ismara, and I think she aged quite well too, but especially for taking the time out to shoot these scenes, that without her I could not have filmed. The sort of jerky filming which has become my trademark due to lack of mouse and tools, I tried to compensate with many hours of editing, and good music and narration.  I think all the basic information of the first series is here, condensed in a six-minute film, and I hope for those who didn’t read The Colored Dreams, you still might…:) but if you don’t, this will help some of the previous chapters make more sense,(especially seven and nine)
Filmed once again in both Second Life and Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand. Besides moving art clips from Scott Draves and The Electric Sheep, I used some great fractals by my best buddy MenuBar Memorial in this chapter, who is also doing a wonderful job as head of the Burn2 Art Team..”Yay Team!” More on that, and Burn2 2011 in a near- future post. For those of you who would like to catch up on missed chapters, I made a category for “The Two” first on the bottom, most recent on top.
The YouTube should play well in full-screen, so get your popcorn and your best date, get comfy..and most importantly…Enjoy!

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The Two – Chapter Nine – A Narrated Machinima

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

Ahh Chapter Nine.. First of all, it is hard for me to believe that I am already on Chapter Nine, as the project of “The Two” was started on the 10th of August, just a month ago. This Chapter is something sort of surprising for me too, and I will only hint because I hope you just watch it. For those who have followed my written series,
“The Colored Dreams”,  you will perhaps grasp this chapter on a deeper level, however if you haven’t, I hope that it will be understandable and decipherable. I also want to say that the main character in this one (The Intimate) makes his singing debut, and that what he keeps repeating (in his strong alien accent) are the Spanish words “No quiero irme” “I don’t want to go away, or I don’t want to leave” The video ends a little ways after the credits, so give it a chance to play itself out please. It was filmed entirely on my sim “Heresy of The Intimate” on Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand and on the amazing and ever-changing, DB Bailey’s Locus in Second Life.  Now I will say no more, except to add, this score, the music I wrote (played in Garage Band) has no loops involved. Each track I wrote and played on my keypad-keyboard, and I am proud of it. This is a first time, I attempt not using any pre-recorded measures, and yet, I think the music does capture the soul of the chapter. I hope you all agree… so, put it in full-screen and good volume. I present Chapter Nine of “The Two” and…may you all Enjoy!!
*If any of you have a hard time understanding what the Intimate is saying, please see my comment and “transliteration” of his words

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The Two – Chapter Eight – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

This story appears to be writing itself, on its own time, which to me, the one in charge of producing it, seems to be at break-neck speed. I present to you Chapter Eight, and I will let the video do its own talking and get out of the way, for now and only say, that the story continues on, and this is not the ending, just an ending. There are moments in our lives, when the best plans for attack, are to not engage, but just leave.  I want to give a special thanks to my friend Emperor Nobilis (aka salsaman) who was my “machinimatic” adversary, and who fought well. The original art clips are once again by Scott Draves and The Electric Sheep. There is a category on my home page entitled “The Two” where you can see any of the chapters you might have missed. So, I invite you to view it in full-screen,  good volume and hopefully …Enjoy!


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The Two – Chapter Seven – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

I admit that I have struggled with this one. I blamed it on the fact I wasn’t as fast because I had stopped fasting..but that logic probably wasn’t very scientific. I had a problem with the music. It almost came, and then it wasn’t right. I struggled days on that. I shoot many clips around a rough outline of what the chapter will be, but if I don’t have the music right, I can’t put it all together. It’s just my odd way of doing things, music comes first and if it is hung up…so am I.  Anyway, all of a sudden it fell into place and I breathed a big sigh and upped the latest labor of love to YouTube. I want to give a little extra credit to a few people and sites I have omitted to mention in each Chapter but whose own creativity features in my videos. In this latest, I was given a file by my friend Emperor, of many clips created by Scott Draves and The Electric Sheep
and I used some of the original art designs in the making of my machinima. In the last few chapters, I have used MenuBar’s Contemplation Orb  for the dream-like psychedelic effects which can be found on his fun sim to visit,
WaterMoon Breeze.
Most of the sound effects, if not from my Garage Band are from “The Free Sound Project.”
I hope you enjoy this latest episode, and don’t look too closely at the badly aligned seams on the Kitely Set I had to build in Second Life to shoot The SL Karima there. The logistics were a bit beyond my expertise or capabilities, but as Karima herself says, it “was all done with mirrors and panels.” For those of you who haven’t had a chance to see all the other chapters that come before this one, I have made a new category here on the blog called “The Two” where you can find them all. The YouTube quality is very good, so please see it in full-screen, and hopefully good speakers to hear the music that gave me so much trouble, but in the end, seemed to fit. Enjoy!


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Eid Mubarak!! Happy Eid!

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

I decided to post a small invitation here to my readers who are in Second Life to come and visit me on my home sim and celebrate Eid which is a three-day holiday we observe and look forward to after a month of fasting in Ramadan.
In the spirit of sharing traditions I have done this here in SL for four Eids and give out this small explanation of what we are celebrating
After 30 days of fasting in the month of Ramadan,
we celebrate three days of Eid, which is a festive time, of food, family,  friends and joy.
In Jordan the tradition is to visit neighbors and relatives starting early on the first morning. The guests are welcomed with the small cup of traditional black  coffee with cardamom and a selection of chocolates.
This offering of coffee and chocolates is more symbolic than a full meal. Guests stay for a short  while and then go on to the  next houses.
There is music, even dancing and large lunches served in the mid afternoon.
Please Join me for some Turkish coffee and a chocolate. IM me and I will be happy to welcome you personally🙂
Taxi To My Eid Table
Ahlan wa sahlan (Welcome!)

"Ahlan wa sahlan"

Black Turkish Coffee with Cardamom & Assorted Chocolates

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“The Two” – Chapter Six – A Narrated Machinima Story

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

Well I guess I am not in total control of what my muse has in store for me. According to me, I was going to take a small break and just write some poetry and put away my video camera  for a little vacation from making these chapters, but it seems my muse has a stubborn mind of her own, and so I present to you Chapter Six of “The Two”
I am not really complaining, I am enjoying this process so much, and even though I am on a laptop and with no mouse, I still feel I can get the mood she wants across. I keep asking her (my muse) for some better tools, but as yet she is not obliging me in that…but there is hope. Anyway, I have uploaded this one in Full Quality, so crank  up the sound and see it in full-screen. As with all the others, I am a one-woman production team, and am doing the original music scores using Garage Band, loops and playing instruments on my keypad. Once again, this one features the painting of my RL friend Jan Betts, see last Chapter’s link and a bit more about it and the artist here: “The Two” – Chapter Five
For those who are interested in seeing the whole series (there are 6 episodes now) please see my category “The Two” for a list of them all. So here is what my muse had me doing for the last few days, and I hope you will all be entertained and Enjoy!


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“The Two” – Chapter Five

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

Once again happy to present the latest Chapter in my on-going machinima series entitled “The Two” I think this episode is quite different from the last, or the first ones for that matter. As the story progresses, the moods change, sometimes abruptly, and all changes with them; styles, music, and scenes.
I would like to point out two details of this latest offering: One is that this is the first time I have used another avatar with me, as I have been sort of a hand- held camera film crew of one (mostly by necessity). My SL sister Maria Vought makes her “acting debut” in this chapter, and the beautiful grounds that we ride over, and lounge upon, are all part of her very special and romantically peaceful sim,  “Natural Wilderness”  It is beautiful, and very popular, but you can always find secluded quiet spots to enjoy with a date or a friend.
The other feature is that I use the image of an RL artist, Jan Betts, who is my dear RL friend,  lives in my town in Costa Rica, and gave me permisison to use it, both for this movie and in my gallery in SL. The painting is entitled “Alien Chrysalis” and you can read more about it on Jan’s blog “The process of creating a painting” and  explore her beautiful gallery too at  JanBettsArt   Interestingly, the idea for this painting, was energized even more by Jan’s very deep relating to my stories “The Colored Dreams” She has been into “orbs” most of her life, but I think reading my series made her even “more passionate” about them. Anyway, I am very pleased to use it in the video, and I thank her for allowing me to. As are all the others, this machinima is filmed in both Second Life and Kitely – Virtual Worlds on Demand
For those of you who may not have seen the previous ones, as it is a series, I recommend  seeing them from the beginning, so they make a bit more sense. You can find them all in ascending order, the first on the bottom under the category “The Two.”  The YouTube is in high quality, so you can view it in full-screen if you like and hopefully…..Enjoy!
I am going to take a little breather after this one, and just wander around, and write some poetry for awhile, but this series continues until….The End.



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“The Two” – Chapter Four

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Karima Hoisan

I’m pleased to present Chapter Four in my serial- machinima- narrated story, “The Two” If you are coming upon this post or my blog for the first time, or just haven’t yet seen these, I have a new category to the right entitled “The Two” where you can easily find the urls for all of them in ascending order. This is sort of a video experiment for me in many ways. I am trying new things..everything is new..some might work better than others, but I do take it seriously, and try to present well-edited and thought out episodes. What I lack in tools and technology, I hope to make up by offering a different sort of machinima experience, a much more story telling approach, perhaps more verbal and musical and perhaps more abstract than most. This YouTube is in high quality, so feel free to put it in full-screen, turn up the volume and watch “The Two” – Chapter Four. Enjoy!

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