This is the Machinima that our group filmed inside Second Life. This Machinma was produced in response to Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother. Through this film we wanted to show just how much control the government can have on innocent citizens. We may not realize how much control they have until it directly affects our lives. In Little Brother, Doctorow shows that the main character, Marcus is able to stand up and fight for his rights through technology but what about the people that are illiterate…should technological literacy be mandatory and would it close the participatory gap?
This was my first experience with Second Life and I found it to be quite difficult. I had heard it was similar to the Sims but I found it to be very tedious compared to the Sims. The worst part was we had to find and buy actions and props. It would have been much easier if we were provided with generic actions and some props. Also, it was really difficult to film inside Second Life because we had to film it through the eyes of another Second Life character. I think it would have looked a lot better if we didn’t have the cursor or green speaking bars above our heads. I wish we had more time and better training in Second Life. Given the time constraints, I found it impossible to have a complete perfect project. If I were to do it again, I would film something a little less complex that doesn’t need unique actions and special props.
