Not long ago, I saw the trailer for Indiaena Jones: Legend of the Second Empire, a parallel-universe tribute to Indiana Jones by 5959 Mopp & friends, and enjoyed it immensely. More recently, kenny Humby notified me that the full movie was up: at 17-something minutes, it’s not a light watch, but my wife and I think it’s great fun. This is the first part and you can also watch part 2.
Sure, the dialog may be incomprehensible (English robot voices including singing @ 4:02 feel out-of-place with the Japanese subtitles and the occasional cat meow) and the plot is equally nonsensical, but here’s what it’s got going:
- “Indiaena Jones” is a woman and her sidekick is… a spunky neko with whiskers, a bouncy walk, and giant boots! It’s got a flavor like Italian Spiderman. (Too bad, no romantic interest… unless Indiaena and her catgirl are involved.)
- Filmed at a variety of beautiful SL locations. I’ve seen numerous boring “This is SL” videos that claim to be a lot, but don’t capture the attention. This, on the other hand, romps through a bounty of gorgeous destinations with beautiful cinematography which mimics the original Indiana Jones movies, including the Paramount fade-in.
- Masterful usage of the camera. Many machinima productions are weak when it comes to using the camera as an actor in its own right. Here, you’ll find both careful close-up shots and wide-angle spectacles. The end result looks like a combo of SL’s own Flycam + panning in an NLE editor, and some shots are a bit raw but I like that cinéma vérité.
While you’re feeling adventurous, you may also want to check out this Indiana Jones tribute avatar by TheyCallMeDick Cheney. While not named as such due to legal complications, the homage is wonderfully-crafted — it has sculptie quality I wasn’t expecting and the picture doesn’t do it justice when you’re wearing it in the wild.
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Can you throw up a spoiler warning on this? I'm told that this gives away some of the key plots of the *actual* movie, which I haven't seen yet.
This video is craptacular.
Wow, I was impresed… I so want to learn to make SL movies… I am reading Eric Lindens tips and downloading everything I can… thanks for great blog Torley… my Mimzy character is being replaced and I will re-join with my new avatar… Kohana Schimmer… thanks again for all you do! TORLEY IS TERRIFIC!!!
@moo: Please clarify? I didn't mention plot details and I linked to the movie before my thoughts on it.
@Razrcut: I hope that's another way to say "Sweded"!
@Mimzy: I encourage you to get started, it's really fun! AND YOU'RE SO WELCOME! All the best in your new Second Life.