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Living Machinima: Nano Ensemble 21

machinima
Test Composite with Comic Book Makeup and Machinima

Living Machinima: Nano Ensemble 21

So those that have been keeping up with my crazy projects have noticed that I am really into animation and machinima (an animation style based on video games). What you might have not known about me is that I also studied film and video, and spent a summer doing special Fx makeup for really terrible movies, ok, one wasn't terrible, but the rest....well, just lots of zombies on set...lots.

comic book makeup
First time trying comic book makeup.
For an upcoming festival I decided that I wanted to create a virtual ensemble using the usual machinima software Moviestorm, but this time I wanted to actually be a living, breathing part of the concert. How to do this? Well, I used the grant that I received to purchase a full Green Screen and lighting kit. Yes, right now my entire dining room is taken up with a massive green screen, a lights, umbrellas, and recording equipment. (Yes, I work in the dining room, largely due to out-of-date electrical in the rest of the apartment...but that's another story). 

Now all I have to do is record myself on greenscreen and then edit myself into the animated footage. However, because the characters are so clearly animated and I am so clearly flesh and blood, I decided that I would take this one step further and actually paint myself up like a comic book character. After watching a few makeup tutorials online for comic book makeup ideas, I ended up with this look. I even had to add baby powder to my hair since my naturally dark hair (ok, natural except for the ombre ends) didn't work out well on camera. 

So where am I going with this? Well I spent this afternoon taping myself against the greenscreen and singing the work Baby Blues, which I wrote for the Unravelling Music series at Easy Ear Training.com. It's a bluesy, easygoing piece that I sang (and the first time I've sung solo blues on an album). I have a virtual ensemble ready to go, and just need to put all the footage together for the concert. Pretty exciting stuff. You can watch a test clip below from the concert Urban Night: Sounds, featuring Nano Ensemble 21. 

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Composer Sabrina Peña Young is an electroacoustic computer fond of lasagna and creating whacked out sci-fi videos. You can watch her groundbreaking and incredibly EPIC opera Libertaria: The Virtual Opera online! Young's music has been featured throughout the world, including the Beijing Conservatory, the NY International Independent Film Festival, Art Basil Miami, and Miramax's Project Greenlight. Young recently finished a video-game inspired work called Destiny: Eondwyr for Malletkat and Multimedia, and is currently working on a virtual ballet and machinima concert. 
eye makeup
Big Eyes





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