THE SEXIEST® Machinima Awards 2013

Sunday sees the third annual THE SEXIEST^® adult machinima award ceremony. I am really looking forward to it! The previous two years have been high-toned fun and enjoyable, without doubt one of the highlights in my Second Life calendar.

Last year I presided as Chair of Judges and therefore could not enter any of my own films into the contest. This year I had intended to enter ‘The Mainline’ but unfortunately it was not finished before the submission deadline. I do however feel well represented because Tutsy’s ‘MetaSex’ has been nominated in three categories.

This year the film categories have been rationalised down to eight and, in my opinion, this is a very good improvement. With the possible exception of ‘Best Newcomer’, the new arrangement allows us to concentrate on those aspects of adult machinima-making which really are important rather than being distracted by appealing but nonetheless peripheral considerations.

 Bert Jedburgh’s ‘Bus Stop’

I  think there is also a valid argument for amalgamating the ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’ categories into a single ‘Best Adult Machinima’. Last year quite of number of the judges sought advice of how to differentiate these two categories. Two judges in particular struggled understanding the difference between the two categories. I guided as best I could but was very mindful that – in the case of a Second Life machinima rather than a Real Life film – the director not only “directs” but also decides the cast, decides the storyline, films, edits, decides credit priorities and so on. It is therefore a difficult division to make. One would naturally expect that the same films/people which are nominated in the ‘Best Film’ category would also be nominated in the ‘Best Director’ category. And, indeed, that is precisely what has happened this year. For the record, last year four of the five nominations per category appeared in both categories; and the winner of ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Film’ were in fact the same film.

Hard Rust’s ‘Seams and Dreams Burlesque’

Logically then it would make sense to amalgamate these categories. However, *emotionally* it does not make sense! By combining these categories I think we would risk reducing the amount of fun, excitement and, yes, let us be honest here, ego-stroking that THE SEXIEST^® awards provide. And the loss of any of those important elements would be a great shame in my opinion. ‘Best Actor’, ‘Best Actress’, ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Film’ have long been considered the traditional “Big Four” in film award ceremonies. There is nothing wrong with THE SEXIEST^® mirroring this tradition.

Thorgal MCGillivary’s ‘So You Wanna Be a Pornstar?’

We do however need to be mindful that, although not necessary a “false dichotomy” as such, the differentiating line between of these two elements of making a single machinima is very thin indeed.

As for those five individuals nominated for ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’ this year, three were also nominated last year:

·         - Bert Jedburgh’s ‘Bus Stop’ is an attractive and atmospheric offering showcasing Bert’s distinctive trademark delicate camera work and visual dexterity.

- Hard Rust’s ‘Seams and Dreams Burlesque’ is a well-constructed 1920’s style burlesque romp with a great storyline which successfully captures the feel, sexual tension, suppression and experimentation of the era. Great musical accompaniment too!

- Thorgal MCGillivary’s ‘So You Wanna Be a Pornstar?’ is a gorgeously filmed tale of sexual ritual initiation, with subtle camera movement and scene transitions. Beautiful actors and actresses.

The other two nominee’s are newcomers to the THE SEXIEST^® awards, although in the case of Tutsy Navarathna at least, the word “newcomer” is probably somewhat misplaced! I don’t intend discussing ‘MetaSex’ in this blog-post as my feelings are well-known enough to not need any further amplification here!

Tutsy Navarathna' 'MetaSex'

The final nominee is Nikki Arlington’s ‘Sketched – Episode 1’. This is a superbly constructed “cartoon comic” style machinima which uses the same (or similar) effects plug-in to that which made the outright winner of the 2012 Machinima Expo ‘The Chapelside Deception’ so popular. However in my opinion, ‘Sketched’ is much more deftly and effectively handled.

There is not a single nominee that would not deserve to walk away with the winner’s gong. The standard is tremendously high.

Click here for the full list of nominees in all eight categories.

The one name that is conspicuous by its absence is of course Serenity Juneberry. Serenity, joint-winner with Arwen Juneberry of both last year’s ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’ awards has this year sacrificed her right to enter the contest and instead chaired the panel of judges alongside Louise Silverweb. I know from experience just how much of a time consuming exercise this role is!

Nikki Arlington’s ‘Sketched – Episode 1’

As I write this, the judge’s names have just been posted on The Pornstars blog. There are some familiar names to me, as well as some less familiar. In all cases, they have devoted time and energy to this often thankless task. It really is not easy.

Emmanuelle Jameson has again taken responsibility for organising the build and decoration of the venue, as well as all the other many sundry things she does! If the previous years’ are anything to go by, it’ll be a great event.

 Although the award ceremony itself is by invite-only, the after-party is open to all.

I can’t wait and would thank organisers and participants alike for this fun, uplifting event!

Good luck to all!