MachinimUWA : The UWA Machinima Challenge

To round out the creative SL media competitions at UWA we now introduce a Machinima Competition: MachinimUWA. This one is not as open ended as the Imagine Challenge but still leaves a lot of scope for creative input.

WHEN:
Submissions are open 18th December 2009 - 31st January 2010
Shortlisted entries will be displayed on the University of Western Australia (UWA) Second Life Blog.

Winners will be announced during a ceremony in February

WHERE:
In front of Winthrop Tower on University of WA (Main Sim of the UWA presence) & starting point of all Machinima

THEME:
Architecture, Teaching, Research & Arts on the UWA sims

THE CHALLENGE:
Create a Machinima up to 5 minutes in length that captures the four main elements that make up the heart of the University of Western Australia in SL. These elements are the RL architecture, the teaching, the research and Arts. The purpose would be to show that UWA's presence in SL is comprehensive and covering all these areas, creating true bridges between SL & RL for prospective students, current students, staff, alumni & the community (this is a snapshot of the challenge - more details below). Note that there are 3 Sims making up the UWA presence, namely UWA, University of WA & WASP Land, and this challenge covers all 3. The 5 minutes limit is not a true limit, rather a suggestion.

METHOD OF ENTRY:
*Load the Machinima anywhere, and provide the link to both Jayjay Zifanwe & White Lebed (co-hosts of MachinimUWA)

CLOSING DATE:
Midnight 31st January 2010 (winners annouced in Mid-Feb 2010)

OVERVIEW OF UWA (RL)

The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a leading Australian research university and has an international reputation for excellence, innovation and enterprise. A member of the Australian 'Group of Eight' universities, it is also among Australia's leading research universities. Sitting on the banks of the Swan River, the UWA Crawley campus is the oldest in Western Australia and among the most picturesque in the nation with its grand sandstone and terracotta buildings sitting among elegant heritage-listed gardens.

MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE
The following are Key areas key areas that should be incorporated in the Machinima.
The Machinima should start with a view of the Winthrop Clock Tower & the Reflecting Pond which is an iconic image of the University of Western Australia. Graduation ceremonies are carried out here, and it is named after UWA's founder, Sir John Winthrop Hackett.

Start Point of Machinima
Winthrop Tower & Reflecting Pond (RL & SL location)
The rest of the following areas can be used (or not) as you see fit, and in any order you choose.

UWA Sunken Gardens
(RL & SL location)
This is a place of great significance to the staff and alumni of the University. Many, many people get married in this location in RL every week, and it is a place of nostalgia, and quite a few people who got married in RL at the Sunken Gardens, have been here looking at the SL version of the place where they exchanged vows.

UWA Sky Theatre
(SL only location)
This is a theatre we have created for use by Professor Wade Halvorson of the School of Business and Professor Mark Pegrum of the Graduate School of Education. Profesor Halvorson ran an entire 2nd year Bachelor of Commerce Unit using this as his primary location. It was run for the first time ever this semeter, in a unit called Electronic Communications Strategy.

UWA Square Kilometer Array - SKA (to be created in RL)
Now, these are replicas of telescopes that will be built in the Australian Outback, at a place called Boolardy station (satellite image). 40 of them will be built for a smaller project caller ASKAP, or the Australian Square Kilometyer Array Pathfinder. Currently the final telescope
design is presented in SL and the unique characteristic of these dishes is illustrated, namely the three rotational axes where most telescope dishes only have two degrees of movement. Australia is in competition with South Africa to secure the rights to the Main SKA, which will comprise 4000 radio telescope dishes. This will be the biggest land based science project in the history of mankind.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/WASP%20Land/136/53/24
Visualisation Research is being run by Tranguloid Trefoil (RL - Paul Bourke). A critical component of this is the automatic representation of data in SL, rather than manually modelling. There are a number of examples of this on the parcel, such as the volume rendering of a human cortex. Among other things, Paul has an interest in fractals and how they may be used to describe and model real world objects. There are a number of fractal objects on the WASP land, one is the famous Menger sponge. For more information.

UWA 3D Art & Design Challenge
UWA runs an extremely successful 3D art & architecture challenge, with some of the greatest artists and architects of SL displaying their works in the challenge. This has been one of the most important components of UWA's SL offering, and has been listed as an SL Destination for Arts(you will need to be logged into the SL website to visit this link).

PEACOCKS, DUCKS, GALAHS, RAINBOW LORIKEETS, PARROTS AND OTHER FAUNA
These are a significant part of the RL campus, and are represented on the SL campus. They are found mainly on the Uni of WA Sim.

THE WONDERS ON THE GROUND OF THE UWA SIM
Wonderful art by quadrapop Lane, Soror Nishi & Glyph Graves (seek out 'Strangers also Dance'). This is here to give the UWA presence a mixture of the RL aspects of Second life, as evidenced by the recreation of the RL buildings as well as the truly out of this world aspects of SL, as evidenced by what is found here.


OTHER AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Physics Building and Hackett Hall and also the building housing Astronomy, HR & Facilities Management.

PRIZES
A 1st and a 2nd Prize will be awarded for this, as well as 3 Honourable Mention Prizes. These prizes come courtesy of the University of Western Australia, The Casey Family of Western Australia, VR Shed Pty Ltd (Dr Chris Thorne) and other benefactors.

1st Prize
$60,000L + an RL UWA T-Shirt & goodies

2nd Prize
$15,000L + an RL UWA T-Shirt & goodies

3 Honourable Mention Prizes ($5,000L each + an RL UWA T-Shirt & goodies)

JUDGING PANEL
1. Professor Alan Robson (RL) - Vice-Chancellor, The University of Western Australia
2. Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
3. A/Professor Wade Halvorson (RL) - Lecturing in Marketing, Business and Electronic Commerce, The University of Western Australia
4. Colin Campbell Fraser (RL) - Principal Adviser (External Relations and Advocacy),
Vice-Chancellery, The University of Western Australia
5. Kelly Smith (RL) - Director, International Centre, The University of Western Australia
6. Jon Stubbs (RL) - Director, Student Services, The University of Western Australia
7. Susana Willis-Johnson (RL) - Marketing Manager, The University of Western Australia
8. Dr Carmen Fies (RL) - Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at San Antonio
9. Torley Linden (SL) - Linden Labs
10. White Lebed (SL) - Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Curator
11. Raphaella Nightfire (SL) - CEO SW&MB Fashion Productions, CEO Evane Model Agency, Snr Writer Best of SL Magazine
12. Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Owner of The University of Western Australia (SL), Creator & co-host of the UWA 3D Art& Design Challenge