Eric Boccara & Tutsy Navarathna, Grand Prize Winners for MachinimUWA III!

Peter Greenaway Speaks @ Grand Finale (photo by PJ Trenton)

In a nail biting finish to MachinimUWA III: Journeys, it came down to the final judges scorecard sent in 20 minutes before the midnight deadline causing a tie between the double epics of  Eric Boccara's 'Juroney', and Tutsy Navarathna's 'Journey Into the Metaverse' each winning L$85,000 and a special package including the book released this year for the centenary of the University of Western Australia, 'The 100 Treasures of UWA'. Bryn Oh's 'Rusted Gears' took the much coveted Peter Greenaway Prize (L$60,000), while Alfonso Kohn's 'Unplugged', an avatars journey to reconnect with her 'creator' took 3rd prize. 

A small section of the audience (photo by Andy Graycloud) 

The Phoenix Embers Showcats Kicked off the Grand Finale (photo by PJ Trenton)

Results and reactions are summarized next, with the full text of the announcements on the day provided below:

GRAND PRIZE WINNER of  MachinimUWA III (JOINT) (@L$85,000):
JOURNEY INTO THE METAVERSE by Tutsy Navarathna
JURONEY by Eric Boccara of the Netherlands

Tutsy Navarathna (photo by PJ Trenton)

"Wow, what an honor and a pleasure to have my work selected from this group of astoundingly impressive submissions!  Many thanks to the University of Western Australia for its pioneering support of 3D artists and budding "machinimatographers," as together we give birth to this new and exciting art form. Word will spread and the rest of the world will become aware of us soon, no doubt! I would like to specially thank the now-famous Jayjay Zifanwe. Without his vision and enthusiasm, none of this would be possible. And of course, my profound gratitude to all of the 3D artists and builders of Second Life, for their generosity in giving me access to their work, rather than insulating themselves with copyright concerns. I am moved by this display of artistic solidarity and freedom of expression. Special thanks to Blotto Epsilon, for the Spencer Museum of Art, and to SuzeLaRousse Milo, for Risk City." Tutsy Navarathna

Eric Boccara (photo by Jayjay Zifanwe)

"Its an honor to win this award. I honestly did not see it coming, as while my Machinima had flashy graphics detailed animations, and all the good things graphics wise. It didn't have much of a story.
There were Machinimas out in this contest with such a deep story, that i actually wondered if i would stand a chance against it. But to my suprise i won, alongside with the talented tutsy. And guess what. I'l be back for UWA4!" Eric Boccara

Peter Greenaway MachinimUWA III Prize (L$60,000)
RUSTED GEARS by Bryn Oh

"I am honoured to have won this award from Mr. Peter Greenaway.  It is remarkable that a man of his stature would come forward to support the machinima arts. His presence and willingness to engage in dialogue is greatly appreciated.  It helps to illustrate that the critics of this new frontier in art are merely short sighted, as we know most critics are at the beginning of anything which challenges their dominance of understanding.  We are currently in the Salon des Refusés and may we always remain there." Bryn Oh

3rd prize for MachinimUWA III (L$50,000)
UNPLUGGED by Al Peretz (Alfonso Kohn) of Miami Florida, originally hailing from Colombia

"I found an interesting competition. Once again thank those who participated in this film and everyone who saw my movie. This is another step we take to keep learning and improving. In future we hope to present a better job. Congratulations to the winners" Alfonso Kohn

MachinimUWA III Special Award for JOURNEY AND MACHINIMA ADAPTATION (L$37,150):
THE EGG by Animatechnica Umbarundu

"I am turly honored to be recognized tihs in wonderful celebration of art" Animatechnica Umbarundu

MachinimUWA III Special Award for ‘FEEL’ & MUSIC (L$37,150) :
BAKERMAN’S JOURNEY by Arrow Inglewood


"I would like to thank the UWA and Jay Z for their incredible and  generous support, encouragement  and  promotion of  this new art form.  I would like to extend my admiration and  congratulations to everyone who entered and contributed to the growing lexicon of machinima. I would also like to make a special acknowledgement of the Winthrop Hall Clock tower for providing such timely inspiration." Arrow Inglewood

MachinimUWA III Special Award for IMAGERY (L$37,150):
BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE AND OF SORROW by Laslopantomik Yao

"Special recognition for Cat Carfagno as she was my right hand in making our little piece posible.
Also special recognition for the great deep australian voice of Talesin Llanfair.  I am amazed how could we ever win such a prize (MachinimUWA III Special Award for IMAGERY ). Imagery sounds magic.  I want to thanx everybody on UWA university, judges and everybody that follows this pioneer event. For me the most important is the journey towards being able to do something that is nice to share with all machinima comunity and makes you feel something. I am very very happy for this recognition. More then all, the best is to  be part of this comunity." Laslopantomik Yao

MachinimUWA III Special Award for NARRATION AND HISTORICAL CONTENT  (L$37,150):
KAPHD by Hypatia Pickens

 I'm so very gratified to receive this award for narration and vocal content.  I think I worked hardest on the voice and singing than even the imagery and animation...take after take after take in Sound Booth.  Thank heavens I learned to sing Hildegard's antiphon, and I love her invented words.  It was such a pleasure creating this for the UWA; I felt I took a risk focusing on the 12th century. My heartfelt thanks to all the judges for thinking well of it, and to the UWA for sponsoring this challenge." Hypatia Pickens

MachinimUWA III Special Award for MESSAGE AND IMAGINATION (L$37,150):
ESCAPE by Veruca Vandyke

"I am grateful of the honor that my movie has recieved and thrilled that others have enjoyed it too." Veruca Vandyke

MachinimUWA III Special Award for INTERPRETATION AND DELIVERY (L$37,150):
WARRIORS OF ALIVENESS by Cecil Hirvi

 "UWA III was one of the best, fairest machinima contests ever devised. Leave it to a Physics guy to run a better art film festival."  Cecil Hirvi

MachinimUWA III  Honourable Mention Prize JOINT  (@L$18,575):
REQUIEM by Kobuk Farshore

THE JOURNEY by Soda Lemondrop

"Very inspirational to know your work is being seen and acknowledged and makes you want to try harder and to create more and better art. Loved being a part of the Machinima and really excited to see what I can create for next year." Soda Lemondrop

MachinimUWA III Viewer Participation Prize 1st Prize (L$30,000)
PIA KLAAR

MachinimUWA III  Viewer Participation Prize  2nd Prize (L$20,000)
CISKO VANDEVERRE

MachinimUWA III  Viewer Participation Prize JOINT- 3rd Prize (@L$2,500) 
ZENI RAIN
LALIE SORBET
BAY SWEETWATER
ARROW  INGLEWOOD

Open This End Awards of Excellence in Film (@L$3,000)
BRYN OH (Toronto, Canada) - Rusted Gears
HYPATIA PICKENS (Rochester, New York, USA) - KAPHD
CECIL HIRVI (Citizen of the Universe) - Warriors of Aliveness
ARROW INGLEWOOD (Toronto, Canada) - Bakerman's Journey
ED VESPUCCIANO (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - The Marine Corps Does Not Want Robots

Open This End Awards of Excellence in Directing(@L$3,000)
AL PERETZ [ALFONSO KOHN] (Miami, Florida) - Unplugged
ANIMATECHNICA UMBARUNDU (Northern California, USA) - The Egg
ERIC BOCCARA  (Velp, Netherlands) - Juroney
PIA KLAAR (Brewster, Massachusetts, USA) - The Red Shoes
TUTSY NAVARATHNA (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - Journey into the Metaverse

Open This End Emerging Artist Awards of Excellence (@L$3,000):
ANDY GRAYCLOUD (Moscow, Russia) - I Want to Go Fast
ANRI EMERALD (Riga, Latvia) - The journey of life and death
FUSCHIA NIGHTFIRE (Dorset, UK) - Take the Road Less Travelled
KOBUK FARSHORE (Alaska, USA) - Requiem & Home
LASLOPANTOMIK YAO (Barcelona, Spain) - Beginning of Knowledge and of Sorrow
MIMESIS MONDAY (Oslo, Norway) - Yourney
NICOLEX MOONWALL (New Orleans, USA) - Journey Into
OONA EIREN (London, UK) - Onward & Upward
SILENE CHRISTEN (The Balears Islands, Spain) - Lost Souls' Island
TAUBCHEN SONNENKERN & MERIT COBA (both of Alkmaar, Netherlands) - Object

NEW WORLD NOTES (WAGNER JAMES AU) REPORT ON THE WINNERS

NORDAN BLOG REPORT ON GRAND FINALE

PJ TRENTON'S PHOTO GALLERY OF GRAND FINALE

MACHINIMUWA III REVIEW WITH LAPISCEAN LIBERTY & KINTE TRILL (FULL AUDIO OF DAY 1 & 2

SOROR NISHI BLOG REPORT ON GRAND FINALE

ROWAN DERRYTH (PRIM PERFECT) BLOG ON GRAND FINALE

NICOLEX MOONWALL MACHINIMA OF THE AFTER PARTY

BRACLO EBER'S BLOG

EDITORIAL CLARITY 'LIVE FROM SECOND LIFE' ON JURONEY

BRYN OH BLOG ON WINNERS

For those who are interested, full text of the announcements by Jayjay Zifanwe which took place from 6am slt, Sunday 22nd May as follows:

Greetings everyone, and welcome to the University of Western Australia, or UWA as she is known and also welcome to the Grand Finale of MachinimUWA III: Journeys, the 3rd in the series of UWA Machinima Challenges. As is tradition at UWA, I would like to acknowledge that the University is situated on Nyoongar land and that the Nyoongar people remain the spiritual and cultural custodians of their land and continue to uphold their values, languages, beliefs and knowledge.

Before I do or say anything else, we have a real cracker to kick off the Grand Finale, and I would like to introduce to you Laurina Hawks and The Phoenix Embers Showcats, with the debut performance of a brand new show! Over to you Laurina!

LAURINA HAWKS & The Phoenix Embers Showcats debut performance of 'The Cinema Show' followed.

Today brings to an end the amazing journey of MachinimUWA III which kicked off on the 4th of February 2011. It will see the end of the rein of Laurina Hawks and Bradley Dorchester who are now on the judging panel, and see a new champion take the mantle from the 50 amazing entries that have come in from Spain, the USA, Mexico, India, Canada, Poland, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, South Africa, Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden & The Ukraine. Both Alaska and Antarctica are represented as well!

Its been an absolute pleasure for me to work with some wonderful people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make all of this a success.  Many, many of you helped in inumerable ways, but I do want to take this opportunity to thank LaPiecean Liberty, who is one of the true unsung heroes of second life, and with AviewTV has been instrumental in putting everything together. Thanks also to my co-host, machinimatographer, dancer extraordinnaire, and reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion, Laurina Hawks. Also to Taralyn Gravois for all her work in the lead up to the ceremony, as I am sure she has been speaking to many of you. Thank you to Yesikita Coppola, the UWA Official Machinimatographer, who created the wonderful trailer for MachinimUWA III. Also to Aino Baar and Open This End, co-sponsor, and the craftspersons of quite an amazing surprise, which you will hear of soon. Due to AviewTV, Open This End, Jon Stubbs of UWA, the Cultural Precinct of UWA & the Vice-Chancellery, the Prize pool sits at approximately L$660,000.

But of course, the biggest thank you goes to our Special Guest of Honour, multiple award winning Director and Judge for MachinimUWA III, Peter Greenaway, who not 3 days ago, presented to me the most remarkable series of answers to questions I had asked (and you can find this on the UWA blog). I am honoured to welcome Peter to take the stage.

(Peter Speaks)

Thank you Peter, it was truly a privilege to have you here! At the end of all the announcements, we will be able to hear the amazing voice of Tukso Okey, who has kindly agreed to give one of his much sought after live performances. Someone else I need to acknowledge here are Metaverse TV with Mal Burns and Dousa Dragonash who are covering this event live, and helping to stream voice across the globe. Also thank you for all the amazing exposure you gave to the machinima submitted to the challenge over the past few weeks!

The machinima challenges would not have started if White lebed had not hounded me into starting the very first one, and which was also the most difficult to organize due to the extremely narrow theme, of displaying the Teaching, Research, Art and Architecture at the UWA SIMS. It was a necessary evil.... as because the machinima created by Chantal, Cisko, Bradley, Pyewaket Bellman and others who were part of this broke through the RL barrier at my university. If you will recall, the prize pool for that started with L$10,000 and increased to more than L$220,000 once it was seen by the RL side of UWA. This led to increased funding for machinima, and we had MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists, followed by the current. I can now confirm that MachinimUWA IV, which is an 'Art of the Artists' challenge tied to the UWA 3D Open Art Challenge, opens immediately after this, and runs through approximately October 2011.

I want to thank our judging panel for their sterling work in looking through the incredible array of 50 entries. It was unbelievably hard to seperate things, and the panel was put to a great deal of work and this was an amazing 26 member panel made up of people from all around the world involved in a diverse array of related areas.

Peter Greenaway (RL) - Acclaimed Director
Professor Ted Snell (RL) - Director, Cultural Precinct, The University of Western Australia
Jay  Jay Jegathesan (RL) / Jayjay Zifanwe (SL) - Manager School of Physics/ Lead of UWA Virtual Worlds
Cristina García-Lasuén (RL) / Aino Baar (SL) International Curator, Art Writer, Founder & Owner of Open This End group
Yesikita Coppola (SL) - Official Machinimatographer for UWA 2011
Laurina Hawks (SL) - Joint Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
FreeWee Ling (SL) - Curator, UWA 3D Open Art Challenge
LaPiscean Liberty (SL) - CEO AviewTV and UWA Virtual World Technical Media Advisor
Nazz Lane (SL) - Journalist and Author
Rowan Derryth (SL) - Art & Design Historian; Writer for Prim Perfect Publications
Apollo Manga (SL) - examiner.com Writer & Novelist
Dr. Phylis Johnson (RL) - Media Professor, Southern Illinois University, Author - Machinima: Aesthetics and Practice (a.k.a, Sonicity Fitzroy, SL Virtual Journalist)
Lowell Cremorne (SL), Owner & Editor-In-Chief, The Metaverse Journal
Mal Burns (SL), Metaverse News Aggregator and Broadcaster
Paisley Beebe (SL), CEO of Perfect World Productions TV
Flimsey Freenote - CEO of Metamix TV (Mixed Reality Television)
Rhett Linden (SL) - Linden Labs
Bradley Dorchester (SL) - Joint Reigning UWA MachinimUWA Champion
Dousa Dragonash (SL) - COO Metaverse Television
White Lebed (SL) - Former Lead of Burning Life Art Department, Director of Special Projects @ UWA
Madeline Bates (RL) - Program Manager (Film), Perth International Arts Festival, UWA
Chantal Harvey (SL) - Founder of MaMachinima Group
Jon Stubbs (RL) - Director of Student Services, UWA
Dr Lisa Cluett (RL) - Project Leader - ALTC Viral Leadership Project, UWA
A/Prof Peter Mudie (RL) - Film: Imagist Avant-Garde, School of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts
Thomas Chadwick (RL) - UWA Student Guild Public Affairs Council President

One more acknowledgement. The trophy for the winners of MachinimUWA III is a fabulous nano version of Winthrop Clock Tower, created by the Nano Artist Mkoll Wiles especially for this Challenge. Thank you Mkoll! Laurina Hawks will be giving this trophy to all winners after the ceremony. If you dont receive one in the next few days, do contact her (as SL sometimes plays up).

Before going on, some announcements as to happenings with UWA in Second Life.

First of all, on one of the UWA SIMS, we have been having a full sim art series, where an artist was given a full sim for an entire month to work their magic. The month of May till the 30th features 'The Art of Wizard Gynoid', and as it says on the Linden Showcase, this is a "dazzling display of colorful geometric art inspired by fractals, tensegrity and hyperboloids". Do take time to see it before the end of the month. Save this slurl  http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA%20VIRTLANTIS/132/139/24

Next, the People's Choice Vote for the May round of the L$1,000,000 UWA 3D Open Art Challenge is open right now, and will be open for voting till the 3rd of June. More than 75 amazing artworks in for the May Round, do visit when you can http://slurl.com/secondlife/UWA/63/132/249 Also do note down the date of the winners announcements which will be from 6am slt on Sunday the 5th of June. We are alo receiving artworks as of now for the June Round. We had announced that we were taking the advice we received from a survey sent out to keep the monthly collections together for a longer period, and are thus closing entries on the 20th of each month, meaning the full sets of monthly art collections are together for 2 weeks at least. We're still collecting your ideas and impressions about the UWA Challenges. If you haven't yet had a chance to participate in the survey, please save the following link for a rainy day. It shouldnt take more than 5 minutes, and will help me out a great deal. Go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/UWASecondLife

Also, the 31st of May is the closing date for UWA's RL/SL Photo competition. "A Century of Seasons Photographic Competition" is being held to celebrate the diversity of The University of Western Australia’s campus at Crawley as well as other sites associated with the University. Images that reflect the seasonal, scenic, academic, botanical and/or atmospheric characteristics of these sites are sought. Anyone good with an SL camera, save this link:
http://uwainsl.blogspot.com/2011/05/uwa-rl-and-sl-photographic-competition.html

On to the awards!

Okay, first of all will be a special series of awards by one of the co-sponsors of the challenge, Open This End, led by Aino Baar. This group had a separate RL based sub committee looking at all the machinima, and they saw such an abundance of excellence, that they decided to provide 20 Awards of Excellence of L$3,000 each. This was a pleasant surprise to me, as I had been wondering how even more of the wonderful creators of the Machinima could be recognized.

Firstly we have 5 Open This End Awards of Excellence in Film (@L$3,000), and these go to (in alphabetical order, as opposed to the reverse Klingon Alphabetical order that we listed all the machinima on the UWA blog):
BRYN OH (Toronto, Canada) - Rusted Gears
HYPATIA PICKENS (Rochester, New York, USA) - KAPHD
CECIL HIRVI (Citizen of the Universe) - Warriors of Aliveness
ARROW INGLEWOOD (Toronto, Canada) - Bakerman's Journey
ED VESPUCCIANO (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - The Marine Corps Does Not Want Robots

Next, there are 5 Open This End Awards of Excellence in Directing(@L$3,000), and these go to:
AL PERETZ [ALFONSO KOHN] (Miami, Florida) - Unplugged
ANIMATECHNICA UMBARUNDU (Northern California, USA) - The Egg
ERIC BOCCARA  (Velp, Netherlands) - Juroney
PIA KLAAR (Brewster, Massachusetts, USA) - The Red Shoes
TUTSY NAVARATHNA (Frenchman in Pondicherry, India) - Journey into the Metaverse

And because they are great believers in supporting the development of machinima from the grassroots up, there are 10 Open This End Emerging Artist Awards of Excellence (@L$3,000), and these go to:
ANDY GRAYCLOUD (Moscow, Russia) - I Want to Go Fast
ANRI EMERALD (Riga, Latvia) - The journey of life and death
FUSCHIA NIGHTFIRE (Dorset, UK) - Take the Road Less Travelled
KOBUK FARSHORE (Alaska, USA) - Requiem & Home
LASLOPANTOMIK YAO (Barcelona, Spain) - Beginning of Knowledge and of Sorrow
MIMESIS MONDAY (Oslo, Norway) - Yourney
NICOLEX MOONWALL (New Orleans, USA) - Journey Into
OONA EIREN (London, UK) - Onward & Upward
SILENE CHRISTEN (The Balears Islands, Spain) - Lost Souls' Island
TAUBCHEN SONNENKERN & MERIT COBA (both of Alkmaar, Netherlands) - Object

Next for the Viewer Participation Prize, which has a prize pool of L$60,000, in which anyone in the world who was not on the official judging panel was invited to provide what they thought the top 10 would be as decided by the actual panel. This was no mean task, as the viewer had to watch all 50 machinima and then rank them, and I can tell you.Aside from the Lindens, the winners will receive in the mail a special RL pack that includes a copy of the book, 'The 100 Treasures of UWA' which has just been released to commemorate UWA's Centenary, as UWA are 100 years old this year! The first prize winner will also be invited to be on the official judging panel for MachinimUWA IV.

There was a maximum of 100 points that any viewer could get, and this is if they were spot on with every single selection and matched the exact order as well. For example, if you listed a machinima in 1st place, and it actually won first, you would receive 10 points (there is a difference of ZERO between your selection and the actual). If you listed a Machinima as 1st, and it got 10th, then you would get one point (difference of 9 between your selection and actual). Now the average score achieved by entrants for this was 32, with 62 being the top score, and 11 being the bottom.

Anyway, we had a wonderful response, and a curious outcome for 3rd place. Finishing on exactly 43 points, in the Viewer Participation Prize were ZENI RAIN,  LALIE SORBET, BAY SWEETWATER and ARROW  INGLEWOOD!  All will be sent the RL packs, and the 3rd prize will be split, so each takes home L$2,500.

The 2nd Prize Winner for the Viewer Participation Prize, had 58 points, huge gap between 2nd the group at 3rd. 7 of this persons selections turned out to be in the actual top 10. And so, the winner of the L$20,000 2nd Prize for the Viewer Participation event is:

CISKO VANDEVERRE

Unbelievable.... what has he not done. Cisko won the original Machinima challenge, helped organize the 2nd one and now takes this prize. Maybe he should have been on the panel all along, but then again, I was hoping he would have his aliens create another journey!

And now the winner of the Viewer Participation Prize, on 62 points, just beating out Cisko, and also picking out 7 of the top 10. Another amazing story here. This person ALSO won one of the top 3 prizes for viewer participation in MachinimUWA II: Art of the Artists, of course this time with the viewer prize pool being so much more than it was, the difference in prize money is by a factor of  30! And so the winner of the L$30,000 First prize for the Viewer Participation Event is:

PIA KLAAR

Congrats Pia. Well, Pia will now be invited onto the official panel for MachinimUWA IV, though I am secretly wishing she declines and submits another one of her wonderful machinima for the event instead. Anyway, that will be left to Pia to decide.

Now on to the winners of the competition proper. When the winners are announced, it will be done in 1 minute intervals. We do invite everyone to comment and congratulate the winners and for the winners to respond before the next announcement (and if they could please use the SHOUT function). Hopefully we can get pictures of you attending the event. Anyone taking good pictures of today, please email them to me at jayjayaustralia@hotmail.com

Now to explain  how the judging was done. Each judge listed their top 10 in order of preference. 8 points was allocated for a 1st place vote, 6 points for a 2nd place vote, 4 points for 3rd, 3 for 4th, 2 for 5th, and 1 point each for 6th – 10th. Straight aggregates were then used for the top 3, with the special awards decided by discussion among a smaller subset of  judges taking into consideration the overall rankings. There is of course the Peter Greenaway Prize as well. One thing to note is that for these in particular, a 1 prize only rule was used. Also know that the judging was extremely diverse with even the 1st prize winner featuring in 19 of the 26 top 10 lists. The average number of top 10’s any given work featured in was about 4 to 6.

There are 7 special prizes of L$37,150 each.

First of all,  and you can see the trouble started here, we have the Honourable Mention Prize. However, the judges were hopelessly deadlocked. And so it was, that we had a tie for the Honourable Mention Prize, which becomes L$18,575 each!  And so the Honourable Mention Prize for MachinimUWA III (L$18,575) goes to:
REQUIEM by Kobuk Farshore

this was one of the earliest entries received and truly set the standard for the challenge!

and the Honourable Mention Prize for machinimUWA III (L$18,575), also goes to:
THE JOURNEY by Soda Lemondrop

If only we had a Best Comedy category!

Moving on, the MachinimUWA III Special Award for  JOURNEY AND MACHINIMA ADAPTATION (L$37,150) goes to:
THE EGG by Animatechnica Umbarundu

Very very much a favourite of many, containing one of my favourite phrases ‘The Hindus Were Right’ !

Next, the MachinimUWA III Special Award for ‘FEEL’ & MUSIC (L$37,150) goes to:
BAKERMAN’S JOURNEY by Arrow Inglewood

Its a pity Arrow can’t be here today as he is off somewhere tripping the baguette fantastic!

And now the MachinimUWA III Special Award for IMAGERY (L$37,150) goes to:
BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE AND OF SORROW by Laslopantomik Yao

Wonderful machinima which has its origins in a book written in China several hundred years ago.

Next, the MachinimUWA III Special Award for NARRATION AND HISTORICAL CONTENT  (L$37,150) goes to:
KAPHD by Hypatia Pickens

Amazing atmosphere created in this machinima, and we see Hypatia’s vocal versatility

And now the MachinimUWA III Special Award for MESSAGE AND IMAGINATION:
ESCAPE by Veruca Vandyke
In books we find the soul of the universe. Thank you for reminding us of that.

And to cap it off, the MachinimUWA III Special Award for INTERPRETATION AND DELIVERY goes to:
WARRIORS OF ALIVENESS by Cecil Hirvi 

Thank you for bringing to UWA, the staggering conclusion to the saga of Cecil!

And next, for the staggering conclusion to MachinimUWA III!

The 3rd prize for MachinimUWA III is L$50,000. Now across 26 judges and 50 machinima, only 4 creations received more than two 1st Place votes. The 3rd Prize winner in fact received four 1st Place votes, and featured in the top 10’s of 19 of the 26 judges, with an overall point total of 72. This was a truly ground breaking piece, and I am in awe of its creator! And so, 3rd Prize (L$50,000) for MachinimUWA III: Journeys, goes to:

UNPLUGGED by Al Peretz (Alfonso Kohn) of Miami Florida

Apart from being amazing, this machinima also beautifully demonstrates to the world, how exactly virtual worlds work.

Next we come to 2nd Prize. And I tell you truly 20 minutes prior to the end of the deadline for the judges to provide their feedback, when the final judge had yet to send their submissions in, I had already done all the other calculations, and the name I am going to read out next, is NOT the name that had been inked in prior to me receiving that final judges listing 20 minutes before the end. It was that close. Every single position decision made by the judges, totally counted, and if there was even one deviation from any of them with regards to where this piece was placed, things would have been different. I was left shaking my head, as I am sure some of you will be in a few moments. And so, 2nd Prize for MachinimUWA III, goes to:

NOBODY

Some of you who know me will have already guessed why.

Before we move to 1st Prize, we come to a very special and much coveted award. The L$60,000 Peter Greenaway MachinimUWA III Prize. The winner of the prize, received four 1st place votes and featured in 15 of the 26 top 10 lists. The most amazing thing about this work to me, is how different it is from all of the other works in the top 10. And so, the winner of the Peter Greenaway MachinimUWA III Prize is:

RUSTED GEARS by Bryn Oh

And now for the Grand prize. Unfortunately, we can no longer award L$100,000 to the Grand Prize Winner.

This of course is because, as some of you may have guessed, we have a TIE for the Grand Prize with both these creations finishing on 91 points, decided by that fateful final result which came to me 20 minutes before the midnight close on the 18th of May. One of the winners had FIVE 1st place votes and featured in 20 of the 26 top 10 lists, while the other had FOUR 1st place votes, SEVEN 2nd place votes and featured in 18 of the 26 top 10 lists. So we had to recalibrate the prize, and put the 1st & 2nd Prize together and divide by 2, making that L$85,000 for each of the two 1st Prizes!

So, the JOINT-GRAND PRIZE WINNER of  MachinimUWA III: Journeys (L$85,000) is:
JOURNEY INTO THE METAVERSE by Tutsy Navarathna

Our much beloved Frenchman in Pondicherry who showed us the connections between an avatar and creator via this passage to India.

And now, the JOINT-GRAND PRIZE WINNER of  MachinimUWA III: Journeys (L$85,000) is:
JURONEY by Eric Boccara of the Netherlands

In the words of Bradley Dorchester (MachinimUWA II winner), whose place he takes on the podium, “I take my hat off to this guy. Great show and inclusion of the tower at the end. I like the protagonist’s unswerving focus to reach his destination. Attention to detail, music, story, sheer quality. I’m going to approach him at some later stage and see if he wants to do a collab. Could be awesome”.

Could be awesome indeed!

Thank you so much Mal Burns and Dousa Dragonash and your team for the live broadcast of this event and helping stream voice during the announcements!