Second Life Spotlight - Beetle Wilder

Today, attention is focused on Beetle Wilder, the filmmaker behind Wilder Productions, known for creating humorous and dynamic videos that bring a new and fun perspective to Second Life. How long has Beetle been in Second Life and how did he hear about it for the first time? He has been interested in virtual worlds since he was a teenager on the family computer around 2000, but it was only in 2007 that he discovered Second Life and decided to try it out.

At that time, he used to come in just to talk, and the real possibilities didn't become clear to him until a few years ago, when a good friend helped him create his first royal avatar. What attracted you to machinima and the production of virtual movies in Second Life, and how did this evolve to Wilder Productions? When Beetle returned to SL in 2021, he experienced making simple selfies for a while, but it wasn't until someone shared a TikTok of a guy dancing a Hall & Oates song that he thought, "I wonder if I could do something like that in SL?" (and actually, it can be).

He did some music videos and had a lot of fun, and eventually, he was invited by stores like

• Waffle — Trades
• Bad Unicorn — Trades

to make advertising videos of your products. Beetle loves to do narration work, and the videos gave him an opportunity to practice character voices as well. A video production service seemed to be the natural path to follow after that. Beetle videos are consistently humorous, well edited and instantly recognisable in tone. How does he approach comedy and timing in a virtual environment, and did he have any previous experience with video creation or editing before working on Second Life?

Beetle's best friend and he were the clowns in the class. In the '90s, they made home movies when they were kids, improvised scenes, and watched them and laughed and laughed. Over the years, they have found ways to plan more structured sketches, thinking about what other people might like. His poor parents became his test audience. Beetle ended up going to film school, and this became a long-term role as marketing manager, graphic designer and videographer. He was always trying to find a way to insert humor into everything he did.

With the production of films at Second Life, Beetle knew that comedy would be different without real actors, so he focused more on the peculiarities of the avatars and took advantage of these limitations to create something that seems intentional. He tries to find a balance between being self-conscious and treating virtual space as if it were real. In this way, he can use traditional comic timing while still playing with the wonderful weirdness of machinima. Can you describe Beetle's creative process from concept to final edition? What tools, techniques or tricks in the world does he use most?

First, he consumes 30 liters of coffee and enters a state of escape where he dreams of living within David Lee Roth’s ‘I Ain’t Got Nobody’. By the time you wake up, the video's already finished somehow. I'm just kidding. It usually starts with a script, after a quick conversation with the client about what he's looking for. So he calls his friends Ingo and Lemony to help build the scenarios (he doesn't deserve them) and gathers his actors to finalize the costumes. It records on Firestorm using OBS, maneuvering its camera with a PC control as a drone.

Filming goes to Adobe Premiere Pro, where it cuts everything you don't like, reducing 30 minutes to just a few, or even 19 seconds for a Linden Lab video. Then he records his narration and chooses the music, which helps to define the rhythm and structure. For the final touches, he likes to add a little chromatic aberration and film grain to emulate old videos as this can help disguise the serrated effect that can appear on the edges of things in SL. Besides, it looks amazing.

Then more color correction, time adjustment, audio cleaning and finally rendering and delivery. He wasn't kidding about the coffee, though. Collaboration is an important part of virtual film production. How does he work with other Residents, performers or creators by bringing a project to life? He was lucky enough to make friends with some truly talented Residents who help build scenarios, act as actors and even shape ideas. Some projects are a group effort.

For example, a video he collaborated with Waffle It was totally driven by his concept, characters and script, and he came in to help bring life through filming and editing. Other times, he comes in with a clear vision, and the people he works with raise it up in ways he wouldn't have thought alone. The end result is something better than he could do on his own. For Residents interested in trying machinima on their own, what advice or lessons would he share? He mentions that he'll be fighting a lot of technical aspects right away. That's normal.

You better put your ideas out first, then worry about the details later. The configuration of each is different, and it may be necessary to experiment with different screen recording software, graphical settings, and camera motion techniques. Idea above perfection. An interesting 20fps plan is better than a boring 60. Join a community like SLVCG. There are people out there who will be happy to help, have decades of experience and can have huge inventories that you can use to help bring your ideas to life. Book some time to make the videos you want.

The commissions are great, but don't forget, this is done out of love for the game. Listen to your friends and don't be afraid to be different. Tell about some of the other SL Residents who inspire her and whose work she admires. There are many people who have built yess, created products, taken amazing photos or made impressive videos that have inspired her over the years. She hesitates to name them because she knows she'll forget some people, but she will.

• Victoire — Sims
• Paul Cutter — Sims
• Seven Emporium — Trades
• Waffle — Trades
• Marina Munter — Trades
• Soy — Trades
• Dirty Rat — Trades
• NeutralTones — Trades
• Somnium — Trades
• Muniick — Trades
• Haikei — Trades
• Archivefaction — Trades

She's always excited to see new releases of them and they helped her build her own SL style. Owl Sweetwater is a unique and beautifully eccentric DJ, performer and sims builder whose events she tries not to miss.

Rance Alva It's a DJ who always seems to play songs that please her. Feorie Frimon, Lozza Weymann and Jordan Rizzo, with his tireless devotion to the art of machinima and the community of video creators. There are many other Residents whose work she admires, and could fill a whole page with their names, and she apologizes if she's forgotten someone. There really is this huge interconnected network of amazing people working together to make Second Life a better place. Where can people see your work? Please share links to your websites and social media accounts.

https://wilder.carrd.co Flickr -> https://www.flickr.com/photos/158008268@N08 She posted most of her videos here. Primfeed -> https://www.primfeed.com/wilder As most of the videos she makes are creators' commissions and LL, it is often possible to see them posted on their social networks. But she tries to return their content to her accounts. Thank you, Beetle, for contributing your comical creativity and narrative to Second Life and pushing machinima in fun and unexpected directions.

Each of our Spotlight interviews offers a unique glimpse of the diverse vibrant experiences and personalities that shape our virtual world. Explore more stories and get inspired by visiting our complete collection of Spotlight posts.

Official source: Read the original publication in Second Life (Official).