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S6 E212 How Second Life Brought “May It Be” (Lord of the Rings) to Life with Cinematic Machinima (Feb 2026)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes February 4, 2026 Leave a reply

What happens when Tolkien’s world, Enya’s music, and cutting-edge virtual performance collide?

In this episode, we explore a breathtaking Second Life film that reimagines “May It Be” as a haunting, hopeful journey through shadow and light. From gothic landscapes and cinematic lighting to an unexpectedly intimate motion-capture reveal, this episode showcases how virtual worlds can deliver not just spectacle, but genuine emotional resonance.

If you love:

  • Lord of the Rings and its timeless theme of hope against darkness

  • Machinima and virtual cinematography at its most poetic

  • Innovative uses of facial mocap and performance in online worlds

  • Discovering undiscovered creative voices with serious talent

…then you won’t want to miss this.

We dive into a strikingly beautiful piece of Second Life machinima: Anna Kurka’s cinematic cover of Enya’s “May It Be” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Tracy brings the pick, introducing Anna as a Belgium-based virtual performer who blends singing, storytelling, and atmospheric world-building into emotionally rich visual journeys.

Set in the hauntingly gothic Second Life region “Infinite Darkness,” the film pairs slow, ethereal fly-throughs of ancient forests, ruins, mist, and light with a tender, intimate vocal performance. The hosts explore how the imagery echoes Tolkien’s core themes of darkness and hope, fear and resilience, the liminal space between night and dawn, and how Anna’s more human, grounded interpretation contrasts with Enya’s otherworldly original.

The discussion also turns technical, with a spoiler-friendly deep dive into the surprise ending: a remarkably convincing facial motion-capture performance inside Second Life, raising fascinating questions about virtual production, real-time mocap, and how far user-generated platforms have evolved.

Along the way, the panel reflects on Tolkien’s enduring emotional power, the courage it takes to reinterpret iconic music, and the often-hidden talent within virtual worlds that deserves a much wider audience.

Audio Only Version of this Episode



YouTube Version of this Episode

Show Notes & Links

May It Be – Lord of the Rings | Enya Cover by Anna Kurka (Second Life Machinima) released 5 October 2025

Enya – May It Be (Official Lyric Video) released on YouTube on 31 July 2020

Tracy had a chance to ask Anna about her work in Second Life, and she graciously wrote me a few answers.  I’ll copy the interview on our show notes for those interested in hearing more about Anna and her approach –

TH: How did you get into machinima? How long have you been singing in SL? Why songs and why machinima in SL?

AK: Actually, I got into singing first.  I was just an amateur singing in the shower and such.  I started singing around the summer of 2024 & I was talking to someone in SL which does actual live shows on SL (possible through the use of shoutcast, in the world of Second Life) and I told him I like to sing but I’m too scared to do anything with it in “real life”.  So he told me to maybe sing as my virtual avatar “Anna Kurka” instead.  So I did.  

I sang karaoke cover styles and posted it on youtube with just static images or a little bit of moving images.  He helped me to sing better along the way.  My real life partner actually told me “why don’t you do video clips?”…. So that is how I got into machinima!

One of my videos tells me the background on how I got started like that

“Anna’s World” tells how I started singing and how I created “Let You Down”.

TH: Why do covers?  Have you done originals? 

AK: I started out with covers because it is easy, just take a karaoke track and go to town!  After a while I did try my hand at an original as well, it is on a seperate channel though.  I’m not really that good at using a DAW/Sequencer and making my own music, but I sure tried!   What I also do is take an existing song and just take the lyrics & rewrite the music – to make it my own. (Like on “Let You Down”) – On “Little Flower”, I actually took a fully instrumental track and added my own lyrics.

Original track:  Echoes of Time:  

TH: Do you do this in real life, etc (or do you sing in virtual concerts)?

AK: So far no, I like being hidden behind my avatar & nobody really knows who I really am.  It is safe & fun.  As for virtual concerts, that would mean singing live over prerecorded tracks.  I’ve been asked to, as there are many singers in Second Life doing the same thing, but for now I’m too scared to “F up” :o)  It will happen one day.

S6 E205 Machinima News (Dec 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes December 18, 2025 Leave a reply

This week on the podcast, we’re diving into a grab-bag of big creator news, starting with YouTube, and yes… the “slop” situation.

Tracy kicks things off with what looks like YouTube’s latest attempt to clean house: platform changes that claim to improve privacy and the viewing experience, but also mess with how videos behave when embedded on third-party sites. If you stream shows inside places like Second Life, that’s a real headache, because some embeds and API-based workarounds are suddenly unreliable or broken.

But the bigger story? YouTube appears to be cracking down on the explosion of low-effort, mass-generated content. The buzz is that Gemini is being used to evaluate whether videos look human-made, original, and honestly presented – plus there’s talk of internal “trust scores” that creators can’t actually see, but which may influence how channels are treated behind the scenes. Tracy even tests how an AI describes our channel, and it basically nails the vibe: a legit passion-project podcast with deep experience… while also very clearly not the unrelated, controversy-riddled “Machinima Inc” from back in the day. Check out this video –

Phil jumps in to untangle the embed drama: it may not be “AI policy” so much as an ad-delivery and revenue control move because some embedded browsers can bypass ads, and Second Life gets caught in the crossfire. Workarounds exist (including the very ironic “embed it somewhere else first” method), and Vimeo comes up as an alternative… but with price hikes that feel more “premium platform” than creator-friendly. Locked-in subscriptions, anyone?

Then it’s off to the creative tools corner: Phil’s been deep in Blender, and he’s found some very machinima developments, like a third-person controller kit that basically turns Blender into a game-like character puppeteering environment. On top of that, there’s a newly released Blender cloth-building and simulation tool that could become a budget-friendly alternative to pricey standards like Marvelous Designer – huge potential for indie creators who want great-looking outfits without a studio budget.

From there, the conversation swings to Reallusion’s latest move: Video Mocap, turning ordinary video footage into motion capture data, integrated straight into iClone’s workflow. The group talks practical realities (camera framing, background contrast, space constraints, upper-body capture modes) and why this could be a game-changer for animators who don’t have mocap suits lying around.

We also touch on Unreal Engine’s rapid evolution and its ever-improving animation tools—plus the eternal question: with tech this powerful, why aren’t we seeing more great films made with it? Check this out –

Damien drops some rock-solid creator advice: don’t try to learn new tools by making your magnum opus. Make a short “training film,” and if you switch platforms… remake it. Same story, new tech, better skills. Simple, smart, and honestly kind of brilliant.

Finally, we hit a spicy AI update: major AI music platforms (Suno and Udio) have reportedly reached settlements with record labels, meaning they’ll rework how training and licensing works going forward. That could reshape what “responsible” AI music use looks like in 2026 – and what it’ll cost creators.

And to wrap up on a lighter note, there’s a shoutout to NeuralVIZ and a fun character-driven sci-fi project, The Adventures of Remo Green, as a reminder that experimentation can still be entertaining (and weirdly impressive).

And that’s the episode: YouTube changes, creator workarounds, new animation toys, and the future of AI tools, served with equal parts curiosity and chaos.

And btw, to hear more about Ricky’s epic bus trip, check in on next week’s episode!

Here’s the audio only version of our episode –



and here’s the YouTube version –

S6 S01 Special: Lit Fuse Films visit to Machinima Europe Festival 2007 (Dec 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes December 11, 2025 Leave a reply

In this Season 6 special episode, Tracy Harwood introduces a 2007 vlog by @LitFuseFilms  at the Machinima Europe Film Festival. The vlog is a forgotton gem, and a trip down memory lane for all those that made it over to Leicester in October that year, as well as all those that watched the proceedings online (quite a challenge but achieved with the assistance of  ⁨@secondlife⁩  and a team of enthusiasts on the ground and virtually.

The vlog highlights the crew’s experience, the premiere of their award-winning film “Ignis Solis,” and a live performance by the Sancho Plan. The vlog also features a keynote by Paul Marino  @ILLRobinson , CEO of the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences (AMAS), who explains machinima as filmmaking within virtual worlds, offering creative freedom and reduced production constraints. The festival showcased various machinima works, including Lit Fuse’s “Ballad of Black Mesa,” noted for its high production values and sophisticated use of color correction and editing by the judges at the time! Others you can see in this include  @fiezi, Paul Jannicola, Kerria Seabrook, Ann Garner @Moviestorm, Ricard Gras, Hugh Hancock @strangecompany, Sancho Plan and various others from the world of #machinima #virtualproduction #filmmaking #gameshorts #animation #tf2

A bit of history… Lit Fuse Films is an independent production company driven by bold ideas, atmospheric storytelling, and a passion for films that linger long after the credits roll. Their project Ignis Solus captured that vision perfectly – an intense, thought-provoking film that explored isolation, inner conflict, and the quiet power of resilience through striking visuals and deliberate pacing. With a strong focus on mood and character, Ignis Solus blended cinematic artistry with emotional depth, inviting viewers to reflect rather than simply watch. It’s a standout example of Lit Fuse Films’ commitment to crafting stories that feel personal, powerful, and unapologetically original. It went on to win the Best Sound award at the 2008 AMAS Machinima Film Festival in New York, unsurprisingly – having been released just a week before the 2007 Festival in Europe, meaning it missed the submission deadline.

Audio only version of this episode –



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes

Lit Fuse Films channel link and film Ignis Solus, released 8 October 2007 –

Lit Fuse Films Ballad of Black Mesa –

Link to the Machinima Europe Festival 2007 Programme here

and BBC News coverage here

Official photograph from the 2007 festival (back row: Prof Andrew Hugill, Kristian Costa-Zahn, Hugh Hancock, Paul Jannicola, Kerria Seabrook, middle row: Prof David Asch, Xavier Lardy, Ann Garner, Ricard Gras, Toby Moores, front row: Alex Chan, Freidrich Kirschner, Tracy Harwood, Paul Marino) (used with permission, Tracy Harwood, De Montfort University).

S5 E196 Draxtor’s Dimensional Discoveries: Lynette Wallworth Interview (Aug 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes August 27, 2025 Leave a reply

This week, we discuss a 2013 episode of @Draxtor ‘s interviews series with artists filmed in Second Life series, this episode with Australian artist @lynettewallworth270.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

P109 Machinima Episode #3: Lynette Wallworth, interview by Draxtor Dupres, available on YouTube on the BAVC Media channel, link here –

Ricky’s link to the Machinima Archive can be found here.

and a link to Lynette Wallworth’s artist website can be found here (source of feature image).

Damien’s link to the Star Citizen Contest here.

S5 E192 Machinima News Omnibus (July 2025)

Tracy Harwood Podcast Episodes July 30, 2025 Leave a reply

This week, we cover a lot of things this month, as usual, but start with a tribute to a machinima pioneer who has sadly crossed the bridge into an unknown world – Tutsy NAvArAthnA. We then go through some more fascinating projects that we want to share, more about genAI and machinima, a bunch of new tools and techniques, some wise words from some great artists, latest games and relevant updates. All links below.



YouTube Version of This Episode

Show Notes & Links

Celebrating Tutsy NAvArAthAa / Basile Vignes’ Life

RIP Tutsy

Completely Machinima Interview with Tutsy Navarathna here https://completelymachinima.com/cm-interview-tutsy-navarathna/

Flowers of Evil filmed by Tutsy Navarathna, discussed on our episode here https://completelymachinima.com/s4-e121-cosmic-flowers-of-evil-mar-2024/

Glasz DeCuir’s tribute here –

and an interview with the man himself, recorded for the Machinima Expo –

Projects

A RDR2 inspired Minecraft animation made using Blender

An Egyptian Renaissance cinematic made in Unreal Engine –

A trailer for an upcoming movie which the creators are trying to fund and involve the original voice actors from Team Fortress 2 –

An intro to an updated game, Back to the Future 2025, made in Unreal Engine –

And a webcam test for metahuman, also in Unreal Engine –

genAI projects worth looking at –

Interesting Convos

Darren Aronofsky and Demis Hassabis on storytelling in the age of AI –

AIFF 2025, update here

Judge backs AI gen firm called Anthropic over use of copyrighted books, here

I turned down a [REDACTED] show –

New tools, techniques & how tos

Meta’s Worlds creator tool for VR, here

Eleven Labs – another update!

Creating a crowd of metahumans in Unreal –

Character Creator 5 update and connection to Unreal –

Fender Studio release for creating audio for 8 tracks, here

Martin Bell’s Unreal tutorial series –

How one detail completely changed a scene –

A LoRA for a Pierson’s Puppeteer –

NaturalVision Enhanced – release trailer –

Game Release

Dune Awakening –

Cyberpunk 2077 –

And finally…

Fortnite definition of machinima states: ‘the use of real-time computer graphics engines, like that used with Fortnite, to create a cinematic production.  The word machinima is a portmanteau of the words machine and cinema.’ 

Take a look at the interview Tracy did with Epic’s Chief Tech Officer Kim Libreri in Pioneers in Machinima!

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Tracy Harwood and Ben Grussi’s Machinima Book, On Sale Now!