Toying with Ideas Here

Hola, my friends. I've been wrestling with an idea for the story of Arranged to Be for a week or so that has halted my production. It all started with an imagined conversation between two faceless characters that bloomed into a plot line. I wasn't sure I wanted the story to sway this way, but after several days it seems like it's just the way I'm supposed to go. Call it an intuitive feeling. But anyways, now I've got several things to incorporate, but thankfully a solid ending in mind.

I've also been playing with the idea of trying voiceovers. I was watching Decorgal's "Adventures in Life and Dating" series and I really love the atmosphere she created and all that's possible with voiceovers. But then I sat and thought about all the characters I would need. Unfortunately most of them are male. Actually probably more than half. I'm not sure I could find the voices I needed or that fit for those characters. But I'm sure I could be proved wrong! Who knows. I've also toyed with a need for a female singing voice that can play the piano. I had originally planned on using music from singers like Molly Jenson, but I think if I could find a youtuber who could sing well, I'd much rather do that because I think it would be incredibly cool. But I'm just thinking here...

Speaking of music, Paste Magazine might have to go out of business and so they are trying to raise money through donations. If you donate to the mag (any amount), you get access to 100's of rare tracks. Totally worth it. There are some incredible songs that I'm sure will show up in future work of mine.

Anyways, thanks for the interest in the new series as well as the great comments I still recieve about Just One. I'm truly blessed by the connection others have. I'm also enjoying being on twitter and see how easily it is to become addicted! http://www.twitter.com/kitsparrow27

Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

^ Pic of me figuring out the second half of part one of Arranged to Be as well as some of the second part. I'm kind of excited about what I've come up with, even if it is just a scene or two. So far, the series is going to go kind of slow as far as time. The first part will be Violet centric and the second more Avery centric. I'm borrowing the idea from LOST as well as flash backs. Hopefully I'll have the first part up very soon.

Bonus points if you know who sang the title of this post (without looking it up!).

The Upcoming Attraction

Hello all,
I uploaded two new videos today, the prologue for my new series, Arranged To Be, and a music video the artist, The Wandering Endorphin, asked me to create for a song of his. It's taken me a few months, but I'm back.

I'm super glad others are excited about the new series. I was feeling kind of hesitant this afternoon when I uploaded it. I'm still very humbled and flattered by all the kind comments I recieve about Just One and I wasn't sure if there would be others out there interested in something new from me, but thanks to everyone for their kind words about this new project. I actually created half of the prologue back in 2007 and even created a first part to the series back in 2006. Obviously I've had this idea in waiting for a while! When I first got The Sims 2 I made stories using the in game camera and story book function. One of the stories I created was about an arranged marriage and I liked the idea so much that after I got into machinima, I always wanted to try it as a movie.

I'm excited about my characters and where this story will take me. The story is actually a way to challenge my thinking. Five years ago if I were to fill in the blank in this sentence: I'll be happy when I'm ____., the blank for me would be to be married. In the story of "Arranged to Be", Violet is a lot of me. I can't wait to fall in love and have a grand romantic story unfold before me. Years ago, that was everything to me. Marriage seemed like it would make my life perfect, I'd always be happy, and the things I don't like in myself would change. But as time passed and I matured, I took those rose colored glasses off and began thinking and dreaming beyond just being married. Yes, I still very much look forward to one day being a wife and having a family of my own. I often wonder what it will be like when I've finally found the guy I'm meant to be with, but until then I'm focusing on the bigger picture of my life and being the person I'm supposed to be. Those fluffy, sweet, romantic feelings won't last forever and there's a whole heck of a lot more to love and marriage than 'feeling happy'. That's emotion and it will pass. I want to experience love for what it truly is and that means selflessness, sacrifice, patience, compromise and so much more than most realize.

But I asked myself what would it be like to have your dreams of love and marriage crushed? To be forced into an arranged marriage and possibly never experience the kind of love you hoped for? Arranged marriages still happen today and I just can't imagine my husband being picked out for me. Maybe I'm just too much of a romantic, but I think that I'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming to that kind of wedding. Therein lies Violet's viewpoint. How will she react? The series will be more of novel, focusing on Violet and her thoughts. And maybe some have already figured out the general story from beginning to end, but I hope that it will be much more. I want viewers to come away with something from the series. You are after all giving me at least ten minutes out of your day.

Epilogue, I'm glad I made it.

"Because when I found you, my heart found a home. Yeah, when I found you..." - Seabird

I'm very humbled by all the positive feedback for Part 15. I'm truly glad the series and the story blossomed in the way I had hoped it would. I never expected it to reach 15 parts or to come about the way it did, but it's been a great journey. I loved the whole process...even the times when I was filming and my sims just would not do what I wanted them to ;)
And just a couple details about Part 15 - I did not make that amazing castle where I had the wedding. I think I found it on the Exchange. I created the set for the wedding and maybe changed a couple things about the castle, but there's way I could build something like that. Total kudos to the creator of that lot. Where I did find the house for the reception and Mitch and Rosie's house was from here I believe:
http://thesims2.ea.com/mysimpage/uploads.php?user_id=231771&asset_type=lot
That Sims creator is incredibly rad at house building. Possibly the best I've ever seen. Incredible detail.

As far as upcoming projects from me, here's my goal: I defintely want to do another series which will consist of a storyline of an arranged marriage. Before I even start to work on that though, I will be creating a video for an artist that contacted me. I'm excited to start working on it and I hope the story I've got in my head for the song comes out well. And concerning any future projects with the characters of Just One, as of right now I don't plan on doing a sequel or anything like that. Maybe that will change in the future, but I think right now I just need to keep it at what it is. But like I said, I'm sure those characters will show up again sometime. Maybe I'll finally sit down and write the book :)

I really can't say thanks enough to every single person that has supported Just One and left me such incredible comments. Each one is truly treasured and I just couldn't be more thankful for the chance I've gotten to inspire or connect with someone else through Just One. I really hope my future work will do the same :)

Hola Amigos! So here's an update from me: Part 15 is about half done. The only problem I'm having is including too much stuff again! I can't end this story! Haha! I'm hoping I'll be able to include all I want to in this part under 10 minutes and if I can't, I'm not sure what I'll do! Maybe split it into two parts? I guess I'll cross that bridge if and when I come to it! I'm also kind of wary about uploading to youtube as I've heard others having trouble uploading and I had a heck of a time with Part 14. And as far as all the copyright stuff going around...I was really afraid one of the parts would be taken down (my sympathies are with those that have lost their videos) and they did eventually mute Part 9 because of Holly Brook's song. I'm going to get that part on archive.org when I have some extra time. I'm sure my videos could still be taken down, but I'm really hoping nothing happens! I guess it's good that I've used a lot of indie bands!

Anyways, I'm going to keep working on Part 15. It's going to take some serious work to get what I want for this last part so I better get busy. I'm also anxious to start on something new, which will most likely be a series about an arranged marriage. Before I can do that though, I'm going to uninstall all my sim stuff and reinstall it and start over with custom content. I've got way too much junk on my computer and there are defintely more than a few bugs in my game right now.

Catch ya later, amigos. Can't wait to hear what you guys think of Part 15.