A new machinima from the fertile mind of Lyric Lundquist

I consider it an event whenever Lyric Lundquist publishes a new machinima of hers, and this time is no exception. She had taken a short break from Second Life® - we missed you, Lyric! - but apparently got right back to work making beautiful things the moment she returned.

"I named this video after a quote from one of my favorite books by Chuck Palahniuk - Invisible Monsters," she explained.

"The world," Brandy says, "Is your cradle and your trap. And if you can find any way out of our culture, then that's a trap too. Just wanting to get out of the trap reinforces the trap."

Lyric, who's lush cinematic videos always make me think that MTV is creaky and old by comparison, continued, "I tried to take my time with this machinima instead of totally indulging myself and just going for images that are aesthetically pleasing and meaningful only to me with no obvious story line to an outside viewer. Instead, I kept the images I loved while also attempting to portray a story."

"The surface level story is about a girl trapped in a black and white world, but when she films, she sees a world of color with a darker, more lustrous version of herself. It tempts her to cross over and leave her colorless world behind. In the end though, I try to show that perhaps the key is not trying to find a way 'out of the trap,' by choosing one world over the other. Both worlds have their dangers, and by struggling, it only reinforces that the bonds that hold me down are real," said Lyric.

cradle and trap from lyric_lundquist on Vimeo.

Credits:

• Song is by Saltillo - Backyard pond.
• Locations: Chouchou and a sim being developed by Hern Worsley.
• Clothing and accessories by Cora Lu and her Paper Couture, Triangle Cauldron, the creator of "ghost!," and Bark Aabye's BjD "Hades Horns."
• Animations by Surrealia Anatine
• Lyric also wishes to thank Skills Hak for creating the Emerald Viewer: "It injected my SL with a whole new kind of magic. After playing endlessly with the myriad of settings, it was what originally inspired me to make this lil film."