Dedicated to Guillaume-en-Egypte, the immortal, who continues his adventures in virtual worlds. Thanks to Chris Marker, who sent the music file to add after seeing the rough cut. 

"Two cats are looking for their third mate. Will they find him? Which one of them is actually the real Guillaume?"

Machinima by Max Moswitzer
3D Guillaume created by Exosius Woolley

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As Chris Marker approached the age of 90, the French artist whose short Le jettee is often considered one of the greatest movies ever made, spent the last years of his life experimenting with a new medium: machinima. This weekend, why not watch "Third Cat", one of the final works Marker was involved with; he died last weekend at the age of 91. Shot in Second Life, where Marker spent some of his waning days, it features his alter ego, an orange cat, and a Barack Obama avatar. Yes.

"The Third Cat" was created by Max Moswitzer, a Viennese artist, in collaboration with Marker (who declined credit on the final work). "It was a good example of how I collaborate with Chris," Moswitzer tells me. "I was in a flat in Paris for 10 days, and did the recording and sent the rushes via mail to Chris overnight, he made comments and suggestions." The orange cat, as I said, is an avatar-based translation of Marker's alter ego, commissioned by the artist, named Guillaume-en-egypte. During development, Max effectively conducted virtual location scouting in Second Life for Marker: "I sent him screenshots and [SL] landmarks of possible scenes where Guillaume-en-Egypte and I inspected locations for the movie." After editing was done, Marker chose the music to accompany the machinima. (New World Notes)