“You are my fire
The one desire
Believe when I say
I want it that way
But we are two worlds apart
Can’t reach to your heart
When you say
That I want it that way”
Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way
Everyone (well I guess not everyone, but most everyone) has been to a concert. The idea behind this post came from a conversation I had a while back. We were talking about firsts, favorites, and things like that. One of the questions we landed on was “What was your first concert?” Interesting answers can be found in that question because some of us go to see a band we love for our first show. Some of us go with someone to see a band they love and you get invited. I often wonder who else has an unexpected first concert they would name. As you well know from being here I am a huge rock music fan, of all kinds so we won’t be picky there. My first concert was when I was thirteen years old and while I was most definitely a Creed fan at that point, they were not my first show. You might be surprised by what it is, but it’s interesting to name because it ties me to another subject that fits perfectly with it.
Why is that you ask? Because my first concert was not any rock band at all, in fact it was the Backstreet Boys. I went to the Into The Millennium tour when it was near my area (November 4, 1999) because my girlfriend at the time wanted to go so badly. At thirteen you bite the bullet and go whether you want to or not because “you think you love someone” and well you just do it. I knew who they were and had heard their music and even liked some of their songs. I was not prepared for the show they would put on though. I mean it’s a boy band right, how great can it really be? Really great is the answer, they put on an incredible show, and between all the costume changes, constant movement and dancing, and still nailed every single song they played to perfection. I knew who they were before I saw them, I was a fan after seeing them. Respect for the craft and work ethic to get to that level and put on that magnitude of a show.
Now before I get into the photo stuff, and I need to do this now or I’ll forget and just carry the hell on, let’s talk about the song. “I Want It That Way” was the best choice as you’ll read below. Everyone knows it, whether they want to or not, and I figured I could find a way to do something like it. Back to the song, or songs, as you’ll find out. The “I Want It That Way” that we all know is the original version of the song and it’s why when you read the lyrics the song doesn’t make much sense at all. The songwriter, Max Martin is Swedish and his English at the time the song was written was not very good. Everyone knew the song lyrics didn’t make sense, and the record label actually had A&R people rewrite the lyrics to make more sense. They recorded the new version of it but ended up releasing the original because they didn’t think the new version had the same catchiness of the original. The alternate version got leaked out eventually and with the help of some talented people got pieced together properly as you’ll hear below. I kind of dig the rewritten version, but both are damn catchy to me.
Putting the shot for this together was definitely some work. I knew I could go a lot of directions which is both awesome and terrible for me. Awesome because something will work eventually. Terrible because I could use a thousand different ideas and settling on one is quite the challenge sometimes. I ended up landing on the “I Want It That Way” video because it stands out in my head and I felt like I could imitate it reasonably well. Not duplicate it because as you can see all five “Luckys” have the same ears/earrings as well as skins and shape. I wanted to do it similar to theirs but I’m still being me. How does one arrive at five of me in one shot, a lot of editing magic of course. I’ve found myself spending more time in Photoshop over this last month and doing things that I haven’t done before or pushing further than I have in a long time.
This last month (we’re at about a month now) since I posted You Better Hang On If You’re Taggin’ Along. That photo and the reaction it received really reinvigorated the love for blogging and taking photos that had been missing for so long. It made me spend more time planning out what I want to do next, from the idea for the photo to setting it up, to shooting it with lighting I like, just making sure all the little things are right. I can fix things in Photoshop of course, but the better raw shot you have to work with, the less work in PS you have to do to clean up things. This one definitely had good raw shots, but the nature of taking pictures of five versions of myself and combining them into what I saw in my head meant I spent a fair amount of time editing. I think it was worth it though, as I really got damn close to what I saw in my head on the final. The only thing that got added that wasn’t originally in the idea was the vTRL/SLMtv bar at the bottom, but that’s only on the shot here. I thought it was kind of fun to play off of the old school MTV/TRL era so I made that happen.
I don’t usually go through any step by steps of what I’ve done or how the photo evolved. Because really we all edit our own ways and whether that takes a little or a lot, it’s our method and we do it. I thought it might be nice this time though to kind of have a couple of in progress shots from where it started to where it ended up so I put together a small slideshow that kind of goes through it with small summaries of what you’re seeing. Might be interesting to some, might not. The first shot is just the different layers of me group together with varying transparencies to each one. I started there to get the fading effect I wanted. The second shot takes it a step further with some additional fading added to varying areas of each me to further the effect. In the third shot I’ve added two light overlays to give it the look I want, as well some color saturation, contrast, and clarity adjustments. The fourth shot is of course the final shot you’ll see everywhere else. The last one you see in this post with the addition of the “vTRL” and “SLMtv” bar added at the bottom, I had some fun with that.
I’m extremely grateful and humbled by the reaction to just about everything I put time into this last month and beyond, I would have never anticipated it, nor was I looking for it as you’ve heard me say before. I was never going to blog that slide photo originally. I just do my blogs because I want to do them, an idea will strike me or something will come out that I love and I find a way to make something happen. There are no requirements on my end so what you see is what I feel, where I’m at, it’s me. The kindness and love everyone has shown to photos and posts since then has been immense and I truly hope I have returned that to everyone who’s faved, commented, viewed, liked anything that I’ve done lately. The joy of doing this has returned and it’s because of all of you in the SL community and I would be a fool to not give props to SecondLife themselves for the huge amount of love they have shown in this past month. None of this would be possible, or as fun to do, without all of you. Thank you, for everything, you’ve brought me full circle on this little hobby and I’m so glad to be back there.
I’m planning on doing another interview in the month of August, but I’m not sure who or what yet. If you have any ideas for something or someone, or if it’s you yourself, hit me up with it. Tell me what and why, I’d love to find people to learn about and spotlight in whatever ways I can. Beyond that I’ll be keeping on with what I’m doing, the posts I love to do, maybe some From The Vault stuff because I found a bunch more in a long lost folder the other day, who knows what else. Whatever it is will be fun, because you’ve made it fun again. Enjoy the show, and credits are below as well as some Spotify love from way back when.
“I’m yours completely
I feel so deeply
You’re my first thought every day
And I want it that way
My life is for you
And I adore you
I love you more everyday
And I want it that way”
Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way (Rewritten Lyrics)
Credits:
~Basics for all five of me~
Head: LeLUTKA.Head.NOA.3.1 ~ Jaden Nova
Head Applier: STRAY DOG – GREG – LELUTKA – TONE 04 ~ Gac Akina
Ears: ^^Swallow^^ Gauged S Ears ~ Luciayes Magic
Body: [LEGACY] Athletic Edition (1.1) ~ MeshBody Resident
Skin: STRAY DOG – Legacy Skin – TONE 04 (BOM) ~ Gac Akina
Pants: [Deadwool] Sean Trousers ~ Masa Plympton
Boots: [Deadwool] Chukka Boots ~ Masa Plympton
~The 5 Luckys (From Left to Right)~
Lucky 1:
Hair: DOUX – Luca ~ Dam1710 Resident
Facial Hair 1: ::IrisBody:: – Lel EvoX – Facial hair cropped style ~ Vidbar Resident
Facial Hair 2: Sovereign – Chin Strap Beard – Evo X – Style 1 Black ~ Sovereign Enchantment
Jacket: [Deadwool] Sean Jacket ~ Masa Plympton
Shirt: [Deadwool] Staple Tee ~ Masa Plympton
Pose: Cordeaux – Menino 01 ~ Juanello Resident
Lucky 2:
Hair: DOUX – Chris ~ Dam1710 Resident
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.039 (m) (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head
Facial Hair: HERMONY / FACIAL HAIR / VARIANT M / LEL EVOX ~ Hermanni Laville
Jacket: [Deadwool] Sean Jacket ~ Masa Plympton
Shirt: [Deadwool] Staple Tee ~ Masa Plympton
Pose: Cordeaux – MMG 02 ~ Juanello Resident
Lucky 3:
Hair: WINGS-TO1026-HAIR ~ WINGSDG Resident
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.072 (m) (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head
Jacket: [Deadwool] Sean Jacket ~ Masa Plympton
Shirt: [Deadwool] Staple Tee ~ Masa Plympton
Pose: Ana Poses – Abuja 01 ~ Fanny Finney
Lucky 4:
Hair: DOUX – Alex ~ Dam1710 Resident
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.024 (m) (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head
Jacket: [Deadwool] Sean Jacket ~ Masa Plympton
Shirt: [Deadwool] Ghost Sweater ~ Masa Plympton
Pose: Cordeaux – Dufaux 02 ~ Juanello Resident
Lucky 5:
Hair: Vango. Robert ~ Norman Millar
Hairbase: LeLUTKA.EvoX.Hairbase.039 (m) (BOM) ~ Jaden Nova (Comes with the LeLUTKA NOA Head
Facial Hair: HERMONY / FACIAL HAIR / GOATEE D / LEL EVOX ~ Hermanni Laville
Tattoo: { Speakeasy } Lust Tattoo Fresh ~ Jamie Nova
Hat: Aori – Bucket Hat (White) ~ AoriStore Resident
Tanktop: /fake society/ bradley tank / legacy loose ~ Gulping Resident
Pose: Cordeaux – Boys 03 ~ Juanello Resident
LuckySpiritor.Com 