Doing it Greek-style: Virgil's "Mythos"

The end of 2015 and beginning of this year have put in the books a variety of really ambitious projects, showing how the adult arts enthusiast can have such impressive scope and range. When it comes to show the unique creative mix that some of the talented and experienced group members bring to the table, 'Pornstars' is just a name, often misleading for the type of effort required and the complexity of the project.

Some really Epic projects, to use a term used (quite appropriately so!) by a famous porn producer about movies.  But today I am dealing with something definitely 'epic', but not a movie!

This is a SL comic, and a really impressive one at that! A graphic novel, perhaps. You know, it sounds cooler and more edgy. But no jokes here, as all you need to do is glimpse here at this blog address (or on Issuu ) to grasp the complexity of this project and just imagine the effort required to do something of this magnitude. The artifex of this elaborate story is a familiar name for our porn-goer crowd, and I leave right away to him the task to describe what it is. Enjoy the interview with Virgil (virgilius08 Resident) !

- First of all: what is the concept behind 'Mythos' and how did you come up with it?

" I got the idea for Mythos last summer. I was in a pub with some friends and all of sudden the convo land to the political situation in Greece, which was a main topic all around Europe in those times. One of my friends made a comment about how the politics looks like Greek Gods who decide about people's destiny. That phrase was like a spark, and when I got back home I kept reading about Greek Mythology, to see if I could make that concept become real.

The main track of Mythos is the 'Power', who holds the power in the world we live today, and how it's used. The mythology offers infinite possibilities to develop that concept.

So for example Ares, the God of the cruel war, becomes the weapon-trafficker, while Athena, the Goddess of the 'Noble War', is an Army General; Haephestus runs a High Technology Society while Helios is the CEO of an Energy Company. I re-arranged greek myths, like the myth of Tantalus, but also situations of the greek mythology, like in the scene of Helios and Apollo. There's not a real myth about that episode, but it refers to the fact that through the years the Greek population began to worship Apollo as the God of Sun instead of Helios, even if Helios stayed as the official God of Sun.
I want to point out that in Mythos the Gods are not supernatural entities. They are humans like everybody else, but thanks to their privileged position in the society they can decide about people's fate. In Mythos you will never see men turned into animals or plants, but they will rather put in positions that can be considered like that.

'Heat City Chronicles' is built around Viktor Clay, whose story will explode in a shock at the end of the second episode ( on which I'm working in these days ). In Mythos instead, there is not a main character, but the storyline develops around the situations of the various Gods. This also reflects the general setting of the two series. In HCC the spotlight is on the human, on his torments and his passions, while in Mythos I try to talk about today's society, the way I see it. "

- Yes, because this is in fact not your first comic in SL: are there more episodes of Heat City Chronicles and Mythos planned? What do you plan to do next?

" I'm already working on the second episode of Heat City Chronicles, even if, since those are bigger stories, I'll probably release another issue of Mythos before it.

One page from "Heat City Chronicles: Objection", Virgil's other ongoing production

I also have ideas for several new productions, and I'm working on the script of a movie, which I hope to produce in collaboration with a director who could be interested in the project. I wish to carry out each of these ideas, but as you know these works require a lot of time and effort, and I can't focus on them all together.
So let me take advantage of this space to tell that anybody who would like to collaborate with VIR Studios in one of ours productions, or to work on your own projects with our help, we would be happy to have you in the team. You'll find out we are very friendly and open to listen and support anybody's ideas. If you're a photographer, a writer, a director, a model, a decorator or anything else, feel free to contact me ( Virgilius08 ). Working together we can make your ideas and our ideas to come true."

- Not a surprise, but making a comic is a huge effort. Tell us a bit about how long did it take to put this comic together, what did you start doing first, and in general give us an idea of what you did from the initial concept to the final product.

" Mythos needs a special work because it also needs a time to study the Greek myths, and to find a way to adapt them. In general I can tell you that the first step is to write down the script. It helps you to order the mess of ideas in your mind, and also to realize what you really need to do a work like that. When the script is ready, I look for the sets. SL is a magic world with a lot of possibilities, but not everything is possible, so sometimes I have to change some scenes because I just can't realize them. In these project the editing of each single page is tricky, because you must consider the spaces for the photos to make sure they fit in the page, and in each photo you must consider where to put the dialogues, so planning everything ahead is a must. When everything is ready, I select the cast.



It's important to match everybody's timings and sometimes it's hard because you have to say NO to friends, but that can become a dumper to the whole production. Tho I can tell you that this was not the case for Tantalize, because each of the models has been incredibly helpful through the whole process, and I'm very grateful to each of them."

- And I am sure you have plenty of people who collaborated with you to this big effort...This is your chance.

" For sure the best part about working on Tantalize is that I got the chance to meet some persons I didn't know before, and that I consider as true friends now.
Ember Rose supported me when Mythos was just an idea spinning through my mind, and lead me through the way to make it become true. She has been crucial in each aspect of the production, and most of the credits for the accomplishment of Tantalize are hers.
Rachel has been just amazing through the whole time in which we worked together. It's not easy to tolerate me when it's about work, but we've been in tune since the first shoot and I couldn't ask for a better actress for that role, who was probably the most demanding.



A little "working" shot from the comic

Rob, Larry, Dillon, Carter and Jagger are incredible guys. Rob's effort to this project was further Second Life, and he did everything to help me in the shooting. I couldn't thank him enough for that. Larry is probably the perfect model, he is an amazing guy and an absolute team worker, it's a pleasure to work with him. Carter, Dillon and Jagger have my same approach to things, and I felt comfortable working with them. Dillon also helped me with the script, like Jude did, and that is a crucial point in the production process because they must cope with my language limits. Dillon's feedback helped me to go toward the right direction.

Jude is probably my closest friend here in SL, and she's the only person it the world who can really understand what I say, ahah. You, Katina, also helped me in one troubl-ish moment, and that was way more important to me than you realize. Cassandra is a dear friend of mines and she's a must in all my productions. Adele and Cinnabuns are damn sexy women, but they are also lovely girls and great models too. Cameron is a very nice and available guy, he is a perfect fit in any cast.
Each of these guys embraced the project like their own work since Day 1, and I'm very thankful to each of them for the effort and dedication. Out of the people directly involved in the project, I couldn't produce anything without Shane, a very great friend who lets me to use his facilities and to invade his spaces with my stuff. His support is incredible, and he is one of the main reasons for which i can realize these works."

- Is there anything you learned here from experience on your previous comic book issues ? Do you have advice for aspiring comic-makers?

" While working on the first episode of Heat City Chronicles I made thousands of mistakes, and the result was that it took me infinite time to accomplish it. Thanks to that experience I realized that the most important thing in a work like this is organization. The production of a comic is a very complex work, where you have to look after each aspect of the production. While working at these things you can run downhearted... DON'T GIVE UP ! It's a lot of work, but you'll be happy to see the final product of such an effort."

Thank you SO much to Virgil, for the time spent elaborating this interview with me, and most importantly for the great project this writeup tries to do at least some justice to.
There are so many incredibly complex labours of love in SL, from sexy movies to superbly crafted pictures to even painstalkingly detailed sims and nicely planned events. So much of it, and I am glad when you decide to take time to share some of what you put in it. It can be inspiring to others, and simply fun and rewarding to put it into words and think back about it. Thanks for taking this journey together!
And again, in case you missed the link:

http://issuu.com/virgilius08/docs/mythos_-_tantalize
http://vir-studios.blogspot.com
https://www.flickr.com/photos/86916317@N04/albums/72157662906111879