Forget about simply watching movies inside the matrix internet. You can now make one there, too. For the first time ever, the 48 Hour Film Project and Second Life have teamed up to offer inter-nerds and cyberpunks with the chance to compete in a weekend-long filmmaking contest … online, in the popular virtual world of SL.

As usual in 48HFP events, teams will be given a genre, a character, a prop and one line of dialogue that must be used in the shooting of a short film, which must be completed in (clearly) 48 hours. The Second Life competition begins Friday, January 11th at 4:00 p.m. SLT (Second Life Time, of course) and ends Sunday, January 13 at 4:30 p.m. SLT. When the films are completed, they will be screened inside the virtual world of Second Life on January 16 and 17.

Since I don’t know exactly how these virtual worlds work, I wonder if such a virtual event can sell out or if any SL avatars can find a seat inside the New Globe Theater, the virtual location where the screenings will be held. Fortunately for those of us who aren’t so immersed in the web, we can also check out the competing films in the real world. They will be screened along with other (real-life) 48HFP films at the 2008 Filmapalooza, which takes place February 29 through March 2, in San Jose, California.

Of course, if you still doubt that the future is now, or can’t wrap your head around this innovation, you can continue following such ancient web-based film projects as Faintheart, Babelgum and LiveMansion: The Movie.