Topic
Glitch: A Documentary (A celebration of a crazy, beautiful world)
Hi all,
I've been a Glitchen on and off since November 2011 when a friend (OGgiz) first brought me into the amazing experience that is Glitch.
In real life, I've been a film student for the past few years and now I'd like to put that knowledge and experience towards something I've found I really care about: Glitch. As in; a documentary, about where Glitch came from, what it became, what it meant to people and how the end came about.
I know this is a highly emotional and charged time, but making a documentary about Glitch is a possibility I'd really like to explore.
What it would depend on would be:
(I) DEV TEAM: Would you be comfortable with myself as an outside party (and others who get involved) creating a documentary about Glitch? Could you foresee any problems with this?
Would you be willing to participate, to tell your story and the story of Glitch, to inform people who didn't get the chance to experience it and give those who were lucky enough something to take away from the experience other than all the wonderful memories?
(II) GLITCHENS (or Glitchians, Glitchchae or Glitcheroonies): Would you be willing to share your experiences (on camera or off) and talk about your time in the game? Maybe talk about the culture, the amazing stories and poetry that came from it, and the experience in general?
It could be anonymous, or not, depending on your preference, but it would be a chance to share some of your fun times and to highlight some of the extraordinary shared history that this project has created.
Now, here comes the tricky part;
(III) Financing
I have some limited access to professional film and lighting equipment, and I have some good experience of film-making (message me if you want to see the kinds of films and videos I've made over the last few years, I'm pretty proud of them) but to actually create the kind of proper, documentary film that would show the world what Glitch meant to so many people would take a fair amount of travel and a lot of filming and editing time.
If this is the kind of project you'd be interested in, would you object to kicking in a few dollars towards, for instance, an Indiegogo or Kickstarter-funded project? I've done this once before, with fair success, and I already have some ideas for perks (that would need running by Tiny Speck, of course) that would give you a chance to immortalise your Glitchen on the big screen, or maybe feature your favourite areas in a montage, or other things like this.
Legally, I know that final approval for all and any of this lies with the wonderful people at Tiny Speck, and I hope that you/they would look on this as a chance to celebrate the creation and passing of something beautiful but, of course, if TS say no, it's no problem.
But... Here's the main thing. I didn't realise what Glitch meant to me until I realised it wasn't going to last forever and I'd like to celebrate that in a way that everyone could collaborate in, in the spirit of Glitch, and then we'd all have something to commemorate what was, and still is for a short time, a beautiful, crazy, occasionally lewd but always funny, experience.
What do you think, fellow Glitchen?
- FF
Replies
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yeeees :D I'll..... go and recall my amazing time with glitch, all the joy it gave me :)
Glitch is special. It's not just a game. It gave shy people a voice, it gave lonely people wonderful friends, and it gave creative people a platform :) - That... sounds amazing. I don't have a lot of money but I'd be happy to contribute to a kickstarter or what-have-you however much I could.
- I too would be happy to contribute in what small way I can. I've not been at Glitch for long, but it definitly helped me through some rough times. It's a very special place that has quickly found a place in my heart. I'll miss it.
- This would be incredible, best of luck!!!
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Thank you all for the quick replies and the good wishes!
One thing I forgot to mention that's really important - this is a not-for-profit thing, so any money raised would go towards making the documentary and nothing else. I'm not looking to make any money on this - I want to do it because I think it should be done! -
Documenting the whole project is important but I think focusing on the huge out-pouring of emotion by the community and tracking the wind-down makes for a compelling story.
Count me in. - I would absolutely love to contribute some footage.
- I think this is a great idea. Glitch may not be the most unique MMO but I think the community it drew in is worth documenting. Of course this is my only experience with an MMO so I'm not an expert ( also still don't know what MMO means). Glitch has a special place in my heart is love to support you in anyway I can.
- Please go with Indiegogo, that way even if you don't raise full funds you still have a great starting point.
- I would love to be a part :) im a filmmaker myself and I've been playing for a year.
- Interesting!
- I'll make the website and give an interview! Genuinely, haha :)
- I'd be interested in donating words on video. I could also help with editing or graphics if you need any!
- Interesting. I'd be willing to throw in some funds, if TS gives approval. And if additional help is needed maintaining a website, I'd also be willing to help with that. (I'm not one for interviews though.)
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i like this alot, the story of Glitch should be told and treasured.
I would very much like to participate and who knows, maybe, just maybe we can can touch the world with the wonderfull place called Ur and the wonderfull community of glitches.
I am willing to donate some funds with approval offcourse.
Ill do anything to keep this game alive ♥ -
Thank you all for being so terrifically enthusiastic in offering help and the prospect of funds!
As we've said, it would all depend on TS approval for an official documentary.
But... I'm really stoked that you posted, Stoot, and although it must be hellishly busy for you right now, if you could leave me a message (in-game or via email) I'd really appreciate it and could give you a rough outline of what all this would involve.
And Rorschasch, you're very right - I've used IndieGoGo before and it would be the way to go.
From what I'm seeing this would also be a really beautiful chance to showcase the collaborative nature of Glitch because of the many ways people are volunteering to get involved, too!
I'm really passionate about this idea - as might have come across in my slightly lengthy, slightly babble-y first post - and while I knew there were a lot of people out there just as passionate about what Glitch means to them, it's so nice to see all these replies! -
glitch is lovely, and so is this idea! reading the official closing forum thread also made me realise how much the game resonated with me and with so many of the players, and i think (a bit circularly) that the main reason it resonated with me is because it did with everyone else - i feel like a lot of people found each other here that would never have otherwise. so many posters mention how much glitch meant to them, and how it gave so many of us a bit of happiness and relief from tough times... this was truly a community founded on being gentle to each other, and a collaborative projetct would capture that spirit beautifully.
i don't imagine there's much i can do to help from brazil, but count me in for whatever is within my reach. - If it's one of those youtube clips with tons of random people just talking... I'd love to be part of it <3 For something like this, I might actually go out there and record my face. Or just a random voice talking during some cool pictures xD
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I'm in. I care very deeply about our community here. The wonderful gentle spirits that become our friends. What part of the RL world are you in feverfew? Would love to help if I can even to share with you.
Glitch has been a wonderful refuge since my dad passed away. Who wouldn't need more hugs & hi's -
FeverFew, if you need any graphic design done, posters and whatnot, I would be honored to take a stab at them.
Also, glad you agree with the Indiegogo option, I just would hate to see a bunch of glitchen give money and not have you reach the goal. Their little hearts would get broke again.
This by far was one of the most interesting and unique experiences of my life. It was the first, and is likely to be the only, MMO I ever consider playing.
May your pigs always need nibbling and your sloths need metal! - Yes to everything. I haven't much, but if only a few dollars will help, I'll do what I can.
- I don't have any stories because I'd only been playing for a month, but I wouldn't mind kicking in a few bucks. Glitch was such a lovely game, and I raved about it to all my gamer friends. I wish it didn't have to end:(
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Sound like a great idea, something like Indie Game: the Movie? If it goes on Kickstarter I'll definitely go for it.
@Feverfew: are you on the Facebook group "Ur - What Remains?" Do make an announcement there if you really go for this, we're over a thousand strong now! -
More replies! Happiness. In rough order:
@Darkwoof: I've joined that group, so I'll post there as this gets going.
@Rorschach, Dr Payne, Muncey Mango and all - offers of help are greatly appreciated, and I think that's really a good way of showing how much of a community Glitch has created!
My way of thinking are that there are two possible methods to get this going:
(I) The Official Method
Where Tiny Speck give their approval to use music, graphics and other bits and bobs from the game and agree to be interviewed about and to discuss Glitch from the beginning to the impending end - where it came from, what it's about, the inspiration behind it, that sort of thing. This would, of course, mean travelling to them to talk about this!
(II) The Community Method
At the same time, there's enough user-generated content - I think - that a documentary could be made that acts as a tribute, with people contributing stories, poems, songs, and reminiscences about their time in Glitch.
Just from the forums I can see that a lot of original stuff has been generated or covered that would make both a fascinating film and a unique memorial.
*
The ideal thing, of course, would be a mixture of both methods, with the official history and interviews to give a comprehensive account followed by community-generated content and video / audio / whatever reminiscences. Of course, this depends entirely on official approval! I'd like to think that TS would get behind a celebration of their work, but it's entirely up to them.
Either way, I will set up an IndieGoGo page for donations towards this with perks based around both the approved form and the pending-approval form - i.e. either the full documentary including official content or the user/community-generated film - either tonight or tomorrow. And of any funds raised, whatever's not spent can either go to TS as a thank-you or towards their next project, or to charity. As I said above, I have some ideas for perks etc based on the IndieGoGo model, so hopefully they will make sense!
Each outcome would be lovely in it's own way, I think!
For now, I love seeing so much interest, but please pass on the link to this thread to as many people as you can! - This sounds amazing! I would do whatever I possible could, just let us know!
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Very, very beautiful idea, Feverfew!
Where are you based? Do you know film funds, that could be willing to help, I mean, in addition to the crowdsourced donations? I think, The Glitch Story could make a great documentary on a whole range of aspects of the New Media. You should find supporters for that. -
Wonderful and interesting idea. I'm across the pond in Denmark, but would love to donate a few months subsciption worth, and maybe some video footage - perhaps if there was some questions you'd like us to answer.
And let us know if you want some "this is me playing - over the shoulder footage while narrating ish" (hope that made sense) - I'd be happy to contribute to a Kickstarter or what ever you come up with
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Okay...
(Scary deep breath!)
The funding campaign is now live here:
(www.indiegogo.com/glitchthe...)
As you'll see it takes into account both the Official and Community options.
(Hopefully TS will get in touch one way or another.)
Thank you all for your support and offers to kick in a few dollars towards it - now it's time to find out what happens next! - Donated! :-)
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Thank you so much, Daisy!
(Not just for donating, but for reminding me to put in the paragraph about donating and about pictures of Glitchen!)
[EDIT: I'm going to start promoting this project in the Announcements and Events forum soonest, and start looking for creative ways for people to get involved, too, but if anyone has any suggestions - and I'll be contacting everyone who's put in ideas on this thread to follow up, too! - then now's the time to shout!] -
Yes!!!! I always had this fantasy of going and shooting different kinds of Glitch players to showcase how people from completely different worlds all feel at home in Ur...I first started thinking about it after one of the many long-winded arguments with striatic, who is so completely the opposite of who I am, it's shocking we even enjoy the same game. (hey, stri ;) ;)
Will donate as soon as my bank account rises from the dead... give or take a couple of weeks. - This is a wonderful idea.
- I'd love to share my experiences about Glitch! I hope I can put some money toward this ;3;
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I basically cried (on the inside) myself to sleep last night, with my book and pen beside me. I was thinking of this huge documentary... Complete with Glitch music, words, everything. Clips from alpha, videos from there and here, snaps, real people talking, a documentary of every feature. At the end, everybody goes 'For the last time, once and for all, Good night Groddle.' And a Stoot clip thing. Staff talking maybe.
The beginning was the dong, the one with the Respect for the Beginnings quest... and somebody (I was imagining my voice) going 'On November 14th, Tiny Speck announced that their popular flash-based MMO Glitch would be shutting down on December 9th. This video will commemorate all the brave Glitchen and all the great features of what we called Glitch.'
With the waterfall music from the Elsquebeth (sp) quest, the alpha, the songs... ancestral music, everything. A 10-30 minute thing.
Only problem that I really saw, with my idea, was how we'll do it. I imagined all those cool.... things, like on CNN news you see the screen going through the text... you know. -
Brilliant idea, Please count me in :)
I will do what I can to help.
*hugs*, Bachjess - What a wonderful idea. Count me in as well.
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Hi all!
I've put a call out for anyone who wants to contribute in creative terms here (www.glitch.com/forum/announ...) and will be following that up later with a slightly more structured approach to what works best in documentary format.
There's also now a blog here (glitchthedocumentary.blogsp...) to keep on giving updates about what's going in, and celebrate if and when more funding comes in!
I'm also thinking of posting in the Ideas forum to see if people want to creatively contribute there, but I don't want to spam every forum with this, because that would get really annoying really quickly.
@Palindrome: that's all kinds of beautiful! A few things you mentioned - especially text-on-screen, news channel style - are not too difficult to do (in FinalCut you can do it, but it takes a fair bit of time, and it's better in AfterEffects but that, too, takes time). There's a bit too much kind of to this plan right now, but I kind of know how to do it and kind of have access to both programs.
For now I'm going to focus on collecting people's responses to the creativity angle and work out a way to gather worldwide videos without too much fuss (hopefully).
But I'll keep everyone posted as this keeps going! - 1+ :)
- what a great idea! i would love to be a part of it.....
- Feverfew, perhaps you could add the Indiegogo link to your original post.
- I would LOVE this. The other day, The Cat Face and I watched a documentary about indie game developers and it made me want to know about TS in this way. I would love to watch this.
- I will help out with this in any way I can- let me know if there's anything I can do to help!
- I'm in! I don't know if I have anything to add that's different or unique, but I love this kind of thing.
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Here is the link to the campaign: http://www.indiegogo.com/glitchthedocumentary
Please contribute some money if you want :) - I wish I could help with this, but I am struggling pretty bad right now. This is an amazing idea, so I will keep an eye on it :D.
- Great idea. I put my money with my mouth :)
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Thanks again, Rutger, for posting the link!
Please bear in mind though that the money side of things is just to smooth the way and to help make the final product look (and sound) as good as possible.
I'm going to work on a breakdown of what various funding levels will mean and what various contributions allow for to make things more transparent, and post that on the blog soonest so that people can see what the various targets are - I have been meaning to do this, but life has been hectic recently (as life will be!)
Still really cheerful about the contributions so far, though, so thank you all for that!
Here's... Dun dun dun...
THE NEXT BIG THING WHAT NEEDS DOING AND SUCH
At the moment, the title is pretty vanilla and, while I like it, I'd really like to open it up to community suggestions for something funnier, crazier or just generally more Glitch-y.
My personal contribution:
THE YEARS OF SQUEEZING CHICKENS
I know you can do better! All suggestions considered... -
I'd contribute some funds to a kickstart ..happily :) I get paid on 28th so will pop over and donate then. Thank you for doing this, it's such a great idea.
ETA: Glitcheroonies? Love it! -
I would support this.
EDIT: I have supported this and my Glitch name is posted as the contributor. :D