Apr 10, 2008

We are shooting a documentary about Dungeons and Dragons.

I know, "Why? Why does it matter?"

That's what we're wrestling with. We began the semester with a more clear focused project - compare and contrast a public high school with a private one, follow one kid from each around, look at state and national statistics, interview family and assess how each school prepares their students.

And then we decided, a little bit in, that it was too ambitious, that the red tape involved with cameras at a school is too much, we don't have enough time to do this important topic justice.

I wonder what we'll do with this one... because we don't have a clear POV, a stance.

The other kids in class are
-following a (former) homeless man and exploring his life and family
-following a mentally disabled maintenance worker around, exploring his life and (somewhat) his family
-looking at tattoo culture, interviewing tattoo artists and obtaining different students' opinions

We have footage on a table-top role-playing game.

Do we focus on HOW TO PLAY, THE PLAYERS ON CAMPUS, or, to be vague, WHAT THE GAME IS... that last one encompasses every specific path we could have gone.

Because in order to show what Dungeons and Dragons is... we have to, at least, lay the basics of how to play... and somehow make it interesting enough for people to watch within ten minutes? Maybe more? There are different facets, if we do go with this POV, that we have to cover... and it's extremely tedious to START watching a game, pausing to have some voice-over narration (yes, it may come to that) explain what they're about to do... watch them do it... and then start to do something else right before the narrator pauses and explains THAT part of the game.

Grar!

Would you watch this?

At this point, I don't think I would. Why does this matter?

6 comments:

  1. JennyApril 10, 2008 at 6:57 PM

    honestly, i'd rather watch the other films from your class.
    this doesn't peak my interest at all.
    but i don't say that to discourage you...
    do your best!




    i'm just glad that i won't have to watch it...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul KApril 10, 2008 at 7:13 PM

    I would watch it at least 7 times. Or even +6 sword of truth times.

    ReplyDelete
  3. lisa marieApril 10, 2008 at 11:48 PM

    Think of it as a challenge that you have a shitty topic. disregard the fact that your group chose it. now by incorporating humor, good shots, intense naration, and provacative characters, make it a sublime performance. chin up, lad

    ReplyDelete
  4. MelaApril 11, 2008 at 9:09 AM

    ya, you could make it a not serious video. :) or just change the topic and do the whole project on Lisa. :) hehehe

    hey, I went to hooka hump day/night. where were you?

    ReplyDelete
  5. JennyApril 14, 2008 at 12:39 AM

    i take it back. piper described it to me a bit, and it sounds pretty awesome. and i felt bad(still do) for being so discouraging.

    uhhhh... HIGH FIVE alvin (and team)!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. scott vkApril 15, 2008 at 10:33 PM

    Hi, I'm Scott, your room-mate's brother-in-law.

    I think you're looking at this Dungeons and Dragons thing all wrong. Perhaps asking "why does this matter?" with the assumption that it doesn't is not the right way to approach it. Maybe you could ask "what about this matters?" with the assumption that it does. Obviously D&D is a pretty big cultural phenomenon; it's been around for a long, long time and it's not going anywhere. What's given this game its staying power? Why are people so dedicated to it? What impact has it had on culture, more specifically gaming culture? I mean, it was the first game of its kind.
    Perhaps I don't fully understand what your assignment is, but I think that you could quite easily make an interesting doc about Dungeons and Dragons if you just kept an open mind. I don't play it myself, but if thousands upon thousands of people dedicate themselves to the playing of this game, then something about it matters to a lot of people.

    My apologies for this coming out of left field since I don't even know you, but for some reason I had a very strong reaction to your post.
    Just trying to help.

    Good luck with the project.

    ReplyDelete

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