City of Heroes Movie community collaborative?

[ThorsAssassin]

So after reading tweets from Samuraiko, the thought occurred to me that a Coh movie would actually be possible but is there interest in making it a collaborative effort?

We definitely have the talent that it takes and of course the movie would be done using the Coh assets such as demo editing. It could be just a half hour to 45 minute movie but I really think it's possible.

What do you guys think? Between us all and having everyone pitch it, this would be a cool way to be a community and show the world what we as a group can do.

Some general thoughts on the strengths of members and what they could contribute?

[Samuraiko]

Unfortunately, people don't realize the cost that goes into making these things.

Labours of love are all well and good (I should know - look at my YT channel), but a project of that size takes:

a) The raw TIME involved. Most of us work (and those of us that don't, spend a good deal of time trying to find work).
b) Secondary assets - Music. Voice work. Audio engineering. Video editing. Etc etc etc.
c) Script writing. This ALONE can take a great deal of time, hammering out dialogue, action (especially with the confines of what the game can/cannot do), effects shots, and so on.
d) Marketing of any kind.
e) Resources - And I don't just mean the game itself. Sound software. Video software. Storage/server space. Bandwidth.

I hate to point out the white elephant in the room, but the large majority of the people who could really make this happen, are currently involved in one or another of the Plan Zs, never mind the real-life obligations that a lot of us have.

Of course, if the community is willing to fund not only a-d listed above, but enough for me to take a solid 6 months of 'paid vacation' so I could spend all my time on a movie? Sure, that's a different story.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[ThorsAssassin]

Yeah I have no delusions of the time it takes and you are probably right, it's a HUGE undertaking and we all have our real lives.

I work 60 hours a week in community management which is why it takes me forever to do something particularly in demo recording.

My initial though was to have several videographers working on it, use the audio and music from the game credentials, maybe have a couple scripters. But yeah it's a pipe dream

But hey, I can dream right? 

[TimtheEnchanter]

Even if not a full length feature, some kind of collaborative tribute (like 5-minutes long) involving everyone in the demo/video hobby would be pretty sweet.

[ThorsAssassin]

Even if not a full length feature, some kind of collaborative tribute (like 5-minutes long) involving everyone in the demo/video hobby would be pretty sweet.

Yeah it would!

[Torroes.Prime]

I've attempted to get a collaborative effort under way several times. Each time it fell flat on it's face when it came to the demo editors part of the project. I just simply couldn't get anyone else besides myself to commit to time for the demo editing so I was left with just myself to do the demo work. As Samuraiko pointed out, it is an incredible investment in time and labor. But I disagree with her inference that it need be done by one person. If properly planned out, I see no reason it couldn't be handled like a small scale movie where the labor itself can be farmed out across dozens of individuals each doing only part of the work. 1 person working for 10 hours only produce 10 hours of effort but 20 people working for 11 hours produce 220 hours of effort. I see no reason the same idea can not be applied to demo editing.

Get a script together and formalized.
Break the script down into scenes and then segments of scenes.
-break down the scenes into what is needed such as what map, what toons, will those toons be edited and thus be Player toons or standard and thus be NPCs, what effects you need, ect.
-Find interested individuals to provide voices.
--I had done this previously when I attempting to start up a Web Series based on the Shining Stars and can ask if the individuals who originally agreed to do voices for my productions are interested in working on this one.
Work with some of the artistic folks here from CoH to produce story board and Toaster reels of the shots.
Bring together a group of individuals who can demo edit and assign out work loads to individuals to complete. Keep the work loads small and manegable. Use the Story boards as guides.
The edited Demos can be sent to an individual to render them out into video who would then turn the video over to the individuals who will do the video editing.

Yes there are challenges to over come. But I firmly believe that the challenges are there specifically for us to over come them. These are many of the same challenges that I am working to overcome right now for my own plans to continue City of Heroes in Fan-comic form.

Bottom line: Count me in.