Tuesday, December 4, 2007

My Schizophrenia

It's a tough decision.


I, Maya, am part of the community - but so is Marla.  Until recently I haven't had a reason to separate those two.  But as the past few weeks have rolled by, it's becoming clear to me that I have to distinguish between Marla and Maya: between fiction and reality - and between what is in Maddison's world and what is not.  


I'm not sure if what is going on has happened before - that is, a fan of the show becoming a character - and the transition is rough.  Confusing to say the least.


So.  I'm joining Jeromy behind the wall.  I'm not sure how to describe how difficult a decision it is, for me specifically.   But it's for a good cause.



The upside is that while Maya might not show up, Marla most definitely will.  So it's not really goodbye for me.



I love you guys.  You know it.


M




2 Week Notice.... Almost

I've been thinking heavily on this for the last week. Very heavily. I've talked with a bunch of folks privately, and I've made a decision.

As of the end of my radio show a week from Thursday (December 13th), I'm building a fierce wall where this sad excuse of a curtain is.

Why?

In short, I have concluded that being so accessible to the audience has diminished the focus on the story.

So, focus on the story. You all are missing things, and I'm doing my part to help you focus. I'm rooting for you back here.

Hearts and Kisses..... Wait, I'm not leaving yet. I'll be available for the next a-little-more-than-a-week.

J

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I got this in the mail



If you sent me this and it's a trailhead and/or puzzle.... TELL ME!

It's awesome. Maya and I are totally confused by it, but all the same, we decided that "who's" might mean "whois" so she found www.faceintheclouds.com, and I followed up with the registrant with an email.

Thought the community at large might enjoy this.

Jeromy

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Why Myspace from an OOG POV?

Awwww man. We didn't win! Nooooo!

he he

Really, it's no big deal. Personally, I didn't think we would fare well because we aren't established on the myspace community, but my personal perspectives aren't all that important or interesting here.

It's the creative and narrative reasons that I think are cool. Simply put, I wanted and want to stretch the fourth wall in the show. That imagined separation between fiction and unfiction; between the performers and the audience. Like having the real live Adam Lamar as himself in the story. I've heard people say that it's confusing, and I can see how it may be, but I'm going to continue experimenting with it nonetheless. We are going to keep blazing trails through the fourth wall where characters interact with the real world. Where a Clara can enter a Real Life myspace contest.

That's what was most important and interesting. "Winning" or being offered a spot in the top 12 would have been nice, and it may still happen, but even then, I'd have to turn down the invitation because of the contract I'd have to sign to be in the semi-final round. See the contest rules for details.

The professional reason to enter the myspace story teller contest is to become a blip on myspace/fox/The Producer's Guild's radar. If we could have racked up a bunch of views and comments on myspace for this contest, then they might notice and say, "Hey. What's this? OOOOOOO Interesting!" Call me up, and give me a million dollar production budget.

Because, I want to leave the fans to organize themselves, the information, and in general work as an autonomous unit, you didn't receive direction from me ahead of time about how to interact . . . ie serve as our marketing team (this could be a blog entry on its own). Since I'm not comfortable with that kind of Out Of Game guidance, you are hearing what I was hoping after the fact.... which is sad and idealistic... but it's the way I am, and I think it makes the game better. Success is in your hands. Even though I want it too, I'm willing to risk not having it so the game maintains the highest level of integrity and realism.

What DID happen is that we had this drama, and *everyone* was talking about us. Bringing our submission to the attention of all the folks in charge. So, Mission Accomplished! Sort of. We got right in front of the big boys, maybe not in the way I had initially hoped, but we did it all the same.

Thanks to everyone who tried to bolster the votes. I was right there with you promoting it to my friends as well. We are a grass roots independent production, and considering that, I think we did very well in the contest.

Thanks!

Jeromy

Friday, November 16, 2007

The final update at the 11th hour

Good times everybody. Thanks for all of your support. The voting ends here in about an hour, so I wanted to give you all the update and the nearly final numbers on the video.

1820 Plays
47 Comments
224 votes
47% approval

I'm anxious to see how Clara responds to this.

J

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Update on the myspace vid Thursday

If there was a time to rally the troops, it'd be now.

1648 Views
37 Comments (Did you notice Clara is deleting negative comments :) )
47% Rating
206 Votes

206 votes. Wow. I've been reconsidering my stance on this. 206 votes is really a lot! Thanks for anyone who voted, and thanks to all those who wrangled their friends and family to vote too.

The deadline to vote is tomorrow at 11:59 AM. That is one minute before noon.

Wish us luck!

Jeromy

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Wednesday's Myspace Conest Update

I'm not certain where Clara stand amongst the other videos, but 5 out of 10 BooYahs isn't bad. I wonder how she's taking it.

Update today

1500 Views
36 Comments
53%
168 Votes

2 More days of voting! Promote the vid as you see fit

J

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Update

58% 146 Votes.

After checking my email this morning, it looks like the drama of the myspace "cheaters" is fading away. I've been contacting folks individually by Private Message to apologize for all the drama. I'm not debating with them or anything. I just apologize and assure them that it's all under control.

Honestly, I'm surprised that the votes are as low as they are (for or against).

Thanks for all that you all do.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Myspace Contest Update

Well. It's not looking good, but here are the stats this morning.

101 Votes 63 Percent.

I saw this morning that the efforts of QtheC and the Red Army brought about some negative whiplash among the myspace crowd. I had a few emails from folks telling me to step in and handle it over the weekend, but I didn't. I'm taking a hands off approach to this situation. On one hand, a really good arguement could be made for why I should have.... However, Clara's video is In Game (even though I've been promoting it OOG. Good point), and I wanted to let it ride.

My personal viewpoint on this is that the efforts of "operationstoryteller" could have used some revising. However, in my experience, the community always has its back, and this time was no different. It didn't take long before constructive criticism was offered, and the weaker parts of the plan were edited. It's tough that it is having some negative spin amongst the myspace community, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

I'm not worried about it. Not at all. I think it's great that the community wants to promote Redearth88, and even missteps are still steps! Don't lose heart. Maddison Atkins (the story) isn't broken forever. It will be fine. Besides, we still have a few days for voting.

QtheC. Thanks for your effort here! Acid.... Thanks for your skills... I don't know who else helped out, but thanks to you too. Sorry to LG15 Today and model motion. I hated to see your name get pulled into this.

J

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Note from myspace

60 Votes so far.

Just got this bulletin from myspace. Votes that were cast on Thursday, when the video went live, do not count. Only one vote per person. Thanks for your support.


Thanks for participating in The Storyteller Challenge. Check out the new profile and get badges to post on your own MySpace page. Voting is based on the thumbs up/thumbs down feature on the video viewing page, so if you entered, send your video URL to everyone you know! Ranking from before 11/09 will not count.

For voters, only your most recent vote per video will count, so don't waste your time voting over and over again. Voting is open until 11/16. Shortly after that, we'll start contacting only the top ranked Producers to make sure their entries are eligible, so hang tight. The Top 12 will be posted at myspace.com/storytellerchallenge on 11/30.

Thank you and good luck!

Friday, November 9, 2007

Myspace Contest

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted a video for the myspace contest video. It was a *very* moving video to edit.

I wanted to point out a couple of things about the myspace contest that you may not be aware of.

After reading the rules of the contest, it looks like the top 12 videos will be compiled by how the videos are rated.

Each video submission can only be rated 1 time during the rating period... which lasts from right now until the 12th (Monday).

You can promote the video however you wish, but I'm going to try and get my 300-some-odd (literally) friends on my myspace friends list to watch it and give it a thumbs up Booyah for me. Who knows, maybe Clara will be making a trip to pitch the Maddison Atkins story to the Fox Execs. What a story that would be!

It's a short window, so do what you can.

The Video Link


Thanks,

Jeromy