Dragons in the Basement Documentary

[havard]

Apr 16, 2009 9:18:51 GMT -6 coffee said:

Dave did have the PDF of Supplement II: Blackmoor on his website for years, and WOTC never did anything about it -- I was under the impression he was permitted to distribute it.

Greyelf may be right, or SuppII could have been covered either by WotC's settlement with Dave when they first took over TSR or by the lisence given to ZGG (linked to the previously mentioned settlement) which seem to have allowed ZGG to do whatever they wanted with material labelled Blackmoor. As I stated, it seems like that did include a clause saying ZGG should stick to 3E/4E so SuppII would be a borderline thing here...

When Dave's website disappeared recently, I asked if I could distribute SuppII on my website. His response was "distribute away" so it is now available there. I hope I won't get into trouble for that though, if the rights really belong to WotC, given their recent change in attitude towards old edition pdfs...?

Havard

[Deleted]

Anyone in touch with the family have an update on this?

[Deleted]

I'm a lifelong D&D gamer and filmmaker. I'm tracking down this project "Dragons in the Basement" for one of my own TSR related film projects. Does anyone know how to get a copy of this footage? Does anyone know if the documentary was placed on hold? I would even be willing to edit the 22 1/2 hours down into a 2 - 3 hour documentary, which might be easier to distribute.

Jon Ray

[thegreyelf]

It was never released, sadly. Nobody knows what Dave's family wants to do, or if/when this will see the light of day, though I expect we'd all love to see it.

[havard]

Mar 2, 2010 8:19:50 GMT -6 thegreyelf said:

It was never released, sadly. Nobody knows what Dave's family wants to do, or if/when this will see the light of day, though I expect we'd all love to see it.

Oh yes we would!

Does anyone know how far along the project ever got?

Havard

[aldarron]

Last report from Dave was that there were "editing difficulties". odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=blackmoor&thread=1223&page=1 I dn't know what that means, but being a film school grad myself and having freelanced in the 'burgh for almost a decade before the career switch, I would normally interpret that to mean problems with the original footage, very often with the sound because most amateur filmakers have no clue how to mic properly. I hope I'm dead wrong though. It could also be an ownershiprights issue if it started as a student project using college owned equipment. I've thought about volunteering to help on the project myself but couldn't possibly work on it full time. At the very least I'd love to se a transcript of all those interviews. That's oral history that shouldn't be lost. Victor might be able to put you in touch with the filmmaker if you PM him.

[badger2305]

By "Victor" that would be me.

[Deleted]

I would love to see a film length edited version released along with a "collector's" set that included all the raw footage. The historian in me just wants all that raw data to survive and be available for review, insight, and commentary.

[Deleted]

Thanks for all the information and great to see a vibrant group still interested in this project as I am. As to having the entire 10 DVD set release, that would all depend upon the current controlling party. But even that would still need to be edited and mastered into a presentable form.

aldarron- I'll PM Victor, thanks.

Also, as I'm pretty much an unknown around here, I present a short documentary I made back in film school covering table top RPGs.



EDIT: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzuVdY1oURs
(A direct link to the YouTube page it is on.)

[aldarron]

looks like the vid isn't working. Can you just give a link? Anyway have an exalt for trying to get this project moving. Let us know if you make any progress and let me know if there's anything I might be able to help with.

[Deleted]

As 2010 comes to a close, any word on this project?

[aldarron]

Second hand word from Malia regarding this and all material related to Dave's interests over the years is that it will all be made available in time, but the loss of her father has been too sharply felt for her to tackle these projects yet. I can only suggest patience.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the update.

[DungeonDevil]

Any retrospective on the early days of the hobby --whether in print or video -- would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted]

So, it's time once again for me to ask if any movement has been made on this or has it disappeared never to be seen again?

[Deleted]

Having had a father pass this year, I can sympathize with the Arneson family. I look at my father's notes daily to navigate the family business, but I am not sure I would have the internal fortitude to examine and edit 22 hours of video containing my father for commercial purposes.

Most likely, such material would be safely put away with videos of my wedding or children, for short and private moments among close friends and family members.

At the same time, Dave impacted the lives of so many people. He was uncommon. My father created a family business as many men do, but Dave helped create an entire, and unique, industry. When someone throws pebble in a pond and instigates a creative tsunami, there is a natural desire to know more about the pebble thrower, how he came to the pond, and the forces that played about him--how many books and videos are dedicated to Steve Jobs, or John Lennon?

If the Arneson family could even provide unedited compilations from 'Dragons In The Basement,' I think the respectful and appreciative among us would come with wallets open.

[eldrad]

22 1/2 hours of old school masters? This must make the light of day.

[eldrad]

Any more news on this?

If anything just release all the footage for free on archive.org/youtube or something but I still think it's a documentary that people WOULD buy and watch.

[Deleted]

I have not heard anything new.