unforum

[awakeasaurusrex]

TBH I think this is fairly clinching proof that a solo or mostly-solo Slendyvlog isn't sustainable in the long run. I love TT, and I'm glad it tried to do what it did, but at the moment it feels like we're just watching it limp towards the finish line. So far as I can tell there are only two significant things left to happen in the plot: getting grandpappy's book, and visiting the boardwalk. Noah's written himself into a corner where any major update that didn't involve one or the other of those things would look like padding the story out and delaying the inevitable, but at the same time both events deserve enough attention that they'd probably take longer than usual to film.

This is precisely the sort of catch-22 I'd expect any slendyvlog to get into, to be honest. Heck, EMH has had a hell of a time keeping up the updates and they have a whole team fully involved in it. Producing posts for Slendyblogs requires infinitely less logistical headaches and scheduling, so it's no surprise that most solo creators opt for the blog route.

I'd like to see Slendyvloggers actually thinking about this from day one in future and actually considering their scheduling - with the directors working out when people are going to be free (barring emergencies), the participants having realistic ideas about how much they can give to the series and accepting that if they can't make most of the filming sessions they're not likely to be playing a major character, and the team as a whole actually planning out the vlog several entries ahead so if something comes up and someone can't show for a while they can adjust the advance plan accordingly. (And ideally, it'd be great to see vlogs where it isn't just one person doing all the video editing, because I imagine having only one editor on a vlog causes a whole damn world of delays.)

Oh, and I'd really like to see more vlogs filming a decent backlog of episodes before releasing the first video, so if something major comes up and no filming can happen at all for a while the group can carefully stagger the release of videos to alleviate the effects of the delay.

I suspect the guys behind Experience of Evil and MLAndersen0 both do this to an extent - both of those vlogs have been able to keep up a really good update schedule (though Experience of Evil seemed to crash and burn) - and it'd be good for quality all round if more people did it. If nothing else, paying attention to this sort of thing and working on it is just a fantastically useful life skill and worth practicing.

[Alloflifedecays]

I agree. It does frustrate me when there's really loose release schedule, especially because...well, how long does a Slender Man stalking-killing take? The longer the blog, the less of an immediate threat he seems to become.

[Carnahan]

I'll argue this. Obviously there are fans who'll love and praise your work, etc. etc., but when the only compensation is a few YouTube comments and posts on a message board vs. grades at a university... hell, I know where i'd aim.

I mean, we're arguing how this "takes us out of it" (the story), yet we'll pad our debates with quotes from creator's OOG sources, etc.

I'm not upset or or mad or anything like that. I'm just positive that he's just as anxious to get started again as we are. Except, you know, he's actually doing the work.

[awakeasaurusrex]

[mokie]

[qaqa]

I also disagree with TT losing momentum. It's always had its own. Yes, it takes time, but it's worth it and quite frankly the editing skills involved are the best in any Slenderseries - ever. I'm as excited about it as I ever was, and the staggered release time only adds to the suspense.

[McWeird007]

New tweet. Nothing special

[Bartok]

Jesus people, give the guy a break. MH didn't update for more than a month and no one bitched as much, EMH too. On top of that, he probably really has finals because most of us college goers do. He has a life people.

[OmniMan]

[IllusionOfLife]

I agree with OmniMan, I'm content to wait for Tribe Twelve because it consistently delivers in a way that none of the other series do. I love MLAndersen0 and, of course, Marble Hornets is the definitive Slender Man series, but I think Tribe Twelve almost always delivers fantastic effects, great suspense, and an intelligent story. Yes, the tweets are simply filler, but I appreciate it because it keeps you connected to the story on some level, to be honest, as much as I love MLAndersen0, it doesn't keep me involved as much as MH and TT do, and I think part of it is that it doesn't give you as many glimpses into the main character's mindset as MH and TT.

The suspense may diminish from one entry to the next, but Adam, in my opinion does a great job of bringing it back every time. Adam is aware of the issues involved in his slower production schedule and I think he accommodates that by really hitting all the right beats each entry. If anything I feel the series is gaining momentum rather than losing it judging by the pages of "brick shitting" that happens after each entry. Each entry of Tribe Twelve traditionally has a self-contained story which brings us up to pace, builds the suspense, moves the story forward, and ends with a cliff-hanger, each entry is also typically longer than MLAndersen0's or MH's. Tribe Twelve delivers something significant every episode because of the production schedule and we're never left with empty set-ups like we get in the other series (Marble Hornets Entry #34 anyone?).

People just need to have the patience to stick with it, because in the end it's almost always worth it. I also highly suspect, just from the layered nuances of the story we've seen so far, that Adam has planned the story out significantly.

[mokie]

There were, what, two comments complaining about the wait, and they weren't even about the wait so much as the tweet getting them exciting for an update that wasn't coming, and they were mild comments compared to the usual snark TT gets about its delayed updates...

Clearly, we must treat this as serious business. Someone dig up Nimbus's trollface "Haha made you wait!" posts!

[astrella_cami]

I've got an epileptic tree about Sarah and why she hasn't been heard from in a while.

[awakeasaurusrex]

Hell, I haven't been complaining, I've just been saying "Wouldn't it be good if Slendyvloggers actually learned from this sort of experience and did more advance planning?" Noah gets a pass because he was in the first wave.

[SoulHammer]

[RatheadSyndicate]

It's hard to say, I think, what sort of schedule any amateur webseries should follow, for a number of reasons:

1.) The DIY ethos and less-than-pro size of the budget that most of these blogs has to contend with means that turning in decent entries on, say, a bi-weekly basis becomes troublesome. No money and no outside professional help adds up to either more time spent on each entry to make it awesome, or shoddy entries pumped out at too quick a pace. I'd rather wait for the good stuff than be treated to poop on a plate every week.

2.) These guys ain't getting paid. It would be great to quit your job and make Slenderman videos all day, every day, but ain't in the cards, m'friend. Making videos costs money. Cameras, Tapes (or memory cards), props, locations, an apartment where you can keep all your junk, gas to get to new and exotic locales, etc. From a creator's perspective, unless you want a vlog set entirely in my studio apartment, you're going to have to be patient while I flip enough burgers to afford some cool looking fake blood.

3.) Verisimilitude. Why would Joe Nobody, who is suddenly being stalked by spooooooky-skeeeeery strangeness, keep to a shooting schedule? He wouldn't. It's enough of a strain on my suspension of disbelief that these guys are taking the time to film the weirdness at all, and now I'm expected to believe that, whilst dashing from ghoulies and trying not to get raked, they've got an alarm set on their iPhone to tell them that it's time to upload another video?

With that in mind, you also don't want to leave your audience without content for too long. I think EMH has a pretty brilliant formula for this, despite the bitching of some fans. Keep people interested with little stuff. Leaked documents. Photos. Stuff you can do in ten minutes by yourself that the fandom will puzzle over for three days. And try to get a video out at least once or twice a month. That's what I would do.

But again, this is pure back-seat directing.