unforum

[BrochachoNacho]

Technically, it's not hard to do most things, really. You know what's hard? Doing it well.

Honestly, I do think it's a bit annoying these days how many of my fellow ARG-players/Chaotic Fiction audience members give up on series right away. They don't give it a chance and critique it on the one or two videos they see and, based on that, never watch it again and get stubborn about not watching it ever again (Why yes, I do know several people like this, and it bugs the crap out of me).

However, people here will give you a chance. It isn't about the effects, either. Yes, TT has good effects. But you know what? A lot of people also don't follow it because they feel like it's boring and that there isn't much of a story. Personally, I like it, but that's their opinion.

You know what ARG did well on low budget and while the creators were in some tight situations? TJA. I loved TJA during it's run, and so many others did too. They made do with what they had, such as Amy's makeup for her burns on her arms. They used different codes, when they ever /did/ use codes, and the story was sweet.

On another note, you know what a really awesome ARG is? Dark Dream Chronicles. And there isn't much acting there, as it's mostly centered around chats IG. They brought something new to the table, and that's /many/ well-made characters that you can interact with. You hate, love, and even feel both emotions for several characters. Mostly hate, because there are so many deplorable characters, but they're also the most fun to talk to.

It's not hard to make an ARG. Look at SlenderSix. Yeah, how much time did they put into that? Not much? You just need to put lots of work into it. Except, y'know, have fun and all? Yeah, do that, or there's no reason to do it at all. c:

Tl;dr, be unique in your own way and don't think of the others when making your own ARG (that is unless you're learning from their mistakes). And have fun.

EDIT:

Page claim, bitches.

[sp103]

I wouldn't say its too difficult to start a series-you need a solid backstory to start out.

Let's look at the 3 most popular-
MH-Investigation of old film prompts the J to find his friend who disappeared after being stalked by SlenderMan-A+
TT-mysterious death of family member (right?) sparks Noah to investigate details. B+
EverymanHybrid-Mocking Slenderman in fake tones invicts the real Slenderman to town. A+ (even though I can't stand what happened to it with 93 youtube channels, Gollum, Habit, tumblr, fuckbook accounts etc).

Honorable Mentions of great jump off points-Wildshadows 57, The Dead are Watching, Photofugitive.

For me I just want to see REASONS for Slenderman. Again, I don't give a crap if one says he's the devil, another a ghost, another he's an alien etc. Just MOVE the storyline along. I like how DarkHarvest at least has shown there is some cultist background-nice progression there.. All these series, new and existing need to do this.

[Tharol]

Pardon me you left out Dark Harvest, Caught Not Sleeping, and His Collector three vlogs.

[AngryDeepground]

Honestly, I like less reasons for Slenderman, makes him creepier.

[CheckersValentine]

I agree. I don't want to know what slenderman is. I don't want him to be a pissed off tree or a fucking faerie-of-death. I like my slenderman ambigious. Maybe hint at why his haunting you but don't really go to far into explaining him. It takes away a lot of his eeriness for me.

As for the "Hard" thing. It's always hard to make a vlog, and if that's a problem, than you shouldn't do it. But it's not "too hard". Mostly it's a matter of coming up with a story and a way of telling that story that's innovative rather than just making a blog/vlog because you can, or because everyone else is and you want some of the action.

[tijde]

One thing that will keep me interested is seeing creators incorporate Slenderman into pre-existing talents and interests. For example, I got interested enough to follow Silver Selenide and Photofugitive because, although their stories may not be terribly ground-breaking thus far, they both have some nice photography to enjoy along the way. I initially got interested in MLA because the main character's acting was a cut above that of other series I'd seen. In all three cases, the people behind the stories had obviously devoted time and energy into improving their talents, probably way before even considering a Slenderseries. It feels like they decided to incorporate Slenderman into something they already loved, rather than starting with "I want to do a Slenderseries--what pretext can I use to start it?"

Hope that makes sense; I'm a bit hungover today.

[BritishHobo]

You just need to bring something new to the table. There's some great series popping up all the time, but the novelty kind of wears off after a while if every single one is a group of college guys working on a project and oh look Slender Man pops up. Don't go for the routine, don't just follow the plot everyone else is doing. The key thing here is the Slender Man, this horrifying, terrifying thing. There's so many different stories that can be told off of that. They don't all have to end up just a guy with a camera wandering round and occasionally seeing the guy.
Saying that, the series that has stood out to me most this year is definitely TJAProjects. Having female leads isn't as huge an innovation as some people in the Unfiction thread seemed to think (never mind the sexism in the first few pages) but they added a real emotional edge to a whole extent I'd never seen in a Slender Man series before. Sure, they all show the crazy effect the situation is having on the characters, but TJAP was the first I saw that took it to a whole other level. The video that just had TJ bringing her baby home and crying that nobody thought she was responsible enough to raise her was so good, and that had nothing to do with the Slender Man.

I'm considering starting a Slendy blog atm. Don't really have the talent or the cast for a YT series. But I have an idea I've been thinking about since early 2010 or so, something I've really seen done before, so I'm hoping people will enjoy it. Now I just need a suit and a camera and also maybe some talent, which'll be harder to come by.