View topic - Child Of The Storm?

unforum
a.r.g.b.b

Welcome!

New users, PLEASE read these forum guidelines. New posters, SEARCH before posting and read these rules before posting your killer new campaign. New players may also wish to peruse the ARG Player Tutorial.

All users must abide by the Terms of Service.

Website Restoration Project

This archiving project is a collaboration between Unfiction and Sean Stacey (SpaceBass), Brian Enigma (BrianEnigma), and Laura E. Hall (lehall) with
the Center for Immersive Arts.

Announcements

This is a static snapshot of the
Unfiction forums, as of
July 23, 2017.

This site is intended as an archive to chronicle the history of Alternate Reality Games.

Our Esteemed Contributors

The time now is Sun Nov 17, 2024 2:53 pm
All times are UTC - 4 (DST in action)

View posts in this forum since last visit
View unanswered posts in this forum

Calendar

Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » Old News & Rumors

Child Of The Storm?

Page 2 of 2 [24 Posts]

Goto page: Previous 1, 2

Author

Message

ndemeter
Entrenched

Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 1037
Location: Sunny California!

I didn't see any mentions so I wanted to post this up here. When Steve shows his friends the video feed on V2 from the master bedroom they get a shot of a hospital room. Apparently the feed returns to normal when he does a refresh.

CotS-hospitalstill.jpg
Description
Filesize	54.93KB
Viewed	100 Time(s)

_________________
Twitter: NickoDM - XBL: NickoDM

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:48 pm

ndemeter
Entrenched

Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 1037
Location: Sunny California!

META: FableForge

Okie dokie. I digged around and it looks like the videos are the creation of an aspiring director by the name of FableForge. A video that appears to link to the existing story of Steve is on his personal YT website (http://www.youtube.com/fableforge). From that site we also learn that his name is Marco Leon, and he likes to write ghost stories. Also a user by the name of stukeck already made a parody to Camera Guy. Another user by the name of Drathan posted Camera Guy as a comedy by the title of "HILLARIOUS SECURITY CAMERA VIDEO!" so it definitely looks like a viral promotion. So it looks so far that this is a dark episodic story as opposed to a puzzle-based ARG.

Camera Guy Synopsis:

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

A man goes to visit someone on the psych ward known as Camera Guy. During the meeting the man states that he has lost everything because of the cameras watching his every move and weird messages sent to him, his boss, and in general haunting his life. Prior to entering however the man has borowed a cell phone from the guard that he now uses to kill Camera Guy. The guard runs in and stuns the man to the ground. As he picks up the cell phone we see the dead Camera Guy. Credits.

_________________
Twitter: NickoDM - XBL: NickoDM

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:10 pm

tinag222
Unfettered

Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 521
Location: Here, Now

OOps...
found that too

I'm sorry the images are all spread out like that - I thought they'd be more compact. I'll fix it if one of you will point me to how ya get them more streamlined. I just used the upload deal...

The sites so far:

Original thread link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJfpp8Yg5yQ&mode=related&search=

"childofthestorm" YT url: http://www.youtube.com/childofthestorm

URL brand on video 1 frame of tunnel: http://www.ochevidec.tv/

Bus wipe out direct link: http://www.ochevidec.tv/vid/1138989957.wmv

Still/frame taken from above video and inserted into COTS's Video 1.

I do believe it may be time to back up and regroup...

I'll see your spoiler and raise ya one more...

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

I still wanna know who was behind the Steve video and how it is that the first shot in FF's video is seen in the beginning of COTS' video...and so is the creepy hallway zoom - that's at the end of COTS' "Steve" video#2 during the hospital bed guy part - and is right off in FF's Camera Guy video...so who are the 8 guys? What's the relation here? This is in direct violation of the Shotgun Theory. Is FF COTS? Who the hell is Steve? What murders?

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:24 pm

ndemeter
Entrenched

Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 1037
Location: Sunny California!

META: More meta for the sake of meta

_________________
Twitter: NickoDM - XBL: NickoDM

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:38 pm

lollipop00
Boot

Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Posts: 46
Location: florida

well, sad this doesn't seem to be an ARG, still interesting though.

video two had sooo many little things in it that doing frames was driving me crazy..so..in that sense i'm glad! i did save video 2 as an avi file at 8fps (so verrry slow) if anyone does want to see it.

large file so i just have it compressed. let me know!

_________________
mmmm...lollipop.
Current:
� meigeist 2 - ?? oo i hope!
Done:
� meigeist - here kitty kitty
� worldwithoutoil - 8TSOC

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:47 pm

tinag222
Unfettered

Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 521
Location: Here, Now

In that case....
/end spoiler

So okay...Camera Guy's asylum murder video begins with the same walkway scene shown in COTS's 2nd Steve video....and the hallway zoom shot at the end of COTS's 2nd Steve video, during the hospital bed guy part, is right off the bat in Camera Guy's asylum murder video...

So...would that be related then to the murder/s Steve's sister and wife are concerned about that was (not) "right next door?" Does Steve live next door to the asylum? (THAT would rock). Who is it then that's getting these "creepy" security cam frames?

Camera Guy is ticked about whoever's watching him and ruining his life. Maybe he's referring to all the security cameras installed everywhere "seeing" into his life, every move...and he's losing it?

I'm still snagged on who it is apparently videotaping Steve and putting the stuff they got of him onto or with the security cam stills.

The others in Vid#2 show more....

PS I do...

EDIT -

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

Sol posts on COTS's video#1, and appears again when the 2nd one is posted. Someone named Drathan posts that it's eerie but guesses it's a prank. Drathan's profile shows info on the Camera Guy video, and apparently Drathan IS FableForge. But that's probably BTS stuff so on with it...

Camera Guy video begins with a shot of a security cam of FRNT G 14-1-02 3:29pm - this scene is the same one shown in COTS' 2nd video where it's all jumpy - the front walk. No time stamp on COTS's video, time stamp is on CG's video.

Next comes HALL 2 security cam shot - and hall 2 is shown in COTS' 2nd video at the end, spliced into the hospital bed guy part.

In Camera Guy video, a visitor comes to see Mr. Gomez, posing as a long lost relative. Asylum staff let the guy in...and it's Mr. Gomez that's Camera Guy, not the visitor. Visitor asks attendant/guard guy if he has a cell phone, asks to see it. He checks it out - it's recording. He goes into the room and confronts Camera Guy - who is filming the interaction and laughing maniacally at whatever visitor says....

It's the stuff he says that's drawn back to COTS's videos and Steve...

Visitor says his name is - *was* John Simmons...until he lost his identity - or, until the hackers took it from him. CG is laughing about it.

Simmons goes on to say he lost his job...due to a spree of emails sent to his boss, that didn't come from him. CG still laughing.

Simmons then says he lost his family - they were killed at a traffic light. He says something else but I couldn't make it out. CG finds this amusing too, keeps laughing about it and no airbags or something.

Simmons goes on to say that 'they' were watching him, even at the hospital...the radiographers switched them off, and the heart monitors failed.

He says they watch him at the library, he can't use the computer but he could use microfiche, which was apparently how he tracked down where Camera Guy/Gomez was locked up - committed in 1995 at St. James Hospital after an insanity plea but CG says he never left his cell. Gomez tells Simmons that it doesn't matter, they're everywhere and always watching...they'll keep watching him...the security cameras at the grocery store, the security guard, the traffic guard, the middle of the desert will watch him via satellite...then Simmons whips out his camera phone and...........does the deed.

So good deal...that's all a mostly self contained one shot tale.

But then it's still tied to COTS videos...and these "random" spliced stills of...the video store (or library mentioned by Steve in the video), of the various traffic light locations, the security cameras in the parking lots, then there's the heart monitor failure in the hospital mentioned, and the above pic of hospital bed guy or person...the emails sent to Simmons' boss he didn't send.

There's some hackery going on...such as when Steve is showing the coworker the cam shot of the bedroom, there's a splice in of someone in the hospital bed, and splices from what is, for all intents and purposes, the front entrance to St. James (psychiatric) hospital, "frnt g"ate...also shown in the beginning spliced flashing of COTS's 2nd video, where it is all jumpy, then acts normal showing the white car pull in and park, and the briefcase guy coming up the walk taking a few steps over 15 minutes...and the zooming hall shot at the end of Video 2 is right at the beginning of Camera Guy video.

I get it about the BTS part but I'm looking at Steve's story at this point. COTS put this one on and ties Steve into the Camera Guy story.

BUT....Gomez insists he's been locked up, never left his cell since 1995. Simmons was there for revenge, presuming Gomez was behind the security camera infringement that wrecked his life, so he whacks Gomez.

Steve is tied to this story, the 2 videos make a specific point of noting the murder that happened, and about his being gadget guy. Someone is very focused on taking camera shots from in the vehicle, and very focused on intersections (traffic guards?), and the white car...which belongs to briefcase guy who goes into the psych hospital in CG.

I know...insufficient data...but the other stills in video 2 show more stuff.

Is someone hacking Steve's life now like they did Simmons? Did Simmons kill whoever was murdered in Steve's hood? Is Steve the hacker guy who was watching Simmons? Maybe that's why he wasn't worried - he's the one who's "gadget guy" and he "digs this kinda crap" (ie surveillance spy cams etc).

The two are connected in *story* - by the stuff spliced into the COTS videos...cause a couple of them are in CG's flashback just after he whacks Gomez...

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:49 pm

FableForge
Guest

Camera Guy is You

You people have totally made my day.

You're better than CSI.

I'm Marco Leon, I... .... I dont even know what was I thinking when I started this idea. I had a story, part of it seemed real, and part of it I could fill in the gaps with fiction and speculation. I had some footage that really intrigued me, and I could always probably shoot new footage too if I wanted to (bless low quality CCTV video for making everything seamless!), and so I decided that instead of making a conventional script and a regular film that used the footage I had, I would instead let that footage be -it-, and break it apart into tiny pieces and fill in stuff, and throw it all over the net. I wanted others to be as puzzled as I was, since damn, sometimes it just feels good to find a clue after freezing the vid at just the right time (on that note, I'm having a field day with JJ Abrams Cloverfield project). Unlike JJ, I dont really have anything to sell or promote, it was just... a crazy project.. just throwing easter eggs out there in the web and seeing if someone picks them up and puts them together. Until today, I thought -nobody- had. That was disappointing. But hey, here you are. You guys exist. I think I should go ahead and release the last bits of footage I still have, untouched. I'm sorry to say it will not tie all the loose ends, heck, -I- haven't tied all the loose ends myself, although I have a pretty damn good overall picture.

I ran into this thread by accident, while googling for "fableforge". Most of what you have figured out is correct. I've gone from one extreme, thinking I had made the puzzle pieces too hard to connect, since nobody seemed to be picking them up, to the other, thinking that maybe I made some things headslapping easy, like the Tesla references. I'm delighted to see you guys noticed the repeating footage in the flashbacks, and the opening shot of Camera Guy gives you location clues that you can use for the Steve videos. I'll leave it at that Smile

Part of me didnt want to make this post, instead I would have wanted to continue the mystery and just keep spying on you guys to see if you were picking it up. But the cold reality is that except for the last pending piece that I still have and I'll publish soon, thats all the footage I have. I guess, I could fake it, find someone who looks like Steve, or maybe invent a character and an explanation to replace Steve (I guess I could take Gomez since we never see his face) and continue with the theme, or, *shudders*, do a -re-enactment- like stupid Blair Witch 2, but it wouldnt be legit anymore... it would be 110% fiction. So, I guess it ends here, and the mystery will have to remain unsolved at least in part. No more tapes were received, although you can deduce what probably happened to Steve from watching the Camera Guy piece.

I may have tempted fate by sending Camera Guy as my submission to be casted for FOX's reality TV Show "On The Lot". Of course, I didnt make it to round 2, and seeing how the show bombed, maybe I was lucky for that. But something good came out of On The Lot in the end, and if Tesla had anything to do with it, I shall be forever in his debt: KarmaCritic.Com

You can read the story of On The Lot and KarmaCritic over at AICN, here:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33198

I would be honored to welcome any of you CSIs to KarmaCritic if you wish to apply, simply mention this post in the register page. Maybe we could pool resources and start a new series together, covert or not, and see if other people pick up the clues and run with it. I wrote a script for the first chapter of it:

http://www.karmacritic.com/node/548

If anyone is interested, this one is all fiction, although we dont have to say that (haha!), and its designed to be easy to shoot with a low budget and from different crews anywhere in the world. An online collaborative effort; the only recurring character uses a voice-device that he sticks to this throat to talk, and he's always in the shadows, so anyone can play him anywhere. Let me know if it strikes your fancy Smile

Anyway.. thank you for picking up my various messages in a bottle, and for making it worthwhile for me and my team to put this mess online.

Rock on.

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:15 am

FableForge
Guest

Ow man...

Guys, after posting the above, I realize this website is about ... "Alternate Reality Gaming"? I had no idea this concept even existed! I've read through your glossary, and through the history pages, and wow... I'm sorry if what I posted above is considered a "Meltdown", or if I flunged the curtain opened too soon. I never thought i was a "puppetmaster". I never knew these kind of games even existed! ... I'm so sorry if I've somehow killed the mystery, I never knew there was a structured way to play these games. Now I do, and I think its the coolest things -evar-. But I had no idea that the COTS series would be a game here. Funny... funny how everything comes full circle. Back in 1998 I started vaxia.org, a roleplaying site where players try to "see" their characters as if they were real people, and we players are just observers. I guess.. I dont know what I'm saying, just that this is a very cool concept, that I'll be joining up, and that I'm sorry for spoiling the game, I didnt know it was a game, or that there were rules or that you guys even existed until I found this site today.

There, I'm done shaming myself Smile

I'll play ball from now on, maybe in some other new game Smile

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 11:40 am

tinag222
Unfettered

Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 521
Location: Here, Now

Wow...thanks for posting that. I, for one, truly enjoyed the unfolding tale of madness and was disappointed it wasn't a game. Nevertheless, it was really intriguing in its own right. Hope there will be more from you soon.

Spoiler (Rollover to View):

hint hint hint hint

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 1:18 am

Display posts from previous: Sort by:

Page 2 of 2 [24 Posts]

Goto page: Previous 1, 2

Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » Old News & Rumors

Jump to:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
You cannot post calendar events in this forum