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Forum index » Chaotic Fiction » Marble Hornets

Marble Hornets Notes
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blue5213
Boot

Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Posts: 68

Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

Rewatching Marble Hornets to see if anything in the older videos makes more sense in light of what's happened since.

1) The audio from Operator matches up almost perfectly with when the audio cuts out of Entry #13. Not sure if that's important in any way, but I think that's it.
2) It's clear the Alex did not have contact with Slendy prior to MH filming, based on Entry #2, or at least didn't remember it. He has to no reason to hide his previous encounter(s) with Slenderman from himself, and that's the only person who would have access to that tape prior to Alex giving them all to Jay.
3) From what Jay says in Introduction and the crew's reaction in Entry #9, I feel pretty confident in assuming that when Alex refers to everyone being "gone", he's referring to them getting fed up and leaving the MH project as opposed to being MIA or dead. Though with Jay and Tim obviously still alive, that's not exactly a big revelation.
4) Somebody on the MH crew definitely knew about Slenderman before filming started. The Slenderman symbol in Entry #11, the unknown person taping Jay in Exit-somebody knew. And it wasn't Jay or Alex.
5) On a related note, there must be a reason Alex was making those weird drawings. They meant something to him beyond creepy artsy doodles. Were they another way to remember what had happened? Were they messages? If so, messages to who?
6) The Operator symbol is clearly representative of Slenderman. The X over an O symbol appears on several of Alex's drawings with a body underneath that looks too much like a suit to be a coincidence. The Operator = Slenderman. Given that Alex seems to walk towards Slenderman in Entry #43, and the way Tim acts while wearing the Mask, it looks like Slenderman can control minds-"operating" them, if you will. Now, why does it show up on the red tower in Entry #21? Plus, in Warning, all the circles with Xs appearing over them suggets that several of people have fallen under Slendy's spell, or will if Jay doesn't get his act together (side note: on X, then three Xs, then six Xs, then eight Xs, then all Xs, then X through everyone; representing Tim, Brian and Alex, Sarah/Jay/Seth, Jessica/Alex's girlfriend?).
7) Based on Entries #7 and 9, it looks like Alex started using MH as a cover of sorts to investigate the Slenderman. He demands they keep reshooting lines in Entry #9 and goes ballistic when he finds out Seth hasn't been recording the whole time. In Entry #7 he stops shooting when he sees Slenderman in the background.
Cool

Why isn't Slenderman interested in Jay? He ignores him in Return, going after (ostensibly) Tim/Masky/the closet instead. In Entry #23, In Entry #42, the footage is a bit confusing, but Slendy doesn't chase after Jay; as we saw in Entries #4 and 10, Slendy can teleport or at least move very quickly if he wants to catch/scare someone. This seems to be the focus of TTA's interest in Jay, as well, given the "Whereis theark" at the end of Exit and other clues from TTA's videos. Jay appears somehow immune to Slenderman's control/interest, and TTA wants to know how/why.
9) The car Alex drives in both Exit and Entry #42 are the same. Not a big thing, but Alex clearly felt comfortable driving the same car for over 5 years in spite of being stalked by a supernatural demon-thing.
10) I'm increasingly unconvinced Masky = TTA. Why? Masky doesn't show up until after Entry #15-the interview with Tim. Yet TTA had posted at least 7 videos before the interview took place, and Program, the last video before the interview, features an undulating S that is shaped exactly like the one on Tim's shirt in Entry #9...perhaps a warning to Jay that Jay didn't pick up on in time. A lot of the evidence does point to Masky putting out at least some of these videos, but even then I think it's more likely Tim is suffering from multiple-personality disorder or being controlled (at least sometimes) by Slenderman.
11) I don't remember what the binary clock in Advocate said, but the video also includes the strange S and immediately followed the Tim interview...and immediately preceded the "anonymous tip" Jay got about where Brian might be located. Given that Tim claimed he hadn't heard from Brian in a while and the fact that Tim also claimed to know Alex through Brian, this seems awfully fishy. Throw in Addition, where it's clear TTA is/was following Jay through the house, and...TTA is obviously our anonymous tipster who doesn't, for whatever reason, want Jay to see him but does want Jay to know about Slenderman and keep filming, based on the footage from Entry #41.
12) There are at least three instances where Jay's Entry and a TTA video have overlapped, not only showing Jay but also doing so while someone else was obviously holding the camera. Entry #16/Addition; Entry #13/Exit; and Entry #39/Forecast.
13) I feel like the message at the end of Signal isn't inviting Jay back to The House; it's asking him to "come back" to somewhere else. The red tower and the tape Alex left there, "me" being the final MH tape? It also looks/sounds like TTA is asking for help, begging Jay to "come back and find me" after leaving him behind...perhaps a reference to when Alex leaves Seth behind in Entry #22?
14) "Found you forever" at the end of Return, Masky's strangely benevolent/nonthreatening appearance in Jay's bedroom in Entry #19 a week after attacking him in Entry #18, the presence of both a sleeping bag and the comforter/mattress combo in The House in Entry #23, the use of "we" in a lot of TTA's videos (see Entry ######)...it seems likely that if Masky is related to TTA, then TTA is more than one person, and they're using Jay to track Slendy somehow.
15) Why would Alex leave one tape in a metal box at the top of the red tower?
16) "Return to us" and "wake up" from Attention: doesn't it sound like that's addressed to Alex, not Jay? Anyone remember what the scrambled message at the end said?
17) It is painfully clear in Entry #23 that Jay is walking across the hall into another room, and getting teleported through the door back the way he came, and that time is passing by exceptionally quickly outside. Probably didn't help his case that the Slenderman doll kept moving and pointing to another room.
1 Cool

Jay is at the hotel for close to 2 1/2 months with weird sounds coming from Jessica's room and telling her three different stories about why he's there and not really having much of a clue as to why he's there or even where exactly he is. The biggest question is what takes Masky so long to find him? And what the hell was going on in Jessica's room all that time (no Slendersex jokes, plz)?
19) There was a key in Jay's bag when he woke up in the hotel. Is it the key to Alex's house? Seems like the most likely explanation.
20) In Fragments, the person whose picture is cut up is wearing glasses. The only MH character with glasses is Alex. Thus, Fragments seems to be directed, not at Jay, but (once again?) at Alex.
21) Gonna go ahead and say it: I really think it's Slenderman singing Happy Birthday to Alex in enttry #37. And that is just freaky.

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 8:17 pm

Gale
Unfettered

Joined: 24 Nov 2010
Posts: 347
Location: Maine

You need to space and paragraph your notes because you just your original post into a god damn wall of text!

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:45 pm

Foood
Unfettered

Joined: 22 Apr 2011
Posts: 478

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

blue5213 wrote:

Maybe Masky was relying entirely on Jay's entries to find him? It would take a while to find Jay based entirely on what outside shots are seen in the hotel entries. (Well it depends on the person and what areas they're familiar with. Obviously Alex found Jay quite easily when he sent him the package in #26)

As for the noises coming from Jessica's room, I think she was trying to break open her safe.

blue5213 wrote:

19) There was a key in Jay's bag when he woke up in the hotel. Is it the key to Alex's house? Seems like the most likely explanation.

The key seems like one of the things that the creators put out there to say "we will definitely answer where this came from in future entries."

blue5213 wrote:

21) Gonna go ahead and say it: I really think it's Slenderman singing Happy Birthday to Alex in enttry #37. And that is just freaky.

If you pay close attention, you'll find that it's really dang hard to hear any of the other voices say "Alex" when they're singing to him. While it may or not actually be Slenderman, I think the deep voice was a cheap gimmick made to cover up the other people's voices, because the boy in the footage isn't really named Alex.

edit: wow, I'm an idiot. disregard this last one. See Mr_Magpie's post below.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:25 am
Last edited by Foood on Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:03 pm; edited 1 time in total

Mr_Magpie
Decorated

Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 247
Location: Shiroi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

Foood wrote:

A quick correction - the woman bringing bb Alex's cake out, presumably his mother, also says the name Alex quite clearly at the end of the video after bb Alex has blown his candles out. ("All at once. Very nice, Alex.") This might also have been dubbed in, though, since we don't see the people in the footage talking at that point.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:31 am

pinkee808
Veteran

Joined: 14 May 2011
Posts: 72

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

blue5213 wrote:

3) From what Jay says in Introduction and the crew's reaction in Entry #9, I feel pretty confident in assuming that when Alex refers to everyone being "gone", he's referring to them getting fed up and leaving the MH project as opposed to being MIA or dead. Though with Jay and Tim obviously still alive, that's not exactly a big revelation.

I like this a lot. So many people have said that when Alex says "they're all gone" that he means they're dead or insane, but it makes perfect sense when you say it means they all quit MH. Good job!

[quote="blue5213]19) There was a key in Jay's bag when he woke up in the hotel. Is it the key to Alex's house? Seems like the most likely explanation.
[/quote]

I think the key may actually be to Amy's house. It could be to Alex's but I suspect he'll visit the place that the Operator returned to Alex.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:45 am

Mr_Magpie
Decorated

Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 247
Location: Shiroi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

blue5213 wrote:

1) The audio from Operator matches up almost perfectly with when the audio cuts out of Entry #13. Not sure if that's important in any way, but I think that's it.

Totheark obviously has some sort of access to Alex's original footage - he not only uses audio from these tapes (Operator/Entry #10), but video as well (Version). There is also one notable case in which totheark appears to have raw footage from Marble Hornets that is not actually part of the tapes given to Jay. (Advocate/Entry #7)

blue5213 wrote:

Although I think this theory is the most logical one I've heard thus far, you would think that if Jay had become fed up with Marble Hornets and walked away from the project, he wouldn't have been inclined to approach Alex about what he was going to do with the tapes. From the way Introduction is set up, it seems as if the two were at least still on speaking terms, if not just as friendly as always.

blue5213 wrote:

4) Somebody on the MH crew definitely knew about Slenderman before filming started. The Slenderman symbol in Entry #11, the unknown person taping Jay in Exit-somebody knew. And it wasn't Jay or Alex.

I wish we had more information ie chronology for those early Entries and Alex's footage in general. It would be nice to know if, for example, Entry #13 (and therefore Exit) took place before or after Entry #20, when we first see the extent of Tim's coughing fits and hear that Brian is eternally 'getting snacks or something'.

blue5213 wrote:

15) Why would Alex leave one tape in a metal box at the top of the red tower?

In light of Brian's house apparently being Masky Central, and Alex's last word on the tapes being that 'I'm going to burn them', is it possible that Alex wasn't the one who left the tape there at all? Could he have somehow misplaced or abandoned it somewhere where it could have been picked up by someone else?

blue5213 wrote:

16) "Return to us" and "wake up" from Attention: doesn't it sound like that's addressed to Alex, not Jay? Anyone remember what the scrambled message at the end said?

Awaiting your arrival

blue5213 wrote:

20) In Fragments, the person whose picture is cut up is wearing glasses. The only MH character with glasses is Alex. Thus, Fragments seems to be directed, not at Jay, but (once again?) at Alex.

Or at least to Jay about Alex. TTA certainly doesn't seem to have a surplus of warm and fuzzy feelings towards the guy, after all.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:35 am

onetruepurple
Unfettered

Joined: 07 Jan 2011
Posts: 570

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

Foood wrote:

I think the deep voice was a cheap gimmick made to cover up the other people's voices, because the boy in the footage isn't really named Alex.

Deepening the pitch of voices and other sounds is a common theme in totheark videos. Presumably because that's how the Operator 'talks' in #23 and #29.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 4:50 am

sjhartsfield
Veteran

Joined: 30 Mar 2011
Posts: 111
Location: Oklahoma City

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

onetruepurple wrote:

Foood wrote:

I think the deep voice was a cheap gimmick made to cover up the other people's voices, because the boy in the footage isn't really named Alex.

Deepening the pitch of voices and other sounds is a common theme in totheark videos. Presumably because that's how the Operator 'talks' in #23 and #29.

Apart from that, the creators aren't really known for using cheap gimmicks just to cover stuff up. If something happens, it's generally to a point and purpose. If they had just wanted to cover up the people's voices, they could have recorded a whole group singing and just dubbed it over the entire video.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:09 am

blue5213
Boot

Joined: 02 Nov 2009
Posts: 68

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

Mr_Magpie wrote:

blue5213 wrote:

Something just doesn't add up with Jay's involvement with Marble Hornets. Obviously he remembers being involved with the project at the beginning, but the videos strongly indicate that he wasn't around for the actual filming except at the very beginning (for example, Entry #20). So where did he go? What I think happened is Jay left (went home from college for a while maybe?) for a few months right after filming started, then when he got back found out that Alex had gone crazy and chased everyone else off his project. Alex may have figured Jay had no idea what had happened, so it might be a good idea to let him have the tapes to know why he should STFU about Marble Hornets.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:24 pm

Mr_Magpie
Decorated

Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 247
Location: Shiroi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

blue5213 wrote:

Mr_Magpie wrote:

blue5213 wrote:

I think this is the only theory that makes sense - that Jay wasn't actually present for most of Marble Hornets, only for the beginning of the filming process/scouting locations/whatever was going on in Entry #13. This would also explain why we just don't see very much of Jay. If Jay had been heavily involved and then lost his memories (ala Alex by the end of Entry #22) then it seems unlikely that Alex would have given him the tapes - or, rather, it makes the most sense for Alex to give them to someone who had never been very involved in the project in the first place.

It doesn't seem like it was a matter of Jay becoming fed up with Alex's behaviour during the filming of Marble Hornets either - in several entries Jay says that he's never seen Alex act so frantic (Entry #8 ) or so irritable (Entry #9), whereas anyone involved in Marble Hornets would have seen Alex display this behaviour time and again, eventually culminating in his leaving Seth behind in The House That Lovecraft Built. I also doubt Jay would have been so careless as to leave the tapes sitting around in his closet for three years, if he'd had any idea what was going on.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 4:56 pm

ermac26
Decorated

Joined: 29 May 2011
Posts: 230
Location: Pennsylvania

At this point, has Jay went through the entirety of the tapes that Alex had handed to him in the first place?

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:41 pm

Mr_Magpie
Decorated

Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 247
Location: Shiroi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan

ermac26 wrote:

At this point, has Jay went through the entirety of the tapes that Alex had handed to him in the first place?

Presumably. In the beginning of Entry #20, Jay says 'I'm almost finished looking through the tapes. I found what could possibly be the final clue I'll get from them.'

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:47 pm

TheCrimsonKnight
Decorated

Joined: 22 Dec 2010
Posts: 189
Location: Somewhere in the woods.

Re: Marble Hornets Notes
Recapping some of what we know about MH

blue5213 wrote:

Rewatching Marble Hornets to see if anything in the older videos makes more sense in light of what's happened since.

15) Why would Alex leave one tape in a metal box at the top of the red tower?

My guess is, someone who didn�t wanted either TTA/Masky/Hood/ someone else left there. I think it was meant for J.

Option 1) Alex left it there. I know he was going to burn all the tapes, but hey, neither him nor J seem to be in complete control of their actions, right?
My guess is: Alex *did* left the message leading to the tower, either he was manipulated by someone else.
Option 2) Occam�s Razor: Alex had nothing to do with the tape, or the message leading J to the tower, and someone simply included the message in Alex�s writings.

I can only think of TTA to do this, but time will say. Will also think about the other points.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:57 pm

ermac26
Decorated

Joined: 29 May 2011
Posts: 230
Location: Pennsylvania

Ahh, thanks.

I think this could be added as a note: In Entry #12, the tape begins with Alex saying "Eh, I don't know. He'll move.", addressing the operator. Also at the end "Hey, buddy." (AKA idk who you are, but GTFO my set)

This basically debunks those "Alex has been stalked by the Operator his entire life" theories, which started circa. enttry #37.

Side note: It REALLY erks me that we still don't even have the slightest clue of which female is behind the camera (the one that says "what is he doing?"). It probably isn't significant at all, but I just want to know. What I do think is significant in #12:

1. Brian walking in front of the camera @ :12. Troy wanted us to know that he was on set. Probably to indicate that he had a little more to do with the movie than just the "stuck in a loop of unhappiness" masterpiece of a quote in #7, amongst other things.

2. What happens after Alex confronts "buddy" to leave. I mean, what happened after that encounter?? Was there an encounter?

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:16 pm

Mr_Magpie
Decorated

Joined: 13 Jun 2011
Posts: 247
Location: Shiroi-shi, Chiba-ken, Japan

ermac26 wrote:

I'm still not convinced that enttry #37 is really evidence that Alex was being stalked by The Operator during his childhood. At best, it's evidence that TTA believes that The Operator's involvement with Alex goes back further than the filming of Marble Hornets. Or, alternatively, TTA just wanted to show off his 1337 hacking/home video stealing skills.

ermac26 wrote:

Side note: It REALLY erks me that we still don't even have the slightest clue of which female is behind the camera (the one that says "what is he doing?"). It probably isn't significant at all, but I just want to know. What I do think is significant in #12:

1. Brian walking in front of the camera @ :12. Troy wanted us to know that he was on set. Probably to indicate that he had a little more to do with the movie than just the "stuck in a loop of unhappiness" masterpiece of a quote in #7, amongst other things.

2. What happens after Alex confronts "buddy" to leave. I mean, what happened after that encounter?? Was there an encounter?

Until we get any further information on that period of time, ie the presence of other girls, I'm going to assume it was Sarah. As for what happens after the end of Entry #12, I'm not sure - but I've always thought that because this was the rest of the MH crew's first encounter with The Operator, it might possibly have served as a jumping off point for Alex getting them involved in his Operator Hunting/Creepy Basement Exploration Adventures later on.

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:26 pm

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