Fear of Girls, a D&D Documentary

FhnuZoag writes "Google Video is hosting the short film 'Fear of Girls', written and directed by Ryan Wood. The film is a hilarious 'documentary' dealing with a pair of self-declared elite table-top roleplayers. The film has already appeared at a variety of fringe events, but here's a chance to see it for free and online from a server that probably can survive a slashdotting." Allright, so it's not that funny, but since I'm off to play D&D this afternoon, it tickled me.

Comments

Pretty Damn Good Quality

[eldavojohn]

I didn't RTFA but I did WTFV.

And it was good. Very funny, very well done. Where the hell does YNG Turk Films get that kind of cash to make something as high quality as that (come on, the closing credits were stunning). Has it really become that easy to manipulate video on your home computer? Probably, but these guys know how to entertain.

After looking into more of YNG Turk Productions, it seems they're based out of Hopkins, Minnesota (just like MST3K!) but there seems to be little other information about them. What I do know is that they've done quite a few comedic sketches and you can find another one on Google Video called Pitching Mother but they've also done other various (primarily comedy) skits in their times. Will Ryan Wood gain a cult following?

I have to admit, the best thing about being a geek/nerd is that I love to see myself made fun of. I absolutely die laughing and love it. Any other stereotype gets offended whenever you make fun of them. And if you can't be lighthearted about everything, then you're going to have a hell of a time making it through life.

Re:Pretty Damn Good Quality

[Lumpy]

As an indie filmmaker I can answer your questions.

1- where they got their money. I can tell you this this production cost them almost nothing. Maybe a couple hundred bucks expenses in production incidentals.

2- Is it really that easy? yes and it has been for almost a decade now. Anyone with a copy of Adobe Premiere and a way to get video in (DV makes life really easy) has what it takes. I can set you up with everything you need to shoot a short of this quality for less than $1000.00 total. including camera, audio, lighting and editor. (Hint an old P4-1.2ghz machine with 512 meg of ram and a copy of Premiere6 thta can be had for dirt right now, coupled with a el-cheapo Canon DV camcorder, some shop lights, a painters pole and gaffers tape to hold a $59.00 audio technica shotgun microphone out there.)

Anyone with a desire to do this can do it easily. and if you already own a PC that is of decent speed (Even a PIII 1ghz will do it well) you already have most of the gear. (a pinnacle DV500 card with a copy of Premiere 6 and extra tools costs about $150.00 most places on the net right now.)

finally what gear you have means nothing. I know of a group that has 4 Canon XL1-HD cameras as well as a high end AVID editor with all the goodies and tens of thousands worth of gear and they suck horribly. Their video looks good but it's a nice and shiny turd.

I have also seen something shot on a really old VHS camcorder and edited in camera win awards and have people in the audience clamoring to see it again.

Good writing, good direction and most of all Competent crew = good project. Gear and money does not.

Re:my experiences with AD&D

[icepick72]

Yes, it's hard to tell around here who's pulling legs and not, however you brought to mind a recent story. Just this week in Toronto (Canada) a cab driver was killed by one of two teens street racing their parent's BMWs; the interesting part about the story is "Investigators say a copy of a popular video game simulating car races was found in one of the cars" Do I believe the game put the idea in their heads? Yes. Do I believe the game is bad? No. (but I digress) Those were two normal kids who pulled a stupid stunt. I did stupid tricks in vehicles when I was young; most of us have. It's just a bad decision, not a case of reality vs. fantasy. Unfortunately sometimes somebody gets hurt or dies. On the other hand I have a friend who suffered from schizonphrenia and at a certain time in his life had a really hard time separating reality from fantasy (e.g. the government was after him, bill gates put microchips in his family's heads, etc). Fortunately he pulled through thre roughest parts, And he's always been the most careful driver I know (remember "Driving MIss Daisy"!) even though he played racing games and such, funny enough. His fantasy vs. reality struggle wasn't based on a notion from a video game or movie. His world was very different from within his own mind. You just never know. It all depends on the person. I don't think you can fit all AD&D players into one category to be "Careful" of.

Re:Fear of girls?!

[inter alias]

Guys and girls should all get respect according to their individual worth(/lessness), not as guys or girls.

Some girls treat men as crap, some men are crap. Some men treat girls like crap, some girls are crap.

Can't we all just get along? - Probably not..

Re:Fear of girls?!

[Feanturi]

A friend of mine tried this stint in EQ,

I myself attempted this years ago, on a MUD, all text, so there wasn't even a sexy avatar to look at, just a female name. I made a cleric named Freya, and set about playing. A group found me immediately and pressed me to join, and they started loading me up with gold and equipment, and rapidly started getting me xp. All the guys (which IIRC was all of them, period) were emoting smiles and winks and whatnots at me constantly, and one even broached the subject of mud marriage, asking me if I'd heard of it. This character was less than 1 hour old at this point, and already being asked to marry?!? I had barely said two words to any of them, mainly "Thank you" for yet another pile of gold or armor or whatever. I suppose, that since I had already been given a sizeable amount of gold and equipment it was considered we had 'gotten to know each other' already. I decided to just quit out, came back in with my regular male character, and continued on able to enjoy the game once again. I've never ever bothered to try making a female character again, it's just not worth the hassle.

I've known real live female gamers that only play male characters for this very reason.