Blood Bowl documentary

[Giraffe]

"It's hard to take a man seriously when he's wearing a plastic helmet. "

Plastic Helmet? Sir, that garment is the mighty Head Garment of Thrud The Barbarian, patron of Thrudbowl, a charity BB tourny in aid of Cancer Research...surely you're not too young (i.e. I'm not so old) that you do not know of Thrud?

Seriously, its a silly promotional hat we wear when promoting Thrudbowl, I've found people are much more likely to help you out if you look silly!

Besides, do you really want to get taken seriously ?

Mat Laroche has very little chance of this ever being shown on Current TV (Sky Channel 193, Virgin Media channel 155) unless LOTS of Bloodbowl players get behind him and vote "two Tribes" as the leaderboard winner on Current TV.

So it's up to you guys, if you want the lanky twerp in the plastic helmet humiliated on international TV, tell EVERYONE to vote, vote vote for this!

To vote, visit
http://current.com/items/89118110_a_bloody_game_of_dice

I think this code allows you to embed a link to the the video into emails / posts (but, as usual, I cannot get it to work as I'm rubbish...)

Code: Select all

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Thrudtastic!!
Frank Hill, Club Leader, GCN Club BRGA.

P.S. for a look at Thrudbowl see www.thrudbowl.com

[Lycos]

Intersting that the link you posted there Frank is a quite differnet "directors cut" to the one I saw weeks ago. In a very different order of "scenes" etc....

[hoomin_erra]

Not a bad piece. Who the hell is christopher and what game is he playing? Rolling 10 dice at a time?????

And um paul um the way um you talk um sound just like um you in real um life.

[Craigtw]

A good rough draft, but I think it would need some editing before being something that the public should be seeing.

[Giraffe]

Craig,
Yeah, I agree with you, but I think it requires GW "on-side" to let Mat Laroche do a really in-depth "discovery" of Bloodbowl ... and they weren't too keen at the BBGT.

If I was producing a documentary on Bloodbowl, I'd start with the history of the game, then perhaps show how the models are designed, made, retailed and painted; then perhaps use some of the stuff from the Two Tribes documentary, perhaps include some more footage from other GCN clubs and Tourneys, include some screen shots / opinions on the various Forums such as the NAF and TBB, "edit" some of the waffle about dice out (forgive me Matt!), and add on the BB PC game at the end.

I'd finish with my personal thoughts that:
a) we need more "new blood" into the hobby, and would hope the documentary would be primarily aimed at getting the older generation to get involved in running "newbie leagues" at their local Gaming / GCN clubs, so Bloodbowl prospers;
b) I'm concerned about the long term viability of Bloodbowl, both for GW (what would happen if they dropped it as a specialist game) and for young hobbyists (who cannot even buy the Bloodbowl models at stores now).
c)I think more needs to be made of league play, much as though I love attending tourneys. I would love to see a national league website, perhaps run by the NAF or a similar organisation, with each Club League starting upon release of the latest LRB, and running for a year, with the winners of each club then entered into a special champions league for the following year, or perhaps more practically due to distance attending a UK Champions tourney to determine Team GB. All player skill increases could be computer generated from the website, and results entered after each round, so no one could be accused of cheating, and the league could be supported by a small subscription, so only those who wanted to enter it were paying for it. This would mean you could win your club league, but opt out of the National League if you were not interested in it, in which case the first National player in your club would qualify. The subscription from each club could cover the cost of the Uk Champions Tourney for the winners, so it was the prize for winning their league.

Apologies if the topic of a National League Website has already come up, I don't get much chance to TBB.
Frank

[Lycos]

Just for reference.... It is not a BB documentary as such...

Going back to the original emails and conversation with Mat... he was following a theme "Tribes" which many similar wanna be directors are doing things on.... and that involves why certain people gather together etc. He also has a personal interest in dice apparently... and a friend of his knows JJ which is how he got on the subject. The theme of Tribes is caught in why so many of us get together and play the game - I wasnt going to be in it (I thought) but he asks about going all over Europe to play the game as that is what his subject is about... the people who play, why they play etc. (And covers the bit Hoomin raises about Christopher and rolling ten dice at a time etc).

At no stage (and it was made clear to me at the start) was that ever suposed to be a straight bloodbowl documentary.... he is exploring dice, the people who play... Bloodbowl gives him a theme, thats all... so he mixes the two together. As Geggster pointed out on an email some time back, apart from my voice that you can hear while the human players are in shot (rotating?) around the 1min mark, there is no attempt to explain rules etc...

Just in case anyone got confused thinking this is a docu just about BB.............. that was not his remit.

[Craigtw]

Just in case anyone got confused thinking this is a docu just about BB.............. that was not his remit.

Yeah, who would have thought that the thread "Blood Bowl Documentary was actually about a Blood Bowl documentary?

[Giraffe]

I can see where you are coming from Dave regarding Two Tribes starting all of this...but wouldn't you agree the Bloodbowl community needs to maximise every opportunity for promotion of the hobby?

So, not withstanding the initial mis-naming of this topic, have we as a community got the contacts to organise a documentary on Bloodbowl?

It would be a marvelous way of introducing new blood into the "sport", and if GW were convinced to ratify it/ get involved, it could even be expanded / added-on to into mini 10 minute "Training Guides" that could could be shown in GW stores when they are promoting their next BB leagues - Hopefully using a lot of humour, I'm thinking along the lines of Utube as a means of contacting todays teenagers.

The Jedi's Alternative Rugby Commentary (the french, the canadians - sorry CraigW!) for example, five minutes apiece, they nail the message to the user and make you want to watch / play! Obviously, without the swearing...

By the way Dave, what did you think of the National League idea, is this old hat?
Frank

[Craigtw]

and if GW were convinced to ratify it/ get involved, it could even be expanded / added-on to into mini 10 minute "Training Guides" that could could be shown in GW stores when they are promoting their next BB leagues - Hopefully using a lot of humour, I'm thinking along the lines of Utube as a means of contacting todays teenagers.

Frankly, I think nit would be naive to think that GW would get involved. The money they make is off of the large 40K and Fantasy armies that are never completely done. Blood Bowl is not enough of a money maker for them to be involved in in a big way.

And for what it is worth I am happy for it. The less that GW is inolved, the better. If they get involved, then they are going to be looking for all kinds of ways to make more money off of it, for starters the LRBs will no longer be free to downkoad off the net!

I am all for the movies and spreading the good word, but keep it to the fanatical players and away from the evil corporation!

[Hangus]

I can see where you are coming from Dave regarding Two Tribes starting all of this...but wouldn't you agree the Bloodbowl community needs to maximise every opportunity for promotion of the hobby?

So, not withstanding the initial mis-naming of this topic, have we as a community got the contacts to organise a documentary on Bloodbowl?

we probably do have the contacts to make a documentary but I don't see the need at the minute and cannot see what good it would do. If it is to be on Youtube, people would have to be searching for it anyway if you know what i mean. If they are going to do that they will google it as well and find this place or the NAF.

If it was more of a history piece i am afraid you would need GW's help, to get the interviews with Jervis etc. That to me is more interesting, but is going to cost a bit of money to do (travel / stock / kit etc). Is it going to help promote the world of BB .....don't know as how would people see it unless it was sold in GW or on the NAF site.

I have been toying with the idea of creating a 1 minute piece to put on the NAF website so before people join they can see what it is all about. But since my camera broke I have not been able to yet.

[Giraffe]

Hangus,
I wonder if Mat Laroche might be willing to assist? He certainly has the skills... whether he has the time, who knows, but it wouldn't hurt to ask I guess.

If the NAF want to proceed with this, I have his email, and could try contacting Mat to see if he can assist, if it helps. Or I could try getting Mat to speak to a NAF contact, would that be you?

As a matter of interest, would this Vid be public domain (i.e. shareable with all Bloodbowl promoting websites) or NAF only? It's just I wouldn't mind having this vid on the Thrudbowl website if possible, would save me having to explain bloodbowl to all the cold-callers that contact me via the Thrudbowl website and try to sell me stuff...I'm sure TBB and other gaming sites could also make good use of such a vid...

I can see where Craig is coming from regarding the "evil corporation" comment. There are many people passionate about gaming at GW, but they must live in the real world. Getting them to support an idea is often a matter of explaining it in corporate terms, so the GW bean counters and lawyers can see what's in it for GW. Ok, and also waiting 3-6 months for a decision...lol!

Craig is right though, GW don't really make a lot of dough on Bloodbowl. I think any sensible gamer realises corporate entities will moneyspin any way they can, although they are not always fair to us. We can only increase our consumer power with GW by helping them to increase the popularity in Bloodbowl and therefore sales.

Honest, I do NOT work for them!

Ok, I am leader of a GCN club...so we're supposed to LOVE all things GW...but, seriously, I think we need GW (for the models and other Bloodbowl accessories) as much, if not more than, GW need us.

I believe the Bloodbowl community are the best organised, most committed and most capable section of GW's customer base. If we all work together with business-orientated strategies, we can convince GW to provide all of the things we want in a mutually beneficial way.

Forums like TBB and the NAF can and I think should be used more to organise and motivate our community into co-ordinated action to solve our Bloodbowl and GW related problems .

Of course, the trick is to get the vast majority to agree with you!

Stick did say earlier on i am mad ...

[Hangus]

Hangus,
I wonder if Mat Laroche might be willing to assist? He certainly has the skills... whether he has the time, who knows, but it wouldn't hurt to ask I guess.

Having watched Mat work i know he is certainly a skilled producer and has that annoying (yet very handy) reporter skill of asking the same question reworded to get the answer he wants

But the podcast he made was no more a documentary of warhammer than of BB as it explained none of the rules or showed much of the community.

His lack of interest in BB shows with him not reading the rules before interviewing people and chosing his cutaways (elves were slann should be and amazons were elves should be etc). He made the piece as a cover for his love of dice not of BB. I did not want to slag the piece off as he has done a grand job ......its just not how i would do it.

Besides you would have to pay him (he works as an estate agent at the weekends to pay the bills).

The one minute piece was just to explain what the NAF was (showing rankings, forum, tournaments etc).

I guess a very short one explaining the rules of BB could be useful with a nice voice over (funny enough the guy who does all the travel channels vo work plays on my cricket team)

[Giraffe]

Hangus,
Mat has replied to me, and said he would be " happy to help or point someone in their(your) direction."
he told me to
"Get them (you) to give me (Mat) a call." I will PM you his Phone Number.

Frank

[juck101]

I never heard of a skilled producer.

I think you must be talking about a good editor, they are people that do the real work

[Hangus]

I never heard of a skilled producer.

I think you must be talking about a good editor, they are people that do the real work

So true