School's In Session - NBR Investigates

Lonelygirl15 Panel @ SXSW Film Festival

On Sunday, March 11 from 11:30 to 12:30 CST, Lonelygirl15 Creators will participate in a panel discussion at the the SXSW ("south by southwest") conference in Austin, Texas. This conference combines Interactive, Film, and Music where Interactive is a diverse collection of things like internet, video games, cell phone technology, etc. Film is a week of indie and other films, and Music is 1 million live bands, give or take.

The panel description:

Lonelygirl15: A Case Study

For months, thousands of people around the world were captivated by the daily video diary from an unknown teen-age girl. There was drama, romance, and comedy. But, in the early Fall of 2006, it was revealed that these video diaries were all a fabrication from the imagination of three artists. From obscurity to popularity on YouTube, the people behind LonelyGirl15 talk publicly for the first time, about their experiences with online filmmaking and the swirling questions of what's real and what's staged.

Moderator: David Hudson Editor, GreenCine

Greg Goodfried Producer, Lonelygirl15
David Hudson Editor, GreenCine
Miles Beckett Producer, Lonelygirl15
Mesh Flinders Producer, Lonelygirl15

Check out the SXSW website - there are lots of ways fans can interact with events online including RSS feeds and other stuff I don't really understand.

Music Fan?

One really cool thing if you are into music is the Player 0.7 button on the SXSW Music Homepage. Click for some streaming tunes - including some up and coming bands and stuff you are not going to find elsewhere. Try typing a letter or two in the "find bands" box, and tons of bands come up with songs to listen to and links to their websites - sweet! So much better than crappy radio stations.

Wow, I am having so much fun with this music player thing - if you find any cool bands on there you would like to recommend, post a comment on here! I'm digging Nicole Atkins & the Sea (alt Country) from Neptune NJ, Alabama Thunderpussy (metal) out of Richmond VA, and Buttercup (pop) out of San Antonio TX.

Okay, I had to add one more that is interesting, but I'm not sure yet if I actually like: Peter Adams and the Nocturnal Collective (rock) from Cincinnati OH ... the song Centamentalisque sounds more like a mini movie soundtrack than a regular song to me. I'm listening again, and starting to like it more...

~ QtheC

Mixed Media show #1 - notes

Mixed Media online show
March 6, 2007 from 6-8pm PST
Phone lines live during the show: 310 984 7600
(link is available to the right)

LG15 Creators Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried hosting with LG15 co-creator and writer Mesh Flinders calling in. Other callers are mentioned below.

(I missed the first 15-20 minutes, and missed one of the fan's callers names and did not note who asked a lot of the fan chat questions - so feel free to supplement or correct this report in the comments!)
----

Someone asked about ARGS in the chat. The creators said that you can get all the storypoints from the videos. You don't have to play the ARG, but it just adds more information to the story for those that want it.

Ken Goodfried (Greg's Dad) called in. Jonas' house is Ken's house. The LG15 cast and crew are well behaved. Nothing has disappeared from the house. Ken is the Deacon in the "On the Run" video. Greg's wife, Amanda, is Lucy. Greg played the role of Bree's Dad. Greg's Dad was injured (dislocated finger) during the scene where Bree's Dad was grabbed and killed. Miles displayed his medical training by giving all the medical terms for the horrible bent in half finger dislocation.

LG15 writer and creator of the character Bree, Mesh Flinders, called in. Mesh talked about the origins of Bree, a character named Cassie, precocious, 14 years old, dragged around the world by her hippy parents who taught her how to sail (but nothing else), one day she is marooned and had to sail to get back to her island. Later Mesh wrote "The City Below" with the same character. And still later wrote "The Bender," about a kid cursed to relive the same airplane crash again and again. Cassie was his little sister. So this evolving Cassie character became the basis of Bree in Lonelygirl15.

QuinceTheCarpenter aka QtheC asked in chat: "Miles told us in Chat that the story would "never end" ... that Bree was just the beginning .. can you elaborate on that?" I was excited to hear them pick up and answer this question almost right way, but then the audio went out for me and I was pounding my F5 key furiously, curse you internet gods! I heard something about it being a world, and Star Trek.

Miles talked about how much work the show is for everyone involved, "About 5 videos a week, shot in as close to real time as we can... It can be draining..." Miles also does all the tech work on the site.

In response to chat questions about Gemma, Greg said, "gemma is gone for now ... but you never know" and "those are her real eyes - crazy, i know." and much later on said in the audio, "As of now, Gemma was in Brother's (gun) sights... not a good place to be ... for now, that is the end of the (character's) trajectory."

There was mention of Mesh taking a break from filming to work on "the script" and the LG15 Creators emphasized, "Mesh isn't going anywhere - We are going to Jonas him into a chair." Nice. (This refers to recent events in the cabin, where Bree and Daniel tied Jonas into a chair.)

Someone in chat asked Is this the "purest" version of Bree? The Creators answered: "Absolutely, this is a composite of the creative work of the writers, producers, and the actress Jessica Rose - earlier Bree precursors are stepping stones, but this is the real Bree."

A "big reveal" during a call in from Mesh's Dad: What did "Lazy-eye" come from? It came from "Rebalancing the World" (which had another title as well - look in your library for it). The answer on first or second page of the book.

QtheC asked in chat: "any thought of doing tricks like flash-backs or dream sequences?" The Creators answered that Lonelygirl15 is real, and has the constraint that all the videos are shot by characters in real time, but there are creative ways we might do things, like found footage someone leaves behind, etc. ... someone in Chat suggested flash-backs = home movies, and the Creators picked up on this and agreed that might be possible. Now that's fan interaction!

Mile's Dad Frank (also known as Deacon ZZTop from the elevator scene) called in, but for some reason, I stopped taking notes for awhile. I must have been clicking on things. Miles mentioned that the finanicial support of his parents Frank and Annette literally made Lonelygirl15 possible. And Frank was proud that Miles was decisive enough to walk away from his M.D. to do what he really wanted to do in pursuing a career in Hollywood.

The first ever unplanned (fan) caller to the show was Nicole. She asked, "Do you make deliberate references in your videos to your fans? For example, the watchers channel, the chat room?" The Creators answered yes giving some examples: The Bear character "Thor" was named by fans. Orange Slurpees on the comment board - Yousef wanted to work in a slurpee reference so they had Daniel say he wanted to get a slurpee at the bowling alley. The recent Nancy Drew Clue was cracked by fans - and Daniel gave a shout-out to specific fans to thank them for helping him in the next video. When they first showed the Aleister Crowley photo, the Creators wondered, "will anyone notice it or care?" Fans picked up on it within half an hour and it became a huge topic of conversation on the internet. After some more chatting, the Creators asked whether Nicole had a favorite character. Nicole likes Daniel the best.

Iris called in second, and they started to ask him where he got his name, and he asked something else which I did not note down, but unfortunately, the call was dropped. The Creators encouraged Iris to call again.

Rosieiswatching was the next caller, and has a cute, possibly hispanic, accent. She said she is intrigued by the Deacons posts, and wondered about whether they were being put up by the Creators. The Creators said the Deacons are fanfic, created by someone out there, and that's great. They know fans put a little more weight on the story they provide, but hope fans will get just as involved in each other's creations around the LG15 story. (There was more on this later by Miles about enhancing the website for fan stories).

There was some discussion of a misunderstanding awhile back with some internet rumors about Yousef possibly leaving the show. The Creators said, "Yousef possibly being removed was a misunderstanding... it was based on some tension over funding and possible delays as a result," and "The fan response in support of keepind Daniel on the show was good for Yousef's confidence."

There was another female caller after Rosieiswatching, but before Linc, but I am sorry to say I missed this caller's name, and my notes are not real clear at this point as to who discussed what. Somehow, the topic of Bree's evolving character came up... The Creators (Greg?) said, "Bree has gone through a lot, and I we knew she cannot be the sweet innocent 'Proving Science Wrong' Bree anymore... but we know that was a part of the show people enjoyed and are often thinking of ways to get back to that" ... "I agree that relationships (between the main characters) are at the core of the show." (There was more to this, but that's what I noted).

Linc called in, and Miles expressed appreciation for his dehteraew videos, saying the "Website is being redesigned to allow fan storytelling, so you can gather your videos in one place" and "the most popular works will float to the top." The Creators liked Linc's video where the camera was on the ground of a parking garage, and could relate to him saying they had to "pretend they were not filming as random people passed by." The Creators said "Keep those videos coming! We love to see them."

Greg responded to a question in chat: "We know the story, but we are writing as we go with fan interaction."

Lisa Goodfried, Greg's sister called in and told a little about the feedback she received during the lead up to the reveal of Bree being a creation and not "real." There were rumors that Lisa was Bree and she had to lock down her myspace page.

Future shows will feature the LG15 actors and the Creator's Moms since the Dads got most of the airtime during this show.

The Creators ended the show with a MEEP!

As long as this is, there was certainly more. For those that missed the show, I think the audio portions may be available as a "rebroadcast" on the Mixed Media website - follow the link modelmotion has posted to the right and in the post below on this page.

~ QtheC

MIXED MEDIA

http://www.nowinla.com/channel_preview.asp?id=2785

Today on LG15

Today on LG15 fans were treated to a new scoobie road trip! It appears the trio hashed things out over the weekend and Jonas is no longer a suspected orange slurpee drinker. He's not speaking to Bree however, can you blame the guy??

Jonas: Beast, did you hear something? I swear, I swear I just heard like this high - pitched whiny... screechy thing. You didn't hear...no, you didnt hear that? Okay.

Anyway despite all the drama it appears that the scoobies are finally on to something. They discovered some important paperwork in Jonas's cabin.

Daniel: Hey, check this out. (Daniel focuses on a paper titled "The Order in the Modern Empire by R.J.W." There are a list of initials in the right bottom corner of the page) It's pretty detailed. Your dad was really on to something. It makes sense that they adopted that symbol, being critical of the Order and all. It's associated with textual criticism and identifying and removing errors from text. Jonas, where are we going?

Jonas: We are going to my Aunt's house. I think that a lot of my parents financial information and, and all the stuff about the foundation they set up is up there, somewhere, and it's safe... for now.

Arriving at said aunt's house Jonas once again showed his prowess for breaking and entering by successfuly scaling the garden fence and letting Daniel and Bree in.

What will they discover? If Jonas's folks were part of the anti-order did the order sink their boat? Will Jonas ever forgive Bree for her resevoir dogs re-enactment? Only the next vlog will tell...

On The Road Again

..and then we were treated to..

ITSCASSIE: Do you know Bree?

Warning: Cassieiscommenting!

It started innocently enough. In response to the appearance of yet another Cassie posting videos, Opladybug created this response video:



But it did not end there. Oh no. Cassieislooseandiswreakinghavoconthecommentsboard.
So watch out, she's pretty sneaky, and can wend her way into your postings without your brain even realizing it.

~ QtheC

LG15 Creators announce "Mixed Media" talk show

The Creators (send note) Says:
March 4th, 2007 at 5:58 pm

Hey everyone,
Miles and I (Greg) will be hosting a weekly radio show called Mixed Media on nowlive.com. The show will be broadcast on Tuesdays from 6-8 p.m. PST. During the show, you can chat, call-in, and upload photos.
We will be discussing LG15 as well as what is happening in internet video, ARG’s, and other forms of digital entertainment.
There will be a call in component to the show and we would love for some of you to call in and talk to us about any of the show’s topics. We need to comprise a list of people who will be calling in so if you are interested, send us a PM with your name, what you would like to discuss, and your phone number. We will let you know Tuesday by 2:00 p.m. PST if you will be a caller on the show.
The first show is this Tuesday 3/6 and our first guest will be Mesh
Here is a link to the show page - www.nowinla.com/channel_preview.asp?id=2785
Hope you all come check it out!!!
Greg

~ QtheC

☺ Newsflash! Jonas' Cabin's Closet - Quite Dis-Orderly

In a stunning revelation today, Bree had a look in the previously unnoticed storage closet craftily hidden at the top of the stairs, and what she saw blew her mind ... "Why, it's a complete mess! Total Dis-Order! This closet would never have been acceptable to my parents or the Deacons, so how could Jonas' parents have allowed this? ... Could I have been wrong about him?"

Will Bree believe Jonas is innocent now? Is Tachyon to blame for the messy closet, perhaps, for ALL the messy closets? Will Danielbeast get to sleep on the spare mattress instead of the sofa? And who will bring Order to this chaos?

Stay tuned LG15 fans... and maybe it's time for a little spring cleaning while you wait for the next video. Someone may be Watching!

~ QtheC

Today on LG15

Today on LG15 fans watched in amazement as Jonas broke back into his own house!

Clearly not scared of the prospect of more good cop / bad cop with Bree and P. monkey he decided the only way to clear his name was to get into the attic where his parents stuff was stored, and find evidence to prove that he was not an orange slurpee drinker.

As he searched through the cluttered closet of boxes and junk fans heard him mutter "What the hell is that?" before Danielbeast could be heard approaching. What had Jonas found? More watcher symbols? An Alistair Crowley book? Or *gasp* a recipe book for mixing the perfect martini?

For more information on the breaking news up there in the mountains please see QthC's excellent article below.... :)

☺ The Fugitive Breaks In!

*ringgg, ringggggggg, ringgg, ringggggg*

Shirley (working dispatch): Secret Hidden Mountain Lake Police and Convenience Store, how may I direct your call?

Daniel (on phone): This is Daniel. We've had a break in! Can you send someone over?

Shirley: Didn't we just release you? Louie got you home okay?

Daniel: Yes, I'm back at my, I mean, the cabin. Listen, there's been a break-in and he's still here!

Shirley: Well, that sounds serious. Is anyone injured?

Daniel: No, but I'm afraid Jonas will punch me out if I let him out of the storage closet. I need help!

Shirley: Jonas? Wait a minute. You better talk to Bob. *hands phone over to Bob*

Shirley (whispers to Bob): You are not going to believe this... Jonas returned home, and Daniel has him trapped in a closet.

Bob (taking telephone): Officer Bob speaking... Daniel, what's going on over there?

Daniel: It's Jonas! He broke in. Come and arrest him!

Bob: Uhmmmm, well, I know the Govenor's niece is a big fan of yours and all, but I can't really arrest Jonas for breaking into his own cabin.

Daniel: What the hell? But he's dangerous! And Bree is gonna be so mad at me if I let him get away again.

Bob: I'm sorry Daniel. You're just going to have to work this one out on your own. But don't do anything really bad, because we will be watching the videos... by the way, try not to keep us waiting so long for the next one, okay?

Daniel (pouting voice): Okay, I'll try.

Bob: Maybe offer to watch some movies with him. Jonas likes movies. I hear "The Fugitive" is pretty good...

Daniel: Whatever. Bye. *click*

Louie (entering station): Hey, I'm back. Did I miss anything?

Bob: Um, hard to explain... you better just watch the video:



*bad boys, bad boys, watch ya gonna do? ...*

~ QtheC