Chris Chan Documentary.

[Thetan]

You keep saying "manneurisms" instead of "mannerisms"Use of the term "gal-pals" seems out of character for the narrator. You should establish this is one of Chris's phrases, or just drop it all together.

I actually think the use of the term "gal pals" is perfect because Chris's off view of his relationship is completely unique, completely his own (and completely warped). It may have been a good idea, however, to elaborate just a little bit about what Chris meant by that term.

 

[spylobster]

I actually think the use of the term "gal pals" is perfect because Chris's off view of his relationship is completely unique, completely his own (and completely warped). It may have been a good idea, however, to elaborate just a little bit about what Chris meant by that term.

I had a few lines recorded on explaining some of Christians unique words, but I ultimately decided to not have the explanation because I thought the viewer would kind of piece together the puzzle that I was throwing in a word only Chris would use. And I mostly used words that are still cwc-isms but can still be deciphered with a little thought. But other than that I'm a little mixed on whether I should of explained them or not.

 

[Sonic Boom]

I had a few lines recorded on explaining some of Christians unique words, but I ultimately decided to not have the explanation because I thought the viewer would kind of piece together the puzzle that I was throwing in a word only Chris would use. And I mostly used words that are still cwc-isms but can still be deciphered with a little thought. But other than that I'm a little mixed on whether I should of explained them or not.

When you use it before you explain it you make yourself sound just as autistic as he is.

 

[Thetan]

One other thing.. It may have been interesting to have brought up the infamous Something Awful photo the kick started the trolling. It was Chris's overblown reaction to that very innocuous and innocent photo, his over-the-top attempts to justify /defend himself and his public hissy fits that made him an Internet celebrity. It's because of this incident that I believe Chris brought most, if not all of the trolling, down on himself (just to clarify, I'm not saying that he "deserved" it, just trying to point out the cause and effect at work here). Sure, Chris may have still ended up being "discovered" at some point because he's a bizarre individual and he attracts attention, but things would probably never have escalated to the level they did.

I'm not suggesting that your documentary suffered because of this omission; on the contrary, I REALLY enjoyed it, I simply think that the above would have made an interesting addition.

 

[Blue Max]

It's been said many times before but is worth repeating:
Thanks, Spylobster, for putting this much work into a documentary, and I hope you do well in your class as a result.

In terms of quality and effort, I believe this is an excellent project.

I do seem possible improvements in the documentary, however:

1) There isn't a lot of discussion about Barb or Bob, their decision to mainstream Chris and homeschool him. The revelations that Bob apparently paid many of his gal-pals in high-school is a mythbuster and leads to real questions of just how much was going far too wrong far too early. This one's still a major work in progress in terms of scope, but Chris' problems were serious even in high school.

2) Trolls are a mixed lot. It's too easy to lump them all into one category and claim that they're all of the Encyclopedia Dramatica harassment vintage. I even wonder if its possible to interview someone like Alec Benson Leary for this project to get a different perspective. I'm pretty sure it would revise your view that the trolls are just vicious malefactors.

3) Chris' own, self-initiated acts aren't really well discussed. The causes of Chris' behavior, particularly on 10/28/11 or on 12/26/14, can't be attributed to trolls. Generously, you could claim that he was in a bad way mentally because of past experiences, but he literally hit someone with his car, twice! He has apparently done far more with this Blue Arms actions than just Gamestop.

4) You are being somewhat uncritical in taking Chris' word on everything. There's no shame in this--I think most people are more sympathetic to Chris when they first discover him than when they've had the chance to read the CWCki. But I think that objective facts, on the CWCki itself, paint the lines a lot less favorably.

A simple example would be 12/26/14. According to Chris, he simply wanted to buy a gaming item at Gamestop and was refused entry. He was cornered by an assistant manager and so he used pepper spray because he feared being raped by him. No Lie; No Joke; No Exaggeration-Fact. Taking Chris' word is not merely far in his favor, it's often a lie in its own right.

5) You don't draw many conclusions. I get that you want to present a story and understand what Chris is about, and I respect how much you've been able to expand on his Childhood. But there are other findings to work out besides blame. Questions like:

-Was Chris raised poorly by his parents? What should they have done differently?
-What were the decisive mistakes Chris made?
-Is Chris a victim that can't overcome his humiliating past or simply too eager to blame everyone except himself?

You can offer some conclusions and some closure that's not uncontroversial.

Anyhow, I think you have a great project in hand and, if you're going to draft this to improve on these points, probably a great work of Christory as well.

 

[Thetan]

I had a few lines recorded on explaining some of Christians unique words, but I ultimately decided to not have the explanation because I thought the viewer would kind of piece together the puzzle that I was throwing in a word only Chris would use. And I mostly used words that are still cwc-isms but can still be deciphered with a little thought. But other than that I'm a little mixed on whether I should of explained them or not.

You'd probably end up having to explain Chris's concept of "friendship" (which is more than a little warped as well) in order to cover the "gal pal" thing. Still, I think that most people will be able to get at least a sense of the significance of the term, based on context.

 

[spylobster]

It's been said many times before but is worth repeating:
Thanks, Spylobster, for putting this much work into a documentary, and I hope you do well in your class as a result.

In terms of quality and effort, I believe this is an excellent project.

I do seem possible improvements in the documentary, however:

1) There isn't a lot of discussion about Barb or Bob, their decision to mainstream Chris and homeschool him. The revelations that Bob apparently paid many of his gal-pals in high-school is a mythbuster and leads to real questions of just how much was going far too wrong far too early. This one's still a major work in progress in terms of scope, but Chris' problems were serious even in high school.

2) Trolls are a mixed lot. It's too easy to lump them all into one category and claim that they're all of the Encyclopedia Dramatica harassment vintage. I even wonder if its possible to interview someone like Alec Benson Leary for this project to get a different perspective. I'm pretty sure it would revise your view that the trolls are just vicious malefactors.

3) Chris' own, self-initiated acts aren't really well discussed. The causes of Chris' behavior, particularly on 10/28/11 or on 12/26/14, can't be attributed to trolls. Generously, you could claim that he was in a bad way mentally because of past experiences, but he literally hit someone with his car, twice! He has apparently done far more with this Blue Arms actions than just Gamestop.

4) You are being somewhat uncritical in taking Chris' word on everything. There's no shame in this--I think most people are more sympathetic to Chris when they first discover him than when they've had the chance to read the CWCki. But I think that objective facts, on the CWCki itself, paint the lines a lot less favorably.

A simple example would be 12/26/14. According to Chris, he simply wanted to buy a gaming item at Gamestop and was refused entry. He was cornered by an assistant manager and so he used pepper spray because he feared being raped by him. No Lie; No Joke; No Exaggeration-Fact. Taking Chris' word is not merely far in his favor, it's often a lie in its own right.

5) You don't draw many conclusions. I get that you want to present a story and understand what Chris is about, and I respect how much you've been able to expand on his Childhood. But there are other findings to work out besides blame. Questions like:

-Was Chris raised poorly by his parents? What should they have done differently?
-What were the decisive mistakes Chris made?
-Is Chris a victim that can't overcome his humiliating past or simply too eager to blame everyone except himself?

You can offer some conclusions and some closure that's not uncontroversial.

Anyhow, I think you have a great project in hand and, if you're going to draft this to improve on these points, probably a great work of Christory as well.

Basically everything in this is what should of gone into it, but this is a learning point. I don't want to toot my own horn but I kind of know what I am doing with editing and just general footage and pace. But the wonderfull thing about you guys is you know exactly what you want out of a documentary and I know that now. I don't want to sound like a jackass and put my money where my mouth is kind of stuff but the new script once I revisit will be written by you guys. This is a wonderful community.

We did it.

 

[Yawning Asperchu]

Been lurking on this thread then downloaded the video off of TubeMate...

PROs:
First off, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. This didn't just play like a good high school project, it's really a good documentary. Even if I had no idea who Chris was I still wouldn't turn the channel if this was on the Biographry channel or something (American Heroes Channel?). OP did a good job jamming as much info into just over an hour that he could, without the pace being too fast. Covering each saga was more beneficial than leaving some out to be able to really focus on some others (Imagine what this guy could do with more time and a mini series instead of one documentary).

CONs:
Didn't go into the trolls' motivation, namely all of Chris' awful character traits and flaws. A couple of small inconsistancies typical with documentaries but nothing big (The $9,000 reason for destroying the "Life Upgrade").

If I was a teacher I'd give it an A. If I was a movie reviewer I'd give it 3 stars out of 4. As a Chrisologist I give it an Mm, Yeah (On a scale of Hmpf! to Badass Self).

 

[that1guy]

It's super minor, but there are a few spelling errors and inconsistent capitalization, primarily in the credits. Otherwise, this is a really good first draft.

 

[spylobster]

Been lurking on this thread then downloaded the video off of TubeMate...

PROs:
First off, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. This didn't just play like a good high school project, it's really a good documentary. Even if I had no idea who Chris was I still wouldn't turn the channel if this was on the Biographry channel or something (American Heroes Channel?). OP did a good job jamming as much info into just over an hour that he could, without the pace being too fast. Covering each saga was more beneficial than leaving some out to be able to really focus on some others (Imagine what this guy could do with more time and a mini series instead of one documentary).

CONs:
Didn't go into the trolls' motivation, namely all of Chris' awful character traits and flaws. A couple of small inconsistancies typical with documentaries but nothing big (The $9,000 reason for destroying the "Life Upgrade").

If I was a teacher I'd give it an A. If I was a movie reviewer I'd give it 3 stars out of 4. As a Chrisologist I give it an Mm, Yeah (On a scale of Hmpf! to Badass Self).

What is tubemate, also thank you! Yeah I was honestly scared if I examined why Chris is a piece of shit because I would be labeled as bully so I just decided to show videos from him that kind of show his colors. But not enough of them.

 

[Yawning Asperchu]

What is tubemate, also thank you! Yeah I was honestly scared if I examined why Chris is a piece of shit because I would be labeled as bully so I just decided to show videos from him that kind of show his colors. But not enough of them.

TubeMate is an Android app that lets you download any YouTube video. It's not available on the app store due to YT's policies but can still be found with a quick Google search.

I agree, you had to walk a dangerous line considering the subject matter. All nitpickings aside, you pulled it off in a very tasteful and informative way.

 

[SteelPlatedHeart]

I'd like to think Sega of America will be playing this at the next office Christmas party.

 

[Trilby]

I will say I liked the part where you brought up the Industrial Revolution and it's decline in this country. The sort of job Chris' dad had no longer exists in today's America, and the families that were once the backbone of America are now stuck in low class unhealthy lives simply trying to etch out a living.

 

[AlbertoVermicelli]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out, but Miyamoto isn't the CEO of Nintendo. I know this is a minor detail. Apart from that, I can't believe that I've actually spent an hour of my life looking at a documentary about Chris. Great work!

 

[P-Logic]

I watched this last night and I was pleasantly surprised at how well done it is. As others have pointed out, it doesn't feel like a high school project at all. You really deserve an A+ for this one.

There are a few factual errors that I am sure other people have pointed out by now (most notably, you seem to believe a few of the lies that were told to Chris, or you've at least presented them as fact) but this is completely understandable. You still produced something that is far beyond my expectations. Well done.

 

[klystron]

I actually think the use of the term "gal pals" is perfect because Chris's off view of his relationship is completely unique, completely his own (and completely warped). It may have been a good idea, however, to elaborate just a little bit about what Chris meant by that term.

This makes sense. I actually like the idea of using cwc-isms in narration, but like @Sonic Boom said, using them without explaining makes you seem unprofessional.

2) Trolls are a mixed lot. It's too easy to lump them all into one category and claim that they're all of the Encyclopedia Dramatica harassment vintage. I even wonder if its possible to interview someone like Alec Benson Leary for this project to get a different perspective. I'm pretty sure it would revise your view that the trolls are just vicious malefactors.

I had thoughts like this as well (my post earlier about the money raised), but really the documentary that @spylobster did is about CWC rather than the trolls. Yes, the trolls play a part in his life, but they are secondary to the subject. It might be interesting to see another documentary on the various trolls. A lot of topics were in the documentary that make "us" seem like "bad people." For example, the Julie saga split a lot of people off (including me at the time) because of the moral/legal issues some perceived with involving Max.

Now that I've watched the movie and thought about it, I think @spylobster stayed on course with his goal of showcasing Chris's life and the parts of it he brought on himself and the parts brought on by others. In fact, he had a really fantastic line about Chris realizing he was the true cause of most of his online drama and staying away for a while.

 

[Cheeseburger Picnic]

I'm really excited to hear what your teacher thought of the film

 

[spylobster]

I'm really excited to hear what your teacher thought of the film

UPDATE
Asked teacher, he will do a video response tomorrow. I am in school right now thank you everyone.

 

[theobservdr]

I look forward to seeing what he will say, I am also curious what the Special Ed teacher thought of the film as well.

 

[Cumuppance]

I thought it was very good, far better than I was expecting. My only qualm (other than a few inaccuracies) is that there is far too much content in the world of CWC to cover in an hour, not that you could have condensed it into an hour any better. Well done.