A Few Questions for those Wanting a New Slenderseries

Ever since I was in the 7th grade, I have loved the idea of creating my own movies. Sadly, since the idea was put into my head I haven't acted on it much, only creating some trailers here and there. But lately, I've gotten this unexplained urge to make a show. And not just any show: a show featuring everyone's favorite faceless freak, Slenderman! Now at this point you may be thinking: "PopcornBagels, why that might be just the most original thing anyone has ever come up with, EVER! A Slenderman show, how did you know we would love such a thing?!" although you're thinking it with that sarcastic tone in your head that only you can hear. Just let me explain myself. I want to bring something new to the table. I want to show off the life of this kid who's living on the outskirts of a rural town (that's very rural.) I really want to test myself, to see what I can do. I want to make something that not only will I enjoy watching, but the rest of the Interwebs as well. In order to get started, to feel like it's something worth watching ("Again?" that voice in your head might be saying), I need to get a few answers from you guys: the community!

1. Do you believe that YouTube is just too full of POV/foundfootage Slenderman shows? Personally, I feel that POV makes the story much more personal and realistic (yeah, realistic) and really puts you right in the action. The only problem I have with POV stuff is when creators don't find a good reason for the character to have a camera on them at all times. Although I prefer POV, "Proxy: A Slenderman Story" was a great example of a fixed-camera setup.

2. Speaking of proxies, how do you all feel about those? Burned out yet? (They're even more prominent than the number of Slendy shows!)

3. How would you feel about Creepypasta crossovers? Maybe seeing or hearing references to Smile.dog, the Rake, etc? I was sad to see EverymanHYBRID beat me to a Rake crossover, but if I could do it right, and in a believable way, I wouldn't have any problem with including the Rake in my own show.

4. Should the show stay strictly on YouTube, or do you find the ARG aspect of current shows to be really appealing? I like the ARG qualities of current shows, but when antagonists start coming up on Twitter talking to the character, that's when it kind of puts me off. Even proxy videos put me off sometimes, even if they are creepy as ef.

5. Now for the real question: tentacles or no tentacles, hmmm?

I've made only one attempt at a Slenderman video, and it was shortly after playing Slender. I will provide the link (at a later time, right now I can only offer instructions on how to find it due to forum rules), but let me give you a couple warnings: there is quite a bit of swearing; various parts are just too damn dark due to my going overboard with a VideoCopilot color correction pack for After Effects; lastly, the video just feels rushed, and seems to have no feeling from either me or my on-screen actor. This final problem is simply because it was indeed rushed. The project was started at midnight, and finished at 4 in the morning. On the up side, I received permission from Mark Hadley (AgentParsec) himself to use his Slender logo in the video! Yay!

THESE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS UNTIL I CAN POST LINKS: go to YouTube, search for "unluckiest man slender", and it should be the first result (the video will be "Slender (2012) | Teaser" and the uploader should be Grant Watson.)

Feel free to provide any critique on this video, or even my others. I realize that I have loads of room for improvement (especially improving my patience skills... can't be rushing out videos) and that's why I'm so in love with filmmaking. It's the one thing I can honestly say I will take time to improve and enjoy at the same time.

One final note: in the video, our Slenderman face was created using a t-shirt. For this proposed series, I have purchased a white morph suit, a (RED!!!) tie, and am in the process of acquiring a suit. We plan to use some digital editing to make a more Slenderman face. Let me know what you think! Thank you.

EDIT: I forgot to mention a major flaw in the trailer. Text comes up on screen and says the word "brouight." This was an error overlooked in the wee hours of the morning before the trailer went live.

The more Slenderseries the better, I say. As long as they're well executed.
To answer your questions:

1. The POV style where one or more of the characters is the camera operator is definitely more believable. I mean, where else would footage come from? I suppose security camera footage could work, but those are static to a location so all filming would have to occur in the locations under surveillance. And not many homes have security cameras, especially not in "very rural" towns.

I guess that could be the thing that's different about your series. The main character is being spied on and his house is bugged? But who is doing the spying? A proxy? The gubment? Some kind of secret society who knows this kid is Slendy bait and wants to learn more about Faceless? Could venture into unbelievable territory, I guess.

2. The line a lot of Proxies seem to cross is that they become more of a player in the story than the Slender Man is. If your eldritch abomination is being overshadowed by a lunatic human, maybe something in the series needs re-evaluating.

But I'm not against Proxies as a rule.

3. I'm perfectly okay with other oogly-booglies stepping in and sharing Slendy's spotlight. As long as they're fitting to the theme. Slendy is, by and large, a "serious" monster. The go-to creepypasta around here of what wouldn't work in a Slenderseries seems to be Jeff the Killer because, let's face it, that guy is a joke.

Personally, I like monsters that follow the same vein as the Slender Man. Could be mistaken for human at a glance, but a second look tells you something is very wrong. Not all about the gore and slaughter, but will impale you on trees or disembowel you if need be. Is it toying with you? Does it want something from you? Or are you just in its way?

The Rake can check those boxes, I feel. I'm sure there are other creepypastas that also fit the bill. And if all else fails, you can always create an original monster. EMH has HABIT, though I kind of feel he's stealing Slendy's thunder at this point; CNS has that weird puppeteer thing and the puppets; Down My Cellar Door has the copycat thing... Go nuts. If you think you can make a scary monster, do it.

4. ARGs... Series with really heavy ARG aspects can be inaccesible, to say the least, to "players" that are late to the party. For example, I'm all up to speed on the Caught Not Sleeping videos now, but I kind of feel like I'm only getting half the story sometimes. A lot of fan interaction while the game is happening can become fan alienation afterwards.

5. To tentacle, or not to tentacle... Whichever way you go with this won't really make or break things for me. The thing I would watch out for if going the tentacle route is to make sure they're well done. A sub-par job may leave Slendy looking like a wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man.

...Except, those should really be a thing in real life. Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube Slender Mans.

1) POV. Always POV. It's rare that other set ups actually work.

2) Oh god yes. Tim Sutton was the spark in a powder keg of copy pasta as far as Proxies are concerned. I prefer no proxies or 2nd channel videos.

3) I like the thought of CreepyPasta crossovers. What if Slendy created Smile.jpg and Suicidemouse.avi to spread his insane influence to the masses...

4) ARGs are a shit ton of work to catch up with if you missed the start of the series. It's why I'm not watching EMH. MH is enough for me.

5) Everything is better with tentacles I wholeheartedly support tentacles.

I say go for it PopcornBagels. The more Slenderseries, the better. As long as you don't try to gamejack an ARG or steal someone else's thunder, and as long as you have a good concept.

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1. Do you believe that YouTube is just too full of POV/foundfootage Slenderman shows?

I always suspend my disbelief and just assume they're trying to provide evidence of what's going on to prove they're not going nuts. Not yet. But if the series was a vlog first, then it makes sense for them to keep filming themselves and have cameras with them all the time. Plus phone cameras and digital cameras are ubiquitous nowadays; I don't find that sort of footage unreasonable at all. I'm more liable to notice things like "Jay got attacked in the woods, so he's going... back... to the same woods... Where he got attacked...?" But even that can be explained by "Slenderman did it" or something else in-game.

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2. Speaking of proxies, how do you all feel about those? Burned out yet?

I'd say don't use a Proxy if you don't feel the need to; they are a bit overdone. If Slendy can do it himself, he doesn't need a Proxy for it. Communication with his targets? Yes. Keeping an eye on them? Probably not. Slendy is his own grown-up Eldritch Abomination and can stand on his own two feet without Proxy help, he don't need that shit. XD But if you want to do a Proxy and you can make one convincingly work and be interesting enough, I have no problem with it. Hell, if you can do one where you play with, invoke, invert, or otherwise mess with the concept, then I think that'd be really cool! Plenty of other series have done something like that, but hey - it's your story.

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3. How would you feel about Creepypasta crossovers? Maybe seeing or hearing references to Smile.dog, the Rake, etc?

I don't mind crossovers, even if I am kind of Just Here For The Slenderman and personally prefer him to be the one big bag in a series. You can reference or crossover with other Creepypastas, but I would stick with ones that are similar to Slendy. Don't be pulling BEN and Jeff the Killer (GOD no) into this; they don't make sense in context. Make up your own monster if you wanna have another boogeyman running around. I'm fine with the Rake being used as well, but don't copy what EMH did with him. Do your own thing with him and explore your own theories. Have the monsters interact in different ways. Are they enemies? Best friends? Friendly human-stalking rivals? Neutral towards each other? Maybe at war with one another?

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4. Should the show stay strictly on YouTube, or do you find the ARG aspect of current shows to be really appealing?

I like series with ARG elements and ARGs in general, but I'm not attached to them. I personally find it very off-putting when I get to a series that has been around a while, have to play catch-up, and then realize it
demands audience participation. I have no issue with allowing communication with the audience, in fact I love talking to the protagonists, to Proxies, etc. to get more involved, and I don't even always mind Twitter feeds and such - one of my favorite series, WillowAdder, has a Twitter and even then it's just a matter of checking up every so often. My issue comes with when you start bringing in blogs and other channels and Twitter and Facebook and twenty other sites JUST to help tell your story; then it gets too complicated and too much like an ARG. I'm here to enjoy watching the stories of these people who ended up on an Eldritch Abomination's list of things to fuck up this century. I'm happy just mentally mulling the mystery of the series over, discussing what this or that might mean, etc. I don't need a ton of ARG elements to be happy with a series, but some ARG elements can be nice to have in order to further the story between videos. Just don't go overboard because it can be tough for newer participants to get into the story later.

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5. Now for the real question: tentacles or no tentacles, hmmm?

YES TENTACLES. ALL THE DAMN TENTACLES. BECAUSE THEY ARE SO AWESOME. But if
you give him tentacles/tendrils, you need to have a purpose for them. Are they used to kill people? To feed on people? To scare? To more easily catch people? Does the protagonist have a phobia of spiders or insects, and Slendy's using them to evoke that? Does he use them as a way to numb or otherwise poison his victims? Is he using them as camouflage so he can hide in the trees better? These are all things you can think about, and they're only the ideas for them I can think of offhand. And if you give him tentacles, then you need to have some damn good effects for them. Nothing ruins a Slenderman more for me than bad effects on the Slendistortion and bad tendril effects. But remember, you don't necessarily need the tendrils for Slendy to be intimidating - Marble Hornets NEVER used tendrils on him, just a really damn creepy dummy/guy with arm and leg extensions/tall dude in full Slendersuit and a bunch of distortion, and it's a great series.

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One final note: in the video, our Slenderman face was created using a t-shirt. For this proposed series, I have purchased a white morph suit, a (RED!!!) tie, and am in the process of acquiring a suit. We plan to use some digital editing to make a more Slenderman face.

Sounds like a good plan. Note that you don't specifically have to have a red tie; black works well too and I personally prefer black to red, since I think it makes Slendy look more monochrome and inhuman. But that's just my thought on the tie.

Thank you guys for the responses so far! POV all the way seems to be the general consensus. I sent my SFX guy a reference shot tonight to see what he can do tentacles-wise.

Proxies, for now, are not something I'm looking at doing. If I can come up with a very good reason to use one, then I might. But for now, it's no for proxies. Keep those responses coming!

I always thought the tie could be used to indicate temperament. If he's pissed off and wants kill someone, he wears red. If he's just chillin' and observing then black would do.

I kind of liked the idea of the tie either being seasonal (red would blend in better with fall leaves, whereas black would blend better with everything else) or being some sort of indication of how violent he is at that time, sort of like your temperament theory.

Because I kinda am at odds with a lot of the tropes here I'm going to be really opinionated; don't take it personally. "Tropes aren't bad," etc.

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1. Do you believe that YouTube is just too full of POV/foundfootage Slenderman shows? Personally, I feel that POV makes the story much more personal and realistic (yeah, realistic) and really puts you right in the action. The only problem I have with POV stuff is when creators don't find a good reason for the character to have a camera on them at all times. Although I prefer POV, "Proxy: A Slenderman Story" was a great example of a fixed-camera setup.

I don't mind POV, but honestly, I really want a series that is told in the third person; we can see people doing things independently of each other, see Slendy when he's NOT in line of the camera, and not have the tiresome drawbacks of the first-person perspective.

In a typical first-person setting with the camera, a lot of action will either have to be cut or it will become ridiculous. In certain situations, like dragging a friend home, a normal human being would put down the camera, not drag their sick friend with one hand (as one series had the character do) just to complete the scene. Something crazy could be happening elsewhere but we can't see it unless the person there also has a camera. At that point, you might as well just film the thing like an traditional scene. (The Harry Potter books suffered from limiting the viewpoint to one character, given the amount of events and other characters and the sheer scope of his world. We missed out on a lot of important action scenes, plot, and conversations. Oddly, the story was told in third-person but didn't embrace the POV's potential.)

Omniscient camera views may be less "real" but there is a valid reason: it creates a world that is sustained well. I know Slendy series tear down the barrier between viewer and video but I'd like us to put it up more. Proxy did that and was an instant fan favorite. I haven't seen a bad thing said against it yet.

First person also allows more monologues.

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2. Speaking of proxies, how do you all feel about those? Burned out yet? (They're even more prominent than the number of Slendy shows!)

Yeah, as DarkShadows said:

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Slendy is his own grown-up Eldritch Abomination and can stand on
his own two feet without Proxy help

Or however many feet he likes, really.

But if you really want to do a Proxy my advice would be:

1. No cryptic messages unless they're used sparingly. They're either too vague to be actually useful or too complicated to figure out for the average person. They're cheap foreshadowing and really, Slendy himself IS foreshadowing, so it's not necessary. "Watch out, Slendy is coming" is pointless; we all know he's coming, and if we didn't he'll reveal himself soon enough, so the message provides little to the overall plot.

2. Don't have them steal Slendy's spotlight a la the Observer. Otherwise just make the Proxy the big bad and save Slendy for another series.

3. Give Slenderman a good reason to send someone to do his dirty work. The original stories and other works have made it pretty clear he can talk to his victims, kill them, mesmerize them. So why not communicate with the protagonist through their dreams, thoughts, or some other more direct means? I'd settle for them writing down his words as if he were dictating to them. I know Slendy interacting so closely with the victim could be radical in the current definition of his MO, but maybe radical is the way to go.

I don't know, I have a thing about Proxies. I just wish Slendy could be the villain in his own series; he rarely gets to do the cool stuff.

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3. How would you feel about Creepypasta crossovers? Maybe seeing or hearing references to Smile.dog, the Rake, etc? I was sad to see EverymanHYBRID beat me to a Rake crossover, but if I could do it right, and in a believable way, I wouldn't have any problem with including the Rake in my own show.

In theory, I wouldn't mind. I can't imagine who, besides Zalgo, is someone I'd personally want to see, though. He's rather under-defined, though that could work in your favor.

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4. Should the show stay strictly on YouTube, or do you find the ARG aspect of current shows to be really appealing? I like the ARG qualities of current shows, but when antagonists start coming up on Twitter talking to the character, that's when it kind of puts me off. Even proxy videos put me off sometimes, even if they are creepy as ef.

I have a rule I pretty much stick to and it's easy for me to keep: if you carry the story to another medium or website, I will not subscribe to it. I refuse for my entertainment to become homework and I don't like having to divide my attention.

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5. Now for the real question: tentacles or no tentacles, hmmm?

Yes, if you have a great budget or skills. I'm not sure I'd do tentacles on even a good budget. Although Proxy found a way to imply them really well. I really liked how they showed them without showing them.

--Unless you're okay with cheesy effects. If you are, and the idea is more important than the realism, go for it and don't apologize to anyone.

PopcornBagels wrote:

For this proposed series, I have purchased a white morph suit, a (RED!!!) tie, and am in the process of acquiring a suit.

First off, this made me laugh because it's something so silly that gets a some people really worked up, and I'm glad you feel so strongly about it, lol.
Now:
1) I think that first person POV works best most of the time. In longer-length movies and such, when third person filming is used, it doesn't go so well, a lot of the time.

2) I'm really kind of on the fence about proxies in video series. Back when I used to read blogs, i HATED them. Why does a unknown, mysterious, powerful being need little workers to do stuff for him? I still pretty much feel that way. Slendy ain't got time to have people running around messing with his targets, and sometimes worshiping him I guess? Especially when it's just random people. Like, where did you come from? What's your backstory, and how do you tie into the story at hand? I guess it's really only okay when it's someone who was previously introduced, like Tim from MH. But that's a whole different discussion. I'm just gonna say no to proxies. Plus, as someone said earlier- keeping up with any extra accounts can be annoying. MH made it so that you didnt have to watch TTA to understand the main channel.

3) Euuuuuuuuuuuuuuheeeeeeeeeeehgghhh, this reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally depends? Kinda? It varies for me. On one hand, there are series' that do this well- EMH's Rake scares. The. Living. Shit. Out of me. I love it. On the other hand, there was a series a few months back (I am totally blanking on the name, it was the one with the two best girl friends and one of them had a daughter?) I believe it was originally a Slenderseries, but it incorporated this weird witch thing that messed with their kid- I don't remember the details, but the incorporation of a second entity just really put me off. So, honestly, it really depends on the quality of your second 'Pasta. Think long and hard about it.

4) I prefer strictly Youtube. It's okay to have a twitter account, as long as the progression of the story doesn't strongly rely on watching the Tweets. And some series tend to spam their Twitters *cough*Tribe Twelve*cough* when something is goin' down in the story, which can be really annoying.

5)I prefer no tentacles, because again, when you put something like that in there, you have to make it, well, good. I don't really have anything else to say on that besides think about it.

quofomo wrote:

PopcornBagels wrote:

For this proposed series, I have purchased a white morph suit, a (RED!!!) tie, and am in the process of acquiring a suit.

First off, this made me laugh because it's something so silly that gets a some people really worked up, and I'm glad you feel so strongly about it, lol.

Do people really get that pissed off about Slenderman's tie? Really?

... Why? O.o That seems like an awful silly thing to disagree on when the sole purpose of the character is to scare the pants off of people... why does the tie color really matter? XD

I will say though that I do like a black tie on my Slendy just because I think it makes him look more monochrome and alien, as if he stepped out of an old black and white photo of himself. Just seems weirder to me and weird is good in my Slendy. ^^

Now I wanna test what happens if a series puts a bowtie on him. Or, forbid, a bola tie. Then sit back and watch the heads explode...

Going pretty OT here but imagine a Slendy-Joker cross. Not a shit one, like Jeff the Killer, but a really good one.

The shock of green hair falls over his faceless visage as he makes his way toward you, and the red of your blood creates a sharp contrast against the white blankness, as it gives the appearance of a grotesque smile. The suit is a filthy purple, and as he walks past you can smell the blood emanating from it. But so much more... It's as though you can sense the terror, the agony of his previous victims...

A hand on your shoulder makes you jump, much to the amusement of the creature. It makes no sound, yet you can tell that it's laughing. The ringing in your ears, it rises and fades rhythmically, as though it was a horrendous ungodly cackle. A purple tendril slides over you as you struggle to break free of the chair you are tied to. But it's no good, the tentacle wraps around the glass shard from the broken window, and places into your mouth.

As you close your eyes, and await your final breath you can almost swear you hear the words

"Let's put a smile on that face..."

LOLWHUT Etreo?

How did you just blend two of my favorite bad guys in a way that works so well?

I... I think I need to draw Joker!Slendy. You see what you do to me? YOU ARE TEARING ME APART ETREO!

My single mission in life is to rip people apart with words, or frustration sometimes both. Joker is my favourite villain of all time, there's something so indescribably awful about him that sends chills down my spine. And the fact that he reveals so many strands to Batman's psyche, as if they're so similar but they're total opposites and ahh...

Um, yeah. Anyway.

Speaking of frustration play "Winnie the Pooh: Home Run Derby". Hardest shit ever.

If SlenderJoker kills Jeff the Killer I'm down with this.

Oh god yes. It was a shitty attempt at a Joker origin story I'm disguise as a creepypasta. It should never have been written.

Packfong wrote:

If SlenderJoker kills Jeff the Killer I'm down with this.

Drawing that. Now.

Okay well not right now because I have to get up at five for work, but I'm drawing that. See what you all have wrought. Weep for your fallen fandom children. Weep.

Slendy-Joker murdering Jeff the Killer? Please post results.

I'd answer your questionnaire, but my answers would pretty much mirror Packfong's, with the main difference being that I'm not a fan of Zalgo or most of the other big creepypasta monsters. If you do add another monster, you have to be careful that they don't overshadow Old Slim.

Hooligan Spirit wrote:

If you do add another monster, you have to be careful that they don't overshadow Old Slim.

Exactly. If you're dead set on adding another monster, then you can have it be AS threatening as Slendy, but not MORE threatening than Slendy. Note what EMH did with the Rake - he's a threat, but he's not the main focus of the series. Slendy is.

Indeed, those EMH boys do a good job of keeping... Slendy in... focu-

Habit! Don't put tha- Habit! Stop chewing on that! That's part of the scenery, Habit! Just give me- Let go, Habit! What? No, I didn't order a- Stop! Look, I'll get you a ham later, okay? For now, just- No, Habit! Look, just wait in your trailer for now, alright? ... Yes, okay, I'll shine a spotlight through the window. Yes, you can stand in it all you want.


*wonk*

Habit (and The Observer) are a big reason why I don't subscribe to more of the Main Five. Well that and all the added homework. I gave EMH a good shot, though!

I'd argue that a bad guy equal to Slendy is a no-no, unless Slendy gets to be around more to prove they're equal, or unless it's Slendy's bad guy and it has to be a real threat to him.

OH GOD ETREO look what you made me do.

(Spoilered because it's a big picture. Yes, you should enlarge it. :3)

Spoiler:

As for Joker!Slendy, maybe next time. ^w^ And yes I know Jeff doesn't have a nose, but hell if I care.

Finally!! I'm so sorry it's taken me a couple days to respond everyone, I've been so friggin' busy. I've found a little time to post! Thanks to everyone who gave their two cents, you've helped me to understand what people other than myself want to see.

As it stands, the beginning of the show is pretty well plotted right now. I think it's something different from what's usually been done, and anybody that enjoys a good story will like it!

Slendy looks so very graceful when he kills inferior creepypasta, doesn't he?