The Marble Hornets rewatch thread

So I've been planning to post this for a while. I tried contacting The Doctor about if I should do this in one thread or a bunch of threads, and since he's dead or something I'm just going to post it all in one thread. I'm planning on posting one entry a week. For the sake of anyone who comes here and is watching for their first time, we should use spoilers tags even if this series is old as hell.

Spoiler:

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Re-examining the series that (mostly) started it all? MY TIME HAS COME.

For starters, I've allways appreciated how they set the tone more or less immediately. They don't waste any time on unimportant details but instead command the audience's attention from the start by letting a seemingly small mystery branch out at a quick but natural pace. When you think about it, every detail in Marble Hornets means something to someone; even the little things that ended up being red herrings just inspire so much curiosity. It's because they took advantage of the Slender Man myth being so vaguely defined, and made their own lore out of it that stayed true to the specific kinds of horror it was meant to evoke. That, in my opinion, should be what future creators take home from Marble Hornets. But, I'm rambling now; I can get around to praising all the little details when this thread progresses.

I don't know about Cannibal Holocaust... but the original introduction on the SomethingAwful thread did have Jay joking that Alex must have made the cursed video from The Ring. It also has him checking out the tapes because he read about that new Slender Man myth... ah, humble beginnings.

Spoiler:

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So considering if I keep posting an entry a week thsi will take 87 weeks, does anyone have a better suggestion for when to watch entries? I considered an entry a day before, or maybe just do 3 entries a week. Anyone have any ideas?

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PointlessTest wrote:

How about after posting each episode you wait 3 days, then if the discussion is still going strong from the last episode you can give it some more time, but with the maximum amount of time between posting being 1 week?

Thanks, I like that idea, I'll do that.

Speaking of which heres entry 1

Spoiler:

The Operator's got no tenticles, friend. I think what you saw was a trick of the light.

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level100nidoking wrote:

PointlessTest wrote:

How about after posting each episode you wait 3 days, then if the discussion is still going strong from the last episode you can give it some more time, but with the maximum amount of time between posting being 1 week?

Thanks, I like that idea, I'll do that.

Speaking of which heres entry 1

Spoiler:

This entry will always be creepiest to me.

Wowcomix wrote:

I think what you saw was a trick of the light.

No, it's his arm.

Alright, having seen all of MH, my main goal here is going to try to determine just what Alex's motivations for everything he does is, because that always kind of confused me.

...aaaaand I'm already confused. So, I guess this happened before he started killing everyone, but after he got paranoid enough to start filming everything. So...who is he talking to? If himself, why? Where is Rocky? Why do we never see him? Did he kill him? (NOOOOO) Do I ask way too many stupid questions? ...yes.

It's stuff like that that really makes you wonder just how much of this they pre-planned.

Davros wrote:

It's stuff like that that really makes you wonder just how much of this they pre-planned.

It just blows my mind to think about how much they must have planned. Like even before MH started they had to have spent so long planning out the series. Like this isn't the kind of shit you can make up as you can go, I really respect the creators a lot for putting that much thought into a series thats free to watch.

I think that half of this stuff was planned from the beginning, and half was planned while shooting, like "Hey, this would be cool and scary, let's do this!" Either way, it would be really cool to see all the different phases the story went through before they found a "finished product".

On that note, I remember seeing a Q&A the creators gave after MH ended. In it, near the end, Troy says that there were alternate endings to Marble Hornets, and that there would be "more on that later". I am really looking forward to that, if they haven't been released already. 

Sadly, I'm not allowed to post the link.

Davros wrote:

I think that half of this stuff was planned from the beginning, and half was planned while shooting, like "Hey, this would be cool and scary, let's do this!" Either way, it would be really cool to see all the different phases the story went through before they found a "finished product".

On that note, I remember seeing a Q&A the creators gave after MH ended. In it, near the end, Troy says that there were alternate endings to Marble Hornets, and that there would be "more on that later". I am really looking forward to that, if they haven't been released already. 

Sadly, I'm not allowed to post the link.

Is this the one you meant?


Also heres entry 3

Spoiler:

No, I don't think so. The title is Marble Hornets Q&A: Connecticon 2014. Just type in Marble Hornets to Youtube, it's on the first page. 

As for Entry 3: Alright, this is the one that tips us off to the fact that Alex filmed himself a bit too much. I like the sense of paranoia throughout this one, as the constant changes between night and day, as well as drastic changes is location make it seem like he really was filming himself 24/7. 

Also, at the store...he coughs.

One thing that I never understood, though, is Jay's motivation. At the end of the entry, he says, "The clip from entry #1 is the best lead I have so far." Uh...lead to what? What exactly are you looking for? Did I just stupidly miss something again?

Davros wrote:

One thing that I never understood, though, is Jay's motivation. At the end of the entry, he says, "The clip from entry #1 is the best lead I have so far." Uh...lead to what? What exactly are you looking for? Did I just stupidly miss something again?

I never really thought about that. Now that you mention it, I can't think of anything he could be looking for. Maybe he doesn't even know, and its just the operator influencing him to look into the tapes?

I don't know, but I just thought of something. I think, later in the series, in the Entry where Jay attacks Tim and gets the "Jessica's Death" tape, they hint that he had a bad life. Like, he was living in a terrible apartment, and his life had nowhere to go. Maybe, when he saw the "thing" from Entry #1, he saw a chance to at least try to do something cool and find out more about this strange, tall person on Alex's tapes. Unfortunately, he finds out too late (like, Entry 18) that what he's doing is a bit too dangerous, and it was a mistake to get involved. (being tackled by a guy in a mask really gives you perspective on things, huh?).

That, or it was just a very rare case of poor writing. I don't really care, I love the series nonetheless.

I think Jay simply wanted a "lead" on what caused Alex to act so strangely because the tapes were already suspicious, and didn't expect it anything to come of it.

Anyway, establishing from the beginning how weird it is for someone to film themselves at all times? Unnerving as hell.

Heres entry 4.

Spoiler:

Ah, creepy playgrounds. Never forget the childhood fears.