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Geocache Documentary


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So, after a year I have completed a documentary about Geocaching. It's called Geocache (oddly enough) and I am hoping to get it seen nationally. The show is about 30 minutes and it is being received pretty well. I am hoping to get it into festivals and perhaps PBS. We'll see. For more info, go to www.geofilm.net.

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I just saw the screener(thanks for that), I liked it a lot. It was great to see the lady with the 16,000 finds (now it all makes sense). The points made by the park rangers were valid, as were the points made by the cachers. Excellent of you to show both sides like that.

 

I was fun to see some names I've encountered in the forums and on ClayJar's chats on the small screen.

 

Ditto for the original can-o-beans!

 

Loved the police stories!

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Glad you liked the film. And it is doing pretty well. Right now I am awaiting responses from about 25 film festivals to see if it will be accepted. Also, I just found out it is going to be aired on PBS in not too long. I am pretty pleased about this, but loads of paperwork for no money. Basically I am self distributing since it is near impossible to sell a stand alone program. So do spread the word. :unsure:

 

David

www.geofilm.net

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I just received the DVD in the mail, and wanted to say that I'm quite impressed by the video quality especially in the nature scenes. It was cool to see all those cachers that I know through GeoWoodstock 4.

 

I thought it might be useful to list the chapter titles:

Opening

Think Like the Hider

Addictive

Big Numbers

Selective Availability

Origins

GeoWoodstock 4

One Degree of Separation

Community and Family

Geocoins and Travelbugs

Micro and Cache Run

Stay On the Trail

Natural Parks

Run-in With the Law

Screen Identity

A Healthy Pursuit

End Credits

 

I'm also listing all of the geocachers I've been able to identify in the film. Some of these people are interviewed, some just show up in the background.

 

Bikely & Wifely

Binrat

BlazerMan

CCCooperAgency

Clan Mroczko

Dark Star

Dave Ulmer

DLiming

fluffy&itchy

GeoPirat

GeoWorms

Greasepot

grey_wolf & momcat

H2Nut

HoustonControl

IceCreamMan

Jeremy

JOYROSE AND HUBBY BULL

jtee

kimbest

KingJR

klce

Leapin' Lee

McDLT

Moun10Bike

Mtn-Man

Nate Irish

NetworkCacher

paintfiction

R.O.B.

Roland_oso

sardogmisty

shirconn

Snoogans

Tahosa and Sons

Team Shydog

Team U-turn

Team360

Tennessee Jed

TheAlabamaRambler

Travis Rollins

TX Diva

txfiredog

Zartimus

ZSandmann

 

Persied88 is mentioned and the film shows a few of his caches.

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Already been done before:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0818650/

 

I must respectfully dissagree with your statement above. I saw the "Adventures in Geocaching" documentary at the screening on Friday night before GW5. While I did enjoy it, in my opinion, it was a bit negative on the sport and made us look like a bunch of OCD buffoons. It was entertaining though and I sure wouldn't have wanted to be Ventura Kids at the after party :D

 

David Liban's "Geocaching" documentary, while not totally positive, was not totally negative either. It was a bit misleading when the County Mountie was talking about geocachers causing wilderness distruction by making geotrails. Then it cut to the cache run at the reservoir and had R.O.B. saying "we can cut across the field and take a short cut, or go on the road, but that will take a little longer".

 

I was on that run and the place we were at (Benbrook, just outside Dallas somewhere) was a completely open place where we could basically go wherever we wanted to get to the caches. Geotrails were not an issue at all.

 

Since I was there when it was filmed, I knew the difference, but for anyone else who wasn't, it looked like we had made the point of the Officer for him.

 

But in the end, the NWRA guy ended up saying geocaching was good because it got people into the back country and help teach them about geography. I thought his statement about that was kind of funny since he had spent the rest of the film talking about why geocaching was bad for the backcountry :D

 

In the end, I was just glad they got a record of me on film for the day we went to Benbrook on "Rob's Run". Since I nearly died of heat stroke near the end of that run, (we walked for 8 hours in 104 degree heat), having something on film at least would have proved I was there before I went 10 toes up.

 

BTW, I did buy David's DVD. Couldn't pass it up since I knew there was a distinct possibilty he might have made me and itchy/Jed movie stars :)

 

Little did I know, I would be in such exhaulted company :D:D

 

After seeing what the camera did to my obviously non-exhistant girlish figure, I now wish I had hidden behind the bushes and kept my mouth shut.

 

Yeah, that's me... the BIG blue blob. But, hey, I was in the early stages of dellirium brought on by the fast approching heat stroke.

 

Man, did I have a great time (at least what I can remember of it) :D

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Fluffy,

Thanks for your feedback about my film. Although I have not seen Adventures in Geocaching I'd like to believe my film attempts to explore the topic without an agenda. I didn't want to suggest negative or positive but to let the viewer decide. As I understand it, that is the goal of a documentary, to document it without editorializing on the topic. That said, it is impossible to do so. The simple process of editing content you have to choose material to clarify the points you are trying to explore. Also when someone knows they are on camera, they behave differently, thus not entirely themselves.

 

I concur with your point about the point where Rob is giving options about going off trail. But in order to make a documentary, you have to show things at times that may or may not be entirely factual. To defend my decision, from my point of view, we started out on trail, and all of a sudden everyone started walking through the prairie where there was no trail. There were no signs saying not to, but the fact is, everyone went off trail. That was the decision made by the group. Also because it was completely open, does not mean people should leave the trails. I don't know the rules of that park we were in, but I needed to show something that would make clear the point of Ranger being interviewed. But, I did try to be fair to both sides in my presentation.

 

BTW, I really do appreciate both your involvment in the film and your feedback. Really good commets.

 

Also, right now I am working on the subtitles for the DVD and also on the closed captioning in preparation for the PBS airing.

 

David

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I just received the DVD in the mail, and wanted to say that I'm quite impressed by the video quality especially in the nature scenes. It was cool to see all those cachers that I know through GeoWoodstock 4.

 

I thought it might be useful to list the chapter titles:

Opening

Think Like the Hider

Addictive

Big Numbers

Selective Availability

Origins

GeoWoodstock 4

One Degree of Separation

Community and Family

Geocoins and Travelbugs

Micro and Cache Run

Stay On the Trail

Natural Parks

Run-in With the Law

Screen Identity

A Healthy Pursuit

End Credits

 

I'm also listing all of the geocachers I've been able to identify in the film. Some of these people are interviewed, some just show up in the background.

 

Bikely & Wifely

Binrat

BlazerMan

CCCooperAgency

Clan Mroczko

Dark Star

Dave Ulmer

DLiming

fluffy&itchy

GeoPirat

GeoWorms

Greasepot

grey_wolf & momcat

H2Nut

HoustonControl

IceCreamMan

Jeremy

JOYROSE AND HUBBY BULL

jtee

kimbest

KingJR

klce

Leapin' Lee

McDLT

Moun10Bike

Mtn-Man

Nate Irish

NetworkCacher

paintfiction

R.O.B.

Roland_oso

sardogmisty

shirconn

Snoogans

Tahosa and Sons

Team Shydog

Team U-turn

Team360

Tennessee Jed

TheAlabamaRambler

Travis Rollins

TX Diva

txfiredog

Zartimus

ZSandmann

 

Persied88 is mentioned and the film shows a few of his caches.

 

After viewing the finished product twice, I can only clap and wish I'd had time to help David out more. I turned down an on camera interview in favor of being shot in a natural setting. I'm a little shy of video cameras in my face, (I've actually been trained by my company to avoid them) but I felt he did us all proud.

 

I cheered to see my friend Ranboze in the documentary at GW5, but honestly, David's video was better in most ways. It should be showed off at GW6 since some of it was shot at GW4. I actually thought the scheduled documentary at GW5 was THIS one, or I would have offered up my copy to be shown with the others.

Edited by Snoogans
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I was flipping channels around 10:20pm on 12/26/07 and came upon a Bob Newhart profile on the local PBS station, Pittsburgh - WQED. Wondering how long the profile was since I like Bob Newhart, I checked the on-screen guide...only 10 minutes left. But, guess what show was next? Yep. I quickly set the recorder so the kids could watch since they were already sleeping.

 

Thought the show was better than OK, but not great. Although a relative newbie (only caching for less than 6 months and not obsessing over it...yet), I'm glad I had some experience to fall back on to relate to the show. I'm not sure I would get what geocaching was all about if I had never heard of it before.

 

I enjoyed it more when I watched it again with the kids last night. The flames from Ranger Rick(s) didn't seem as negative the second time around.

 

That all being said, the show did get us excited for our next cache run.

Edited by weston5
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Thought the show was better than OK, but not great. Although a relative newbie (only caching for less than 6 months and not obsessing over it...yet), I'm glad I had some experience to fall back on to relate to the show. I'm not sure I would get what geocaching was all about if I had never heard of it before.

As new as you are, you are way more experienced then the guy who made the show.

As seems to usually be the case, the OP found a few caches, got all excited about it and made a film where he found a few more. After it came out and he got paid he lost all interest and hasn't logged onto the site since.

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Actually, I did not get paid to make this film. I make my bread and butter teaching production. I only made the film because I was interested in it. And though I am not a geocacher, I felt I needed to do it a few times so I could get a sense of what the activity was like. I was really focusing on the sport and the people who play it. As a documentarian, I must research a topic, and in making a film, I learn about the topic. I do sell the DVD various places, but believe me the few dollars I get from the sale of the DVD's does not come close to the investment I made in making the film.

 

But I do appreciate your enthusiasm and love the sport.

 

David!

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Oh, and one more thing. The people I met at GeoWoodstock and other Cachers around Colorado were some of the nicest and generous folks I've encountered. I truly enjoyed meeting them and seeing them at play!

I thought it was a cool thing to do - done accurately and fairly and at great effort. Check your PMs for an invite to publish a story on how all this came about in The Online Geocacher, I am sure there's an interesting tale that should be told!

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definately agreed. after dishing out for everything elses there is nothing left to get a copy of this. and i dont trust trailers (not by big corp or small barely funded producers) so unless by rare chance i get to see it on local PBS (ha ha on that) i guess im just gonna miss out unless its streamed. also others would rather watch before they buy (mpaa and ria disagree, but they are greedy).. would love to see after others reviews but hey we all cant have money lined pockets

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definately agreed. after dishing out for everything elses there is nothing left to get a copy of this. and i dont trust trailers (not by big corp or small barely funded producers) so unless by rare chance i get to see it on local PBS (ha ha on that) i guess im just gonna miss out unless its streamed. also others would rather watch before they buy (mpaa and ria disagree, but they are greedy).. would love to see after others reviews but hey we all cant have money lined pockets

 

Oh good grief. The "I can't save/budget for non-essential product X so you should give it to me for free" argument.

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definately agreed. after dishing out for everything elses there is nothing left to get a copy of this. and i dont trust trailers (not by big corp or small barely funded producers) so unless by rare chance i get to see it on local PBS (ha ha on that) i guess im just gonna miss out unless its streamed. also others would rather watch before they buy (mpaa and ria disagree, but they are greedy).. would love to see after others reviews but hey we all cant have money lined pockets

 

Oh good grief. The "I can't save/budget for non-essential product X so you should give it to me for free" argument.

oh good grief another person having to make a useless comment about my useless comment that no one will listen to.. thank you for wasting time.. and btw food is more important right now, i mean you can't geocache dead now can you.. and i never said GIVE it to us. i said i agree that a streaming version (even if not complete, ever watch a real screener, not all the movie is there) would be nice and may help with sales. also i am one of those that buy it when i can actually afford it so nyaa.

 

back on topic.. maybe a better trailer then a 1 minute that covers really nothing but the opinion cachers are geeks (don't disagree buuut still).

Edited by KeeperOfTheMist
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I do appreciate that you want to see the film and perhaps cannot afford the DVD. Also, you should know that PBS pays me nothing to air it, and they can air it whenever the please. So perhaps do contact your PBS station and request it. The only way I've been able to see a way for recouping my losses was through DVD sales, and essentially, PBS is my advertisement for the show.

 

I am not adverse to 'donating' a DVD here and there, especially to the people who participate on this forum, but if it goes on YouTube or something like that, the likelihood is that it would damage potential income.

 

I did start to make a digital download available, but Amazon was charging $1.99. I cleared .40. - Also, know after a few years, I'll post it on Vimeo myself.

 

Thanks for your understanding,

David

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awsome guy you are definately.. can't wait till it hits public via you or i have the income again to afford it.. im sure this will be an outstanding conversation piece to have with me and my laptop when out travelling (another when i can afford to).

 

i was thinking more of streaming on the sales site (no way to youtube definately). hope my local pbs will show it. will try and get in touch though if i dont get a main person any messages seem to get lost around these parts XD ).

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About the last posted Oregon film...

Ok I am not film critic but puhhhleaaase. The guy used the word "treasure" at least five times, told the world there are coins to be found, and even showed the tracking number of one long enough to write it down!!!!

I realize anyone in the world can get online and find out the coins are out there, but when this happens you are informing everyone they can go find hidden treasure!!! I mean every thief in the world is smart enough to know a bank has cash, but this is like advertising they are going to have a big shipment on Friday!!

I gotta appreciate the film in certain aspects though!!! They pointed out the integrity part!!! I'm sure that is the message that stuck! :lol:

Overall??? Thumbs down on this one.

 

Just my opinion!!

 

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Edited by NeecesandNephews
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I attended a few 10 Years! events this weekend and was told by several cachers there that they had seen me on TV.I was perplexed until they mentioned this Documentary. Apparently it was on either or both? Discovery Channel and Travel Channel this past weekend.

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