Get Lamp: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:28, 15 July 2023

Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary (http://www.getlamp.com/) is a documentary film project by Jason Scott, filmed between 2006-2008 and released in 2010. Filming started in February of 2006 with an interview of Mike Berlyn, with pre-production research taking place at least a year before that.

From the Introduction page on the GET LAMP website:

"With limited sound, simple graphics, and tiny amounts of computing power, the first games on home computers would hardly raise an eyebrow in the modern era of photorealism and surround sound. In a world of Quake, Half-Life and Halo, it is expected that a successful game must be loud, fast, and full of blazing life-like action. But in the early 1980s, an entire industry rose over the telling of tales, the solving of intricate puzzles and the art of writing. Like living books, these games described fantastic worlds to their readers, and then invited them to live within them. They were called "computer adventure games", and they used the most powerful graphics processor in the world: the human mind. Rising from side projects at universities and engineering companies, adventure games would describe a place, and then ask what to do next. They presented puzzles, tricks and traps to be overcome. They were filled with suspense, humor and sadness. And they offered a unique type of joy as players discovered how to negotiate the obstacles and think their way to victory. These players have carried their memories of these text adventures to the modern day, and a whole new generation of authors have taken up the torch to present a new set of places to explore. Get Lamp is a documentary that will tell the story of the creation of these incredible games, in the words of the people who made them." [1]

News and Historical Points

May 2002: Jason Scott registers GETLAMP.COM.
October 2005: Scott announces GET LAMP production and opening of website.
December 2005: The Get Lamp Adventurer's Club, a pre-order page for the documentary, added to the Get Lamp website. 50 groups or individuals sign up, raising $5,000 for the production.
February 2006: Filming/Interviews begin.
January 2007: Editing begins, with filming continuing.
January 2008: Jason announces that filming has completed, although a number of postdated interviews occur.
March 2010: Get Lamp previews at PAX East 2010.
July 2010: Jason announces GET LAMP arrives shortly.
August 2010: GET LAMP Ships.

Content

GET LAMP consists of two DVDs.

The first a collection of three main features as well as a slide-show-based text introduction by adventure game columnist Scorpia. "GET LAMP" is a general documentary on the story of text adventures, covering a number of subjects ranging from the genre's roots in caving and home computer available, up through to the "modern" era of interactive fiction creation and groups. "Bedquilt" is a study and tour of the cave system (Bedquilt, part of Mammoth Cave) that the original game "Adventure" is based on. "Infocom" is a roughly 50 minute documentary on the game company Infocom told from the point of view of players and employees of the company.

The second disc contains a music video by MC Frontalot, entitled "It is Pitch Dark", as well as a "Bonus Features" section with 30 short films, ranging from 20 minutes to less than 1 minute, covering additional subjects. This second disc also contains a DVD-ROM section with games, photos, videos and audio related to the production, or provided by current interactive fiction authors.

Interviewees

Note:

(cast) = Link to the interviewee's cast page on the Get Lamp website.

(clips) = Link to raw interview footage available at the Internet Archive.

People filmed for the documentary include:

Plus:

Jason Scott, the interviewer
MC Frontalot: It Is Pitch Dark (music video)
Raw Bedquilt Footage
...and the lamp (cast)

Links

Get Lamp - Homepage.
GET LAMP: The Text Adventure Documentary - Google Tech Talk on YouTube.
The GET LAMP Interview Archives. Video interviews of most of those people interviewed for the GET LAMP documentary, including many unused segments.
See the Get Lamp trailer (also in high definition) from March 2008 at Vimeo.
I GOT THE LAMP - People in GET LAMP (dead link 🔍) - a Facebook group.

News stories about the film

"Text Games Get Film Treatment" (archive), Wired News, August 17, 2006.
"There is a Shiny Brass Lamp nearby" (archive), Weblog entry by Scott, October 20, 2005.
GET LAMP Artwork and Poster (archive). Artwork by Lukas Ketner.
Get Lamp now available, Boing Boing, July 28, 2010.

Reviews

Get Lamp and Watch by Nick Montfort.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-__NOTOC__[[Image:GET LAMP Package.jpg|right|250px|Cover art for GET LAMP.]]'''Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary''' (http://www.getlamp.com/) is an upcoming film project by [[Jason Scott]], Filmed between 2006-2008 and to be released in 2010. Filming started in February of 2006 with an interview of [[Mike Berlyn]], with pre-production research taking place at least a year before that.
+__NOTOC__[[Image:GET LAMP Package.jpg|right|250px|Cover art for GET LAMP.]]'''Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary''' (http://www.getlamp.com/) is a documentary film project by [[Jason Scott]], filmed between 2006-2008 and released in 2010. Filming started in February of 2006 with an interview of [[Mike Berlyn]], with pre-production research taking place at least a year before that.
 From the Introduction page on the GET LAMP website:
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ==Interviewees==
+Note:
+: '''(cast)''' = Link to the interviewee's cast page on the Get Lamp website.
+: '''(clips)''' = Link to raw interview footage available at the Internet Archive.
 People filmed for the documentary include:
-<table><tr><td>
+<table><tr><td style="vertical-align:top">
-* Ernest Adams
+* [[Ernest Adams]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061202adams/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Scott Adams]]
+* [[Scott Adams]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070121adams/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-ScottAdams (clips)]
-* Richard Bartle
+* [[Dave Anderson|Dave "Hollywood" Anderson]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070301hollywood/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-hollywood (clips)]
+* [[Jim Aspnes]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070507aspnes/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Aspnes (clips)]
+* [[Richard Bartle]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061205bartle/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp_bartle (clips)]
 * [[Bob Bates]]
-* [[Chuck Benton]]
+* [[Chuck Benton]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060526benton/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-chuckbenton (clips)]
-* [[Mike Berlyn]]
+* [[Mike Berlyn]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060225berlyn/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Marc Blank]]
+* [[Marc Blank]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060728blank/index.html (cast)]
-* [[David Cornelson]]
+* [[Ian Bogost]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070728bogost/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-bogost (clips)]
-* [[Brendan Desilets]]
+* [[Amy Briggs]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071112briggs/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Jeremy Douglass]]
+* [[Roger Brucker]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071124rbrucker/index.html (cast)]
-* Michael Eilers
+* [[Tom Brucker]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071124tbrucker/index.html (cast)]
-* Michael Feir
+* [[Mary Ann Buckles]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071106buckles/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-buckles (clips)]
-* [[Frank Fridd]]
+* [[Adam Cadre]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071117cadre/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-cadre (clips)]
-* [[Michael Gentry]]
+* [[Zach Campbell]] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Campbell (clips)]
-* Richard Hewison
+* [[David Cornelson]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070120cornelson/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-dcornelson (clips)]
-</td><td style="padding-left:1em">
+* [[Chris Crawford]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070827crawford/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-crawford (clips)]
-* [[Dennis G. Jerz]]
+* [[Brendan Desilets]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060629desilets/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-bdesilets (clips)]
-* Demian Katz
+* [[Mike Dornbrook]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20080123dornbrook/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Dave Lebling]]
+</td><td style="padding-left:1em; vertical-align:top">
-* [[Steve Meretzky]]
+* [[Jeremy Douglass]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071106douglass/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-jeremy-douglass (clips)]
-* Jonathan Meyers
+* [[Michael Eilers]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061102eilers/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Eilers (clips)]
-* [[Lance Micklus]]
+* [[Michael Feir]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061229feir/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-mfeir (clips)]
-* [[Nick Montfort]]
+* [[C. E. Forman|Chris Forman]] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-chrisforman (clips)]
-* [[Brian Moriarty]]
+* [[Frank Fridd]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061203fridd/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-fridd (clips)]
-* Stuart Moulthrop
+* [[Stu Galley]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20080203galley/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Peter Nepstad]]
+* [[Michael Gentry]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070624gentry/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-MikeGentry (clips)]
-* Debee Norling
+* [[Stephen Granade]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071028granade/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-StephenGranade (clips)]
-* [[Paul O'Brian]]
+* [[Rob Griffiths]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070827griffiths/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-rgriffiths (clips)]
-* [[Alexandre Owen Muñiz]]
+* [[Richard Hewison]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061205hewison/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-hewison (clips)]
-* Andrea Packard
+* [[Dan Horn]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071027horn/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-danhorn (clips)]
-* [[Robert Pinsky]]
+* [[Dennis G. Jerz]] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-djerz (clips)]
-</td><td style="padding-left:1em">
+* [[Demian Katz]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061028katz/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Andrew Plotkin]]
+* [[Andrew Kaluzniacki]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070717drew/index.html (cast)]
-* Jon Radoff
+* [[Dave Lebling]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061116lebling/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Dan Ravipinto]]
+* [[Ron Martinez]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20080112martinez/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Martinez (clips)]
-* [[Aaron Reed]]
+* [[George McDougall]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070708mcdougall/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Michael J. Roberts]]
+* [[Steve Meretzky]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061214meretzky/index.html (cast)] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060718meretzky/index.html (cast)]
-* [[Jason Scott]]
+* [[Jonathan Meyers]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060226meyers/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-pmeyers (clips)]
-* Austin Seraphin
+* [[Paul Meyers]]
-* David Shaw
+</td><td style="padding-left:1em; vertical-align:top">
-* [[Robb Sherwin]]
+* [[Lance Micklus]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061112micklus/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Micklus (clips)]
-* [[Mike Sousa]]
+* [[Nick Montfort]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060514montfort/index.html (cast-1)] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060717montfort/index.html (cast-2)]<br /> [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070909montfort/index.html (cast-3)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-montfort-pa (clips-1)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp_montfort_main (clips-2)]
-* [[Robert Supnik]]
+* [[Brian Moriarty]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061129moriarty/index.html (cast)]
-* Edward Packard
+* [[Stuart Moulthrop]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061026moulthrop/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp_moulthrop (clips)]
-* Noah Wardrip-Fruin
+* [[Alexandre Owen Muñiz]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070826owen/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-twostar (clips)]
-* [[David Welbourn]]
+* [[Keith Nemitz]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071113nemitz/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-knemitz (clips)]
-* [[Donald Woods]]
+* [[Peter Nepstad]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070120nepstad/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-nepstad (clips)]
+* [[Debee Norling]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061105norling/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-norling (clips)]
+* [[Paul O'Brian]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070127obrian/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-obrian (clips)]
+* [[Chris Orcutt]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20080105orcutt/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-orcutt (clips)]
+* [[Andrea Packard]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061029packard/index.html (cast)]
+* [[Edward Packard]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060606packard/index.html (cast)]
+* [[Jon Palace]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070228palace/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-jpalace (clips)]
+* [[Alex Papadimoulis]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070708alex/index.html (cast)]
+* [[Robert Pinsky]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070820pinsky/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-rpinsky (clips)]
+* [[Andrew Plotkin]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070303plotkin/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-aplotkin (clips)]
+* [[Jon Radoff]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061003radoff/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-jradoff (clips)]
+* [[Dan Ravipinto]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061026ravipinto/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp_ravipinto (clips)]
+* [[Aaron Reed]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061026reed/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-aaronreed (clips)]
+</td><td style="padding-left:1em; vertical-align:top">
+* [[Michael J. Roberts]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070828roberts/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-MikeRoberts (clips)]
+* [[Warren Robinett]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071115robinett/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Robinett (clips)]
+* [[John Romero]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071118romero/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Romero (clips)]
+* [[Ryan Russell]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071117ryan/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-russell (clips)]
+* [[Monte Schulz]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071116schulz/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-monte (clips)]
+* [[Austin Seraphin]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060514austin/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-austin (clips)]
+* [[David Shaw]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060928shaw/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Shaw (clips)]
+* [[Howard A. Sherman]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070629sherman/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Sherman (clips)]
+* [[Robb Sherwin]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070127sherwin/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Sherwin (clips)]
+* [[Jason Shiga]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071118shiga/index.html (cast)]
+* [[Dan Shiovitz]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071111inky/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-inky (clips)]
+* [[Lucian P. Smith]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071111smith/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-LPSmith (clips)]
+* [[Mike Sousa]] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Sousa (clips)]
+* [[Robert M. Supnik]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061025supnik/index.html (cast)] [http://www.archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Supnik (clips)]
+* [[Adam Thornton]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20070729thornton/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-thornton (clips)]
+* [[Noah Wardrip-Fruin]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061026noah/index.html (cast)]
+* [[David Welbourn]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061228welbourn/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-welbourn (clips)]
+* [[Dave West]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20071124west/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-davewest (clips)]
+* [[Donald Woods]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20060812woods/index.html (cast)] [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Woods (clips)]
+* and various PhreakNIC attendees [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/20061021phreaknic/index.html (cast)]
 </td></tr></table>
+Plus:
+* [[Jason Scott]], the interviewer
+* [http://archive.org/details/frontalot-pitchdark-video-hd MC Frontalot: It Is Pitch Dark] (music video)
+* [http://archive.org/details/GETLAMP-Bedquilt-Footage Raw Bedquilt Footage]
+* ...and [[brass lantern|the lamp]] [http://www.getlamp.com/cast/999lamp/index.html (cast)]
 ==Links==
 * [http://www.getlamp.com Get Lamp] - Homepage.
+* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRhbcDzbGSU GET LAMP: The Text Adventure Documentary] - Google Tech Talk on YouTube.
+* [http://archive.org/details/getlamp-interviews The GET LAMP Interview Archives]. Video interviews of most of those people interviewed for the GET LAMP documentary, including many unused segments.
 * See the [http://www.vimeo.com/888495 Get Lamp trailer] (also in [http://www.vimeo.com/888551 high definition]) from March 2008 at Vimeo.
-* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2392240599 I GOT THE LAMP - People in GET LAMP] - a [[Facebook]] group.
+* {{link|deadurl=http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=242853003102|I GOT THE LAMP - People in GET LAMP}} - a [[Facebook]] group.
 === News stories about the film ===
-* [http://www.wired.com/news/culture/video/0,71573-0.html "Text Games Get Film Treatment"], ''Wired News'', August 17, 2006.
+* {{link|deadurl=http://www.wired.com/news/culture/video/0,71573-0.html| archive=http://web.archive.org/web/20060820095635/http://www.wired.com/news/culture/video/0,71573-0.html| "Text Games Get Film Treatment"}}, ''Wired News'', August 17, 2006.
-* [http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000168.html "There is a Shiny Brass Lamp nearby"], Weblog entry by Scott, October 20, 2005.
+* {{link|deadurl=http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000168.html| archive=http://web.archive.org/web/20051027002844/http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000168.html| "There is a Shiny Brass Lamp nearby"}}, Weblog entry by Scott, October 20, 2005.
-* [http://inventory.getlamp.com/2010/01/19/get-lamp-artwork-and-poster/ GET LAMP Artwork and Poster]. New artwork by [http://lukasketner.blogspot.com/ Lukas Ketner] can be previewed and bought as a poster.
+* {{link|deadurl=http://inventory.getlamp.com/2010/01/19/get-lamp-artwork-and-poster/| archive=http://web.archive.org/web/20100123182236/http://inventory.getlamp.com/2010/01/19/get-lamp-artwork-and-poster/ |GET LAMP Artwork and Poster}}. Artwork by [http://lukasketner.blogspot.com/ Lukas Ketner].
 * [http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/28/get-lamp-now-availab.html Get Lamp now available], Boing Boing, July 28, 2010.
+=== Reviews ===
+* [http://nickm.com/post/2010/08/get-lamp-and-watch/ ''Get Lamp'' and Watch] by [[Nick Montfort]].
 [[Category:Publications]] [[Category:2009]]
+[[Category:Crowdfunded projects]]