(*Or, “Nerding Out about Credits” Part II)
It takes a lot of people to make a movie – including a documentary. This film may be very lean on the crew side (often it’s just me doing the shoots), but it’s especially heavy on the participant side, whether its the long list of interviewees, or people who’ve provided vintage photos and home videos.
Way back in January, I posted about how I created a database to keep track of all the people who contributed via the various crowdfunding methods. This database has really helped keep track of everything, not just for giving proper credit, but from a bookkeeping perspective.
For the main credits of the film, I needed something similar. Keeping track of it all in a spreadsheet or word document became impractical – people are sometimes mentioned in multiple capacities, and throughout the chaos of production, many gaps in the record had formed.
Over the past several days, I’ve created a new database to track all of the credits, and then I wrote code to format the credits for display in the film and on the web. Internally, it helps me remember how someone became involved in the project and what their roles are. In the future, the program will also output different versions of the credits for different cuts of the film (such as an extended release). The database also tracks links to people’s IMDB entries, and whether or not they should be entered into the IMDB in the future (which is itself an arduous process), and can link to external web sites (such as a TV station or venue) from the web version of the credits as well.
Looking at the results, I am deeply humbled! It’s starting to look like a real movie – at least credits-wise. As of this writing, there are 187 credit listings, based on a pool of 153 people or organizations. (Some people have multiple credit listings, for example if they were interviewed, and then separately provided materials).
Have a look – it’s quite something: Main Credits
That doesn’t even include most of the Crowdfunding Credits, which will also be displayed in the final film.
If, by some chance, your name is missing (sorry!) or you know of someone else you believe should be listed, please Contact Us.
Thank you, everyone who participated! The list is truly amazing, and gazing upon it helps me deal with the day-to-day grind of getting this film made.
You can help support the project by purchasing from the Crowdfunding Shop.
