Making It Big: Beep

As we approach One Room With A View’s FIRST birthday (hurrah for us!), it’s appropriate we go back to our roots and support the next big thing in the movie world. We’ve covered projects from Godzilla to George Clooney and now it’s time to plug in your headphones for our latest project. The Facebook ping, the Google pluck, the alarm clock’s shrill all bring such irritation and dread into our world. However, with our latest Making It Big, we’re going back to a time when ping, dings and pongs (especially the latter) ruled the audio waves and delivered joys to millions for decades. Welcome to Beep.

Beep is a nose dive into video games nostalgia, focusing upon the often forgotten artistry of the product’s glorious audio. From the lightest of noise to full blown orchestral compositions, video games have a come a long way. Beep is here to let you relive your childhood glories, and hear the stories behind the songs and sounds of your favourite games from the people who created them.  Tapping into the unknown, one of Kickstarter’s main benefits, this documentary will give a much needed voice and celebration to the unsung, and vital talents that have filled memories and arcades alike.

Courtesy of: Pichawazi.com

So what specifically will they be covering? Covering 3 continents, they’ll start at the beginning of game sound in the land of the industrial age of Victorian Britain, spinning forward into pinball to arcades and to the stunning, standalone orchestral pieces seen in the likes of Zelda and more. More than a history, it’ll focus on arguably the most fascinating process element of these unforgettable sounds.  Reviewing the psychology, the craftsmanship and the technology behind the sounds that have emanated from the digital world, Beep will bring in the devoted and the anti-video games fan into the world with a mixture of charm, nostalgia and an impressive level of depth.

In particular, a look at the pure magnitude of names they’ll be interviewing impresses. Winifred Phillips (from Assassins Creed), David Thiel (Q*bert’s voice!) and Peter McConnell (Psychonauts) are just a few of the big names that will shed their insights, thoughts and anecdotes into the fascinating narrative. Taking a slightly morbid point of view, the wide breath of interviewees is vital now more than ever for the simple fact that they are still here.

Courtesy of: THQ

Considering the sad and shocking loss of some of the brightest talents in the film industry, it is of vital importance that we celebrate these amazing talents whilst they are here rather than mourn the missed opportunities upon their departure. As the Kickstarters state: “we can’t go back and interview early film composers, but we can interview game sound designers and composers from the early days. That opportunity won’t last forever.” They are very right as someone needs to document this incredible history while we can.

Even more so, the filmmakers have stated this will save all the extra footage that doesn’t make it into the film, and make it available to researchers and fans, so everyone can have access to this important historical information, now and for the future. A very nice touch indeed.  They are also going to gather any artefacts that the composers or sound designers kept and want to make them available to the public, and digitize and archive these, so future researchers will be able to access them. This film will act not only as an entertaining history but will become an incredible resource for years to come.

Courtesy of: Beep

To achieve three continents worth of work, you need some coins in the bank. Beep needs a hefty $40,000 CAD to get insurance, visas, permits and licenses – all the fun and exciting stuff, of course. However, with the total already at the halfway point with over a month to go the prospects are looking good. In fairness, the rewards deserve investment on their own terms with some rather elegantly designed posters and shirts. It’s an impressive feat when you consider that you would actually wear the shirts in public in front of other people.

So, this fascinating nostalgia-filled slice of video game history looks set to be a charming and wonderful number. As always we’ll let you decide with a link to the Kickstarter here and their video down below.