Hello all! I’ve always wanted to do commentaries of some kind for the Once Upon a Time episodes. There are so much cool stuff going on in the shows, I wanted to find a way to “join” the viewer and tell them, “Hey, that’s important. Remember that for later!” or “Remember that item that so and so had from the last episode, well this person gave it to them,” etc.
Sure, there are lots of great audio commentaries that people have done. For instance, a friend of mine (and Star Wars canon timeline aficionado), Nathan P. Butler has done great ones for the Star Wars trilogy, here: http://www.solosound.net/category/cantinacommentaries/. That’s great, but I wanted to do something different.
So, I embedded the OUAT Pilot on a webpage, and under it I embedded a webpage with numerated commentary points that a viewer could scroll down as the episode played. I realize it is a bit crude, but I like the control that the viewer has to not be rushed or go back, etc. Plus, as time goes on I can add pictures in it, etc.
My early (non-completed) test is here: http://www.onceuponatimepodcast.com/video-test/
Obviously, with an undertaking like this, decisions had to be made;
Do I “connect the dots”? For example, when we see Henry with the Once Upon a Time Fairy Tale book, do I say “Hey, that’s the book that Mary Margaret gave him!”, or
Do I “play coy,” and let the story unfold as the writers intended? For example, when we see Henry with the Once Upon a Time Fairy Tale book, do I say “See that book the boy is carrying? That is a very important book to our story. I wondered who gave it to him?”
Well, I decided to play coy, and let the commentary points happen as the show unfolds. A decision like this will obviously split the room. I’m sorry if some don’t like it, but it’s what I’ve decided.
Also, I will only be dealing with Once Upon a Time itself. No connections to other works (Like Lost, Star Wars, etc), that’s what the podcast is for.
Anyway, check out the unfinished work in progress of the RoneyZone Media Once Upon a Time Text Commentaries: http://www.onceuponatimepodcast.com/video-test/
Two more things;
1. Folks in the U.S., Hulu will not be playing these episodes online forever, so you will have time to see both items on the same screen, until (see #2)
2. Folks outside the U.S., you will not be able to play the episode on screen, but if you have the opportunity to; play the DVR’d version on your TV, play it on your countries accessible website, you can (if you have a Smartphone (like an iphone)) scroll the info along with what you are watching.
That’s it for now.