Just a few short weeks ago I was contacted by Jason Scott, a documentarian of early micro-computer history. He has just finished his epic program, BBS: The Documentary, and is hard at work on his new project, GET LAMP, a history of Text Adventures. He has been interviewing all of the old Infocom guys he can find, and the weekend we talked was heading out to try and interview the legendary Scott Adams. He is also trying to interview prominent members of the amateur Interactive Fiction community, but found them resistant to the idea, perhaps due to modesty and humility. Lacking both of those traits, I immediately invited him over for an interview.
He set up the cameras, and I sat down on an overly cushy couch and sunk uncomfortably into it. He instructed me carefully to try not to look at him, because he will be switching out camera memory cards and downloading them on the floor. I should instead look toward roughly where the camera was. From the moment he brought the interesting camera memory-card procedure to my attention, to the end of the interview, I could only rarely rip my eyes away from it.
We talked about a lot of things, about Illuminated Lantern Publishing, about 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, about selling Interactive Fiction today, about my inspiration, about my many pet theories. About an hour or so later we both realized how mind-bendingly boring I was and brought the interview to an end.
I don't know whether our discussion will make it into the final product, but it doesn't really matter. I've seen Jason's BBS: The Documentary and know that he'll put together the best Text Adventure documentary to be made out of the footage he collects. Amongst all the luminaries he has met over the course of the project, I would merit only a footnote. Still, I had a good time and enjoyed wasting Jason's time, such as it is.
There are a few things I've learned from the experience, that I'll pass on in case a documentary filmmaker ever stops by your house asking for an interview:
1. Couches are good for slouching in watching TV, not really for being interviewed. Perhaps a chair, at a desk or table, might have been better.
2. DON'T look at him doing that thing with the memory cards! What did I tell you?
3. I think I understand why celebrities occasionally show up for talk show interviews completely drunk. They over-did it, but in general, probably having a couple will loosen you up a bit and make for a more entertaining interview. Especially later when you watch the program and say, "Oh no, I can't believe I said that!!!" Well, it's a double-edged sword. I played it safe, this time. Next time we'll do the interview at Jimmy's Woodlawn Tap.
Well, overall it was a great experience. Know anyone who you think Jason should interview? Perhaps you are an infamous modern day Interactive Fiction auteur and need to be heard? Then by all means, visit the Get Lamp website and drop Jason a note. He'd love to hear from you.