So, What's So Special About the Special Edition?
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 1:08PM 
We have a lot of people asking what’s going to be in the Special Edition. Enough that we thought it was about time we write a post about it.
The Special Edition is indeed going to be special.
We have a ton of ideas with regards to what we’re going to include. Unfortunately though at this point, it’s just too early to state specifically what the S.E. will consist of. Our mindset right now is: Finish the film first and then work on making the S.E. outstanding. But this is what we can tell you...
Too Much Good Stuff
So far, we’ve collected over 200 hours of footage - much of it meaty, info-ladden story & design-filled interview content. However, the projected run time of the finished film is 80 minutes (not to short, but more importantly, not too long). As a result, we know (and we’re already seeing this) that there will be tons of interesting, intriguing and emotional content that won’t make the film - simply due to time constraints.
A lot this extra material is design/game-specific content that might be a little too esoteric, some of it is plot pieces that might not fit the pacing of the final film. A good example of something that we love, but would likely not go into the film is the Canabalt piece you’ve seen already. The Special Edition will be filled with little vignettes like this...
Multiple Movies Worth
Overall, we think we have enough quality material to cover not one, not two, but likely three films worth. You can already see this happening with our web content:
To date: We‘ve released 86 minutes of free web content
(remember our film is aiming to be 80 minutes long).
This means that between the web, the special edition and the film itself. There will be a mountain of IGTM-related content out there.
Fully Produced Extras
One important point that we need to make with regards to our S.E. content is that we plan to fully produced these bonus items. A lot of traditional bonus features are simply dumped to a film's DVD's special features. We'd like to treat all S.E. content as if it were its own stand alone film.
Other Material
We also want to include as much other relevant material we possibly can. A lot of this would be dependent on the approval/blessing of the film’s subjects. But we’d love to see content such as:
- Game Concept Drawings/Art
- Official Soundtrack
- Behind the scenes material
- Limited Edition Packaging
- We are also toying with the idea of a companion hard copy book of some sort.
Going To Be Worth it
Overall, the Special Edition will be our way to do everything we possibly want to do with this project. Our own personal way of closing the book creatively on this film, before we start the next. The material mentioned above, is the type of stuff we’re thinking for the Special Edition. Basically as much high quality material as we can possibly fit into 2 or 3 discs. But like I said earlier, all of this is yet-to-be-determined. Make the movie first; then the extra goodies.
But rest assured the mandate for the Special Edition is to make it rock and make it worth every penny of the donation (which really does help and goes straight into the current production).
Any follow up questions or ideas? We’d love to hear ‘em! Let us know via email or comments below...
-J
J + L
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We've started to announce various segments that will be included in the Special Edition of the film. Here are a few of the planned segments...
- Steph Thirion & Eliss
- Thatgamecompany (Flower, Flow, Journey)
- David Hellman & The Art of Braid
- Jason Rohrer (Passage, Sleep is Death, Under a Star Filled Sky)
There's a lot more to come, and we'll be posting additional material as the package develops :)
Reader Comments (65)
I was curious if the DVD was region free? I'll be wanting to be able to play it on at least my PAL Xbox or PS3.
How much will the special edition be? I would really like to get it but will need to know in advance so that I can save enough money in time. Also, will it be a "limited edition" (as well as Special) meaning there is less copies avaliable (please say no)? Thanks!
@Kieran The PAL/ NTSC issue is something we'll have to get our head around. We think we'll be region free as much as we possibly can. It is possible that a distributor may require certain specifications. However, much of our initial strategy will be direct sales. And all preorders would certainly be fulfilled outside of an official 'distributor'.
So, in the case of the preorders, we'll intend them to be as region & standard agnostic as possible. However, I'm not to sure if a DVD can be both NTSC and PAL. We'll have to investigate that.
Sorry for the murky answer, we still have a bit of a learning curve with regards to international DVD distribution. Either way though, we'll make sure we have enough options/bases covered to make as many people happy as possible.
-James from IGTM
@Eden
The Special Edition is available right now for $99. This includes a snazzy t-shirt (to be reveal, along with the film's official artwork and poster).
At some point the price may change, or the T-shirt may be dropped. But we do plan on making the initial run of Special Editions for the Preorder people somewhat limited, and a little more special than the regular Special Edition.
Don't know how yet. But we definitely want to reward the awesome people who helped us out early on, and made this film possible.
Sooo things might not be limited per se, but early folks should get a little somethin' special :)
You've definitely convinced me now to get the pre-order special edition! :) Just have to save up some funds but will be ordering soon...I can't wait for this to be released.
@Neil Awesome to hear! Thanks Neil!
Hi, I'm really looking forward to this being released (I check the site for updates every day in fact).
But the thing is, I have pre-ordered the standard dvd but since you have been saying that I'll then miss out on the little extras like the ones that are on the site I really want to get the special edition. Is there some way of me upgrading?
@Alistair - Hey Alistair, thanks so much for the kind words, and of course, the pre order. Yep, we can definitely upgrade you. The easiest way to do it, is to pay the difference ($69.99) in the donation option on the left hand side of the page.
We will then upgrade you on our end, and put you on the Special Edition list. We will also be sure to send you a confirmation email as well - just so you know that all is set.
If you could, maybe send us a head's up email that you will be upgrading via the donation tab. You can email us directly at indiegamethemovie[at]me.com. That way, we'll be sure to make the changes and confirm with you asap.
Thanks so much for the interest and support. If really does help a lot, and definitely goes right into making IGTM a better film.
Thanks again
-James from IGTM
Hi, I had two questions regarding your great project:
Are you planning to release the special edition at the same time as the regular one?
When do you plan to reveal the official artwork, poster and t-shirt?
Hey Kurt,
We hope to release both versions at the same time. However, I can see a situation in which a planned special edition segment/inclusion takes us a little longer than anticipated, and we are forced to release the Special Edition a little later than the standard DVD. We're going to to aim for simultaneous release, but I could see the SE taking a little more time.
Artwork: We're working on it. We hope to have all ducks in a row with the release of our official trailer this Spring.
Thanks!
-James from IGTM
Hi James,
Thanks for the quick heads up. Another question: do you ship to Europe, 'cause I'm currently residing in Belgium.
@Kurt,
Yep - Shipping worldwide - Europe is no problem :)
-James
Great!
Maybe it's a cool idea to ask the indie devs to make a series of mini-games to include with the special edition, or even to make the menu of the special edition dvd's a mini-game :)
@Kurt,
Not a bad idea at all. We would love to include games/mini games in the SE. Including other people's work will always be a little more tricky, but it's definitely something we're looking to explore - we have a couple of ideas brewing ;)
Do you think you will have a download version we can purchase rather than a physical dvd?
@D
Hey D, Yep - We do plan to have a digital download version as well. We're not too sure if we can delivery all special edition content via digital download.
But at the very least, we will definitely have a digital version of the base movie (but we are investigating possible solutions to an all digital special edition)
Still up in the air as to which service(s) we'll be going with. But, it'll definitely be made available online in some fashion :)
Thanks for asking!
-James
Will the special editon DVD be available for sale when the Movie is officially out? And will it be cheaper? Just thinking ahead, because I cannot afford to pay $100, but I could afford the regular DVD and then at a later date, buy the special edition
Hi Spoons,
There is a chance that there might be a little bit of time between the availability of the reg DVD and the Special Edition DVD.
If that is the case, we're not going to leave our SE supporters in the lurch - and we'll make sure that they can see the film at the same time as everyone else is able.
As for the price, i cant say for sure, but likely not. We're going to make sure the SE is very special and worth every penny.
Of course, there is a lot of time & things to do between now and then, so things may change. But that's the way it's looking right now.
Thanks for asking :)
James
Do you think that the movie will be available on iTunes? This is the most accessible way for me to purchase it because I often use and trust this provider.
I have another question, do you think you will come to the Vancouver International Film Festival or any other festival near here?