I'm downloading from iTunes as I write! 
Viva Amiga released, has anyone watched it yet?
- Thread starter deladrevoc
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ADz83
New member
I'm downloading from iTunes as I write!
Downloaded it early hours thismorning from Vimeo but was too tired to watch whole thing. It has god production quality and I managed to watch first half but if I'm honest it was just like a watered down version of Bedrooms to Billions Amiga Years. I'm hoping second half has more story/info that not heard before. It's been in development for years so bit disappointed in first half. This should have ideally been released a year ago before BTB.
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Did I miss something?
Nice documentary but no mention of David Pleasance? Marketing may have been mismanaged in the US but David was selling s**t loads of A500s in the UK. He may have turned Amiga's fortunes around if he had managed to acquire the assets.
Nice documentary but no mention of David Pleasance? Marketing may have been mismanaged in the US but David was selling s**t loads of A500s in the UK. He may have turned Amiga's fortunes around if he had managed to acquire the assets.
I think both films (Viva Amiga & Bedrooms to Billions Amiga Years) are quite complementary, respectively the US and European/UK view. However after seeing Viva Amiga I don't see why it had to take so long or did all the time go into the the overkill of renderings.
Thanks timmie and ADz83,
Clearly I missed Bedrooms to Billions Amiga Years, I'll have to raid my 'Miggy bank' and download this now...
:roll:
Clearly I missed Bedrooms to Billions Amiga Years, I'll have to raid my 'Miggy bank' and download this now...
:roll:
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ADz83
New member
Did I miss something?
Nice documentary but no mention of David Pleasance? Marketing may have been mismanaged in the US but David was selling s**t loads of A500s in the UK. He may have turned Amiga's fortunes around if he had managed to acquire the assets.
Are you serious, David is not in movie or even mentioned? Man I just lost whole respect and hopes for this documentary, especially considering it has taken waaay too long.
What kind of Amiga doc has no mention of David ffs.
I'm hoping there may be an issue with my download. More worrying, maybe I just cannot account for the complete void during the feature. Alien abduction?
I forgot you'd only seen half, sorry to spoil the anticipation
I forgot you'd only seen half, sorry to spoil the anticipation
Did I miss something?
Nice documentary but no mention of David Pleasance? Marketing may have been mismanaged in the US but David was selling s**t loads of A500s in the UK. He may have turned Amiga's fortunes around if he had managed to acquire the assets.
Are you serious, David is not in movie or even mentioned? Man I just lost whole respect and hopes for this documentary, especially considering it has taken waaay too long.
What kind of Amiga doc has no mention of David ffs.
you can hire and look one time or buy and download from vimeo too:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/vivaamiga
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/vivaamiga
Now now.. don't throw your toys out of your pram just yet.. there is a good reason why :roll:
So one being.. the bulk was shot over 5 years ago.. the last was done two years ago at the event in Mountain View California. In both cases, David was not at the 25th Anniversary in The Netherlands and not at the 30th in Mountain View California.
David Pleasance, and we are friends so no hard feelings or puns or whatever, sort of re-appeared to the Amiga Public during the Amiga 30 festivities (he attended the Dutch, English and German installment of the Amiga 30 Year Anniversary).. obviously he was never out of the picture, but you get the idea here..
I know for a fact that Zach wanted to come again to see David and vise versa.. but somehow time and budget constraints did not allow such an event to take place.
So there is no lack of respect.. and the overkill of graphics may make it feel like a Hollywood Blockbuster, but it is made in California so hey..
The duration from Kickstarter to release is understandably an annoyance factor for some of you, but keep in mind that the budget was tight, it was done by someone active in the business as a side-project and in their free time.. and never took a dime for themselves and in fact had to go for extra funding into their own pockets to make it work. I will spare you the details on trademarks, legal works and whatnot.
I hope this puts it in perspective and that this information will make you enjoy the movie after all.
Thank you!
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Scali
New member
I've watched it, and quite enjoyed it. Especially how the introduction and early advertisement was covered.
One thing I was somewhat missing is the demoscene. There was some footage of Revision, but no specific mention of demos or sceners.
While my experience is that the demoscene is an area where the Amiga is still very much kept alive.
In fact, quite a few Amiga game developers were/are also active in the scene. Some game studios were even started by Amiga demogroups.
Especially considering there was a segment on chiptunes. I view chiptunes as a spinoff of the demoscene (given that chiptunes originated with cracktros and other size-limited intros/demos, and the tracker tools are mostly written by sceners for sceners).
One thing I was somewhat missing is the demoscene. There was some footage of Revision, but no specific mention of demos or sceners.
While my experience is that the demoscene is an area where the Amiga is still very much kept alive.
In fact, quite a few Amiga game developers were/are also active in the scene. Some game studios were even started by Amiga demogroups.
Especially considering there was a segment on chiptunes. I view chiptunes as a spinoff of the demoscene (given that chiptunes originated with cracktros and other size-limited intros/demos, and the tracker tools are mostly written by sceners for sceners).
Enjoyed the documentary, made me happy for the night remembering the good old days. Wished there was more. Chiptunes was interesting but I agree with Scali Demoscene would have been more relevant.
Gravislord
New member
I thought this documentary fell far short in delivering a complete, compelling story. I was glad they used Commodore folks more in this one but overall, the interview snippets were too short, too few diversity in people. Why stop at just over 1 hour of content (and have the story suffer) or allow more in-depth interviews shine through to the audience?
And don't get me started on the presentation-style! I hate they whole rendered background scenes stuff, absolutely HATED it. Uggh..
Still worth $9.99 but could have been soooo much more...
And don't get me started on the presentation-style! I hate they whole rendered background scenes stuff, absolutely HATED it. Uggh..
Still worth $9.99 but could have been soooo much more...
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Dear Gravislord,
Please allow me to explain something about this project.. the thing about the Viva Amiga project is, that this could be regarded as a ZERO budget movie (to use Zach's own words) as the 25+K budget it raised via crowd funding was not nearly enough to get the movie completed. I personally got involved during the Amiga 30th and when the bulk was already shot. My part in this was to bring certain key players together, raise some funding and get some trademark disputes out of the way.. In order for this project to be delivered. I too agree that it is short and the end feels rushed, but when you have to make a choice between delivering something the bulk will mostly appreciate and tell the story or to tank it because you are not 100% happy.. well.. the latter seems like no option whatsoever.
the intent has always been to make a movie that you, as the true geek and Amigan, can show your best friends, what this crazy hobby of yours is about, why this Amiga is still in your heart and why the heck you still use it today. It is also the move for the so called Joe Regular who heard of the Amiga and tell the story on how it became this great machine but due to bad marketing and poor management became this cult machine we know today. I thought the interviews were great and hilarious at some point and I appreciated the humor the founders brought with them after all these years to talk about it. It was never intended to be a movie to show every Amiga ever made, or tell all the details about everything (which we nerds love) but to give the normal man some insight on this crazy hobby of ours. For the nerdy ones, there are other documentaries that capture those aspects...
The good thing is that there is more footage, enough to make a special cut or possibly a second installment and there are plans to do so in order to go also more in-depth.
I personally like the CGI that was made but I guess that is a personal preference. Some love it, some do not...
So the bad news is that a follow up may well be using those some graphics you hate, but hope it won't stop you from watching it.
Just on a personal note.. Zach Weddington is a very approachable and likable guy so if you have ideas and/or suggestions, then do contact him as he always likes to hear from a true fan what you think was good, what was not and how it can be improved.
Please allow me to explain something about this project.. the thing about the Viva Amiga project is, that this could be regarded as a ZERO budget movie (to use Zach's own words) as the 25+K budget it raised via crowd funding was not nearly enough to get the movie completed. I personally got involved during the Amiga 30th and when the bulk was already shot. My part in this was to bring certain key players together, raise some funding and get some trademark disputes out of the way.. In order for this project to be delivered. I too agree that it is short and the end feels rushed, but when you have to make a choice between delivering something the bulk will mostly appreciate and tell the story or to tank it because you are not 100% happy.. well.. the latter seems like no option whatsoever.
the intent has always been to make a movie that you, as the true geek and Amigan, can show your best friends, what this crazy hobby of yours is about, why this Amiga is still in your heart and why the heck you still use it today. It is also the move for the so called Joe Regular who heard of the Amiga and tell the story on how it became this great machine but due to bad marketing and poor management became this cult machine we know today. I thought the interviews were great and hilarious at some point and I appreciated the humor the founders brought with them after all these years to talk about it. It was never intended to be a movie to show every Amiga ever made, or tell all the details about everything (which we nerds love) but to give the normal man some insight on this crazy hobby of ours. For the nerdy ones, there are other documentaries that capture those aspects...
The good thing is that there is more footage, enough to make a special cut or possibly a second installment and there are plans to do so in order to go also more in-depth.
I personally like the CGI that was made but I guess that is a personal preference. Some love it, some do not...
So the bad news is that a follow up may well be using those some graphics you hate, but hope it won't stop you from watching it.
Just on a personal note.. Zach Weddington is a very approachable and likable guy so if you have ideas and/or suggestions, then do contact him as he always likes to hear from a true fan what you think was good, what was not and how it can be improved.
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I watched it recently and helped out Zach with the English subtitles, before the film was cut so I was working with the raw uncut interviews of RJ Mical and Jeff Porter and there was a lot of material that he left out, it is a shame as they had some very interesting stories to tell. I really wanted the film to be good and especially after such a long production time and the troubles he has had making the film but unfortunately when you compare it to Bedrooms to Billions it comes off lacking in content and professionalism.
He really could have included a more content to pad out the film since he already had the footage and I am sure he had his reasons to making the film only 1 hour but I feel he lost an opportunity with the extra footage. It was nice to see the Amiga from across the pond, especially since I lived in the States from 86-89 so but as you also say iRetOVolver it can be a regarded as a zero budget movie, and to be honest when I backed the film and the final amount was tallied I thought with all the travelling he is planning this budget probably will not be enough. Anyways I think it is worth watching but it is best to reign in your expectations, this is a movie more for people who did not know of the Amiga and/or just knew about it in passing.
If you are an Amiga geek then you will not learn anything new in this film, you will get a warm feeling from seeing the original designers but a lot of has already been covered before and in more depth.
He really could have included a more content to pad out the film since he already had the footage and I am sure he had his reasons to making the film only 1 hour but I feel he lost an opportunity with the extra footage. It was nice to see the Amiga from across the pond, especially since I lived in the States from 86-89 so but as you also say iRetOVolver it can be a regarded as a zero budget movie, and to be honest when I backed the film and the final amount was tallied I thought with all the travelling he is planning this budget probably will not be enough. Anyways I think it is worth watching but it is best to reign in your expectations, this is a movie more for people who did not know of the Amiga and/or just knew about it in passing.
If you are an Amiga geek then you will not learn anything new in this film, you will get a warm feeling from seeing the original designers but a lot of has already been covered before and in more depth.
indeed, this is for sure not the movie for the hard core geeks like ourselves but should be seen for what it is.. a "My First Sony" approach to those new to the story.. It is the movie you can show your friends who never really understood what this Amiga means to us and what makes us happy by using it on an every day basis.. so it things had to be kept light and simple.
I also think that for Zach it was a project for which he wants to make a name for himself as a filmmaker and present it on festivals. I think that a true hardcore geek movie wouldn't cut it there as the audience would not embrace it..
Well.. I was involved.. it was fun and I am happy I could contribute the way I do best.. and I liked it.. did I think it was the best movie ever seen? No, of course not.. I seen better productions with bigger budgets but for a non-geek movie trying to explain to those who are "outside the Amiga realm".. I think it got it right.
I will end it here before I keep harping on
I also think that for Zach it was a project for which he wants to make a name for himself as a filmmaker and present it on festivals. I think that a true hardcore geek movie wouldn't cut it there as the audience would not embrace it..
Well.. I was involved.. it was fun and I am happy I could contribute the way I do best.. and I liked it.. did I think it was the best movie ever seen? No, of course not.. I seen better productions with bigger budgets but for a non-geek movie trying to explain to those who are "outside the Amiga realm".. I think it got it right.
I will end it here before I keep harping on
SkydivinGirl
Retro Girl
It's unwatchable on my Fire TV through the Vimeo app and that's the only way I have to watch it on my TV. I don't want to watch it from my computer. I wish he'd just let me download it! Either that or hurry up with my DVD.
Heather
Heather
Use the download link in Vimeo.. when you buy it, you can download it.
SkydivinGirl
Retro Girl
There is no download link on mine. I know this because I have other Vimeo videos in my account that I can download. I only have the option to stream.
Heather
Heather
