Back in March, I took on a quest that took me to an unexplored area where I assumed there were dangers and obstacles at every twist and turn. I went alone - I didn't know anybody or anything, and instead of a trusty sword given to me by an old man, I had just the soothing voice of my Waze GPS to lead me to my destination. It turned out not to be so dangerous after all, and I was first introduced to an independent documentary examining the impact of The Legend of Zelda on everyone's lives - It's Dangerous To Go Alone...The Movie.

A week or so earlier, I had received a Facebook event invite to an event at the dooGallery, a small art gallery in the heard of one of Atlanta's more artistic communities. I live in the suburbs of Atlanta...Way out in the suburbs. I don't go "Inside The Perimeter" (that's referencing I-285, the highway that circles Atlanta) unless I absolutely have to. People that live "ITP" have a dislike of us "OTP" folks, and those of us on the outside think we're going to get beat up once we venture too far in town.

In other words, my interest was highly piqued if I was willing to leave my sheltered white picket fence life to go "ITP" to see what this Zelda documentary was all about.

While I was there, I met Joe Granato, an independent filmmaker from Sarasota, Florida, who grew up on the Zelda series as a kid. He's a treasure trove of Zelda information, and has a love for the series like I have never seen. Just minutes after meeting him, it's clear that he has a passion for the subject material and is overjoyed to be talking to anybody that even remotely shares the same love that he does for not just Zelda, but for video games in general.


He's in Atlanta on this weekend for several reasons. One, it's a central location for him to meet the other members of his team (who were from Baltimore.) Second, there is apparently a LOT of Zelda fan activity in Atlanta. The creators of the full length feature movie The Hero of Time are here, as are the developers of the Zelda Outlands ROM hack. In order to also get footage of everyday gamers, he worked with dooGallery to put on an evening of Zelda art and invited the public in for free.


This is not an ordinary documentary, however. While I've been asked not to share many of the specific details (and, since Joe said please, I will respect his wishes...for now) there was quite a bit of other filming going on at dooGallery on that evening, that weren't just interviews. All I will say is that it will make a very interesting feel to the finished product if they are able to pull it off.


There were several events that occurred throughout the evening, including an attempted speed run of the original Zelda (it wasn't very speedy, but it was completed in just a couple hours) as well as the projection of Zelda fan videos made famous on YouTube, from the IGN April Fools trailer to the Legend of Zelda Rock Opera. Many of these creators will be featured in the documentary.


It also turns out that the creators of the movie also used to be in a band. They dusted off their instruments for the first time in years to jam. I couldn't tell that they hadn't played together in years.


One of the more interesting people to meet and observe at the event was Chris Veal, a local canvas artist who creates 8-bit paintings. During the entire evening, we was live painting an 8-bit painting of Link, and was being filmed talking about how he has gotten inspiration from the old 8-bit games. Many of his works were also hanging around the gallery.


As the evening wound down, it became clear to me that this project could be something special. There is now a Kickstarter campaign to fund travel and equipment to tell the stories of people around the country who have been inspired by the Zelda franchise. It's going to be a very interesting project to watch for the rest of the year, and I look forward to seeing the completed project. I'm a little sad one minute of camera time was apparently marred by technical difficulties, but at least I can say that I was there when the film started production.