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Minecraft: The Story of Mojang

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Minecraft: The Story of Mojang
Standard DVD cover
Directed byPaul Owens
Produced byPaul Levering
Starring
CinematographyAsif Siddiky
Music byC418
Production
company
Distributed by2 Player Productions
Release date
  • December 22, 2012 (2012-12-22)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Swedish

Minecraft: The Story of Mojang is a 2012 documentary film directed by Paul Owens. It is about the history of the company Mojang and its creation, Minecraft. The film features interviews with company personnel such as Markus Persson and Jens Bergensten and insights from people involved in the gaming industry and from players profoundly impacted by the game.[1] The film was produced by 2 Player Productions.

Announced in January 2011, the production was funded through a Kickstarter campaign grossing over US$210,000, one of the platform's biggest campaigns at the time. Production spanned nearly two years in Europe and North America, following events at Mojang and milestones for Minecraft and Persson. Original Minecraft composer C418 provided the score, which was released as part of his album One.

The film premiered on Xbox Live on December 22, 2012. It was made available for download and streaming the following day, and a DVD was released by Fangamer. It was well-received, gaining praise for its presentation, emotional aspect, charm, and value to fans, though its narrative and informative depth were questioned. 2 Player Productions also uploaded the documentary to the torrent index the Pirate Bay, but urged people to consider purchasing the film. The company published the film on YouTube in November 2013, and it had its broadcast television premiere on Fusion TV in March 2015.

Cast

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Content

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The documentary follows video game developer Mojang through the development process of Minecraft.[1] The film also features insights from many people in the video gaming industry to discuss Minecraft's popularity and influence.[1] Interviews from Minecraft creator Markus Persson and other Mojang employees give an insight on the creation and expansion of the studio.[1]

Production

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Mojang's offices at the time, located at Maria Skolgata 83, Stockholm

After gaining notice for their documentary Reformat the Planet (2008) and work with Penny Arcade on their PATV video series, 2 Player Productions conceived the idea for a documentary about the indie game Minecraft.[2] The team realized they were all fans of the game and felt its story would make a good pilot episode. They emailed Persson seeking a meeting in Sweden, staying for around a week. They stipulated the production would be costless to Persson; 2 Player Productions would fund the production entirely.[2] Once there, they discovered "there was a lot more story", and decided instead of a pilot on the game's origins, they would produce a full-length movie about Mojang's first year.[2] The film's director, Paul Owens, wanted to explore the impact Minecraft had on its players, feeling it had "transcended" beyond a video game, particularly to its fans.[3]

To finance the project, 2 Player Productions decided to create a Kickstarter campaign after seeing several successful projects emerge from their colleagues.[2] Alongside a 20-minute proof of concept video, they launched the campaign on February 21, 2011, with a goal of US$150,000;[4] almost a third of the money was raised within two days.[5] It ultimately raised over $210,000 from 3,641 backers,[6][7] one of the platform's highest-earning film campaigns at the time.[8]

Principal photography took place over the span of nearly two years across Europe and North America.[1][2] Filming occured in several phases, with the team making multiple trips to document different milestones for Mojang and Minecraft's development. They shot at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2011 in June, where Mojang had an appearance, and in August traveled to Sweden to cover Persson's wedding.[2] By February 2012, the film was in post-production, with a 90-minute cut compiled. They returned to Sweden to cover the studio's final thoughts on the year, and traveled through the US to finish all the content required for the film.[9] They scored the finished film and started manufacturing rewards for Kickstarter supporters.[9]

Soundtrack

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One
Soundtrack album by
C418
ReleasedDecember 23, 2012
Genre
Length95:28
110:28 (CD version)
Label
ProducerC418
C418 chronology
72 Minutes of Fame
(2011) 		One
(2012) 		Minecraft – Volume Beta
(2013)

One is the soundtrack album to Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, composed by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld, the game's original composer and sound designer. It was released on December 23, 2012, and contains 31 tracks.[10][11] He was attached to provide the score by May 2011.[11] Rosenfeld had wanted to work on a film, and agreed when 2 Player Productions asked him to compose the score. To do so, he stopped working on the game "seriously" for about a year and a half.[12]: 18:42  The album was an experiment on the concept of "Schönhören", a word in German roughly meaning "the act of listening to something until you start to like it". He described the album as "pretty relaxed, with a mix of live recorded chiptune, orchestral phrases and a lot of Array mbiras".[13]

The first song he composed for the film was a seven-minute track synchronised to the first footage he was given, which he described as "basically a failure".[12]: 19:42  Rosenfeld spent two weeks on the first track, and realised composing the entire film like that as a single person was not possible.[12]: 20:18  Rosenfeld would start composing material beginning with a 2–5-second "jingle" sound, and looped it.[12]: 22:05  He would then add a bassline to the four looping notes, choosing a bass sample from chipsounds, a Game Boy sound emulator, and usually doubled up on them because he liked them.[12]: 22:36–23:10  Then, he would add a drum track. For one song, he sampled the drums from a James Brown song.[12]: 23:10  For the melody, he would change the key of the music to create it, making patterns such as crescendos.[12]: 23:20 

When it occurred to Rosenfeld that he was composing for a documentary, and that loud music would not be fitting, he decided to "make it longer and louder", a choice he did not understand.[12]: 24:07  He also implemented an mbira called a kalimba with five octaves, matching the chord progression. He decided to implement this instrument into the entire score, providing a satisfactory theme due to its uniqueness.[12]: 24:24–25:30  Rosenfeld eventually decided the music's volume needed to be addressed, and found slowing it down useful.[12]: 25:29  To make the music fit the documentary without being "annoying as hell", he simply did this in places and added in the Game Boy samples.[12]: 25:53–27:21  To make the music sound fuller, he added piano, in some places playing it by plucking.[12]: 27:21  Rosenfeld felt the slowness of the music made it mellow and fitting for the emotional moments in the documentary.[12]: 28:16  He then sped the music up again and repeated the process.[12]: 28:34 

One was physically released in CD format by Fangamer. The two-disc pack features exclusive remixes by crashfaster, Danimal Cannon, Bud Melvin, and minusbaby.[14] Vice called the album a "gleeful and unobtrusive collection of short melodic instrumentals that skip around daintily like cute little bashful kittens, but with a dark self-deprecating humour lurking beneath".[15]

Track listing

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Composed, produced and mastered by C418.[16]

One track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Cliffside Hinson"3:46
2."Surface Pension"6:34
3."Independent Accident"4:11
4."Danny Makes Chiptune"2:46
5."The First Million"3:19
6."Certitudes"4:33
7."Impostor Syndrome"2:24
8."Buildup Errors"3:26
9."For the Sake of Making Games"1:33
10."Preliminary Art Form"3:07
11."Lawyer Cage Fight"1:58
12."Lost Cousins"1:31
13."Total Drag"2:47
14."Drunken Carboni"3:04
15."The Weirdest Year of Your Life"3:58
16."Swarms"2:51
17."Diskdance"2:22
18."PR Department"1:25
19."Faux Video Production"3:08
20."One Last Game"1:19
21."This Doesn't Work"5:30
22."Wooden Love"1:33
23."I Glove Thy Flob" (featuring Disco[a])1:47
24."Post Success Depression"3:12
25."Social Lego"4:51
26."Jayson Glove"3:18
27."Clumsiness and Innovation"3:03
28."No Pressure"3:04
29."One"2:27
30."Fifflas" (featuring Nifflas)1:34
31."Tsuki no Koibumi" (featuring Laura Shigihara)5:07
Total length:95:28
CD bonus remixes
No.TitleLength
32."No Pressure" (minusbaby 'By the Snow in Brooklyn' Mix)4:35
33."Jayson Glove" (Bud Melvin '2 players 1 little piggy' Mix)4:14
34."The First Million" (Danimal Cannon 'MultiMillion' Mix)2:59
35."Preliminary Art Form" (Crashfaster 'Nether' Mix)3:12
Total length:110:28

Notes

  • ^[a] Composition by Johann "D Major" Pachelbel, rearranged by Disco and C418.[16]

Release

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2 Player Productions announced Minecraft: The Story of Mojang in January 2011, alongside some production stills.[17] By October 2012, director Paul Owens expected an early December release date, aiming for the 7th of that month.[18] In November, a clip of the film was included in an episode of PC Gamer Digital, which featured Persson coding exploding arrows.[19] At the 2012 Minecon in Paris, Rosenfeld made an appearance, where he walked the audience through the creation of the score's title track.[20] The first trailer was released on December 18, 2012.[21][22]

The film premiered at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on Xbox Live on December 22, 2012, in Austria, Belgium, France, Finland, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, the UK, and US, free for Xbox Live Gold members.[7] It was made available for streaming and digital rights management (DRM)-free download the following day.[22][6] On December 23, Fangamer released the film on DVD, with the first 7,000 copies wrapped in a custom "dirt brown" case and reversible cover, and coming with a free 720p download code.[7] As a measure to address the inevitability of the film being pirated, 2 Player Productions uploaded the documentary to the torrent index the Pirate Bay, admitting there were "fine" reasons as to why it would be pirated, including its Xbox exclusive debut. They however urged people to consider purchasing the film.[6][23]

On March 18, 2013, it was released on digital distributor VHX in two editions: "family friendly" with the option to stream instantly or DRM-free download; and a more expensive version including a commentary track, a segment with Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition developers at 4J Studios, and deleted scenes.[24] On November 11, 2013, 2 Player Productions released it for free on their YouTube channel.[25][26] The film made its broadcast television premiere on Fusion TV on March 22, 2015, with an aftershow, Talking Minecraft hosted by YouTube personalities Captain Sparklez and JeromeASF.[27]

Reception

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Minecraft: The Story of Mojang was well-received.[27] Kotaku's Matt Hawkins hailed the film as "what Indie Game: The Movie wishes that it was, but most definitely is not". He remarked that the filmmakers' presentation was done in "the most restrained, calm, and graceful manner possible", and called it "virtually perfect". He observed that "every single moment, no matter how understated, adds to the overall tapestry", and praised its accessibility in being able to make anyone invest in it, hailing that as "the true hallmark of a good documentary".[28] Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead felt the film could have been more detailed, and found it "disappointingly ironic" that the film failed to unearth "blocks of narrative ore". He criticized the midsection, which he considered disjointed, but felt the interviews added weight to the theme of humanity. While he felt it was not "illuminating", he admitted it was pleasant and served as "charming fluff" and a sweet tribute to the game for its fans.[29] PCGamesN's Paul Dean said it was satisfying as a film by fans for fans, and highlighted the moments when "someone has more to say" and has "a meaningful insight into what Minecraft really is and the impact that it has had", singling out Molyneux's interview. He concluded it was "a light, fluffy feelgood documentary about a feelgood game that bounces from success to success, from endorsement to endorsement, but without ever really studying anything in detail or telling us very much that we didn’t already know. The result is a film that's often charming, frequently sweet, but never particularly deep".[30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Minecraft". 2PlayerProductions.com. 2 Player Productions. Archived from the original on November 1, 2016. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Daw, David (June 15, 2011). "2 Player Productions: Meet the Guys Behind the Minecraft Documentary". PC World. International Data Group. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  3. ^ Schreier, Jason (March 4, 2011). "Minecraft Documentary Explores Indie Game's Impact". Wired. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  4. ^ Fletcher, JC (February 21, 2011). "See 20 minutes of the Minecraft documentary, then help finance it". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  5. ^ Jacques, John (February 23, 2011). "Minecraft Documentary in the Works". Game Rant. Warp 10. Archived from the original on February 24, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Welch, Chris (December 22, 2024). "Minecraft: the Story of Mojang now available on The Pirate Bay courtesy of its producers". The Verge. Vox Media. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Hinkle, David (December 22, 2012). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang hits DVD December 23". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on December 25, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Kaufman, Anthony (June 2, 2011). "The Top 7 Kickstarter Films (and 3 Secrets to Crowdfunding Success)". IndieWire. SnagFilms. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Daw, David (February 16, 2012). "2 Player Productions Interview". PC World. International Data Group. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021.
  10. ^ "one | C418". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 17, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Q&A: C418's Minecraft – Volume Alpha soundtrack". Indie Games Plus. UBM plc. May 17, 2011. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Minecon 2012 – The Music of Minecraft & Minecraft Documentary". PC Gamer. Future plc. November 28, 2012. Archived from the original on November 27, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2024 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ Rosenfeld, Daniel. "one – C418". C418.org. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  14. ^ "C418 - one - Fangamer". Fangamer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  15. ^ "The 15 Albums That Will Make You Less Shit at Doing Work". Vice. August 25, 2015. Archived from the original on August 5, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  16. ^ a b C418 (2012). One (liner notes). Fangamer.
  17. ^ McElroy, Griffin (January 22, 2011). "2 Player Productions working on Minecraft documentary". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on January 24, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  18. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey. "Minecraft documentary due in early December". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  19. ^ Wilde, Tyler (November 15, 2011). "Sneak peek! See Notch at work in Minecraft: The Story of Mojang". GamesRadar. Future plc. Archived from the original on August 14, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  20. ^ Ramsey, Chase (November 8, 2015). "The quiet importance of the Minecraft soundtrack". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  21. ^ Dean, Paul (December 18, 2012). "2 Player Productions release trailer for Minecraft: The Story of Mojang". PCGamesN. Network N. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  22. ^ a b Savage, Phil (December 18, 2012). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang release trailer; film out Sunday". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on December 20, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  23. ^ Mallory, Jordan (December 22, 2012). "2 Player Productions uploads Minecraft: The Story of Mojang to The Pirate Bay". Joystiq. AOL. Archived from the original on December 24, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  24. ^ Tach, Dave (March 18, 2013). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang released through VHX, discounted with secret code". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  25. ^ Savage, Phil (November 11, 2013). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang now available to watch on YouTube". PC Gamer. Future plc. Archived from the original on March 13, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  26. ^ Dyer, Mitch (November 11, 2013). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang Documentary Available for Free". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  27. ^ a b Makuch, Eddie (March 16, 2015). "Minecraft Documentary Making TV Debut This Weekend". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 17, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2024.
  28. ^ Hawkins, Matt (December 21, 2012). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang: The Kotaku Review". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  29. ^ Whitehead, Dan (January 18, 2013). "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang review". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
  30. ^ Dean, Paul (January 15, 2013). "Is this really the definitive story of Minecraft? A review of Minecraft: The Story of Mojang". PCGamesN. Network N. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
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