Remembering CAYOM 1.0

[4815162342]

Since the Behind the Camera thread is more geared towards the present version of the game, I thought it'd be nice to have a thread to reminisce and discuss the highlights and low points of the original CAYOM.

The BP Winners for CAYOM Version 1.0

Year 1- Rhapsody in Blues

Year 2- The Johnsons

Year 3- Arabia

Year 4- Jazztown

Year 5- Cold Harbor

Year 6- Matador

Year 7- Volcano

Year 8- Murder on the 4th Floor

Year 9- Beyond the Page

Year 10- A Tale of Two Cities

Year 11- Joshua

Year 12- Avergond

Year 13- Frederick Douglass

Year 14- Eternal Sleep

Year 15- The Journey West

Year 16- Stars

Year 17- The Great Quake

Year 18- Teenage Wasteland

Year 19- The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come

Year 20- Either Life and Times or Walking Shadow.

Year 21- The Long Walk

Year 22- The Insanity Plea

Year 23- Knights of the Round Table

Year 24- The Phyrexian Wars

Year 25- The Assassination of God

Year 26- The Boys of Kokoda Trail

Year 27- Recesses of the Mind

Year 28- Leningrad

Year 29- Ragdoll

Year 30- Nam

Year 31- Dance the Night Away

Year 32- Crusader

Year 33- Disaster on the Riverside

Year 34- The False Goddess

Year 35- The White Tomb

Year 36- Paradiso

Year 37- The Bronx is Burning AND The End of Something

Year 38- Sins of Their Fathers

Year 39- In the Spotlight

Year 40- Global Marketing

Year 41- The Role-Player

Year 42- It's Raining in Kabul

Year 43- One Night in Reality

Year 44- The Film Club

Year 45- Chronicle

Year 46- The Square Mile

So here's a topic starter: What things are you proud about concerning your time at CAYOM?

For example, a couple things I'm pretty proud about:

- Getting a Best Director and Best Actress nomination for a Star Wars film

- Accurately predicting the breakout careers of Neill Blomkamp and Henry Cavill years before they actually happened and giving them big successes in the game. *cough*highestgrossingCAYOM1.0filmofalltime*cough* *cough*becauseRIB'sgrossstillmakesnosenseatall*cough*

Edited July 26, 2012 by 4815162342

[Impact]

Making a Muppets film breaking out when they were still in limbo.Having Ernest Borgnine in the last year of CAYOM is kind of sweet considering he just died, so yeah that is a nice way to go out on.

[4815162342]

In general I'm proud of the 20s, Definitely the best decade of the game since we had tons of great films, lots of people playing, lots of diverse films, and the years moved at a good pace.The 20s might be the best decade for BP-Year 20- Either Life and Times or Walking Shadow. Can't remember for sure.Year 21- The Long WalkYear 22- The Insanity PleaYear 23- Knights of the Round TableYear 24- The Phyrexian WarsYear 25- The Assassination of GodYear 26- The Boys of Kokoda TrailYear 27- Recesses of the MindYear 28- LeningradYear 29- RagdollThough the 30s were brilliant too for what I can remember-Year 30- NamYear 31- Dance the Night AwayYear 32- CrusaderYear 33- Disaster on the RiversideYear 34- The False GoddessYear 35- The White TombYear 36- ParadisoYear 37- The Bronx is Burning AND The End of SomethingYear 38- Sins of Their FathersYear 39- In the Spotlight

Edited July 26, 2012 by 4815162342

[Impact]

Yeah Ragdoll won aka the film that had no cast listed yet won actress I can name most of the winners, then again I know odd trivia about films as I said before I can name tons of Oscar winners...(I am a movie buff but I swear people think I'm an encyclopedia or something lol)

[Electric]

The best/most embarrassing memory for me was I'd keep posting my films like a week late. I think year 7 and 8 I did that, didn't get in until Year 9.And of course Year 40 BP, Global Marketing

[The Creator]

MY ANALYSIS: (Year 27-45)I remember the first 4 years I played were off the chain. That was the last glory days of CAYOM 1.0. We had people posting films left and right, with movie part 1 threads reaching 10 or more pages. This was Years 27-30. I was very new to the game, so it was really exciting and got me involved really quickly and also made me want to make Oscar films pretty quickly after I joined. We had films in the CC reaching 300 points (or near to) by Year 30. God those years were the best. And even though my first blockbuster sucked, I was so amped up for it that I just rambled endlessly about it...which I think encouraged Timayd (I think that his name?) to make it gross well. Automic Man...lol.Year 28 was even better than Year 27. By that year, I almost had an Oscar film in "The Final War"...and that year had Leningrad win BP and a slew of others. Leningrad was at the point one of the most acclaimed Best Picture winners I could think of in the game, and probably was until the game's end. I'd say from the years I was there it was one of 2 most acclaimed war films anyways to win BP, and the other one's coming up shortly. On my front, I finally started my GFI studio and made a smash hit out of...unicorns. That was one of the biggest CAYOM memes of my day. I remember the next year Point made a spinoff called Unicorny. Also, the best review thread ever was Billy's: he made, in Year 28, a 10 minute long video with movie clips for his 25 movies. Amazing! I still watch it on Youtube sometimes.Year 29 was FANTASTIC. I think this is the most fun I ever had. It was just my third year and I had a film get upwards of 200 points on the CC and snag a BP nom. It was overshadowed (deservingly) by Point's Ragdoll, which won BP and was also a foreign film. I'm talking about Onara's Spellcast...which is of course totally ridiculous and if I ever read it now I would curse myself for the historical butchery...something I recall I did deliberately a couple times (most notoriously in Onara's Spellcast and later Chains that Bind). The box office was so alive then. This was Point's last year, and when he left we also had a couple others leave, but we still had one last great year before the exodus.Year 30. The last Golden Year. Here we had Nam come out of nowhere as one of the greatest war dramas in CAYOM history, up there with Leningrad from 2 years prior. But the biggest thing I remember about Year 30 was the Impasse craze. I don't recall ever seeing so many people jump onto one film...but it lost BP because there were a couple dissenters who ranked it like 20th on their lists. Impasse remained until I left the game one of my 3 favorite films in the game. Great, great moment. For me, too, it was excellent. I got my second BP nom in Complicated Conviction. Sadly, Year 30 was the last time we had a lot of great players hang around. It would be the last year for at 4 years that a film topped 200 points on the CC. Billy left afterwards, Numbers left, and a couple others left, leaving just a handful of players for the next year.Year 31 I think started to finally make me a regular BP nominee. I got my 3rd consecutive one in The Last Cold Winter...an animated film about the Holocaust. Two or three animated films got nominated that year, and it was Ry's Dance the Night Away that won BP, but LCW came damn close. In the years after, DtNA got a lot of backlash...I think it was because when Numbers came back he gave it a rather scathing review. TLCW, on the other hand, held up very well critically over the next few years. I think if Numbers had been there that year, LCW would have won BP instead and I would have been the first person to make an animated film that won BP. Meanwhile, this year was very slow, and it was one of the last times Phil played.Year 32 SUCKED. I think in all the years I played this was the low point. It was pretty much me versus Hunch that year. For the first time I got two BP noms (both of which sucked...although I loved them then). Here was the worse case of historical butchery I ever committed: Chains that Bind. WTF was I thinking. I don't even want to think about that. (Oh and kudos; I started my biggest franchise in Sea of Monercha that year also). Hunch won with Crusader, which I think was the weakest film to win BP in all the years I played. It was a very forgettable thriller. Overall a bland year.Year 33 picked up a bit. It was more exciting, especially for me. This was my first BP win. Disaster on the Riverside came out of nowehre and won the CC up until Numbers came around and then DotR fell to 3rd on the Critical Consensus. But it still won 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. However, on reflection, I definitely don't think it deserved to win. Medulla, Magpie's sci-fi darling, deserved it much more. Medulla was one of the most original sci-fis I read and it was fantastic. That was the true film of Y33. Otherwise, that was another pretty unremarkable year, except for for me.And then we came to Year 34. This was the most active year we had since Year 30 and it was all because of Ry. He made the giant tournament of movies, with movies from Year 1-33 enterring against each other. It drew members who had been gone for years (CAYOM-wise) back into the circle. Many turned in movies that year (including Numbers and I think Billy) and it was a hell of a good year. This was my first year since Y28 without a BP nom, but it was Magpie's first BP win in one of his Krosa films.To me, Year 35 was a fun competition between me and Hunch. It boiled down to Live and Let Burn (my film...and one of my favorites of mine) and The White Tomb (Hunch's film). Both were incredibly well received, but in the end TWT won BP. But it did deserve it so I can't complain. Otherwise, I can recall much of interest that year.Year 36 was pretty good...not really on my front, but overall. I didn't get any BP recognition but I guess I didn't really try. It was Billy who put out the most effort. Paradiso won BP and was perhaps the best received BP winner we had had since Nam in Year 30 (also a Billy film). Oh and Hartwick was there and made like 600 million, but Billy didn't have the balls to make it outgross RiB.Year 37 was about the time I kind of lost a bit of interest in the game. I still loved playing, but I wasn't as involved anymore in some level. Well it was still a good year, and the most remarkable thing was: we had two BP winners: End of Something and The Bronx is Burning. I also got nominated with my second Holocaust-themed movie (even though it wasn't the Holocaust) in Winter's Last Sunlight.Year 38 marked NUmbers' second consecutive win with Sins of Their Fathers, which was a great sci-fi drama. Again, not much else to remark. On my front, I released Running Down Memory Lane, but the film was too ambiguous to receive enough support for a BP nom, which was unfortunate imo because I really appreciated it more than most of my BP noms.Year 39 was excellent for me. Everything was pointing to a 6 Weeks in Soviet Russia win, but it didn't make it in the end. In the Spotlight, my essentially live action version of Dance the Night Away, took home 7 Academy Awards (my new record) and won BP in the mix. Now that startled some because most expected 6 Weeks, and in truth 6 Weeks probably would've won, but the problem was barely anyone voted. I mean ItS won with like 24 points...it's usually at least 35 for a BP win. Very unattended Academy Awards, but I was very glad to have won.Year 40 was a bit dull. However, Global Marketing was great and was Electric's best film (still is, IMO...well Summer Story might be better) and it deservingly won BP. On my front, I had Avarice almost get a BP nom, and Men of God did get one and was fairly well received. In fact, I think Men of God might have won the Critical Consensus or at least came in second (yeah it may have been second). I had yet to win any CC yet...but I would real soon.Year 41 is a bit vague in my memory. I don't really recall what won that year. I want to say it was one of Numbers' films and I would probably be right. Well anyways, on my front I released my final Holocaust-themed film in Red Rose Petals, which got mixed reviews but mostly positive and did snag a BP nom. So I was still on a roll.Year 42 was INTENSE. The best year we had, IMO, since Year 34. It seems like maybe more people participated, and the race for BP was a lot closer than usual, which made it more exciting. I was excited because my big blockbuster Obliteration actually got nominated after a slew of great reviews...an it tied for first (with 2 other films) on the Criticla Consensus, marking my first ever CC win. I was so excited. There were so many good films that year...my favorite was Music for the Soul (Frank's film). Indeed, Frank released 3 of his 5 best films that year but I don't think any were nominated for BP unfortunately. I also released my most ambitious animated film in A Beautiful Life, which had some nice twists at the end and which I am most proud of as far as my animated films go. Well, in the end it was It's Raining in Kabul, Magpie's film, that won BP and deserving so.Year 43 was my last great year, but probably my best year overall (though not my most enjoyable). I'm talking about One Night in Reality, which is still my most acclaimed film. The film averaged like 3rd or 2nd place on everyone's list (with a handful...I think 4 or 5 number one mentions) and was my first ever (not counting the tied Obliteration) Critical Consensus win. I was ecstatic. I was really proud of ONiR. It's my personal favorite of my films. Needless to say, it won BP, but the thing is, it won 10 (or 11) Academy Awards total, including BP, Best Director, all the acting categories (including Ensemble), Screenplay, Editing, and so on. Damn, I was so proud. That was the most any film had won since Nam in Year 30. Now, do mind you that this year was weaker than average, so that does not mean ONiR was the most acclaimed film since Nam, but to me I feel it was one of the most acclaimed. God, I just loved it soooo much. I don't even think I can discuss anything else of importance this year, because ONiR just dominated. Oh and another thing, Numbers ranked my film Past Tense as number one on his list, so I was like "omg!" cause to me that was just like winning BP since it hardly every happened. THIS WAS MY YEAR.Year 44 was also a proud moment for me because Spencer finally won BP, and I was so waiting for him to since he tried so hard for so long. The Film Club was excellent, so I'm glad it won. I also got nominated with my most unique film of all time: The Shepherd's Wolves, a David Lynch film about a sheep with golden fleece. I adore that film so much, too. It's one of my favorites of mine, and it really felt quite Lynchy, so I'm proud of it. I told a friend, "Don't dream of sheep", and he was like, "Okay." Jk, I didn't do that. but that was the most memorable line of the film imo. Also, I got my first 400m+ film (and first film to win the highest grossing domestic total of the year) with Dawn of Oblivion, which almost got nominated for BP as well.Year 45 was my last year playing, and, I think, the almost last year of the game. Yet my memory is hazy on it because I was bored by this point so I didn't focus much. I remember though that my last film to get nominated for Best Picture was Wings, also my last animated film from GFI, and it was about bird races. Still, I was delighted it got nominated. I don't remember what won though, unfortunately. I really think it was one of Frank's films, but I forget the title or plot.

[4815162342]

Live and Let Burn was the 3rd wheel of the Year 35 BP race. It was really between The White Tomb and my film Succession.I won Year 41 with The Role-PlayerFrank won Year 45 with ChronicleYear 46 was the last year and I won it with The Square Mile.

Edited July 26, 2012 by 4815162342

[The Dark Alfred]

Is it possible to read some of the old BP winners? Leningrad sounds very interesting to me.

[Impact]

Well I came close a lot to being nominated for picture yet my last was in year 26.Billy was nominated a bunch of times despite always saying people didn't like his films.48 had the most nominations.

[The Creator]

Live and Let Burn was the 3rd wheel of the Year 35 BP race. It was really between The White Tomb and my film Succession

Eh, they were close. TWT placed 1st on the Critical Consensus but Live and Let Burn came in 2nd, and it was second on BP also I believe, cause I remember the last list we had came down to Billy to decide which would win the Critical Consensus and in the end he gave it to TWT.But that reminds me of Succession and its sequel God Save the KingThat was the best duology ever, and I think God Save the King was the best film in CAYOM.EDIT: Also, as I recall, in Y35 it was closer between LaLB and TWT than Succession and TWT, but Succession was a close third, but it was in Y36 that God Save the King and Paradiso were very close. Edited July 26, 2012 by The Creator

[Impact]

Year 1-Rhapsody in BluesYear 2-The JohnsonsYear 3-ArabiaYear 4-JazztownYear 5-Cold WinterYear 6-MatadorYear 7-VolcanoYear 8-Murder on the 4th FloorYear 9-? Film escapes me at the momentYear 10-Behind the BarsYear 11-JoshuaYear 12-? I know 48 did it, can't remember the title.I know I won in year 15 for Journey WestWow I remember this much....I do seem to remember a lot

[Impact]

Year 1-Rhapsody in BluesYear 2-The JohnsonsYear 3-ArabiaYear 4-JazztownYear 5-Cold WinterYear 6-MatadorYear 7-VolcanoYear 8-Murder on the 4th FloorYear 9-? Film escapes me at the momentYear 10-Behind the BarsYear 11-JoshuaYear 12-? I know 48 did it, can't remember the title.I know I won in year 15 for Journey WestWow I remember this much....I do seem to remember a lot

Great Quake-Year 16Teenage Wasteland-Year 18Pilgrim's Progress-Year 19Just remembered-Year 9 was Tale of Two Cities.

[riczhang]

Tale of two cities as in the Dickens book, or something different?

[Impact]

Yep.

[Impact]

Intresting-only Two Cities, Joshua and Pilgrim's Progress were adapted in those years.

[4815162342]

Eh, they were close. TWT placed 1st on the Critical Consensus but Live and Let Burn came in 2nd, and it was second on BP also I believe, cause I remember the last list we had came down to Billy to decide which would win the Critical Consensus and in the end he gave it to TWT.But that reminds me of Succession and its sequel God Save the KingThat was the best duology ever, and I think God Save the King was the best film in CAYOM.EDIT: Also, as I recall, in Y35 it was closer between LaLB and TWT than Succession and TWT, but Succession was a close third, but it was in Y36 that God Save the King and Paradiso were very close.

Succession won Director and Best Actress, Live and Let Burn won Actor, White Tomb won BP and the 2 Supporting awards. I forget what won Ensemble and the Screenplays.And I'm pretty sure Burn was 3rd in Picture count.In Year 36 it was originally neck and neck between Paradiso and GSTK but then at the Oscars things suddenly swerved and Paradiso and The Immortal bludgeoned GSTK to death.

[4815162342]

Year 1-Rhapsody in BluesYear 2-The JohnsonsYear 3-ArabiaYear 4-JazztownYear 5-Cold WinterYear 6-MatadorYear 7-VolcanoYear 8-Murder on the 4th FloorYear 9-? Film escapes me at the momentYear 10-Behind the BarsYear 11-JoshuaYear 12-? I know 48 did it, can't remember the title.I know I won in year 15 for Journey WestWow I remember this much....I do seem to remember a lot

Year 5 was Cold Harbor (after the Civil War battle)Year 9 was Beyond the Page??Year 12 was Avergond.I'm going to put up a master list in the first post (It's completed). Only Years 9 and 10 are totally unknown. Behind the Bars was a Hunch film from the late teens Edited July 26, 2012 by 4815162342

[Impact]

I was reading that epic year before BOM forms went down.Somehow Gerard Butler won best actor.(And somehow an animated film took home best ensemble...)

[Impact]

Year 9 was Beyond the Page then and year 10 was Tale of Two Cities.

[Impact]

Didn't somehow Chains that Bind make like 150M?