CRAFTING WORLDSTHE STUDIO OF TRISTAN POPE
COME IN. FOLLOW YOUR CURIOSITY.
There is no wrong choice.
A life in many worlds.
A studio for all of them.These are the bread crumbs for my Depreciating MindTristan Pope
Emmy Award-winning director & photographer
“A jack of all trades is a master of none,but oftentimes better than
a master of one.”
Curiosity has led me down more than one path, and each one has shaped the others. I want to make room for everything I love.
The familiar saying has changed over time. Its later, longer version speaks to how I see a life of many interests. That is the version I live by: curiosity is a strength, and there is room for all of it.
I refuse to abbreviate my life.
The story behind the words on my arm ↓CRAFTING WORLDS STUDIO EST. 2004 · STILL BECOMING
“These are the bread crumbs for my Depreciating Mind”
Explore all work ↓PICK A PLACE TO START
Watch a film. Browse the photographs. Read, listen, or join me live.
These days, you’ll often find me running UOAlive, making YouTube videos, or writing Lost in Txtlation.
01 · KEEPING THE FANTASY ALIVE
UOAlive
I run UOAlive, the world’s largest Ultima Online PvE server. A living fantasy world, built around the people who call it home.
There’s a full circle here: the games that became my film sets, the communities that grew around them, and now a world where other people get to make their own stories. Keeping the fantasy alive is my everyday work.
Ultima Online · PvE, imagination & community · Since 2016
DANCE & MOTION
A dancer. A city.
A camera small enough to go anywhere.
Dancers of NYC is the heart of the motion work. Shot on an iPhone 6, it takes dance into the streets and lets the city become part of the choreography.
Zurich. California. Snowday. Smoke and Mirrorless. Different places, the same fascination with what the body can say without a word.
Follow the films onto the festival circuit ↓THE DANCE GALLERY
Click a frame. Take a closer look.
03 · PHOTOGRAPHY
Passion, character, and hard work. The person in front of the camera, with their own story to tell.
I combine the elegance of fashion with the strength and movement of dance. The magic comes from lighting, color, trust, and the interaction between us.
Explore fashion & beauty ↗THE FASHION GALLERY
BEHIND THE PICTURE
We don’t have to change who you are to make something extraordinary.
More fashion & beauty ↗The mobile photography work ↗THE WAY I WORK
“I have always believed that beauty is internal”
Lighting and color can transform the atmosphere without transforming somebody’s anatomy. I want the person in the picture to recognize themselves—and see what was there all along.
This is an interactive experience. Getting to know someone, giving them room to open up, and finding that moment together is why I shoot.
THE STORY CHOOSES THE CAMERA
A day in the city.
A lifetime in the little moments.
One of my most personal passion projects. The writing about love became a film: an ordinary New York day, seen through the eyes of a boyfriend.
The idea had lived in journals since 2007. Dancers of NYC showed me what a small camera could do. The iPhone 6 became the way to get close enough to tell this story.
The film & director’s statement ↗THE ROMANCE IN NYC STUDIO
ON LOCATION · NEW YORK, 2014
An intimate story needed a camera that could disappear into the moment.
The autumn light couldn’t wait for a perfect production schedule.
THE JOURNEY OUT INTO THE WORLD
A Kickstarter campaign, a year on the festival circuit, and conversations about what mobile film could be. The project opened another path through talks, collaboration, and the films that followed.
TIFF Next Wave · sharing the process ↗The festival journal & Apple Store events ↗RECOGNITION · ROMANCE IN NYC
WINNER · 2015New Media Film Festival, LA ↗WINNER · 2015iPhone Film Festival ↗WINNER · 2015International Movie Trailer Festival ↗Official selections also included Madrid, NewFilmmakers New York, and the International Mobile Film Festival.
Follow the thread → the writing about love · the camera in your pocket · the dance films
MAKING A LIFE WHILE MAKING THE WORK
“When you have nothing to do, being able to just go ‘breath’, I don’t have a job today and that’s OK.”
The hardest part of the freelance life can be learning to rest. It follows me across every kind of work I do.
The conversation with Superr ↗THE WRITING ROOM
05 · WORDS & THE VOICE BEHIND THEM
Read the words. Hear the person. ↗“As time goes on,
the apple rots”
These are the bread crumbs
for my Depreciating Mind.
Writing was in the old studio, too: poetry, stories, scripts, personal thoughts, rants. Lost in Txtlation is where those threads keep going.
The podcast is the voice of the writing. For the days you’d rather listen, it carries the inflection, the pauses, and the feeling behind the words.
ONE THOUGHT. THE CONVERSATION THAT FOLLOWS.
Love Is Not EnoughThe written piece ↗Why Love Is Not EnoughThe podcast follow-up ↗THE WORDS ON MY ARM
I’ve always referred to myself as the fool in a Shakespearean play. The one who moves among kings and queens, telling the absolute truth through jest—always skirting that line, getting away with what others might not.
But at the end of the day, the fool leaves the castle walls and walks among the other fools outside the city. Beyond the gold, glamour, and glitz, you see the world as it truly is. That’s why these words are on my arm.
The “And” turns it into an invitation: keep going, and go the fools among.
Read the story of the tattoo ↗06 · CURIOSITY HAS A HABIT OF BECOMING A PROJECT
TECH, REVIEWS & EVERYDAY DISCOVERIES
The tools I use, the things I test, and the details that make a space yours. Crafting Worlds is still a place to ask whether something is actually worth your time.
Explore Crafting Worlds ↗
MOBILE PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM
A phone in your pocket can change where the camera goes. The experiments, equipment choices, and discoveries belong beside the work they made possible.
Explore the mobile experiments ↗TRISTAN POPE · CRAFTING WORLDS
Lifestyle, office setups, and the tech I live and work with—from desks and chairs to computers, keyboards, peripherals, and cameras. Reviews, experiments, and honest opinions about how it all fits into everyday life.
THE YOUTUBE ROOM
COME HANG OUT
Games, creative tangents, and whatever the conversation turns into. This is the part we get to make together.
When I’m streaming, you can watch here—or come over to Twitch and join the chat.
Watch tr1age on Twitch ↗Open Twitch in your browser or the app and come say hello.
The player follows the channel’s live or offline status. Catch a past broadcast ↗
THE JOURNEY · STILL UNFOLDING
Different names. New paths. The same curiosity running through it all.
Acting, character, and telling stories on stage. Theatre was where it began.
Directing theatre followed: shaping performances and bringing a story to life with other people.
Limited and Unlimited. Films, photographs, writing, and the first branching paths. My first website let friends “like” each other with words, not emojis—before Facebook existed.
I Surrender opened a door. The Switchers and a studio for everything I wanted to make followed.
From fan-made films to Blizzard’s cinematic team and the Emmy-winning South Park episode.
A safe space for gamers, built to keep the toxicity of wider gaming culture outside.
Streaming began on Justin.tv and continued on Twitch. Games, conversation, and a community on the other side of the screen.
Dance, fashion, and new ways to tell stories. Dancers of NYC and Romance in NYC opened whole new paths.
Full circle: running a living Ultima Online world, protecting its community, and keeping the fantasy alive.
Lifestyle, technology, cameras, and honest reviews. My own voice, carried from the stage onto the channel.
The writing keeps going. A podcast gives it a voice, with the pauses and inflection intact.
“These are the bread crumbs for my Depreciating Mind”
THE SWITCHERS & THE FILMS THAT STARTED IT
I Surrender. CHANGED. The Switchers. Not Just Another Love Story. Movies made inside World of Warcraft became a path into filmmaking, Blizzard, and the in-game camera work for South Park’s Make Love, Not Warcraft.
Here are the films. The jokes, the characters, and the worlds that made me want to pick up the camera again.
Explore the full machinima archive ↗THE ORIGINAL SWITCHER SERIES
MORE WORLDS. MORE STORIES.
Comedy wasn’t the only way into Azeroth. There were love stories, first experiments, and the darker mood that made CHANGED a fan favorite.
THE LITTLE GREEN GUYS GOT OUT
A plush murloc.
A real-world adventure.
From an in-game PSA to a live-action series on the convention floor. A camera, a little green guy, and the people who played along.
Taking the story out of Azeroth was another kind of filmmaking—and a whole lot of fun.
THE SAVE THE MURLOCS ROOM
FOLLOW THE SERIES
A FEW MILESTONES ALONG THE WAY
Awards, festival recognition, and collaborations. Each belongs to a project—and to the people who helped bring it to life.
In-game camera work and contribution to the team behind South Park’s Emmy-winning episode.
The work behind the episode ↗Dancers of NYC
San Diego · Shot on iPhone 6
Dancers of NYC
Category F · Open theme short film
Dancers of NYC
Romance in NYC
Romance in NYC
The announcement ↗Smoke and Mirrorless
Tristan’s résumé · accolades ↗Mobile Motion Film Festival, Zurich · 2015 — Winner, Dancers of NYC. Project announcement ↗
For Honor · 2005 — First place in the FilePlanet movie competition. Atkins · 2006 — Second place, comedy, Xfire/Blizzard machinima contest. The preserved machinima archive ↗
Official selections include Madrid International Film Festival, NewFilmmakers New York, and CINEPHONE. Selections are part of the journey, distinct from wins. Résumé & film history ↗
11 · THE PEOPLE MAKE THE PLACE
Popelimited. AltTabMe. Crafting Worlds. UOAlive. The names change, but there’s always someone on the other side of the screen.
12 · LIFE BETWEEN THE PROJECTS
My cats.
Their own little world.
Not everything needs a call sheet, an award, or a finished project. Sometimes it’s the company you keep between all of it.
They have an Instagram of their own. Of course they do.
Meet Staccato & Coda ↗STILL CURIOUS. STILL CRAFTING.
“It is amazing how fast all the work you put into a project can be consumed these days, but after you rest, you wake up everyday and do at least one thing you love all over again!”Tristan Pope