"IRL (In Real Life)" is a short subject documentary about the official online "Buffy" fan community known as "the Bronze." The main intention of this project is  to examine what – if any – separation existed between  virtual and "real" life for the community members.  Additionally, I am exploring whether there was something unique about this community, its  development, members, design, or its subject matter  which allowed it to make this transition. In other  words, was the Bronzer community an exception to the general rule with online communities, at least in the  experience of the members? Was it a unique development  of the Buffy online fandom? As a longtime member of  this community myself, I believe that the time, place and subject of the community were contributing factors  to how the group developed.

The documentary, which has been undertaken as an  independent study, has completed filming and has entered the editing stage at this point in time. The  final edited version will be completed by April 2004. Given that one of the main threads of the documentary  is the Buffy fandom and the connection to the show, I  would like to debut the documentary on a national  level at the Slayage conference next May (earlier  screenings at the BG campus are planned for the end of  the spring semester).

For further information regarding the documentary's subjects and the process so far, please visit http://www.dlfilms.com/bronze