Transient Spaces - Online Doco

I have been thinking of ideas for my "online" doco as part of Transient Spaces. The concept is quite new to me, although I can imagine how it will work and I have heard of online docos, I had just never considered how one would go about making one before.

A number of potential topics spring to mind based around the theme of "community". The first thought that came to my head when presented with the topic was a Sudanese family who are friends of my family. I think I associate them with "community" because their community is so strong and the ties that bind the Sudanese in Australia come, not only from shared cultural and racial/family links, but also from the shared experience of being a migrant community in a new country and the trauma of escaping from a warzone and all the emotional/psychological baggage that comes with that.

My thoughts then moved on to a more literal, physical community, which is actually where this Sudanese family live, and that is in Melton. Melton is literally the end of Melbourne, the last sub/urban landscape before rural Victoria begins. There are a number of new developments in the area and the land is cheap relative to other Melbourne suburbs. Some of these developments are pitched as "communities", which begs the question in my mind, can you create a community? Does building houses together, isolated from other housing estates, force the residents to become a community? I think this could make an interesting study.

Finally, I have been thinking of online communities, especially massive multi-player online gaming communities. My boyfriend plays World of Warcraft a couple of times a week, and I have played it too (but not as regularly) and he is adamant that playing games in this way creates new communities, rather than necessarily isolates people, as is often suggested. He argues that the way that WOW is setup, in order for a player to get the most out of the game and move up the levels they have to co-operate with other players, show generosity and share ideas and tactics. Some "quests" require more than one player to complete them, and at the top end they can require up to 25 players who must all communicate and co-operate in order to complete the quest. My boyfriend says that he has had intimate conversations with people from all over the world, and people he would not ordinarily meet in daily life, and that can only be a positive thing because it creates understanding and respect for others. Even though they look like elves!

So three potentially fertile subjects. Any comments or ideas are welcome.