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Thursday, May 5, 2011

World Of Warcraft Movie For WOW Lovers

By Paul Nyhart


I've been playing games since I was a kid and I struggled for many years with people who thought online games were silly and action games made you violent. I considered this a chance to show a few insight into what gaming can really involve - passion, friendship and experiences you cannot get in the real world. ~ Ben Dressler

Let us admit it, the gamer way of life is something that not many people fully understand. /AFK The Movie looks at the life of a video gamer told to let go of the only thing he's ever loved: World of Warcraft.

To the people who do not play video games, that is referred to as quitting. For hard-core gamers and MMORPG players around the world, that's called "Euthanasia."

The film examines what life is like stepping away from the computer keyboard, to stop the one thing you adore doing, mainly because you realize that it controls everything that you do. But, what's the fine line between adoring video games and being addicted with them? Does it make a difference and should we actually care?

The topic of /AFK The Movie covers World of Warcraft and online gaming. But you don't need to know the difference between Horde and Alliance for you to connect with the film. We're all addicted to something, whether it is cellular phones, internet sites, video games, or chocolates (or a dangerous combination of all four). Step "away from your cellular phone" for 1 day and find out how you react. Is a cellular phone that much different than a video game? Exactly why is one an addiction and the other is just a habit?

I spoke with Ben Dressler, the filmmaker who made /Afk come to life.

What was the task like making the film, and from his point of view, what message was it attempting to relay to gamers and those telling so-called "addicts" they need to give up:

JHS: What inspired you to make the script? Did you feel as if you wanted to write something which can speak "for all WOW players?"

Two things. First of all, the feeling that no person had ever accomplished this before. I think it's really uncommon that you have a concept that's kinda different and not really available. When I first saw Memento I was just so amazed that after many years of filmmaking, a person could still come up with something so imaginative. And even though we're not the first one to combine real live action and video game video clips, I don't know of any motion picture who achieved it to the level that we did.

Second, I wanted to have a stand for video gaming. I've been playing games since I was a kid and I struggled for years with individuals who considered online games were brainless and action games made you chaotic. I considered this a chance to show a few knowledge into what gaming can really involve - passion, companionship and experiences you can't get in the real world.

JHS: In your opinion, why do people feel the need to put down the "gamer" lifestyle?

I honestly believe that they just don't know better. The lead character in /afk says at some point: "It's not just me sitting in front of a coloured window." But that's exactly what individuals see every time they see someone "game." They don't see what you think, feel or experience as you play. I've had so many individuals that watched me play WoW and considered it was really uninteresting. But when I allow them to play for an hour or so, they would buy the game themselves. Thankfully, people who have gaming experience will grow into important positions like in journalism or politics. So eventually that tendency to look down on gamers will diminish from society, I am pretty optimistic on that.

JHS: You mentioned you generally had no funds because you could not gain from the film, What kind of limitations did that put on you as a filmmaker?

Since I knew there wouldn't be a budget from the start, I could concentrate on producing a script that would work with few characters as well as locations. We had five days of shooting for a twenty-five minute motion picture with a very small crew. And since I did not like to rush the actors very much, there was short amount of time left for the camera and lighting team. We also could not afford to buy lots of props so we needed to work with what we got in our homes. The bedroom of the main character is basically made of geek things from 10 people combined.

It basically came down to making lots of favors and utilizing to the best what was already there. I do think if you decide to work with that restriction, it'll easily bring about new, creative ways of telling your own story. Though I recently read that German filmmakers in particular get into Hollywood mainly because they can make cheap movies that appear to be like expensive movies. Well, that's flattering, isn't it?

JHS: What would you tell individuals who deal with individuals asking them to "quit video games."

It's really not easy to provide a general answer to that one mainly because it depends on the circumstances. Generally I would recommend to try and make those people know very well what gaming means to you. Find out why they think games are brainless and show that you understand them also and take their concerns sincerely. Don't just plunge to retaliation mode. When I was in college, I used to speak with my mom and dad about the games I was looking forward to play and what I found interesting about them. In most cases I could make them relate to that in some way.

JHS: Based on the lack of success of some major movies, it appears very difficult to take the concept of a video game and turn it into a film - with only a few movies making an effort to "get into" the daily life of BEING a gamer. What was your experience in this regard?

I think there are 2 types of game movies... Adaptations and Sci-Fi movies. Adaptations tend to be awful OR just solid action movies with the game's name in the title... So yes, there is hardly any movies about real gamers - to be honest I cannot name a single one. And I am somewhat in wonder about that!

But it's challenging, and I do think that the individuals who make it must know video games as completely as films....My point is that to really learn from Video Games as a medium, filmmakers need to understand how a game tells its story, what things can be translated and what things can not.

JHS: What does WOW provide that no other game on the face of the earth offers?

In all honesty - there are a number of video games on earth I have not played yet! However, I think that WoW did and does a terrific job at making hardcore gaming accessible to many individuals. In EverQuest days, MMORPGs were such an exclusive genre that even the majority of gamers did not know or like. These days you will raid with individuals who would not even look at themselves a true gamer. And yeah, maybe that's a piece of pioneer work that no other game can do again.




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