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 face it, the gamer way of life is one thing that not many people have an understanding of. /AFK The Movie examines the life of a video gamer told to give up the one thing he has ever loved: World of Warcraft.
To the people who do not play video games, that’s referred to as quitting. For hard-core gamers and MMORPG players around the world, that is known as “Euthanasia.”
The movie examines what life is like moving away from the keyboard, to cut off the thing you love doing, simply because you realize that it controls all that you do. But, what is the fine line between adoring video games and being obsessed with them? Does it really make a difference and should we even 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 chatted with Ben Dressler, the filmmaker who made /Afk come to life.
What was the task like making the movie, and from his own point of view, what message was it trying to communicate to gamers and people telling so-called “addicts” they have to stop:
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, the feeling that no one had ever done this in the past. I think it’s truly rare that you have an idea that’s kind of unique and not actually available. When I initially saw Memento I was so blown away that after a long time of filmmaking, an individual could still think of something so imaginative. Although we were not the first to combine real live action and video game footage, I do not know of any film who made it happen to the degree that we did.
Second, I wanted to make a stand for gaming. I’ve been playing video games since I was a kid and I struggled for a long time with individuals who thought online games were stupid and action games made you chaotic. I considered this a chance to show some knowledge into what gaming really can cover – passion, friendship and experiences you can’t get in real life.
JHS: In your own opinion, why do individuals feel the need to put down the “gamer” way of life?
I actually believe that they just do not know much better. The main character in /afk says at one point: It is not just me sitting in front of a coloured window.” But that’s exactly what individuals see whenever they see someone “game.” They don’t see what you think, feel or even experience as you play. I have had a lot of individuals that observed me play WoW and believed it was really boring. However when I let them play for an hour or more, they would buy the game themselves. Luckily, people who have gaming experience will grow into important positions such as journalism or politics. So at some point that inclination 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 focus on writing a script that would work with few characters and locations. We had five days of shooting for a 25 minute film with a very small crew. And since I did not like to rush the actors too much, there was short amount of time left for the camera and lighting team. We also could not manage to purchase a lot of props so we had to work with everything we got in our homes. The bedroom of the main character is basically made of geek items from ten people combined.
It pretty much came down to pulling lots of favors and using to the best what was already there. I’m sure if you choose to work with that constraint, it’ll easily result in new, innovative ways of telling your story. Although I recently read that German filmmakers particularly get into Hollywood mainly because they can make low-cost movies that look like really expensive movies. Well, that’s flattering, isn’t it?
JHS: What would you say to those who deal with individuals telling them to “quit video games.”
It really is not easy to provide a general answer to that one because it depends on the situations. Generally I would recommend to try and make those individuals understand what gaming means to you. Know why they think games are brainless and show that you understand them also and take their concerns seriously. Don’t just switch to retaliation mode. When I was in school, 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 somehow.
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 believe there are two kinds 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… And so yeah, there is little films about real gamers – to be honest I can’t name a single one. And I’m quite 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: Exactly what does WOW present that hardly any other game on the face of the planet offers?
To tell the truth – you can find a couple of games on earth I have not played yet! Nevertheless, I think that WoW did and does a terrific job at making hardcore gaming available to many individuals. Back in EverQuest days, MMORPGs were a very exclusive genre that even the majority of gamers didn’t know or love. These days you are going to raid with people who wouldn’t even look at themselves a real gamer. And yes, maybe that is a piece of pioneer work that hardly any other game can repeat again.
If you’re looking for a unique video game show which brings Holywood and video game together, then The Jace Hall Show is the right one for you. It features movies like World of Warcraft movie as well as the discussion of World of Warcraft fans.