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Playing
the Games
B.A.M.P
Video - Group D Studio Project,
06/11/1992
(1
x 15 mins) Bournemouth University / B.A. Media Production
A
short VT insert of games footage and TV commercials for Nintendo
leads into an as-live studio discussion, debating the likelihood of
computer games like Sega and Nintendo causing players to become
dangerously addicted. How much money do they spend on the games? What
is the moral effect on players, to witness such graphic depictions of
bloody violence?
This
was our BAMP video group's first studio project of the second year.
Due to the allocation of the group, it fell to Orin to be our
producer/director. Together with Scott Fairweather, who acted as
production assistant, he decided to mount a debate about his
favourite subject, computer games.
Orin
and I had great fun painting a large picture with which to dress the
studio, showing Mario and Sonic having a fist fight. At the time I
was into presenting, and it was agreed by the group that I should
host. But I hadn't laid a finger on a computer game since my teens,
playing "Jet Set Willy" on a Spectrum, and had no knowledge
of Sonic the Hedgehog or the Mario brothers, let alone the various
games they appeared in. Fortunately, Scott and Orin fed questions to
me through my earpiece whenever my range of discussion topics faltered.
Thirteen
years on, Playing The Games makes for tedious viewing on video. The
studio guests, including the campus welfare officer, Reverend Herman
Nuttall, are as dull as dishwater, while I completely mess up the
unrehearsed and improvised closing link when I find myself at a loss
for words! However, the staging still retains impact. Rather than
build some weird set on the cheap, our group had decided to stage the
discussion around a circular table in a bare studio, with very
minimal lighting. The chat takes place in front of the gallery
window, and cameras can be seen moving around in the background. Our
idea was to show off all the activities taking place within the studio.
Presenter:
Simon Harries
Cameras:
Eleanor Bateman, Alison Jenkins, Tracy Clarke
Sound:
Jo O'Reilly
Lighting:
Joseph Potts
Assistant
Floor Managers: Paul Silver, Dan Wilson
Floor
Manager: Alison Vaughan
VT/Post-Production:
Chris Crombie
Vision
Mixer: Gary Truman
Production
Assistant: Scott Fairweather
Producer/Director:
Orin Solomon |