The Most Powerful Person In The World
May 19, 2007 5:22 PM | Simon Carless
Got an interesting note from Australian machinima/short movie maker Thuyen Nguyen: "Thought you might be interested in a short film I just completed. About a month ago, I read what seemed to be daily reports of the "games are bad" variety. As a gamer, I disagree, of course. But why is that?"
He continues: "Thus, I put my feelings about what games mean to me into a 5-minute film [called 'The Most Powerful Person In The World' - YouTube Link, Archive.org link.]. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a "love letter" like this before. It's quite "artsy", but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless."
And, you know - I did enjoy it, even if the concept of fan-made videos cutting up game segments tends to fill me with dread. But it seems to have a little soul and thought behind it, with an 'inspiration' credit to pensive art-film 'Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait', a loping idm soundtrack by Finnish musician & Monotonik-releasing buddy Lackluster, and some of my favorite moments from games collaged artfully. I guess when games can have memorable collages like this, we know we're getting somewhere with the artform, hm?
[For those wanting to know more about Nguyen, there's a mini-profile of his work up on the MachinimOz site, specifically discussing some of the machinima he's made using The Sims, such as 'An Unfair War'.]
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6 Comments
It's an interesting idea. I had a negative reaction toward it, though, for a number of reasons.
a) As someone who is very much into games, the message seems a little too simplistic. Is it really good to be the pretend "most powerful person in the world", and is that where the medium ought to be heading, really?
(b) It reinforces the negative stereotypes of gamers: they are a bunch of nerds who are feeble in their real lives, so they live in a fantasy land where they are powerful. Is that the main thing you get out of games? Really?
(c) A snippy point, but, man. The music just makes my ears bleed. (No offense to the musician -- but your music makes my ears bleed.) In a presentation that is trying to get people to appreciate the aesthetics of some medium they are not familiar with, you probably want to show good taste in the media that they are familiar with, so that they take you seriously. I am sure this last point makes me sound like a total jerk, but, man. It was a big factor in my experience of the video.
Jonathan Blow | May 20, 2007 10:26 AM
It's an interesting point. I felt it worked as a chronicle of moments in games that have made you feel emotion - which is something people often claim that games can't do.
On the other hand, it certainly plays up the escapist nature of games. Isn't this true of all games that are not networked, though? Perhaps a video showing how you can make friends and learn skills through games is more what you had in mind?
Regarding the music, I may disagree, since it's coincidentally the case that I released the track on my virtual music label Monotonik a few years ago. Hah. Fair enough!
simonc | May 20, 2007 10:33 AM
I think "powerful" refers to the awesome power of interactivity, not the literal ability to "fragz0r you to death with the BFG."
Also, the music was great. I must conclude that you have no taste.
parkbench | May 20, 2007 11:06 AM
Re escapism. I think it's a similar deal as it is with movies. Certainly, many movies are just about escapism, but the ones we look back upon as Great Films generally are not. If escapism were the main thing the form was capable of, I don't think it would be respected the way it is today. Escapism doesn't change your life.
(Which, btw, is why I can't stand the name of The Escapist. It trivializes games [and it feels like they read Kavalier & Clay and didn't have any better ideas].)
About the intended meaning of "powerful": I think it's somewhere between those two extremes. It seems clear to me that the point is largely about how you control the interactivity and thus the world. Which, in the context of this video, has a lot to do with power fantasy.
About the music: there is a huge difference between repetition and restatement. Sometime in the 90s, people who spent too much time at raves lost the distinction.
Jonathan Blow | May 20, 2007 11:58 AM
heya.
i never spent time at raves.
the song is from 1998.
you are the first person in the whole world who has ever responded to the emotional content of a song by claiming that it resonates your body in such a way that it makes your ears bleed.
in regards "repetition and restatement", well, im sorry but back in 1998 i didnt spend a week for every melody, reharmonizing it for every repetition. i consider that to be completely ridiculous, and a form of showing off in a completely pompous way. i am not into showmanship of magnificient techniques. i work with layers of looping, notes that feed into eachother and support eachother in a harmonic way. i don't compose a-b-a-b-chorus-a-b-verse-a-b-chorus music. i never have and never will.
Esa "Lackluster" Ruoho | May 21, 2007 1:50 AM
I knew this was going to become a big argument if I mentioned the music. Sigh. I certainly have more to say about that, but it has nothing to do with games, so I think it's best dropped.
Let's put the music thing down to differing tastes, and maybe talk about the thematic content of the video.
Jonathan Blow | May 21, 2007 4:51 AM