Progress Overview

Ok, It's been a long while and this blog has been neglected for sometime but here is an update, (or overall progress evaluation rather) of our documentary and the work that we have completed and need to do. As this post is being typed, we have completed every thing in terms of filming that we intended to since early February and are in a position where 95% of the shots, montages etc. we planned to do earlier have been completed and done quite well. In terms of editing, since the the middle of March our production has begun to take shape and has formed into an in-depth and informative documentary that we hoped for, and with the underlying message we aimed to present (young peoples addiction to video gaming, and the effects of violent video games on society). We are now really pleased with the production and happy about the fact that we are in a position to say that the finishing touches need to be added to the documentary to complete it. Approximately 95% of the documentary has been completed.


Over the next couple of weeks we will be publishing several posts to overlook the occaisons where we have been editing our production, filming shots, and been making and discussing plans/ideas for the documentary. (This is of course to make up for the fact that we have not done editing/filming updates through blog posts each day or week!).

This is the preliminary poster for our documentary, so it probably will change before the final product is complete. I created it in respect to the content of the documentary and so I have included pictures of retro games such as Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and more recent games such as Pokemon. Another idea could be that a poster could be made that includes games that have been in the media, such as Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt.

Analysis of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Violent Gameplay:

Grand Theft Auto created by Rock Star is one of the most popular and best selling violent video games. The latest edition of the GTA series Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas set in a fictional West Coast Area. This particular scene shows much violence, such as drawing blood of victims , guns, carjackings and other violence which can cause an influence on a gamer's mind. The game shows much assaults on unarmed and harmless citizens living in the area such as repeated blows with a baseball bat on the victim to draw blood which is graphical. Other violence in this GTA Scene is spraying a person with non-stop bullets at them to carry on drawing blood on the person. Carjacking's are also in the scene as he drags him out of the car in a violent manner and then drives off. Slitting the neck with a knife to draw again a lot of blood from the victim . This may have a influence as some who maybe obsessive with the game can cause them also to extreme behaviour which can lead to them having a part in violence when they stop playing the game.

Analysis of Violence Advocated In Games - Manhunt (2003)

Manhunt is a controversial and violent video game which was released by Rockstar Games in 2003. Immediately after it's release, the game sparked controversy across several countries because of it's gruesome and extremely graphic nature, and this put the games' developers (Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive) under serious pressure. Rockstar faced worldwide hatred for the game, because of the fact that violence is clearly advocated throughout the game. The game almost encourages it's consumers to take up the role of a serial killer, and embark on a journey that sees them murder different people in an extremely graphic manner.

The explicit nature of the game entices the game players to play it, and the people who play it develop a sense of leadership and dominance over the men they murder in the game. This clearly shows that the content within the game has a serious psychological effect on the game players, because they are injected with a violent and murderous in-game personality that they become intent to succeed and complete the game with. The homicidal attitude of the main character in the game can blur the perception of reality by the player and cause them to make irrational decisions that may and can negatively affect and even kill those around them.

As the in-game footage shows, the aggressive and extremely violent behaviour is presented as being acceptable and simple to perform for any individual. This exact idea that is brought up has negative connotations written all over it, as it is morally unacceptable in society for violence to be advocated in such brutal fashion. The stealth attacks that can be performed during gameplay are incredibly straightforward for any gameplayer to carry out, and gives the predominantly young audience of gameplayers the sense that they are capable of murderous activities from the comfort of their own homes. The ability for the gameplayer to use weapons such as knives allows them to move stealthily with protection against any enemies that he or she may encounter. Using the knife as an example, any gameplayers is able to kill several nearby foes by using it to slash the throats of the men that they meet within the storyline for the game. The ability for the gamer to dominate in stealth situations such as these gives them a brutalizing element to their personality, which is something that can potentially be reflected by youngsters in real life.

Manhunt has been blamed for the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14 by his friend Warren Leblanc. Leblanc was said to have been obsessed with Manhunt. This caused the game to be either pulled from the shelves or heavily restricted in sales to the public. This murder is a dramatic example of the seriousness of playing too many violent games, as inappropriate habits can be inherited after playing them. The Pakeerah case caused chaos within the UK at the time, and really damaged many teenagers' perceptions of reality and fantasy, as they were caught in two minds over what should be deemed inappropriate and what is acceptable. An argument against such a violent game as Manhunt could be that the players of the game are inheriting ideas and actions that can potentially put their, and their peers' lives in serious jeopardy. The fact that a large number of the teenage population play video games regularly shows that youngsters are potentially more likely to recreate the actions that they witness while playing games. The access that teenagers have to violent and seriously graphic games can damage their awareness of the seriousness of actions such as murder and abusive behaviour. As the Pakeerah case shows, continuous enjoyment of a graphic video game can lead to devastating consequences, such as actually re-enacting the physical brutality in a local environment.

Manhunt is relevant to our documentary project because it shows that excessive hours of playing it can have a detrimental effect on youngsters' lives. As the Pakeerah case shows, teenagers can become obsessed with playing these violent games and will learn morally unacceptable actions from it that they can re-enact in real life. The obsession that teenagers have with gruesome games such as these can lead to serious consequences, as can the obsession with any game to a certain extent. For our documentary, we will be categorising the negative aspects of obsessive gaming and showing different reasons for why it can be damaging for the minds of youngsters. When explaining the negative impact of addictive games, we will be presenting the violent content that games such as Manhunt contain, linking to the concept of our documentary as we want to explain a message about obsessive gaming.

Documentaries on video gaming

Rise of the Video Game is one documentary we've found that explores the past, present and future of gaming. The third episode of the documentary "Level 3", highlights the violence in video games and how it could be desensitizing the youth to violence in real life. It also talks about how the government uses war games to recruit young people into the army.

"America's Army was born and an even more sensitive debate arose as to the morality of recruiting young men for real war through the fun of a video game. Were games desensitizing us to the very real pain of violence and war? And more importantly, were video games leading us on a march towards virtual war?"

"For the first time, game designers had to grapple with a difficult question — how long before a game was nearly indistinguishable from reality?"


Rise of the Video Game - Level One Part 1

Analysis Of Professional Documentaries: Louis Theroux - Gambling In Las Vegas (BBC, 2007)

The documentary Louis Theroux - Gambling In Las Vegas is an investigative documentary in which broadcaster Louis Theroux follows the high-rollers in Vegas who are the experienced and most addicted of gamblers in the city. The documentary aims to present the view that the risk-taking lifestyle of the high-rollers is a damaging aspect of their lives, however different features of the documentary make it clear that they are definitely unaware of the serious consequences that their addiction can have on them. As well as following the daily routine of the serial gamblers, Louis Theroux visits the managers of the casinos in Vegas in a bid to discover their view on the issue and their take on the lifestyles of these people.

In the beginning the documentary Theroux is shown driving along the famous Las Vegas Strip, and explaining through the use of a voiceover his intentions for the documentary. As the car steadily progresses along the road, low-angle shots are used to show the extravagance of the famous hotels and casinos on the strip. The low-angle shots used are as if they are from the viewpoint of a passenger in the car glaring through the window, giving the audience the feeling that they are witnessing the tall buildings on the strip through their own eyes.


Opening Scene




Throughout the documentary, slow fades are used to progress to the next part of the documentary where a new point is made and different features of the gamblers' lives are explored. For example, after Theroux has directly interviewed one expereinced gambler as he gambles on the routlette table, the camera slowly fades to black to progress to a scene showing Thereox contemplating his day in the casino. The gambler being interviewed explains why he feels he can not be removed from the casino if his earnings are extemely low, presenting him as being daring and not fearful of his gambling habits getting the better of him. The fact that the camera fades to black after this moment represents the gambler as being not aware of the possible consequences that may meet him if indeed his earnings at the roulette table are poorer than he expected. This representation of the experienced gambler is supported by the slow fade to black, as the tense moment in which it happens is used to make the audience consider what may happen to the gambler as a result of his casual attitude towards his habits.


Gambler Interview and Fade (6:10 - 8:25 is the area of focus)




Gambling In Las Vegas uses the 'Fly on the wall' convention of documentary, as the camera is alongside Theroux at all times, capturing the lifestyle of the 'hardcore gamblers'. The camera pursues the gamblers through their hotel suite and local casino, thus capturing their actual daily routine where they gamble fearlessly inside the casino and go along with the thrill of the challenge and consequences of their addiction. This documentary technique for filming is used to expose the reality and seriousness of the gamblers' daily actions, and is essentially designed to invade the privacy of these people in an attempt to present the view that they continue with their consequential behaviour with a daring conscience. However, the actuality of the camerawork in the documentary is not always portraying the gamblers in a negative light, as Theroux presents humour during his exploration of the casino in which they play in. Theroux engages directly with the two experienced gamblers as they socialise with their gambling associates and friends in what seems a pleasant and outgoing manner.

Examples of Legal Action against video games

This is an example of how the violence of modern video games has affected chief attornies in America. The American lawyer Jack Thompson is involved in an argument over the violence shown in video games with Tony Romando, who is the editor of a gadget magazine in America. Thompson criticises the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on an American news channel and aims to inform the national audience viewing the channel that it is crucial that violent games such as San Andreas are not to be made available for youngsters under the age of 18. Thompson vents his frustration about the violence of the game and says that legal action must be taken against developers such as Take Two Interactive, who are responsbile for the making of San Andreas.