EPTThe main character, aka you, need to live in or in close proximity to Oslo. You should also be comfortable talking about yourself and your everyday life. Shooting is planned to take place at the last week in February(Feb 20th – 27th) with eventual extra takes in April and deadline for completion is 28th of May. The documentary will be published for the public, either via internet or TV but it will be made publicly available.
Now I know that when people read these first lines you will feel skeptical, it has all been done before and it never shows the gamer or gaming in a good light, but bare with me.
Our main hypothesis as filmmakers is this: Don’t blame the gamer or the game for gaming addiction. We are setting out with a theory that outstanding social factors is what creates this addiction and if it wasn’t a game the addicition could’ve latched on to anything.
A little about me personally:
My name is André and I am 24 years old from Sweden but atm living in Oslo, Norway and this film is my bachelors project in Digital Media Production. I was borderline addicted to gaming a few years back. I played WoW religiously for about 5 years, starting with the launch of the game. I did high end raiding competing for atleast EU first kills up until the Wrath of the Lichking expansion. During this period I alienated pretty much anyone I knew with the exception of close family. My friends stopped calling, I got afraid of being out in social situations and I turned more introverted then what I previously was. I also developed a mild depression and social anxiety, my grades went completely down the drain and I gave up a decent chance at a sports career, in other words I was feeling pretty terrible. Despite this I continued, the life online was easier and less troublesome then the one I had in the real world. Less pressure, less commitments, socializing was easier and online I was also truly good at something, it was my refuge.
But I got out of it, how I can’t really say because I don’t know, but at times I did consider seeking professional help however I never took that step for whatever reason. Despite me giving up on WoW and playing less, the nagging feeling of starting up again “just a little” was always there, it wasn’t until a few months ago with the birth of my daughter that I was truly free of the need to play.
In other words, I know what it’s like and I know where someone with a problem like this might come from. Which is partly why we decided to make this documentary. The documentary’s two main goals is to figure out why this addiction occurs via theories rooted in social factors outside of the individual himself but also to showcase that one can play a lot of games and still have a functioning job and social life. And to try to dispel some of the “bullshit” surrounding the social stigma about gaming. Gaming is often frowned upon as a social activity and we wish to change that.
We will accomplish this by following the individual we seek for in this post for a few days, talking to psychologists specialized in video/pc gaming addiction, speaking with game developers and pro gamers. The documentary is not meant to be a pinpoint to parents about how much/little they should let their childrens play, it is not meant to showcase that games are bad and it is not meant to showcase our main character(the individual we seek in this post) as a loser gaming addict. It is meant as a contrast to the countless negative media coverage gaming in general gets, it is meant to showcase that gaming is as meaningfull of a hobby as any other hobby and it is meant to try and figure out how one ends up in this addiction.
So why would anyone “come out” like this in public? Well, I know atleast for me I wanted out, but I couldn’t do it on my own, I did manage in the end but it took me a long time. This documentary might work as a “kick in the butt” to take control over it. A good example of someone this happened to is Emil who was featured in the Norwegian documentary “Exile” a few years ago. Emil was then 34 years old and had a quote from the movie that got quite famous for a while “Here I’ve been sitting and rotting away for four years” he can be seen saying in the movie when he talks about his gaming addiction to Anarchy Online. The movie Exile itself isn’t a movie I like, it only shows people “being addicted” and nothing else, it doesn’t try to come to terms with anything nor does it try to reach any form of understanding, it’s more of a freakshow for a lack of a better word. And it made quite a splash in Norway with politicians wanting to ban certain “addictive” games and such. But Exile did accomplish one thing, it made Emil take control of his life again and he now has a job and a social life. In other words he’s much better. Anyone interested to see this movie(I don’t like it personally for reasons stated above) can see it here: (Norwegian).
Please email your interest and questions to andre.j.mattson@hiof.no
