I have been playing video games ever since I was a child and I struggled for many years with people who believed online games were stupid and action games made you violent. I considered this a chance to provide some knowledge into what gaming can really be about – passion, friendship and experiences you cannot get in real life. ~ Ben Dressler

Let us admit it, the gamer way of life is something that not many people fully understand. /AFK The Movie looks at the life of a video gamer told to let go of the only thing he\’s ever loved: World of Warcraft.

To individuals who do not play video games, that\’s referred to as quitting. For hard-core gamers and MMORPG players worldwide, that\’s known as \”Euthanasia.\”

The film examines what life is like stepping away from the computer keyboard, to stop the one thing you adore doing, mainly because you realize that it controls everything that you do. But, what\’s the fine line between adoring video games and being addicted with them? Does it make a difference and should we actually 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 process like making the movie, and from his own perspective, what message was it attempting to communicate to gamers and those telling so-called \”addicts\” they have to quit:

JHS: What motivated you to make the script? Did you feel like you liked to write something which could possibly speak \”for all WOW players?\”

Two things. First of all, the feeling that no person had ever accomplished this before. I think it\’s really uncommon that you have a concept that\’s kinda different and not really available. When I first saw Memento I was just so amazed that after many years of filmmaking, a person could still come up with something so imaginative. And even though we\’re not the first one to combine real live action and video game video clips, I don\’t know of any motion picture who achieved it to the level that we did.

Second, I wanted to make a stand for video gaming. I have been playing games since I was a kid and I struggled for a long time with individuals who considered online games were silly and action games made you chaotic. I regarded this an opportunity to present a few insight into what gaming really can be about – passion, companionship 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 don\’t know much better. The lead character in /afk says at one point: \”It\’s not just me sitting in front of a coloured window.\” But that\’s precisely what individuals see whenever they see someone \”game.\” They don\’t see what you think, feel or even experience as you play. I\’ve had a lot of people that watched me play WoW and believed it was really uninteresting. However when I allow them to play for an hour or more, they would buy the game themselves. Thankfully, people who have gaming experience will grow into significant positions like in journalism or politics. So eventually that tendency to look down on gamers will diminish from society, I\’m pretty positive on that.

JHS: You mentioned you basically had no budget because you could not make some money from the movie, What kind of constraints did that have on you as a moviemaker?

Since I knew there wouldn\’t be a budget from the start, I could concentrate on producing a script that would work with few characters as well as locations. We had five days of shooting for a twenty-five minute motion picture with a very small crew. And since I did not like to rush the actors very much, there was short amount of time left for the camera and lighting team. We also could not afford to buy lots of props so we needed to work with what we got in our homes. The bedroom of the main character is basically made of geek things from 10 people combined.

It pretty much came down to pulling a lot of favors and utilizing to the best what was already there. I think if you decide to deal with that constraint, it\’ll automatically lead to new, creative ways of telling your story. Although I recently read that German filmmakers in particular get into Hollywood for the reason that they can make inexpensive 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\’s really not easy to provide a general answer to that one mainly because it depends on the circumstances. Generally I would recommend to try and make those people know very well what gaming means to you. Find out why they think games are brainless and show that you understand them also and take their concerns sincerely. Don\’t just plunge to retaliation mode. When I was in college, 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 in some way.

JHS: Based on the insufficient success of some big motion pictures, it appears very difficult to take the concept of a video game and turn it into a movie – with only a few movies making an effort to \”get into\” the life of BEING a gamer. What was your experience in this matter?

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 difficult, and I do think that the individuals who make it have to know video games as thoroughly as movies….My point is that to really learn from Video Games as a medium, filmmakers have to understand how a game tells its story, what can be translated and what can not.

JHS: What does WOW provide that no other game on the face of the earth offers?

In all honesty – there are a number of video games on earth I have not played yet! However, I think that WoW did and does a terrific job at making hardcore gaming accessible to many individuals. In EverQuest days, MMORPGs were such an exclusive genre that even the majority of gamers did not know or like. These days you will raid with individuals who would not even look at themselves a true gamer. And yeah, maybe that\’s a piece of pioneer work that no other game can do again.

If you\’re looking for a unique video game show that brings Holywood and video game industry 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.