Machinima For Social Change?

Normally when one thinks of games being involved in social change, the so-called "Serious Games" movement comes to mind. However, when games become the medium for filming the message, it's serious machinima.

Gamasutra reports on a "Machinima with Issues," a panel discussion held at the recent 2006 Machinima Festival. Panel speakers focused on machinima creations dealing with issues from politics to historical events.

Serving on the panel were Eddo Stern (Shiek Attack), Chris Burke (This Spartan Life), and Alex Chan (The French Democracy).

Stern expressed concerned about wargame desensitization. His film, Sheik Attack, illustrates how modern wargames are nothing like real war. In the film, Stern interposes stategy game footage with shocking real-life video of death and mayhem, in an attempt to "re-sensitize" the viewer to the horrors of combat.

Chris Burke, from This Spartan Life (TSL), runs a talk show using the Halo 2 engine. From net neutrality to gun control, TSL sparks wide ranging discussions, and Chris is glad that he has managed to introduce world-wide and non-gaming issues to gamers.

Alex Chan became a first-time filmmaker via the tools contained in Peter Molyneax's 2005 release The Movies. The game allowed him to correct what he believed were gross media distortions of last year's French riots. His film The French Democracy told the story of several immigrants, following their growth in frustration as they are both targetted and shunned due to their ethnicity, culminating in a powder keg situation. The end of the film illustrates the reaction to the riots, as the views of a white suburban family are shaped by media reports and political rhetoric.

When asked about the future of machinima, Eddo Stern commented that the medium is at a crossroads. Going forward it could become entrenched in gamer culture, or it might be co-opted by corporations and used as a style gimmick.

Reporting from Canada, GP Correspondent Colin "Jabrwock" McInnes