Watch the film above, or download it here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. For more information on the film, see the previous posts on this site.

The date for the online launch of playmakers has been postponed to next Thursday, the 13th of May.  The film will then be available to download and stream from this site.

playmakers, a 35 minute documentary, is the culmination of a six month project following the progress of Hide&Seek game designers Alex Fleetwood and Holly Gramazio through the development of a new game. The documentary was filmed over the first 6 months of 2009 and premiered at the Sheffield Documentary festival. Playmakers will be available to download and view on the 5th of May 2010.

Over the last 50 years play has become an increasingly private activity. Now it is bursting back onto our streets. playmakers explores the emerging area of pervasive games it examines the implications of reclaiming play into the public domain and shows the possibilities offered by new technologies.

Playmakers investigates four main themes:

Part 1: Play

Why is play important and what does it mean to us now?

This section of the film asks some questions about what play is for and looks at some of the principles of pervasive game design.   We are introduced to the ambitions of Alex Fleetwood and Holly Gramazio for their new game and ask questions about why this sort of play is needed.

Part 2: Public space

‘The idea that the streets aren’t yours is a really horrible feeling’

The film takes a look at ways in which games can help us take ownership of public space and change the rules with which we operate in the city.  It features a game of capture the flag, played in the busy streets around Brick Lane in London. It explores the tensions of tyring to ‘change the operating system’ of public space.

Part 3: Technology

How do we play with technology?

Technology is increasingly used for play. The film explores how computer games are becoming more social,  Paulina Bozek describes the process of designing ’social games’ for major games consoles and we are taken on a geocaching hunt through London.

Part 4: Theatre/art:

‘‘The traditional theatre is a very stultifying experience’

The idea of sitting back and watching a performance being the only way of experiencing theatre is being challenged by new wave of theatre practitioners who are exploring ways of giving the audience more agency.  We talk with Duncan Speakman who introduces us to his audio piece ‘my world is empty without you’ and to Matt Adams of Blast Theory who discusses the history and future of theatre.

Contributors:
Alex Fleetwood   -  pervasive game designer

Holly Gramazio  -  pervasive game designer

Michael Wesch  -  Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

Thomas Brock & Jack Case  – Game Organisers

Howard Rheingold – Lecturer on Virtual Communities , University College Berkeley

Clare Reddington  – Director, Pervasive Media studio

Simon Johnson & Simon Evans  – pervasive game designers, Simon Games

Dr Quentin Stevens – Senior Lecturer in Urban Design , University College London

Matt Adams – games designer and artist, Blast Theory

Paulina Bozek – Development Director, Atari London

Duncan Speakman – Artist

Credits:

Filmed and directed by:
Ivo Gormley

Assistant Producer
and editor:
Matan Rochlitz

Music Composed by Daniel Harle

Additional camera and edit assistant:
Dave Green

Additional Camera:
Matan Rochlitz
Dave Green
Amy Rose
Naor Elimelech

Additional footage, stills and audio from:
Hide&Seek
‘UNC Flash Mob Rave in Davis, 2009′ The Daily Tar Heel
Pong, Atari Incorporated 1972
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision 2007
Rock Band, MTV Games and Electronic Arts 2008
The Nearest Tube app, AcrossAir
Twittearth, Digitas

L’arrivée d’un train à La Ciotat‘,  Auguste and Louis Lumière, 1895

‘Uncle Roy All Around You’ by Blast Theory, 2003

‘Southwark Fair’ William Hogarth, 1733
‘Interior View of the Music Hall’ Boston, Author Unknown
‘My World is Empty Without You’ Duncan Speakman

With thanks to:
The Hub, Kingscross
The Southbank Centre
Institute for Contemporary Arts
The Barbican Centre
St Monica’s RC School
Roland Harwood
Rohan Gunatillake
Dave’s mum
Pete Law
Ian Drysdale
Chas Stredder
Soho Theatre
The Bricklayers Arms, Putney
The Tornadoes FC
Daniel Davis-James
Association for Learning Technology
Peter Rattenbury-Neate
Hide&Seek
Pete Law

produced by
thinkpublic

In association with
NESTA

This came up in one of the early brain-storiming session…

We thought it would be an explosive combination of fun, interesting, silly and thought-provoking to organize a celebrity werewolf game!

So, help us come up with the best celebrity names for a game of cheating, lying, deception and back-stabbing.
Er…come to think of it, maybe we should add a handicap for politicians and lawyers?!

Here are a few suggestions:

Stephen Fry
Boris johnson
Ken Livingstone
Kevin Spacey
Derren Brown
Omid Djalili
Brian Blessed
…

The second video installment -  “Capture the Flag and Public Space“ – is up.

Meet Thomas and Jack, the organisers behind a gritty and thrilling urban game, and Quentin Stevens, professor of Town Planning at UCL and author of “The Ludic City”.

We’ve also been filming the brain storming sessions at the Hub. I think, on occasion, you can actually see smoke coming out of people’s ears.

Ideas all sounded exciting and  outlandish and I can’t wait to see which way the game is going to develop.

Upcoming playtest: You may have noticed that we have the tendency to pounce on players and ask them questions about their gaming experience… “So…you’re having fun….why is that?”  We’re going to try and set up a space within the venue for interviews with players and makers.  Feedback has been great so far: profound, witty and interesting.  If you have something to say about gaming  or want to get something off your chest come and talk to us and give us a piece of your mind.