Well, I’ve written about my newest project “games.film“, which takes up my whole time, and about that we’ve been working on our documentary space.games.film, but what are we actually doing with games.film? The best way to explan is, because I am a cameraman, to let the images speak for themselves.
In the last blog entry I wrote about the migration of this website. Nothing has happened here since then. This is simply because I just didn’t have time to write anything anymore. We did some smaller trips and for example went to the beautiful East Frisia in northern Germany, which I could have written a post about. I could have written an anecdote about how I got stuck at the airport for a shoot in Krakow, Poland, but my latest project is taking up all my time right now.
For over three years I have been working with Patrick on a documentary about PC games. Games and film – games.film was born. Our goal has always been that the film not only appeals to insiders, but also that non-nerds will find the film entertaining. Of course it is partly nerdy, but above all it is about the people who are behind it. And we really met some very interesting people!
The name of the film, matching the name of the whole project: space.games.film. We tell the exciting story of PC space games, the rise, fall and renaissance of the now again popular genre. The trailer gives a small impression of the film:
Technically it’s the old website (buzzword: ‘relaunch’). The content is still the same, only the ‘foundation’ has changed – from Joomla to WordPress. “BUT WHY?!” might a web developer ask. The answer is simple: because it’s easier. No doubt, Joomla is a lot more powerful and has more possibilities than wordPress, even without having to install plugins for every little thing. But the administration of a WordPress site (at least this one) is easier. Besides, I just don’t need the complexity of Joomla for my little site.
I replicated the old website with WordPress with little variances. The blog posts are also integrated into the new site, only the comments couldn’t be transfered.
Nerd music in its purest form can be admired in a video, where a musical floppy disk lover has combined 64 floppy disk drives, 8 hard disks and 2 scanners to reinterpret well-known songs: The Floppotron. And there’s something for Nirvana fans as well: Smells Like Nerd Spirit. On his blog he explains how his music machine works.
Another fascinating video demonstrates today’s possibilities of modern motion capturing technology. Absolutely fluid and organic movements combined with great effects result in this video.
Who knows what the third largest sporting event in the world and the biggest sporting event of this year is? In Germany, unfortunately very few people do. If I had no relatives in New Zealand, I probably wouldn’t know either. Because the Rugby World Cup has just ended, and the “All Blacks“, the New Zealand national rugby team ( the ones with the war dance, the so-called “Haka” before each match), are world champions for the third time since the first World Cup in 1987, and now for the second time in a row.
Rugby unfortunately is a niche sport in Germany and matches are virtually never broadcast. Even the World Cup was only partly broadcast, and some games were broadcast very belated, as a table tennis tournament or tennis match with German participation seems to attract more viewers than a rugby World Cup without German participation. This is because the the German team is currently ranked 31st in the world, while the World Cup is made up of the top 20 teams. Rugby Union is not too complicated and the basic rules are easy to understand. If you are interested, you should watch this video, which explains the most important things clearly and comprehensibly. Men should best watch this video.
Respect is particularly important in rugby. Respect for the opposing players, for example, in terms of the fact that when you tackle, i.e. attack an opponent, you have to make sure that the opponent is not being injured. And in respect to the referee, everything he says must be accepted without comment. There is no complaining and only the captain of the team is allowed to talk to the referee. This is why even the Italian rugby team doesn’t show any of their acting skills and doesn’t hassle the referee about any decisions (and if they do, they’ll get a scolding). This is all supported by the presence of a video referee, who can provide clarity in confusing situations. Wrong decisions are not entirely ruled out, but they are significantly reduced.
Even if we could have watched it at home on our TV, it is much more fun with like-minded people. Luckily, there are restaurants with sports broadcasts. For example, the Jamesons Irish Pub in downtown Cologne, which was already very well frequented during the last World Cup four years ago. This year it was a lot quieter in the pub during the preliminary round matches, but we still met funny people from many nations and definitely had a lot of fun watching. Especially, of course, because our favourite team won one game after another. And in the finals it was really great again.
Throughout the entire World Cup, not only, but especially the All Blacks impressed us with fantastic rugby. Brilliant offloads and beautiful tries made us cheer again and again in between the exciting observation of one of the greatest sports around.