WOMEN, WATER AND A STATE OF PLAY

Image credit: Slipshape, Jari Productions and Things For Humans

Today we bring you interviews with two of the remaining shortlisted teams participating in State of Play. Presented by Film Victoria, this program is AIDC’s new pitching initiative designed to unleash innovative storytelling through collaboration between nonfiction stories and gaming technologies – bringing new documentary games to life. 

As part of Innovation Day at AIDC 2021, four teams will pitch their playable proof of concept and compete for the grand prize of $25,000 in project funding for the best non-fiction game!

Read on for interviews with two of the finalists and check out our interviews with the other competing teams.   

SLIPSHAPE 

By Sunita Jariwala and Jacob Leaney (Jari Productions and Things For Humans)

1. Where did the idea for your documentary game come from?

When a journalist in India tweeted her frustrations about waiting for justice for eight long years since surviving an assassination attempt, what followed was an overwhelming response of solidarity and support for her. And then COVID was declared. We decided to shape shift her award-winning articles covering the eight years of waiting into a game. 

2. What’s the most exciting aspect of collaborating with nonfiction stories and gaming technologies? 

The exciting aspect of gaming is that it enables us to use the fourth estate to thrilling effect as a framework to tell a story of environmental justice and freedom of the press. The journalists’ experience and by extension the player’s, deals with questions of power, love for rivers and violence. Being able to use real-life narratives to influence an entire game design is a fantastic prompt. Gaming offers both interactive and linear storyworld experiences.

3. How is the documentary gaming scene shaping up in Victoria?

I don’t know if there’s a scene as such, but Victoria is certainly the place to be for collaboration across industries – we have so many people across so many fields! I would love to see more of this kind of collaboration, or even game developers becoming documentarians themselves (i.e. doing research and interviews to inspire their games).

4. Melbourne is home to more than half of Australia’s games devs and has the reputation of having a vibrant creative community. What makes Melbourne a great place to make games?                                                           

It really comes down to the fact that there’s so much support – organisations such as Film Victoria funding established and emerging studios; Creative Victoria funding Melbourne International Games Week and ensuring PAXAus is here; the existence of The Arcade co-working space; the fact that we have some of the only AAA studios in Australia where young developers can get their foot in the door; and just the energy of the community in general. We are a loud, diverse, and community-driven bunch! Not to mention that we have the longest running indie games festival in the world – Freeplay!

5. What would it mean for you to win the State of Play pitch initiative?

This will put freedom of press, environmental justice and mental health on the development funds radar triggering innovative storytelling and offering an engaging distraction for people at home looking for social interaction in times of COVID. It will elevate our long term prototyping goals to show the riverine Himalayas from a range of different perspectives in order to make you think about it in a different way.

Image credit: Start Strong, Strong Women Documentary and Geodesic Crimes

START STRONG

By Corinne Inness (Strong Women Documentary & Geodesic Crimes)

1. Where did the idea for your documentary game come from?

The journey to finding your strength inside and out, is not only about getting strong and healthy but also about adopting a change in lifestyle, a shift in perspective about what your body can do, and finding a community where you feel accepted just as you are, personal bests aside. 

The idea for our game, Start Strong, arose from discussions around the transformational empowerment that comes from strength training. Broadening out on the research that began with the documentary, we expanded our reach to ask people from various backgrounds what motivated them to start, what barriers they faced, and pivotal moments where things shifted; in particular, what does it feel like to attend your first strength workshop, what does it feel like to enrol for a competition and most of all what does it feel like to continually lift more than you ever imagined? 

To encourage more women to find their strength, these ah-ha transformational moments are what we are trying to recreate in the intimate and interactive game of Start Strong. 

2. What’s the most exciting aspect of collaborating with nonfiction stories and gaming technologies?

The most exciting part is asking some difficult questions to find a purpose and goal for mixing the two genres. What can a game do differently than a documentary can do in regards to story-telling and vice versa but also what can they uniquely create together when combined?  How can we amplify the experience for the audience? How can we engage them in a more intimate atmosphere, where they feel like an athlete rather than a spectator? And what style, narratives, features and customisation will do this best?… so many questions!

3. Melbourne is home to more than half of Australia’s games devs and has the reputation of having a vibrant creative community. What makes Melbourne a great place to make games?

I did not know previously that Melbourne had this vibrant community! Or at least I had not been connected to them yet. But I am very happy to be teamed up with some incredible talent and to be learning more about their knowledge and skill sets in the complex field of game designing. At first it does all feel so foreign but as they begin to explain the thoughts and processes behind the genre, it does become much more relatable and similar as an interactive form of story-telling, that can really bring something to another level.

4. What would it mean for you to win the State of Play pitch initiative?  

Combining documentary factual story-telling with gaming technologies is an interesting process on its own. Having little knowledge of the gaming technology field, it’s already been a unique learning experience stepping outside my comfort zone as it feels more important than ever to connect with online/gaming audiences outside the traditional avenues. So there’s already been some gains, but at the same time, I think we have in the making, a powerful game that would be so impactful for women, from the comfort of their mobile phone. They will be able to immerse themselves into a welcoming strength community, that they may not realise actually exists. 

The State of Play pitch will take place at AIDC 2021. Conference passes are on sale now.