With the fourth incarnation of the PC game Civilization due out in November, creatives at RDA, New York, developed a fictitious documentary-style Web film profiling players who turned to a twelve-step program for help with their addiction to the game. To frame the effort for client Take2 Interactive/2K Games, the agency built a Web site devoted to this idea, www.CivAnon.com.
“You won’t stop playing until you WANT to stop playing,” reads a statement on the home page. In addition to living on a Web site, the film was shown on a Jumbotron video display at E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, held in Los Angeles in May. Tom Cartier of Highway 61, New York, directed the work.
Also at E3, representatives for CivAnon passed out pamphlets to attendees touting this program for Civilization junkies. “We were actively recruiting people to go to the Web site to face their addiction rather than promote the game, but it works both ways,” creative director/copywriter Dave Rogan related.
The initial thought was that the film would be a documentary about the game’s creator. “Sid Meier is sort of a luminary in PC gaming,” Rogan said. “But, the further we got into [the project], the more fun we allowed ourselves to have with it and the concept became basically crafting a message around people who are already addicted to the game, in a humorous way.” Meier does, however, make an appearance in the film as “Sid M.,” and admits that he is suffering from the addiction.
PAST AND PRESENT LEADERS
The idea behind Civilization is that a player can build a civilization from scratch, starting with learning how to create fire and eventually moving into the Space Age. In Civilization IV, religion will be introduced for the first time. Rogan explained that this warranted an appearance from our commander in chief.
Although the actor who is portraying the president has his face distorted in order to conceal his identity, “George W.’s” voice and gestures make him easy to recognize. The reasoning was, Rogan explained, that Bush is closely tied to religion and it would be fun to have him as an element in the film.
Instead of relying on footage from the game, the short focuses on the players and their struggles with addiction to Civilization. Talking into the camera, “Rob T.” explains that by the time he got to the Industrial Age, he was a full-blown junkie. Sometimes he would play the game for two or three days straight–forsaking meals and bathroom visits.
Commenting on his first foray into longform Internet work, Cartier noted, “It was fun for everybody to do something a little offbeat and funny and irreverent.”
On why Cartier was right for the project, which was shot in a room where real support groups meet to deal with addiction, Rogan said, “He proved in his reel that he could shoot in a small, ugly place and make it look good. We didn’t want it to look polished, we wanted it to look like a crappy little twelve-step support group … We knew Tom could take all that gritty happenstance clutter and make it look right, and also make it look authentic.”
Additional credit at RDA goes to Brian Musich, copywriter, and Adrian Lichter, producer.
Marc Rosenberg executive produced for Highway 61. Ted Wachs was DP.
