Treatment

Contents

This treatment, for ‘Just A Game,‘ is in sections. Hither are the divisions detailed briefly.

   1. Premise & Pre Production 

• Synopsis
• Hypothesis
• Subject
• Main Character
• Secondary characters
• Proposed sequence of events
• Script
• Conflict
• Social significane
• Motivation
• Resolution

   2. The Film and The Product

• Directorial Approach
• Sound Design
• Approach to Visual Style
• Audience Statement
• Length, Distribution and Media

   3. Production

• Producers Stament
• Release form
• Risk Mangment Plan & Safety Report
• Production Plan for week 6 -7

   4. Summary

• Ethics
• Motivation for making The Film

Premise & Pre Production 

Synopsis

The adrenaline is pumping through their veins, as they sit transfixed in front of the monitor, slamming away on the controller buttons, and breathing short sighs of relief as they dodge another flying enemy bullet. In their everyday lives they are ordinary people. Perhaps some are teachers, others may be investment bankers, students, or tradesmen. But here, in the online world of gaming, they are soldiers, soccer champions, and heroes, working together to beat the threat of alien invasion, or winning the world cup. Whatever the game, each individual works together as a team to complete a mission…until of course it is realised A GIRL is on the team.

This documentary will follow Ruby, a passionate female gamer, exploring the complex issues of sexism, harassment, social stereotyping and ‘boys only’ culture of the gaming world. Aside from Ruby’s own experiences, this documentary will also pose questions toward the culture of the industry, and as to why female gamers who now make up almost half of the gaming population are still being excluded, whether it be through sexist marketing and advertising, and even in the game designing itself.

We aim to answer the questions, why can’t girls be gamers? why are women being harassed? and why is this sexist culture so pervasive in the gaming industry? After all isn’t it ‘Just A Game.’

Hypothesis

The complex relationship between women and video games has received extensive academic, corporate, and social attention, yet there is still problems of gendered advertising, social stereotyping, and the death of female video game creators (coders, developers, and producers). While composing 47% of the gamer population as of 2012, female gamers are even today represented as the distinct minority of total gamers.

Our film will focus on Ruby, talking and explaining the many aspects of feminism issues in the gaming world. Mainly, though, she will illustrate the ludicrous and archaic views that female gamers are somewhat inferior to male gamers, and how the sexualisation  of women in comparison to men in gaming designs and advertisements is counterproductive. We hope to capture this through a fast-paced, sarcastic expository medium. ‘Just A Game’ will utilise a wide variety of resources including interviews, skits dramatised, archival footage, photographs,  diagrams, graphics, research, voice over narration, aural recreation and sound scapes, as a way of completing the issue’s image.

Subject

Although this will be, in part, an intimate portrayal of Ruby’s online lifestyle, the intention is for the audience to feel personally invested in the piece. This will be done by making visual connections outside of Ruby’s World to other pop and historical contexts. The subject therefore, is Ruby, but it is also any and every female issue, or even person in the gaming world. To make this possible we will draw the lines between clips of other female gaming activist, the ‘general public’ (being ‘guys’) who are gamers, and interviews with ‘girl gamers.’ All in all, female identifying gamers, with Ruby in the forefront, will be the film’s subject.

Main Character

The main character of this documentary is the narrator, Ruby. She is a woman in her twenties who is  passionate about video games, and about women’s rights, and talks with a slightly tongue in cheek manner that thinly covers disdain and frustration.

Although From a well off middle-class family, Ruby knows what it is like to suffer, yet turn that into strength and art. Still, she expects more, and takes the ‘better to laugh then cry’ approach when discussing the issue at hand. Ruby is all smirks and passion when it comes to talking about it and is dynamic on camera. 

Secondary Characters

The secondary characters in ‘Just A Game’ are everyone else who will be interviewed. Firstly, that is the participators who have submitted online video of themselves talking about their experiences as ‘girl gamers.’  These woman are usually between 18 and 25 and are from The States.

We will also be conducting an interview with Rebecca Young from the online gaming course. She should have extensive knowledge on the subject. We’re hoping to have some students from that course and the gaming design course at RMIT as participants as well.

Other than that Kris has a friend who is an online female gamer who is willing to talk to us on camera and potentially play an online game as an example. And finally,  we will be interviewing people outside of EB games (mainly males) to see what the average ‘punter’ thinks.

Proposed Sequence of Events

The film will open with a skit (lasting about 30 seconds) that will mimic the narration and genre of David Attenborough.  In this, two people, one a male and one a female will be playing online videos as the voice over comments on what is happening between them. They play, yelling at each other, until one beats the other, winning.

Then a graphic will pop up in the likes of a screen playing a game. Here it will show what it looks like when you loose your life in a game. Cut to black, and the title of ‘Just A Game’ appears.

Then the film will really  start, as Ruby gives us a heavy, fast paced introduction narrated along side a montage of fast edited moving images. (Introduction narration in the script underneath).

Next we will introduce the issues and the people who can best describe them; our participants. It is not sure on exactly what order this will follow yet, however, we have in the Secondary Characters section the list of people we have/will interview.

The closing of the film will, potentially, be Ruby giving a powerful spiel about where we stand currently in the wider picture of the gaming world and one last statement on why it should not be so! This will be a conjuncture of both disheartening information and a positive twist. Then we will cut to black quickly before the credits and some very fast paced, electronic, angry music comes on.

Bellow is an outline of a script. Inserted are notes to each member of the crew, so that we all understand what the intention of the script is and what is needed of all individuals working on the scripting process. 

Just a Game Script
By
Ruby Mountford
Stacey Katsaros
Jean Suyat
Kris Vanston
Evan Raif &
Ronja Moss

JUST A GAME
DRAFT 1
AUGUST, 2013
Ó 2013
justagame.wordpress.com
0420 269 374
ronjamoss@gmail.com

Before reading on, know that all of this can be changed. It is merely a skeleton of a script, so that we have something to work towards. I only have sections in so far. Also, as we collect the imagery that we want for the VO (voice over) the format of the script will change, with voice on the left hand of the page, and visuals on the right, but for now let us all work on what to say!

SECTION 1 – A MALE PARODY INTRO
(To be rewritten)

This section of the film is our ‘Introduction’ before the film. Just like how games are tailored for their male audiences, this will be our parody on that scenario. Whereas our film will end with a clean-cut line of “It’s not just a game!” (from Ruby’s perspective)in some way or another, this section alone will paint the piece as a meagre, almost trivial problem. However, it will play like a genuine expository piece, purely trying to help ‘guys’ understand that it will damage their beloved industry.

To play on this formal ‘bringing to light’ angel of the satire, the host (just in this section) will be a male with a male voice over when needed.

Things along the lines of

​​​​VO
Well, we all know by now
that the other half of the
species, called the female,
also like to play video games.

(But don’t use that! That was so terrible!)

This section needs to go for somewhere between 35 seconds and 1 minute. There is obviously heaps of flexibility in this!

(Update of SCENE 1)

[Shot of street, house, bedroom, as if zooming in on a location]

NARRATOR:

[insert place] boasts a rare species amongst humans, an uncommon spectacle within the Internet kingdom.

[Close up shots of person’s hands, over-the-shoulder shot, any shot disguising gender]

NARRATOR: 

The Girl Gamer is one of the most baffling creatures known to man.

[Finally reveal girl’s identity]

NARRATOR:

Similar to the Male Gamer, she spends [number] hours a day on [insert name of game/gaming technological term I’m unaware of!!!], lacks sleep and only ventures from her lair for food.

[Close up shots]

NARRATOR:

However, the Girl Gamer possesses anatomy that threatens the Male Gamer species from extinction.

NARRATOR:

She begins preparing an attack from her natural enemy, the Dudebro.

[Girl starts swearing at her computer angrily]

NARRATOR:

The Dudebro, a subset species of Male Gamers, is known for his aggressive misogyny. [Man yelling profanities? Written profanities on screen?]

NARRATOR:

The Dudebro pounces on his prey.

[BLACK SCREEN]

SECTION 2 – MOVING INTO THE ‘REAL’ FILM
(Doesn’t need to be rewritten yet)

Section 2 is actually still apart of section 1. As section 1 feels as though it is really only beginning to get stuck into its theme the video will pause. A pause sign will come up on screen, then a rewind button, the video will rewind temporarily. Stop and then an aiming line (like gun aiming in games(whatever that is called)) will pop up on screen, shoot and then the scene will shatter(shouldn’t be too hard to figure this out how to do this technically!) And this is where the film actually starts with the genuine bits of information and views that we want!

SECTION 3 – INTRO AND RUBY’S RANT
(To be rewritten)

To tie in the amazing Ruby rant filmed last Friday and this new scene we will need something along the lines of…

VO (Ruby)
No! That is not the film we want you to watch! This is not just some story tailored for one section of the population. For…

(Again, this can be totally reworded, but does need to flow into Ruby’s rant.)

VO (Ruby)
In today’s world of nine to five five days a week schedule it can be hard to remember that you matter. That you, out of the billions of people on the planet which is itself simply a speck of matter in one galaxy out of trillions, are important, not just a tiny cog spinning uselessly along with all the rest.
Which is why it’s no surprise really that so many people want to be the hero, rescue the princess, save the galaxy from the invading alien threat, defeat the terrorists with nothing but a bowie knife and some duct tape, or even build your dream house and play god to a bunch of people who speak in some kind of secret langauge that will.i.am and katy perry learned to record songs for.

When was the last time a pop star recorded a song just for you? Never. The answer is never.

the escapism element is there, but as well as that video games are /fun/. They’re colourful and engaging and in a world where there’s an increasing demand for interactive media they deliver in a way films cannot. and the technology is only advancing. An ever increasing aspect of video games is the ability to play online, with your friends and with strangers, to work in teams to take down enemies, reach check points, and even capture the flag.
And yet over time the online gaming community has developed a reputation of being full of screaming manchildren, who vomit up racist, sexist and violent vitriol at anything they perceive to be a threat to their gaming experience.

Few female identifying gamers are without stories of being harassed while playing online, or at gaming conventions.

How does this happen? And why is it allowed to continue? In a time where major game studios claim the cost of producing games is increasing, leading to a need for larger sales numbers to achieve profit, why do the gaming consumers attempt to eject what could and should be a massive opportunity to increase revenue by reaching out and accepting the female-identifying gamer?

From here on I’m not sure exactly what order the film should move in, but these are some other sections and ideas.

SECTION 4 – EXAMPLES OF FEMALE GAMERS BEING ABUSED

In some way we need to seamlessly move into revealing the difficulty for female gamers playing online and protesting the problems. Examples of the difficulty for female gamers could start by including Ruby’s bit that she wrote on Anita (we decided to take this out of the intro on Friday).

VO (Ruby)
Recently, a female writer quite her job after a year’s worth of hate directed at her begun mentioning in vivid detail plans to kill her children, after she claimed that she wasn’t a fan of combat and so had simplified it in Bioware’s Dragon Age 2.

Anita from Feminist Frequency was the victim of an online attack when she asked for donations to make a series of blogs discussing video games from a feminist stand point, and was sent thousands of threats of physical violence, as well as other extreme measures.

Other than that example? Well, There are loads of stories. We’ll just have to choose the right ones. Possibly we could just move onto the self submitted video, but I personally think there should be some other higher profile stories first.

SECTION 5 – GIRL’S UPLOADED VIDEOS & EB GAMES INTERVIEWS

This is Ruby’s idea. Once we have some more submissions via tumbler and the interviews from EB Games, we will cut the girls self uploaded videos amongst the guys talking about gaming online. This will show the juxtaposition between the perspectives from girls and guys. It might even be humorous!

SECTION 6 – IT’S HARD TO LEARN AND JARGIN SKIT

According to quite a few people, it is pretty hard to learn how to ply online games and other games for a lot of people becuause the communities can be clicky and non-friendly to certain people. This could be talked about and then a skit, kinfd of like ‘the dummies guide to gaming’ could be made.

SECTION 7 – CASE STUDIES

There are two case studies we could do, in fact, we should do both. One is sitting with one of Kris’ female friends as she plays a ‘one shooter’(?) game and the other is spending a night filming Ruby in her ‘man’s den.’ Also… Evan, did you have a girl friend who plays online?

End of Script

Conflict

Whilst the conflict of the narrative is obviously about females being persecuted in the gaming world, the main conflict that will evolve in this documentary will be one that involves the viewers themselves.  ‘Just A Game’ and the topics the piece will face  should evoke feelings of frustration and also empathy. The viewer should think at the end, “Whoa. It is not just a game! This is a much larger problem to do with feminism and human rights!” Their view on the industry, gamers and social movement should be so different by the end, and that is where the conflict will lie.

Social Significance

Gaming is huge. And with iPads, iPhones and other ‘smart devices’ taking over the planet, this medium is simply growing at a exponential rate. Therefore to explore the weakness’ of this global phenomena is very exciting. To have such a topical issue that can delve into such personal areas, as we combine the larger picture in with Ruby’s own viewpoint, means the significance will be felt both personally and societally.

But this film is not just about gaming, girl’s on the internet and being victimised. In a much larger sense, this documentary will  reflect upon the fact that being a female in this World is still such a large struggle. Not that males have it ‘better off‘ at all! Rather, that being a white, hetrosexual male in this society still has its stereotypes of superiority in far too many areas.  If we think the ‘feminism movement‘ of the 19th and 20th century is over than we’ve got another thing coming to us!

Motivation

We were motivated to make this film, firstly, through our director and narrator Ruby, who first composed the idea. However, since the weeks of research and heart has been poured into this work,  it is simply fascinating to see how deep this rabbit hole goes and how wide also. So many people suffering, in what should be ‘Just A Game,‘ seem to fly under the radar.  There are still abounding atrocities that simply come from miscommunication about what it means to be a female identifying gamer, and a lack of general education. Therefore, we are motivated to show the insanity behind these ‘old world’ views. Hopefully some viewers will be inspired and simply start talking about it with their friends. Education can start with one person and can effect thousands.

Resolution 

Whilst we will end with a humorous, sarcastic and biting dialogue from Ruby, we still hope to finalise the film with a message. To do this, and without knowing exactly how our documentary will end, we also intend to conclude the piece with a level of optimism and hopefully having opened the eyes of our audiences. As it is an expository film, the consensus should be that the gaming industry, world, and indeed ourselves, need to wake up to the fact that there is serious discrimination taking place.

The Film and The Product

Directorial Approach

Tackling the issue of harassment is never easy, as the people who you are trying reach with your message to are the ones are most likely to dismiss it. This is an even greater problem when dealing with a community that has a reputation of being pretty cynical.

This is why my directorial vision is to frame the message in our documentary, and the education that we intend to pass on, in a palatable way. Because we are presenting an argument (more accuracy a counter argument), the type of documentary we’re making is Expository.

To get a better idea of this I watched a number of video blogs on people discussing similar issues ( Anita Sarkeesian, and Jimquisition from The Escapist in particular), as well as other Expository documentaries.

The need for humour, in some form, became apparent pretty quickly. Having written on the topic before, the rest of my group agreed that the tone of sarcasm and cynical humour was actually very effective because it enables us to talk about the issues without lecturing, or sounding like we are over reacting, something that’s often used to dismiss this issue when it’s raised. In this area we will be basing the tone and rhythm, both narrative and imagery wise on Charlie Brooker’s ‘How TV Ruined your Life.’ Brooker also features in his own documentary style TV series, so it works as a influence over our film as I, myself, will be the subject of ‘Just A Game.‘

By knowing what arguments people use against women who complain about harassment from other gamers, I feel that with our documentary we will be able to point out the issues with these arguments in a way that is easier to digest by the peoples who attitudes need to change.

Beneath is Charlie Brooker cheering on his own sarcastic whit! Much like Ruby will.

Sound Design

Innovative sound design is critical to Just a Game’s entertainment value and success. It holds a key ability to engage the audience enough to listen to our argument and remain interested throughout the film without being overwhelmed or too critical. Running in conjunction with visual style and narrative, it will provide much assistance to our sarcasm and cynical humour approach.

It’s important to note that the specifics on sound design remain flexible however the main foundations are currently in place. A cinematic orchestral style will be used for our peak moments. There are a few tracks I’ve chosen that have a naive, childish style which can be used for example once we’ve interviewed people that have a bias against our argument.

I’ve located royal free reproductions of classic gamer soundtracks and effects, and am also hoping to remix one of these classic songs myself using Abelton Live software.

Sound levels presumptuously will be quite sporadic during the film, but will remain constant. Because of the assumed levels of constant sound, I hope to use dramatic moments of silence to reinforce key issues in our debate.

Overall our stylistic approach of fast paced information will rely heavily on an adventurous, dramatic, playful and condescending tone.

Approach to Visual Style

Our approach to ‘Just a game’ is quite unique in that we will be using the argumentative techniques of satire and cynicism against the male gamers who harass females online. My goal is to compliment this approach with visual elements. We will be implementing a range of segments, including re-enactments, vox-pops, interviews, and perhaps even some in game footage.

Though we are dealing with a very serious issue, we still wish to be somewhat creative with our use of technical elements. We want to emulate the atmospheres known to video gamers through our artistic style. There are two avenues we can take in this approach, in what I will call the violent video games route, or the family video games route. In the interest of satire, it may be effective to implement the latter approach. By family video games, I mean games (such as Zelda) that are characterized visually by colourful and bright environments. Replicating such colour schemes in our documentary will hopefully highlight the dichotomy between the inviting natures of games with the (sometimes) offensive communities whom play them. It should be noted that the colours are not washed-out, just very true. Which brings me to my next point concerning what camera we will be using to film. Personally, if we wish to continue down this route, it will be favorable to use a DSLR (especially canon) which are known for capturing the vibrancy of colours unlike the university camera can.

Movement is another avenue we can exploit video game style. Ideally, I want to use a steadicam following the subjects and keeping them in the centre of the frame. This can be carried over into the interviews also, keeping the subjects in the centre of the frame in a seated interview, or even conduct interviews doing something active (like walking, whilst playing the games, etc).

We’ve been thinking about a few different filming styles/techniques that could add to the overall tone that we want to go for with our documentary. What came to mind was using a GoPro camera to capture both mp4 footage, and a series of images to create a time-lapse.

One of our member’s loves the look of the GoPro, with its wide-angle fish eye effect, something about it seems to feel very “gaming” like to them. It is also a nice juxtaposition to the long focal lengths and shallow depth of field that we are attaining with the dslr.

In putting it to the test at our first shoot, the footage turned out even better then what was expected. The images below are screen shots from the mp4 footage. While, the shots could probably be framed a little closer, we really like the overall look. It’s somewhat voyeuristic, in the sense that it almost feels as if the audience is watching from inside the television that Ruby is staring at. Better framing (centred and tighter shot) could create an even more intense feeling of this.

 

However, there are many issues to consider when using the GoPro. Firstly, its low light performance is practically non-existent,  as seen in the time-lapse below. Lighting is an intrinsic  consideration when using the GoPro, so if there are shots that we would like to use minimal lighting, the wide-angle GoPro is really not an option.

It is also quite a low quality camera in comparison to the dslr footage. The GoPro creates far more noise than any of the canon and nikon dlsr’s we have been using. However, we don’t quite mind the bit of grain as seen in the screen shots above. Again, there is something that feels “gaming” about it, almost like a bit of screen static from a television set. Though we would be curios to see how bad/tolerable GoPro footage would look on a cinema sized screen.

Lastly, the time-lapse. We really like this technique, especially because we think it fits with the fast-paced witty rhythm we are trying to create in film. While this particular time-lapse is clearly unusable because of the quality, it is just an example of something we may want to try to create again.

Audience Statement

One of our main aims of Just A Game is to make it accessible for everyone and not alienate viewers with our subject matter. When you’re trying to highlight an issue that portrays a gender in a negative light, it’s difficult to connect with that group. We want to emphasise to our audience that misogyny within the gaming culture is not a reflection of a gender as a whole, but a minority within that gender who do not represent every gamer. However, the size of the group should not detract from the severity of the issue, rather it is the loudness of the group which makes this issue so important.

So how do you go about trying to appeal to both genders and communicate our message without trying to turn it into a male vs female argument? We came to the conclusion that satire is the way to do this.

“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own.” – Jonathan Swift.

We believe that nowadays one of the easiest ways to force people to acknowledge that something is “wrong” is to poke fun at it. We laugh with the satirist forerunners such as The Chasers or Jon Stewart because they joke about important social, economic or moral issues in a confronting way, which forces us to reflect internally on what they’re really trying to point out. Although we’re not trying to be as abrasive as them, we like the way they can coerce their audiences into reflecting on their own lives and wider society. Many seem to respond well to satire because not only is it humorous when it’s pulled off well, but also a wonderful tool of communication.

Furthermore, we believe that almost anyone will be interested in our documentary, judging by the reaction and feedback we’ve been receiving from our peers. Sexism and misogyny is an issue that affects both genders, across all demographics and experienced by the young and old.

Length, Distribution and Media

1. Target length: 7 – 10 minutes

2. Distribution: TV2 screening. Most likely we’ll have non-copy-write material in the film, so will not release it on the Internet, or at film festivals.

3. Video: Edited in Final Cut Pro. Exported as HD.26.

4. Music: Creative Commons , copyright free, or tracks we have permission to use.

5. Script: Word.

6. Treatment: WordPress.

Production

Producers Statement

‘Just A Game’ is not a traditionally made film, nor will it be a traditionally viewed film. For what happens behind the scenes often seems to be reproduced on it. Therefore, the conventional role of a producer, as to what we have been taught here at RMIT, may be irrelevant at times to the process of this production. Currently, the way we are going to make the documentary will be a collage of ideas and devices, so thus is my work. Still, I already have many ideas on what my role here is and the best ways to help support my group and the project.

Considering that Ruby Mountford ignited the drive and vision of ‘Just A Game,’ I feel my purpose is to be her left hand woman. Ruby personally asked me to work as her manager and to help her keep the film process organised. As well as orchestrating the crew when needed, I imagine this will include helping Ruby at moments of high stress in whatever way possible, so that she can stay focused as the creative thinker.

Already this has included making timelines for group work, keeping the dialogue flowing about meetings, submissions and the project in whole, as well as checking how the rest of the group is going. To be honest though, the level of self-awareness and organisation of all individual members means there is little work for me in these areas.

Another, more practical, task for me is contacting people whose music, youtube video and other copy write material we want to use. This includes making sure that the video content creators who Ruby is sourcing send her a message via her Tumbler saying it is fine for us to represent them and to use the footage they have filmed and submitted. I have also already started a list of works I would like the rights to use and have began on the voyage of agreement with the owners.

As we collect our material, I will keep track of all footage and information. For example, I will back up all work and material on my hard drive weekly, or whenever it seems pertinent.

All the above may appear ambiguous, but that is only because so is the work. All in all, my main role will be to remain alert and plugged in to ‘Just a Game’ in whatever way it may need an administrator.

Beneath is the 'general release form' for our film, a .risk management plan & safety report' and a 'production plan for week 6 -7.'

Release Form

P:​ 0420 269 374
E: ​ronjamoss@gmail.com
W: ​https://justagamedocumentary.wordpress.com

In consideration of the documentary ‘Just A Game’ I, ________________________________, do hereby confirm the consent hereto given you with respect to photographing and filming me, or my child. Also, I declare that I am over eighteen year old.

A documentary program titled ‘Just A Game’, created by RMIT Students.
(References to “Program” in this Release includes all copies and versions of the Program whether differentiated by re-editing or otherwise including any “best of”, “by request” or similar Program or associated spin-offs based on segments or characters of the Program, and includes all film, television, radio, print and any electronic advertisements, trailers and promotions in connection with the Program)

And, you agree to appear in the Program on the terms and conditions of this Release:

1.​You irrevocably grant to the Producer:
• the right to record you (picture and/or voice) in photographs and on film and/or video tape (“Recording”) (References to “Recording” includes any and all edited versions made by the Producer and includes any previously recorded material of you made by the Producer);
• the right to use, reproduce and edit the Recording into the Program and any other audio, visual and audio-visual recordings (which will in all likelihood include other recordings and material);
• the right to broadcast, communicate to the public and generally exploit the Recording for any purpose within the discretion of the Producer whether by means of the Program or otherwise in all media (whether now know or hereafter devised) throughout the world in perpetuity;
• without limitation to the above, the right to reproduce and communicate to the public non broadcast versions of the Recording on the Program’s website and applications​throughout​the world in perpetuity;
• the right to use your name, likeness, voice, biography or other information concerning you in relation to the Recording, the Program and network promotions; and
• the right to assign or license the rights and other benefits granted under this Release in whole or in part, including without limitation to the Program’s commissioning and licensee networks.

2.​You acknowledge that the Producer owns and shall own all rights, title and interest (including copyright) in the Recording and you consent to the Producer editing the Recording in its absolute discretion. You further acknowledge that the Producer is not obliged to use the Recording.

3.​To the maximum extent permitted by law, you fully release and hold harmless now and forever the Producer, its related companies and each of their officers, employees, contractors and agents from all liability whatsoever and against all actions, suits, claims, proceedings, costs and demands which you may have against any of them arising directly or indirectly in respect of:

(a)​Any infringement or violation of personal and/or property rights of any sort (including defamation or invasion of privacy) arising from the use of the Recording whatsoever; and
(b)​Any injury, loss, cost or expense that I may sustain, suffer or incur during the Recording or subsequently by reason of my participation in activities for the Program whether caused by the negligence, fault or any act or omission of either of the Producer or otherwise.

4.​You agree that all information concerning the Program prior to public release is the confidential information of the Producer and is not to be given or supplied by you to any person without the prior written permission of the Producer.

Record Date:_______________________________________

Signed as an agreement:

__________________________________
Agreed by You (sign above)

__________________________________
Print name You (above)

______________________________
Authorised signatory for the Producer

Address:

Phone No:_______________________

Date:_______________________

‘Just a Game’ is a university documentary project, in association with the School of Communications at RMIT, in the city.

RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN AND SAFETY REPORT

	RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN AND SAFETY REPORT
Scene	Ruby is sitting on her bed plating a video game and telling the camera ‘what it is like.’
1	Ruby sits on her bed, playing games talking to the camera
2	Ruby talks to the camera in front of a colourful wall
3	Ruby is in the studio talking to us
4	skit of David Attenbourgher with girl & boy
Scene/s	Risk	Current Controls	Consequence (Physical)	Likelihood	Rating
–	Camera stands on footpath
–	Car veering into film set
all	Crew or film equip malfunction	All film equipment will be tested before going on set. We have hired more than enough crew to do the work.	1	C	L
2	Electrical cords on footpath	There will be no need to extend electrical cords over the footpath	2	D	L
all	Electrical hazards	Gaffer’s equipment is tested to Australian Standards	4	D	H
1	Emergency access denied	Emergency numbers are listed on call sheet.	1	D	L
–	Exposure to cold weather
1,3,5,6	Film crew blocking footpath	All crews will accept pedestrians have right of way.	1	D	L
all	Filming permit denied	Abide by the MCC’s requirements. Maintain open communication with MCC.	1	C	L
all	First Aid	Emergency and hospital numbers on call sheet. First Aid Kit on set.	2	D	L
–	Lack of parking
all	Lost property	Location Manager to survey the area upon completion of shoot.	1	C	L
all	Noise levels	All landholders in the vacinty have been notified. In the script there is no reason for excessive noise.	2	D	L
–	Parking permits rejected		–
2	Pedestrian access inhibited	Pedestrian Marshals. Filming late at night to avoid too many pedestrians.	1	D	L
2	Pedestrian conjestion	Use of marshals to maintain pedestrian access to laneways and direct pedestrians around filming site.	1	E	L
2	Public safety	The film set is a significant distance from the bunted area, and subsequently where the public will be.	1	D	M
all	Staff fatigue	Adequat shift changes and staff members.	2	D	L
–	Stakeholder access impeded
all	Tripping hazard	Pedestrian Marshals to manage pedestrian movements around film set. No cables will be accessible to the public.	2	C	M
–	Weather conditions

‘Just A Game’ – Plan for week 6-7, 5th-12th of September 

Treatment
• Treatment needs to be edited
• Synopsis needs to be written
• Script needs to be added
• Action plan to be added
• Release form to be added

I don’t want any of you to be worried about this. I’ll do all of it, except the synopsis. Stacey, can you please take care of this?

Interviews
• EB games
• Students from the gaming course
• Kris’ friend
• Guy from Ruby’s ‘intro to Graphic design’ class
• Rebecca Young from online game course
• Sarah, doing online gaming course at RMIT

I know Jean tried to contact some teachers who weren’t helpful, so, Evan, Ann said she had contacts? Can you please message her straight away and figure out a way of getting those contacts?

Kris and Evan can you please do the interview at EB Games by Thursdays class?

Kris, if you could make an arrangement to interview your friend this next week also that would be great. Maybe take Ruby with you so that she can help with the questions.

Ruby, ask that friend, if you haven’t already, if we can talk to him next week. Wednesday, Thursdays and Fridays are probably best.

I will contact Rebecca Young cause I have her contacts. And Sarah we can do in class.

Skits
• Knitting skit
• Guys half of ‘David Attenbourgher skit’
• The last of Ruby’s rants

I’ll film the skit with the housemates tonight!

Kris, can you please film yourself playing video games for the other half of the David Attenbougher skit? If you don’t have any games maybe just do something online?

We can shoot Ruby’s last rant before Thursday’s class next week! Ruby can you please practice it even more if possible?

Scripts
• David Attenbourgher skit
• Knitting skit
• Play like a girl?
• Online gaming for dummies skit

Jean it would be great to write that script in the break, so that we can record it with Robin next week!

I’ll write the ‘knitting one’ with Ruby today.

Ruby, you need to write the ‘Play like a girl?’ And the ‘Online gaming for dummies skit.’ Maybe start writing those at the end of next week though?

Downloading archives and other footage
• We need footage that suits Ruby’s rant
• Youtube footage
• Archives

To download youtube videos use http://keepvid.com It seems to only work on Firefox though and not on the edit suit computers. Jean, Stacey and I will start this maybe? Girls, just make a folder on one of your hard-drives and then load whatever you find onto the media server when you can.

This is actually a really big job and needs to be done well!

Graphics
• We need graphics of the ‘your life is over, or game over, or mission failure’ section before Ruby’s rant.

Evan and Kris can you both practice this? Just contact me if this is too much!

Legalities
• Make an appointment with copy-write Officer
• Write up our own release form
• Contact bands about music

I can do all this boring shit!

Summary

Ethics

Some of our interview questions might be personal or contentious to the interviewees, such as questions regarding online abuse, or even personal opinions on ‘girl gamers’ from guys who are into online gaming. We will encourage our interviewees to talk about such prevalent issues in these industries; however, we will also be sensitive towards our subjects concerns. We are willing to push the boundaries of our questions but remain sensitive towards our interviewee’s concerns.

Also, we are aware that this is not an objective, or observational piece. Ethically, some filmmakers might say it is a problem to be so forward with our string opinions. Therefore, we will be clear in making sure the viewers know that this is an opinionated documentary.

Motivation for making The Film

Ruby was indeed the motivated creator of this project idea, however, now many different factors contribute to our drive for making the film. Some of us are newly angered by the discrimination that ‘girls’ face in such fields and some of us have been reawakened to these passions. Of course Ruby has aced these challenges with her own experience of being a female identifying gamer, so it is hugely  personal for her, still, the rest of us are more than curious with our  interest in making this film.  As our topic is interesting for one particular audience arena, we will hopefully be able to come up with some richly provoking  material that captures emotions that our subjects feel.