Jon Rafman, A Man Digging (2013), Single channel HD video

존 라프만의 새로운 머시니마 작업을 소개합니다. 그는 록스타의 '맥스 폐인3'을 영화적 소스로 이용하여 자신의 머시니마 작품을 공개하였는데요. 이러한 게임을 작품의 소재 및 환경으로 이용하는 사례가 최근 더욱 활발하게 소개되고 있습니다. 관심있으신 분들은 아래 설명 및 라프만의 페이지를 방문해보셔요~^^

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Jon Rafman uses the intricate tableaux of Rockstar Games' Max Payne 3 as cinematic source material for his new machinima work, A Man Digging (2013). In this meandering and Robbe-Grillet inflected narrative, Rafman ruminates on the simulated sunbeams glinting through favela windows within the game, a melancholy sunrise in a deserted subway car, a heavy fog over a slate grey harbor. He can only do so, however, after killing every character—whether enemy or bystander—in the scene. In this way, Rafman makes visible the tension between the game as object of contemplation and the game as a continuous stream of connected events.

Although many makers outside of the industry have used video games as source material—Peggy Ahwesh, JODI, Eva and Franco Mattes, and Phil Solomon, to name a few—A Man Digging highlights a particularly frustrating issue in contemporary game design: namely, a pushy Artificial Intelligence system that goads the player into constantly responding to the checkpoints, achievements, and goals that are all in the service of what tends to be called a game's "narrative." Although these events don't necessarily develop plot or characters, they are seen as central components of driving (or forcing) the player toward a sense of completion and finality that can only be accomplished through linear gameplay. As a result of this insistent narrative-centric design, players are prevented from exploring the potential for triple-A games to take on the unique, interactive potential to create contemplative and self-reflective video game environments.

Jon Rafman's web page

http://jonrafman.com