The Movies

THE MOVIES (PC)

This is an amazing game. It is a management game in which you take on the role of a film producer in charge of a studio lot, and must produce films in competition with other studios. However this isn't just a game where you PRETEND to make films; you actually DO make films! But I'll get into that later.

The game begins in 1920 in America, with poor quality black and white film, and gradually progresses through time until 2005, where the game officially ends - though you can continue beyond this if you like. You'll need to build up your lot according to your needs and finances. Some buildings are essential, while others are optional. For example you can have a stage school to train new actors and directors, toilets for your staff, sets for filming, etc. In addition you'll need things like paths for walking on, and furniture and ornaments, etc. Some of these small items will have useful purposes, such as weightlifting equipment to build up the physique of your action stars, while others will be for purely decorational purposes, such as trees and flower beds. This decoration is important however, as it will improve the mood of your stars and increase the prestige of your studio lot. A more prestigious lot will attract more employees and big name stars.

There are several different types of staff: You'll need builders to build and maintain your buildings and sets, janitors to pick up litter and maintain the grounds, scientists to research the latest technology, and film crew, actors, directors and extras to actually make the films. Your staff can be left alone and will get on with their jobs, however you can be more efficient by directing individuals around to do specific tasks. In the beginning you'll also need scriptwriters to write your scripts, however very soon you have the option to create your own scripts, or improve their scripts. But even if you do want to write your own scripts, it's still recommended to have scriptwriters, since you will need to make A LOT of films, and they will regularly produce simple but effective scripts for you to film. Filming takes a very long time, so it's best to keep the scripts as short as possible while you're playing the basic game, until you're ready for some serious film making.

One unrealistic part of the game is that there is often a shortage of staff wanting to work in the film business, however this makes the management part of the game more interesting. Generally you can have staff do any job that is required - however this may not please them, as well as their skills will be wasted, as they gain experience doing particular jobs and will only do a job well if they are experienced at it. It may work out though that you need an actor, and have no choice but to promote a lowly janitor, who ends up becoming a superstar. Though buying and building new things requires that you have enough money available, in order to pay your staff and make films you are allowed to go into debt. This means you can't really lose the game, however you're not going to be able to progress either if you can't get out of debt.

In addition to general staff management, you'll also have to deal with your stars. As they become more famous they will demand more pay, fancy trailers and ornaments, the latest fashions and an entourage of personal assistants - which is a problem if you have a shortage of staff available. If they get too unhappy they may throw a tantrum and threaten to quit. They can also misbehave, refusing to work, become addicted to food or drink, get drunk on set, etc. If they work too hard they will become more stressed, and the most effective way of dealing with this is by eating and drinking. Once they start to develop a habit they may need to go into rehabilitation, and become useless for a long time. Another problem is that they will age, losing their looks, and eventually retire. As technology progresses they can go for a facelift to make them appear younger, as well as other surgery.

There is quite a lot to do in this game. For example you can develop relationships between your stars, so they work better together on screen. You can get them to practice different genres on set to improve their skills in these areas. You can increase their publicity by allowing press photographers in. If they are photographed in a compromising position this may spoil their mood, but it is most effective in making them more famous. There is such great detail within the game - you can look up close to see every little action being performed in great detail, look at individual blades of grass, a piece of rubbish on the floor, etc. The soundtrack is great too, as you listen to radio broadcasts from the era the whole time. Each era will have its own style of music, and radio announcers will speak about topical things, which can sometimes be quite funny. Also every five years there will be an awards ceremony, which can be quite tense, and winning awards will give you bonuses. For example people will be more likely to watch a film made by a particular director just because he has won the "best director" award - so you may find a lower quality film can be more successful than it should be, simply because of the names attached to it.

Overall it's an entertaining and addictive game, though apparently fairly average for a management game. But what really sets it apart is the film making part of the game. You can do this within the regular game, but there is also a 'sandbox' mode which is far more suitable. As you progress through the game you will unlock better features, such as sets, costumes, props, backdrops and advanced things like CGI effects. So playing and replaying the game has its benefits. Within the 'sandbox' mode you can begin in any era and instantly have access to everything you've unlocked, as well as have the option of starting with a ready-made basic lot, or things like allowing films to be instantly made - though it is fun to actually watch the filming take place. For example on a science fiction set where you have automatic sliding doors, you can watch a crew member operating a simple mechanism behind the scenes to open and close them. Another nice feature is the option to be able to create your own actors. You can design their looks in great detail, as well as their character. So you could put yourself in your films, or your friends, or real actors.

Though it has its limitations it is a very powerful tool for creating your own original films. These can be exported out of the game as a video file and shared with the world. For example there is a quite famous one called 'The French Democracy'. Here's a short article about it...

http://www.collisiondetection.net/mt/archives/2005/11/_heres_an_extre.php

It is very easy to use. You begin by choosing your sets for each scene, as well as actors, extras, costumes, props and backdrops if required. You can even have vehicles and animals. You then choose what action occurs from an immense selection of pre-made scenes. This may sound restrictive, but you can usually find exactly what you're looking for, or at least something close. In a few cases though you may need to change your story slightly. You can usually choose different weather and lighting conditions for the scenes as well as what moods the actors are portraying, and different camera angles and effects. The scenes usually include more actors than you need, but you can switch off the unnecessary ones and only fill the roles you require. Be sure to fill the extra roles you need with specific extras though, otherwise random ones will turn up with random hairstyles and outfits which they think are appropriate. And that's all there is to it! Once you've done all the scenes you can just leave them to film it. But that's just the filming phase.

After your film has been made you then have the option of putting it into post production. Here you can add music and additional sound effects from a useful list, as well as delete or re-order scenes if you wish. You can even use your own sound effects if what you require isn't on the list. Concerning dialogue, if there is any in your film, the actors will mumble "blah blah" sort of sounds. You have two options here: Either you can leave it in (or remove it) and provide subtitles, as if it is a foreign language, or else you can record your own dialogue, in which case the selected actors will lip-sync to your own dialogue. You can also do additional things such as change the title sequence. And now your film is complete and ready to be exported. Of course you could always then use your own video editors to make additional changes to the final product.

Here's an example to show you the kind of thing that can be done. This is the introduction to a TV show I'm considering making. This isn't what the finished product would look like; it would have more scenes and story, as well as dialogue (or a voice-over) and maybe some other changes. This is just to show the basic setup and characters...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA0gQTYcGVI

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