Geekscape Interviews: Kelly Miller And Matthew Davis Walker Talk The Art of the Game

Last year, several students at The Academy of Art University in San Fransisco were given the chance of a lifetime–to work in the video game industry. To make their dream even more unreal, they were asked to work with 2K Games and Gearbox in creating short films based on the Borderlands franchise. The Art of the Game follows the lives of these talented students as they take their passion for video games and the Borderlands franchise, and compete for a chance for an internship at Gearbox.

Geekscape spoke with Kelly Miller of 2K Games and director Matthew Davis Walker of Story Developing to get the inside story on the documentary.

Geekscape: “Please share who you are and how the idea for The Art of the Game came about.”

Kelly Miller: “I work in the marketing team at 2K who launched the Borderlands 2 game, which is quite a while back, and after the game launched, we were really thrilled over how well the game was doing and we wanted to keep that momentum going and kind of think of innovative ways to partner at a community level with the fans, and one of the ideas was to work with a local university, which ended up being the Academy of Arts University, to basically come up with this program which we called the ‘Borderlands Cooperative’, and that was a project where we gave the students in-game assets and wanted to give them real world experience of what it would be like working on a game, and challenge them to come up with storyboards and little short two-minute films based on the world of Boderlands using the in-game assets.”

“So that was kind of the nugget of the original idea, and once we started talking to the Academy of Arts, we realized how excited these kids were, how talented they were, how passionate they were–we thought there may be a bigger story to tell here, and that’s when we got in touch with Matt and Ryan at Story Developing to help us really develop that core idea and see what we could do with, and that’s how the documentary came together.”

Matthew Davis Walker: “Once 2K had approached Ryan Rich and I, we immediately decided that we didn’t want to make a reality show about these kids; we wanted to just sit with them and be with them as they work, and to learn about them and their passion for this industry that they’ve devoted their lives to, and, so, we really just let things happen organically, and the times we weren’t ‘there’, we had purchased some cameras ti give to the kids to have when interesting things were happening to them. It was from that organic process, of meeting them and learning about them, that there other things we wanted to talk about in the film. It was a great organic process–things just kind of happened.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOM1bZrrdw

Geekscape: “How long was that process–having students pitch an idea, develop a story, storyboard it, and actually produce a finished product?”

Kelly Miller: “I think we started working at the school just about a year ago during the Spring semester where they started working on their storyboards and it went all the way through the Fall semester. So the first half of the project was student had created storyboards and that was where this competition part of the project came in, where they pitched the ideas to us and then we narrowed down to three that we wanted to put into full production, and then right around the end of the year when the next semester started, it was handed over to the animation students at the school, and then they actually took the storyboards and animated them into these three short films. ”

Matthew Davis Walker: “The three finalists were picked in May last year, so before that, from February to May, it was that whole developing and refining process that occurred, and then from that point it was when the Summer semester came in and the animation students began to put it all together in a more finished piece, and then it was their job in the Fall semester to put it all together. It was an incredible amount of work in a short period of time, and this was all on their own time; it wasn’t part of the school curriculum. It was an outside project–and they were so passionate about this opportunity to work.”

“Once the finalists were selected, we started filming them. Throughout that whole period, we would then be traveling around the country shooting different stories–from Wisconsin to Atlanta to Connecticut–to learn about [the student finalists].”

Geekscape: “Those within the Borderlands fan community are among the most fiercely passionate group of fans that any franchise could hope for. That being said, when you received the film footage back from the finalists, were you surprised–because you know you had fans who were going to be more than eager to participate in this kind of venture–by how vast and intricate their films were?”

Kelly Miller: “For sure! Yes! We knew that these kids were really excited about working on this, but when started showing us these storyboards, I mean, we were all basically floored. They way exceeded our expectations. I mean, they clearly were fans of the game and they and they knew the world of Boderlands, and they took these ideas to places we would have never even imagined, and the Gearbox team was also really closely involved in working with the students in helping them direct the finals storyboards that were put into production, and at each phase of the project, I think we had two rounds where they presented to us and we gave feedback and then they made revisions and presented to us again. And at each time, we were like, ‘Wow! These guys are very, very talented. It’s kind of a cycle of they were inspired by the content and assets and world they had to plan, and we were really inspired by their creativity and talent and the ideas they came up with, so I think it was a really, you know, ‘feel good’ project on both sides in terms of the passion for the game and then the inspiration that came out of what we did. We talk about this a little bit in the film and we definitely talked about it a lot outside of that–just the caliber of the material they were producing, and we wanted to put way more than three [finalists] into production. There were a lot of them that we think could have gone all the way and made great films. We had parameters we had to stick to in terms of  how we chose the final one, so the ones that fit those parameters the best were the ones who went into production, but there was definitely a lot of talent and creativity.”

Geekscape: “It seems ever since King of Kong, there has been this fascination with documentaries focused on video game players, and now we have documentaries focused on those who create video games, such as Indie Game: The Movie , and documentaries exploring video game culture, as in Gamer Age. What do you think is going to catch people off guard when they watch The Art of the Game?”

Matthew Davis Walker: “That’s a great question. I don’t know. You know, like with all artistic projects, you live with it for so long and you’re trying to tell this story and you are at this point where you are now sharing it with the world after only–you know–a handful of people have been with the film and so you hope that your message comes across. I think the message that we’d love to get across to people is–I think the film, along with showing that these students who had the chance of a lifetime to work in the industry of their dreams,  shows [the audience] the industry [the students] are entering into and all the leaps and bounds that have taken place within the industry that may have gone maybe unnoticed by the rest of the media and other cultures. I mean, obviously that’s not true since so many who are into this industry and this culture, but I hope people get to see the passion and the work and the creativity these kids put in, and maybe a little glimpse of what these kids can do in the future.”

Kelly Miller: “I think another one of our goals when we set out was, you know, we definitely thought that the students had an inspiring story to tell, but we also, you know, as we got into it, realized that there was a larger story here and we wanted to shed light on why games are such an attractive medium for all artists and storytellers, and also people who play games. One of the tings we talk about in the beginning of the film is how its an often misunderstood medium. I mean, I think that this film will appeal a lot to gamers, but we hope also their parents, friends, aunt and uncle, and the people who are, like, ‘Why do you like games so much?’–that this film will help answer that question and people will see the deep stories and emotion that come out of games, but also the way games can connect people of all ages, and educate and that it is a medium that’s having a greater and greater impact on our culture and in a way that I don’t think people necessarily understand when they think about video games.”

Geekscape: “In an AP report in which you had an earlier interview, you mentioned that video games don’t simply apply to the hardcore PC/console gamer. I completely agree. People in retirement homes have Wii Bowling leagues. Stroke victims, who are limited by certain motor functions, can not only play video games due to the vast control options the medium provides , but they can also participate in  a community of fellow gamers and not be restricted by their physical limitations nor their age difference.”

Kelly Miller: “Yeah, I think that games are kind of the next wave in the way to  connect and tell stories. We talk about how films were the medium this last generation in the way they shed light and helped audiences sympathize with an environment or condition they don’t fully understand. Video games really give you that experience first-hand–to be able to go into the world of what other people experience and give you some perspective, in addition to being entertaining and fun. A deeper experience is happening with games, and I don’t think people who don’t play games necessarily know that about them.”

Geekscape: “I would imagine–I know the people at Gearbox and 2K are very proud of what they have accomplished and how much the fans have embraced it, but were you taken aback at how much the Borderlands franchise meant to those taking part in the project?”

Kelly Miller: “Yeah. It’s really inspiring and exciting for us–you know, obviously Gearbox made an amazing game and we are really happy to be partners with them to publish it and it has been a great project to market, but every time we go out to PAX, Comic-Con, or any convention, there are always cosplayers dressed up, people always come to the booth and they’re so excited and they want to engage with [us]. It’s such a really positive experience. We see a little bit of that in the gaming community, but when we took it to the school which is a different environment, and we still get the same reactions. People come up and tell us how much the game means to them, and it’s really great to see how the game has affected so many people.”

Geekscape: “Do you believe viewers will have a bigger appreciation for how much work it takes for video game developers to create the content so many gamers enjoy?”

“We really focus on the artistic side and the story side and the experience of games, so we don’t really touch on all of–you know, there’s so much more that goes into a game, but yeah. Hopefully we can shed some light on that part of it so [viewers] really do see it as people’s passion to create good games and entertainment.

Matt Davis Walker: ‘I was just constantly amazed by the kids, and how much they cared about the project and how many hours they put in, and how smart and dedicated they were. One of the great lines from one of the students was telling people that they are actors acting for the characters that they’re animating, so subtle little shifts of the head and eye movement–all those little subtle things in cinema and in great television that really help us sympathize with the characters and their situations–these [students] are doing it in a way that I think a lot of times we don’t always notice but we should, and help people take away [from The Art of the Game] the incredible talent and how much dedication it takes to work in this industry. That’s what The Art of the Game is about.”

Watch The Art of the Game Documentary now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aiBSNumx0A