A social issue I could investigate would be do video games cause
violence. The purpose behind this is to see if people feel there is a link
between the two. It's often thought that they are linked and that due to people
being exposed to this may cause them to become violent and sometimes murderous
individuals. I hope that the documentary will do many things some of these
being to raise awareness on the subject and also to provide information. I hope
this will have a strong impact on everyone who's apart of it this being me
who's making it, the people who I interview and also on the audience who watch
it. People I may interview about this would be those who feel games have a
negative affect on people and those who feel that they have no affect on
people.
Another issue I could work on would be
violent films as well as they are also considered to cause violence within
people as well. People have been thinking this for a long time an example of
this would be the columbine massacre as some had felt that they were influenced
by violent films. I hope that this documentary will show people the different
opinions on the subject. Making this I hope to impact people by providing
information on the subject.
Facts about violence and video games.
Secondary Research:
Facts
This is a pdf about the sales within the
game industry and also some of the habits and opinions of people who play games
during 2015
http://essentialfacts.theesa.com/Essential-Facts-2016.pdf
A debate with facts and with research to
whether games are good for people
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/is-video-gaming-bad-for-you-the-science-for-and-against/
A report on violent video games throughout
the years
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/09/do-video-games-make-children-violent-nobody-knows-and-this-is-why
News storys
A news story about how serious some people
may take video games
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/7771505/Video-game-fanatic-hunts-down-and-stabs-rival-player-who-killed-character-online.html
A story about a former senator who
campaigned against video games while importing guns
http://www.polygon.com/2016/2/24/11105232/leland-yee-sentenced
The story of Jack Thompson
http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/09/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-video-gamings-most-vocal-enemy
If this film was to be distributed a good
place to do this would be youtube as youtube already contains a lot of videos
of violent games such as it's most successful creator posts videos of games. It
would be interesting that when posted people would be easy to see what these
people are playing and make a quick comparison. Another place where the film
could be distributed could be cinemas as one of the other places people
throughout cause violence was films and it wouldn't be a bad place to again
make comparisons.
Someone who could fund the film could be
the BFI as apart from having a large amount of records they also like to
support smaller films. I feel that I would be able to use their help that way I
would be able to give more accurate information and at the same time more
information at the same time.
Primary Research:
Recently I had made a survey comprised of
8 questions about the topic. It has been out for about a week and I have
received at least 10 responses.
1) Do you agree with the statement
"Violent games make violent people?"
2) 48 games have only sold at least 15
million copies apart form that being a large amount what amount of these are
rated 15 and 18+?
3) Sort these into what you thin makes the
most money? (Avatar:2009, Titanic:1997, Star Wars the Forced Awakens:2015,
Grand Theft Auto 5:2013 and World of Warcraft:2004)
4) What's your opinion on children playing
games they aren't old enough for?
5) Do you think that companies who make
these violent games are responsible for the violence these people do?
6) As games aren't the only form of media
out there which of the other media forms do you think cause violence?
7) Do you feel that some of these games
are teaching people to kill people in real life?
8) If these video games companies aren't
to blame for the violence within people the what else could it be?
The results of the questioner told me
that. The vast majority of people who done the questioner feel that violent
games don't make violent people. This tells me that there will always be people
who feel that games will cause others to be violent. When asked how many of the
games had been apart of the top 48 games of all time were rated 15 and 18+ most
people had answered correctly with the majority of them being rated this high
with none of the people thinking that none of the most successful games were
all rated 15 and 18+. When asking what had more between films and games
the one that people had assumed had made the most money was the film Avatar
(2009), while in reality it was World of Warcraft (2004) which was tied with
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) telling me that people feel films still
make more than films. When asked about how they feel about children playing
games they aren't old enough for the response was mixed with some being against
while others saying if their mature enough it's fine, I take this with an
overall feeling that they still shouldn't be if they aren't mature enough.
When asked are the companies who make
these games are responsible for the violence they cause people had said mostly
no while a small majority felt they are, just like the first question it shows
a small amount of people will think they cause violence. When asked if they
feel that other media sources may cause violence films had been most voted
while being closely followed by online videos and television with books being
the least likely, this shows me that people feel that when they are shown how
to do these acts it can make them more violent. After that I asked if they
considered these games are teaching people how to kill while the majority again
said no more had however said yes to them teaching people how to kill.
Following that I asked if they felt there could have been something else what
could lead to these people causing violence the feedback I have received is
vastly for parenting, metal health issues and a combination of two causes
however these are most likely parenting and mental health issues. This tells me
that people feel very strongly that other issues can come into play as no one
had selected the option of video games are the only cause.
When it comes to making the documentary I
feel that my target audience would be people who have strong views with
violence within people. I hope that it would be able to make show people with
these views arguments from both sides of the spectrum as I believe it 's good
to understand other people's opinions. When I make it I will probably make it
presenter lead with allot of interviews from people who have differing opinions
so I could see how they feel then cut it to an opposing it'll be similar to
having a debate in the film.
