A few years ago, I wanted to experiment with video game content. My original concept was to make a videogame feel more like a TV show. When I play games, I always turn the Heads Up Display (or HUD) off, and try to have as realistic an experience as possible. A friend who sometimes watches me play suggested I try recording it. I was unhappy with the first result, but then after a few attempts, I came up with these: short episodic gameplay sequences.
The challenbge was usually in finding a way to hide all the HUD elements (which wasn’t always easy), combined with more interesting camera angles. Each episode has hundreds of edits, from zoom-ins, to tracking shots, and of course, deleting menus, maps, or any gameplay mistakes I make.
Like most of my projects, there wasn’t much in the way of general interest. The HUDless audience is still small, and I don’t think the concept has any legs. Of course, I tend to be a little early when it comes to these things, so if ever the genre becomes big, I could see myself doing a few more of these.