Molyneux praises gamer's movie

By Ellie Gibson Published 14 December, 2005

It's all about the Paris riots.

Lionhead Studios bigwig Peter Molyneux has praised short film The French Democracy, which was produced using PC Hollywood sim The Movies.

The film, which was made by French designer Alex Chan, offers a commentary on the riots which recently kicked off in Paris and went on to spread throughout France. It's 13 minutes long and can be viewed via the Lionhead website.

"With The Movies we wanted to make a game that allows anyone to easily express themselves by making a short film and posting them online to share with the world," Molyneux said.

"Alex's film, which is absolutely terrific, really demonstrates the potential power and impact that these films can have."

Chan said he's surprised that so many people have picked up on his film, which has been featured by the likes of MTV.com, Business Week and French weekly 20 Minutes.

"I did not expect such a reaction to my little 'home-made' movie, but I have spread some human values that are important to me," Chan said.

"I'm very happy that 'The French Democracy' has moved so many people, even if it is not always in a positive way. I'm very glad and proud that this movie may help people to think a bit more."

Lionhead and publisher Activision are said to be "delighted" with the quality of the films Movies gamers have produced so far, not to mention the sheer volume of them - more than 19,000 films have been uploaded since the game launched on November 8.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JediMasterMalik #1 7 years ago

    Wow someone putting good games to excellent and important use. I'm impressed. :)

    (And yay first post :p)
    Edited by JediMasterMalik at 14/12/05 @ 16:21

  • Freek #2 7 years ago

    The comments it makes are hard to follow though since it dumps huge amounts of text on you with barely enough time to read it all.
    Edited by Freek at 14/12/05 @ 19:09

  • Bezzy #3 7 years ago

    Just watched the movie: who wrote this shit? Some kind of total amatuer wannabe...


    oh.

    ....

    Yes, I suppose it's very good!
    Edited by Bezzy at 14/12/05 @ 16:37

  • Sko #4 7 years ago

    Does it feature a cowboy being attacked by a alien?

  • Bezzy #5 7 years ago

    "Does it feature a cowboy being attacked by a alien? "

    Omg dude use *SPOILERS* before you post that shit.

    And no. SNADE KILLS JEAN-PIERRE RAFFARIN

  • Zuiyo #6 7 years ago

    Good movie, per baco.

  • Xerx3s #7 7 years ago

    I dont buy it. Nice try though.

  • Razz #8 7 years ago

    Excellent film. REminds me of some of stories my family used to tell about being a black person growing up in 70's/80's Britain. MY Dad was beaten by police on more than one occasion.

  • Sid-Nice #9 7 years ago

    Throw in a patch similar to Hot Coffee and I'll be making movies.

  • Pho-Zoon #10 7 years ago

    Make films with a game...
    Or you could invest some time and effort (and money) in Flash and produce some truly worthwhile pieces.

  • Talha #11 7 years ago

    @Pho-Zoon: You are saying that making movies in Flash is easier than this? I was about to buy Flash (along with some tutorials), so I would be delighted to know if that is the case.

  • Midnight_Raven #12 7 years ago

    @Talha:
    Flash is a atotally different thing, really. It is infinitely more powerful, has loads more options and ways for you to express yourself (including its own scripting language). The Movies has fixed elements/scenes that you can combine in imaginative ways, and it is a game. Flash is a tool, and as such, allows you a lot more freedom. That freedom comes at the price of complexity,

    In short, Flash offers way more opportunities, but will take a while to learn properly. The choice of which to use depends on your ambitions. Flash and The Movies are two totally different things really...

  • kangarootoo #13 7 years ago

    http://www.echoecho.com/flash.htm

    Its pretty dry reading but you might find it useful.

  • Pho-Zoon #14 7 years ago

    I watched his film and, well, it'd be pretty hard to create something like that in Flash. I probably shouldn't compare them, as flash is more 2D than 3D.