My first day as a Paparazzi
March 20th, 2010 Posted in Career
I learned many things from last night’s Game BAFTAs: Shigeru Miyamoto is really short; Michelle Ryan is even hotter in real life; my colleague’s voice goes almost ultrasonic when meeting his favourite celebrities; and the paparazzi know absolutely nothing about video games. More importantly, they don’t care.
Now I guess that’s not too surprising – they were, after all, more interested in the more traditional celebs – but it’s still somewhat shocking to hear Miyamoto-san referred to as ‘that Japanese guy’. Such heresy is heartbreaking when you think how much of an influence the man has had on the fastest growing (and one of the most lucrative) entertainment industries in history.
Arguably, it is because he’s behind the scenes. The true stars, or at least the most recognisable, in the gaming world don’t really exist. Mario was never likely to turn up in a limo, and Lara Croft wasn’t about to grab the front page with a stunning evening dress picked out for last night’s event. But when you think that the likes of Steven Spielberg – who also spends the entirety of his career behind the scenes of his product – would have captured the paparazzi’s interest, it’s a shame that games haven’t reached that stage yet.
In fact, it’s more than a shame – it’s ironic when you think about the nature of the Game BAFTAs. The awards ceremony is one of the few, important steps that have been made towards getting games recognised for the mainstream phenomenon that they are, and yet even the PRs responsible for keeping the paparazzis organised were unaware of who the nominees were. The Left 4 Dead 2 arrived, only to be introduced as the people behind ‘that zombie PS2 game’.
The self-appointed leader of the photographers – even though it became clear later that each one was working independently – was the most ignorant. He was the equivalent of the grumpy old man you meet on the bus or train that insists on telling the driver how to do his job. He kept on calling over the BAFTA representive (“Oi, PR!”) and asking who each group had been. When told they were developers for the likes of Batman: Arkham Asylum, he’d huff: “So it was just another bunch of nobodies then. When is anyone that’s actually interesting going to turn up?”
I know a games journo shouldn’t take such things so personally. These people were essentially irrelevant to him in terms of his income, but every not-so-subtle mutter of “waste of my fucking time” feels like a dig against our industry – despite it being the night of the BAFTAs. Say what you will, the symbol of giving those gold masks (which are bloody heavy by the way!) to developers, publishers and even icons such as Miyamoto is important.
It was amusing then to see the old git get his come-uppance when the one photographer who actually displayed a working knowledge and genuine passion for games started uploading his photos of Miyamoto via his laptop. The elderly pap was just left bitching about ‘how lucky’ the guy was that he’d ‘left his PDA in the car’, and – more amusingly – that ‘you wouldn’t even know about the Japanese bloke if it weren’t for me’. Naturally, the latter claim was bollocks – the photographer had been waiting for this ever since BAFTA announced who won this year’s fellowship.
As for me, I think it’s safe to say I shan’t be changing careers any time soon. Hanging around outside a swanky London hotel, wrestling with a digital camera that only takes pictures every other time you press the button and cursing when the celeb looks away the second before you flash goes off is not my idea of work satisfaction. Photojournalism was never my strong point and I actually respect anyone (paparazzi or otherwise) that has the determination and patience to obtain those great photos we see in magazines – especially when people like Charlie Brooker seem to be medically incapable of standing still.
