um an important thing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PbznkyIzoLrsjsEE71iE4qo7gPBDnuU46VYz3bwimzI/edit

Alexandria Cook

Dr. Thayer

Intro to Digital Editing

16 September 2016

“ I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs. I play video games, which I think is a far superior addiction to any of those other ones.” -Adam “Zotmeister” Wood, Amatuer Video Game Player

The documentary made in 2007, King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters is about Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe battling it out to for a place in The Guinness Book of World Records as the human with the most points in the original Donkey Kong game. It had a distinct tone to what it was.

The way the movie was made, the filmmakers didn’t have to make it seem which “character” was the evil one or the virtuous one. It presented itself to you through the sight of their family and home life. Steve Wiebe had always attempted to attain a certain goal and had never completely fulfilled his desires, except he had a family he very much loved who loved him back. Billy Mitchell seemed to be a born winner and had gotten the record for the first perfect Pac Man game in 1999 when he was 34 and after a while, he had worshippers following him around, Brian Kuh is a perfect example. Throughout the film, he followed Steve Wiebe for Billy Mitchell and divulged information about Steve Wiebe because Billy Mitchell wouldn’t get off his lazy butt and do it himself. You can see that Steve Wiebe makes you sympathetic about his world and he always seems to deserve more for working hard at things of the past, like his band or his Baseball obsession. Billy Mitchell seemed to have everything handed to him and he never seemed grateful for it. Billy seems to always win. We saw this through other people’s view of the main characters.

No offense, but they both seem like losers when it really comes down to it. Both of them spent a great deal obsessing over playing video games. Of course it was what they loved doing or it filled some hole in their life, but it also seemed like a midlife crisis kind of thing. There is so much wonder in the world and they decided to play Donkey Kong as a living.

The parts that were informing were mostly the interviews. We found out a lot about Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell through this technique, not only what people thought of them, but also a great deal of what they did for a living, what achievements they were known for. The entertaining parts were when Steve Wiebe was exhausting his way to the high score, but Billy swooped in and tore him down. It wasn’t pleasing to watch because Steve Wiebe really did deserve the high score, but it kept me watching. Another thing that held me onto the documentary was the final battle at the end when they were supposed to meet in the arcade and play one on one, but they never did, which was a disappointment. It was also the climax for me because I felt like the entire documentary was building up to that moment.

This documentary is effective because it shows another perspective of people you don’t know a lot about. I never questioned that the world had people who spent their lives making a high score on something so significant, but now we know why they do it, how they do it, and what their life is like.

Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell were rivals to be King of Kong, the element of suspense was entertaining, and it definitely gave a new perspective on someone else's life that I’d never wonder about before. It makes me want to win a world record.