We all know you watched a couple of movies this yr, however did you watch a couple of Polygon movies this yr? To rejoice one other yr within the can, the Polygon video crew gave every producer the possibility (…and task) to shout out their favourite work from 2024 to offer you an thought of the place to dive in.
The Nice Sport: The Making of Spycraft
This video is extra like my favourite of the final three years, as a result of my colleague Simone de Rochefort and I labored on it not less than that lengthy. The Nice Sport: The Making of Spycraft is a feature-length documentary in regards to the titular online game Spycraft: The Nice Sport. That big-budget, full-motion 1996 online game featured each a former KGB main normal, Oleg Kalugin, and a former CIA director, William Colby. The parallel tales of two titans of Chilly Conflict espionage, and the making of a technology-pushing sport, turned too fascinating to disregard.
Engaged on this video was not like the rest I’ve accomplished at Polygon. Once I threw out the concept to have Jamelle Bouie — of New York Instances op-ed, TikTok, Unclear and Current Hazard podcast fame — narrate the documentary, I by no means dreamed it’d truly occur. We additionally had outdoors assist for narration, graphics, and all of the difficult manufacturing points that full-length documentary creation entails, and it’s a testomony to the entire crew that it turned out pretty much as good because it did. In the event you spend the time to observe, I deeply respect it!
‘Man talks About Starship Troopers for 25 minutes NOt clickbait’
I’m a giant fan of Starship Troopers. Not solely is it my favourite of Paul Verhoeven’s movies, it’s considered one of my Letterboxd 4, and if my buddies are any indication, it’s an R-rated function our era was uncovered to at a really not R-rated age. Years later I discovered and appreciated that it was a biting satire, maybe probably the most biting in many years if the variety of dissenting critics it fooled in 1997 is any indication. That’s a degree that Pat’s video exquisitely illustrates. His video is definitely loads about Starship Troopers, each the film and the e book, in addition to considered one of my favourite video games of the yr, Helldivers 2.
However that’s not why I believe it’s necessary. In fact, I believe all of our movies are necessary, however I believe this video is necessary in a extra… pressing means. As a result of… you already know. (I’m gesturing round at the whole lot. I understand now that that is a lot more durable to convey in writing than in video.)
Whereas Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 take middle stage, what the video is basically about is that it’s necessary to assume critically about satirical media in a world the place “Get it? It’s fascist” isn’t a joke. That even incisive, penetrating satires like Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 aren’t with out their flaws and limitations. That typically it helps to dive deeper not simply into the commentaries filmmakers make, or the books that encourage films like Starship Troopers (nicely, particularly not that one), but additionally the historical past that evokes a director to make a film about how struggle makes fascists of us all (sure, even that struggle).
Christina ‘XTINA GG’ Gayton
‘Refined nerd clothes suggestions’
My favourite video I did this yr is that this TikTok on delicate nerd clothes. It’s a sartorial curiosity I’ve had for some time and I’m glad so many individuals may relate to it. The video is about how geek attire used to all the time be very daring and in-your-face, like Sizzling Subject T-shirts with the brand and identify of the sport on the entrance of a shirt in massive, colourful lettering. Nowadays you could find a myriad of clothes to specific your pursuits in additional delicate ways in which would solely be recognizable to different followers of the IP, such because the Unown pants from Atsuko (that I believe may be out of inventory now??).
‘Sonic the Hedgehog Interview 3: Into the Shadow Realm’
My favourite video from considered one of my co-workers is the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 interview Pat did with Ben Schwartz. I used to be impressed by their improvisational chemistry. I believe it’s a testomony to the artistic risk for interviews and the way they are often enjoyable and attention-grabbing. It felt like watching two buddies reasonably than an expert interview. Additionally, I LOVED Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It was so good.
‘Tekken continues to be bizarre and that’s what makes it nice’
I cherished making this video as a result of I received to dip into all of my little pursuits and tie them collectively: preventing video games, animation, martial arts movies, and peculiar wrestling historical past. However on a extra private degree, I needed to eulogize the spirit of martial naïveté.
Rising up in a pre-MMA world with restricted web entry, it was totally attainable for teenagers like me to go to our strip-mall karate courses and follow throwing chambered punches from our deep horse stances, believing we have been studying how you can combat. Once I noticed schoolyard scraps devolve into clumsy, red-faced grappling, I may inform myself it was as a result of neither considered one of them knew how you can execute a well-targeted palm strike.
My sensei’s phrase was legislation, and my sensei mentioned if an opponent grabbed my lapel like this, I may counter with a wrist lock like this. It was a comforting dream. Anyhoo! This can be a video about how preventing impacts fantasy and the way fantasy impacts preventing. I’ve much more to say on the subject and possibly, someday, I’ll!
‘Cease mendacity about Murderer’s Creed Unity’s Notre Dame’
Boy, do I like to see a fable busted. Take that, you silly fable!
Generally, you hear one thing, and also you consider it. Possibly you repeat it to another person — maybe as a result of it confirms how you concentrate on the world, or as a result of it makes you mad, as a result of it’s simply good to consider. Do you know Rutger Hauer improvised that total Blade Runner monologue on set? Wow!
It’s particularly simple to do that on the web, the place I can overlay some textual content on an image of Keanu Reeves and persuade a not-insignificant variety of folks that he holds opinions on the subject of “pretend buddies.”
I like it when somebody places the effort and time into totally correcting the document. However as soon as is rarely sufficient. Simone has made this video a couple of instances now in numerous varieties. Misinformation will be genuinely dangerous, or simply critically annoying, however it’s all the time laborious to kill.
It comforts me to know that every time this explicit fable swells up from the roiling bogs of discourse, Simone will likely be there to combat the nice combat.
‘I performed Elden Ring fallacious for 2 years’
That is possibly not my most substantial work, however I really like when I’m impressed to make one thing as a result of shit is simply occurring to me. The anecdote on the core of this video is that I spent two years brute-forcing and cheesing my means via Elden Ring, just for my boyfriend to have a look at my construct and go “your shit’s fucked.”
But in addition: It’s about how I used to be having enjoyable anyway.
But in addition: The response to the video has been my favourite half. I used to be understandably a bit apprehensive about placing out a video principally saying “lol I’m unhealthy at video video games.” However there’s a ton of individuals within the feedback being encouraging, or sharing their tales of sucking at Elden Ring, and it made me actually glad! For me, having enjoyable isn’t synonymous with being good at one thing, and it seems to be like I’m not alone!
‘Elden Ring does this higher than anybody else’
The factor about this video is that I used to be going to make it. I like making movies about how sport mechanics work, and the concept was to do one about how fabric is modeled. I turned to Gwen Frey, who I had interviewed in regards to the Bread Boy in BioShock Infinite, as a result of she had labored on online game fabric design earlier than. We had an ideal interview, after which I sat down to put in writing the video, and it simply… didn’t work.
Individually, Pat had pitched a video about Elden Ring’s costuming and the way it communicated character design. This additionally didn’t find yourself going wherever.
Pat wanted an thought for his subsequent video, and I wanted to cease mendacity to my boss about how I used to be making a video about fabric. The answer was clear: Pat was going to make a video about fabric.
And he knocked it out of the park. The wonderful thing about Pat is that he’s extremely expert at observing and explaining tiny particulars in video games. And there are such a lot of tiny particulars in Elden Ring. He takes an enormous subject (ALL OF THE CLOTH IN ELDEN RING???), and makes it humorous and digestible and academic. He did a significantly better job with this than I’d have, and I like it as a result of he succeeded the place I failed. And that’s why it’s so nice to work on a crew as proficient as this one.
