Game Art: Kent Sheely's "Ready for Action: #4: True Crime" (2012)
In the fourth installment of Sheely's "Ready for Action" series - a set of machinima focusing on the daily life of thugs from notoriously violent videogames, from Grand Theft Auto IV to Max Payne 3 - we encounter the protagonist ofTrue Crime: Streets of New York City at the mercy of public transportation, specifically the subway system. On his way to "work", he patiently waits for the next train at the Wall Street Station, standing expressionless between a trash can and a red steel column. He rolls back and forth, as if he were dancing to to the sounds of the underground while nonchalantly holding a gun in his hand. Once again, these videos show interstitial moments of inaction and inanity. All the characters depicted in Sheely's machinima carry weapons, and yet, they do not shoot. They simply wait, while other travellers carry on on their daily activities. Although guns are inert, the game's virtual camera, controlled by the artist, is actively shooting. The "Ready for Action" videos also feature extra-diegetic sounds, that is "audio captured while waiting for public transportation in the real world", as Sheely explains. In this subtle commentary on America's troubled relationship with guns, Sheely illustrates the absurdities of ludic simulations that strive to achieve "cinematographic realism". Is criminal life not that glamorous after all? Above all, do killers buy their tickets, like anybody else?
related: Ready for Action #1, Ready for Action #2, Ready for Action #3
LINKSubmitted by Matteo Bittanti