Kotaku reports that documenters making a film exploring the possible connections between one Colonel Gaddafi and the IRA, for the British television network ITV, confused actual footage from ARMA 2 for supposedly IRA footage featuring a helicopter being shot down by militants. The clip was given a back story and was narrated. To our overseas friends, ITV is a major commercial public service TV network here in the UK, with a now ironic name. They were one of the main television channels in the analogue days.
http://kotaku.com/5844214/idiot-documentarians-reveal-secret-ira-terrorism-footage-its-a-video-game-from-2009
"In the documentary Exposure - Gaddafi and the IRA, aired Monday night in the U.K., a voice can be heard saying, "With Gaddafi's heavy machine guns it was possible to shoot down a helicopter as the terrorists own footage of 1988 shows."
On the screen viewers witness shaky footage of what appears to be a heavy machine gun mounted into the bed of a camouflage-painted pick-up truck. The words IRA film 1988 are displayed over the video. In the footage, viewers see a group of men in balaclavas standing around the vehicles as it fires at a distant helicopter.
"This was what the security forces feared most," the voice continues. "It may have been a lucky hit, but for the Army and crew once was enough. No one died in this attack..."
That's probably because the footage actually came from ARMA 2, a tactical shooter released for the computer by developers Bohemia Interactive Studios in 2009.
Reached for comment this morning, Marek Spanel, CEO of Bohemia Interactive, said he wasn't aware of the game's use in the documentary until Kotaku contacted him.
"We were not aware of this at all," he wrote. "It is very weird to see our game used this way especially considering the journalists were simply unable to tell difference between reality and game footage and described a short film clearly made using our game Arma II with what they call real IRA footage from 1988. Our games offer a great level of freedom to our users to create all kind of things but in this particular case, it is very misleading. Plus it is surprising ITV did not seek for permission to use our game in this way."'
Considering the media is always criticising gamers for supposedly being unable to tell fantasy from reality this is highly ironic. Was this as ITV claim a mere accident that happened during the editing process? Maybe it was the result of poor research, or even a juvenile practical joke?
http://kotaku.com/5844214/idiot-documentarians-reveal-secret-ira-terrorism-footage-its-a-video-game-from-2009
"In the documentary Exposure - Gaddafi and the IRA, aired Monday night in the U.K., a voice can be heard saying, "With Gaddafi's heavy machine guns it was possible to shoot down a helicopter as the terrorists own footage of 1988 shows."
On the screen viewers witness shaky footage of what appears to be a heavy machine gun mounted into the bed of a camouflage-painted pick-up truck. The words IRA film 1988 are displayed over the video. In the footage, viewers see a group of men in balaclavas standing around the vehicles as it fires at a distant helicopter.
"This was what the security forces feared most," the voice continues. "It may have been a lucky hit, but for the Army and crew once was enough. No one died in this attack..."
That's probably because the footage actually came from ARMA 2, a tactical shooter released for the computer by developers Bohemia Interactive Studios in 2009.
Reached for comment this morning, Marek Spanel, CEO of Bohemia Interactive, said he wasn't aware of the game's use in the documentary until Kotaku contacted him.
"We were not aware of this at all," he wrote. "It is very weird to see our game used this way especially considering the journalists were simply unable to tell difference between reality and game footage and described a short film clearly made using our game Arma II with what they call real IRA footage from 1988. Our games offer a great level of freedom to our users to create all kind of things but in this particular case, it is very misleading. Plus it is surprising ITV did not seek for permission to use our game in this way."'
Considering the media is always criticising gamers for supposedly being unable to tell fantasy from reality this is highly ironic. Was this as ITV claim a mere accident that happened during the editing process? Maybe it was the result of poor research, or even a juvenile practical joke?
