'Newsfield Years' film released!

Everything else about Zzap
Post Reply
cgc
Techno Teaboy
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: London
Contact:

'Newsfield Years' film released!

Post by cgc »

Please excuse the plug, there are no excuses I know as I have just registered but I am a filmaker as well as a gamer and people need to know about this film. So I am clicking submit with gritted teeth expecting a couple of annoyed people, but I am not a big commerical company and I'd like you guys to know about it.

Cheers,

Ant

Subject: Press release - New Classic Games Crusader Film - The Newsfield Years - Released Today!

Press Release as follows;

To all classic gamers!

Classic Games Crusader (www.classicgamescrusader.co.uk) proudly announce the release of ‘The Newsfield Years’ film for download!
‘Classic Games Crusader – The Newsfield Years’ focuses on the complete story of Newsfield Publications, the publishers behind some of the most influential group of gaming magazines in the 8 bit 80s. Featuring in-depth interviews with Roger Kean, Matthew Uffindell, Oliver Frey and Franco Frey the film focuses on the remarkable impact it had through its publications such as Crash, Zzap!64 and Amtix, featuring very open accounts of how they were created right through to Newsfield’s demise in the early 1990s. The film explores how they dealt with the early days of getting their magazines into the Newsagents, the ‘Unclear User’ legal battle, developing a comic strip, their journalists becoming celebrities, resisting incredible pressure from Games Publishers for positive reviews as they knew they could literally make or break a game’s success and the stunning artwork of Oliver Frey.

All of these stories take shape within a games industry that was quite literally shaping itself in the UK of the 1980s and early 90s. ‘Classic Games Crusader – The Newsfield Years’ is a must for all those who experienced computing and gaming during that period.
This 23 minute film is available for download now priced at £2.49

‘Classic Games Crusader – The Newsfield Years’ is available in both High-Def and SD now, the film is also IPad compatible!

Visit the group –Classic Games Crusader on FACEBOOK

cgc@classicgamescrusader.co.uk
www.classicgamescrusder.co.uk
CGC
User avatar
Iain
Admin
Posts: 2222
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:42 pm
Location: Cavan, Ireland
Contact:

Post by Iain »

No problem at all.

I watched the trailer last night, looks very interesting. I will be downloading the full version later and I'll probably move this to the announcement forum since it's quite a big deal!

I'll add the direct Newsfield link:

Newsfield Film Link
User avatar
Lloyd Mangram
King of Ludlow
Posts: 1151
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 10:22 pm
Location: Ludlow
Contact:

Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Oh man, I love the idea, I respect the time and effort that went into this project. But the website and the first four minutes of the video demonstrate such an incredible level of amateurism - it gives me the jitters. I mean, come on, if you do something like this, do it WELL. Brrr.
Once again I emerge from beneath a massive pile of paper which makes my desk groan to bring you the world’s most amazing posts.
cgc
Techno Teaboy
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: London
Contact:

Post by cgc »

Iain thank you for that. You guys are entitled to your opinions, in fact they mean a lot good or bad, though it would be good if they were based on the full 23min film and not just the trailer. We rely on feedback on the website and films otherwise we can't improve. However I assure you the film was filmed and edited by professional filmmakers, the budget wasn't Avatar, but we did the bes we could with what we had. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Cheers,

Ant
CGC
User avatar
andy vaisey
Director
Posts: 427
Joined: Fri Sep 23, 2005 6:15 pm
Location: Cymru
Contact:

Post by andy vaisey »

Looks interesting to me!
cgc
Techno Teaboy
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: London
Contact:

New Zzap! Film released

Post by cgc »

Thanks for all your support,

some great feedback so far!

Ant
CGC
User avatar
Iain
Admin
Posts: 2222
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:42 pm
Location: Cavan, Ireland
Contact:

Post by Iain »

I just watched the full version there. Interesting seeing the interviews with the 4 guys.

Sure it would have been better to have interviews with lots of old editorial staff but I guess something like that would have taken quite a bit of work, time and money.

There's not much new information in it that hasn't been around on the Net for a while, but it's all the better hearing it from the horse's mouth so to speak.

Well worth the £2.49 anyway.

So Rob, when is your Def Tribute to Zzap!64 - The Movie coming out? ;-)
cgc
Techno Teaboy
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: London
Contact:

New Zzap! Film released

Post by cgc »

Thanks Iain,

we nearly got Gary Penn but our budget couldn't stretch to sending a film crew up to Dundee!

We actually cut out huge amounts to keep it under 30 minutes because we were conerned that a 60 min doc with just 4 talking heads may wear a bit thin. We're adding a forum to the CGC website soon (www.classicgamescrusader.co.uk) and we might add some of those extra sequences as freebies to those who bought the main film.

Than ks again fo your support Iain!

Cheers,

Ant
CGC
User avatar
Lloyd Mangram
King of Ludlow
Posts: 1151
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 10:22 pm
Location: Ludlow
Contact:

Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Iain wrote:
So Lloyd (hehe), when is your Def Tribute to Zzap!64 - The Movie coming out? ;-)
Well, y'know. ;)

ANyway, what I'd be interested in (and I've said it before over here IIRC) is the filming for TV that was done (was it BBC or was it local - I think local) in 84/85 over at Crash Towers/Ludlow. Somebody ought to have the footage!? Where is it? Grrr!
Once again I emerge from beneath a massive pile of paper which makes my desk groan to bring you the world’s most amazing posts.
cgc
Techno Teaboy
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2010 5:23 pm
Location: London
Contact:

Post by cgc »

I didn't know about that footage.
CGC
User avatar
Mort
Director
Posts: 423
Joined: Mon Jun 30, 2003 7:02 pm
Location: Kent,England

Post by Mort »

Hi Guys,
I think the footage from 84/85 was done by Cental Tv , think it was covered in the Crash History in Issue 40 of Crash.

Well done Ant on the film, interesting to see how things developed so thanks for making the effort .

Regards Mort aka Stephen
Where`s my screwdriver, need to replace another 6581 Sniff
User avatar
Lloyd Mangram
King of Ludlow
Posts: 1151
Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 10:22 pm
Location: Ludlow
Contact:

Post by Lloyd Mangram »

Crash 46 then. I 'll have a look.

[edit]

I've found it in Crash issue 13 (february 1985) editorial:
CRASH ON TELLY
I hope a lot of Central Television viewers were watching Central’s News programme on Wednesday 19th December [1984], as the last item was about CRASH magazine and its young team of reviewers. CTV News were intrigued at the idea of a national computer magazine being produced in ‘the ancient market town of Ludlow’. I got to say a little piece myself (about what a brilliant magazine I work for — yes, it was bit vacuous I admit), but star of the four minute item was undoubtedly shy and retiring head reviewer Matthew Uffindell, who’s calmly authoritative Shropshire accent must have put the fear of God up some software houses when they think of him looking at their games. Programs featured briefly in the news item were Ocean’s Hunchback 2, Ultimate’s Knight Lore, Elite’s Airwolf and Realtime’s Starstrike. For any viewer wondering how we made the Spectrum sound like an arcade machine, it was the specially modified Uffindell tranny that did it.
In Crash issue 46 (november 1987) there's a lookback, or should I say, zzapback to that event in 'the history of Crash':
The good turn Elite unwittingly did CRASH, which I mentioned earlier in the CRASH History, was concerned with its game Airwolf. This was to be a TV tie-in in reverse. Elite sent the Birmingham-based Central TV news desk a press release about the youthfulness of Airwolf's programmer (actually Richard Wilcox, young, but not quite the spring chicken the release made him out to be!). Central rang Roger Kean to double-check whether this was commonplace, and whether Airwolf actually was a hit game. Roger told the researcher that he would have to consult his school-age reviewing team, a statement calculated to arouse Central's interest.

The thought that a bunch of mere schoolkids was passing judgement on games which would then affect large companies' sales - and all this from the obscure town of Ludlow - was irresistible.

Next day, a four-man Central TV crew arrived in Ludlow to interview Matthew Uffindell, Ben Stone, Robin Candy and Roger Kean. The TV reporters wanted to have the CRASH reviewers playing Airwolf and chatting about it. Unfortunately it was left to Robin to say why he thought it was a hit, and because he was the only person on the team who really didn't like the game much he was largely cut out from the edited programme, as was Airwolf. But CRASH appeared the following evening, December 19, on Central News in a five-minute piece.
So there. I'd really like to see that y'know.
Once again I emerge from beneath a massive pile of paper which makes my desk groan to bring you the world’s most amazing posts.
User avatar
Iain
Admin
Posts: 2222
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:42 pm
Location: Cavan, Ireland
Contact:

Post by Iain »

Indeed. Would be rather interesting, even if it was from a time when Zzap was only a glint in Roger's eye...

Who recorded the news from back then onto video and has kept it for 26 years?..... :(
User avatar
Professor Brian Strain
King of Zzap Towers
Posts: 786
Joined: Fri Apr 02, 2004 2:22 pm
Location: Skegness, UK
Contact:

Post by Professor Brian Strain »

Lloyd Mangram wrote:
Iain wrote:
So Lloyd (hehe), when is your Def Tribute to Zzap!64 - The Movie coming out? ;-)
Well, y'know. ;)

ANyway, what I'd be interested in (and I've said it before over here IIRC) is the filming for TV that was done (was it BBC or was it local - I think local) in 84/85 over at Crash Towers/Ludlow. Somebody ought to have the footage!? Where is it? Grrr!
As Mort says, it was Central TV, meaning it was shown on ITV not BBC.

Central are still around as part of ITV, so they may have the footage in their archive... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_In ... Television
User avatar
Iain
Admin
Posts: 2222
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:42 pm
Location: Cavan, Ireland
Contact:

Post by Iain »

I checked with Roger, he doesn't have it unfortunately. :(
Post Reply