MCV reports this morning that UK broadcast regulator Ofcom has received 25 complaints after it was revealed that British TV channel ITV aired a documentary containing ARMA II footage that was presented as real footage of the Irish Republican Army using weapons supplied by Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in a 1988 attack.
Further details on what Ofcom plans to do about the situation were not revealed. Ofcom is the UK's communications regulator, with jurisdiction over Television, radio, fixed line telecommunications and mobile devices.
Yesterday ITV apologized for the mistake and claimed that the ARMA II footage was included in the film by accident, stating that the makers of the film had actual footage which will be added into the film at a later date. Until that happens, the film will not be available on ITV's Player service. Some question whether the clip the film was supposed to contain even exists...
Source: MCV
Comments
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
Is the footage still posted anywhere? The video from the other day was taken down and my searches turn up real footage from the same documentary and not game footage.
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4fhzDyrtXY
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
Thank you kindly.
I'm going to toss my hat in the "How could this be a mistake?" pile. Visible pixels, jumpy framerate, the smoke effects, the water, the reflections, the grass, even the focus... Not even high on the rankings of video game graphics, let alone being mistaken for reality.
Not to rip on Arma II here, I'm not actually familiar with the game but it didn't look like it was running at full spec so I'm sure the footage didn't do the game justice. I just mean, nobody anywhere with film experience should have looked at that and thought it was live footage.
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
Bohemia's games, even when the cross over into the consumer space, are not really designed for the best graphics around. They are generally built for tactical training (thus accuracy) and are built to dovetail into larger training systems.
That and they reinvented the wheel with their engine so they tend to be a bit behind.
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
How exactly could this have been a mistake? The filmmakers just happened to have a clip from a videogame sitting around with the relevant timestamp to their subject matter?
It sure seems that this new era of "shockumentaries" is getting out of hand. Just a steady stream of agenda-laden content produced with dubious honesty packaged to appear to be authoritative. (in all fairness, the content of this particular film may have more truth than untruth in it, but it's not a subject I know enough about...so i digress).
Re: Ofcom Receives 25 Complaints about ITV's IRA Documentary
Well i think it is possible that they were using the game footage as temporary footage as a placeholder for the sake of timing. Kind of like using an animatic, or using copyrighted music until you can replace it with a custom made track. However it reeks of something awful that they would either fail to check the entire film before allowing it to air, or for them to air the film knowing they had not yet replaced that footage.