In part three of their journals (part one can be found here, part two here), the staff of Cosmic Joke (Treasure Trapped) has headed to Copenhagen to film a satirical larp set in an advertisement agency. The larp, Panopticorp, is run by Danish roleplaying association RollespilsFabrikken. Since their start in 2004, RollespilsFabrikken has become Denmark’s largest role-playing club, with a membership base of 1,000 players.
In this exclusive journal-style series, Cosmic Joke documents their behind-the-scenes adventures in larp filming:
Well…that didn’t go quite to plan! What we had planned on being a nap ended up being a full night’s sleep (although saying both a full night and sleep is more a lie than truth)! Sleeping on the floor of the Out of Character area, with all of the other players who spent most of the night going in and out of the room and minus sleeping bags, meant that in true ‘roughing it’ docu-style, we barely slept at all. When it was time to arise, though, we were up and raring to go! It’s the magic of good Danish coffee – it’s like pure rocket fuel! Plus, add into that an excellent Danish pastry or three for breakfast and you can tackle the day with ease!
So, Day 3! Due to the nature of the game and the fact that most players had been in and out of character all night, pitching to overseas customers, and generally living the fast paced lifestyle, morning time meant a rather quiet and subdued office! We used this time to wander the streets of Copenhagen once more whilst the sun shone on our backs and explored all things Viking…a truly beautiful city that we cannot recommend enough to visit: great people, great food, and a wonderful laid back, relaxed feeling to everything!
Nevertheless, despite such distractions, when the time called, we were back at Panopticorp HQ finding out from the head honcho and our amazing host, Claus, what was going down for the day! We spent a great deal of time in the head office whilst 4 groups came in to pitch their marketing campaigns to Danske Bank representatives who wanted to help restore trust between the bank and its customers. Quite an intense few hours and some mint footage, but most important of all (and we can’t quite get over), is the level of professionalism and realism the players brought to their characters and the game. The marketing language used and the standard of projects pitched were far beyond that of people pretending and playing a game; they were believable, advanced, and definitely ideas that could be used in the real world! Amazing!
After walking out from such an intense few hours, us being us, and British, and a film crew, our natural reaction was to go and take a break, dump the footage, and grab a good Danish-brewed beer! However, our plans were torn asunder (for the better, as it turned out) when we were approached by ‘Neville Night’ and his colleague who were working on a pitch for an anonymous client based in Finland called ‘MotherF**ker’. Naturally, we were intrigued by what they had to say, and when they asked if we could film their pitch to send to their prospective client, we jumped at the chance!
Thirty minutes later we found ourselves, cameras at the ready, facing the two ‘Corpers’ (Corp speak for the office workers, as we found out) who stood in front of a whiteboard that contained all of their pitch material. The pitch was for a TV series with Oscar H in the lead role. We can’t reveal too much of what happened as the language and the ideas don’t really leave a lot for the imagination, but we can tell you it was entitled ‘Oscar H Conquers Finland’. It featured two sidekicks called ‘Bunny the Motherf**ker’ and a more mature lady named ‘Mrs Pindyknackles’. Between the three of them, they were to save Finland from the Nazis and bring love to the world! Due to both the quality of the pitch and our rather excellent camerawork, they of course secured the project and celebrated in true Corp style…and us? Well, we’re still quoting it and watching the video for extra laughs!
Since then, things have been quite blurry! How do you top something like that? It turns out you can! We spent sunset in a beautiful square down the road from the Panopticorp HQ filming a time-lapse on our little GoPro and meeting some of the locals and then partied with the Panopticorp workers themselves (all in-game I might add), as they celebrated their successful pitches and psyched themselves up for the new customers flooding in. By this point, it was clear (and quite scary how it real it was) to see some of the players get caught up in the advertising, fast-paced
lifestyle. Schmoozing clients, losing projects, generally surviving in the world all seemed to be too much for some of the players who weren’t sleeping and pushing themselves to their absolute limits and we saw one girl in particular decline quite rapidly. This, for us, was true Nordic LARP; getting so caught up and fully immersed in your character that you start to push boundaries and your emotions to the limit. It was a truly fascinating experience to witness.
So, once again, we’re back in OOC area, reflecting on the day and wondering what the final few hours will bring before Time is called on Panopticorp. We’re going to attempt to get some sleep ready for the end tomorrow, so wish us luck! The floor awaits….
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