Offline - Life is not a bonus level

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Movie
Original title OFFLINE - Life is not a bonus level
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 2017
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Florian Schnell
script Jan Cronauer & Florian Schnell
production Christian Becker , Benjamin Munz , Marc Junker, Anne Büttner
music Marius Kirsten & Renee Abe
camera Dominik Berg
cut Matthias Scharfi
occupation

OFFLINE - Life is not a bonus level is an adventure comedy by Florian Schnell , in which film and computer game mix. OFFLINE was produced by Rat Pack Filmproduktion together with the Baden-Württemberg Film Academy and the Piranha Bytes game studio ( Risen 3: Titan Lords ).

The main roles are played by Moritz Jahn and Mala Emde , in other roles David Schütter , Hannes Wegener , Uğur Ekeroğlu and, as a special guest, the YouTube star Sarazar . It was released on February 23, 2017.

action

Jan, who spends most of his time in an online game as the warrior Fenris, is preparing for an upcoming tournament when he is suddenly kicked out of the game. He realizes he's been hacked. Not only his internet access, but also his debit card and cell phone no longer work. He can find out that another player is behind it: the dark magician Loki. He has no choice but to set out on a journey through the real world without any technical aids in order to regain his digital identity.

In search of answers, he meets Karo, who has also been hacked. Although he can't stand the provocative, wild girl from the start, he urgently needs her help as she has important information about Loki's whereabouts. The trail leads to a remote server in the mountains, and the two face problems: How do they get from A to B without money? Where can they get something to eat and where can they sleep? But even though the teenagers slide into one disaster after another on their trip and constantly clash, they have to learn to work together as a team and thus gradually get closer.

When they notice that their anonymous opponent not only seems to be watching their every step, but even inciting other players against them and they are suddenly being chased by a gang of barbarians, computer games and reality begin to mix in a bizarre way. Loki also drives a wedge between the two and makes Jan an offer to switch sides.

Torn by self-doubt and after an argument about another man, Jan agrees. It is only when it is almost too late that he realizes that the journey together with Karo, despite all the hardships and dangers, is the best and most intense time of his life and that the girl has become more important to him than his virtual life. So with a heavy heart he defies Loki's temptations and begins to fight like a real warrior.

production

Casting

Many young actors were cast in all of Germany's major cities for the lead role, until Moritz Jahn was hired, who in his childhood already played in the series Die Pfefferkörner , the film Prinz und Bottel and in the ZDF television series Morgen ich auf den. Karo is played by Mala Emde , who was awarded the Bavarian TV Prize for Young Talent for her role Anne in My Daughter Anne Frank . In order to make the young ensemble as diverse as possible, Uğur Ekeroğlu , known from the Kika series Schloss Einstein and Alone Against Time as Deniz and David Schütter (including our time is now , The Cold Heart ) were cast by caster Manolya Mutlu and Schnell . The Youtubers Daniele Rizzo and Sarazar moderated the online finals and appeared as guests.

Filming

The film was made in the Stuttgart area in autumn 2014 on 30 days of shooting. Many natural scenes were created on the Albtrauf near Bad Urach . Since the game sequences of Risen 3 were not yet finished at this point in time, the actors had to play many scenes in front of empty monitors and generate the emotions and processes on their own.

Computer game elements

For the detailed and cinematic game sequences of the fictional game "Battle for Utgard", Ratpack Film has teamed up with the game developer Piranha Bytes . Based on their game "Risen 3", the game elements for the film were created in a long and intensive collaboration. With the low budget film, this was only possible through great enthusiasm, especially on the part of the Piranha Bytes development team. The amalgamation of game content from a real existing computer game and feature film elements is a transmedia experiment and has not yet existed in this form in Germany. Surprisingly, the film was rated 12 by the FSK , even though it is a children's and youth film.

Soundtrack

About the film composers Marius Kirsten and Renée Abe - the band Otto Normal not only made the title track Next Level , but also two more pieces for the film soundtrack: Last Dance and Nothing and Nobody

Awards

Offline celebrated its world premiere on January 19, 2016 at the Max Ophüls Film Festival , where it was nominated both in the “Best Film” category and Moritz Jan for “Best Young Actor”

Before its theatrical release, the film was shown at over 40 national and international film festivals and won:

criticism

"With its elaborate animations and pointed connection of game and reality, Schnell has succeeded in making an unusual, original film."

- programmkino.de

"With its comedy and clever creative borrowings from the gamer universe, this film is, above all, great fun. It manages to strike a completely new, fresh tone in the debate about youthful enthusiasm for virtual worlds."

- Cinema time

"The graphics are three-dimensional, the characters are flat."

- mirror online

"Yes, this film is especially worthwhile for gamers, as it picks up on and satirizes their hobby without offending the gamers themselves or their favorite leisure activity and bringing them into disrepute."

- Gamers Global

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Florian Schnell - Author, Director - VITA - Agency ABOVE THE LINE. Retrieved July 26, 2019 .
  2. ↑ OFFLINE - Little Dream Entertainment . In: Little Dream Entertainment . ( littledream-entertainment.com [accessed February 18, 2017]).
  3. ^ Ludwigsburg as a film location - News - LKZ Mobil. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Games economy: OFFLINE: Piranha Bytes and Sarazar in the cinema . February 9, 2017 ( gameswirtschaft.de [accessed February 18, 2017]).
  5. ↑ OTTO NORMAL | OFFICIAL. Retrieved on February 18, 2017 (German).
  6. ↑ "Next Level - Single" by Otto Normal on Apple Music. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  7. ↑ OFFLINE - LIFE IS NOT A BONUS LEVEL. (No longer available online.) Film Festival Max Ophüls Prize, archived from the original on December 30, 2016 ; accessed on February 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.max-ophuels-preis.de
  8. ↑ German Films: Film Info: OFFLINE - LIFE IS NOT A BONUS LEVEL. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth - Manuela Schwesig presents the "LEO" film prize. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Focus: Film | News | Lucas Kinderfilmfest comes to an end with awards. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Winners Cinekid Festival 2016 announced . In: Cinekid . ( cinekid.nl [accessed February 18, 2017]). Winners Cinekid Festival 2016 announced ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cinekid.nl
  12. ↑ programmkino.de
  13. ↑ kino-zeit.de
  14. ↑ spiegel.de
  15. ↑ gamersglobal.de