- Three unlikely heroes journey into the curious world of LARP (Live Action Role-Play) to explore what happens when you take pretending to a whole new level.
- Caught between two worlds, one real and one imagined, three filmmakers have travelled 4000-miles across Europe to understand Live Action Role-Play (LARP), the hobby where these worlds collide. In its essence, LARP is an extension of how you experienced games as a child. When tabletop games grew too big for the board, players put down their dice, picked up their swords, and have been playing make-believe ever since. The culmination of years-old conversations in a local pub, Treasure Trapped is part-documentary, part-road movie; a film that charts the journey of Mike, Al and Nick, as they explore this often misunderstood pastime. Casting a unique look over a worldwide community that is known for its eccentricities, this project aspires to bring the hobby to the masses. Game on!—Nick Peel
- In 1983 a group of table-top gamers took their hobby to a whole new level by taking over a castle and acting out their quest - for real! Live Action Role-Play (LARP) was born. Thirty years later and LARP is a worldwide pastime on an unimaginable scale. Three unlikely heroes are on a whirlwind journey into the world of LARP to try and understand what it means to be a live action role-player and taking pretending to a whole new level. From hundreds of people fighting in the woods of England to the only school in the world that teaches through role-play, Treasure Trapped sets out to discover what happens when you look beyond the pointy ears and foam swords of this often misunderstood hobby. Not to be dismissed as a surface-deep look into geeks in funny costumes, Treasure Trapped is an exploration beyond the face paint and into the beating heart of a community; the scale, the passion and the people—Cosmic Joke
- In a world where fantasy dominates the blockbuster charts and video gaming is at its peak, three filmmakers have embarked on a 4000-mile journey across Europe to understand Live Action Role-Play (LARP), the hobby that brings stories to life.
In its essence, LARP is an extension of the games you played as a child. When tabletop games grew too big for the board, players put down their dice, picked up their swords, and have been playing make-believe ever since. Whilst millions are content to sit at their desktops, battling The Horde on World of Warcraft, or to power through George R. R. Martins Song of Fire and Ice novels during their daily commute, LARPers develop their own worlds, create their own characters and live their own fantasy.
A visit to one of the biggest LARP festivals in the country sees the filmmakers struggling to hold their own in both the real world and the imaginary universe of the game. The scheming, combat and apparent chaos encouraged them to set out and discover more about this intriguing and eccentric pastime both here in the UK and further afield.
Since the first LARP was founded at Peckforton Castle, Cheshire, in the 1980s, the hobby has changed in a number of ways. Much more than dressing-up and playing wizards with a curtain rail for a sword, LARP has expanded into new genres, including steampunk and science fiction, and has become more ambitious in scale. A visit to Wasteland, a post-apocalyptic game based on the Fallout franchise, shows how players can leave their controllers at home and step into the screen. The Monitor Celestra, a Swedish LARP set in the Battlestar Galactia universe, allows players to push the big red button. With a de-commissioned warship as its setting, and the biggest budget of any LARP in the world, this game is raising the bar for production values in a hobby that is now entering its professional era.
Brought to you by Cosmic Joke, Treasure Trapped gets under the skin of those who LARP, from the students at the longest- running LARP club in the world, to the children at Danish school, Østerskov Efterskole, where classes come to life through role-play. The project also looks at the increasing numbers of people who are making a living from LARP, including Matthew Pennington, who left his office job to run immersive LARP festivals for a living and Tim Belcher, who makes and sells leather armour from his workshop in Oldham. This film shows how a hobby that started in a derelict castle in North-West England has now spread to the four corners of the world.
The culmination of years-old conversations in a local pub, Treasure Trapped is part-documentary, part-road movie; a film that charts the journey of Mike, Al and Nick, as they explore this often misunderstood pastime. With a truly unique look at this worldwide community that is known for its eccentricities, this project aspires to bring the hobby to the masses. Game on!
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