Filmmaker of new film about D-Day recreated as a paintball game!

Soldiers of Paint

Soldiers of Paint

New Member
Hey folks. We are filmmakers in Washington, DC, and just completed a feature documentary about "Oklahoma D-Day", the largest paintball game in the world. Five thousand people (including veterans and active duty military personnel) gather every June to re-stage D-Day and instead of bullets, they use paint. It's Allies vs Germans and anyone can win. The commanders draw on the strategies of Eisenhower and Rommel in planning their own battle strategies. They build tanks, planes, bazookas. And they play on a field of 700 acres, complete with Sword, Omaha and Utah beaches. The founder started the game to honor his grandfather, who landed on Omaha and has made the game a living memorial to him and all veterans. Sound interesting? You can check out an advance clip here.

Full disclosure: We are independent filmmakers and while we have gotten this film completed with our own meager resources, but making a quality, professional film is very expensive! So we started a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds for helping us get the film distributed and available to all via Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, etc. So if you like what you see and would like to be able to see the entire film, head over to our crowd-funding page and check out our pitch.

Enjoy!
Doug
 
I must honestly admit that I am skeptical when it comes to WWII reentactment. I've seen it done in an ethical and responsible manner which had a historical value, but I've also seen, what in my eyes was glorification of war.

Paintball is probably much fun but personally I feel that by adding the element that you physically shoot at each other with paint you actually ridicule the veterans who sacrificed their lives back then. Then it is no longer in honor of the fallen soldiers, it's just a circus show.

Just my thoughts.
 
Der Alte — Understand your concerns. But I think the film and the attitudes you find among the people who play will surprise you — in a good way. A lot of the players are veterans, as is the game-founder. There are also active duty people who play on leave from Afghanistan. Many people who go through the game say it's the closest sense they can get to the feel of war without actually being in one, and they came from the game having a new appreciation for those who have gone through real war. Having gone through it myself several times over the course of the production, I can attest to that! Additionally, the military itself trains soldiers using paintball because it is the closest thing to bullets.

Team Infidel - shoot, we just had a screening last month! Would have loved to invite you. Right now we're working on getting distribution via Netflix, Amazon, etc, which is why we are doing the crowd-funding campaign. For those who are able to contribute, you are helping us getting that much closer to getting the film out there for all to see.

Thanks for your interest!
 
I can understand Der Alte. It was a war he fought in.
If 60 years from now you reconstructed the Battle of Musa Qala as a paintball event, I would probably perceive it as he does today.

Please please, don´t think that it is the closest you gets to combat. You´re not even close. If you dive at night alone in an area where the great white shark hunts, you may experience a fraction of the stress and fear level you go through as a combat soldier. All you do is play soldier, and nothing wrong with that. But close to the real thing - never!
 
Now that I've seen some of your videos on the web, I agree with Der Alte
A circus show and far from a tribute.
 
I won't debate you guys on what the closest experience to war is and whether paintball is valid in that respect, but what is unmistakable and inarguable is the new found appreciation and respect people have for what veterans of war have gone through after playing this game. This is especially true of kids, several of whom we interview in the film and tell us as such. While you may call it a "circus show" what is also true and inarguable is that up to 15,000 actual people each year—veterans included—participate in this game to honor veterans. They tell us and demonstrate as such in the film as well. I would just encourage you all to give this film and the game more consideration.

Thanks!
Doug
 
Soldiers of Paint said:
I won't debate you guys on what the closest experience to war is and whether paintball is valid in that respect, but what is unmistakable and inarguable is the new found appreciation and respect people have for what veterans of war have gone through after playing this game.
Click to expand...
This is precisely where the problem lies. You only create an illusion, nothing more. There is none of you, after playing this game that can understand what I went through during WWII. 42RM is also a combat veteran, a another war admittedly, but anyway a veteran.
He can not relate to what I went through just like I can not relate to what he has gone through. Why?
Because we were not there!!! He has not participated in my war and I have not participated in his.

You create an illusion that deceives people. I bet that there are many who afterwards says: "Now I understand what veterans have gone through". The hell you do not!

How do you recreate the noise of battle, the smell of cordite, the smell of blood, guts and decompensated or burned human flesh? How do you recreate an artillery strike that hits your buddy and blows him into pieces so small that there is nothing left? How do you recreate the uncontrollable fear? How many of the participants have s*** and pissed themselves when "the paint starts to fly"? How many of you feel sorrow and despair at the end of the day?

And what about the USAAF veteran who spent the entire war as a aircraft mechanic on a base in England? He was never in danger and never fired his weapon against the enemy. He also deserves respect or what? Do you have a day where you repair aircraft engines to honor him?

I know a portion of WWII veterans both German, British and American and know that they do not expect respect or recognition because they were fighting. If you want to show respect to a WWII veteran,(or any veteran) and I am not talking about myself (I was on the wrong side of the fence) but for an Allied soldier, then a simple thank you is sufficient. Press his or her hand and just say thank you for giving me the freedom to live my life the way I want. That is a acknowledgment that they value and not because you run around with a paint gun in honor of their sacrifice.

Soldiers of Paint said:
This is especially true of kids, several of whom we interview in the film and tell us as such. While you may call it a "circus show" what is also true and inarguable is that up to 15,000 actual people each year—veterans included—participate in this game to honor veterans. They tell us and demonstrate as such in the film as well. I would just encourage you all to give this film and the game more consideration.

Thanks!
Doug
Click to expand...
Maybe you should take a look at your history education in American schools. Young people know very little about their ancestors' era.

That 15.000 participate does not make it more true. It only shows that you are successful in marketing the the concept. My personal opinion is still that it is ridiculing. But people can decide for themselves, it is a free world we live in.
 
I am not going to join this little battle but I would like to point out one aspect that I think is being over looked here, while I agree that as an event it probably has no historical value nor any way of creating an understanding of the conditions at the time but what it "may" do is arouse an interest in some of those much maligned 15,000 to learn about the event they are reenacting.

We have in the past mentioned the movies "Inglorious Bastards" and "U-571" both movies contain few if any redeeming features but if they give people the impetus to get off the collective arses and learn something then they have achieved something positive.

It is not necessarily about how we reenact the past but how we keep these events and the sacrifices of those that took part alive into a future where the participants are getting fewer and fewer.
 
I agree with you Monty, except for one thing. How we reenact the past I feel is also important. I am sure that most Americans will find that it would be sacrilege if we reenacted the attack on Pearl Harbor as a paintball event in honor of those who fought there. We can build a raft, imagine it is the USS Arizona and then attack it with paintballs.

WWII deprived me of many things, especially family, fiancee and friends. Therefore it is sacred to me how we pass on history to future generations.
 
No arguments from me although I am somewhat intrigued by the logistics of a 500lb armour piercing paintball.
 
Last year I posted this thread about the documentary I have been making about Oklahoma D-Day, which is a game where 5000 people re-stage D-Day with paintball in Oklahoma. I'm back and proud to report it is finished and is now being distributed by a major U.S. independent film distributor! Check out the official trailer here.

You can find all the options for getting the film, including DVD and digital download on our website.

See it and let us know what you think!

Thanks,
Doug Gritzmacher
Director, "Soldiers of Paint"

sop_sig.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top