12/22/24
February 07, 2018
The Film the NFL doesn't want you to see: In addition to the torn ACLs and MCLs, in addition to all of the horrible broken bones, the NFL diagnosed at least 281 traumatic brain injuries this season. And no document has ever quite displayed the horror of it all like “Concussion Protocol,” [an experimental, reverse motion] film by Josh Begley and Field of Vision. First link also includes audio discussion with Begley, Sean King, and Donte Stallworth, and a trailer for the film itself.
I thought it was really creative in that it divorces the normal viewing of a "hit" and remixes it into something else .... there's no little "thrill" for each one, just a hurt player and then the spooky rise of bodies.
They do a few in normal order near the end of the trailer. Possibly watching a half hour or more of reversed ones in the whole film would induce a new understanding of the spectacle, or if they mixed them up .... .
posted by rumple at 02:51 PM on February 07, 2018
the NFL diagnosed at least 281 traumatic brain injuries this season
There were 2009 different players that played in at least one game during the 2017 season.
That means almost 14% of the players (assuming each player only had one concussion, but I know that less than 281 players got one because some had two) that played this season got a concussion.
I can't imagine any other sport or profession (outside of full contact combat sports) that would be okay with that high percentage of their participants suffering brain injuries.
posted by grum@work at 03:02 PM on February 07, 2018
I get the whole "experimental/conceptual" film style as a hook, but I found it very difficult to watch more than about 2 minutes of Concussion Protocol. While it was somewhat effective in that it highlights the after-effects of the collision prior to showing the impact itself, it just kinda gave me a headache (no pun intended) after a while to watch too much reverse film. Then again, I'm not sure that one needs to watch the film in its entirety to understand the danger involved in head injuries.
Either way, thanks for the link, rumple.