BAFTA Meets Harry Potter Star Matthew Lewis

20 August 10

Matthew Lewis, aka Neville Longbottom is a huge fan of video games and has taken on the role of BAFTA Young Game Designers Ambassador in support of the competition.

His character Neville Longbottom has featured in an array of Harry Potter games for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and PC - below is a picture of Neville from the LEGO® Harry Potter Game!

In this interview, Matthew tells us all about his love of games and what it was like to have a video game character modelled on him. He even offers tips on what he'll be looking for when he helps to judge the BAFTA YGD competition entries.

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What inspired you to become involved with BAFTA Young Game Designers and to take on the role of BAFTA YGD Ambassador?

Well, I've been a keen gamer since a very young age. My Dad was in computers and so we always had a good PC in the house. I had two older brothers too so there were always games consoles knocking about. I think it's a great form of entertainment and the industry is still quite young so I jumped at the chance to be able to help it grow and get the recognition it deserves.

You will be on the competition jury alongside video games designers and industry experts. What will you be looking for in the winning game?

I'll be looking for all sorts of different things. Of course, the basics, such as gameplay, re-playability (which I think is really important), controls, etc.. Aside from that, I'm very keen to see some originality in terms of story line and unique features that you may choose to include.

Note: the entries will be judged on Game-play, Innovation/ Originality and Creativity

Your Harry Potter character, Neville Longbottom has featured in several Harry Potter games – how much involvement does this require from you as an actor?

I've only actually voiced one of the games; I think that was "Order of the Phoenix". However, physically appearing in the games means that you have to go through a scanning process. I'm not a genius in the field so I don't really know the science behind it. I just remember that it took a lot of standing very still while some big machines spun around you. I think they take a sort of laser image of your body and face. You have to do different expressions to bring the character to life in the game.

Did you learn anything about video game production from playing a role in the Harry Potter games?

All the imaging stuff was fascinating. I guess you don't realise the amount of effort that goes into video games - considering they had to go through this process with every actor that was going to feature! Then of course there is the voice work, and the story writers, programmers, etc. There's a great team of people working together behind one game. There's a lot more than meets the eye.

If you were entering BAFTA YGD, we’d like to know what your video game design would be like, so…

What sort of world or environment would you set it in? Fantasy, mythical, futuristic, historical…?

Tough question, I don't really have a particular genre of games that I prefer as such. I think if I was to design one myself then I'd set in the future. Some kind of interstellar war where mankind is fighting for survival. I like that idea.

...What would your character(s) be like?

Well, the main character would be a regular soldier who becomes caught up in a series of events that sees him evolve and mature from basic grunt to a leader. So there's some kind of reward for completing missions.

...How would your ideal game be played e.g. with a game pad / steering wheel / touch screen / key board & mouse etc?

I guess it would be pretty easy to do on regular console controllers (PS3, Xbox360) and for PC you would use keyboard and mouse.

We asked budding Young Game Designers to submit questions for you of which we’ve picked a couple:

Richu, Theresa and Robert asked; “How do you feel about playing Neville Longbottom in the video game compared to playing the role in the film?

It's a bit bizarre in the game. It's exciting to see the new story-line that's been written and to act it out but it's difficult sometimes because you're only using your voice and you have nothing to react to when you're sat in a sound booth so you have to use your imagination a lot. I guess you just have to do the best that you can and hope the programmers can make it all fit together!

Christopher Chong wonders; “How do you feel about violence in videogames?”

This is good question. I have nothing against violence in video games. My reasoning is that computer games like any form of art attempt to imitate the real world in some way. Just like there are films about gangsters and war, there are also computer games because as horrible as these things can be; they happen. Games are no longer seen as toys for children, they are open to all ages and appeal to a lot of adults as well young people. I think that as long as the people doing the classifications stay on top of it and do their best to make sure these kinds of games are played by people of appropriate ages then I see no reason why games should be given a harder time than films or any other forms of entertainment and art.

Note: Entries for this competition must be suitable for children aged under 16 ( PEGI 12 rating or less ), so cannot contain graphic violence

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