MovieChat Forums > Capture (2013) Discussion > Problem with the Execution

Problem with the Execution

posted 11 years ago by skim172
16 replies | jump to latest

An interesting idea - basically a really scaled up version of tag.

The problem is - didn't go far enough. There aren't enough interesting elements to this game - it's just one team walking around hoping to run across another group. They're not really "hunting" - just sort of "strolling" while looking around.

At least this time, the hunt team were an athletic couple with parkour skills. But future episodes will probably feature less athletic people who have no wilderness skills stumbling around a forested island.

Part of the problem is the reality show setup. I get it, reality and Survivor-esque conspiracy and backstabbing and teh secks, to stir up some drama. But really, the interesting part of this show is the game, not people b*tching at each other and voting each other off. That reality bullcrap is tired - dozens of other shows, at this moment, are doing that. This should be more "American Gladiator" than "Big Brother."

It wouldn't have taken much to make this more of a game, than a reality b*tchfest. Some type of method for the hunt team to actually track and hunt their pray would have been a good idea. These aren't actual hunters - they can't actually track footprints and read the ground or whatever - so some type of tool they could use. Traps - a really loud noisemaker with a tripwire that goes off when someone walks by. Or maybe they could have a device that beeps when another team is nearby. Just off the top of my head here, so the show is not just teams walking around a forest cluelessly.

The other thing is, the chase itself (when the hunt team has a prey and are running) is actually pretty uneventful - it's about a minute's worth of people running. Something to make that more complex - like maybe the hunt team, each time, has certain conditions - like, "You cannot cross water" or "Once you start chasing, you've got thirty seconds to catch them" - and those conditions change up each time and the prey teams don't know what the conditions are.

Would also be more interesting if more than one team could be caught. So instead of ending each round when one team is caught, just keep it going until the time limit.

I'd really get rid of the voting elimination. That's just too stupid - it makes it all about reality tv backstabbing and not about the actual physical game.

Another idea to throw out there - teams that are eliminated don't go home, but instead become some kind of support team for the hunters. Maybe call them "Spotters" - they can't catch prey teams themselves, but they can tag them and send the prey's location to the Hunt team.

My point is, the actual game - the tracking and hunting - is the interesting part of this show. And right now, that game is not that interesting - just people walking around. And their strategizing is not "How do I find/evade the opponent" but instead, "How can I get popular and not be voted out." Which is just so dumb.

Make the game more complex, make it more interesting, then this might be a pretty good show.

Also, making the game the focus would've also helped address one aspect that the show creators seem to have overlooked - injuries. In the very first episode, one team had a player get a twisted ankle. That should have been expected - injuries will happen in a physical game. Perhaps the show creators, approaching this as a reality show, overlooked that. But injuries will happen and they could make the game very dull - if one team can only limp, then there is no contest. Some sort of injury rules, therefore, should apply. If one player can't run, then the other is penalized somehow - they have to wear a heavier vest to slow them down, or they have to wear a shiny white shirt, or a flashing strobe on their head. Or, each team has three or even four players, and only two run in a hunt. So if someone is injured or tired, you send someone else on a hunt.

Again - make this show into a game, and this could be a very entertaining, even awesome show.

But make it into a reality show of several not-so-athletic couples stumbling through a forest and then arguing with each other, and then this is just extremely boring.

[–] CranekickWinja 11 years ago

I totally agree. They're playing "it" (tag), but cowboys and indians would have been so much better. Or they could have dressed the prey in white and given the hunters waterguns filled with ink.

[–] ldev10 11 years ago

most people that watch these kind of shows cant handle the complex stuff you are suggesting.

[–] Kimputer 11 years ago

Haha, you don't like it in its current form, even when the current form is already dramatised from the "real" form. You can see the chase scenes have been "redone", as if you put 2 and 2 together, it wouldn't be possible in its current form. Usually, you see one angle of the chase, so you KNOW where the camera man is (for example, near the prey), however, the shot is reversed in the next scene, showing the exact opposite angle (for example, near the hunter), but where the camera man is supposted to be, he's not there. And it's not about the shoulder cams, because you can clearly tell from the image which shots are from shoulder cams and which are from a handheld. So probably the original chase was so uneventful, they had to reshoot it TWICE, as the disappearing camera dude happens both at the hunter and prey's side. And this happens probably with all chases, as far as I can tell. Anyway, if you don't believe me, read the disclaimer at the end of the episode.

[–] rollexx 11 years ago

maybe they hired multiple cameramen, one to track each team.

[–] ohsokool 11 years ago

At the end of the episodes, it states that some scenes are recreated.
Having a camera person follow each team would increase the chances of them getting caught, and be a hindrance to the team

[–] vm-pb-sn 11 years ago

which episode did this happen in? I can't catch the scene because all the ones I've seen look like a hot mess and if they re did scenes I'd think they'd make them look a bit cleaner

[–] Kimputer 11 years ago

Which episode ? ALL episodes. ALL hunt scenes are re-enacted twice. From the prey's side, and from the hunter's side.

[–] vm-pb-sn 11 years ago

the second episode had similar things to what you suggested. Like the sabotage was you could pick a team to have an alarm on their vest sound the entire rest of that round. I'm sure they have multiple different things set up for each episode to keep it interesting. Also the hunt team does have some way of tracking when the teams stand still for too long...if they had a way to track them the entire time it the rounds would end too fast.

[–] skim172 11 years ago

The little additions are nice, but they don't fix the problem - there's no tension involved. The suggestions I made were aimed towards making the game a little more tactical than just "walk around forest, then run for like thirty seconds." In other words, the teams could have some capacity to plan and strategize - "this is what we can do to ensure we're not caught" or "this is what we'll do to find our prey." All they can do now is say "Let's go north/south/east/west." And for the hunt teams, their methods consist mainly of "blind luck." You build tension by showing the different teams coming up with their own unique plans and seeing if those plans will work. Right now, there's no tension, because all you see is people walking around hoping they'll get lucky. And then they do, and then there's less than a minute of running and it's over.

The new stuff - like the sabotage, advantage points, etc. - are nice, but they don't really add to the teams' capabilities and options, so they can figure out what to do - they really just kinda make the game even more about dumb luck.

And a major problem is the reality TV format. Mainly, the voting elimination. It turns it into an episode of Big Brother, with an occasional game of tag. One team sexes it up with another, so they won't hunt each other and then they bitch and complain and blah blah blah - goddammit, the show is called "Capture," but all they do is argue and the show centers around teams making "alliances" and other dumb reality TV show things and the game gets lost somewhere in the background.

[–] vm-pb-sn 11 years ago

I see what you're saying with creating more tension. I feel like if they made the hunt days longer maybe even a full 24hours or something more can be done to create tension. Then I also think... how many people are going to watch people strategize during longer hunt days without the many "reality show" staples like you mentioned? Without the viewers the show will get axed...although I already think the show is not going to last long so might as well amp it up while you can!!

[–] george-swg 11 years ago

I totally disagree with you. You can't see past the nose on your face. The rules of this game must change gradually. Just imagine there's only 3 teams left, will there be a ``voting`` elimination?
I think this game must be simulated on a computer before defining and changing the rules.
Remember it's just a game.

Looking forward to further episodes

Regards

[–] hugor 11 years ago

I just hope they :

a) reduce the 'arena size' as there are less teams in play.
b) add more 'curve balls' to each hunt, like more advantages\sabotages, or even longer and through the night hunts.

They need to spice the hunts as we go along, mostly considering very strong teams have been leaving, what happens when a slow team (lime for instance) hunts, and there are so few teams on that huge area... or maybe it's all scripted\planned all along, who knows.

[–] hulst23 11 years ago

Like you said skim, this show is an interresting idea, but they took the wrong elements from survivor to be good enough to last long, if they're getting another season, I hope they do it with less reality/voting/interviews/bitching more with hunting/traps (like you said)/ambushes/more proffesional athletes (that "parcour"-couple didn't even know that the sport is called freerunning and that the French group that created the sport is called Parcour)/more hunting time.

I would have made the show like this:

10 ppl, not 10 teams of 2.

Every episode 1 person is a hunter, no voting off, that way everyone gets a chance to hunt/win, no (bad) luck/alliances/b*tching/socialgame.

Everytime you capture someone you get a point, everytime you get captured you lose a point. Maybe some other ways to get points too, like finding treasure/supplies/challenges.

Weapons? (paintballgun for weaker/sneakier players or other things, don't know, just an idea)

Put them all on a small (tropical) island (Survivor: Micronesia/Marquesas-size-island) That way you don't have to close of the area with a wire (so cheap)

Put cameras in trees and rocks and on the contestants (no cameramen)

No recreation/staged sh*t (in some episodes you can see crew walking around!!!)

Let the hunt last 24 hours, then 24 hours rest, maybe a challenge during the hunt or rest to get food or other supplies

[–] terra_firma106 11 years ago

I agree with the "lack of tension" that you mentioned in the OP and in your later reply. I disagree with you on the voting process.

I agree with you that, even with some of the sabotages in the later episodes, the "hunt" part of the game mainly consists of teams deciding to go in one direction and then hoping for the best. Like you said, it just ends up being a team walking around until the hunt team are nearby and then they run from each other for a couple of minutes. That is all the tension there is right now, and I wish they could adapt it to add more. Strategy is missing in this part of the game.

On the other hand, I enjoy the elimination process. Note, I am biased because I enjoy shows like Big Brother and Survivor. I find it very interesting that there's several ways of survival in the game. One, you can be a great hunt/prey team and not get captured. Or two, you can use the social game to make it farther. There are already many shows that are solely about skill (you mentioned American Gladiators, for example). I quite enjoy a good mixture of skill and social gameplay. For example, it was very clear that the gold team did not have a good social gameplay. They even admitted it themselves that they just chose not to play the social aspect of it. That was their choice, but it cost them the game. The red team should have been eliminated if they were basing their votes on "strength" alone. But the red team was smart for making friends, which the gold team did not. I find all of this interesting to watch, because it simulates real life in a completely different setting and in completely unnatural environments.

[–] dlhj79 11 years ago

Spoiler alert....

I agree with much of what you said.

I personally love the show, but the biggest flaw is it's waaaaay too much reality TV. The voting thing just ruins it. Let's see a game that is actually a game where the best team wins. Oh, I forgot we actually don't do that in society now. Either everyone gets a trophy ( so winning means nothing), or the winner gets picked by popular vote. What a novel idea... someone that earns the trophy gets the trophy.

There is no way on Earth the teal team should have made as far as they did. The repeatedly got captured and made it to the end because they were not seen as a threat. I think the parkour team had a lot of potential of making it far. I was disappointed to see them get captured so early on in the game. It just sucks that the skilled teams are constantly voted off.

Just my opinion.

I'll still be looking forward to the second season.

[–] rollexx 11 years ago

I actually disagree with you. Teal team played a pretty solid game, they didnt portray themselves as a threat, they made alliance, and they were pretty good prey team (although this game is called capture, so they lost since they needed to be a good hunt team as well)

@OT: I agree execution needs some work.

#1 After a week, home base is out of commission, everyone has to fend for themselves for the rest of the game, getting supplies/food from supply stations, and the game is now 24/7. The hunting period isn't 24/7, so they can meet each other in the wild, but it's much more tense. Granted, this type of game requires more skilled and capable teams, but it would be so much more exciting to watch.

#2 Get rid of the re-played capture scenes. I dont want to feel like I'm watching a fake show. I also don't want cameramen following each team around, because then it ruins the game, they make noise, they are more conspicuous holding up a big camera up than the prey teams which are hiding behind cover. Install cheap cameras along each path, and if it doesn't see the capture, use footage from their shoulder cam. This season had a lot of sketchy events that seemed so staged/fixed

#3 Add more in-hunt events. Supply stations, the sensor mines were good, sabotages. There's a huge social aspect they're missing in this, no team dynamics like hunting in packs, or splitting up a hunt team into 1s so they can do pronged attacks or separate prey teams watching zones and each others backs.