Photographer and filmmaker David McLain sits in his North Yarmouth home with some of his equipment, including a motion camera stabilizer. His recently released film "Bounce," about the primal urge we have to play, is showing in Portland in October. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

McLain tosses a lacrosse ball with his son Finn, 15. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

McLain chats with Finn. Carl D. Walsh/Staff Photographer

The winner of the men's ba game played every Christmas and New Years on the remote Orkney islands of Scotland. Courtesy of "Bounce"

McLain operates a Steadycam on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, during the production of "Bounce." Courtesy of "Bounce"

Men in Sinaloa, Mexico, play the ancient game of ulama. Courtesy of "Bounce"

A solid handmade rubber ball is used to play ulama. Courtesy of "Bounce"

A man rolls down a hill inside a "Zorb" in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Courtesy of "Bounce"

A Bonobo ape plays with a soccer ball in the Lola Ya Bonobo sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Courtesy of "Bounce"