For this AO - you have to describe how games from your choice of genre is structure.
This is how we are going to do it:
1) Choose a game from your genre that you either know very well or there is a lot of information online to allow you to research.
2) Look at one level/chapter/mission and explain the structure to it in the following terms:
Name the game and the level you are going to study.
Then identify and explain the following things.
- Objective: what is the point of the mission/chapter, how do you know what to do and where to go?
- Preparation: in terms of equipment/levelling up/finding resources
- Early stages of the level: what do you need to do, how do you are successful
- Final stages of the level: is there a boss? Does the game become more difficult?
- Level completion: what did you need to achieve to finish the level/mission? How do you know you have finished the level/mission?
Use screenshots and youtube videos to help you illustrate your answer.
3) Using the same game - describe and explain the structure of the whole game - how is it structured? Is it levels, chapters, character development (RPG), story?
If you can find online guides/maps to illustrate your description - please use them.
NOW - Analyse it as best you can - is it linear (can you only go on way)? Is it is open-structure (there is no defined ending)? Are there multiple endings? Can you complete the game - if not is there a natural ending to the game.
For instance:
The Sims: This is an open game with no clear identifiable ending - but there is structure. The early part of the game is about developing skills, earning money and making relationships. The game continues in the same way but you can chart your progress interms of material wealth and the development of your Sim.
The ending is either when you're content/bored with the characters you've created or they die.
Or you have a game such as Gears of War - where there is a very defined structure in terms of levels it is explicit in terms of what you need to do to progress - kill all the baddies, get to the end of the level.
Choose one game from your chosen genre. Find a decent clip of gameplay from youtube (no commentary, 3-4 mins of interesting gameplay). Embed this on your blog - and caption the clip saying which game it is and what year it came out.
Analyse how the game uses the following elements to create MEANING. So describe what is there and then explain what effect it is has on the audience in terms of creating the gaming experience.COLOUR - what pallette of colours is uses - vibrant, bright, dark, washed out
IMAGERY - what content do you see on the screen - location, bad guys, pick-ups etc
MUSIC/SOUND - how does the music create atmosphere, what language is used
HUD - what information is the player given on screen (health bars, ammo count etc)
EFFECTS - what happens when you die or get shot? How do you know you're doing well? How is the feeling of speed generated?
The MEANING will be different for your game:
Survival Horror - fear, loneliness
Driving - speed, glamour,
Action - danger, damage, suspense
Life sim - happiness, romance
Write a paragraph (or more on each of the elements), use screenshots to help, annotate in Prezi or Photoshop if necessary. HOWEVER PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW THESE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS INTERACT - perhaps as well as the seperate paragraphs take one key moment and describe how they work together. For example:
"For this particularly brutal death all the elements interact with each other. There is a combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound: the diegetic being the rev of the chainsaw, the sound of cutting, the scream of the victim and the spilling of blood. This is on top of a haunting echoey soundtrack the fades into sinister restful refrain as the message 'You're Dead' appears on the screen.
The imagery is graphic, bloody and brutal as we can a high angle shot of the chainsaw tearing into the victims neck complete with spray of blood. Once the attack is complete, the victim's body falls to his knees while the camera stay at the high angle so we can see the bloody stump. The choice of colours is interesting as the blood - while vibrant compared to the rest of the autumnal shades of the village, is quite washed out.
As well as the final 'You're Dead' message we see the health bar in the bottom right start to flash red and empty as the attack begins. The flashing EMPTY informs the player that they are out of ammo adding to the desperation of the situation. In terms of effects there is a slight camera shake which emphasises the violence of the attack."
A TREATMENT is a brief version of your idea for initial consideration. The TREATMENT should be no longer than 300 words, and if the commissioning editor is interested they will ask for more.
The purpose of the TREATMENT is to give a clear and concise summary of your idea and how it will look on screen. You need to think about:
- Who would watch it?
- How will the programme be made: the visuals, the style, the format?
- Why should this programme be made now?
It can be really helpful to open your treatment with a quick SYNOPSIS. Most of the best shows on TV can be summed up in one or two sentences. A useful exercise is to think about how you would write the TV listing for your programme once it is made. Often those few sentences are all you have to encourage viewers to watch the programme - how would you 'sell' the programme to the British viewing public? Try to aim for a SYNOPSIS of 40 words or less… the kind of summary you’d read in The Radio Times.
STEP 1: REPRESENTATIONS
1. Create a post name it UNIT 01 - AO4: Discuss the effect of representation in media products on target audiences/consumers
2. Write up your notes to demonstrate your understanding about representation, stereotypes and objectification from last Wednesday's lesson.
3. Select two female characters and 2 male characters from your chosen genre. Post a picture of each one, caption it with their names, the game they are from and the year the game came out.
Then analyse and describe with reference to the following areas:
Role within the game - (hero, victim, bad guy, friend, damsel in distress etc.)
Appearance - physical, clothes, animation style
Background - brief bio
Strengths/Skills
Weaknesses
How do they compare to other women/men in the game.
Mention if relevant - hyper-sexualised characters, objectification, used of stereotypes, misrepresentation of a certain social groups. If you can - think about the reference of the representation (the reality it's recreating), preferred, negotiated and opposed readings.
Behaviourism
Albert Bandura developed a theory of how we learn from modelling types of behaviour. His experiment used children learning aggression from adults. He broke the stages of learning down to the following:
Attention - to absorb knowledge
Retention - being able to remember
Reproduction - duplicating the action
Motivation - positive in the form of reward, negative in the form of punishment for not doing
If we apply this to videogames we can see that this structure of learning is often in place - you're taught how to play, you must remember the controls, you reproduce certain moves and activities and you're rewarded or punished accordingly.
Apply this theory to your representation of your chosen key ASPECT (happiness, violence, crime etc) from your chosen genre. If we learn behaviour from games (as Bandura theory suggests) what would be consequences of learning from your chosen ASPECT?
It could be - aggression solves problems, crime pays and is glamorous, happiness can only be achieved by attaining money and items.