This week was focused on content creation for the Milestone Two Presentation. Over the weekend each member was given a specific part of the artefact to write up. I was given the tasks of writing the Audio and Level Description. Both these areas took a great deal of research to ensure they were as correct as possible. For example, although our artefact will only have ambient sounds, to ensure I had listed all the options I needed to open the hammer engine and thoroughly analyze all the sounds available as well as play the game to make sure I had not missed anything out.
For the Level Description, I had to describe the artefact in a visual sense. This was done describing what the player would see and was completed in a style similar to how walkthroughs are written.
Team meeting Monday 10th
There were some major changes to our investigation this week. On Monday, the team discussed with Phil Carlisle about perhaps changing our investigation title, after both the team and the supervisors were worried of how effective the colour change would be, in terms of eliciting an emotion. It was concluded that a better investigation would be to elicit fear.
Supervisor meeting Wednesday
In the supervisors meeting, they agreed with our amendment to our title and there were many points highlighted in the meeting. Mainly it involved a discussion around our actual level, but this is going to be discussed thoroughly in our Milestone Two Presentation. They suggested a variety of things for our final artefact; game music, back-story and level layout. What was suggested by level layout was the fact that we should keep our artefact claustrophobic.
The supervisors also highlighted that we should do some research into the conventions of horror/thriller in films, and implement these techniques into our artefact with a reference. The plan for the weekend now is to ensure the design document is fully completed, and for the presenting group members to complete their speeches and content, whilst also thoroughly practicing them.
On a final note I would like to add my disappointment on receiving a B for our Milestone One presentation. First of all it wasn’t made clear that this mark was allocated just for the presentation, as the team thought it was an overall grade for the whole of Milestone, which at first had upset some of the group members, particularly because the team had put a considerable amount of time into ensuring we kept on track and made sure our work was of high standard. Although the B is still very good I felt that our presentation was deliverd in a manner that beffited its subject matter, and I feel we should have been graded an A
Sunday, 16 December 2007
Friday, 7 December 2007
Project Journal Week 11
The week began with brainstorming ideas for the level and themes for the artefact creation. The plan was for each individual member to have a rough draft of the level layout for Tuesday. A level layout was produced and an office scene was agreed. The reason why an office theme was chosen was due to offices being of a neutral décor, so it would be the variable that changed the physiological state of the player rather than the actual environment.
The next plan of action was to produce a professional layout using Microsoft Visio, which was completed on Wednesday, with each member of the team creating a specific floor of the office level. Additionally to this, a flow of the level layout was produced.
The meeting with the supervisors was very important. They questioned whether the difference in a colour/ hue of lighting, would be enough to elicit a specific emotion in the player. They suggested running a preliminary test to find this out. If the results showed no change then adjustments to our investigation would be needed e.g. can an increase of colour heighten a specific emotion.
Later that day, each section of the artefact creation was handed to each member of the team, with the aim of completing it over the weekend. I was handed with the task of level description and the audio elements of the game.
The next plan of action was to produce a professional layout using Microsoft Visio, which was completed on Wednesday, with each member of the team creating a specific floor of the office level. Additionally to this, a flow of the level layout was produced.
The meeting with the supervisors was very important. They questioned whether the difference in a colour/ hue of lighting, would be enough to elicit a specific emotion in the player. They suggested running a preliminary test to find this out. If the results showed no change then adjustments to our investigation would be needed e.g. can an increase of colour heighten a specific emotion.
Later that day, each section of the artefact creation was handed to each member of the team, with the aim of completing it over the weekend. I was handed with the task of level description and the audio elements of the game.
Sunday, 2 December 2007
Project Journal Week 10
This week was focused on the Milestone presentation for the supervisors. It had been suggested that only two members should do the presentation. It was decided that I would be helping Phil with the presentation. My first role during the week was to go through with the MM(Milestone Manager) and pick key areas that needed to be presented to the supervisors. From here, the team adjusted these notes and then a script was created for me and Phil to learn.
Nick and Matt refined the presentation and helped create a uniformed style for it. The remainder of the week was spent practicing the presentation many times, with Nick and Matt helping refine the presentation after each practice. It was a particular struggle for me personally, because I not only had to cover the sections that I had done e.g. film analysis, but present other large topics as well, in particular, the Testing Phase, which resulted in practicing the presentation many times.
The team was happy with the resulted presentation on Thursday, producing a professional quality and making sure all the points came across in a clear manner. The only points that were highlighted by the supervisors for problem areas were topics going to be discussed in the next Milestone Presentation.
The concluded Milestone one, which means Matt, will be taking over as MM. The plan next week is to begin work for the next presentation.
Nick and Matt refined the presentation and helped create a uniformed style for it. The remainder of the week was spent practicing the presentation many times, with Nick and Matt helping refine the presentation after each practice. It was a particular struggle for me personally, because I not only had to cover the sections that I had done e.g. film analysis, but present other large topics as well, in particular, the Testing Phase, which resulted in practicing the presentation many times.
The team was happy with the resulted presentation on Thursday, producing a professional quality and making sure all the points came across in a clear manner. The only points that were highlighted by the supervisors for problem areas were topics going to be discussed in the next Milestone Presentation.
The concluded Milestone one, which means Matt, will be taking over as MM. The plan next week is to begin work for the next presentation.
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Project Journal Week 9
After Dr Charlton addressed that the fact the GAQ questionnaire would not a valid method of testing with our investigation, a new testing method needed to be discovered soon. This problem could have a large impact on the investigation as if a valid method could not be found, then any results the team collects could be void, therefore it is highly imperative that the team amends this a.s.a.p.
The majority of the weekend was spent researching various testing methods. This involved reading a large amount of journals and analyzing the methods that they had used for testing. The research covered lots of academic papers including psychology, marketing and film theory. During Saturday the team managed to find the document about Color and Emotion, that discussed and used a testing method known as SAM, which is known as Self Assessment Mannequin. This method measures emotion on a pictorial graph, and was invented by Lang. SAM seemed to be the valid method of measuring emotion that the team needed.
The research still continued to see if the majority of emotion studies used SAM, which again came after many of hours was research. However it was noted that many of these studies also had an additional method such as pupil dilation monitoring or heart rate studies. After Dr Charlton had highlighted the fact that heart rate studying could be a viable option for our testing, it was concluded that this was the best second method.
Once we had identified SAM, the team began investigation in to how to use it for our testing methods. As this was quite a mathematical procedure, it was handled by Nick and Phil, as their general level of maths was much better than myn or Matts. It was soon discovered that SAM focused on Standard Deviation. This followed on to using MS Excel using its STDEV function to work out the results. After the weekend was over the team felt although the research was very difficult and put us under a lot of stress, the final results will benefit greatly from this research. A brief meeting was called between the team members and things continued as usual. This involved the completion of the design document, and preparation of the presentation.Meeting with supervisors (22nd Nov 07) all team members present
There were some major points highlighted in the meeting. The first of these was the fact that the supervisors felt that as a team we were putting too much work into this investigation and were worried about our stress levels and general low morale. This was discussed for the majority of the meeting and the group took note of this point, but we highlighted that this effort was needed in some cases to ensure the project moved along smoothly. For example, if a valid testing method had not been discovered, it could have been disastrous to our investigation.
Another brief meeting was held with Brian Morris after this as the team felt confused with some of the points highlighted. Firstly, there sometimes seems to be contradictory messages from the supervisors, for example they stated in week 6 that the group should do some sort of film analysis to demonstrate our knowledge of Mise-en-Scene, but yet the supervisors suggested it was only a suggestion and could be disregarded. This seems puzzling, in the sense that if the team does not do what the supervisors want, they we could be subsequently marked down.
Overall this week was a very important week for the project. The discussion with the supervisors raised many major points that the team took onboard, as well as having spent a great deal of time researching to ensure the project continues smoothly.
The majority of the weekend was spent researching various testing methods. This involved reading a large amount of journals and analyzing the methods that they had used for testing. The research covered lots of academic papers including psychology, marketing and film theory. During Saturday the team managed to find the document about Color and Emotion, that discussed and used a testing method known as SAM, which is known as Self Assessment Mannequin. This method measures emotion on a pictorial graph, and was invented by Lang. SAM seemed to be the valid method of measuring emotion that the team needed.
The research still continued to see if the majority of emotion studies used SAM, which again came after many of hours was research. However it was noted that many of these studies also had an additional method such as pupil dilation monitoring or heart rate studies. After Dr Charlton had highlighted the fact that heart rate studying could be a viable option for our testing, it was concluded that this was the best second method.
Once we had identified SAM, the team began investigation in to how to use it for our testing methods. As this was quite a mathematical procedure, it was handled by Nick and Phil, as their general level of maths was much better than myn or Matts. It was soon discovered that SAM focused on Standard Deviation. This followed on to using MS Excel using its STDEV function to work out the results. After the weekend was over the team felt although the research was very difficult and put us under a lot of stress, the final results will benefit greatly from this research. A brief meeting was called between the team members and things continued as usual. This involved the completion of the design document, and preparation of the presentation.Meeting with supervisors (22nd Nov 07) all team members present
There were some major points highlighted in the meeting. The first of these was the fact that the supervisors felt that as a team we were putting too much work into this investigation and were worried about our stress levels and general low morale. This was discussed for the majority of the meeting and the group took note of this point, but we highlighted that this effort was needed in some cases to ensure the project moved along smoothly. For example, if a valid testing method had not been discovered, it could have been disastrous to our investigation.
Another brief meeting was held with Brian Morris after this as the team felt confused with some of the points highlighted. Firstly, there sometimes seems to be contradictory messages from the supervisors, for example they stated in week 6 that the group should do some sort of film analysis to demonstrate our knowledge of Mise-en-Scene, but yet the supervisors suggested it was only a suggestion and could be disregarded. This seems puzzling, in the sense that if the team does not do what the supervisors want, they we could be subsequently marked down.
Overall this week was a very important week for the project. The discussion with the supervisors raised many major points that the team took onboard, as well as having spent a great deal of time researching to ensure the project continues smoothly.
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Project Journal Week 8
During this week each member completed the tasks agreed during the end of last week. This meant, as stated previously, that I would be undertaking half of the film analysis and the entire Software Risk Assessment write-up. Analysing the film was a lengthy process but was completed on time in accordance with the project management. The focus of the analysis was on Mise-en-Scene, but more specially, lighting and colour. This is because our final artefact will be based on one or both of these elements. The sequences chosen from the film were the opening scene, the dream sequences and the closing scenes. This is because these segments of the film demonstrate interesting colour and lighting techniques.
Once I had completed this section I began the write up of the Risk Assessment. This entailed detailing each software choice and assessing it in terms of risk to the investigation and artefact creation. As a result the following points were chosen in order to assess the risk.
· Cost
· Artefact focus
· Availability
· Toolset experience
· Loss of time
· Installation
Once both these documents had been completed in draft form, the remaining days of the week were spent refining it by the Editor (Nick). Once the majority of the Design Document was written refined, it was sent to the supervisors to ensure it was along the right lines.
After this meeting, the group decided it would be a good idea to see Dr John Charlton (See team blog for more details). The major point that was realised during this meeting was the fact that the Geneva Appraisal Questionnaire (GAQ) system that the team had planned for testing was not suitable. This was highlighted after a discussion with Dr Charlton who realised that GAQ could not be used in a test as it is mainly used with social interaction.
A team meeting was called to discuss the next plan of action. It was decided that this could mean a potential major change for the testing procedures. If a justified questionnaire relating to colour emotion can found, then the testing phase can contine with no changes. However, if one cannot be found, then a new testing method will need to be thought up.
Once I had completed this section I began the write up of the Risk Assessment. This entailed detailing each software choice and assessing it in terms of risk to the investigation and artefact creation. As a result the following points were chosen in order to assess the risk.
· Cost
· Artefact focus
· Availability
· Toolset experience
· Loss of time
· Installation
Once both these documents had been completed in draft form, the remaining days of the week were spent refining it by the Editor (Nick). Once the majority of the Design Document was written refined, it was sent to the supervisors to ensure it was along the right lines.
After this meeting, the group decided it would be a good idea to see Dr John Charlton (See team blog for more details). The major point that was realised during this meeting was the fact that the Geneva Appraisal Questionnaire (GAQ) system that the team had planned for testing was not suitable. This was highlighted after a discussion with Dr Charlton who realised that GAQ could not be used in a test as it is mainly used with social interaction.
A team meeting was called to discuss the next plan of action. It was decided that this could mean a potential major change for the testing procedures. If a justified questionnaire relating to colour emotion can found, then the testing phase can contine with no changes. However, if one cannot be found, then a new testing method will need to be thought up.
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Project Week 7
11/11/07After the suggestion of taking note of the Scrum video, the team took the best points from it and began implementing them into our project management. Microsoft Project was recommended, and to generate a Gantt chart demonstrating the progression of the project. Using this system, we began sectioning each milestone for each member. It was decided that myself and Matt should take the film analysis part, Phil with project management and Nick the plan of the document. It was then later decided that I would additionally be drafting the Software Rationale and Matt would be doing the data analysis, usability testing and questionnaires. Although some team members appear to be undertaking more tasks than others, the initial plan had demonstrated what each section entitled, therefore balancing the workload.
Over the weekend it was decided that each member should complete their designated task in draft form for Monday 12th November. Matt decided to analyze the film Hero(2003), directed by Zhang Yimou. This movie was suggested by the supervisors for its interesting use of colour.
I decided to analyse the movie Gladitor(2000) , which was directed by Ridley Scott. The film had some very interesting techniques regarding colour and lighting, particularly in the dream sequences from the main protagonist, Maximus. To fully understand lighting and colour, myself and Matt decided to get the book, The Visual Story, by Bruce Block. We had previously read the book and made general notes on the lighting and colour, but to fully understand them a deeper analysis was required.
Over the weekend it was decided that each member should complete their designated task in draft form for Monday 12th November. Matt decided to analyze the film Hero(2003), directed by Zhang Yimou. This movie was suggested by the supervisors for its interesting use of colour.
I decided to analyse the movie Gladitor(2000) , which was directed by Ridley Scott. The film had some very interesting techniques regarding colour and lighting, particularly in the dream sequences from the main protagonist, Maximus. To fully understand lighting and colour, myself and Matt decided to get the book, The Visual Story, by Bruce Block. We had previously read the book and made general notes on the lighting and colour, but to fully understand them a deeper analysis was required.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Project Journal Week 6
During this week the team revised the deliverable documents, which was a rather lengthy process. We managed to deliver them on time and were satisfied with the standard that was held, therefore after speaking to the supervisors on many occasions and showing them our work, we hope to be on for a good grade.
The meeting with the supervisors on Thursday focused on a variety of things, the main point being the next milestone on the 30th of November. The supervisors gave us some items to help with our investigation. One of these was the use of Google Docs, which would allow users to upload a document onto the internet so that it could be simultaneously refined. As a result of this, each member of the group has created a Google Mail account and set up Google Docs.
Another aspect that the supervisors highlighted was about project management. They suggested that the team watch a SCRUM video, which is focused on Agile Software Development. This would allow the team to plan a very detailed schedule of our investigation and help the work-flow. The final point that was raised, was for the team to perhaps analyse a film to demonstrate their knowledge of Mise-en-scene.
After the meeting we discussed the next plan of action and what roles each individual team member should be doing. It was decided that Nick and Phil will be doing the project management at first, and me and Matt will look into film analysis. Overall the project this week had been slowed down due to other pieces of coursework having to be handed in, but this was accepted by the supervisors . After the other coursework piece had been completed, the progression of the investigation took importance again.
The meeting with the supervisors on Thursday focused on a variety of things, the main point being the next milestone on the 30th of November. The supervisors gave us some items to help with our investigation. One of these was the use of Google Docs, which would allow users to upload a document onto the internet so that it could be simultaneously refined. As a result of this, each member of the group has created a Google Mail account and set up Google Docs.
Another aspect that the supervisors highlighted was about project management. They suggested that the team watch a SCRUM video, which is focused on Agile Software Development. This would allow the team to plan a very detailed schedule of our investigation and help the work-flow. The final point that was raised, was for the team to perhaps analyse a film to demonstrate their knowledge of Mise-en-scene.
After the meeting we discussed the next plan of action and what roles each individual team member should be doing. It was decided that Nick and Phil will be doing the project management at first, and me and Matt will look into film analysis. Overall the project this week had been slowed down due to other pieces of coursework having to be handed in, but this was accepted by the supervisors . After the other coursework piece had been completed, the progression of the investigation took importance again.
Friday, 26 October 2007
Project Journal Week 5
The meeting with the supervisors on Thursday October 18th was very important and influenctual to our project. The supervisors stated that our project was far too broad to test. After this meeting there was a lenghtly discussion as to where to take the project. It was decided to perhaps focus on one or two aspects Mise-en-scene with the final outcome that the investigation should focus on lighting and colour.
This ammended our investigation title, which is now ;Can the Lighting and Colour techniques of Mise-en-scene be applied in Video Games to Elicit Emotion within the Player?
To ensure this was a valid title , the group spoke to one of the supervisors(Brian Morris) who confirmed this was a valid alteration, which allowed the writeup of the literature survey to begin.
Nick designed the overall layout and structure of each delirable item within the Literature Survey, aiming to have a draft copy by Wednesday, so that Claire and Amanda could confirm that it was too a good standard and the team was heading on the right track.
Once each area of the Literature Survey had been assigned to each member and a draft copy had been completed, Nick was given the task of amending the survey so that it flowed well.
The next process was to write the abstract, introduction and conclusion.. Nick was given the task of writing the academic pitch, I(james) was given the task of creating a draft copy of the Design Document, which was later refined by both Matt and Nick. The initial draft of the Plan was done by Nick , which was amended by the whole group. During our group-lesson on Wednesday 25th, Claire read a draft copy of the survey and stated that it was on the right track and to a good standard, although there were a few minor points that needed changing.
The supervisors meeting on 26th October was again very helpful. They read all of the documents within the Literature survey and stated similar points to what Claire had done the previous day.
Additionally to this week the following books were read to help with my Literature Survey.
Bordwell D; Thompson K. (1997) Film Art: An Introduction. University of Wisconsin, USA, McGraw-Hill.
This book goes through each aspect of Film Art. It states all the elements of film and gives examples of each technique in a variety of films.
The book proved immensely helpful to my study as it gave concrete definitions , such as Mise-en-Scene.
Barratt, C; (2007) Evolution of Bioshock. Interview with Hoagy De La Plante
http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/pc/game/features/article.jsp?sectionId=1003&articleId=20071012162535562068&releaseId=20060426172718471012
Date accessed: 1/10/07
This is an interview with Hoagy De La Plante who works for the company that recently released the game BioShock. The game itself has been applauded for its use of Mise-en-Scene in a variety of sources shown in our Literature Survey. Plante discuses in this interview the evolution of the game, and what influenced the design.
This interview proofed invaluable in our survey as Plante suggests the game was heavily influenced by The Shining, which many of our other resources focused on.
Jones, M; (2007) Thinking Cinema - Game Probe Bioshock Narrative Architecturehttp://thinkingcinematic.blip.tv/file/401654/Accessed 09/10/07
This deconstruction of Bioshock by Jones proved to be very influential to the write-up of the Literature Survey. Jones deconstructs two scenes from the game and discusses how the game developers have used elements of Mise-en-Scene for specific purposes. It proved a valuble link to a variety of our souces.
Campbell C, Lazzaro N, Game Theory Episode 9 – Emotionhttp://www.gametheoryshow.com/index.php?post_id=216328Date accessed: 2/10/07
This Podcast is an interview with Nicole Lazzaro from XEODesign. This Podcast gave me many points to research from and it helped massively when it came to our groupwork, particularly in the Literature Survey.
It states that the company XeoDesign are the Leading experts on emotion in games. They theorise that many of todays most remembered games are ones that evoked strong emotions in games. This companies aim is to help improve game play through evoking emotions, therefore stating “companies can innovate with much less risk.” Lazzaro states that they have helped improve over 40 million experiences.
They state that contemporarily speaking, the industry is only really good at evoking a few specific emotions, but XeoDesign aim to expand the palette of emotions. One very interesting point they had found in all their years of research is that there are over 30 emotions that are evoked just from gameplay itself, with no relation to narrative or cutscens.
The interviewer in this case poses the question WHAT ARE THE BEST EMOTIONS THAT GAME DESIGNERS DO? What are the best emotions that game designers evoke? And Nicole answers Excitement and Surprise, which found very interesting.
Xeodesigns services have sky rocketed in recent years and the industry is only starting to take emotions in games seriously, to show this, games don’t even have a word for the most important emotion Fiero- which is characterised by the player feeling frustration at first and then overcoming it .
Xeodesign’s main focus is that all gamers play based on four set rules, these are Hard-Fun, Easy-Fun, Serious-Fun and People-Fun , each with a set of unique characteristics.
They also theorised that in the Next Generation of games , there would be a divide between what gamers want. This will come in the form of how they feel against what they see, or in other terms, emotions in games against graphics. Lazzaro suggests that we can already see this happening with the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, with the Wii having sold more consoles.
Lazzaro then goes on to analyse Nintendo stating that they have never really target a specific audience, in that they make games for everyone. This is in stark contrast with the rest of the industry which targets the “ Hardcore-gamers.” Lazzaro describes the characteristics of Hardcore gamers as the “ early adopters” or “ innovaters” in society. The most important point to take from this is that this Hardcore market are only a niche, and are not the mass market.
Lazzaro states that over time a new form of language will be needed for games , just has film has over time created its own language i.e. Cinematography.
Nicola then goes on to criticise the way the games industry is just a redefining process each year. “ It’s the same games each year but with different packaging,” stating that games copy last years big sellers and just include a few new features.
Nicola discussed whilst walking around the gaming department of the Toys R Us store , that she found there were only really four different types of games out on the market at the moment. These were, Gi Joe , Dungeon and Dragons, Sports Games and Hot Wheels. She did state however that there was a fifth game, “ the house that wright built”, which was The Sims, which is one of the most sold games of all time.
Logas, H; Muller; D. (2005) ‘Mise-en-scène Applied to Level Design: Adapting a Holistic Approach to Level Design’ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, No 1 pp 1 – 8
This article was probably the most important to our research. Below are quotes and paraphrased sentences highlighting the most important aspects of the journal.
“As game developers strive to introduce a stronger sense of emotion into their games, new opportunities are presented to the level designer to imbue their virtual spaces with deeper symbols and meaning. Since the very beginning of film, the exploration of the concept of Mise-en-Scene(literally “put in the scene” ) has allowed filmmakers to convey sub-text to the viewer by the careful consideration of how each frame looks. A definition of Mise-en-Scene is given; its connections to level design are explained and then illustrated by an analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Konami’s Silent Hill 4 : The Room.”
If games designers pursue more emotional experiences in games, then they can not only reinforce emotion, but “hint at psychological factors affecting the computer-controlled characters and reveal the narrative.” A film maker chooses every given aspect in the scene, to communicate information to the viewer, both on the conscious and sub-conscious level. One example of a genre in video games that do something similar is the Survival horror genre. “A holistic approach to level design creates a greater sense of immersion in the player and can communicate to the player on an emotional level.”
“Mise-en-scene is defined by film theorist Robert Kolker as: ‘ the use of space within the frame: the placement of actors and props, the relationship of camera to the space in front of it, camera movement the use of colour or black and white, lighting, the size of the screen frame it self. “ it is a French term that literally translates, “put in the scene’”
One key aspect shown in the article is about the game Shenmue, with its palette being mainly grey and clear. This is an outwards manifestation of the main characters feelings, which convey sadness to the player.
Analysis of The Shining
The article also discusses Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, stating that Kubrick has used Mise-en-Scene expertly. The movie itself Muller and Logas state, is quite game like. Having two locations, overlook and a maze.
“Since level designers must contain their game play to a certain amount of levels, The Shining is a great example of how limited resources can be crafted in such a way as to have multiple layers of meaning and interest.”
Muller and Logas highlight one scene from the movie which Jack speaks to Delbert Grady in the bathroom. They state that the “red overwhelms the scene to show that Jack has already descended into hell.” This simple technique of changing the colour can have dramatic effects on what the viewer thinks.
Muller and Logas also highlight the different lighting techniques shown on the character Jack. At the beginning of the film he is lit from above with a diffuse that softens his features, which instil as peace through the warm, amber and peach colours.
However when Jack descends into madness the light reflects this, for example when he is in the Gold Room bar, his facial features are distorted by the sharp lighting.
Analysis of silent hill
Game developers on Silent Hill 4, Akihiro and Akira Yamoaka state:
“While the silent hill series lies firmly in the horror /action adventure genre, the root of the terror is not a fear of being attacked and killed by horrific creatures. Rather, it is a psychological terror of being slowly stalked and concerned by unknown beings. It’s not really about the shock value, but much more of a deeper sense of foreboding; you know something is coming, but you don’t know when and you cant stop it.”
There are many Mise-en-Scene techniques to evoke something in the player. The use of the First Person Perspective allows the feeling of being in that space, which is different from most Horror games, in that the view is Third Person. Another good use is through the low ceilings and cramped conditions, which heighten the claustrophobia. The Palette of the game is mainly grey, the walls aren’t white, their “off white”, “Tempered with a dingy grey”
“Examining the ways Mise-en-Scene is used in film will help these designers adapt a holistic approach to their own discipline and create deeper resonance with the player for whom the game is ultimately created.”
This ammended our investigation title, which is now ;Can the Lighting and Colour techniques of Mise-en-scene be applied in Video Games to Elicit Emotion within the Player?
To ensure this was a valid title , the group spoke to one of the supervisors(Brian Morris) who confirmed this was a valid alteration, which allowed the writeup of the literature survey to begin.
Nick designed the overall layout and structure of each delirable item within the Literature Survey, aiming to have a draft copy by Wednesday, so that Claire and Amanda could confirm that it was too a good standard and the team was heading on the right track.
Once each area of the Literature Survey had been assigned to each member and a draft copy had been completed, Nick was given the task of amending the survey so that it flowed well.
The next process was to write the abstract, introduction and conclusion.. Nick was given the task of writing the academic pitch, I(james) was given the task of creating a draft copy of the Design Document, which was later refined by both Matt and Nick. The initial draft of the Plan was done by Nick , which was amended by the whole group. During our group-lesson on Wednesday 25th, Claire read a draft copy of the survey and stated that it was on the right track and to a good standard, although there were a few minor points that needed changing.
The supervisors meeting on 26th October was again very helpful. They read all of the documents within the Literature survey and stated similar points to what Claire had done the previous day.
Additionally to this week the following books were read to help with my Literature Survey.
Bordwell D; Thompson K. (1997) Film Art: An Introduction. University of Wisconsin, USA, McGraw-Hill.
This book goes through each aspect of Film Art. It states all the elements of film and gives examples of each technique in a variety of films.
The book proved immensely helpful to my study as it gave concrete definitions , such as Mise-en-Scene.
Barratt, C; (2007) Evolution of Bioshock. Interview with Hoagy De La Plante
http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/pc/game/features/article.jsp?sectionId=1003&articleId=20071012162535562068&releaseId=20060426172718471012
Date accessed: 1/10/07
This is an interview with Hoagy De La Plante who works for the company that recently released the game BioShock. The game itself has been applauded for its use of Mise-en-Scene in a variety of sources shown in our Literature Survey. Plante discuses in this interview the evolution of the game, and what influenced the design.
This interview proofed invaluable in our survey as Plante suggests the game was heavily influenced by The Shining, which many of our other resources focused on.
Jones, M; (2007) Thinking Cinema - Game Probe Bioshock Narrative Architecturehttp://thinkingcinematic.blip.tv/file/401654/Accessed 09/10/07
This deconstruction of Bioshock by Jones proved to be very influential to the write-up of the Literature Survey. Jones deconstructs two scenes from the game and discusses how the game developers have used elements of Mise-en-Scene for specific purposes. It proved a valuble link to a variety of our souces.
Campbell C, Lazzaro N, Game Theory Episode 9 – Emotionhttp://www.gametheoryshow.com/index.php?post_id=216328Date accessed: 2/10/07
This Podcast is an interview with Nicole Lazzaro from XEODesign. This Podcast gave me many points to research from and it helped massively when it came to our groupwork, particularly in the Literature Survey.
It states that the company XeoDesign are the Leading experts on emotion in games. They theorise that many of todays most remembered games are ones that evoked strong emotions in games. This companies aim is to help improve game play through evoking emotions, therefore stating “companies can innovate with much less risk.” Lazzaro states that they have helped improve over 40 million experiences.
They state that contemporarily speaking, the industry is only really good at evoking a few specific emotions, but XeoDesign aim to expand the palette of emotions. One very interesting point they had found in all their years of research is that there are over 30 emotions that are evoked just from gameplay itself, with no relation to narrative or cutscens.
The interviewer in this case poses the question WHAT ARE THE BEST EMOTIONS THAT GAME DESIGNERS DO? What are the best emotions that game designers evoke? And Nicole answers Excitement and Surprise, which found very interesting.
Xeodesigns services have sky rocketed in recent years and the industry is only starting to take emotions in games seriously, to show this, games don’t even have a word for the most important emotion Fiero- which is characterised by the player feeling frustration at first and then overcoming it .
Xeodesign’s main focus is that all gamers play based on four set rules, these are Hard-Fun, Easy-Fun, Serious-Fun and People-Fun , each with a set of unique characteristics.
They also theorised that in the Next Generation of games , there would be a divide between what gamers want. This will come in the form of how they feel against what they see, or in other terms, emotions in games against graphics. Lazzaro suggests that we can already see this happening with the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii, with the Wii having sold more consoles.
Lazzaro then goes on to analyse Nintendo stating that they have never really target a specific audience, in that they make games for everyone. This is in stark contrast with the rest of the industry which targets the “ Hardcore-gamers.” Lazzaro describes the characteristics of Hardcore gamers as the “ early adopters” or “ innovaters” in society. The most important point to take from this is that this Hardcore market are only a niche, and are not the mass market.
Lazzaro states that over time a new form of language will be needed for games , just has film has over time created its own language i.e. Cinematography.
Nicola then goes on to criticise the way the games industry is just a redefining process each year. “ It’s the same games each year but with different packaging,” stating that games copy last years big sellers and just include a few new features.
Nicola discussed whilst walking around the gaming department of the Toys R Us store , that she found there were only really four different types of games out on the market at the moment. These were, Gi Joe , Dungeon and Dragons, Sports Games and Hot Wheels. She did state however that there was a fifth game, “ the house that wright built”, which was The Sims, which is one of the most sold games of all time.
Logas, H; Muller; D. (2005) ‘Mise-en-scène Applied to Level Design: Adapting a Holistic Approach to Level Design’ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA, No 1 pp 1 – 8
This article was probably the most important to our research. Below are quotes and paraphrased sentences highlighting the most important aspects of the journal.
“As game developers strive to introduce a stronger sense of emotion into their games, new opportunities are presented to the level designer to imbue their virtual spaces with deeper symbols and meaning. Since the very beginning of film, the exploration of the concept of Mise-en-Scene(literally “put in the scene” ) has allowed filmmakers to convey sub-text to the viewer by the careful consideration of how each frame looks. A definition of Mise-en-Scene is given; its connections to level design are explained and then illustrated by an analysis of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Konami’s Silent Hill 4 : The Room.”
If games designers pursue more emotional experiences in games, then they can not only reinforce emotion, but “hint at psychological factors affecting the computer-controlled characters and reveal the narrative.” A film maker chooses every given aspect in the scene, to communicate information to the viewer, both on the conscious and sub-conscious level. One example of a genre in video games that do something similar is the Survival horror genre. “A holistic approach to level design creates a greater sense of immersion in the player and can communicate to the player on an emotional level.”
“Mise-en-scene is defined by film theorist Robert Kolker as: ‘ the use of space within the frame: the placement of actors and props, the relationship of camera to the space in front of it, camera movement the use of colour or black and white, lighting, the size of the screen frame it self. “ it is a French term that literally translates, “put in the scene’”
One key aspect shown in the article is about the game Shenmue, with its palette being mainly grey and clear. This is an outwards manifestation of the main characters feelings, which convey sadness to the player.
Analysis of The Shining
The article also discusses Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, stating that Kubrick has used Mise-en-Scene expertly. The movie itself Muller and Logas state, is quite game like. Having two locations, overlook and a maze.
“Since level designers must contain their game play to a certain amount of levels, The Shining is a great example of how limited resources can be crafted in such a way as to have multiple layers of meaning and interest.”
Muller and Logas highlight one scene from the movie which Jack speaks to Delbert Grady in the bathroom. They state that the “red overwhelms the scene to show that Jack has already descended into hell.” This simple technique of changing the colour can have dramatic effects on what the viewer thinks.
Muller and Logas also highlight the different lighting techniques shown on the character Jack. At the beginning of the film he is lit from above with a diffuse that softens his features, which instil as peace through the warm, amber and peach colours.
However when Jack descends into madness the light reflects this, for example when he is in the Gold Room bar, his facial features are distorted by the sharp lighting.
Analysis of silent hill
Game developers on Silent Hill 4, Akihiro and Akira Yamoaka state:
“While the silent hill series lies firmly in the horror /action adventure genre, the root of the terror is not a fear of being attacked and killed by horrific creatures. Rather, it is a psychological terror of being slowly stalked and concerned by unknown beings. It’s not really about the shock value, but much more of a deeper sense of foreboding; you know something is coming, but you don’t know when and you cant stop it.”
There are many Mise-en-Scene techniques to evoke something in the player. The use of the First Person Perspective allows the feeling of being in that space, which is different from most Horror games, in that the view is Third Person. Another good use is through the low ceilings and cramped conditions, which heighten the claustrophobia. The Palette of the game is mainly grey, the walls aren’t white, their “off white”, “Tempered with a dingy grey”
“Examining the ways Mise-en-Scene is used in film will help these designers adapt a holistic approach to their own discipline and create deeper resonance with the player for whom the game is ultimately created.”
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
Project Journal Week 4
I have over time been analysing my other team members work and felt that perhaps a better system of organisation would benefit my site, so I have now decided to change my blog to weekly updates. I hope for the examiners that this isn’t too much of a problem. During week four we discussed that our research into articles should be coming to an end, which is primarily down to the reason that we have our Literature Survey due in two weeks time. For me personally this week will be going through various books and journals based on film, as I have obtained a AS Level qualification in film studies, I felt I would be the most efficient researcher in this field in our group. Additionally to this, I will be going through my other team members blogs and extracting the journals most beneficial to me for my specific part in the Literature survey, which is discussed in our Team Journal for this week.
Thomas D. and Haussmann G. (2005), University of Calorado, Cinematic Camera as Videogame Cliche(2005) , 1st edition. pp 1-10
http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/retrieve/1568/e69f9c293984e49ba7ba7b7e7eb6.doc
The article states that many video game makers today tend to use the optical camera as the main viewpoint into the game world. But a video game camera is virtual, so they can “represent a potentially infinite number of perspectives beyond the classic, representational linear perspective.”
The researches discuss how the games industry is reliant on some film techniques, in this case , the optical camera viewpoint, and how it is hindering the growth of original ideas. Obviously there are times when the camera needs to be an optical viewpoint but the industry is over reliant on it. Overall I think this article was only slightly relevant to our topic, but it gave me many points that I simply had not even thought about before e.g. how games are copying film and how this can can hinder the growth of the industry in terms of truly original games. Below are some extracts from the document that I found interesting and perhaps could help us to think outside of the box when we come to create our piece.
“Videogames can mimic cinematic language if they like, but they don’t have to. Because they do not rely on an optical perspective, videogames can represent their onscreen space using any perspective system imaginable and, certainly, even those not yet imagined.” Mark J.P. Wolf has remarked: “except for a few torchbearers like Rez and Frequency, games have gone the way of increasingly representational graphics and gameplay, often trying to achieve the look and feel of movies or cartoons... But it would be quite a shame to limit game design to representational graphics and gameplay and to ignore everything else that the medium is capable of producing.”
“The real consequence of thinking of the videogame camera as an optical system is the retardation of the gaming experience and a contraction of the medium’s possibilities. Newman summed this situation perfectly ‘At least part of the pleasure to be derived from engagement with the cyberspace of virtual reality, according to benedikt, apparently comes from the ability to play with and within these elsewhere spaces replete with their uncommon, perhaps even predictable , spatial rules’ ”
Griffiths M and Davies M,(2005) Does Video Game Addiction Exist? The Handbook of Video Game Studies, 1st edition. pp 359 - 371
It highlights three key points at the beginning of the article, What is addiction? Does Video Game addiction exist? And, If it does exist, what are gamers addicted to and answers all these fully.
It also discusses online games, briefly stating that people who play them often take on other social identities to make themselves feel better which can reward the user psychologically and physiologically. It also goes on to show the link between Arcade Video Games and slot machines, in that playing games for money has grown from the Arcades into online and other forms of play.
This introduction of gambling into games outside of Arcades adds something else into the equation, which in theory, is even more addictive than traditional games. One of the most important aspects of this article is the P.R.E effect, the Partial Reinforcement Effect. “This is a critical psychological ingredient of video game addiction where by the reinforcement is intermittent - people keep responding in the absence of reinforcement hoping that another reward is just around corner. Knowledge about the P.R.E gives the video designers an edge in designing appealing games.”
Overall I found this article very informative and it made some good points about the emotions that are linked to addictive behaviour. Although the article seems a little off our focus issue, I felt it would still be beneficial to read an article like this as to get a broad range of journals within my reading. In this article the researchers set out to explore if video game addiction exists. It first discuses how the press have branded video game players as “joystick junkies” highlighting how addictive this media is. The researchers also show the scepticism by the academic community and how the definition of addiction is evolving.
Thomas D. and Haussmann G. (2005), University of Calorado, Cinematic Camera as Videogame Cliche(2005) , 1st edition. pp 1-10
http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/retrieve/1568/e69f9c293984e49ba7ba7b7e7eb6.doc
The article states that many video game makers today tend to use the optical camera as the main viewpoint into the game world. But a video game camera is virtual, so they can “represent a potentially infinite number of perspectives beyond the classic, representational linear perspective.”
The researches discuss how the games industry is reliant on some film techniques, in this case , the optical camera viewpoint, and how it is hindering the growth of original ideas. Obviously there are times when the camera needs to be an optical viewpoint but the industry is over reliant on it. Overall I think this article was only slightly relevant to our topic, but it gave me many points that I simply had not even thought about before e.g. how games are copying film and how this can can hinder the growth of the industry in terms of truly original games. Below are some extracts from the document that I found interesting and perhaps could help us to think outside of the box when we come to create our piece.
“Videogames can mimic cinematic language if they like, but they don’t have to. Because they do not rely on an optical perspective, videogames can represent their onscreen space using any perspective system imaginable and, certainly, even those not yet imagined.” Mark J.P. Wolf has remarked: “except for a few torchbearers like Rez and Frequency, games have gone the way of increasingly representational graphics and gameplay, often trying to achieve the look and feel of movies or cartoons... But it would be quite a shame to limit game design to representational graphics and gameplay and to ignore everything else that the medium is capable of producing.”
“The real consequence of thinking of the videogame camera as an optical system is the retardation of the gaming experience and a contraction of the medium’s possibilities. Newman summed this situation perfectly ‘At least part of the pleasure to be derived from engagement with the cyberspace of virtual reality, according to benedikt, apparently comes from the ability to play with and within these elsewhere spaces replete with their uncommon, perhaps even predictable , spatial rules’ ”
Griffiths M and Davies M,(2005) Does Video Game Addiction Exist? The Handbook of Video Game Studies, 1st edition. pp 359 - 371
It highlights three key points at the beginning of the article, What is addiction? Does Video Game addiction exist? And, If it does exist, what are gamers addicted to and answers all these fully.
It also discusses online games, briefly stating that people who play them often take on other social identities to make themselves feel better which can reward the user psychologically and physiologically. It also goes on to show the link between Arcade Video Games and slot machines, in that playing games for money has grown from the Arcades into online and other forms of play.
This introduction of gambling into games outside of Arcades adds something else into the equation, which in theory, is even more addictive than traditional games. One of the most important aspects of this article is the P.R.E effect, the Partial Reinforcement Effect. “This is a critical psychological ingredient of video game addiction where by the reinforcement is intermittent - people keep responding in the absence of reinforcement hoping that another reward is just around corner. Knowledge about the P.R.E gives the video designers an edge in designing appealing games.”
Overall I found this article very informative and it made some good points about the emotions that are linked to addictive behaviour. Although the article seems a little off our focus issue, I felt it would still be beneficial to read an article like this as to get a broad range of journals within my reading. In this article the researchers set out to explore if video game addiction exists. It first discuses how the press have branded video game players as “joystick junkies” highlighting how addictive this media is. The researchers also show the scepticism by the academic community and how the definition of addiction is evolving.
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Meeting With Dr.John Charlton
Tuesday 9th October 2007
We had a meeting yesterday with Dr.John Charlton. As a group we were worried about how to test our results in the future. It was all well for us to create a good piece of work only for it to fall flat in terms of scientific analysis. We expressed our concerns to one of our group markers , Brian Morris, who pointed us in the direction of Dr Charlton. The reason for this was Dr Charlton was an expert in the area of Psychology and was also carrying out an experiment in games as well. We discussed how he was going about collecting data from his results and it soon became clear that we could not do many of the tests as the budget for doing this was high. He gave us a clear cut method which the Psychology industry has used for years, but more importantly , this was a valid scientific method. We felt as a group that the meeting was very valuable in both gaining resources and just generally having a chat about our two different investigations.
We had a meeting yesterday with Dr.John Charlton. As a group we were worried about how to test our results in the future. It was all well for us to create a good piece of work only for it to fall flat in terms of scientific analysis. We expressed our concerns to one of our group markers , Brian Morris, who pointed us in the direction of Dr Charlton. The reason for this was Dr Charlton was an expert in the area of Psychology and was also carrying out an experiment in games as well. We discussed how he was going about collecting data from his results and it soon became clear that we could not do many of the tests as the budget for doing this was high. He gave us a clear cut method which the Psychology industry has used for years, but more importantly , this was a valid scientific method. We felt as a group that the meeting was very valuable in both gaining resources and just generally having a chat about our two different investigations.
Affective Videogames and Modes of Affective Gaming: Assist Me, Challenge Me, Emote Me
Gilleade K.M, Dix A, Allanson J ,June 2005, University of Vancouver,
Affective Videogames and Modes of Affective Gaming: Assist Me, Challenge Me, Emote Me
1st edition pp 1-7
Date accessed: 10/10/07
http://www.digra.org/dl/db/06278.55257.pdf
This article from the University of Vancouver deals with Biological and Affective feedback in games. It discusses the evolution of this idea with games, citing such examples as Atari’s Mind Link, to Affective gameplay in Resident Evil. It gives us the example that Biofeedback is a term in which the player can see their physiological data on screen and change the game themselves through this e.g. by becoming more excited through a higher heart beat rate. Affective feedback however still monitors these physiological responses but changes the game without the player knowing.
It is Affective gaming that this group wishes to develop with an aim of creating a more rewarding experience. They go on to explain how they have created a toolset called I.G.S (Intelligent Gaming System) to facilitate the creation of Affective gaming. They made thier version of the popular Missile Command(Atari 1980) but this time the player was hooked up to the game so that it could read thier physiological responses. The aim of the game from the user’s perspective was to obviously beat the game. The computer's job was to make sure his heartbeat stayed within a certain range so that the user was still immersed in the game without getting too excited or disinterested.
It was from here the team developed a system to help generate emotional responses in games by three steps; Assist me, Challenge me and Emote me. The title of these steps are self explanatory. What is important is how the computer reacts to physiological changes to immerse the player. It gives the example “we propose that a videogame can measure frustration using a player’s physiology. Combining this with knowledge of the game context allows problematic situations to be identified and aspects of the game adjusted accordingly (i.e. relieve stress), Assist me game play.”
I found this article to have some good points in relation to our group work and certainly gave me some good points to work with. Although the article mainly deals with developing Affective gameplay, the discussion about emotion and the history of evoking emotion in gameplay seemed very useful.
Affective Videogames and Modes of Affective Gaming: Assist Me, Challenge Me, Emote Me
1st edition pp 1-7
Date accessed: 10/10/07
http://www.digra.org/dl/db/06278.55257.pdf
This article from the University of Vancouver deals with Biological and Affective feedback in games. It discusses the evolution of this idea with games, citing such examples as Atari’s Mind Link, to Affective gameplay in Resident Evil. It gives us the example that Biofeedback is a term in which the player can see their physiological data on screen and change the game themselves through this e.g. by becoming more excited through a higher heart beat rate. Affective feedback however still monitors these physiological responses but changes the game without the player knowing.
It is Affective gaming that this group wishes to develop with an aim of creating a more rewarding experience. They go on to explain how they have created a toolset called I.G.S (Intelligent Gaming System) to facilitate the creation of Affective gaming. They made thier version of the popular Missile Command(Atari 1980) but this time the player was hooked up to the game so that it could read thier physiological responses. The aim of the game from the user’s perspective was to obviously beat the game. The computer's job was to make sure his heartbeat stayed within a certain range so that the user was still immersed in the game without getting too excited or disinterested.
It was from here the team developed a system to help generate emotional responses in games by three steps; Assist me, Challenge me and Emote me. The title of these steps are self explanatory. What is important is how the computer reacts to physiological changes to immerse the player. It gives the example “we propose that a videogame can measure frustration using a player’s physiology. Combining this with knowledge of the game context allows problematic situations to be identified and aspects of the game adjusted accordingly (i.e. relieve stress), Assist me game play.”
I found this article to have some good points in relation to our group work and certainly gave me some good points to work with. Although the article mainly deals with developing Affective gameplay, the discussion about emotion and the history of evoking emotion in gameplay seemed very useful.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
A cognitive-behavioural model of pathological Internet use
R. A. Davis, Psychology Department, York University, Canada. A cognitive-behavioural model of pathological Internet use (2001)
Second Edition
pp 1-7
. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VDC-42DX1HP-3&_user=788780&_coverDate=03%2F01%2F2001&_fmt=full&_orig=browse&_cdi=5979&view=c&_acct=C000043322&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=788780&md5=d3d14951b819ca2cec50c7fccdab3c12&ref=ful
Accessed: 09/10/07
The article discusses how users of the internet can become addicted to it and specifically focuses on the pathological implications of internet use. It discusses what type of people are drawn to becoming a Pathological Internet Users (PIU) and states the downward loop in which these users shut out the real world in favour of the virtual one.
I chose this article hoping that it could help shed some light on internet games or in relation to console internet applications e.g. Xbox Live. I felt that at the beginning of the article the points made were interesting and I made a large amount of notes on them, although by the end of the article the relevance to our work had dropped.
Second Edition
pp 1-7
. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VDC-42DX1HP-3&_user=788780&_coverDate=03%2F01%2F2001&_fmt=full&_orig=browse&_cdi=5979&view=c&_acct=C000043322&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=788780&md5=d3d14951b819ca2cec50c7fccdab3c12&ref=ful
Accessed: 09/10/07
The article discusses how users of the internet can become addicted to it and specifically focuses on the pathological implications of internet use. It discusses what type of people are drawn to becoming a Pathological Internet Users (PIU) and states the downward loop in which these users shut out the real world in favour of the virtual one.
I chose this article hoping that it could help shed some light on internet games or in relation to console internet applications e.g. Xbox Live. I felt that at the beginning of the article the points made were interesting and I made a large amount of notes on them, although by the end of the article the relevance to our work had dropped.
Composition space – Cinema and comptuer gaming-The Macro Mese-En-Scene and spatial compisition
Jones M, Composition space – Cinema and comptuer gaming-The macro mese en scene and spatial compisition
www.dab.uts.edu.au/research/conferences/imaginary-worlds/composing_space.pdf
In this journal Jones discuses how mise en scene and sound are becoming ever more emphasised in game creation to help with a greater sense of immersion in the player. He states that games are on the forefont of viewer/player immersion and game creators use sound to expand the edges of what they are watching. He states that the player becomes apart of the scene rather than a passive viewer.
The other main point that he thoerises are the viewpoints of Longtake vs Montage. These are two narrative techniques in which one story is told via cutscenes and the other as a interrupted long take.
I found that his article was helptful in finding the links bewteen games and films and have made many notes from the journal. Although overall it goe slightly in a different direction than our title, it still proved valuble.
www.dab.uts.edu.au/research/conferences/imaginary-worlds/composing_space.pdf
In this journal Jones discuses how mise en scene and sound are becoming ever more emphasised in game creation to help with a greater sense of immersion in the player. He states that games are on the forefont of viewer/player immersion and game creators use sound to expand the edges of what they are watching. He states that the player becomes apart of the scene rather than a passive viewer.
The other main point that he thoerises are the viewpoints of Longtake vs Montage. These are two narrative techniques in which one story is told via cutscenes and the other as a interrupted long take.
I found that his article was helptful in finding the links bewteen games and films and have made many notes from the journal. Although overall it goe slightly in a different direction than our title, it still proved valuble.
Dynamic Lighting for Tension in Games
Seif El-Nasr M, Niedenthal S, Knez I, Almeida P, Zupko J, Dynamic Lighting for Tension in Games (2006) The international journal of computer game research -
Volume 7 Issue 1
http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/elnasr_niedenthal_knez_almeida_zupko
Date Accessed 9/10/07
This article sets out to discuss the ways in which simulated lighting can change the aesthetics for a game. It analyses a variety of films in which lighting can change many emotions and thoughts. The journal also shows a case study of games in which lights have affected the player’s emotions. From here it develops two systems to quantify their theories and tests them informally on one hundred or so subjects. This article has great relevance to our group work as it draws from film theory to create an emotional response from players in a specific way. Although the article does have some weaknesses, primarily being the lack of scientific testing, we hope to learn from the researches mistakes so that we do not create similar ones.
Volume 7 Issue 1
http://gamestudies.org/0701/articles/elnasr_niedenthal_knez_almeida_zupko
Date Accessed 9/10/07
This article sets out to discuss the ways in which simulated lighting can change the aesthetics for a game. It analyses a variety of films in which lighting can change many emotions and thoughts. The journal also shows a case study of games in which lights have affected the player’s emotions. From here it develops two systems to quantify their theories and tests them informally on one hundred or so subjects. This article has great relevance to our group work as it draws from film theory to create an emotional response from players in a specific way. Although the article does have some weaknesses, primarily being the lack of scientific testing, we hope to learn from the researches mistakes so that we do not create similar ones.
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Researching Journals
Squire K, Intelligent Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games(2002) , The international journal of computer game research
Volume 2 Issue 1
http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire/
Accessed: 28/09/07
This article discusses how computer games have been dealt with over time and their integration into popular culture. It points out a variety of interesting points, from the health risks caused by games playing to education. The article mainly deals with three topics; violence, education and the impact of computer games. Although very interesting, I felt it did not directly help my investigation.
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Hejdenberg A,The Psychology Behind Games(2005)
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050426/hejdenberg_pfv.htm
Accessed: 28/09/07
The Psychology Behind Games was particularly useful in this article. It discuses what we need as a species to survive and focuses on Maslow’s pyramid of needs. It explores the theory that once we have fulfilled these essentials we can then go onto pleasure seeking activities. Maslow describes them as deficient and growth needs. Anders Hejdenberg(the author) then discusses that games are a big part of this ,citing Man, Play and Games from Roger Caillois’ four main points before moving onto Mr.Csikszentmihalyi flow theory. I thought that this was particularly useful as it breaks down what gamers do for pleasure in a modern society .
Hejdenberg states that overtime videogames also nest other types of media like text, sound ,music , storytelling ,art and film. “As a whole package, videogames give us the ability to forget our worries for a moment and transcend beyond our physical self to an imaginary, illusory world in which our unrealizable desires can be realized.” Anders Hejdenberg then goes onto a detailed write-up of creating user profiles using market analysis which I thought was interesting and helpful.
Imitation
I thought imitation was particularly interesting in regards to game characters. Anders Hejdenberg talks about that as we grow up we use imitation as our way of learning about new things and as children we spent a lot of our time imitating. From this we can learn about values and our culture. The main point of this imitation is that it’s our way of striving who we want to become as adults. Shown best in the quote “The icons that we choose to imitate are often the ones that we feel similar to, and that we can relate to – this may be one of the reasons that Harry Potter is so popular among children for example.” This has direct relevance to game characters Hejdenberg states, in that videogames we can either play as a certain character or when you play as “yourself” but with a new set of skills in a fantasy world.
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Lazzero N, president of Xeodesign,Why we play games:four keys to more emotion without story (2004)
Issue 1
pp 1-8
http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf
Accessed: 28/09/07
This study deals with creating more emotions in games and is actually employed by many companies with the aim of helping them do this. So far it has helped to improve over 40 million user’s experiences. In this particular study it researches the questions “where do emotions come from? Along with “is it possible to build emotions into games by adding emotion producing objects to gameplay rather than cut scenes?”
Volume 2 Issue 1
http://www.gamestudies.org/0102/squire/
Accessed: 28/09/07
This article discusses how computer games have been dealt with over time and their integration into popular culture. It points out a variety of interesting points, from the health risks caused by games playing to education. The article mainly deals with three topics; violence, education and the impact of computer games. Although very interesting, I felt it did not directly help my investigation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hejdenberg A,The Psychology Behind Games(2005)
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20050426/hejdenberg_pfv.htm
Accessed: 28/09/07
The Psychology Behind Games was particularly useful in this article. It discuses what we need as a species to survive and focuses on Maslow’s pyramid of needs. It explores the theory that once we have fulfilled these essentials we can then go onto pleasure seeking activities. Maslow describes them as deficient and growth needs. Anders Hejdenberg(the author) then discusses that games are a big part of this ,citing Man, Play and Games from Roger Caillois’ four main points before moving onto Mr.Csikszentmihalyi flow theory. I thought that this was particularly useful as it breaks down what gamers do for pleasure in a modern society .
Hejdenberg states that overtime videogames also nest other types of media like text, sound ,music , storytelling ,art and film. “As a whole package, videogames give us the ability to forget our worries for a moment and transcend beyond our physical self to an imaginary, illusory world in which our unrealizable desires can be realized.” Anders Hejdenberg then goes onto a detailed write-up of creating user profiles using market analysis which I thought was interesting and helpful.
Imitation
I thought imitation was particularly interesting in regards to game characters. Anders Hejdenberg talks about that as we grow up we use imitation as our way of learning about new things and as children we spent a lot of our time imitating. From this we can learn about values and our culture. The main point of this imitation is that it’s our way of striving who we want to become as adults. Shown best in the quote “The icons that we choose to imitate are often the ones that we feel similar to, and that we can relate to – this may be one of the reasons that Harry Potter is so popular among children for example.” This has direct relevance to game characters Hejdenberg states, in that videogames we can either play as a certain character or when you play as “yourself” but with a new set of skills in a fantasy world.
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Lazzero N, president of Xeodesign,Why we play games:four keys to more emotion without story (2004)
Issue 1
pp 1-8
http://www.xeodesign.com/xeodesign_whyweplaygames.pdf
Accessed: 28/09/07
This study deals with creating more emotions in games and is actually employed by many companies with the aim of helping them do this. So far it has helped to improve over 40 million user’s experiences. In this particular study it researches the questions “where do emotions come from? Along with “is it possible to build emotions into games by adding emotion producing objects to gameplay rather than cut scenes?”
Wednesday, 26 September 2007
Blog
Wednesday 27th September
After our lesson today we decided to meet up again and discuss the project further. We obtained Nick's work which the assignment is based on . We also went to the library and got various books out that were relevant to our project and module.
After our lesson today we decided to meet up again and discuss the project further. We obtained Nick's work which the assignment is based on . We also went to the library and got various books out that were relevant to our project and module.
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