Self Assessment

Self assessment

Attainment : B/C
Effort : 2/3
Indicitive : B
Homework : H

In terms of attainment, I feel that Im middling between a B and a C, as the effort I put forth tends to fluxuate. Recently I feel that I've been making far more effort in the subject, as Ive eliminated puncuality and attendance issues (I finally pulled my head outta my arse).

However, I feel that when I actually make some semblence of an effort I do reasonably well. But when it comes to homework only recently have I begun to ACTUALLY do it. So one of my targets will be to carry on with keeping up with work set.

Targets:

1) Aim to complete all homework tasks as they are set
2) Work independantly on production work in an effecient manner to meet deadlines
3) Cut down on the talking in lesson

Software to be used for Practical Production

Software to be used:

For initial filming, animating and rendering:

· Source Film Maker for the majority of the animations

· Autodesk Maya for precise, key frame animations

· Source SDK to access the effects and sprites (such as explosions, blood, smoke trailers etc)

· The Team Fortress 2 client (program itself is hl2.exe) + Source Recorder for POV gameplay footage

Post-production:

· Sony Vegas for video editing + final rendering

· Sony Sound Forge for audio editing

· Photoshop for text + titles _­+ video overlays

Practical Production Group

Group structure:

Filming/Animating: Kalbir
Editing: Kalbir
Sound: Kalbir
Images and design: Kalbir



Im so alone.....

Practical Production - Alternative texts + conventions

Production: Fan-made trailer for Team Fortress 2

Alternative texts

Meet the Scout Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eaE-_GDbmQ

From the same game (Team Fortress 2), official character trailer (there are 9 characters in total, 7 have trailers)

Bulletstorm Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjNEKnifT5M

Upcoming FPS , s

Conventions: Humour, POV shots (gameplay footage), text/montage sequences

Duke Nukem Forever Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVuuyRGB_BA

Another upcoming FPS

Conventions:

· Humour,

· Montage sequences

· Breaking the 4^th wall

· Non-diagetic sound

· POV Shots

· Gameplay Footage

· Cuts to text

· Music cuts during a humorous portion

· Lots of violence + explosions + gore

· All the above trailers have some sort of gag or extra sequence at the end after the title of the game has been revealed

Critical Investigation -1ST DRAFT

"The enormous controversy surrounding violent video games has been fuelled by conflicting claims about the nature of their content and the relationship between game use and hostility."[1]

How and why is violence so prevalent in modern videogames, and should audiences be better protected from it through censorship?

Video games are the newest and fastest growing medium of entertainment of the current modern era, and it is recorded that “sixty-seven percent of American households play computer or video games.”[2] However, as a new and expanding media platform it faces heavy criticisms and regularly sparks controversy, which is a testament to “the general struggles any new medium has to go through before it gains wide social acceptance.”[3] This is doubly so in the case of video games, as the intention of any game is to push boundaries and allow players to defy established social norms (and often the laws of physics) in a virtual dream world. Yet, as the popular saying goes; “One man’s dream is another’s nightmare,” which is a fitting metaphor in helping to explain the outrage and often conservative fears expressed regarding the content of some games. Some individuals (namely those who are older and with children, based on who debates are usually put across by) are opposed to the level of violence displayed in games, and although violence has long-since existed in the film industry, the viewer has never had direct control over this violence. Most gamers however would argue that the medium is merely a form of escapism which excels at expressing and exploring human emotions and conflict in a more interactive manner, and is ultimately harmless. Nevertheless, one must admit that video games often vilify themselves by promoting gratuitous violence with an almost childlike demeanour (such as in the case of the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever[4], in which we hear the protagonist taunt an enemy by proclaiming “I’ll rip your head off and shit down your neck”). This approach to a universally sensitive topic (i.e. murder) only helps to reinforce the stereotype that video games provide nothing of value to players and glorify immoral actions, which in turn lets a stronger case be made in support of censorship of these games.

Take for example the recently released first-person shooter (a genre of games in which the player controls a character from a point-of-view angle, and a common convention of said genre is for the weapon in use to be angled ahead of the player in clear sight, hence the name) Bulletstorm[5], which sports the catchphrase “Kill with skill”[6] in its trailer. The game itself has a heavy emphasis on killing as many enemies as possible and employing the most violent and gruesome methods (‘Skillshots’) available to do so, resulting in ‘Chain-kills.’ Anyone wishing to form a case against violent video games need not look far, as the above example is nothing new to the gaming industry. However, regardless of how much brutality and gore is present in a game, we must ask ourselves whether that warrants censorship of that piece of media text, which is arguably a piece of art. And as the artist Philippe Benichou declared; “I aim at creating my art in the context of a universal idea of freedom. I am unquestionably against all physical and ideological manifestations of tyranny, oppression and imprisonment,”[7] which is a sentiment which is undoubtedly shared by many game developers who face the outcry of the public demanding they censor their work. Is the damage a game may do to certain individuals worth preventing at the cost of freedom of artistic expression? To answer this, one must first examine not only the effect violent games have on players, but also the moral and ethical dilemma of censorship.

Violence has always been the ‘Devil’s advocate’ of new mediums of entertainment; all embryonic forms of media have had to weather criticism about their portrayal of violence, ranging from books (take for instance The Lord of the Flies[8] or The Colour Purple[9], both frequently banned from American schools for their seemingly excessive violent content) to movies (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2[10] comes to mind, and was banned in Australia until 2006. It is interesting to note that the Australian government seem to have a certain penchant for banning media texts), lending credence to the notion that video games are merely experiencing the beginnings of their journey to respectability[11]. It could be argued that games do not face criticism due to their violent content, but rather simply because they are games; countless film-makers, artists and authors have tackled difficult subjects such as violence (among others such as sexuality and hatred) and have been critically acclaimed for these works because they dared to explore humanity’s dark side[12]. Due to this, one could make the argument that games should not be censored as they are simply under criticism with the same ‘knee-jerk’ attitude that has plagued mediums before now, mediums which have gone on to produce some of the most telling and intriguing narratives ever witnessed.

One example of this (though by no means the best or most significant one) is the motion picture Full Metal Jacket[13], which explores the psychologically dehumanizing effects that the Vietnam war had on the U.S. Marines who fought in it. The film itself features graphic gore and brutality, incidents of intentional friendly fire, prostitution and regular vulgarity, which can be seen in a quote from the text; “You know, half of these gook whores are sworn members of the Vietcong. The other half got TB. Make sure you only fuck the ones who cough.” The above quote is of a Marine who is advising a fellow soldier to only have intercourse with Vietnamese women who have Tuberculosis to ensure that they are not well enough to be Vietcong fighters in disguise. It stands to say that one could assume that any video game (or indeed, any motion picture produced when film was arguably an infantile medium) which contained similar content would be banned or heavily censored with haste, and yet Full Metal Jacket won five awards and was nominated for a further five, including an Oscar award. The success of such a film further helps to demonstrate how censorship of media products tends not to be in the best interest of viewers but rather what society at the time deems acceptable, and as proven above these standards are incredibly malleable.

From this, could one still argue that censorship is the correct course of action when faced with a violent video game, especially as the same game may well be deemed acceptable within a decade? (An example of this being Manhunt 2[14] in the United Kingdom, which was originally banned due to its graphic violence but has since then seen the ban be lifted) As the Nobel Prize winning playwright George Bernard Shaw stated in the preface to his play Mrs. Warren's Profession; “All censorships exist to prevent anyone from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorship.”[15]From Mr. Shaw’s words we can infer that censorship merely acts as a conservative for the norms and values in society at the time, and that boundaries must be pushed, taboo’s explored and naysayers challenged to make any actual progress for not just the Gaming Industry but social norms as a whole. In rebuttal to this however, the British physiologist and author Havelock Ellis argued that “life is liveable because we know that wherever we go most of the people we meet will be restrained in their actions towards us by an almost instinctive network of taboos.”[16] In this sense, censorship (and subsequently the construction of taboos) can be seen as beneficial for members of society as it creates a widely accepted social consensus regarding values which then leads to social cohesion (regardless of if these taboos eventually change or wane).

However, the question remains as to why violence is so prevalent in the gaming medium and more importantly what effect it has on the players that are exposed to it. With regards to its overwhelming frequency in games, we must acknowledge that “violence has been a subject in literature and the arts since the beginning of human civilization.”[17] One could argue that as humans we are intrigued by violence, and it is probable that this fascination “satisfies some basic human needs. The adrenalin rush, the satisfactions of imagination, fantasy, and vicarious adventure, probably explain why millions of nonviolent people enjoy violent entertainment.”[18] In this sense, one could argue that violent games may actually serve to be therapeutic as they provide an outlet for this carnal violent intrigue we all seem to possess. Furthermore, regarding the impact this violence has, it is said that “because the mass media presents violence in so many different ways (news, sports, action movies, cartoons, horror movies, documentaries, war stories with pacifist themes), it is particularly difficult to generalize about its impact. Even social scientists who believe that violent entertainment has adverse effects don't agree on what kinds of violent images or ideas are harmful.”[19]

Still, the rise of suicidal shooting sprees by college students (a notable case being the Virginia Tech shooting of April 2007) seem to have coincided with the gaming habits these killers have; Seung-Hui Cho of the Virginia Tech massacre was an avid Counter Strike[20] player (Counter Strike being the number one first-person shooter available on the PC both by sales and daily hours played by all the players combined). Following Cho’s killing spree the district attorney of Florida, Jack Thompson, claimed that Cho had been ‘trained’ by Counter Strike to kill.[21] However, certain scholars such as Art Carden, a professor at Rhodes College, argue that that the relationship between violent crimes and gaming habits is a correlation rather than a causation, in that “violent video games might actually serve as a substitute for violent crime — that is, people who are likely to commit violent crimes might be able to get their violence "fix" by playing video games instead of committing crimes.”[22]

To conclude, one would find it difficult to argue either which way on such an issue; there are a plethora of conflicting studies and arguments, some that claim that video games act as a catalyst for violent behaviour, while others maintain that there is far from enough conclusive evidence to make such a steep claim. It cannot be ignored that the video game medium has exploded in popularity in recent years, but in its infancy it garners criticism and arguably baseless claims. If I may break the 4^th wall for a moment to speak from personal experience, as a ‘hardcore’ gamer I find that video games act as a sedative of sorts, and help to calm my anger. Virtual acts such as murder and torture are cathartic rather than suggestive, and if I were pushed to decide on a stance on this issue it would be one in support of the view that violence in video games (and all media for that matter) are on the whole harmless, though obviously it does depend on the state-of-mind of the person behind the screen. A violent person who is pushed to commit immoral acts by the games he/she has played could have just have easily been influenced by a violent film or graphic novel, and to that end I find it to be unfair to judge the gaming medium with such scorn.

---

[1] Violent virtual video games and hostile thoughts. (2004, September 1). Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1, 1.

[2] The Entertainment Software Association - Industry Facts. (n.d.). The Entertainment Software Association - Home Page. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://www.theesa.com/facts/index

[3] Nielsen, S., Smith, J. H., & Tosca, S. P. (2008). Video Game Culture. Understanding video games: the essential introduction (p. 138). New York: Routledge.

[4] Duke Nukem Forever (Gearbox Software, 2011, USA)

[5] Bulletstorm (Epic Games, 2011, USA)

[6] Bulletstorm Trailer (Epic Games, 2010, USA)

^[7] Benichou, P. (n.d.). » International Reviews Philippe Benichou Artist Blog. The Art of Philippe Benichou - Original Paintings - Limited Editions - Official Web Site. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://philippebenichou.com/blog/?page_id=150

^[8] Meitcke, W. (1984). William Golding's Lord of the Flies . Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron's.

^[9] Walker, A. (1982). The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

^[10] Hooper, T. (Director). (1986).The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 [Motion picture]. United States: Mgm (Video & Dvd).

^[11] Extra Credits: Facing Controversy (2010, The Escapist Magazine, USA)

[12] ibid

[13] Kubrick, S. (Director). (1987).Full Metal Jacket [Motion picture]. U.S.A.: Warner Home Video.

[14] Manhunt (Rockstar Games, 2007, UK/USA)

[15] Shaw, B. (1893). Mrs. Warren's Profession. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg.

[16] Ellis, H. (1910)

[17] Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries, Appendix A - "A Review of Research on the Impact of Violence in Entertainment Media" (Sept. 2000);

[18] ibid

[19] Jonathan Freedman, Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence (2002).

[20]

[21] MSNBC. (n.d.). Were video games to blame for massacre? - Technology & science - Games - msnbc.com

Retrieved January 31, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228

[22] Video Games and Violence - Art Carden - Mises Daily. (n.d.). Ludwig von Mises Institute - Homepage. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from http://mises.org/daily/3528

Bibliography

Works Cited

Books:

Shaw, B. (1893). Mrs. Warren's Profession. Champaign, Ill.: Project Gutenberg.

Nielsen, S., Smith, J. H., & Tosca, S. P. (2008). Video Game Culture. Understanding video games: the essential introduction (p. 138). New York: Routledge.

Newspapers and Magazines:

Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries, Appendix A - "A Review of Research on the Impact of Violence in Entertainment Media" (Sept. 2000)

Violent virtual video games and hostile thoughts. (2004, September 1). Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1, 1.

Internet:

The Entertainment Software Association - Industry Facts. (n.d.). The Entertainment Software Association - Home Page. Retrieved January 17, 2011, from http://www.theesa.com/facts/index

Benichou, P. (n.d.). » International Reviews Philippe Benichou Artist Blog. The Art of Philippe Benichou - Original Paintings - Limited Editions - Official Web Site. Retrieved January 24, 2011, from http://philippebenichou.com/blog/?page_id=150

Video Games and Violence - Art Carden - Mises Daily. (n.d.). Ludwig von Mises Institute - Homepage. Retrieved January 31, 2011, from http://mises.org/daily/3528

Moving-image texts:

Kubrick, S. (Director). (1987).Full Metal Jacket [Motion picture]. U.S.A.: Warner Home Video.

Bulletstorm Trailer (Epic Games, 2010, USA)

Works Consulted

Books:

Walker, A. (1982). The Color Purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Jonathan Freedman, Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence (2002).

Meitcke, W. (1984). William Golding's Lord of the Flies . Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron's.

Newspapers and Magazines:

Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children: A Review of Self-Regulation and Industry Practices in the Motion Picture, Music Recording & Electronic Game Industries, Appendix A - "A Review of Research on the Impact of Violence in Entertainment Media" (Sept. 2000);

Violent virtual video games and hostile thoughts. (2004, September 1). Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 1, 1.

Internet:

MSNBC. (n.d.). Were video games to blame for massacre? - Technology & science - Games - msnbc.com

Retrieved January 31, 2011, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18220228

Moving-image texts:

Hooper, T. (Director). (1986).The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 [Motion picture]. United States: Mgm (Video & Dvd).

Counter Strike (Valve Software, 2003, USA)

Manhunt (Rockstar Games, 2007, UK/USA)

Extra Credits: Facing Controversy (2010, The Escapist Magazine, USA)

Duke Nukem Forever (Gearbox Software, 2011, USA)

Task 1: Textual Analysis

Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare

Nuclear Explosion Scene

[Note: Skip to 0:24 on the video as I begin to analyse from there, the first several seconds are just gameplay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB-n_8zq9Qo&hd=1

Call Of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare (Which I will herein merely refer to as ‘CoD4’) is a military first-person shooter available for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC and was the highest grossing game of the year on its release. The scene to be analysed occurs midway through the story and is shown from the perspective of Sergeant Jackson, a soldier who the player controls for about 70% of the game up until that point. After having just conducted a search and rescue in a country in the Middle-East, all forces in the area begin to be evacuated due to a nuclear threat. Unfortunately, the bomb is detonated and all of the forces are hit with lethal force. As players, we see this all through Sgt. Jackson’s eyes, even as he draws his last breath.

One of the most striking aspects of this segment is the camera angle, or more so the lack of different-angles; the entire sequence (bar the brief intermission) is viewed through a Point-of-View shot. This ensures that the audience/players feel utterly connected with the character and are able to project themselves on him. Furthermore, throughout the scene the character doesn’t say a single word, which helps to maintain a sense of immersion (and avoids breaking it if the character says something the audience wouldn’t expect him to based on his projected persona).

Another technique employed is the use of tragedy and scope; by showing the death of (until then) the protagonist and making us control him as he crawls in agony, we get a very personal sense of tragedy and sympathise for this soldier (whilst feeling a very real sense of sadness as if a part of us has died). However, in binary opposition to this personal moment is the intermission sequence (which also serves as a covert loading screen) which shows a digital interface scrolling through a substantial list of personnel which are classified as ‘K.I.A’ (Killed in Action) before stopping on the name of our character. Following this, we are instantly thrown back to the scene of the explosion, except now there is silence and colours are in blood-red hues.

By allowing us to control the character as he crawls out of a plane, dying from his wounds, we as players are given a deep sense of tragic and loss, and feel a genuine sense of sorrow.

Cultivation Theory and Hypodermic Model

Cultivation Theory
George Gerbner tried to determine the influence of television on viewers" ideas of the environment they lived in. He found that dominance of TV created a common view of the world and that it homogenized different cultures. TV portrayed the society as a bad place to live in leading to people becoming distrustful of the world. Over time, particular symbols, images, messages, meanings become dominant and are absorbed as the truth. Cultural stereotypes, ways of assessing value and hierarchies are established.

Watching television may influence viewers' ideas of what the everyday world is like. Cultivation research is in the 'effects' tradition. Cultivation theorists argue that television has long-term effects which are small, gradual, indirect but cumulative and significant.

They emphasize the effects of television viewing on the attitudes rather than the behaviour of viewers. Heavy watching of television is seen as ‘cultivating’ attitudes which are more consistent with the world of television programmes than with the everyday world. Watching television may tend to induce a general mindset about violence in the world, quite apart from any effects it might have in inducing violent behaviour.

Hypodermic Model
The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.

Both images used to express this theory (a bullet and a needle) suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver.

The bullet theory graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head". With similarly emotive imagery the hypodermic needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. They express the view that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. There is no escape from the effect of the message in these models.

The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.