Unit A - Conflict and Combat in Computer Games

Introductory Powerpoint Presentation
You should be able to answer these questions based on the content of your first lesson.
Write the answers in a word doc. copy and paste as a comment.
Don't forget to write your name underneath.

1. What is a videogame? State the 5 key elements.
2. Classifying Videogames: what are the 7 classifications?
3. A different way of looking at videogames is the Caillois classification:
Agon = .....................
............... = chance and randomness
Mimicry =......................
.......................... = pleasure derived from movement
4. Ludology and narratology - what's the difference?
5. Why do players play? Ask 3 friends or family members this question.
6. Audiences have given many reasons for playing what were the top 3?
7. Paidea means what?
8. Give an example of such a game.
9. Games that are not defined as paidea are defined as what?
10. Give an example.

B Lesson One

Introduction:

Keyword: Representation
Disney worksheets showing images of Snow White and Cinderella with questions will provide an easy way in to this area. Students will be asked to explain how Disney represented women in their early cartoons by analyzing these 2 images

Area of Study
Representation of conflict as expressed by:
narratives
action
characters


1.Narratives

Keyword: Narrative
What is a narrative and how is this different to a story?
Example text needed for group study
Watch how the game begins as if you were a total newcomer to this game
How is the narrative delivered to the player?
Keyword: Exposition
How does the narrative set up and legitimize reasons for the ensuing conflict?
Is it effective in so doing?

2. Action

What is action?
How is conflict enacted in this game?
Physical: Firearms/Hand to Hand combat/Martial Arts/Other?
Verbal: Do the characters use language to provoke/challenge each other?

3. Characters

Keywords: Protagonist and Antagonist
In what way does who the characters are contribute to the conflict they engage in?
e.g. in a James Bond based game the player may accept the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist
Keyword: Intertextuality
Does the game rely on intertextuality to establish conflict? e.g. If you had never watched a Bond film/the latest Bond film would the game make sense to you as a player?

C Lesson Two

Introduction:

Keywords: Opposition/Juxtaposition/Binary Opposition
Disney worksheets on representation of good versus evil in ‘The Lion King’

Area of Study:

Representation of opposing elements
by gender
race
nationality
character function (hero/villain)

1.Gender
Keyword: Gender
Gender as a social construct - difference between gender and sex
Example game needed
How are the male and female characters represented in this game? Look at:
Character design: facial features, hair, body shape, movement, voice, clothing
Still images of key characters for analysis will be necessary taken from website and printed out or found in a PSII magazine
Role playing: Are the male and female characters in conflict with each other?
Who is given more physical power/agility/intelligence?

2.Race
Analyse the variety of racial groups represented in your game(s)
Character Design: How is race represented through: colour of skin, clothing, voice, hair?
Are the designers using or subverting any racial stereotypes in the game?
Are characters of a certain race designated good or evil?
What fighting qualities does each race possess?

3.Nationality
Is nationality a feature in your game?
If so how does it affect characterization?
Again, look at voice, body shape, hair, role playing

4.Character Function
Regardless of race/gender, group all the heroic characters and villainous characters from your game analyse how they are represented.
Printed images will be necessary again here.

D Lesson Three

Introduction:

Keyword: Emotioneering
Using the secondary text on ‘The Art of Emotioneering’, p.copy necessary sections and go through how a game designer uses the emotions of his audience to create a successful and enjoyable game.

Area of Study:

Representation of competition
winners
losers
rewards
penalties

1 & 2 Winners & Losers
Example game needed
Analyse how you know a character has won in terms of:
Symbols, sound effects, music, text, etc..
What is the effect using each of these techniques?
Repeat for losers.

3.Rewards
Rewards may come after each section of the game/each test/at the end of the game.
How is the player rewarded?
What is your emotional response to each type of reward?

4.Penalties
How are penalties controlled in your game?
Breaking the rules?
Failing a task?
Does your game involved any penalties other than simply having to repeat the level/task again?
What is the emotional response you have to repeating a level/task?
Investigate cheats and shortcuts and why you think these were incorporated into game design?

E Lesson Four

Introduction:
The next 6 lessons will cover the player/audience dimension of this topic. It will be necessary for students to view themselves as researchers and use volunteers to play the games if they are to distance themselves from the gaming experience satisfactorily and critically analyse the range of audience responses.

Keyword: Target audience as defined by
Age
Gender
Socio-economic group
Race
Use the text book sections on audience profiling to investigate this area further.

Area of Study:
Player catharsis and identification

Key word: catharsis using abbreviated version of Aristotle’s ‘The Poetics’. If students are also studying English Lit A-Level there will be a cross over here. Watching the ending of ‘Othello’ or any other tragedy may be helpful in aiding students to understand this more difficult concept.
Example game needed
Analyse how the player/character achieves catharsis in this game.
Practical Task:
Describe in chart form the various stages of a level of a well known game.
Leave a column to the right for inserting heart rate figure
Leave a final column for marking in moment of catharsis.
Look at the various stages provided and mark in where you think the moment of catharsis will occur.
Example:
Level 6 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
Create a table with these headings:
Stage Heart Rate Catharsis
Using a heart rate monitor attached to a guinea pig student who may be a member of the class. Ask the subject to play a level of a game that he is able to complete successfully but which requires some skill/.concentration.
Researcher holds the monitor, assistant writes down the heart rate at the end of each stage.
Observe where the moment of heart rate dip occurs – ie the subject relaxes.Does it tally with the projected moment of catharsis?

F Lesson Five

Introduction: Use the text book to cover the section on different types of meaning so that students can differentiate between the intended response and the actual response to a product and the factors that may cause these variations.

Area of study:
Player experiences, as preferred by game producers
actual experiences in response to game design and issues of representation.

1.Preferred experience
Choose a game
Find the marketing material that accompanies this game, it may be in advertising in magazines, on the back of the game box, on the company website.
How do the producers expect their audience to react to this game?
If possible students should contact the game producers and ask them how various aspects of the game were intended to be received.

2.Actual experience
Choose 3 students from differing age groups/races/social groups if possible to play the chosen game and complete a questionnaire that refers to the aspects of the game you have discussed in ‘Preferred experience’.Compare the various responses and account for any differences,

G Lesson Six

Area of Study:
Audience/critical interpretations.

After the subjects have completed their questionnaires ask them to write a review for the game(s).
Students to find reviews of games from magazines and the internet.
Use the secondary text ‘Case studies of successful interactive games’ p.copy necessary sections.
Students to write an essay comparing audience responses to and interpretations of leading computer games.

H Exam Preparation

Students have now completed all necessary areas of study and should start preparing the 2 exam texts.
Use the framework again from lesson 1-12 with reference to each text.
The emphasis is on comparison.
Students should produce a project on the 2 set texts by the end of the term.

Mock Exam
Any time left should be for revision for the mock exam:

There are two sections to this paper:

Section A (45 marks)
An unseen moving image extract with one compulsory question dealing with textual
analysis of technical aspects of the languages and conventions of moving image medium within the genre of Action/Adventure films

Section B (45 marks)One compulsory question on a comparative study of two texts, in response to conflict and competition in computer games with a focus on representation

Unit B- Foundation Production: The Opening of a Thriller

Research into existing media practice and products

To answer this section you should visit the library and read at least one book on film analysis, noting it’s title and author.
You will also find this site useful:
http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html


Thriller as a genre
Define genre
Define generic conventions
What are the generic conventions of a thriller?
Are there any subgenres within the thriller genre?

H/W Research task:
How has this genre developed in both the mainstream and independent fields over the last 30 years?

H/W Investigating Directors
Choose one of the key directors listed below and prepare a presentation on their work for the class. You should include a brief biography of the director, a filmography, and a detailed analysis of his style illustrated with at least 2 clips from his films.

Key directors include:

Alfred Hitchcock
Fritz Lang
David Fincher
Francis Ford Coppola
Brian De Palma
Quentin Tarrantino
David Lynch
George Cukor
Ridley Scott
Roman Polanski
John Huston
Jonathan Demme
Brian Singer
William Friedkin
Martin Scorsese
Michael Mann
Roger Michell

You will find information on:
http://www.imdb.com/

7. Analysis of an opening sequence

Seven
Use your skills of textual analysis to explain how the opening sequence uses
Sound
Graphics
Font
Mise-en scene
Voice-over
to create an effective opening that complies with the generic conventions of a thriller

H/W The Fugitive
After viewing the opening sequence of The Fugitive, repeat this exercise



Research into target audience

Choose 5 thrillers and find out what certification they are.
Look up the most popular films of the year for the past 5 years in terms of box office and rental popularity.
How many of these are thrillers?
You should find amongst your research reference to ‘The Bourne Identity’, what makes this thriller so popular with such a wide audience?
What conclusions have you reached about the target audience of thrillers?

Planning the Production

Brainstorm your initial ideas for your film

Working Title
Ideas for the plot
Characters
Settings


Finalising the ideas
Write up a detailed plot summary, character profiles and script (if there is to be one).
Describe each location to be used and include digital photographs illustrate suitability.


The storyboard
Draw a final storyboard for the opening sequence of this thriller



The Production Schedule
Using the deadline set for you and the number of lessons allocated to the production, draw up a schedule for organisation, filming, editing and evaluating this product.



Evaluation of the production schedule
How realistic was this schedule?
Which elements took longer/less time than anticipated?
Were any problems encountered in production?
In the future what steps would you take to avoid these?



The Evaluation

Analyse the various elements of your opening sequence
What is communicated by each element?
How successful was each element?
How appropriate was each element to the genre?
Did you draw on any existing films for ideas?
In what ways does your opening sequence appeal to your target audience?

Unit C New Media Technologies

Lesson
1
Intro to New Technology – key issues, key terms, difference between audience & institutional use.
Look at the Internet – exact sites/areas to be decided, could look at personal & institutional use of medium & differences
2
Internet – theoretical arguments about the Internet, who benefits & who doesn’t? Role as central ‘hub’ for other new technologies & convergence
Internet – looking at how the internet acts as a central ‘hub’ for other new technologies, how old media are using new media, look at how sky use their site & links to digital TV
3
Digital TV – What is it? Who uses it? How it links to other technology, issues surrounding medium e.g. audience take up etc…
Film sites – How are films using the Internet? Are independent films/filmmakers using the web? If so how?
4
Digital film & screen tech.- How do people use digital film tech.? Possibilities for various institutions both mainstream & independent. How screen technologies are being used & use of CGI in cinema
DVD’s – How are DVD’s used/sold? What does this technology mean for the viewer? Who benefits from this, audience or institution?
5
Games – hardware & software issues, development of technology, is it audience or institution driven? Amount of money involved, issues of convergence on this field, close study on X-box/PS2.
MP3’s - What is it? How does it work? Technical information about format & problems/advantages with it
6
MP3’s –theoretical issues around MP3’s & ownership, is it an institution developed or audience developed technology? Napster case study & wider issues
Internet research on one new tech/research on AOL & Time Warner merger.
7
AOL & Time Warner – convergence of institutions rather than hardware, what does this mean for the audience? Is it the end of audience choice? Issues & concepts raised by this, highlight problems with merger.
Research into new technology for revision presentation. Groups set particular technology and things to look up to remain focused
8
Presentation of findings & issues raised by this.
Interactive revision session – to be developed as a computer based resource
9
Mock part 1
Mock part 2
10
Summary of course & topics
Feedback on results