Remediation is argued as a defining characteristic of the new digital media.
The spectrum of ways new media remediates old media is characterized by a spectrum ranging from Immediacy to Hypermediacy.
Immediacy: Media that aspires to a condition of transparency. The aim is to make the viewer forget that they are watching a film/cinematic using means of photo-realistic images and immersive virtual reality as an example.
Hypermediacy: Artefacts that are aware of and wish to display their own constructed nature. They call attention to their own constructed nature all the time using means of the world wide web and computer game user interfaces as an example.
Remediation can refer to a range of conventions, we can find examples of aesthetic conventions being traded between different media. Photorealism as an example of immediacy is not used to preserve to medium of photography. The same can be said of Hypermediacy, it's not the aesthetic preserve of the world wide web, but picked up by television and news stories.
Remediation takes place when it may take time for a new medium to develop unique content, such as games and video and other media.
Thursday 29 March 2012
Task: Narrative & Games.
Chris Crawford on Storytelling
Stories must have a strong structure, they must satisfy tight structural requirements to be acceptable. A good example of this is described below, with the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
- Protagonist is the Spider.
- Conflict is the Rain.
- Struggle is being Washed down the Drain.
- Resolution is Crawling back up the Drain.
- Moral is Perseverance.
Crawford goes on to give six lessons in storytelling.
Lesson #1: Stories are complex structures that must meet many hard-to-specify requirements.
- Stories are about People, not Things.
- Sometimes the reference to people is Indirect or Symbolic. An example of this is the Lord of the Rings, the story is not about the ring, but Frodo's struggle.
- Games fail at storytelling because games are about Things and not People.
Lesson #2: Stories are about the most fascinating thing in the universe, People.
- All stories have conflict.
- Sometimes conflict is direct and violent, or social and symbolic.
- There's ALWAYS conflict.
- Games have many types of conflict, like violence, but lack other forms, like social conflict.
- Stories are not Puzzles, Puzzles can often form a part of stories.
- Stories always contain problems or challenges, how is the protagonist to resolve the conflict of the story.
Lesson #3: Puzzles are not a necessary component of stories.
- Stories contain choices that characters have to make.
- Stories build up to revolve around a key decision.
- Stories contain spectacle, and provide a novel experience.
- Spectacle is not a necessary component of story.
Lesson #4: Spectacle does not make stories.
- Visual thinking.
- Culture is increasing dominated by the visual image.
- Does a visual representation describe more than the writing itself?
Lesson #5: Visual thinking should not dominate storytelling.
- Spatial thinking.
- Spatial reasoning is one of the brain's greatest achievements.
- Spatial factors are not included in literature, but can it be?
- Within a story, spatial relationships can seem unimportant.
Lesson #6: Stories take place on stages, not maps.
- Temporal Discontinuity.
- Actors are shown to embark on a journey and reach the destination, the time the journey itself takes is skipped over.
- Dramatic time doesn't behave like physical time; it follows whatever course the story requires.
This article greatly helped me in my creative writing, and has spurred and intent to write more than I may have in the past.
Stories must have a strong structure, they must satisfy tight structural requirements to be acceptable. A good example of this is described below, with the Itsy Bitsy Spider.
- Protagonist is the Spider.
- Conflict is the Rain.
- Struggle is being Washed down the Drain.
- Resolution is Crawling back up the Drain.
- Moral is Perseverance.
Crawford goes on to give six lessons in storytelling.
Lesson #1: Stories are complex structures that must meet many hard-to-specify requirements.
- Stories are about People, not Things.
- Sometimes the reference to people is Indirect or Symbolic. An example of this is the Lord of the Rings, the story is not about the ring, but Frodo's struggle.
- Games fail at storytelling because games are about Things and not People.
Lesson #2: Stories are about the most fascinating thing in the universe, People.
- All stories have conflict.
- Sometimes conflict is direct and violent, or social and symbolic.
- There's ALWAYS conflict.
- Games have many types of conflict, like violence, but lack other forms, like social conflict.
- Stories are not Puzzles, Puzzles can often form a part of stories.
- Stories always contain problems or challenges, how is the protagonist to resolve the conflict of the story.
Lesson #3: Puzzles are not a necessary component of stories.
- Stories contain choices that characters have to make.
- Stories build up to revolve around a key decision.
- Stories contain spectacle, and provide a novel experience.
- Spectacle is not a necessary component of story.
Lesson #4: Spectacle does not make stories.
- Visual thinking.
- Culture is increasing dominated by the visual image.
- Does a visual representation describe more than the writing itself?
Lesson #5: Visual thinking should not dominate storytelling.
- Spatial thinking.
- Spatial reasoning is one of the brain's greatest achievements.
- Spatial factors are not included in literature, but can it be?
- Within a story, spatial relationships can seem unimportant.
Lesson #6: Stories take place on stages, not maps.
- Temporal Discontinuity.
- Actors are shown to embark on a journey and reach the destination, the time the journey itself takes is skipped over.
- Dramatic time doesn't behave like physical time; it follows whatever course the story requires.
This article greatly helped me in my creative writing, and has spurred and intent to write more than I may have in the past.
Task: Gender & Games.
Segregation in the Games Industry
The games industry is made up of many different specialities including development, production, design, level design, audio design, art, etc. I has been reported that the UK games industry has over 9000 employee's and the percentage of women in core senior roles is just 6.9%. It has become apparent that over the years, the industry is losing it's appeal to a more diverse workforce.
The games industry is made up of many different specialities including development, production, design, level design, audio design, art, etc. I has been reported that the UK games industry has over 9000 employee's and the percentage of women in core senior roles is just 6.9%. It has become apparent that over the years, the industry is losing it's appeal to a more diverse workforce.
Horizontal and Vertical gender segregation is said to exist within the games industry. Vertical segregation represents the difference between the numbers of men and women in a senior roles within the industry.
It has been said that women are more likely to be represented at the senior levels in some areas due to the increasing number of women in those areas. This suggests that there is both Horizontal and Vertical segregation within the industry.
- Table: The percentage of men and women in each job description within the gaming industry.
The majority of women in the games industry seem to work in managerial, administrative, marketing and public relation roles. Due to the lack of women in other roles, women have little voice in the content and production of games.
Task: Games Britannia - Monopolies & Mergers.
In this episode, historian Benjamin Woolley goes on to trace the cultural and political impact games have had on britain over the past 200 years. It was the British that developed the idea of a board game as a way of moral instruction and exported it to America, where it was adapted to promote the dream of free enterprise and economic success.
Woolley explores many of the classic games which formed part of teaching, before turning into games of entertainment and social prowess.
He starts by looking at a game called The Mansion of Bliss, which was used to entice children to attend schooling. This was later imitated by a game called Mansion of Happiness (from the USA), in the 1890's which was a game of chance.
I'll list a few others that were described briefly:
- Chequered Game of Life, in which your moves may be relevant, or echo those made in real life.
- Pank-A-Squith, a game in which the aim is to get a suffragette woman into parliament.
- Brer Fox & Brer Rabbit, a game created in 1913 about land tax which created political discussion between the players, aimed at families.
- The Landlords Game, the american version of Brer Fox, which later transformed into a basic form of Monopoly by Elizabeth McGee Philips.
Carrying on with Monopoly subject, here's a fun fact... Monopoly sets were sent to prisoners of Colditz, containing hidden maps, files and compasses to aid escape during the war.
- Cluedo, developed during the Blitz and devised by solicitors, was originally called Murder. Later taken to the USA, a dislike was taken to the character Reverend Green, so was renamed Mister Green.
Woolley went on to trace the development of board games, some of which, like Monopoly and Cluedo are still today's family favourites. Board games have evolved to include fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons, however most mainstream games designers have joined the digital games revolution.
Woolley explores many of the classic games which formed part of teaching, before turning into games of entertainment and social prowess.
He starts by looking at a game called The Mansion of Bliss, which was used to entice children to attend schooling. This was later imitated by a game called Mansion of Happiness (from the USA), in the 1890's which was a game of chance.
I'll list a few others that were described briefly:
- Chequered Game of Life, in which your moves may be relevant, or echo those made in real life.
- Pank-A-Squith, a game in which the aim is to get a suffragette woman into parliament.
- Brer Fox & Brer Rabbit, a game created in 1913 about land tax which created political discussion between the players, aimed at families.
- The Landlords Game, the american version of Brer Fox, which later transformed into a basic form of Monopoly by Elizabeth McGee Philips.
Carrying on with Monopoly subject, here's a fun fact... Monopoly sets were sent to prisoners of Colditz, containing hidden maps, files and compasses to aid escape during the war.
- Cluedo, developed during the Blitz and devised by solicitors, was originally called Murder. Later taken to the USA, a dislike was taken to the character Reverend Green, so was renamed Mister Green.
Woolley went on to trace the development of board games, some of which, like Monopoly and Cluedo are still today's family favourites. Board games have evolved to include fantasy games like Dungeons and Dragons, however most mainstream games designers have joined the digital games revolution.
Task: La Decima Vittima.
La Decima Vittima (The Tenth Victim) is an Italian film produced in 1965, in which wars/disagreements are generally avoided by allowing those with violent tendencies to partake in The Big Hunt. The Hunt is a global form of entertainment, which attracts those looking for fame and fortune. The Hunt includes ten rounds for each person, five as the Hunter and five as the Victim. The survivor of the ten rounds becomes extremely wealthy and can retire from the games.
The film revolves around a hunter and his/her victim, the romance and the mind games between, whilst the rules and justification for the games are being narrated.
The film follows a Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress), a huntress, and her tenth victim-to-be, Marcello Poletti (Marcello Mastroianni). Poletti is relucatant to kill Meredith, as he is not sure whether she is a hunter or not. Later, a romance ensues between the two, but Meredith has just been out to get the perfect kill in-front of the cameras.
I quite enjoyed this film, it made me think about the current public assassin games, such as StreetWars where people are silently made targets by chosen attackers and squirted with water guns to mark their kill.
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Task: British Museum Trip.
Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this trip due to financial reasons.
Tutor's aware.
Tutor's aware.
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