exam tips

1. Don't bother writing out the question
2. Don't bother writing long introductions to your essays
3. Get stuck into using MICRO language
4. Cover ALL of the MICRO features
5. State that the MICRO features such as mise-en-scene, sound, editing, camera work COMBINE to construct characters. Nothing in TV Drama is left to chance. Set designs, costumes, hair make-up, all combine to tell the audience something about the character. It is your job to state what that something is.
6. Don't forget MIGRAIN. the key concepts are still relevant
7. Must state that the MICRO features combine to give a representation of gender, class etc...
8. Must then argue whether the representations in the extract are fair and accurate or stereotypical, offensive, unfair...

exam feedback

MICRO elements - mise-en-scene (costume etc..)

- camera work (mid-close-up, tracking shot/reverse shot

- diagetic - natural (if the character can hear it it is still diagetic)

- non diagetic (not natural)

- editing - fast paced, jump cut



CLASS - the characters are not real! they are construction or a representation

Are the representions fair and accurate?

Essay writing

basically - how do videogames target audiences.



film to games - representation of the film accurately into the game, would attract a viewer audience. issues of copyright and mis-representation would be raised.

violence, high levels of violence attract young male players, raises the issues of social effects of videogames - gta series has raised numerous issues in cases of violence in the real world

advertising, the correct advertising can be used to target different audiences. the issue might be of stereotypical effects of women in the industry or for issues of ethnicity and disability - gta 'cherry' m ade by rockstar.

role models, if a role model character is used in a game people may wish to play it. the issue is finding a role model that is morally right in the socail world but still entertaining. - lara croft - made by core design

high action would attract an audience. the issue

the content of the game could attract different people e.g different game play - racing, shooting, action, if all included would attract a wider audience of players, the issue may be of people not liking the majority of the game if it is different from example the shooting fanatics May not like the racing segments of the game.

the story line is essential to attracting audiences but cut scenes or un realisticity may be the issue for some gamers if it is too real or not enough escapism



discuss MIGRAIN at the begining.

BBFC - certficate rating institution.

department of culture, media and sport, DCMS, publishes reports - read the first two paragraphs to get the summary.

game designers, - issues ; demographics (age, gender, social habbits)

distributers,

console developers,

explain how to launch a new game? - advertising campaings - online, press, TV, what images are they going to protray. slogos

issues of videogames:

sex

violence

bad language,





how do people play the game - online, multiplayer, solo, what technologies are they comfortable with.

issue - what console is the game going to be released on? will it be cross platforms? registration

fees
marketing campaign
is there an online gaming community set up or encourages by the publishers to download cheats, hints, tips or downloadable content., like a forum for players to feed into to or off of.
addiction - influence is another issue

media terms

sandboxgames - free-roaming games like GTA 4; second life; sandbox gaes effectively never end and therfore encourage immersion / flow.

goal-orientated narratve - most games have some goal; it may be to earn money, save the princess or compkete various levels/miossions. it is the completion of of these goals that motivates the gamer
GTA 4 is goal orientated narrative - missions also is a sandbox game with 'sub-mission' so you can decide on the goals

Immersion - the state when the gamer is immersed within the game; the gamer is totally absorbed by the game.

Flow - links with immersion; the flow of the game is not interupted in sandbox games which encourages immersion.

Cutscenes - the film-like bits of a game that set the scene at the begining and introduce new missions or tasks. cut scenes can really anoy gamers as they interupt immersion and flow.

Important industry stuff:
The big players in the video games industry:

• Rockstar games - GTA series
• Electronic Arts (EA) - Sports games and others
• Bungie - lara croft
• Microsfoft - X-BOX
• Sony - Playstation
• Nintendo - WII

the development of videogames:

MMORPG - massively multiplayer online role-playing game,

this is a very popular game trend at the moment, it allows gamers to interasct with other game players around the world, and with the rise of social web users on sites such as facebook, bebo and myspace the gameing designers must take note of the current social trend.

generated content - adding game content by users, posts on blogs, online forums etc...

should game companies be sued for promoting violence?

what do the BBFC do?

BBFC - the independent regulator of the film and video industry in the UK. classifications

should they have more/greater powers.

audience and instituions

section B: 'audiences and institutions' - video game questions

stuff we need to know:

ideology - difference between ideology and representation

social class pyramid - classification of social groups ; ABC1 etc...

essay planning & MIGRAIN

representation in videogames:

• The role of women in games - passive objects, games are male centred , the main character is often male e.g GTA


• Women are often prizes in videogames: - donkey Kong - Mario - Zelda {{damsels in distress throughout games, films and television}}


• in Call of duty women are excluded form the gameplay even though there is many women in the miltiary sevices.


• videogames suggest that women are inferior - they need saving by men - they are passive and do not control the action e.g. in GTA the women are strippers and prostitutes. in GTA the character of Xherry is a prize of Nico when he has completed missions and built up money.

Ideology is a system of beliefs or values held by an individual or by SOCIETY. dominant ideologies are reinforced by the mainstream media. - NOAM CHOMSKY: said that the media is there to serve the ruling class; to reinforce their system of beliefs foe example in GTA four:

• women are passive


• women are objectified reinforced by Nuts or Loaded magazine.

representation of masculinity in videogames:

'hyper-masculinity' - massive over sized muscles; fearless fighters, cold hearted killers; drug dealers... 'Hereos????' or 'anti-Heroes'

representation of race / ethnicity:

In GTA four the main character is an Eastern European gangsters (china town triads) there is also little Jacob who is a jamacian drug dealers.

Are the representations a fair portrayal of real life???

Representations of disability

project one

Project one – videogames

Tasks
1) Draw up a list of the games being released in the UK in 2009.
2) Categorise each game from the editors pick section of the Games Spot web site into generic categories (e.g. shoot-em-up, role play football…)
3) Choose o of the games and try to gather as much information as you can on the game.

1)
From the games spot web site there is a list of games being released in the UK this year:
o Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - DS
o Wheelman - X360 PS3 PC
o Don King Boxing - WII DS
o Wanted: Weapons Of Fate – X-BOX 360 PS3 PC
o The Godfather II - X-BOX 360 PS3 PC
o Legends of Wrestlemania – X-BOX 360 PS3
o Football Academy – DS
o Monsters vs. Aliens - X360 PS3 PC DS WII PS2


The action games are:
o Wanted: Weapons Of Fate
o Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown wars
o Wheelman
o The Godfather II


The sports games are:
o Football Academy
o Don King Boxing
o Legends of Wrestlemaia

The sci-fi game is:
o Monsters vs. Aliens



I have decided to investigate the release of the game Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a video game for the Nintendo DS. It is the thirteenth game in the Grand Theft Auto series and the fourth released on a Nintendo console, after Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2 for the Game Boy Color and Grand Theft Auto Advance for the Game Boy Advance.
China.

Ownership
Chinatown wars is a game developed by Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Leeds (formerly Mobius Entertainment) is an English video game developer. Based in the city from where the name was taken, Rockstar Leeds has primarily published handheld games for Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance , as well as Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition and the Grand Theft Auto Stories series for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Founded in 1997 by Gordon Hall (president), Jason McGann, Dave Box, Justin Johnson and Ian Bowden, the company consists of 75 game designers and game programmers. In April 2004, the company was acquired by Rockstar Games and renamed Rockstar Leeds. Rockstar games is one of the biggest vidogame producers in the market. It is a world wide organization comprising of over ten different branches over th world ranging from Japan across Europe and America. It also publishes games designed from external companies, for example, it has published the game Oni designed by Bungie. Rockstar has produced and published all of the Grand Theft Auto series or games and others like midnight club and Max Payne.

Convergence
The Nintendo DS has now online capabilities alongside the wireless unit in built to allow players to interact and play with other DS owners within a short distance of each other. The DS now has WI-FI capabilities to allow people to play online, download upgrades and additional features are available between two or more friends what have exchanged friend codes.
However, for Chinatown wars there is no online co-operation gameplay but the game uses the Rockstar Games social club. This is an online forum for players to upload statistics and cheats for other players to see.

Technologies
The latest instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series has reverted back to the old style of gameplay seen in t5he first and second games of the series. It has reverted back to the ‘birds eye view’ format of game play. As there is two screens on the platform DS it allows the top screen to be solely based on the text of the game and leaves the bottom screen to control the character I the text. One of the unique selling points of the game is the additional ‘sub-game’ where the controlled charcter can sell up to six different drugs around the city, where Players can make a profit by recognizing market conditions and demands based on geography and other drug dealers.

Globalization
The game, because of its unique game control layout means it is exclusive to the Nintendo DS as it has the capabilities and technology to allow the game to be played. The Nintendo DS is owned by Nintend, this is one of the biggest console developers at the moment. It is based in japan and has released many other consoles, including the Nintendo Wii and Gameboy series.

4)

friday 27th march notes

cut scene - when your playing a game and then it cuts to a video associated with the action in the game.

OLED television wont hit mainstream for several years. its new , thin brighter with sharper images. display red, green and blue pixels. when you move to the side or above it shows the same image unlike the other televisions. organic pixels so there is no light in the back of the screen so the screen is 3mm at the most. costs a lot of money. is already used on Sony MP3 players, very small screens. advantage, for cameras is that they are used ion the screen so the sunlight cant 'wash out' the image. smarter and clearer images. flexible OLED is available to wear round wrists, clothing may be made from this. OLED screens are transparent so may be used for windows around the home. close future, can be used for lights on the ceilings and on the walls.
this relates to video games as the realism of the games is improving , the technologies are progressing and our normal screens will hold the progression back.

Tom Clancy - hawk
metaplace. evolution form second life game, missions can be undertaken in worlds in the game set up by other players
second life - there is current arguments in academic circles as the game they think shouldn't be classed as a game as there are no rules or missions but there is an avatar.


resident evil 5 is 18.
go into goggle and find a story news or web where video games have been blamed for violence, murder, death or robbery
what occur ed, the video game responsible and the action taken

FAYETTE, Ala. - A 20-year-old whose lawyers claimed the video game “Grand Theft Auto” and childhood abuse caused him to kill three small-town police officers was convicted Tuesday of capital murder.

The jury deliberated for just over an hour before convicting Devin Moore.

Jurors were to return Wednesday to begin the sentencing phase. Moore could face the death penalty.

Defense lawyers had partly blamed Moore’s actions on the hours he spent playing video games from the “Grand Theft Auto” series, in which players shoot police officers and steal cars.

defense lawyer Jim Standridge reminded them that Moore, after his arrest, told police, “Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime.”

he was taken to the police station for booking a stolen auto charge when he took on of the police mans guns and shoot two policemen and a radio operator and then fleed in a police patrol car.



class 18
torture,
assult on children,
strong language,
red blood,
dismembered body parts,
animal violence,
rape,
illegal drug use,
sexual abuse,
graphic murder