Chosen Subject and Word Circles (5/12/2013)

* Unable to pick an idea from last week I decided to talk to my lecturer. He was interested in each of my ideas but, felt the first one, which was about the concept of good and evil in gaming including the discussion of 'Nature over Nurture' was the most concise.
He also gave me a bunch of good examples I could use to help me which include...

• John Stewart Mill  & Jeremy Bentham are people I should read about although their actual writing on Utilitarianism is rather heavy. In fact, the wiki is actually quite good as it explains their findings quite well. Utilitarianism is concerned with how to make the most people happy or how in short ‘for the greater good'. 
• ‘Morality in gaming’ is a good subject to link into the above as numerous good examples can be found online including ‘Moral Decision Making in Fallout’ on Gamestudies.org

* I then watched the presentation 'Word Circles' which describes a technique the lecturer has used with his other students to narrow down their field of research.
The intention of a 'word circle' is that you place a number of words in a circle in order to explore all the possible connections between them.

* We were asked to write down words that related to our chosen subjects.
These relate to my concept idea of 'good and evil in gaming and how it has developed throughout the years'.

• Nature
• Nurture
• Black
• White
• Grey
• Born
• Destiny 
• Connected
• Human
• Instinct 
• Survival 
• Morals
• Hero?
• Villain?
• Anti
• Right?
• Wrong?
• Evolve

In groups of three (me, Ryan and Adam) we told each other our ideas in order to generate further words and ideas for our pieces.
The following were suggested...

• Character
• Personality
• History
• Context
• Tragedy
• Ambiguity
• Balance
• Fate
• Uncanny Valley
• Expectations
• Conflict 
• Appearance
• Illusion
• Trust 
• Archetypes

After doing the above we were told to chose the words we felt best related to our topics. Struggling to limit the words I decided to force myself to choose only twelve, so as to make it more direct.

After doing the above we were then asked to write questions next to them so as to get us to think further about our subjects and the questions we could answer and/or ask our audience.
Admittedly, I struggled with this task, but you can still see what I wrote below.

* Even though I plan to go back and re-do the above questions, we were asked to write down the first brief answers we could come up with for each question.

• Thinking of our existing history, how and why is it adopted and reused to create new characters? We use examples of existing history and tragedy so as to closely mimic what elements of those our audience are most effected by and how we continue to make mistakes based on the same answers as our ancestors.
• Why is it we always believe that good characters must look handsome/pretty whilst the villains ugly/scary? I guess this is because it is easier to show someone is clearly good or evil by setting design archetypes. After all, we still see monsters or big brutish characters as the evil archetypes and heroes as knights in shining armour.
• Why is it we put so much pressure on our fictional heroes when at the end of they day they may well be as human as anyone else? I believe we do this because we are so blinded by hope and our own selfish need to survive, that we forget that they are in many ways like us. Although not initially a video game character, Harry Potter is a great example as he is just a boy who is told constantly that he is destined for greatness. However, to do this puts a tremendous amount of pressure on anyone, especially children.

* We were then asked to take the answers we had come up with in order to develop some new focus questions.

• I believe we do this because we are so blinded by hope and our own selfish need to survive, that we forget that they are in many ways like us. Although not initially a video game character, Harry Potter is a great example as he is just a boy who is told constantly that he is destined for greatness. However, to do this puts a tremendous amount of pressure on anyone, especially children. Therefore, why is it we don't tell these heroes that they can back down? Or pass the torch to someone else? Why is it we can not get of their backs and instead ease them into greatness with encouragement and support, not fear and the need to survive?  

 

• I guess this is because it is easier to show someone is clearly good or evil by setting design archetypes. After all, we still see monsters or big brutish characters as the evil archetypes and heroes as knights in shining armour. So why is it good must look splendid and evil not? Why can it not be seen the other way around in gaming as is the case, and the whole point of the characters in the 'Shrek' movies for example?

* The project itself will need to be 3000 words which is the equivalent of a 20 minute presentation. Therefore, I should think further about the types of questions I wish to address in my work.

* Next week will consist of us forming a research proposal. 

Researching subjects for Context (28/11/2013)

* Today we were expected to have chosen our idea by the end of the session, therefore I went back over my ideas from last week and started to produce a power point presentation in preparation to present my subject before Christmas.

* Looking back at my subjects, I decided to try and combine some so that I covered things I am interested in and to add to the overall possibilities of subjects to write about.

These combined subjects include the following.

• Character development and identity through play as seen in video games and the 'Dungeons and Dragons' pen and paper game. My main focus however, would be on how players relate to one another through the character types we prefer to play as e.g. I like to play as skilled based characters who are heroic, good guys, whereas I know others prefer knowledge or power based characters who, as a result may be more chaotic. And, even if the characters we play as aren't human they may still border within the uncanny valley where they are still human enough to be likeable.

I also thought of a couple of other ideas including...

• The idea of good and evil and how it is presented in video games. How only certain characters could be the different roles and how characters were clearly 'black or white' in the past. Today however, new titles push forward the concept of the 'grey' area including 'The Walking Dead' and 'The Last of Us' with decisions that are human, questionable and yet ones we make as the player and subsequently  have to live by. This topic could then merge into the concept of nature over nurture. I might include the online theory that Mario is in fact the villain and not Bowser and other such examples. I may even wish to include Snake and Liquid from the 'Metal Gear Solid' series who are meant to be cloned twins, one of which has the positive genes and the other  negative, thus I could talk about how this effects them. 

• Somewhat relating to the above, I could discus the gradual progression of story telling in games from 'go save X at Y' to full on scripted stories with budgets sometimes as large as movies as with the case of 'Grand Theft Auto V' (as seen in the example in my Harvard Referencing). In this way I would be showing how the industry has grown and taken bigger steps to tell both the larger in scale stories ('Mass Effect', 'Dragon Age' etc) and produce the most artistic and thought provoking ones as seen in 'Journey' and 'Flower'. Likewise, detailing the games that take risks and decide to tell more mature stories as in 'Persona 4' and 'Catherine'. This topic could then include the above topic on good and evil and therefore, show that characterisation has progressed and became more fleshed out, complicated and interesting.

* With so many subjects to choose from which grab my interest, I have decided to think more about them over the weekend in order to decide which one to work on.

Harvard Referencing:

• Tasarra, T, N (2013) The Most Expensive Video Games. Available at: http://www.forevergeek.com/2013/10/the-most-expensive-video-games/ (Accessed: 28/11/2013).

Planning our projects (21/11/2013)

* For this session we looked over the brief for next term's project in order to plan out what subject we wished to talk about.
As for the project itself, we could write it either in blog form during each step of our progress or, in the way I plan to do which is a traditional written paper. 

* Alongside the written project we are also expected to keep an in depth blog of all our findings throughout the course. So I need to make sure to make my blogs as detailed as possible in future.

* It was advised that whatever subject we pick it should reflect what we do and what we feel we specialise in. Thus I will choose a subject that matches my narrative and character development.

* As I had already informed my lecturer, I was planning to write about the importance of play as it brings families together through shared interactions, and even helps the individuals playing to identity with the characters and discover important life lessons.

My lecturer however, advised that I look at more subjects before making a final choice. Knowing already that I don't wish to cover sexuality, gender or ethnicity, I therefore decided to make a list as seen below.

• My initial idea on the subject of play, could include my experience playing video games with my siblings, father and now niece. Also, it could include the experiences of a modern day father who I have spoken with who plays mature games with his son who takes the subject matter seriously and asks the important questions of how, what and why? I could even ask the mother I know in BA if she has had any similar experiences with her daughter. I may want to use video game examples that encourage play such as the Lego games and world renown video game developer Tim Schafer's 'Sesame Street' game which he made so he would finally have a game he could play with his own child. Maybe I could include how Disney films, traditionally watched by children have been included in a series called 'Kingdom Hearts' where the player travels to each film's world and interacts with their favourite characters. I could then go into the subject of fun and how through enjoying play we are more interested in the subject matters brought up. Further more, I could then go into 'Dungeons and Dragons' and how we take our own experiences of play and incorporate it into the groups of people we play with. Finally, I could reference animals as play is an important aspect of their lives as well. 

• Continuing from the 'Dungeons and Dragons' idea, I could talk about identity and how we portray ourselves during life and play. Which persona's we put on to deal with certain situations and what character types we relate to and play the most. I could use the actor Vin Diesel as an example as he used a 'Dungeons and Dragons' character he played as a boy in order to bring to life his Riddick character in the movie of the same name.  

• The uncanny valley could be a good subject to write about because then I could describe why we are afraid of what is different and how we relate to certain individuals more than others. I could then go into depth about video game characters that we connect to through their actions often more than their words as they develop as the game goes on. For example, Dog the robot from 'Half Life', Aigis the android from 'Persona 3', Okami the wolf from 'Okami' and so on. Further more, this uncanny valley  could also relate to PS1 character models that, although were blocky with some basic textures on them, still made players identity with the characters and relate to them. This is similar to my recent experience with 'Metal Gear Solid' on the PS1 that ended up being my favourite in the series and had a style that I liked since my imagination filled in the blanks where the graphics couldn't.

• Character development through the years in video games could be an option, as I could discus what video games in the past did to make players relate to the characters e.g. based them on movie stars. Also how video games are pushing even further with their character development, personalities and choices they make, all of which constitute to their overall human personalities. With this I could use both human and non human examples as well as characters from video games that are out dated such as Duke Nukem. Also, characters who have no real human personalty and completely change to suit the story, not a natural progression as seen with perhaps the character from 'Indigo Proficiency' Carla who changes drastically at the end of the game. Good examples could include Lee from 'The Walking Dead' game and nearly the entire cast of 'Persona 4'. Yes, I would use the characters from 'Persona 4', again as they are just so well developed and designed. Mo-cap acted characters could also be talked about as they are performed by real actors.

 
Since all the above relate in one way to another with narrative, character development and/or play, my lecturer suggested that I look up existing examples of these topics so as to get a clearer idea of what I wish to talk about.

* As a note to myself, I may wish to use the video game related books I have at home in order to help me develop my project as I have subjects on both narrative and play. 
I may even wish to use the following picture as it brings up some fun examples.

* Our lecturer would like us to have chosen a concept by next session and will be looking at our blogs at the end of term. However, he will not be grading them yet so I don't need to worry too much about this. Instead I can focus on adding the things I wanted to.

Harvard Referencing:

• Conover, S (2012) Stuff I learned From Video Games [Online Image]. Available at: http://www.civin.org/wp/stuff-i-learned-from-video-games/ (Accessed: 21/11/2013).

Watching 'Solaris' (14/11/2013)

Today we watched the movie 'Solaris' which, although had some interesting points, I found first off to be just ok. However, when I thought about it more I felt as if I didn't like it at all.

The plot had a shrink named Chris who traveled to a space station that Earth had lost contact with. His task, was to assess the crew's behavior and find out why they were acting weirdly. However, Chris soon discovers that the crew bring to life people in their thoughts whenever they sleep and that they soon take a physical form. Thus the movie asks the question, who is real and who isn't? 

Even with this interesting plot, I felt as if the movie didn't go anywhere and that the things it brought up never resolved themselves. The cinematography and direction also weren't that good, as it had far too many lingering shots of characters doing nothing and film that didn't need to be in there. Thus for a hour and a half movie it felt as if it dragged the whole way through.
George Clooney, as the main character was a good actor as usual, but the rest of the cast varied from good to bad as was the case with the actress who played Chris's wife. Granted, this could have been the intended direction as she's meant to be one of his creations and thus her behavior appears unusual.

The thing is, I'm always up for interesting thought provoking plots, as is the case with one of my favourite movies 'Inception', the ending to which made both the audiences I watched it with sigh audible when the tension was over. However, for a movie to be thought provoking it needs to keep your interest. Thus, since 'Solaris' was, in my opinion boring with nothing happening it merely made the experience of watching feel a waste of time, plus it seemed a waste of a good plot.
I wonder if the original movie it is based on does a better job of conveying the plot without the movie trying to be arty as the recent one does.
Though don't take my words to mean that all movies without action are boring. There are many great movies that only involve dialogue, but it is between interesting and well rounded characters as is the case with many of Hitchcock's movies, especially 'Rope' in which the whole film comprises of many static shots that work because it holds tension and keeps its focus on the characters who are talking, something that 'Solaris' frequently forgets to do .   

"Is this the Real Life? Is this Just Fantasy?" (7/11/2013)

* Today we listened to our last presentation before going onto the topic we wish to write about. The presentation itself was known as "Is this the Real Life? Is this Just Fantasy?" Lacan, Desire, Fantasy and Visual Media.

* As the ideas being brought up today are quite complex and heavy, our lecturer decided to go through his thoughts within the presentation to make it easier.

* Jacques Lacan was a philosopher whose works were published in the 1950's and 60's. His ideas were similar to Sigmund Freud's who of course thought that sons had better relationships with their mothers through an attraction/desire and the want to destroy their fathers, and vice versa for daughters and fathers.

* The mirror stage, is otherwise known as the important stage when a child realises a reflection in the mirror is them. It is said that we don't remember our birth as it must be a very stressful time for us since we go from a secure darkness not even knowing what we are, to a bright outside alien world in which we are frightened of our own hands as we don't as yet realise they are part of our bodies. Eventually, children find out that other people have bodies, therefore they should have a body. Contact is the first step of a relationship at this early age as the child can not talk and does not have a understanding of the mother that holds them. Eventually the ego is born, a personality that makes us concerned for ourselves and our appearance. This forms within eighteen months to three years as it varies from child to child since dyslexia and/or other disorders can affect this stage.

* We eventually project/reflect ourselves in our own way, as people are generally self conscious about how they appear to others depending on their thoughts. Although, at times we deliberately dress to go against what is expected of us/our cultural expectations e.g. not going to school in our uniform or dressing up as a punk/goth.

* "When the subject speaks he is, unbeknownst to himself, merely 'spoken'" (Zizek, 2006, p.40). For example, we desire fancy things such as fast cars due to the majority of individuals who may like that brand of car. It is also a case that we desire more than we have or don't have. After all, desire can never be truly quenched as nearly anything you buy will never live up to your fantasy e.g. that car you may want could end up being uncomfortable and then on top of that you have to spend more money to maintain and fuel it. 

* The 'big other' includes the following ideologies and controls and defines in a way, what we are 'allowed' to do, whether we are conformists or transgressives.

• God.
• Religion.
• Sociologically defined 'order' ('rules').
• A grand narrative, that which orders our lives.
• The 'symbolic space' within which we dwell.

* We were then shown a clip from 'Star Wars' where Luke is learning to control the Force, but Han doesn't believe in it. Han says that he doesn't believe in a 'big other' which controls his destiny and that it's all based on luck. Han maintains he only cares about money and surviving. However, Han is controlled by cultural and societal 'big others' as his want for money leads him to buy things which results in him needing more money.

* It is said, that because of restrictions from the law, we are more likely to break it. For example, people shoplift sometimes in order to break out of the system even if it means stealing simple/cheap things that they don't really need. 

* We then watched the trailer for 'Fight Club' in which the character in that movie wants to break out of the mold by taken part in fighting for cash. Before he does this however, he was stuck in a boring office job and thinking about what furniture best described his personality. Though as a friend of mine brought up, you don't own the furniture, the furniture owns you.
This is similar in a way to the movie 'Eyes Wide Shut' were the wife in the movie wishes to relive her sexual desires that she has told her husband about, whereas the husband wants revenge on these imaginary desires. 

*We treat others in the same way we want to be treated by them. However, we are then treating them in the same way that our 'big other' wants. After all, we are objects and subjects, therefore desire is fulfilled in both directions.

* The Inhuman qualities include the following.

• Human - Rational, sentient - Represses 'inhuman' (repressed human) instincts. 
• Non-human madness - To be gripped by 'animal' instincts. 
• Inhuman madness - to be gripped by repressed human instincts (this can be collective).

* 'fantasy serves as the screen that protects us from being overwhelmed by the raw real.' Slavoj Zizek. After all, dangerous desires can be satisfied safely through fantasy e.g. the internet instead of real life. It doesn't make bad things acceptable of course but, at least it doesn't then occur to others in real life.

* Our lecturer discussed his own thoughts on how we enjoy playing video games and killing people in them because we know they are not real and this acts as a means of relaxation since it's escapism. Also, we can take out our inner most desires and annoyances during video games as the characters in them aren't real, thus making it more contained and healthy e.g. a channel for transgression.
I understand what he means as, sometimes all you want to do is relax and not be bogged down by real life, things that otherwise get you down. Thus having the option to cause destruction in awesome or wacky ways can be a good stress reliever. I know this wouldn't be acceptable in real life, but it's a more healthier way of taking out stress or aggression in a controlled environment and a parallel reality.

* Overall, a very fascinating subject that I wish to look into further.