Monday, 29 February 2016

Game Blog 1 - Her Story

Game Blog Week 1
Game: Her Story
Question 3: Does your chosen game(s) make user input feel meaningful in terms of story direction and progression? Why or why not?


In the game ‘Her Story’ developed by Sam Barlow you are tasked with watching previously captured interview footage to piece together what you think is a murder mystery but develops into something a lot deeper. Due to how the game is structured (or lack thereof) the order in which events unfold and new information is acquired is entirely determined by the user's input. In my opinion this makes the user input very meaningful because your progression through the game and the direction of the story is 100% player controlled and every player would progress through the game in a different order. Technically to reach the credits you don’t have to watch every video meaning that two different players may play through it and have watched two completely different sets of videos although they are likely to stumble across some key videos as they come up from multiple keyword searches. As well as a story structure this game is also lacking a definitive ending, this means that depending on what videos you watch and how well informed you are you may come to a different conclusion to someone else meaning that different players might have different interpretations/theories about the events described in this game. This is another reason I believe that your input is meaningful in Her Story because different play throughs from different people or even the same person may result in different theories about what actually happened and because the game lacks a definitive ending explaining what did and didn’t happen the players theory is essentially what happened as far as they are concerned.

Sunday, 28 February 2016

Cinematic Project Script

CINEMATIC SCRIPTS

Idea 1:
Version 1
EXT: DARREN HAS JUST COME HOME LATE. SITS ON COUCH AND WATCHES TV.


LONG SHOT: SHOWS DARREN ON COUCH WATCHING TV.


CLOSE UP: TV SCREEN WITH SLIGHT FLICKER/STATIC.


MID SHOT: DARREN ON COUCH. PUZZLED EXPRESSION.


DARREN: (Sighs) What’s going on now?


LONG SHOT: DARREN GETS UP TO TAMPER WITH TELEVISION RECEIVER BOX. COMES BACK TO COUCH.


CLOSE UP: TV SCREEN. STATIC INTENSIFIES. SILHOUETTE BEGINS TO APPEAR ON SCREEN.


CLOSE UP: DARREN LEANS IN TOWARDS TV SCREEN.


DARREN: What the hell is that..?


CLOSE UP: BROADCASTER COMES INTO FOCUS ON TV SCREEN


BROADCASTER: Hello Darren.


ACTION SHOT: DARREN GETS A FRIGHT. JUMPS BACK INTO COUCH.


CLOSE UP: BROADCASTER SPEAKING THROUGH TV SCREEN WITH STUTTERS AND STATIC


BROADCASTER: Such a lovely night isn’t it? You having a good night? I’m having a good night


CLOSE UP: LOOK OF FEAR ON DARRENS FACE. STUMBLES FOR REMOTE AND TURNS OFF TV.


MID SHOT: DARREN SLUMPED ON COUCH BREATHING HEAVILY


CLOSE UP: TV TURNS ITSELF BACK ON. ONLY STATIC ON SCREEN.


CLOSE UP: DARREN LOOKS SURPRISED/AFRAID.


ACTION SHOT: DARREN GETS OFF COUCH AND UNPLUGS TV FROM WALL. TV GOES BLANK.


ACTION SHOT: DARREN SLUMPS BACK  ON TO THE COUCH AND TAKES A DEEP BREATH.


ACTION SHOT: DARREN TURNS TO HIS LEFT AND SEES THE BROADCASTER FROM THE TV.


CLOSE UP: BROADCASTER STARES AND DARREN WITH GIANT SMILE.\


BROADCASTER: Hello Darren.

Thursday, 25 February 2016

Cinematic Ideas

CINEMATIC IDEAS


Basic Idea 1:
Man gets home from work, slumps onto a couch and proceeds to watch tv but programming gets interrupted by an unauthorized broadcast. The figure in the broadcast starts directly addressing the character. The figure begins to question the character about something unnerving. Eventually the character tries to change the channel but the figure is being broadcast on every channel so the character turns off the tv. The character then looks to his side and the figure that was in the tv is now sitting beside him with a freakish smile on his face.


TV Figure aesthetic:
Max headroom inspired
probably work best in 3D
over sized head/mask


Basic Idea 2:
man comes home from work, slumps onto a couch and proceeds to watch tv. He starts watching a violent cartoon and makes a remark that the show is bad. The character in the show is aware of this and starts to address the man directly. the character in the show threatens the man until he turns off the tv. The man then turns and the character is sitting on the couch next to him with a cocked head, freakish smile and a weapon.


Cartoon Aesthetic:
Joker inspired
Large head
cray look on the face
blood covered?
weapon wielding?