BAF Game

Getting a free bag and T-shirt from Bradford Animation Festival was a good start to the event at Bradfords National Media Museum which included lectures from developers from big hitting gams like Halo:Reach, Red Dead Redemption, Disneyland Adventures and Animals the Kinect game. The event kicked off for our group when we got through the door and right inside were machines with all the old arcade games on them like pong and asteroids, which we all had goes on, then not long after the first lectures started then the most impressive part of the whole event in my opinion started up, a facial software developer (Jay) from america who uses and developed the program faceware from Image Metrics gave his talk and demonstration on how the program works, i was amazed at how much he got done and how he did it using this new software and especially how easy it looked to be. Other events on day 1 were; a lecture on the program Unity, Carlton Reeve: Play with Learning and The Animal Kingdom and the Magical Kingdom all of which were interesting and different.

Other talks at BAF were on ipad games and how they became successful, how hard the little things are in the game Disney Land and also how lucky a small company can get by having a chance to work with Disney Studios, also how employees work and behave in the workplace, all very interesting stuff but i was still mostly impressed by the facial capture and manipulation software from faceware because they have had their work featured in many of the games i have played and thus makes it more personal to me as i have had my life changed by the stories and characters in these games and when i get to meet a member of a team of people who have influenced my life in such a big way i think instantly they have an advantage in my personal opinion.

I was at the midnight launch for Call of Duty Modern Warefare 3 the day which BAF game was on, i was extremely tired on the trip day but still managed to enjoy and take in a lot of information presented at the lectures. This nay have contributed to me not feeling well enough to go to BAF day 2 as well as the massive cold i had just caught, i heard from other people who went to it that BAF day 2 was really good too and am sorry to have missed it. There were things like motion capture workshops, panorama, student films and panel discussions on day 2 of BAF which all from what i have read on the website and other peoples blogs sound good.

Tutorial Video Storyboard

For the digital film part of this course we have been started off with making a 1 min instructional video of whatever we wanted as long as it explains and teaches someone how to do what you are showing them to do. I went for comedy immediately because i have always been told and thought that making a film sequence is easy but making something funny now thats hard. I decided to call my 1 min video 'How to shoot two pistols while jumping through the air' and i bet you cant guess what it teaches you to do... anyway i was surprised to find that this is a project which i thought i would enjoy the least but actually enjoyed probably the most in terms of creating the imagery for the piece, this is because i did exactly what i wanted to do and had a lot of fun learning how to work a camera and manage time, write a storyboard, find  actors and all the other things that come with managing a produced digital film.

This is the initial storyboard i drew as i thought about what my film might look like when it is finished.

COD Midnight Launch

As a personal interest i went to the midnight launch for the game Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, i have begun more and more attending midnight launches because firstly it gives a unique and interesting experience, secondly there are behind the scenes exclusive content which may even contribute to my understanding in the game arts and developers techniques so i consider it a win win to go to midnight launches not only for the fun of it, the fun of the games, but also for the things i may learn at these as well.

The book that came with the special edition of the game (also a great thing to buy as suggested by mike) is one of the best things about special edition sets as you again get behind the scenes and extra content that is useful to understanding the behind the scenes work we as a DFGA course are trying to get into.

The book which came with this special edition game contained a lot of the concept artwork for the game and also different styles of drawing and sketching that make the book have a very personalized feel to it. It was designed to look like a journal as well as serving as concept artwork for the game and then in itself becomes a piece of artwork, which is an interesting concept.

Skyrim analysis

The cover to the EDGE magazine i read in the library is artwork from the upcoming freeroam RP game Skyrim, i will be reading about features/new elements to the game and will critically agree/disagree and voice my own opinion on these topics.

After reading the review and playing the game first hand myself for over 50+ hours i think i can safely give my input on the game, i also presented this blog post to my class and discussed the topics mentioned here, firstly i found that the way the review makes out like the constant gloom and rain in the weather is a bad thing is off a little bit since in games like bioshock i wouldnt complain about the lack of sunlight or in fallout the ugly scenery just the same as in skyrim i wouldnt complain about there being a little snow or rain or clouds. I also found that the review was right when it said sometimes the characters in Skyrim can talk over each other and it gets a little bit confusing and brings away from the illusion of the world a little bit which yes i do agree on. The biggest point of all however is the remark about how Skyrim like its predecessor Oblivion would or is riddled with bugs/glitches/errors but the magazine says these are what makes Bethesdas company Bethesdas, which while it can be annoying is always worth the laugh when a giant one hits you so hard you literally touch the sky by hitting the roof of the game, so yes the review the game has many glitches but i think and agree with them when they say this is what makes the game as well as all the cool awsome other stuff in it.

And finally the few notes i made before i presented this blog post to the class in a PPP crit session.

Moving Image Analysis

Corporate Cannibal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgMn2OJmx3w

My Corporate Cannibal first impression was... what the hell, like most other people in the lesson watching the video i was confused. To me this video/style is aimed towards creating shock in the viewer to further emphasise the point the artist is trying to make, that point being that corporations are cannibals and they simply try to each eat other in a figurative way. I think it succeeds in creating a kind of confusion and fear in its viewers but i dont think the video really explains or shows what the lyrics are trying to say. The use of the image being distorted and stretched has some effect and adds to the song in the way that it makes a strange song stranger but again i dont think it is clear what the song as a whole is trying to say.

Shaviro, S. (2009) Post-Cinematic Affect: On Grace Jones, Boarding Gate and Southland Tales Film-Philosophy, North America, 14, Dec. Available at: <http://www.film-philosophy.com/index.php/f-p/article/view/220/173>. Date accessed: 02 Aug. 2011.

I also took notes from the review of the music video in the book listed above. Here is a scan.