"describe the best DTC project you saw (not your own), either from the other class projects people had at the DTC Showcase or from the games you saw for this class, and connect what was good about that product to key principles from this class and other DTC classes."
I really enjoyed being able to see so many projects from the DTC showcase. A lot of the projects were very inspiring and fun to watch. I could tell that a lot of these projects had a lot of time and effort put into them. As for my favorites or the best ones, it's hard to choose.
I really enjoyed watching all the animations that people created. I personally, don't want to pursue any kind of animation as a career, but if I had more spots open for elective classes, I would definitely take one. So in my opinion, the two best projects were the ghost diner animation and the Minecraft animation.
For the ghost diner animation, I thought it was well animated and also told a really nice story. It had a nice beginning, middle and end that held the attention of the viewer which is important for story-telling. I could easily see a more polished version as a Pixar short before a movie. In class we talked a lot about interaction of the player with the game. Even though this was an animation, I feel as though it interacted with the viewer as well. The animation played off of the viewer reaction to a cute ghost who wants coffee but can't pick up the coffee mug. While it was simple and amusing, I feel it did everything an animated short should do and more.
The other project I really enjoyed was the Ironfall animation. I am a fan of Minecraft and I felt as though the animation was well done. Right now, YouTube is huge, it maybe hit it's peak a couple years ago, but it's still the number one source to find videos. On YouTube, creating your own content really generates success. If you post something that's already done before, it doesn't "go viral". Another part of having success is having content that people want to watch. In class we discussed Bogost's ideas on creating or developing for the client or industry and creating for you. This felt as a perfect blend. For this genre of video, gamers want to see parodies of their favorite video games. This video took two very popular video games and put them together in a mash-up parody. While this probably started out as creating something personal, since there is an audience for it, it is also catering to that audience. So overall it really hit several themes we've talked about in class.
Overall I really enjoyed the DTC showcase and I really look forward to continuing classes in the DTC department.
Comment 1, Comment 2
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Video Games and their Music
While reading Bogost's chapter on relaxation, I thought about the many ways I like to use video games as relaxation. I do enjoy playing Solitaire, but mostly because I'm bored, not because I need to relax. I really love playing Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon like he mentioned in the chapter, however, maybe their relaxing qualities were more subconscious for me. I mostly play Animal crossing if I don't my villagers will forget me....
In Harvest Moon, I tend to just keep on farming solely because I'm broke and need to upgrade my tools and farming stuff so I can make more money.
When I tried to think of a single game that I played only to relax, I couldn't think of one. I usually will just play video games in general in order to relax. So whether it be shooting zombies in Left 4 Dead, shooting the enemy in Black Ops 2, or simply playing whatever game I'm in the middle of (Currently Bioshock Infinite), I just relax through the act of playing them and getting into a world where I don't have homework or job responsibilities.
One way I do choose to use video games in terms of relaxation is through their soundtrack music. If I
had to choose one song to relax to it would be Vigil from Mass Effect. It starts off quiet and ambient and slowly builds. This is the first song you hear when you start your epic journey as Commander Shepard to save the galaxy. I could listen to it on repeat for hours. In my music playlist, I have soundtracks from Mass Effect, Portal, Halo, Journey, Animal Crossing, and even more. I'll listen to them while doing homework or cleaning. Especially with Portal, some of the songs are much more upbeat and I'll save those songs for when I'm working out or just need motivation.
I find video game music very interesting. We went from chip tune music to full on orchestras. Yet both are being used today in more way than one. There'd are many games that come out today that have the same music style and graphic style as they did 20 years I ago, they are designed hat was on purpose, not because that's the extent that video games have. However, most games today have orchestras recording the soundtrack or electronically creating the entire soundtrack with a giant soundboard. There are orchestras that will tour to many cities solely playing video game music, sometimes, they games they are playing music from are even playing in the background.
And the music we have for some of these games are interesting. Much like a movie soundtrack, the music is supposed to evoke a certain emotion while we accomplish this task in a video game. However, in a video game, you can just stand there. You can not move the controller and if your in a spot where you aren't getting attacked, you can just stand thee for hours. In a movie, there character doesn't do that, the character keeps moving and the music doesn't play on repeat for hours. In video games, if you stand there, your music keeps playing. I definitely know there are some games where those songs get stuck in my head and they will just play on repeat for hours. But a challenge that video game soundtrack composers face is composing music that won't want to make you want to rip off your ears when you listen to it over and over it again. I like Koji Kondo's approach to composing music for many Mario and Zelda games.
I truly think that video game music is very interesting and sometimes can be underrated for everything it has to do at once. And if you are ever looking for 5 hours of relaxing video game music, here you go:
In Harvest Moon, I tend to just keep on farming solely because I'm broke and need to upgrade my tools and farming stuff so I can make more money.
When I tried to think of a single game that I played only to relax, I couldn't think of one. I usually will just play video games in general in order to relax. So whether it be shooting zombies in Left 4 Dead, shooting the enemy in Black Ops 2, or simply playing whatever game I'm in the middle of (Currently Bioshock Infinite), I just relax through the act of playing them and getting into a world where I don't have homework or job responsibilities.
One way I do choose to use video games in terms of relaxation is through their soundtrack music. If I
had to choose one song to relax to it would be Vigil from Mass Effect. It starts off quiet and ambient and slowly builds. This is the first song you hear when you start your epic journey as Commander Shepard to save the galaxy. I could listen to it on repeat for hours. In my music playlist, I have soundtracks from Mass Effect, Portal, Halo, Journey, Animal Crossing, and even more. I'll listen to them while doing homework or cleaning. Especially with Portal, some of the songs are much more upbeat and I'll save those songs for when I'm working out or just need motivation.
I find video game music very interesting. We went from chip tune music to full on orchestras. Yet both are being used today in more way than one. There'd are many games that come out today that have the same music style and graphic style as they did 20 years I ago, they are designed hat was on purpose, not because that's the extent that video games have. However, most games today have orchestras recording the soundtrack or electronically creating the entire soundtrack with a giant soundboard. There are orchestras that will tour to many cities solely playing video game music, sometimes, they games they are playing music from are even playing in the background.
And the music we have for some of these games are interesting. Much like a movie soundtrack, the music is supposed to evoke a certain emotion while we accomplish this task in a video game. However, in a video game, you can just stand there. You can not move the controller and if your in a spot where you aren't getting attacked, you can just stand thee for hours. In a movie, there character doesn't do that, the character keeps moving and the music doesn't play on repeat for hours. In video games, if you stand there, your music keeps playing. I definitely know there are some games where those songs get stuck in my head and they will just play on repeat for hours. But a challenge that video game soundtrack composers face is composing music that won't want to make you want to rip off your ears when you listen to it over and over it again. I like Koji Kondo's approach to composing music for many Mario and Zelda games.
I truly think that video game music is very interesting and sometimes can be underrated for everything it has to do at once. And if you are ever looking for 5 hours of relaxing video game music, here you go:
Monday, April 14, 2014
YA and Our Students.
"Games can be construed natively as art, within the communities of practice and even the industry of games, rather than by pledging fealty to the fine art kingdom" (11). This quote really stood out to me. As a fine arts major I can see both sides to this argument of whether video games are considered art. I truly believe that in time, video games will be featured in galleries and art history courses of the 21st century. When certain art movements came about, the art world didn't immediately recognize it as art. Even though Dadaists considered their art to be art, other artists and the art world at the time were very skeptical. Last summer I went to an exhibit at the Experience Music Project in Seattle. The exhibit was dedicate to the progression of art in video games. From ground breaking side scroller games to the latest in 3d graphics, they featured many games from each console that stood out and made progress for the art aspect of gaming. So already games are beginning to be considered art by other industries and hopefully in good time the art world will consider it themselves.
This argument immediately made me think of another argument in the world of books and novels. In the last several years, young adult books have struggled to be recognized as profound books that students should be reading in schools. YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, makes a very good argument for why Young Adult novels should be read in classrooms. According to the article, in 2012, high school students are only reading at a 5th grade level, and that's just sad. I remember all throughout high school, my peers didn't like reading, at all. But based on the books we read in high school, I don't blame them. Yes they are classics and teaching us lessons or whatever they are trying to do, but why can't more recent books do the same thing? As an avid reader myself, I truly think that my peers would enjoy reading if they found books they liked instead of being forced books they don't like. They are forced to read books that are boring to them and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. This article states that, "Teens, like most readers, appreciate characters and situation that are familiar to them and their lives. Readers have a stronger connection to the text when they can see themselves and their struggles in the story." I can't see myself struggling through a Puritan town like in the Scarlett Letter. Are there really no other books that can teach the same lessons? Many young adult novels are being banned from schools which makes readers and authors very frustrated with they way their award winning books are treated in these school system. After another school district banned his 2006 Printz Award winning book Looking for Alaska, the author John Green tweeted "Really disappointed that a school board would decide to remove my book based on excerpts instead of reading the book."
I find the argument for Young Adult novels in the classroom is the same as wanting video games to be considered as art. Like the quote from Bogost, readers and writers of YA novels, we considered them profound books that teens can learn from. Maybe they can even teach them more about these lessons we want them to learn than these other books we are forcing them to read do. And maybe these books will spark an interest in reading in students. The community accepts these books and librarians across the nation push these novels on teens while their teachers push them away. But as Bogost implies, as long as gamers and creators consider it art, then it is. We don't need to bother with the fine art world, they will make up their minds eventually. We can keep pushing but it might be better to just get more gamers and creators on board with art styles in video games rather than getting games displayed in galleries or taught in art classes.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/04/09/why-ya-in-the-classroom/
Comment 1, Comment 2
This argument immediately made me think of another argument in the world of books and novels. In the last several years, young adult books have struggled to be recognized as profound books that students should be reading in schools. YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, makes a very good argument for why Young Adult novels should be read in classrooms. According to the article, in 2012, high school students are only reading at a 5th grade level, and that's just sad. I remember all throughout high school, my peers didn't like reading, at all. But based on the books we read in high school, I don't blame them. Yes they are classics and teaching us lessons or whatever they are trying to do, but why can't more recent books do the same thing? As an avid reader myself, I truly think that my peers would enjoy reading if they found books they liked instead of being forced books they don't like. They are forced to read books that are boring to them and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. This article states that, "Teens, like most readers, appreciate characters and situation that are familiar to them and their lives. Readers have a stronger connection to the text when they can see themselves and their struggles in the story." I can't see myself struggling through a Puritan town like in the Scarlett Letter. Are there really no other books that can teach the same lessons? Many young adult novels are being banned from schools which makes readers and authors very frustrated with they way their award winning books are treated in these school system. After another school district banned his 2006 Printz Award winning book Looking for Alaska, the author John Green tweeted "Really disappointed that a school board would decide to remove my book based on excerpts instead of reading the book."
I find the argument for Young Adult novels in the classroom is the same as wanting video games to be considered as art. Like the quote from Bogost, readers and writers of YA novels, we considered them profound books that teens can learn from. Maybe they can even teach them more about these lessons we want them to learn than these other books we are forcing them to read do. And maybe these books will spark an interest in reading in students. The community accepts these books and librarians across the nation push these novels on teens while their teachers push them away. But as Bogost implies, as long as gamers and creators consider it art, then it is. We don't need to bother with the fine art world, they will make up their minds eventually. We can keep pushing but it might be better to just get more gamers and creators on board with art styles in video games rather than getting games displayed in galleries or taught in art classes.
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/04/09/why-ya-in-the-classroom/
Comment 1, Comment 2
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)