Assassin's Creed Brotherhood homework

Genre- It is a mixed genre game. This means that it combines several genres and puts them into one game. For this game these involve; sci-fi, fantasy, platform, beat em up, stealth, multiplayer, puzzle, strategy, shooting game, slightly RPG and adventure

Development from previous games- Probably the most important development is that for the first time the player can play online multiplayer.  This takes the form of various missions where one tries to kill other players without being killed themselves. The hard part though is that you have a certain target and if you kill an innocent then you lose points. Also in the one player game mode the player can actually order other assassins about from the brotherhood. For this they have to find people in trouble, save them and then recruit them into the order. From here you level them up to the rank of assassin via sending them on missions all over Italy. You can also own buildings and claim money from them.

The way the player interacts- Instead of controls for actions the player is given the four buttons that represent parts of the body. This means whenever you want an action to do with that body part you press that button. There are three ways a player can play the game; kill the target silently through stealth then sneak away. Kill the target through stealth then fight your way out. Or my personal favorite  walk in and out whilst killing everything that moves. This adds a personal touch to each person you kill, an almost modus operandi. 

Assassins Creed Revelations Facts

The consoles that assassin’s creed revelations are on are:

• Xbox
• PS3
• PC

The game has shipped in total 7 million copies of the game worldwide. Most of these were shipped to the USA and the UK

The game by the end of the year 2011 had made $652000000

The game came out in 7 different packages; Standard, Animus Edition, Collector's Edition, Special Edition, Signature Edition, Ultimate Bundle and Ottoman Edition

The multiplayer mode on this game saw the protagonist rise through the ranks of the Abstergo Templars. 

a review of Assassins Creed 3 from an Xbox magazine

How is technology changing the computer game industry?

Probably one of the main points is how the internet is being used. Thousands of people could soon be out of jobs because of the game download function on consoles these days. Because a person can simply buy a game online in 5 minutes without leaving the house the shops that sell the games are losing business. The way some shops are trying to combat this is by buying the writes to sell the game online instead of the original company. This isn't just bad for the shops though, the distributors of the games will no longer have jobs so that line of work will lose money too.

However, the internet can be used for good areas of gaming. After seeing how high the definition is on phones these days there are some companies (Microsoft being one of them) who wish to start selling full games on phones which increases that field of work. However this idea is still in planning.

Probably the biggest problem that the industry faces in the future is the rising cost of the games. This rise has caused many to stop playing games, if prices continue to rise i wouldn't be surprised if some game companies close down.

1 Upcoming Game Release

Assassin’s creed 3

When I heard this was coming out all I could say was “FINALLY” this game series has left the fans, like me, with tons of cliff-hangers. This game however has had several rumors about being the last game in the series, so hopefully there will be no more cliff hangers. 

So far in the series we've played a rule breaking assassin from Jerusalem, a smooth sophisticated Italian assassin and a guy called Desmond who’s a bit confused. And would you believe it but in the next game we play another free running psychopath called Connor.

However that is where the similarities stop. Probably the biggest difference in the new game is naval warfare. Sure in the previous games you could fly or use a tank as if you were from the future, but in this game you get to command an armada into battle. Even though there is this new dynamic side to the game, we still have the protagonist being his little nimble self.

The story takes place after Desmond has woken up from some kind of coma. Not much has been said about the Desmond story line but the writers have revealed a lot about the life of Connor. We know that the time is of the war of independence in America. Both sides are the enemy to this cold blooded killer. All we know is he’s out for knowledge of the Templars who wish to control the minds of all humans. Even though he seems to be a bloody killer the audience can tell that Connor is not the antagonist via his white outfit (connotes purity) and the fact that every shot of him is a low shot (connotes power).

Advert from E3:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pUhraVG7Ow

This game is to come out on 31 October and (as usual with assassin’s creed games) it is expected to have a huge profit after one week in shops. 

Just thought i'd add some images of the most important 5 games in history :)

5 most important computer games ever

The highest grossing video game of all time:

World of Warcraft. This game is what is called a MMORPG (a Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (I know role playing is one word but that’s what they call them)) It was developed by a company called Blizzard. It is the fourth game that was made in the Warcraft series. It has increased in popularity by an immense amount since it was first made on November 23^rd 2004. It had a dramatic increase of players after a collection of adverts in which celebrities (including Mr T, Ozzy Osborn, William Shatner and Chuck Norris were involved) talked about their characters who were identical to them.

The first (technical) video game of all time ever:

 Cathode Ray Tube Amusement Device. depends on your idea of what a video game is. If you consider it to mean a game generated via a computer, using graphics displayed on a video device such as a TV or monitor then its CRTAD, otherwise its the game tennis for two. In CRTAD the player is asked to direct a dot onto an image that represents a plane and press a button. If the screen fades then you hit the plane. That’s the end of the whole game.

First 3D game:

3D monster maze. In this game the character entered a museum to see a dinosaur that was perfectly preserved but it escaped and the protagonist had to navigate themselves through a randomly generated maze and see how far they got before they came across a 16 by 16 pixel T-rex who appeared to be smiling for some reason. First made in 1981, this game was revolutionary because for the first time your character went forwards and sideways. It was literally a whole new dimension on gaming.

First Game which used an infrared remote:

Super Glove Ball. This was one of the two games designed for the Nintendo Power Glove. Set in the then-futuristic year 2005, the story line is that the player's shuttle commander has been trapped in a dimensional maze in outer space. Only the protagonist (you) can rescue the commander by throwing energy balls at the walls whilst evading enemies.

First Role Playing Video Game:

Pedit 5. This game is a dungeon crawler game. This means the protagonist walks through several levels of a platform and kills various enemies. This itself wasn't new. However what was new was the fact that one could now collect money and items and upgrade/change spells. This added a new field of personalisation to the game which led to my personal favorite genre of game. 

How is the computer game industry structured?

The whole industry is split into four main areas; publishing, development, distribution and hardware manufacturers.

Publishing

This area is the backbone of the computer game industry.  Probably the most key thing they do is fund the rest of the process. However this isn’t the only thing they do by a long way. These are also the people who decide what kind of games should be in the market at certain times. An example of this is that all the games that are sequels or big sellers go on sale near Christmas time because whereas a person may buy one game for themselves, at Christmas their friends/ family will buy them the other games. They are also responsible for organizing the rest of the processes to create the game.

Developing

This area is how the game is made. There are many different areas to developing, including programmers, artists, designers, sound engineers, musicians, producers and writers. The programmers create how the game works and how the player uses the game. The artists create the looks of the game and what the player sees, they are like the skin on top of the programmers work. Designers are the people who come up with the concepts of how the characters and world look; they then give those to the artist. Sound engineers are the people who put sound effects into the game. The musicians are the people who create the music in the background and the main theme (if the game needs music). The producers are the ones who deal with the financial side. The writers are the people who create what the game is about and what happens in it. The developers are paid the money from the publishers when they have achieved a certain milestone in the making of the game.

Distribution

This area deals with getting the finished games from the publishers to the retailers. They handle the amount of games the shops get and the transport to them. The distributors actually buy all the games from the publishers and then sell them themselves. However, now the distribution field of work is becoming worse as more and more games consoles now allow one to buy games off of the internet to download straight to ones console so no distribution is needed.

Hardware Manufacturers

This area is more about the consoles that the games are played on. They are primarily split between PC/Mac and major brand consoles (Nintendo Microsoft Sony etc) the main difference is that anyone who had enough talent could create a game for PC/Mac whereas for the major brand consoles the company who owns the consoles have to have a say in who makes the games. They create the machine to play the games. 

Homework- Rewrite Practice Exam On Sexuality, Worst Paragraph

The director also uses Mise-en-scene to show sexuality. This is evident in the section where the antagonist has pulled off the gloves of the protagonist. Throughout the clip we have seen the protagonist wear gloves at all times. The fact that the antagonist takes them off her in this particular scene acts as a metaphor for raping her. This connotes his power over her and a hetrosexuals power over a homosexuals. It could also connote that he is taking her purity as white is the colour of purity. Also with the gloves, the protagonist wears them to symbolise her sexuality. By this i mean that they connote her hiding her homosexuality. Evidence of this is when the antagonist finally finds out about her sexuality and only then do the gloves come off, this connotes that a homosexual is more timid than a hetrosexual because the protagonist feels she needs to hide her sexuality. Another example of costume being used to portray sexuality is in the scene on the river bank. The protagonist (homosexual) is wearing a light coloured frilly dress, wheras the hetrosexual antagonist is in a more bold and striking brown suit. These two colours when shown toghether connote that the antagonist (and therfore hetrosexual) is more inportant and powerfull. At the beginning of the clip we see the protagonist hold a dress on her servent. This role reversal connotes that even though they are of two different sexualities the women are alike. The way that each character moves shows the difference as well. All the way through the scene we seee that the antagonist and the servant girl (both hetrosexual) move with confidence and pace. This contrasts with the protagonist whos movements are slow and shy. This connotes that hetrosexuality is stronger and more confident than homosexuality. Another way that the difference in sexuality is portrayed is via the section on the river bank. The antagonist is stood over the protagonist and confronting her. From this hight difference we can see that hetrosexuality is connoted as more powerful and intimidating wheras homosexuality is seen as weak and frightened. 

Homework- Rewrite Practise Exam

Homework- Rewrite practise exam

One way of showing class and status is via the angle of the camera shots. An example of this is in the shot where the royals are talking to each other in the middle of the 2nd fight. The shot is placed as if we are eye level with the royals who are ignoring the fight to the death in front of them. When these two men chat however we can still see the protagonist fighting the trident wielding gladiator. We see these two men from a high angle wide shot which symbolises their lower class. Another example is when the trident gladiator (now the second protagonist) is hit with the spear and is clinging onto the wall. In this section we have a low medium shot of the roman that is of higher class, this drastically contrasts to the dying gladiator who we have a high medium shot of. This contrast connotes the difference of the two men's classes and shows the difference in status. Also this scene could be used to explain the difference, not only between roman and slave but from black man and white man. This whole section shows Levi Strauss' binary opposites thrice as royal to slave, white to black and antagonist to protagonist. Another use of how they show the protagonists as slaves is when they walk behind a cage. This makes the watcher feel like the gladiators were trapped together and thus dislike the royals who are in a wide shot showing their freedom. This technique is used in another part of the scene where the trident gladiator throws his net over the camera. One really effective use of camera shots is when the cage door opens for the first time. At this moment we see the protagonists at the foreground, the guards at the midground and the antagonists in the background. This is also teamed with the protagonists having a high shot the guards at eye level and the antagonists with a low shot. The whole effect gives the watcher a form of hierarchy, from the people with status, to the people with slight status to those that have no status at all.

A way of representing the difference is also through sound. The first example of this being used to show class is when the men are first led to the cage, they are led to it by a dull and dreary death march song, this connotes that they may be dying sometime soon. However this march alone does not show class but when it is in juxtaposition to the sound of the royals laughing it shows how meaningless the gladiators are. Even when they are being led to their death the voice of the royals takes precedence as if to say a laugh from them is worth a life of the protagonists. This effect is used again in the first fight as the protagonist is sat in a cage whilst two men kill each other and still the antagonists are heard. Also in this section we hear the antagonists joking about how they have used and abused people of a lower class (people like the protagonist). This emphasises their superior class. When the second fight starts (the fight with the protagonist) the music starts to pick up pace, this then keeps building to make the effect more. However when we go into the eye level shot of the antagonists the music mellows down just a bit. This connotes that the antagonists are worth of breaking the tension of the protagonists fight.

The class is very clearly shown in the mise-en-scene. One key feature is the props. A prime example of this is in the fight. Here are two men laying down their lives for these four royals and the roman in red is there playing with his jewellery. This must be a very arrogant and snobby man if he doesn’t even show the slightest care for the slave who’s going to die. Another example is in the fight with the protagonist. Half way through the fight the black man loses his net and holds his trident aside his hips. Also at this moment he is beating the antagonist, this prop is used to emphasise his masculinity (phallic symbolism). To confirm this idea the protagonist only has a dagger, in contrast to the black man this is very short, this effect shows that the black man has a higher status. Also to do with weapons we see a difference in racial class. A sword is a symbol of power in ancient culture, so in the hands of the roman we realise he is quite powerful. To relate this to racial class the black man has weapons that are commonly associated with a farmer and a fisherman. This connotes that the protagonist is of higher class. Another example of mise-en-scene being used to show class is via costume at the beginning. The roman guards are clad in armour and each guard has weapons. This raises their class above that of the slaves around them who are in rags and are weaponless. Also in the realm of costume are the gladiator’s outfits. They are in underwear and a shoulder guard with nothing else. This contrasts with the antagonists clothes as they are long and colourful. This emphasises their class as they have posh clothes to hand. Also a section of mise-en-scene is the setting of the scene. This is mostly used to show the difference of status in men and women. An example of this is when the antagonists are sat down. They are sat in a form of hierarchy with men at the top and women (their wives) at the bottom; this shows an obvious difference in status of the two sexes.

Finally the last way to display class is through the editing of the section. A good example of how this is used is when the prisoners and the protagonist are sat in the cage. We here see four tired slumped men in rags and it suddenly cuts to four well-dressed reclining royals. The effect of this juxtaposition connotes that the antagonists are by far the more powerful people and the people of higher class. Another example of how this field can be used to show class is when, in the second fight, the antagonists start chatting about a completely different subject whilst the protagonist is dying.  

Homework- Feedback from our movie.

When in the process of editing our movie, our first feedback was given. This was in the form of random people who came to say hi and ended up watching the movie. Mostly this form of feedback was about position of clips and timing of music. When we heard this we actually classed it as response from our target audience as teenagers were our TA.

The rest of our feedback came from the class after showing our film. These two points were portrayed many times; Different camera shots and focus on the main context. I agree completely with both points. To combat the first we could have had close ups of his hand openiong doors etc. To combat the second we could add extra dialogue and more examples of 180 degrees rule.

In my opinion i believe we spent far too long on the build up, if we took a few sections out of this we could focus more on the dialogue scene and use the specifications more.

However personally i think for the time we had, and for our first media project it was Brilliant :)

 This is our first Storyboard for our film.
As you can see it's a bit brief, however in the end we had a three page storyboard that i will upload at a later date.

 

Home work- Evaluation of presentation

 

I think it’s safe to say that our presentation was a little video heavy. But although it was tedious to watch it was full of facts and info, which I guess makes it good for the content of the presentation.

 

Because we are going through our faults and places of improvement I guess I should probably express the most common complaint through a picture

After hearing my voice over and over I too can agree that it was BORING.

 

To combat this popular complaint I would have to re voice the movie or even better use text for the majority of the information and only vocalise the main points. This would give the effect of making the whole video more entertaining and would make it easier to create.

 

On the other hand we also had a blog to accompany our video; this blog had more of an informative serious side, yet still had some humour on it. This is where we got most of our praises. All but one of our evaluators said that we had very good detail in our blog, which is great to hear.

 

Another of our “negative” reviews was the pictures used. We were stuck for time and thus used the same photos over and over again. It ended up with having to use the photo of Morgana 5 times. If I was to do the video again I would probably spend more time on choosing photos than we did.

 

One good review we got was for our originality. This I assume was referring to the video. We chose this style because it was a new cool way to portray our presentation. However I think we could have recived a better overall review if we stuck with the normal techniques (however I doubt I will do that as it’s fun to make the videos).

 

For our terminology we got mixed reviews. From some we got “good and in-depth terminology” whereas with others we got “more terminology needed” so overall I’m a tad on the confused side. My only guess is that one was talking about the video and the other about the blog (or vice versa). However in my opinion they are both a good example of terminology.

 

In the end the best reviews we got were about our effort in the video and the blog. I think there is no way that we could have got a bad mark in this as both Sarah and I put a huge amount of time and effort into the script for the video, the video and the blog.

 

In my opinion I think if given more time I would make the video shorter (or more interactive) and the blog longer as that had the majority of our best work.     

Hi Y'all,

Just made the new blog for media and i am testing to see if it works :)