Critical Evaluation
What is the project?
This project, called “who am I” is neither a game, film, installation or any other conventional piece. It is however, a interactive film game. It contains basic rules and constraints found in a game but house’s a live action film overlay. This works in a few ways, for example the main character can be in a location and something happens to him the changes the context of what he is doing, a dog chases the character and the player must tap various buttons to jump obstacles and avoid the dog, in failing to do so will equal another section of video to be called up showing the consequence of their failed action. So in essence this project is a series of videos with the action and reaction to different circumstances. In this version, the amount of interactivity is somewhat limited, and that’s mainly due to the issue of actual knowledge of how to actually execute the techniques to perform various other types of interactivity.So since this is neither a game or a film, that makes this project a hybrid and that means that finding examples of this type of work to be a little more “exclusive”.The film is going to be in 3 chapters and each of the locations that will be used for the filming will be places I had often visited as a child to play. So I expect the film to be quite imaginative in its proceedings.Also there will be a video diary “making of” to accompany it and hopefully explain some of the other points raised by the actors and me.Another point that needs to be raised is the fact that the acting is not planned, I have no control over what the visual outcome will really be, and the reason behind this is that I love spontaneous acting, we will arrive on location, the actors will discuss with themselves as to what’s going to happen and I will help them execute their ideas as well as possible.
Since it is a hybrid, what elements have I chosen?
I have chosen film, and game.Film has a theatrical diligence and has often been considered by myself to be a little too linier, there is no real control given to the viewer. Then there are games; they have too much control and not enough theatrical influence. So I took the idea of a film but gave key moments of the film to be under the control of the viewer. There is no real compromise, I only lost elements that I intended to anyway, film lost its lack of control, and games lost its ability to control too much.
What do I want to achieve with this project?
This project was a real test of my ability to achieve many things in a different way.Firstly was to let go and allow the actors to have a full control over what was going to be my project, if they messed up their actions would have in fact rolled onto me as I would have failed the project. Allowing them the freedom to act as hey will would be the same kind of freedom the viewer would receive from being able to not only watch the movie but to participate in it, so to speak.Next was the idea of making something interactive that was not a simple game, the fusion of the ideas for this made this more unique. Sound played a part in the film, all the sound was recorded on my drum, for a tribal rhythm, that in scenes of action would beat faster and faster but in other scenes just set the mood. I had never played my drum in public, normally I would travel to the local woodland and sit in there and just play, for me it is something very personal and the sounds and styles I adapted myself were primarily used to calm my soul. So for me to make the decision to record this is like deciding to record my soul, if that makes any sense.I have never dealt with sound or programming, so for these two areas it was vital I got in support from various people. Phil archer, the guy in charge of this unit, is also a bit of a dab hand when it comes to sound, so it made perfect sense to call him in for reinforcement, Phil helped me record the audio track and then pass it through the various channels to change and edit is sound to fit the film’s feel.For programming I called in a friend of mine, Kriss cox, who is doing a ND in programming, he was going to make this film, interactive. But failed to.I never really edited any footage longer than a few minutes long, so doing this project and realising how much editing I would have to do made me make another call, this time to a friend of mine called John Astel, a pro when it comes to video software and editing. So this aspect of the project was aimed at the realising of hidden skills I might have in these various areas and apply them to a new area of work that I’d previously not explored. The next aspect was that of the narrative, I had a little amount of say in this area, and there was a strong reason for this. I applied a new reversal on the classic set up of the director and the actors. Normally the relationship they share is that of command and follow, the director commands and the actors perform the directors wish. But in mine there is a bit of a role reversal, the director gives the actors the powers to direct how they see fit. So a typical scene in my production would be me and the team arriving at the location for the scene and at that point I would let the actors sit and discuss what they plan to do. What they want to do is discussed and eventually there is some sort of idea. From that point the actors tell me what they are doing. I then tell them the best possible way to execute this while using the camera and its positions to their greatest strength.
We film a scene and they then inform me where we might be going next, all this time I don’t challenge there reason for the scene, in this method I believe that the narrative they give is one that might be present in the video and thus remove the ideal of me knowing the story or why this or that is happing to whomever. This creates, almost, the sense of actually being a viewer to the film but in the same sense and reality of a theatre per say. The finished product seems almost monochrome in comparison to the original experience of filming on location.
With these merits gained the project was bound to have some pitfalls, but no amount of preparation could have been available to avoid the technical difficulties I faced, mainly with codec’s and there strange behaviour they have in Sony Vegas.
A film into a game has a few main constraints, one it could never be possible for complete control of a character (the ability to manipulate and move the characters actual movements) because film has to be film, so you can’t edit a pre shot film. So this means, like in a film, the character has to deal with his experiences in scenes or important convocations. Either way the limitations on this become quickly apparent. When, like my film game, you have multiple decisions, you need multiple answers for each decision and just like coding you need to declare your variables by then filming outcomes. For example a character throws a chair at the main player and a decision pops on the screen to either dodge or take the hit and counter, you would have to do the following:
1. Take the hit: you take the hit of the chair(film that) then the character lunges forward and strikes the foe(film this too)the foe falls to the floor and lands on a spike or whatever, that too would need filming and because this has happened a different response would come from the character that might affect the story later so this all then needs to be filmed.
2. Dodge the hit: the player dodges the hit and attacks the foe knocking him out(but not killing him as in the previous choice outcome) this means the character is completely different in posture, mindset and of course there is another character existing in this story because he did not die. Each thing needs filming. Every choice, outcome and trying to keep this as simple as possible is really not easy.
So, as you see the player and his/her decisions effect their world and those effects then follow onto the other characters and environments, helping cause and evolve the story and narrative of the work.
What other works relate to this?
There are a handful of interactive films, there are however a good few games shot and played like a film role reversing from what I tried to achieve. Most of the good examples I know are from old videogame systems, mainly because film games have never been very popular. There are a few reasons for the failed implication of film games; the main one is the inability to detach.
I will try and explain when we as humans play a game, we as humans want a control or a means to create and cause effect within the games environment. And while we are playing and interacting with a game we again want this feeling of existing in this game and that our effects are being made because of us, when really the one in control is the computer, playing us as the puppets.
When something on a PC or a game happens that we as people were not prepared for, or, not aware was going to happen, we get confused, panic and get aggression toward the game, PC, whatever. This is because our control was temporarily lost and this makes us feel uneasy and cheated, normally these problems are actually ones we create ourselves while not realising.
In contrast, when we watch a film, we want nothing to do with the film, we want to go to the cinema, home or wherever and just detach ourselves from our reality and immerse ourselves in hyper reality. Fall into a place where we can’t exist or change but just sit and enjoy a variation of senses and cerebral stimuli.
During a film we sit in a hypnotised state and just relax and absorb the film.
A film game has to find a balance, between two things that should not really be able to co-exist.
On the one hand, games require us to have participation and we desire to control an aspect of this world created by the game.
Where as in the film we want nothing more than to detach and relax during the films lifespan.
To then take something that wants us to relax and detach to then have some sort of input and attachment creates a lot of subconscious stress and confusion.
And it’s this reason film games have a very hard time getting anyone to like them.
So do you create a balance or do you just decide that just because it’s taboo that it can’t mean that it’s impossible.
That’s what I said, bad choice.
It is not impossible to make it enjoyable but it is just not enough detachment to be a film worthy of enjoyment, so instead you’d think the interactivity would out weight the merits of this little downfall?
You’d be wrong, there is no way, more so in today’s gaming world, that you could achieve anything that could have film elements and still be interactive enough to make you want to attach.
So bearing this in mind, there are a few good examples, but they don’t use film footage, and the interactivity section is lax but it was successful due to the age in which it was created, when the interactivity side could not stretch out further then clicking a mouse of typing primitive phrases.
1. Beneath a steel sky: (Amiga 500+/ upwards)
A point and click game set in a futuristic environment. The angels the scenes were positioned in had a cinematic edge and because there was little action on screen the game played like a story film.
2. Dragons lair: (first lazer disk game)
This is the closest example to my work, it use’s pre animated shots to play out a film (just like mine) each conciquense is animated and this must have created a lot of work for the ex-dysney animator whom created this masterpeice. It is a perfect film game, the same could have been done with live footage instead of animated but the effects would have been the same, a lot of people (when I was a kid) hated this game because there was not enough control or explanition as to what to do or when to do it(this was largley due to the player watching the film sections and because the line between game and film had been blurred, players had no idea as to when to do things.
Why did I choose the collaborative partners I chose?
One reason really, if I am honest it was down to their personalities, each member of the team is easy going and has little or no acting experience.
This meant there would be no complications in the other actors getting their ideas out into the film.
No disagreements, no problems and no reason to choose anyone else.
There lack of acting was useful as they would then not be following any styles or methods from previous acting experiences.
I know each member personally and this made the ability for them to relax easier and made shooting the film not only easy, but a little enjoyable.
So there was no comparison made to artistic judgement or ability, just personality.
I hope this evaluation has been a useful insight as to the proceedings of this project.
Positioned above where the plug initial enters the tree, this device has little use, it's just there to Add more interest, and because it is next to the power source, it becomes more valid then just being plugged into a tree. I liked the chips shape, I really like the metal sprouting from the bottom, its just visually appealing for me, and in this mini device, thats all I wanted.
Just Takes information from various mini devices and converts the data into readable data for the main device (#4) to pick up and store. Hangs off a branch of the tree.
This device is fixed to the tree's trunk at about head height, it has a port for taking information from the tree.
Unlike the previous mini devices, I edited the SCD unit for the purpose of its use, where as the other two were bi-products from various devices destructions that met the criteria for there uses. This one however was changed by adding this data plate onto its back, the other side is actually the display of a VCR, but the back suggests it might be a more complex solar device. so thats what I made it for, to capture and store solar data and transmit its information to the relay device.
This device ensures that the signals from all the devices operate at different times in there data sending, this device, attached to the main unit, keeps everything in order and is the Core of the systems operating, it has its own heatsink due to its work level generating a lot of heat.
The final mini device is called octopus, mainly because how it hangs with cables spread out under it, it looks like a digital octopus of sorts.
