I have figured out what I'm going to be using this for! We've got to keep a learning portfolio, and if I can get my scanner working (Downloading the drivers now hooray) I'm going to use this as my assignment/tutorial/learning journal. I'm already working on the first assignment, but I need to run it past my tute lecturer.
I have two ideas for the first assignment, and I'm going to do them at the same time because if one doesn't pan out, I can use the other. One is to turn the first few minutes of Dead Like Me into a comic, with a cover page and all. Five to six pages long. The other is to use George, the main character, to create a twitter feed of the first episode, with her thoughts and snarking. I'm going to run this past my Tute lecturer (when I find out who that is tomorrow or at least I think it is tomorrow) and see how that goes down.
I've already scanned in the cover page idea, and I'll provide a link as soon as I have that updated, as well as taking progress shots to see what changes I make design wise.
AHAH. VICTORY.
Link!
I'm moving the bubble up and changing her face because I drew it all without reference, but there you go! small copy of the front page.
Here is a decidedly ugly link to the finished product. I did it in one night, and I'm not going to bother with shading because that'll just double the amount of time (if not triple it) that I need to spend colouring.
That's the design I'd be using for George, the main character, if I get to do this one. If not, I'll provide a link to the twitter feed.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tute 1!
So I got the go-ahead on the comic idea, which I'm immensely pleased about. I'll see how many draft pages I can churn out. I want to get a head start on my assignments so I don't fall behind, like I did a while back.
The class was interesting. I'm pretty sure I have a horrendously loud voice, and I'm kind of worried about dominating conversation. Everyone seems pretty cool though, and we got to have some really interesting discussions, even if I did manage to embarass myself. The issue of Morality vs News Sharing was a rather interesting subject, so I'll have to think more on that and write some more tonight. I know we're only supposed to do twelve entries but I think I'll be doing one after every lecture and tute, and also progress on assignments. It makes sense for me to keep this up once I've started.
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Okay, so. I've ruminated extensively (slept on it, honestly) and decided I'm going to talk about Censorship and Gaming for a while. The reading we had to do ( The War BetweenEffects and Meaning : Rethinking the Video Game Violence Debate By Henry Jenkins)was about censorship and the way it affects Video Games, and arguments against it.
I feel fairly strongly on this subject. I've been playing video games since I was fairly young, and I would classify myself as a Gamer. I won't get into gender equality and video games, because that's another subject I feel fairly strongly on, but I will say that censorship and games is something that needs to be taken fairly seriously.
Violence in games is no different from violence in movies. Both suspend disbelief and want to make you feel as if you are the character, and you are in the situation they find themselves in. With video games this is a little more immediate, although the same narrative situations apply. Your character (or characters) go through a development process. I'll use Grand Theft Auto Four as an example. It's a fairly violent game. You can run people over, kill them and steal their cash, affect the course of the game depending on who you kill and don't kill. The main challenge is to NOT break any laws, as opposed to breaking them. That's rediculously easy. But the main character, Nico, goes through a moral and ethical change as time goes on. He starts out (not completely) ignorant of the way things work, and as the game progresses and you go through the missions, it shows how he comes to conclusions that will affect not only the way he sees the world, but how the world sees him.
It is a fairly heavy moral lesson. It's not something that's just thrown on top of the violence, it is a part of the way the violence changes the character. Depending on what you do, Nico develops in different ways.
The same can be said for Fable. This game gives you moral choices to make, and that determines how your character develops, whether they be good, evil or neutral. Maintaining a neutral balance is the strongest challenge of the game, and depending on how you play it, you may end up with a completely different character to how you set out.
Those are just two examples (There are more provided in the article) that show that these games DO try to teach moral lessons, even if they're not doing it conciously. Censoring games and denying people the right to explore these moral and ethical dilemmas for themselves is not only detrimental, but plain wrong minded.
aaaaaaand that's the end of my mini-essay.
The class was interesting. I'm pretty sure I have a horrendously loud voice, and I'm kind of worried about dominating conversation. Everyone seems pretty cool though, and we got to have some really interesting discussions, even if I did manage to embarass myself. The issue of Morality vs News Sharing was a rather interesting subject, so I'll have to think more on that and write some more tonight. I know we're only supposed to do twelve entries but I think I'll be doing one after every lecture and tute, and also progress on assignments. It makes sense for me to keep this up once I've started.
---
Okay, so. I've ruminated extensively (slept on it, honestly) and decided I'm going to talk about Censorship and Gaming for a while. The reading we had to do ( The War BetweenEffects and Meaning : Rethinking the Video Game Violence Debate By Henry Jenkins)was about censorship and the way it affects Video Games, and arguments against it.
I feel fairly strongly on this subject. I've been playing video games since I was fairly young, and I would classify myself as a Gamer. I won't get into gender equality and video games, because that's another subject I feel fairly strongly on, but I will say that censorship and games is something that needs to be taken fairly seriously.
Violence in games is no different from violence in movies. Both suspend disbelief and want to make you feel as if you are the character, and you are in the situation they find themselves in. With video games this is a little more immediate, although the same narrative situations apply. Your character (or characters) go through a development process. I'll use Grand Theft Auto Four as an example. It's a fairly violent game. You can run people over, kill them and steal their cash, affect the course of the game depending on who you kill and don't kill. The main challenge is to NOT break any laws, as opposed to breaking them. That's rediculously easy. But the main character, Nico, goes through a moral and ethical change as time goes on. He starts out (not completely) ignorant of the way things work, and as the game progresses and you go through the missions, it shows how he comes to conclusions that will affect not only the way he sees the world, but how the world sees him.
It is a fairly heavy moral lesson. It's not something that's just thrown on top of the violence, it is a part of the way the violence changes the character. Depending on what you do, Nico develops in different ways.
The same can be said for Fable. This game gives you moral choices to make, and that determines how your character develops, whether they be good, evil or neutral. Maintaining a neutral balance is the strongest challenge of the game, and depending on how you play it, you may end up with a completely different character to how you set out.
Those are just two examples (There are more provided in the article) that show that these games DO try to teach moral lessons, even if they're not doing it conciously. Censoring games and denying people the right to explore these moral and ethical dilemmas for themselves is not only detrimental, but plain wrong minded.
aaaaaaand that's the end of my mini-essay.
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