FIlm Analysis - Appleseed Alpha

Morten Holland
Games Design L3

Appleseed Alpha

Characters

Deunan - Her original motive was to find the city of Olympus, but then changed to stopping  Talos' plans.

Briareos - He was the cyborg that originally wanted to find Olympus, but ended up helping Deunan stop Talos' plans.

Two Horns - He was the king of the post war New York and sent Deunan and Briareos on the errand at the very beginning. His motive was to make as much money as he could, until near the end of the film, where he wanted to help Deunan and Briareos stop Talos and Nyx.

Matthews - He is a medic that can also help cyborgs recover from battle.

Olson - Was the other cyborg soldier that accompanied Iris. His goal was to keep Iris away from Talos and Nyx so they couldn't use Iris for their evil plan.

Iris - Her goal was to stay away from Talos and Nyx so they couldn't go through with their evil plan.

Talos - His ambitions to remake the ruined world in his image; he needs Iris to help him complete his 

quest so he must capture her first.

Nyx - Nyx was the accomplice to Talos' plan. She helped Talos capture Iris and use her. 

Plot 

A female soldier named Deunan and her cyborg Briareos survive in the apocalyptic setting of New York after World War III, searching for the legendary city of Olympus. They then run into two very similar characters who are on the run from an evil cyborg who wants to make the world in his image.

Beginning 

We start by seeing Deunan and Briareos in the middle a retrieval mission of a vaccine, which turns into a gunfight which they finish expertly. They then bring the vaccine to Two Horns, who then sends them on another quest, but when they arrive, they see a vehicle containing two people (Iris and Olson) who are about to be ambushed by lots of targets. Deunan and Briareos then save the individuals, but then an air vehicle arrives, which the individuals hide from. The passengers then talk about how they are chasing the individuals and then they leave. Both duos then help each other out and are then on their way, whilst Iris and Olson explain their situation.

Middle

The group then drives for a long while, but in the mean time we are shown a scene when Two Horns' based is destroyed by Nyx. The gang survive, and then are determined to kill Deunan and Briareos. The group then run into Two Horns and his gang but the gang has a battle tank. After a very action packed scene, the group then destroys the tank, but Two Horns survives. Talos then shows up and kidnaps Iris and Olson. He then scans Olson's brain so he knows the location of their base. Talos then kills Olson because he isn't needed for his plan anymore. The rest of the group's goal is then to save Iris and stop Talos.

End

Talos and Nyx then head to Iris' base to retrieve the spider-like mobile battle fortress. This will help him create the world he wants. Two Horns had survived the last fight and decided his real enemy is Talos, so he helps Deunan and Briareos. He gives them an armored mechanical-suit for Deunan to fight in. She then gets on top of the cannon of the spider battle fortress, but is shot at by turrets which destroy the mechanical suit, but she is fine. Briareos tries to help Deunan but runs into conflict with Nyx, who is killed in combat against Briareos. Deunan then arrives at the center of the battle fortress and fights Talos with the help of Iris. The battle is concluded by Iris closing a huge metal door on Talos. The group then destroys the battle fortress but at the cost of Iris' life, because she must stay behind to keep the fortress' shields down. Two Horns then departs from Deunan and Briareos, leaving them with the mechanical suit as a gift. They then head to find the legendary city of Olympus.

Film Analysis

Morten Holland
Teacher:Wayne Gallear
Games Design L3

Film Analysis 

I will be analyzing the film Survivor, talking about the key aspects of the story, plot and characters. 

Characters 

Kate Abbott (Milla Jovovich)- Her motive throughout the film was to prevent a terrorist attack and protect the country. Also, she is trying to prove her innocence when it looks like she is causing the attack. 

Bill Talbot (Robert Forster)- Bill's motive was to help with terrorist attack. 

Plot

A State Department employee newly posted to the American embassy in London is charged with stopping terrorists from getting into the U.S. She is then framed and hunted for lots of crimes. When on the run, she must clear her name and stop a terrorist attack set for New Year's Eve in Times Square.

Beginning

The film starts in Afghanistan where Johnny Talbot, the son of American Embassy superior Bill Talbot (Robert Forster), were in the operation against the Taliban. However, the helicopter is shot down, and the soldiers are captured. The next morning, Johnny was burned alive. The film then jumps to Kate trying to do her job, but she suspects that a man is going to commit a terrorist attack when he is applying for his VISA. The guy does get let through due to his medical background and helps the terrorists by producing a toxin. Kate then researches the guy secretly but its too late.

Middle 

Kate's co workers then go to a restaurant to celebrate a co worker's birthday. Kate forgets that she was suppose to bring a gift, so she heads to a store across the road. The terrorists then activate the bomb in the restaurant, killing all Kate's co workers and leaving Kate alive. One of the terrorists then sees Kate is alive and tries to shoot her, but she gets away. She then flees the restaurant, but is now a suspect to the attack. Her ID badge also has a tracker, so the terrorists know where she is. She then meets up with Bill, expecting him to help her, but when she arrives, Bill tries to shoot her. She manages to wrestle the gun from him and she shoots him, but everyone at the scene sees a dead body and Kate holding a gun, so it looks like she killed an innocent man. She then goes on the run from the police because she looks like a killer. She then has to stop the terrorist attack whilst being wanted by the government and the terrorists. She finds out the next attack will be at New Years in Times Square, so she sneaks into the embassy to make herself a fake passport so she can get to Times Square and stop the attack.

Ending

Sound in Video Games

Morten Holland
Extended Diploma in Games Design L3
Teacher: Josh Rai

Unit 73

Sound in Computer Games

In this post, I will be looking into the sound in video games such as sound effects and music, and talking a little about them with some explanation of key terms.

I first will list 3 tracks from different games and analyze them, and then some sounds and key terms.

1. Assassin's Creed Unity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9UswcA4E8I

The soundtrack for this Assassin's Creed game has many different types of songs all with different pace. The soundtrack seems to always follow the very classical theme. At 7:54 in the soundtrack, there is a song that is very fast paced and to me sounded like it would be used during conflict such as a fight, or maybe a part in the game where you are running from/ chasing someone. There are also some songs which are slower and more sinister in my opinion such as the one at 22:22 which I think would be used in a very important scene of the game, such as a boss fight.

2. Skyrim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVVXNDv8rY0

The soundtrack for The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim also follows the classical theme when using its orchestra. The soundtrack seems very in depth and may appeal to many hardcore fans of role playing games in general. This bit of music in the game seems to give a vibe of a legendary warrior or god from the game, in my opinion. The fast parts of the song also make it sound like the last fight in the game or just a huge boss in general such as a dragon.

3.FarCry 3

The soundtrack for this game i thought gave off many different feels to me. Some parts of some of the songs reminded me of the tribes in the game due to some of the instruments used at 8:00, but still kept the feel of stealth and infiltration. The song after that was heavily tribal and reminded me of the hunting elements of the game. The song at 13:00 made me think of the main protagonist running from a group of enemies or from dangerous wildlife.

I think the three different soundtracks all hugely differ from one another and all fit the games perfectly.

Here is a link to a Minecraft sound effect player that somebody made:

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/63907166/

I think the effects in the game aren't trying to be hugely realistic, such as a photo realism game, but instead the creators made the sounds realistic enough to know what the noise is. An example of what i mean could be the pig sound effect. I think they have made it very obviously a pig, but have also added in a little bit of comedy to the sound and they didn't completely focus on making the pig sound spectacular and immersive. 

Foley Sound

Foley sound is the everyday sounds you hear in video games such as footsteps or something breaking or being dropped etc. It is live sound and is produced manually and not put in through post production. The name comes from Jack Foley who was a man that developed lots of sound effect techniques used in the production of film. He invented the process of adding in sound effects to films.

Timbre Sound 

Timbre sound is defined by two main characteristics, quality and tone. In basic terms, timbre is what makes two sounds sound different. For example, a drum beat and a guitar note could be played at the same volume but the they have different timbres which makes them sound hugely different.

Waveform

A waveform is a digital image that shows an audio recording and displays amplitude on a x and y axis. If the wave form is low, that means the recording was soft. For a song, its very easy to see at which moment the guitar and drums enter the song, because the wave form will expand. 

Wavelength is the distance between the crests in the sound waves.
Pitch is how high or low a a tone is.
Amplitude is the intensity of the sound.
Hertz is the value we measure frequencies.
Decibel is the value we measure the intensity of a sound.

Why are sounds important in games?
Sounds are extremely important in games because they can make any game more immersive. They can change the atmosphere. Horror games are a good example of why sound is important, In horror games, you may be being followed by an enemy and the music may get faster or louder if the enemy is very close to you. The music could get very quiet so that a loud noise can happen, scaring the player. 

Psychology Behind Sound

The psychology breaks down into 4 main segments. Speech, Iconography and symbolism. Each of these are used to tell the player valued information, so for example a voice could be heard saying game over in classic arcade games like 'Doom'. That would be a use of speech. 

Another way of giving information could be by playing a positive light sound when a collectible is picked up, such as in the 'Sonic' series. a high pitched 'ding' sound is played which sounds positive to players, which suggests positive things if you collect more of them.

Another good example is the horror game, 'Slender'. This game involves you being chased through the woods and when the slender-man is very close to you, the player will be able to see television static on the screen accompanied with the unpleasant television static noise. This is obviously a bad thing, which makes the player run away and avoid being close to the slender-man.

Here are some links to websites that provide some game sound effects:

This one uses basic sounds that most games can use.
http://soundbible.com/tags-game.html

This one uses mainly sci-fi sounds.
https://freesound.org/people/Kastenfrosch/packs/10069/

This one includes very specific sounds like fireworks, trumpets, roulette table, pinball machine etc.
http://www.audiomicro.com/free-sound-effects/free-amusement-and-games

This includes a mix of SFX and music.
http://www.freesfx.co.uk/sfx/game

Other ways of obtaining free music may be producing it yourself, or asking for permission from an artist or artists you know. You can also buy the rights to a sound or song. You will have to have some sort of contract with them, proving you own the rights legally.

Here are some game soundtracks I like:

PAYDAY 2

I really like the soundtrack for this game, due to the fact that the music will change dependent on the way you play. The music starts out slow paced, and can go on slow paced if you do not alert the police. When alerted, the music will change to a fast paced song to simulate the frantic behavior of everyone involved. All the music used in the game is created by the game creators, so there aren't any royalty transactions taking place.

Skate.

'Skate.' has a great soundtrack in my opinion, and this is because the game includes a lot of alternative rock music which is what i like. It also includes a select few of rock songs and heavy metal songs. I think they chose these songs and genres because they are the genres skaters listen to, so the soundtrack suits the game perfectly. All the songs are from real artists, so the creators of the game will have had to pay the artists to use the songs legally.

Grand Theft Auto V

The music for this game is great, and appeals to a lot of people. This is because when driving, the player can use the radio in the car, which hosts over 10 radio stations that all play different genres of music. The songs used are real songs by real artists. This was a smart move i think, because having various radio stations means that everyone can find something to listen to whilst driving in the game. It does mean that the game makers will have had to pay the artists so that the game can have those songs.

Also, when playing the game's campaign missions or just having fun in the free roam area, you can hear a different soundtrack. This consists of songs that the creators have made and are not from artists. These songs are done very well and certain songs will play depending on what you are doing. Fast paced music will play when in a hectic scene, and slow music will play when in a stealth mission.

Using music for games
Almost all music on the internet is copy written which means the person who made the music is the owner, and legally only he/she is allowed to use it unless they say otherwise. If someone uses the music without the permission of the creator, they can be sued. It is always good to get proof from the creator such as a signed contract so nobody can say you aren't allowed to use it.

You can create your own music which means you definitely have all the rights to it, you can buy the rights from a creator, or you could ask them for the permission. Those are the 3 main ways of getting music for your game.