Ideas for filming location

I predominately want to denote the idea that the zombie infection within the game is not just affecting the protagonists, but in fact their entire surroundings. The involvement of derelict environments and silent high streets is as unfamiliar to anyone as it is harrowing.

The use of buildings with a dilapidated appearance will physically enhance the terror and abandonment the human race had to face during the destruction of their lives. Though the trailer will not portray interiors of these chilling locations, the outside enough will demonstrate a particular use for them within the game play structure.

In particular, I want to show the desolate environment of ideologically 'busy' high streets, they reinforce a traditional urban environment, but their lack of movement and commotion once again will portray the devastation left behind from the outbreak. The protagonists will play a huge amount of time in these locations within the game as this is where they meet pawn brokers in which players can purchase amenities and upgrade for their characters.

The empty and abandoned car parking garage is a particular favourite of mine. It will be featured in both the opening and the closing of the trailer as the characters go through a flash back. It symbolises their desperate struggle to escape the world they are now trapped it, and when they reach an area where they plot all their hopes within, to find it empty and still, it destroys their final morality. It opens up the main unit of the game, the fighting and murder of zombies, so it's very important. It also embodies the idea of claustrophobia as the heavy concrete walls seem to block out the sun and outside life.

Click here to see my brain storm for potential filming locations, and my interpretation of them according to the narrative of the video game.

All images taken from Google Images and are not my own photographs.

Audience Analysis

Understanding
When video games are regarded as a purposeful consumer product, it is considered that video games are purely a feeling of escapism and a definite form of ‘hyper reality’. Following this idea, the audience needs to understand and respect that video game content is not exact representation of real life events/relationships and that logical legal and ethical values need to be considered at all times. For example, when Rockstar developed and released the game ‘Grand Theft Auto’ in 1997, nothing but controversy and public hatred ensued because of its in-game disregard for all moral and lawful behaviour. The player could pick up a prostitute, take her out into an abandoned area, have sex with her and then brutally murder her to get your money back. And when the idea that you could run over hundreds of civilians with your car and the police wouldn’t care is implimented, anger sparked in parents as they watched their children play.

'Grand Theft Auto' allows you to shoot at civilians and evade the law, as you become part of a notorious crime ring in USAs major cities.

But it is this kind of understanding that gamers need to be aware of before they begin playing a game; what happens in a fiction setting with fiction characters and an imagined plot are only for video games. Especially with games that come with a mature rating, audiences need to take into account what they may be witnessed to over the course of the game, and that when they turn off their consoles, that some of the behaviour you just had the ability to it is not accepted in real life. This in particular is why my video game will be branded an 18. My ‘survival horror’ genre allows audiences to predict its terrifying gameplay nature as well as its strong use of blood and gore, so this means that those who cannot interpret its difference from reality can avoid the title.

The worlds most controversal video game scene; 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' sees the player being forced to become a terrorist in an airport by shooting at innocent civilians. The press links the horror and terrorism in the scene to the terror attacks in Mumbai just a year before.

Interest
I believe that my demographic audience would play my game as the ‘zombie’ genre is increasingly popular recently thanks to the release of ‘Resident Evil 5’ and ‘Dead Rising 2’. As well as this, the ability to play a game in your own pace and get to the end when you’re ready and when you’ve discovered every single thing the game has to offer means that many people will find the game more immersive and emotional than other titles that feel too linear and scripted. As the game will be set in modern times in a relatable environment, the player can involve themselves completely into the situation without having to consider archaic traditions, for example, war games may need a level of understanding of the time period in which they are playing in.

'Left 4 Dead' shows the popularity of zombie-based video games as the original and its sequel have sold up to 6 million copies over the last 3 years.

Environment
Based on knowledge that most of the audience I’m aiming at is now online and deeply immersed into Web 2.0 technology, small viral videos will be widely released, and will be previewing on YouTube, my own personal website as well as on TV after the 9pm water shed. This will then cause mystery and spark excitement from people who are interested in the game and therefore a need for discovery will be around the games release. About 2 weeks before the official world wide release, the full length trailer will be released on the same TV channels as before, and the advertising posters will appear in bus shelters, magazines and radio slots over the main release countries, the UK and the USA. I plan to have advertisements in these specific and varied environments because gamers are a part of everyday life. Some hardcore gaming fans will buy gaming-specific magazines and will see advertisements there, but for others who are not so deep into gaming can see the advertisements elsewhere, and I can attract their attention this way. By having the adverts only premiere on TV after the water shed it will reinforce the idea that the game will be a mature contented one, and that only older viewers will be able to play it.

'Fallout New Vegas' was advertised on the side of buses specifically in Las Vegas.

Audience Profile

As far as video game developers and their receiving audience go, games can be split into further categories outside of their PEGI classification and content warnings. One of the most important things to consider is the mentality of the audience you’re aiming it at, for example a mindlessly gory and violent game could be mentally disturbing for a young child, and oppositely a trigger-happy adult may not enjoy playing a game involving the grooming of farm animals. Along with this is the consideration of other receivers around the player. For most children, the enticement of an 18 certification game means that they hold rebellion over their parent and the publishers of the game by defying the age restrictions and playing the game, and some parents are more than happy to buy it for their children. Whereas others may not be so happy to comply and feel that attempting to attract and entice this audience is completely incorrect.

Based on the content warning and age restrictions present on my video game box cover, my audience demographic factors will be:

· AGE: Judging from the extreme violence and mature content, the game will no doubt serve an 18 rating, meaning that only peoples over the age of 18 may buy it. But statistics show that more often than not, those age-legal people are just buying the restricted title for their child who could not purchase it themselves. This does make a mockery of the entire certification process, but no doubt enhances sales. Preferably the age range for my game would be from 18-40, but as I cannot stop sales to parents for their children, the demographic average may be lower than expected. According to a survey conducted by the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) in 2008, the average age of gamers is calculated to be 35.

· GENDER: As my protagonists are both male and female, the game will not deter either one of the genders. However the content may discourage some females meaning that a higher proportion of males will buy it, but it is known now that the ratio of gaming genders is 60/40 to males/females.

· SEXUALITY: There is no nudity or sexual content within the game, however the female character will be dressed in complimentary clothing with the male imagine in mind. Strong masculine personalities will be swayed more onto hardcore game genres, such as shooters and fighting titles, and ideological feminine sexualities will prefer genres such as family/children’s entertainment or adventure

· LOCATION: The game will be set in a tradition urban city, and therefore will be recognisable to all major audiences. In terms of the buying audience, a game aimed at ideological for American and English games is the most preferable as these are where the highest majority of video game sales happen, whereas in Australia a lot of games with strong content are banned.

· OCCUPATION: Both protagonists will be of a young adult age, ranging between 25-30, which will no doubt be reflected in the audience demographic. This places the player within a age where a job would normally be expected, as well as a home and a mortgage. This means a lowered chance of frequent playing hours and hardly any time spent online. The other half of my audience will be students or unemployed, so long hours of game time as well as online interaction will take place.

Character Development

Male protagonist: The focus character with whom the audience will relate to the most. Middle class social representation according to his house in the beginning and his accent. Well build masculine lead with courage and bravery, though suffers from moments of weakness upon remembrance of his family. Loosely based on previous video game characters such as Marcus Fenix (Gears of War) and John Marston (Red Dead Redemption) for their need of revenge and order, but their strong social and ethical morals.

Female Protagonist: Optional playable character, but present from the middle until the end of the game. Comes across as an independent and strong woman, with a high social class but a rebellious nature, the audience soon finds out her upsetting past of domestic abuse and homelessness. This draws the audience’s emotions into hers and the two protagonists begin to get closer, and then we find out her secrets. Very dramatic and sarcastic humour, lights the mood throughout the game. Loosely based on Rubi Malone (WET) and Lilith (Borderlands) for their liberated attitudes and resilient physical fitness.

The two characters will play a dynamic role in comparison against each other, making for a unique character development unveiling in front of the player's eyes. The male lead though is more imagined to be more masculine and gentlemanly hence his appearance is actually the weaker of the sexes. The devastation of witnessing his families’ murder has destroyed any confidence he otherwise may have, causing him to go into pathetic and dismal states when recognition ensues. Oppositely, the troublesome past of the female lead defines her personality as roughed up and head strong, as she has been through life-changing momentum, leaving her life shattered and alone. Her protection and strength over the male lead is evident in the alleyway scene where she saves him from the zombie attack, and from then on they stick together, as they are well aware that without her protection, he may face nothing but failure and death.

The gender, representation and team work dynamics can be compared to that of Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar in Resident Evil 5, as Chris is suffering from the loss of his beloved partner Jill, and Sheva is a versatile fighting agent from the B.S.A.A.

Plot Development

Based on usual video game format, my plot can be drawn out in 3 ways:

LINEAR PLAY-THROUGH: The player is given objective after objective and its ‘pulled’ through a very strict course of dialogue and events, which are all designed for the player to see at that specific moment. Area for discovery is limited and when the player goes off course, they will be reminded or eventually punished for doing so. This means any plot development is entirely honed towards the player as it is from their actions that the narrative unfolds, so the player feels connected and emotionally attached to surrounding characters and their environments. (See Battlefield Bad Company 2 below, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Alan Wake)

FREE ROAM ADVENTURE: The player is given a basic premise and the uncovering of answers is entirely up to how they spend their time. This often leaves room for the possibility of ‘main quests’ where a player can actively choose to stick to main objectives and finish the game, as well as ‘side quests’ where players are deemed the possibility to deter from the main storyline to gain extra detail or more amenities (a.k.a Money, Ammunition, Weaponry). This results in a personalised campaign where the gamer can do as they please in order to complete it, often this gives a player a higher sense of achievement and feeling of worth from the game. (See Red Dead Redemption below, Grand Theft Auto)

STRUCTURED LEVELS W/ BOSS FIGHTS: This structure of game format is primarily for combat and fighting skills, as the linear story will give you reason to continue a narrative that you don’t particularly have very much involvement in. However, this does add a progressive difficulty scale as the closer you get to the end of the game, the harder the enemies will be. So for example, at the beginning of the level you will be introduced to a new enemy, and by the time you get to the end of it, a ‘boss’ version of said enemy will be facing you, whom is an ultimately stronger, smarter hybrid of its original. (See Gears of War below, Resident Evil 5, Batman: Arkham Asylum)

Visual + Structural Elements

As the integration of game play and cinematic cut scenes play a huge role within my plot synopsis, I have detailed a reference here of how each are different to each other, and why they are useful devices within the structure of the game.

GAMEPLAY.


The game play is the majority of the game where the avatar is fully controllable. A HUD (Heads-Up Display) or UI (User Interface) is present at all times and gives vital information to the player about what to do. For example, most games with display the health of their player, ammunition and often the current objective.

CUT SCENE.


Cut scenes are visually recognisable as being far more graphically enhanced and from a camera angle outside of the characters perspective. The audience is now watching their player instead of controlling them meaning that they can now concentrate on the story progression and character development in the situation, instead of fending for themselves and concentrating on the game. It highlights specific elements that you otherwise might miss if you had control of the players’ actions.

Synopisis of my Video Game

The basic premise of the game is surrounded by the drive to survive the zombie apocalypse as you follow 2 protagonists who need to work together to eliminate the horde and find shelter and protection, as well as an answer to how the infection became a nationwide catastrophe. Narrative will see the protagonist’s character development towards each other progress so they are more perceptive to their emotions and find themselves connecting with the plot. Over the course of the game, more background information of the characters link to each other and the narrative will become clear, resulting in an eventful and surprising finale.

Reason for infection outbreak:

Zombies are most commonly known and represented in the media as re-animated corpses that feed on their desire for human flesh. With this, the concept of ‘apocalypse’ can take place as they are revered to feed off one human to the next in order to spread their infection, causing their victim to turn into a zombie themselves. The original infection normally spreads from a scientific experiment gone wrong and then the virus to accidently leave the laboratory or its containment, most normally a ‘cure’ for an incurable human disease such as Cancer or HIV/AIDs. I aim to follow this concept of plot development as the development of a lethal virus doesn’t just come from nowhere, but instead from scientific testing.

Plot:

Set in an entirely fictional urban city, a deadly virus will infect the population causing the majority to mutate into blood-craving monsters. The narrative finds our 2 protagonists stuck in the middle of the outbreak needing to fend for themselves. The introduction finds our 2 characters at a celebration parade on a populated street on a bright sunny day. They aren’t with each other, in fact at this point they are completely oblivious to each other’s existence, but are seen with family or friends enjoying their day. The female lead attempts conversation with the male as they stand in line to buy some food, but he turns her away and gets angry, so she storms off and is not seen again. At this point, the control of the protagonists can be taken over by the player and they can explore the surrounding area/buy food and drinks/play a couple of fair games, but when they reach a certain part of the map, a cut scene will appear to show the main character awareness of a woman being kidnapped by a shaded figure. A chase scene ensues during which the player regains control as you hunt down the kidnapper, eventually leading you to find her destroyed corpse at the end of an alleyway. Hooded over her body appears to be a human, but with a rotting smell and disfigured limbs and facial structure. As you approach they let out a terrifying scream and leap out of sight, so completely confused you get back to the parade and join your family. The next morning, you wake up in your home early in the morning and make your way to the kitchen for a drink, but the house is deadly silent so the player is given the freedom to search the home. As you approach your daughters room, you again hear mumbling and the sound of banging and dragging. You enter your daughter’s room and spread on the floor is your wife and child, in the same state as the woman in the alleyway – dead and mutilated. Over them is another deformed figure, but instead of retreating it attacks you. Now the player can use objects around the room to defeat the zombie ultimately by bashing its head in as the known way of killing the ‘dead’ is to destroy any brain functioning. A cut scene shows you rushing to your families side, but you hear more screaming from outside the window, resulting in your looking out onto the street and seeing fire and casualty everywhere and people lay dead in the streets and zombie roam everywhere. Suddenly you hear more fumbling from inside the house so you seize the opportunity to get out of the house instantly. Now the protagonist is making his way through the town with the objective to reach City Hall to find out information on what has happened to the town. The only choice of path is down the same street where the parade happened the day before and as you near the end you notice the alleyway where you chased down the kidnapped woman. You venture down to see if she’s still there, but as you reach the end the body is gone and signs of her body being dragged through its own blood is evidence. Out of the shadows you hear heavy and disgruntled breathing and as you approach it the woman who you saw dead yesterday is alive with a murderous look in her eye. She launches an attack at you and as she pins you to the floor, a loud gun shot is heard and the body falls limply on top of you. Standing in the entrance to the hallway is the woman you denied money to yesterday, and she helps you. She explains her recognition of you and how you seem completely lost and hopeless as you wondered down the street, so she followed you to see if you were okay. You thank her and see that you share the same problem, your families have been killed and you want to go to City Hall to get answers. From here until the end of the game, the 2 protagonists unite together to protect themselves against the zombie attack and find out what has happened to the town, it can be played through 3rd person singularly so the female character is computer controlled but still vital to your survival, or played in split-screen so a local player can join in the game and play together.

Split-screen gameplay in Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

The finale of the game shows their approach to City Hall and the discovery of the Mayor’s office, discriminating documents approving scientific research in the city are laid out on the desk and as you go to pick them up, the door bursts open and in comes the head of the Scientific Discovery Plant ‘CureTec’ with the Mayor on a dog lead in his hand. The Mayor is now clearly an infected member of the zombie horde and as you stare in horror the Scientist tells you all about his plans to save the human race of deadly disease but after he realised that human were greedy and selfish that he could get them to take whatever ‘cure’ he made, resulting in him creating a virus that reanimates the dead to come alive and attack the living. Eventually you have to fight the Mayor who appears to be a ‘special infected’ in the sense that he has smarter functioning, is much quicker and has more health that the average zombie you fought before. After severely wounding him and tossing his lifeless body to the side, you have to now fight the scientist who has injected the formula into himself and is now a hybrid mutated special infected. You fight with him until he dies. After the fight you go to help the Mayor but as you reach him he goes to bite the female lead on the wrist and jumps for the window. She shoots after him, killing him so he falls out of the high window and you take her up into your arms and go for the door, you discuss how you need to go to the Scientific Discovery Plant to find a cure for her before he mutates and as you kick open the City Hall doors, you see that that town you thought was completely dead or killing by your own hands, has in fact come back alive and are doubled in numbers. It then fades out and finishes.

This ending therefore levels the game open to a sequel in which you must make your way to the Discovery Plant.

Video Game Classifications

88.9% compliance rate of offical PEGI certification in Europe.

Pan European Game Information (PEGI)
PEGI 3 – comical violence, characters not associated with real life, no sounds/pictures that could frighten, no bad language, no nudity, or refernce to sexual activity
PEGI 7 – Normally rated 3 but contains some mild terror, partical nudity but not in a sexual context
PEGI 12 – Slightly more graphic violence towards fantasy/human-looking/recognisable animal characters, more graphic nudity, bad language is mild and falls short of sexual expletives
PEGI 16 – applied once the depiction of violence/sexual activity looks the same as expected in real life, more extreme bad language, concept use of tobacco/drugs, depiction of criminal activites
PEGI 18 – gross violence and/or specific types of violence that could make the viewer feel revulsion


Based on my research into the certification classifications for PEGI, my game is strongly placed under the PEGI 18 certificate as it contains extreme graphic violence, sexual insinuation and taboo language. However, if I was to class it under their context warnings, I could apply the follow:
* Violence
* Bad Language
* Fear
* Drugs
* Online

Student Feedback

Below are links to feedback I obtained during my Research Presentation last week.

I asked class mates to give me advice and feedback on areas where my research and findings excelled, as well as where I needed improvements so I could have an outside point of view on where my project was heading. In particular, I felt that gaining this feedback was critical for my chosen project genre (video games), as the people reviewing my ideas had barely any knowledge on the gaming industry, and would therefore see my presentation exactly how it was. This meant that comprehension would either be fully absorbed if I explained my research correctly or poor if I was presumptious about their contradictions. Click on the link to enlarge each image.

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The general consensus surrounding my feedback as I presented my research, findings and complications to the class were that I had put a great deal of time into my research and I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do and how to get there. This encouraged me further to really underline my exact ideas for the production so far, as people who may or may not know anything about video games themselves collectively all think that I’m right on target, judging by the research trailers and my interpretations of them.

A lot of comments were also passed on my clear understanding of the subject matter; the genre of the video games, the development of the game itself as well as the growing gaming industry. However, as discussed in the presentation as well as knowing it myself, the most common limitation seen by the feedback was the lack of any knowledge of creating animation myself. This is indeed the biggest and most bewildering limitation of them all, as I have thought of and planned a game perfect for creation, but I can’t put it into graphics myself, so I must instead use real people. However, when I mentioned by plans to avoid the use of animation, a lot of feedback came back positive about how I had thought of every possible outcome for pretty much all of the situations and problems I could face.

Lastly, another limitation I received was the fact I will be undergoing the project entirely by myself. As this is not a problem I can solve myself as I chose to be alone, I do fully understanding the task I am taking on by isolating myself out of a group, but I feel that I will put more effort and time into perfecting a video game trailer other than any of the other options. The only way to stop the individualism becoming a problem would be to organise myself for each step of the way, both in class and out, and so far I would say I’m doing very well.