Become an instant film-maker with Machinima!

I played my first real computer game last weekend and I admit to becoming addicted. I had to get to my goal, to master what I was doing.... running, running.... meeting my mission...

I had several goals:

1. to immerse myself into a game world(Neverwinter Nights - which is a platform for students to make their own games) and understand what it is all about and get familiar with the controls and options

2. start deconstructing it in terms of its story narrative, and game writing techniques (such as creating plot lines, working out the story spine, understanding how they used "breadcrumbs" and "funnelling" to keep me on track) - all terms I have discovered in my reading of game writing techniques

3. start deconstructing it from an archetypal heroic journey point of view and see the potential for student learning

And of course, as usual one's goals get sidetracked, because then my husband showed me some machinima (movies made from video games). These ones were made using Neverwinter Nights - called Neverending Nights .... and I wanted to make my own movie. So I did.

It took me 3 hours to capture all the shots I wanted from my game using FRAPPS (overcoming serious co-ordination problems - managing camera and trying to play at the same time), and then I put them in Movie Maker for editing.

I didn't really have an idea for a story when I started, I just experimented with how I could move my camera and film the real live action. I was able to get close ups, and pull the camera back with the character as she was running (without needing the railway track that real cameras use). I could do great camera twirling shots around the character. So very quickly I had access to some great cinematography tools.

I went into one room in the game again and again, taking shots of the dramatic action from different angles, getting killed again and again. I worked out that it would help if I saved the game just before I opened this door. Using Movie Maker I could then split and trim scenes, cutting from one angle to another. It taught me so much about visual aspects of movie making. And my character didn't complain about her multiple deaths... and in fact I decided to make this the story.

I learnt so much from doing this...

Not just technical aspects which I am still trying to master... turning off the menus on the screen and how to do audio with voice and sound.... and how to use several characters.

But what I really learnt was the excitement from creating your own product... the thinking and problem solving that goes into it... the fact that the story can emerge... that this platform is an easy entrance into film making.... and students will then be able to progress into creating their own worlds for their own stories... but first let them play and see what is possible before moving into project management and storyboarding and game programming.

Want to see my movies? I have to admit to dragging all my relatives over so they could see them!

The movies:

Never Dying Nights - Episode 1 - I Hate Mondays
Never Dying Nights - Episode 2 - Deja Vu

If I have time I would like to continue the evolving story, each time adding a new skill - eg. music, multiple characters, and documenting what it is like doing this. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, I have worked out my psychology based on how I play games - definately a manager and also a participant... not much of a wanderer once I have been given a mission - too task oriented!

Writing Game Narrative - a path to self awareness?

After reading Game Narrative Writing Skills for Video Games, I am excited at the potential for student learning...

Not only does game writing introduce students to understanding player psychology and developing self-awareness of themselves as a player, it can help them deconstruct popular culture - movies as well as games, and how they might be manipulated. This is not just something for IT teachers to do in their electromagnetically pulsating computer labs - it could be a way of assisting boys in exploring literacy through a culture which has 75% of them engaged.

So now, think Hollywood. Game writers use the "story arc" notion as the "spine" of the game - the "high level" story, which moves the plot forward. The player creates their own experience or story in playing the game - the "intermediate story". (Some game genres don't have stories).

The heroic journey is an archetypal game genre which follows along the line of Joseph Campbell's notion of the hero's journey. These games use archetypes such as the hero, the threshold demon, the mentor, the herald, the trickster, the shapeshifter and the shadow/nemesis.

Game writers choose main characters which have qualities that appeal to their audience - noble, mulit-dimensional, intriguing... or even anti-heroic. Missions (and often killing) are justified to save others.

A dramatic tension is set up by asking the question "Will the hero get the goal?" and rising tension mounts as conflicts arise, the hero has to develop abilities, suffer plot reversals, before the major climax of hero vs nemesis. Then there is the resolution...

The game narrative book does a great analysis of Stars Wars Ep IV and how it follows this story arc.

Educational researcher, Keiran Egan, suggests that a key into learning for 7 to 15 year olds is through a Romantic way of learning - using story, heroes and villains, transformational journeys, looking at the edges of what is possible, enabling depth.

It seems that many game genres are using these learning tools in engaging students. We see it in how they immerse themselves into a game world and come to know everything about it. As educators how can we value add this experience, and help students deconstruct it?

Perhaps by getting in and becoming a game writer these things can be revealed... you are no longer a game player being played by the writers, but rather thinking about how you might engage others as players.

Writing game stories - who is the audience?

In the last two weeks I have been on a huge learning curve....

It all started when my husband asked me if I could work with some students on developing narratives for games. He is currently teaching 2 Year 11/12 classes where students are developing games.

I'm a journalist teacher, right. I know how to tell a story. But do game stories follow the same sort of ideas? Well I started reading a couple of books:

21st century game design - Chris Bateman, Richard Boon

Game Writing Narrative Skills for Video Games - editor Chris Bateman

And they were fascinating. First, game writing depends on who the audience is. And the games industry really know their audience... they have worked out there are four distinct Myer-Briggs categories which describe the different temperaments of players -

the conqueror - competitive, real time action, focussed on plot events (missions), wants rapid advancement - level ups, fiero, winning

the manager - strategy, game process - improvement in capacity to play the game, finesse, intrigued by plot issues - political/socio issues, time to think

the participant - role playing, narrative, characters - their relationships and perpsectives, multi-player, empathic, diplomatic, wants to interact with story and change it

the wanderer - mimics, explores, wants new toys and fun things to do, unsettled by conflict - turned off if too hard, flat worlds, interested in characters and wants to identify with them

The aim of game design is to help the player find the flow state... not too challenging and not too boring... and it is different for each temperament. Different game genres target the different temperaments with different emphasis on story, characters, open or closed plot lines.

Hmmm. Next post I will talk about game narrative....