*Daemonic Laugh* See you in hell, Agent Zero!!! (Research Portfolio 2/3)

Hello people, I'm back again with a research portfolio.

Research Blog (Halo: Reach)

Introduction

Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter game that is based on the Halo franchise for the Xbox consoles that is created by Bungie Studios and is published by Microsoft Game Studios.

The plot of the Halo franchise sets in the year 2552 and sees that the human race is at war against a group of different kinds of alien species that are bind together under a religion called the Covenant. The war thickens as both sides come across gigantic ring-shaped structures or worlds, to what is known as Halo. Halo has the power to kill all sentient life in the universe and was created by the forerunners to contain the all organic-eating creatures known as the Flood.

Halo: Reach is also set in the year 2552 but months prior the events set in Halo: Combat Evolved and on the planet Reach, the heart and core of humanities military power controlled by the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and is home to the legendary super-soldiers, known as Spartans. Halo: Reach shows that the planet is under attack by the largest Covenant fleet humanity has ever seen and it is up to the legendary Spartans to save it.

Part 1

Media companies use research to find ways on what people are into and how they could make their products better. With media companies, such as Bungie Studios, they use research on what people could expect to get from their games, whether if that is style of game play, what physics halo fans think the games should have, what the plot is for the games, how good the graphics should be while playing the game and what kind of scenery can players expect to see while exploring the game. When it comes down to marketing, Bungie Studios always want to know what their fans want in the games because Bungie creates its products upon their fans desires.

Part 2

When a media company needs to put some research to find out what kind of target audience their product is going to be aimed at, they would use quantitative and qualitative research to produce results and come up with some helpful ideas for their products. With quantitative research, the media companies would create a series of questionnaires for their target audience(s.) From the results of those questionnaires, the company will then produce ideas in response to what their target audience have answered. If the company desires to, they could produce qualitative research for the questionnaires and ask for more information but on a personal level, such as age groups, genders, interests and hobbies, etc. to find out an exact target audience they are aiming their products at. An example of Quantitative research could be that it is asking about what particular features they would like to see in a media product. In this case, Bungie Studios could add in their questionnaires what kind of genre would you like Halo to be (FPS, RTS, RPG, etc.), what kind of setting would you like Halo to have (futuristic, fantasy, medieval, etc.), what kind of features you like to see in Halo (more enemies in campaign, toughness levels of enemies, game modes in multiplayer, etc.) and other kinds of questions.

There are also different ways of obtaining research through primary and secondary sources. Primary sources of research are conducted in a persons own perspective. This may take time as taking research in this method would mean finding it in your own way, either through of series of questionnaires (as mentioned above) or by observing other peoples likes and dislikes. Secondary sources of research are simply looking other peoples research they have already conducted. This method saves time and it also helps the person what he/she could exact to find and maybe useful when conducting primary research.       

Part 3

In order for a media company to market their products, some companies may advertise them through a series of teaser or trailer videos to make their target audience aware that a product is arriving and will hit stores in the near future. Some companies may use demographic and socio-economic research to find out what kind of people would buy their product. Demographic research is used to look for information regarding people within the target audience that a company is aiming their product(s) at. Socio-economic research is used to look up information about people within the target audience about their social and economic classes. This kind of research is used to determine what people like in terms of social interactivity as well as how, where and what they spend their money on.

Part 4

Halo Reach was constructed to give the audience a feel of a “one final run” or “one last time” within the campaign mode of the game, mainly because Reach was Bungies last Halo game of the franchise and to leave a reminder of what they truly can accomplish. The look of the game is made to feel partly futuristic, where humanities technology is advanced and is capable of light-speed was possible. The environments of the game contain from beautiful and lush jungles, where the in habited planets look almost like planet Earths environment, such as its trees, fields, rivers, anything with natural life, to huge, man-made mega cities, where there skyscrapers are bigger than the Empire State. The contents with the game hold many features, everything that any Halo fan would want. The game contains endless online multiplayer action to satisfy the players thirst for gaming, a map maker for players who have a creative mind and the talent of creating more maps for the game and a theatre mode for players who want to watch their previous game play and show off mad skills to their friends.

Halo Reach was created to play only on the Xbox 360. It doesn’t support other multimedia platforms.

Halo: Reach does have some cross-cultural references within its storyline. Some of the human characters do act in similar ways as to people in the outside world. For example, some of the UNSC soldiers almost represent today’s soldiers and almost behave in the same manner as each other. The covenant alien race within the story is completely different from any other characters.

Part 5

As Halo: Reach was first announced over the web, the majority of the videos over YouTube received approximately over 1 million views and once the game was released, it had sold over 700k games nationwide in the first 24 hours. There are of course different groups to how they would respond to the game: Some of the people who enjoyed Halo still play it today, yet that are those who have stopped playing it mainly because they have “been there, done that,” with the game and decided to move on to something else. There are also people out there that have chosen not to like and some have claimed that it’s not “realistic” enough, mainly because the characters you player as can jump about 10 feet high, you can lob grenades further than usual and the physics of the game have a reputation of “having a mind of their own” (on the rare occasion, someone gets shot of into the distance at light speed.)

I think the game is brilliant but I’m not as obsessed as any other Halo fan out there, I just think that the game play is insane mainly because of the insanity of the physics. Even though I like the game very much, I’m not entirely bothered about other franchise materials, such as collectables or models or whatever.

With the Reception Theory, my view is pretty much what is mentioned above as negotiated. I have noticed that there are some elements in the game that can be related to the outside world in terms of culture, such as there are few female characters in the game so there’s less likely going to be any arguments related to sexism. There are also references of other languages in the game but not sure if it’s one that anybody speaks in the real world.

When it comes down to the Hypodermic Theory, I have not seen or heard anything that influences anyone or has affected someone in anyway, except for players who are addicted to the game.



The Bird is the Word (Interactive Media Jobs)

Hello, me again! I'm back with an assignment finding out what jobs you can look for with ones particular skillset. Here's mine:

Job Entails

Job choice 1

Job

Web designer / Web developer (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Flash, Web Developer)

Job Type

Permanent

Location

London, South East, UK

Qualifications required

·         3+ years of full time hands on experience in Web Design and Web Development

·         Proficiency using HTML, CSS and JavaScript to create interactive prototypes

·         Strong UI and Usability knowledge and experience with web applications having complex work flows, data structures and user types

·         Enterprise Web application experience is preferred. For example experience you may have developed a Facebook advertising program, or experience designing Efficient Frontier, Responsys and MailChimp programs.

·         Strong knowledge of computer graphics packages such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop or Illustrator

·         In depth knowledge of up to date web-design trends and techniques

·         Solid understanding of UX principles

·         Experience with wireframes, prototypes, user flows, layouts, interaction specifications

·         Excellent communication skills and attention to detail

·         Open mind and artistic creativity

·         BS/MS in Information Technology or BA in Graphic Design or equivalent qualification

Salary

Competitive plus excellent benefits

Link to Advert: http://www.theitjobboard.co.uk/IT-Job/Web-designer

Job Choice 2

Job

User Experience Designer - UX Consultant - UX Design Role

Job Type

Permanent

Location

London

Qualifications required

·         Solid experience as an information architect, interaction designer, or experience designer engaged in preparing formal deliverables for large scale client engagements.

·         Practical understanding of human psychology and the factors that drive human behaviour.

·         Proven ability to execute IA on complex transactional interfaces, taxonomies and metadata frameworks, and templates for content management systems.

·         Familiarity with the principles of user-centred design

·         Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills

·         Client-facing experience within an agency or media environment.

Salary

Up to 60K per annum

Link to Advert: http://www.theitjobboard.co.uk/IT-Job/User-Experience-Designer

Job Choice 3

Job

Software Engineer - C++

Job Type

Permanent

Location

Cambridge

Qualifications required

With a very strong degree in Computer Science, Mathematics or similar numerate subject from a top university (i.e. with very good A level grades as well), you must have excellent object oriented programming skills in C++. Ideally you will also have good programming skills in other languages e.g. C, Java, Javascript, Python and Perl; cross platform development experience on Linux and Windows; commercial experience with the full software development lifecycle including: specification, development, documentation, testing and maintenance; and experience with typical industry tools including interactive development environment, software version control, build systems, testing frameworks and bug tracking systems.

Salary

Up to £33k (including benefits)

Link to Advert: http://www.theitjobboard.co.uk/IT-Job/Software-Engineer

Job Choice 4

Job

Interactive Designer

Job Type

Permanent

Location

Swindon, Wiltshire

Qualifications required

·         be naturally creative and imaginative

·         have a good understanding of computer technology and the technical processes involved

·         be a team player and enjoy working alongside colleagues and external consultants

·         be organised and self-motivated

·         understand what appeals to different target audiences

·         be a strong and persuasive communicator

·         be comfortable presenting to audiences, including senior personnel

·         work effectively to tight deadlines

·         accept criticism and be able to work positively

·         be flexible and willing to adapt design ideas to meet technical criteria

·         have an eye for detail.

Salary

£50k - £55k per annum

Link to advert: http://www.creativepool.co.uk/content.php?url=employee/interactive-designer-job-description.php

Job Choice 5

Job

Senior Designer

Job Type

Doesn’t say

Location

Salford, UK

Qualifications required

None are shown

Salary

No Salary shown

Link to advert: http://www.jobisjob.co.uk/senior-designer

There are other ways of looking for these types of jobs that you might be interested in. Another type of method could be that you go and visit the desired location that you would like to work at or you could contact the manager via telephone contact number or email address. Sometimes, you may meet friends who are friends of or may for someone and they could introduce you if you are interested.  

Did you know Simon is a professionally-trained Peernest? (New Web Protocols Essay)

Hello The Badger Blogger is back with with a retry at cooking some tasty morsals! This recipe is a new and improved Web Protocols essay. 

I think he spelt 'Drum' wrong... (Star Wars Blog)

What is Star Wars

Star Wars is a futuristic, science fiction film series created by George Lucas, with the first film, titled, A New Hope. As a science fiction genre, you would expect to see lots of futuristic material within the films, as to which, there are. Through that genre, George Lucas uses intergalactic travel and warfare, where the set is consisting star ships and space cruisers travel in the void of space to other worlds, and all technology is advanced, where robots walk amongst the living, hover vehicles are the main transportation and an entire world is a city. When the platform changes, for example from film to computer game, you are in control of what you see and what to explore, where you want to go. In a sense, you control the main character(s) and you can play their storyline the way you want.

The main structure of the film series is that its story is based on the hero’s journey, where the 'hero' lives live as usual, same boring stuff, different day, until one day a robot turns up on his door step. This is where his journey begins. There are also other elements of the heroes journey, such as refusal of the quest, (where Obi-Wan offered to teach Luck Skywalker how to be a Jedi and he refused) the first battle (where Luke, Han Solo and Chewbacca go to rescue Princess Leia and end fighting off lots of Imperial Storm troopers in the process) and the final battle (where Luke joins the rebels in attempt to destroy the Death Star.) There are a few role models with in the Star Wars films, such as main protagonists (Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia), a main antagonist (Darth Vader), companions (Han Solo, Chewbacca), mentor (Obi-Wan) soldiers or guard (Storm Troopers.)

Since Star Wars has become a huge it all over the world, there are few minority groups who would often go out of their way to try and become a Star Wars character (obsessed fans dressed up as Storm troopers) or acquire collectors merchandise, such as the Han Solo and Chewbacca models (with or without purchase of films) which shows how much dedication the fans have for the films. There are typically more male fans of the Star Wars films, as there are typically more male characters within the films themselves. Typically, the male characters roles in the films are often strong and brave whereas the female characters usually play the "damsel in distress" role. Even with a huge film series like Star Wars, you will expect to have some social groups who do not like them, mainly because they see certain elements within the films they completely disagree with, like choice of characters: Throughout the whole film there were hardly any female characters, as well as there are hardly anyone with darker skin, especially people from different cultures or countries (princess Leia was the only women, Lando Calrissian was the only male with dark skin and general Tarken was the on person with a different culture outside of the USA). This may cause arguments among the people, who are the people that the film lacks, and can call it a form of racism or sexism. This could be the fact that Star Wars came out during the Great Depression and there were still problems of sexism and racism in general at the time.

Well, water always seems to work nicely (Pre-Production Essay)

I'm going to skip the Badger Blogging intro and just get on with it today.

 

What is Pre-Production?

Pre-production is the planning and designing stage, mainly for media products (film, websites, music, photography, computer games, etc.) This particular stage when creating a media product is usually very time consuming. The reason for this is because most media products tend to start with an idea or an interest and then evolve them into something that could be created. Some ideas that are based on a certain media (such as digital video) can be obtained by conducting research on other existing products and making key points about them, key points such as themes, what was good, what could be improved or made better, etc.

 
Sometimes, a pre-production may be a response to brief given to by a client.  

Before any ideas start to grow and develop in the planning and designing stage, it is ideal that these ideas reflect on a target audience. This is important, especially if a production relies on teamwork. No matter what equipment is being used, the choice of methods and the time spent on the production, it is essential that they all need to be clearly planned out and have a thoroughly planned structure when it comes down to creating a successful production. Because most productions tend to be very ambitious, they could take up a lot of time and effort to complete, so it's ideal to start early. 

In some stages of pre-production there is always the obstacle of using different elements. Elements in the pre-production are to some degree the requirements of how the production is going to be created. Here are some of the elements which are often used in pre-production:

Research

Before the development of a production can begin, it is essential to conduct research on other already existing products. This is ideal, especially if an idea (or two) is going to be used in the production, to get other ideas or inspiration from others or if the production is competing against others. Research is comprised of searching for other products and making a record of what they are about, what people like about them and what could be improved or made better.

Budget

Budget is not always a big issue but it is necessary when comes to making very ambitious project. Sometimes a production will include a sum total budget of how much a production is going to cost making it and how much producer or production manager aims to pay at maximum. Once the production has successfully been completed, the producer or production manager will charge their client (if there is one) a total amount, including working times and materials used. There may be additional costs after the production is launched.

Timeline 

The timeline is always useful when a production depends on group work, as there are different people working on different tasks. Solo projects will have an opposite effect because there is only one person working on one task at a time. With group work, time consumption is hardly a big worry as making a production would take less time because of the many tasks being covered.

Concept Designs

It is always a good idea to create concept designs before moving on to the real thing. Concept designs are very useful for creating something because they can generate ideas and allows the designer to further evolve their ideas into a final outcome. Most concept ideas are usually held onto and are stored within a pre-production.

Storyboards

Storyboards are used to create a series of draft ideas in the concept of a short storyline. Storyboards are similar to the concept designs except that they are story orientated. It is ideal for the use of storyboards as they can help generate and add more ideas as the storyline develops.

Mock ups

Mock ups are very similar to concept designs. Although the difference between the two is that mock ups don't tend to generate ideas but they can be used to predict what the final production outcome will look like once it is completed. A mock up can be a variety of sketches to a series 3d models.

Scope of Work 

A Scope of work is a document containing a variety of information that has been created by a producer or production manager. The contents of the information on the scope varies from set targets or standards that are to be met by a deadline, a project overview of what the product needs in response to a brief sent by a client, to contract agreements, which is to be signed by both the client and the producer.

Rehearsals

Rehearsals are an ideal way of preparing for films or TV programmes. A rehearsal is a particular stage in film-making where the actors and producers come a meeting and read out their lines from a script. This gives a chance for the actors to practice playing their roles to get a feel of what they need to say and how they are going to say it on set and when recording begins.

Equipment

The equipment being used to create a media product will vary depending what type of media product is being made (e.g. video cameras, boom microphone and other equipment used for filming.) No matter what equipment you use, there will be an expected fee rental or purchase but this would come under Budgeting. There is also the case of health and safety when using equipment as some equipment can injure people when not looked after properly.

Locations

If you are recording for a video of some sorts, then there will be the case of where to film. Recording outdoors can promote natural scenery whereas filming indoors can be idea for recording on an artificial set. If you are recording outdoors, you will need a filming permit. Some filming permits may cost a fee (Budgeting.)

Testing

Testing is another essential part in pre-production. All media products need to be tested to see if everything within the product is working properly. This should be a part of the task in creating the production. Once the production is finished, it is always a good idea to test it in case of bugs and/or faults. Some media products may use beta testing, which allows customers to test out a production before its release and in return, will feedback on what they think. Some feedback may say to make some adjustments or fine tuning so it suits the customers.  

With all of these elements put in place within pre-production, there is a less likely chance of messing up during the production. It is essential that some, if not, all of these elements should be taken into absolute consideration to achieve a successful production, especially to those that are in response to a brief for a client. 

Typhoon!? You're Having A Laugh! (Copyright Ethics)

Hello, the Badger Blogger is back with a new delicious banquet of Copyright Ethical Eclairs!

Lets start with a simple question:

Question 1: What is Copyright?

Copyright is the entitlement and the "hands off! That's mine!" legal rule to a created a product (or a painting, song, film, fiction, etc) and gives the creators claim their way of right that it belongs to them. They control it. Without it, people could just take the original creators work and claim it as their own!

For example, I decide to draw a picture of a face and say that "this is mine." and would sell it for a small fee (not like I'd be able to sell a stupid line-drawn face! Just making a point.) This basicallly means that I am selling my own ideas for other people to use.

Now lets say one day, a customer looks at the picture and buys it, then a few days later, the same guy who bought that picture would resell it and claim that he made it. This would mean that he is stealing other peoples work but no one would know, except for me, because I had made it in the first place and that would make me pretty livid!

This is why Copyright has been in place: to prevent others changing the identifcation of its creator.

Question 2: What are the 3 moral rights?

The 3 moral rights are
- The right of Attribution
- The right of Integrety
- False Attribution

The Right of Attribution

The Right of Attribution pretty much covers the Question 1s example: the usages of materials made by the original creator but what this means that any materials that have been purchased  from the original creator can be used by the person that bought it but can't claim illegal ownership and as such, have to give credit to the creator. For example, the song Rooftops by Lostprophets can be cover by other people but the are not allowed to say it's their song.

Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast) [Lostprophets original]

Rooftops [Lostprophets Electric Guitar cover]

The Right of Integrity
The Right of Integrity refers to the modification side of copyright. Some materials are often changed or altered by other people. This can sometimes lead to problems as some of these people tend to claim these altered materials as their own but there are a good handful of people who will ask permission to use and may edit them for other purposes. For example, advertisers tend to use currently reseased song and may alter them so they fit the advert (with permission, of course!)  

False Attribution
False Attribution is a bit like the opposite of Right of Attribution with a mix of Right of Integrity (plus a dash of salt for taste... some recipe!): This is basically copyrighted material that may have been altered or changed and then say it belongs to the creator of the original material, which to some degree goes along the lines of fraud.

As I am a student of Interactive Media, the real question for me is...

Question 3: How might copyright affect you and your work with interactive media?

Well, we are pretty living in a world where huge companies are creating expensive materials for computers, yet there are people out there who find ways of downloading it for free and this can definatly have a huge effect on the companies that spend thousands, if not, millions of £s (I'm British, so meh!) making these materials and will eventually lead to bankruptcy (spl?) if something is not resolved.

Question 4: Do you think illegal downloading is morally right or wrong? Justify your position.

I'm not sure to be honest, I think it depends on what you decide to download. I can't say it's morally right because a lot of software is very expensive to buy (e.g. adobe programs are from £200 - £1000) and for somebody to download it for free would be wrong, but at the same time, I can't say it's morally wrong either because the World Wide Web was sort of made for that purpose once it had become a part of society. I used to download songs for free at one point but I decided to stop (only because I didn't want to risk losing the internet at home...) Given the choice I'd rather buy stuff, if it's not too expensive. 

Question 5: What does the Creative Commons do?

When Copyright was established as a legal obligation, it has become a hassel to people who want to use materials by the original creators. For example a person finds a song they really like and wants to remix it so it sounds different. He or she does this and later gets prosecuted for illegal use of material. This is where Creative Commons comes in: Creative Commons is a site that lets people create their own imagination and lets them share their creativity with other people and given on what kind of rules the original creator has set, anyone is free to reuse, remix and redesign.

Here is a video on what this means...

Question 6: Give your opinion on the way that total freedom from copyright might affect our culture. (not really a question, but hey!)

Well the only thing I can think about for my opinion on total freedom from copyright that it'd be great idea because we wouldn't have to worry about using other peoples materials but the thing that spoils it is the face that there are a lot of corrupt people out there that will abuse it. There would be people taking credit for other poeples creative work and thats one of many reasons why we need to have some form of rule to prevent this. And that's all I can say really.

Edit: This is ment to be a part of the Assignment brief so I'm gonna add it into the blog...

Ethics of Privacy

What is Privacy?

Privacy is mainly known as a form of someone wanting or need of spending some of their personal time and space on how and what way they want. Some people say that privacy is given right those who want or need it the most whereas others say that privacy must be earned through trust but all of this depends on what someone decides to do with their privacy.

There are a variety issues regarding privacy as most people (mostly those who work or have worked in the media) who completely ignore other peoples right of privacy just to find out what they are up to. Here is an example of what kind of issues privacy tends to have:

·         A Canadian funeral home obtained the names and addresses of people diagnosed with cancer, and contacted a Montreal woman on the list about buying a burial plot and pre-paid funeral services.

www.media-awareness.ca

There are also many arguments on whether rights to privacy are right or wrong. The arguments that suggest the rights of privacy are right pretty much say that it’s better to have them because some people need or like to have their own space. This could also include someones personal belongings or private space or area where they like to be. The arguments that suggest the wrongs of privacy are pretty much saying that some people don’t trust others or that they would like to know what is going on in the world, mainly about stars or celebrities. The reason for this is because some celebrities don’t like to share their personal stories with the world.

When it comes down to arguing on whether privacy is right or wrong, I believe that the right of privacy is right because I believe everybody should have their entitlement to privacy. Despite the arguments, peoples privacy rights shouldn’t be weighed against those who support the freedom of information because it is up to the people who decide whether or not the personal life information should be controlled.