Week 9 1/2 - Not a reference to that movie as I've never seen it

So here is my lame attempt at a video project - as I found that I had actually made things difficult for myself with the amount of editing that needed to be done and the video became too long and my microphone was acting up so instead of a voice over I put stupid subtitles which means some of the cuts are too brief to read them properly while others are a little too long. Anyway, it's machinima, the theme of the video may not be quite as apparent with the text, so it's about, well, a nightmare, which is about perception of reality and interaction between people and what can seem normal to one person or a group. Well, try to enjoy it, or don't, whatever.

EDIT: Video removed in an attempt to placate the Adsense people complaining about copyright material on this blog.

Week 9 - Fascist Democracy

Post to come later, just didn't want to forget the title. Also video needs to be done. If this is me reading this, why aren't you finishing this?

Because I'm a procrastinator. So depending on what you would consider my polical beliefs to be, one might suggest I can't do any of those and stick to them. Or all of them, as long as I'm the one telling myself to do them... Wait I'm confusing myself. I suppose the main point I'd like to make about "internet democracy" is that is not what it claims to be. Whether it be the coding language to program websites and pages, or the little clique communities that crop up everywhere, someone else will be dictating the rules to you. Even this page you're reading is for people like me who couldn't be bothered learning how to make our own website, so we have to follow the rules of the host. I could rant on but I'd run out of space. As a funny side note - the "Military Entertainment Complex" reading talks about the war in Iraq as being scripted like a Hollywood blockbuster, yet - perhaps due to being published before the war ended - omits the comic twist of the US government's failure to cover up the fact that they never found any WMD, you know, the whole premise of the invasion and all that?

Well, I thought it was funny.

Week 9 - Plots & Plans

Well I think it's obvious that I will be examining whether video games have a negative impact on the player. Not exactly original. However, I do think that a broader definition of "negative impact" is required - popular media loves to play on the "violent video games make violent people" stance. While this cannot be ignored, I prefer to find scientific studies rather than anecdotal evidence. And more than just the violent games breeding violence (which of course the major question is "how") I intend to examine potential negative physiological impacts, resulting from more innocuous situations, such as bad posture leading to neck and shoulder pain, carpal tunnel, eye damage, epileptic seizures and so forth. Beyond the fear mongering, is gaming (not just violent action games, but addictive casual games) having a measurable negative impact on the players? As for my position - hell yes it's having a negative impact, even though that's just my piece at the moment, soon there will be some actual evidence to back it up - I hope.

Week 8 - Ownership

From a legal standpoint, I have no idea whether I can be classified as the owner of the video I'm producing. The specific edit of the clips will be mine, the narration voice over will be mine. Clearly the game that the clips are captured from is not mine - although I own a copy, it doesn't make me the creative possessor of the game's content. This begs the question of whether or not the video will be taken down due to legal copyright concerns. Apparently as long as I use no more than ten percent of the total content of the game in the video, I should be safe. And given how much content there is in New Vegas, I don't think a minute or two of clips will come anywhere near one percent, let alone ten. I still haven't actually explored the entirety of what's available in the game, and I've racked up at least 160 hours playing it. Granted I tend to play most elements repeatedly, but my point still stands - please don't sue me for copyright violations. There will be credits, the producers of the game will be acknowledged as such, more to the point I'm not profiting from this video, I'm not selling it, it's for assessment at university. I'm poor and unemployed, there is no money to be had from me.

Week 8 - Creatively Common

As the Doctorow reading points out, the real problem arising from traditional copyright laws is that on the internet, they are largely unenforceable. I imagine that as an extension of that, the only way to track violators of copyright laws would be to violate privacy laws. Not only as a moral debate but as a legal debate, is the chasing down of what might turn out to be the majority of the population legal or even practical? Big companies that want to sue pirates for millions in damages are ultimately alienating their consumers and also removing their ability to be a consumer. If I were sued into bankruptcy and destitution I've lost my ability to be a legitimate consumer, therefore I've lost incentive to avoid piracy. As a creator however, what concerns me more than the thought of someone else making money off my work (which would be the situation as a published author, if I ever finished anything) I despair at the thought of someone taking credit for my work and ideas, claiming them as their own, so I find that the creative commons revolution is something of a progressive step, as long as the author of borrowed work is acknowledged, we're getting somewhere.

Week 7 - Work in Progress

Not much to say on production, as production hasn't really commenced. Footage has been obtained using FRAPS, was quite easy, have the program running while gaming, press a key to record/stop. I've recorded all the footage I believe I'll utilise, plus some that will likely not make the cut as it will be difficult to find a place for everything, if there were even enough time. The game of choice is Fallout: New Vegas developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks. I'm not going to claim any of the video content as my own, only the edit will be my production. No script for the voice over as yet, I have many ideas, just need to sort them out, may not even write them down as it will be a matter of fitting it very closely with the edit of the video. Plus I hope it turns out as entertaining as I imagine, never can tell if people will laugh at the same things.

Week 7 - Pot Luck

I have not actually edited anything on Wikipaedia, or Wikipedia I suppose they might like to spell it. That is the majority of my distaste in regards to their entries, their appalling language skills. I often feel too tempted to "fix" things, just a little. I never usually get past this, as I just treat the site as a way to find directions to actual sources rather than as a source itself. So by not delving too deeply, I'm not usually encountering that most heinous of crimes (apparently), that of presenting opinion without acknowledgement that it is such. As the Kostakis reading pointed out even the people who review what material is pertinent can't agree on what is pertinent, or even if the process is necessary or problematic. A sorry state to be sure, it's a wonder anything makes it onto that site.

Week 6 - We'll Live in a Video

Seeing as how I waited so long to post this I've already had my brief moments of thought with regards to the short video piece I'm supposed to make for this blog, so there is not much of an ongoing process to describe. As far as basic concept: a short film that I believe would be classified as "machinma", utilising footage from a favourite game of mine and creating something hopefully entertaining and original. I think this would be appropriate since I'm likely to pursue the essay topic relating to gaming's effects on the players. As far as tools for production go, pretty much just plan to use FRAPS, at least the free version, to capture video from the game, and fall back on Windows Movie Maker for editing, since it is also free and I already have it. After that it's mainly a matter of writing or improvising a voice over for the video, otherwise it wouldn't really be coherent. Not that it's likely to be coherent anyway. I figure I should be covered for copyright as long as I acknowledge the game, FRAPS, Movie Maker and my own input so that there is a clear distinction between them. And since I'm not likely mention any real living people, I think should avoid being sued for defamation as well.

Week 6 - Download Hollywood

It was mentioned in the lecture that perhaps the big wigs at Hollywood studios are beginning to think audiences aren't so concerned with  the quality of their product due to a willingness for consumers to download cam recorded versions of films the day they are released.  I would suggest that it is more indicative of a desire for greater quality entertainment, and as such, they would prefer to know beforehand if they consider the movie worth paying for; given the general apathy of audiences towards the continuing improvement of technology over content, sure the films look better and sound better, but they are still just bright colours and loud noises, a cacophony of over stimulation without intellectual engagement. I think this is evidenced in the Mascioni reading where it is mentioned that independent filmmakers are turning to their audience not only for funding, but for input into the final edit of the film; giving the audience a very clear interaction with their own entertainment that is rather lacking in the Hollywood studio system.