Production Idea

Coursework draft

How far does the 1^st person shooter genre affect the attitudes and behaviour of people?

The first person shooter genre is a genre that has had a lot of controversy surrounding it over the past years, mainly due to the concerns that it may affect the way others are acting. But how does this genre affect people who play it and is it in a positive or negative way?

The 1^st person shooter genre has not only been used for entertainment but research into whether they can teach players to shoot more accurately when using a real gun. In America the military and police already use video games to improve shooting accuracy so researchers at Ohio State University decided to test it on college students. In their study they wanted to test the theory “Can violent video games train a person to shoot a gun?” they tested this on 151 college students. Students played one of the three video games being used in the test for 20 minutes: a violent shooting game with humanoid targets that rewarded headshots (e.g. Resident Evil 4), a nonviolent shooting game with bull’s eye targets (e.g. the target practice game in Wii Play), or a nonviolent, non shooting game (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy).  Those who played a shooting game used either a standard controller or a gun-shaped controller. Afterwards, they had to fire 16 shots at a life-size mannequin 20 feet (6.1 meters) away using an air soft training pistol.                                                                                                                          The results showed that players who used a pistol-shaped controller in a violent, shooting video game had 99% more head shots and 33% more other shots compared to other players. The players were not told to aim for the head, but they did it naturally because they were rewarded points for headshots in the game they played.

However this does not show that people who play more video games are more likely to fire a gun at others and instead indicates they can improve your hand-eye coordination meaning the results have a good impact rather than bad. Nonetheless the results do indicate that if they were to fire a gun at someone else they would fire more accurately which is more likely to result in a death, this certainly implies that 1st person shooter video games are a powerful “weapon” to teach or increase skills potentially increasing the use of dangerous weapons.

“But are video games really the villains in our violent age?”

On April 20^th 1999, two seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 fellow students and 1 teacher and injured a further 20 in their high school in Littleton, Colorado in a video they claimed they used the violent shooter game “Doom” to practice their shooting rampage. However they were also described at school to be socially isolated and they hated school and its jock culture which would soon prove to be a deadly common bond.

There has been a rise in dramatically violent shootings and attacks by teenagers, many of whom are said to play violent video games, this is helping the argument that video game violence translates into real world situations. But other people aren't convinced and insist that video games are a scapegoat for a shocking social trend that has people scared and looking to place blame. Entertainment media has always made a great scapegoat.

In July of 2011, Anders Breivik killed 77 people at a political youth camp on the island of Utoya. In court, Breivik stated that he used holographic aiming technology and the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to practice his aiming skills. He said that “(The gaming device) is built up in such a way that you could have given it to your grandmother and she would have been a super marksman.”

That being said, video games did not appear to be his motive to go on his shooting spree, but merely his training device. He had written a manifesto claiming to have ties to the Knights Templar, giving him religious motive. He said his attacks were to stop the “Islamisation” of Norway. He killed these people merely because he did not agree with their opinions. Breivik is currently serving a 21-year sentence for his crimes.

However surely for these serious acts of violence to take place the assailant would have to have had a form of mental health disorder or a specific personality trait that when triggered may cause someone to be so violent. The violent video games have been referred to as a “Murder Simulator” but complete blame cannot be put on a videogame.         

                                                            

For instance, a 2010 study published in the "Review of General Psychology," reviewed past studies that reported ties between violent games and violent responses. The researchers found the subjects most deeply affected by violent game play were those who showed personality traits that demonstrated psychoticism, which include lack of empathy, nonconformity and impulsiveness. People who fit this model tend to see violence as an appropriate response to social conflict.

There is so much controversy surrounding games such as Call of duty or Halo but not games that have hidden potential violence such as the Sims? The Sims follows real life situations as you take care of a created family. But you can decide to not take care of your family and do things such as starving them to death. This may give people an exaggerated sense of power and control. Due to the realism of The Sims by not feeding them your Sims will show how they are suffering, by waving to get your attention or groaning in pain. You can even watch your Sims burn alive, shouting for help but in Call of Duty signs of pain during death are pretty much invisible. According to Gamespot as of 2010, The Sims franchise has sold more than 125 million copies worldwide and Call Of Duty having sold 175 million copies.

So why do we focus primarily on the violence in the shooter genre?

Perhaps it’s because any attacks on people where a videogame has been accused tend to be blamed on games in the shooter or action genre. It could be because the main objective is to kill as many enemies as possible. But if those enemies are also holding guns, trying to kill you would that not teach people to only use guns in a self-defence situation? In the American constitution the 2^nd Amendment is “the right to keep and bear arms”, but this is dependent on how an individual perceives this law. Some may identify it as having the right to defend yourself others may look at the amendment and recognize it as a way to eradicate responsibility from their actions.

Younger people are more likely to be affected by the violence in these games. Young people can be influenced easier because they aren’t completely set on what they believe is right or wrong. Media violence can lead to aggressive behavior in children, this is supported by research that states that when a child hits the age of 18, he/she must have seen about 200,000 acts of violence on television alone. Young children become desensitized to the real world violence. They cannot easily tell the difference between real life and fantasy so the violent images they see on television and in the movies may seem real to them.

I understand that this genre of videogame may affect someone if they are a child and they play these games constantly as they progress into their teenage years as they might start to believe what they’re seeing is right but this doesn’t in any way mean they will go on a shooting rampage. Video games have age ratings and if parents still allow their young children to play 18 rated games is it really the game developers fault if the child decides to follow the same path as the game’s protagonist?

The future of gaming stands with the Oculus Rift (2016) and Sony’s Project Morpheus. They’ve been created to put the player in the games and let them be in the virtual reality that would usually be on the TV or computer screen. Both these devices are headsets that cover your eyes and as you turn your head every part of the room you are standing in becomes the game. When the Oculus rift is connected to the Oculus touch it enables the game to follow your hand movements placing you further inside of the game. Will the real life experience of shooting your opponents transfer into the everyday lives of the players? Or will it simply give you a more fascinating experience?

After watching a Documentary; BBC’s Horizon: Are video games really that bad? I got an idea for my primary research. There was one experiment in particular that interested me and was easy to carry out at home.  Dr Andrew Przybylski a ‘research fellow’ who specialises in Psychology of motivation (What makes us act the way we do) at Oxford University and his colleagues investigated what other emotions were triggered in a videogame to cause aggression, the method was simple and could be done at home so I chose some subjects and tested it on them. 20 people took part and were a variety of different ages, genders and class. I used two different games to test this Super Mario Land; the typical well known Mario game and Unfair Mario; a hidden trap is in the game nearly every other move. Half of the participants played unfair Mario. Before they played each participant had to immerse their hand in ice cold water for 20 seconds. After playing the participants were asked how long the other players should hold their hands in the water for and on average the players who played Unfair Mario suggested an extra 5 seconds than those who played Super Mario. The response of increased aggression couldn’t have anything to do with violence. My responses were similar to Przybylski’s which helped me understand his theory that frustration was the emotion to trigger the aggression.  

To conclude I don’t think violent crimes can be blamed on a game because the video game didn’t tell them to go out and kill and I don’t think video games can alter the way people think drastically. If someone commits a heinous crime of murder they must have thought about doing it in the past, the video game may have been the trigger but it certainly wasn’t the enforcer. As mentioned earlier personality traits will alter the way people think after seeing something violent. Video games are an easy scapegoat as a motive for a crime but really the only crime video games have committed is to help improve accuracy, whether the player uses this for the benefit of their coordination or to practice real life shooting is no fault of the game.

Final Merchandise - Poster and dvd cover

This is my final poster for my television series Limbo. It consists of the series name 'Limbo', a slogan that links to my series 'Hunt or be Hunted' and the red bloody hand print is my series logo, this also features on my clothing merchandise. The forest represents one area of my arena and features one of the teenagers in the car crash entering this area, she is holding a weapon because they are all given one weapon to help them survive during their time in the game show.
If I was to create another poster it would have another section of the arena and maybe one of the other characters.

This is my DVD cover I created for my tv series. I used the red bloody hand print again because its my logo. On the back I have written some information about the first series. 'The beginning of the end' is the name of my first episode and subtly describes the series. The background is just one setting on an area in the game show. It is rated 15 so the 15 stamp is on the front.

Production ideas update including all Merchandise

For my poster i have now decided to use a background of one of my arena setting.
I may use the woods or a destroyed city.

This is an example of what it may look like, it would feature a girl walking into the forest and the television series name would be at the bottom right hand corner. One of the series slogans may also be featured or one of the supernatural creatures.
The destroyed city may feature the slogan in the sky and the series name.

I feel that either one of these would link better to my series because these are places that it will be set more often. I also want to create a DVD cover for my first series.

Merchandise - My merchandise consists of various items that link to my TV series
The Jumper: 

The jumper features the slogan 'Hunt or be hunted...' because that is one of the slogans that will be used in my series. The jumper is most likely to be black or white because of the red 'bloody' hand print that will be featured need to stand out.

The T-shirt: 

The t-shirt will feature the same slogan as the jumper or the slogan 'Who will survive?' because this slogan will feature on the poster. The t-shirt is most likely to be white because the poster will consist of a white wall in the building with this writing on it. Red bloody hands will also be shown.

 Badge: 

The badge consists of a simple logo that I am using for my TV series. The logo is used so people know what series it is for.

Phone Case:

I have created two phone cases cases I have used the main image of my poster and the other phone case includes my series logo and one slogan.

Production Proposal - original poster idea

The poster: 

The poster will consist of a white room and a girl walking through the room with her hand on the wall. On the wall in black paint it will say 'Who will survive?' Along the wall will be hand prints in blood. Limbo will be written in the bottom right corner. Light will be shining towards the girl but the exit is not shown.

This photo is also a possibility because it is a white room with lights leading to an exit. However blood would have to be added on the walls.

Development of pre-production

How can you enrich your narrative?
I will enrich my narrative by making it obvious to the audience what my narrative is and by creating obstacles that my protagonists must overcome so that Todrov's narrative theory is included and that the equilibrium is disrupted. I will also enhance my characters so that people can 'get to know them' in a way that they can create their own opinions on them.

What elements can you add to bring your characters alive?
I could make each of my characters different using different personality traits that people may like and some may dislike. Relationships will be known e.g. whether or not they get along will people, relationships with parents. This will cause the audience to feel closer to the characters. I would also give my characters backgrounds and past experiences that the audience will find out that have shaped them into the person they are now. The personalities may also change throughout depending on the experiences they go through now.

How will you actively seek to serve your chosen audience?
I will include factors in my series that teenagers can relate to and understand. My audience is teenagers who enjoy things that include supernatural creatures so to ensure they are entertained I will make sure to include these creatures and different aspects that they will enjoy. Although the arena is completely fictional some obstacles that are included (except the the supernatural) may be relatable.

Coursework idea Development - Limbo

Name: Limbo

Genre: Thriller/Horror Supernatural

Themes: Friendship, survival, determination, teamwork, hope

Audience: Teenagers from 15-19 years old who are interested in the thriller or horror genre and perhaps have watched TV series such as the walking dead or teen wolf so they are familiar with the supernatural creatures.

Setting: The series starts on an isolated, country road in Britain in 2014 before the crash happens. When they are in the gameshow it is set in a fictional arena, they leave a empty building that is completely white on the inside with black writing in paint on the wall with either "Who will survive?" "Hunt or be Hunted". When the first character leaves the building the area of the arena looks like a destroyed city.

Music: When the teenagers are in the car, pop music will be played at a very high volume causing a distraction. However when they are in the empty building classical music will play to create a eerie different tone to the tone that was in the car.

Comparables: The Hunger games - Both are set in an arena where they have to try and be the last person to survive.
The Walking dead - When the protagonist leaves in the first series he wakes up in a hospital and when he leaves he notices the city is destroyed and abandoned.
Flatliners - In this film the narrative is that they die and find out where they go and what they see when they die. This is similar to mine because when my characters die they find out what they have to go through in the attempt to return.

 

Character Development: 5 school friends
David - 17 years old, he is sporty and confident, his sister is Katherine, he is driving the car at the time of the crash
Zak - 16 year old, Joker, sociable, energetic
George - 17 years old, nerdy, Charismatic
Natasha - 16 years old, girly, dumb, sensitive
Katherine - 16 years old, reliable, practical, her brother is David - she is the first character to be featured within the gameshow.

All the characters are fictional and although other teenagers feature during the gameshow, they are not protagonists and will not necessarily be featured much.

Episodes: The first episode will be called 'The beginning of the end' and in this episode the car crash will take place. The 5 teenagers will be shown joking about and laughing in the car, they all get distracted and they are hit by a car/truck that crosses their path. Katherine will be shown waking up in a completely white room. As she gets closer to the exit of the building black writing in paint can be seen on the wall. It reads 'Who will Survive?'. When she leaves the building she can only see huge trees standing in front of her. There is a tape recording that explains where she is and what she has to do. The game show has now started. She starts off in the area with zombies, she only has one weapon to help her survive and the fight for survival has begun.

In other episodes each of the 5 characters are shown in their starting area of the arena with the setting and supernatural creature. Along the way other teenagers are met who are in the same gameshow through a different situation. All their difficulties and challenges are shown along the way. The final episode will be the winner and their return to earth. They will not remember anything that happened and the rest of the teenagers except them will still be in the fatal accident.

If another series were created then another group of teenagers will be in a different tragic accident to put them into the gameshow. The arena would have changed with more supernatural fictional creatures and different  challenges in order to survive.

Coursework - initial idea for a teen horror/supernatural tv series

For my media television series I have decided to create a series called Limbo. It will be a teen supernatural horror/thriller. The series is about the space in-between life and death which is Limbo but in this situation when you are in Limbo you are in a game show. The plot is about 5 teenagers who are in a car crash and end up in limbo. There will be more teenagers in the show who will be met throughout.
The game show is set in an arena which is split into different sections. Each section has a different environment and supernatural creature in it. The environments and creature in each section will change every day. For example: one section may be set in a forest environment with vampires. They must all try and survive both the supernatural and the harsh environments. When they first enter the arena they will each be given one weapon that they can use to defend themselves with. It’s survival of the fittest. Only one can survive and gets to return back to earth before the accident and does not get into the fatal situation that put them in limbo in the first place. The rest however will face their fate; death.