Theatrical Concepts in Human/Computer Activity

The digital game that I chose was The Sims. It was my favorite game growing up because you had complete control over the characters. To me, it was like directing a movie, which is now something I plan on doing for a living.

The six qualitative elements of structure explained in Laurel’s article are seen in The Sims. Action is represented because the user is in complete control of choosing the actions that are taking place. The user interacts with the game and picks what activities and actions the characters are going to do.

Character is represented in The Sims and is a key element. One of the main ideas in The Sims is creating and controlling a character of your choice. You are in complete control of your Sims physical characteristics as well as their personality.

From there you pick what they wear, where they work, what the do, how they live, etc. Thought process is represented through the system and the user. The user can control their Sims but each Sim has their own ideas of what they do and sometimes fight the user. For example; if the Sims are too tired they will not do the actions that you want them to. But when the user allows the Sim to sleep then they will cooperate. This creates a joint ownership of the Sim between the computer system and the user. Language is represented in The Sims very creatively. The Sims have their own language that is not English or any other real language. However, if you listen carefully you are able to remember certain things that they say and then you find yourself understanding their needs. Their movements are also a type of language and you can understand what they are feeling through their arms movements, the way they walk, etc. This creates a certain melody or pattern that they user becomes accustomed to. The final product is a enactment between Sim, system, and user that allows for an excellent game.

In some ways The Sims is a learning experience involving money, relationships, and living. Children and young adults are learning things subconsciously and having fun at the same time. What else could you ask for in a digital game?

Effective Banner Ads

After looking at a few recent banners on bannerblog.com I came across a few that I found very interesting. My favorite of the banners were the interactive ones. However, some of these did not really relate to the product that much. They were fun though and really draw the viewers in. For example; the Bacardi: Shred the Banner advertisement. In this ad there are guitar strings that the viewer can play to make music. It does not really tell much about the product but is fun. After playing with the banner I found myself saying, “but why?” Which should not be the purpose of a banner. Companies pay a lot of money for advertising and it should be useful and express information about the product.

The ad that I found the most successful was Almond Board of California. This ad is colorful, animated, and allows for viewer interaction. When the ad begins it has words that scroll across describing the deliciousness of the almonds. Then when the words stop scrolling there is an image that you can click to change the different flavors of almonds. When clicking on the different bowls, the background color changes and the new flavor name come up. This ad provides a lot of information and is creative and intriguing. The images are crisp and clear and make the almonds look very tasty. When you click around the other area of the ad you are brought to the website that shows you how to flavor your almonds. This process is very successful and useful because the goal of bringing the customer to the company website is achieved. That is after all, the goal of a banner.

When making a banner myself, I want to provide something that is simple, bright, and interactive. Simplicity is key, so the viewer is not confused and bright colors will draw the viewer to look and possibly interact with the banner. The ad also needs to relate to my topic so that the viewer knows the purpose and the importance of the banner. One feature that remains constant is that every banner directs you to the website of the company or product. I will need to include this in my banner so that the viewer visits my website and gets properly informed about the product.

transmedia storytelling

One movie that provides an example for the idea of transmedia storytelling is James Cameron's Avatar. The script was written many years ago but Cameron was waiting for technology to advance before producing the movie. The plot takes place in a futuristic world on a different planet that contains a very valuable natural resource. Of course being a consumeristic and harsh humanity that we are, we inhabit the planet and take whatever means necessary to obtain the resource. This means disturbing and killing the locals. 

What what makes Avatar unique is its ability to appeal to a broad audience. It has a bigger meaning for the adult audience yet provides funny blue aliens and violence for the younger audience. This broad market allows for the transmedia storytelling to be successful. Avatar's film debut was huge and everyone wanted a piece of the Avatar action. Video games were made, apps developed to turn pictures into Navi's, etc.

The Planet of Pandora is nothing like Earth. Everything is large and the animals are unlike anything imaginable.

The air is toxic to humans so they had to come up with machinery and scientific advances to comfortably withstand the environment. 

Movie poster that leaves the audience guessing about what "Avatar" actually is.

Most of the characters in Avatar are computer graphics (CGs) yet have similarities to their real life bodies.

The Avatar Video Game

App sponsored by McDonalds to "Avatarize" a photo of yourself

the double logic of remediation

remediation

immediacy

hypermediacy

poetry animation

Animations can be narrated in many ways. One specific way this can be accomplished is through text animation. This technique can use both a voiceover and text or just text. One example for animating text that works very well is when you are working with a poem or short story. When text is displayed on the screen it helps emphasis the story for the viewer. In Lyn Hejinian’s “Eleven Eyes” she uses this technique. Her poem is very simple and text animation provides much of the visual stimulation to keep the viewer interested. There are cute characters and objects used throughout the animation but the text is most fascinating. For my next animation I plan to animate a short Halloween poem that does not have much use for character animations. I can use techniques like Hejinan uses to make my font fun and draw the viewer in. Without animating text my animation may have the scenes appear to drag on and on. But by adding text to the scenes they will seem faster and provide for a more visually exciting animation.

I personally have always loved text and text animation. In some cases I even see myself doing text animation for movie titles as a future job option. I just love the way that moving text in and out of the screen can be so fascinating, although it is just text. Many factors make a text animation a good one. “This is a Letter” uses all of these techniques. Change in speed, location, screen rotation, zoom, etc. This is an advanced text animation compared to “Eleven Eyes.” It is also much more visually demanding. It moves very rapidly and requires the viewers’ attention because things are changing so quickly. I really enjoy watching animations such as these. I’m not sure what program this was done in but I have attempted this in After Effects. There is a lot that goes into an animation of this caliber and it takes a lot of time dealing with all the minuscule detail. I would love to create something like this as a possible final because it really interests me. 

Both poems have similar yet very different approaches when animating text. The possibilities are endless and open the animator to many different options. Both animations are great in their use of technique, text animation, narration, and drawing. Everything works together and provides two excellently animated poems.