Robs’ Media/Film Blog

The Planning Process starts on pretty much the first and second posts in the Media Studies Category

http://thedarkshroud.webs.com/index.htm

thedarkshroud.weebly.com

I had initially hit a snag as the myspace page for the game which I had been developing was deleted due to inappropriate content which to be honest I have no idea what that was, the only logical explanation was the use of the Xbox logo even though a disclaimer was used.

In my opinion I am quite happy with the way in which my hyperlinked wepbage has turned out, the main idea was to have it similar to another developing xbox titles website which was that of the upcoming Xbox Exclusive Alan Wake, http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/a/alanwake/

I was quite fond of the Idea that, it was possible for a game in its early stages to still have a lot of mystery surrounding which allows people to slowly gain interest over time as opposed to throwing all of the information at the audience at once which in my opinion could let them get overwhelmed. So that was one of the avenues I had to explore when creating my website of The Dark Shroud.

Some useful thyings I felt that I needed to incoporate into the website including substantial imagery to do with the game, which was provided using uploaded photographs and a helpful button on the wepbage allowing quick and easy access to the  product, I also thought it would be important to add another helpful hyperlinked button to a calender which if you look closely enough shows when the game is released. Although with the weebleys.com hyperlink I found that the site was quite a bit harder to maneuver round and was not as user friendly as the webs.com address, making the website featured on weebleys.com to look quite amateurish and much more like a fan site, this was not intentional and if I had my time again I would definitely use a different medium when creating an alternative webpage, as weebleys was both hard to manage and in my opinion made that particular part of the package ugly, although this is my opinion other people have said it looked fine and just needed a bit of refinery.

As well as that the main game information had to be included on the front page, much like any other mainstream video game website, which is mandatory this included the release date, the games genre, the price and other important information. These things were all necessary in making the product look all the more genuine and realistic in keeping with the promotional package.

However, I do not by any means think that the websites are perfect due to the fact that the Dark Shroud title just above the hyperlinked buttons on both the webs, and the weebly address has quite a generic feel to it which I would like not to have included but unfortunately it was unavoidable. But in my opoinion it does effectively promote a video game that is to be released shortly..

1. What was your general opinion?

” Although everything, seemed to work like you Rob it falls down slightly when looking at the back cover, but everything else is fine, however being a gamer myself the UK cover does look very similar to the front cover to Thief: The Dark Project..

2.  Do you think I have stayed true to my aims?

” I think you have stayed true to your aims,  you have not ended up with a promotional package which appeals to the wrong audience which was one of your aims, I also think you achieved your aim of making an exciting product that replicates a video game very well.”

3. In your opinion do you think it reached the target audience?

” Yes I do, although with any video game it will obviously appeal to people younger than the target audience”

4. What could I have done differently?

” There are a few things you could definitely have done differently, you could have for exaple used an alternative web service for the internet site, instead of myspace and picso another website would have given a more proffessional feel making the product seem all the more realistic. Another change you could have made is to have included more action shots and screen shots with the website, because although unreleased video game websites often do have very few screenshots on them there are still at least more than one or two.”

http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x195/rjkclarke/A2%20Media%20Coursework/

this was the product, which I was least happiest with. One of the reasons behind this is that to me it looked the most unproffesional all of all of the factors in my promotional package. Although the bottom half looks very genuine. In my opinion the main reason that the upper portion does not is due to the bland and drab looking background, but in my opinion there was not much choice  because I could not break the link between all of the other products and suddenly have a brighter more colourful background when the promotional package and game concept in itself is dark, so in that respect I faced quite a dilemma. As well as this I found that when attempting to blend the colours with the background it did not work at all, even whilst using Macromedia Fireworks there was little that could be done, and my idea of a mysterious shadowy effect was not recognized and instead did not turn out at all as I had once thought it might.

links to photobucket where my two front covers can be found including the alternate box art for US and Japan

as well as the magazine advertisement

http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x195/rjkclarke/A2%20Media%20Coursework/

on another note, I was very happy with the way in which ho the alternative front cover turned out, in my opinion it was just as effective as the version which I produced to be the “UK Version” it still manages to have an ere of mystery about it and in my opimion it also captivates you, and from audience feedback from some colleagues it had  a lot of them asking “but why the urban setting” showng that from just the front cover alone it can gain interest.

As well as that in my opinion both, the front covers and the magazine covers both show the conventions of the action Genre, as many video games represented within these genres have both action shots on the cover and one single object of focus within their magazine advertisements, so in my opinion I think they were a success in that regard in conveying the conventions of a particular type of media.

The Dark Shroud

Evaluation Presentation…

as well as the link to my youtube account containing a video of my presentation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-xGFYBSju0

Included in the powerpoint is my complete analysis and Evaluation of the promotional package..

La Haine was a French film made in 1995 shot in black and white that focuses on one single day in the life of three French youths Vinz, Said and Hubert.. it was a very entertaining film,  although the film is very slow paced, it still remains entertaining with the ammount of realism it manages to show.

It manages to differ itself from the majority of hollywood films, by being entertaining without having to appeal to the massews by having a mass of action every five seconds just to keep the viewer entertains, the film carries on at a slow and manageable pace whilst still being able to tell an interesting story.

One of the main focal points of the film is the three young characters clear hatred of the police due to the brutalization of thier friend at the hands of the police, I found it interesting how morally questionable some of the boys acts were over the course of the film you still found yourself routing for the boys towards the films conclusion.

 I think it is near impossible not to have any sort of feelings about the fate of Vinz at the end of the film, as it begins to bring it home the brutality of the police in France, but it obviously would as director Mathieu Kassovitz intended for the film to be an anti police oriented tale.

Approaching setting up a website, I am unsure about weather to direct the website as the “official” website for the game or go down a different path, and create a “fan site”, although technically a fan site is not something that really promotes the game not in an official way just promotes it via word of mouth, so I think I can safely rule out the “fan site” idea..

I am also unsure as to weather or not I would have to censor anything, as the game I am making a promotional package for is certified 18, by the PEGI rating, meaning that I may have to either tone down the content that the website is showing, although strictly, I don’t have anything of an offensive, or shocking nature, the PEGI rating is used, solely in conjunction with the fact it is a game being promoted, I thought it should be something other than the “bog standard” “TBC” which does not really give a clear cut view of anything which is often quite a problem, especially when for example responsible parents are Christmas shopping, and they need to know whether or not a particular game is suitable for their son/daughter/ child.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x195/rjkclarke/A2%20Media%20Coursework/magazineadXbox360darkshroud.png

Magazine advertisement for my video game promotional package, I think something lacks a little bit somewhere but I’m not really sure why, might change it at some point in the next few days, for example adding screenshots to it,  but I have previously tried that but they don’t really fit properly into the advert without having all thr relevant information in there at the same time, perhaps these would be better off being used for the back of the Box art. Because not every video game magazine does have screenshots on the advert, some of them just have one, main picture that draws youe attention, it seems to have become a trend post about 2006, not to include screenshots on the magazine advert. Although I may not aggree with this, with mine, at present I cannot see any real way around it which at present is a bit of a problem.

http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x195/rjkclarke/A2%20Media%20Coursework/

link to Video Game box art, front cover