Project 2 Proposal

The no life gamer project will explore the phenomena of video gaming culture and how it is integrated to the lives of the new generation. The short film we try to create will ridicule and mimic the life of a gamer.

Thesis:
Video games is a form of entertainment that acts as a stress relieve or pass time for the children of the new digital age. Ever since online games (such as warcraft, starcraft, diablo) debuted to the scene of internet, the new trend spread like cross fire across the world as children of all ages slave away day after day to prove their superiority in mastering such games.

Online games is a sense of augmented reality which allows its user to embed themselves to a world that even a average person can become a hero. To a certain level, online games provide what Maslow would call the self actualization stage in the hierarchy of human needs, which is the ultimate strive of every human being. Achieving the ultimate hierarchy of human need would undoubtedly leave the person with little to strive for, which could very well explain the unproductive behavior of most online gamers.

Regular exercise have become a difficult task to incorporate within the urban culture as the demand for labor employment have decrease drastically over the years. The introduction of online games have further limit the exercise opportunity, and may very well become a major issue of health hazard for the future generation. The life of a game addict is not only unproductive, but also very unhealthy (whether it'd be social life or biological health).

The impact of gaming have the potential to ruin lives of people, but only in the sense if one should become addicted to games. If properly balanced, online games can be a great form of stress relieve that acts as self fulfillment as well as venting of anger. Therefore it is important to understand the culture of gaming and prevent the potential hazard that could be caused.

Preliminary Research:
The online game concerns:
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/video_games/concerns/excess_play_videogames.cfm http://www.raphkoster.com/gaming/futuredev.shtml http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62031991,00.htm
Health problems:
http://www.healthonnet.org/News/HSN/605801.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071019174410.htm http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/02/05/nature.interest.ap/index.html
Online game impacts:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3570224.stm http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_gameaddiction.shtmlhttp://siliconvalleysleuth.co.uk/2006/12/online_games_an.htmlhttp://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/18/news_6118921.htmlhttp://zonaeuropa.com/20060304_1.htmhttp://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/21/tech/gamecore/main3189020.shtml?source=search_story
Survey:
www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/health/everquest/study1.pdf
Video:"Katie Couric's Notebook: Kids And Sports" http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3683084n

Treatment:
Our podcast will be split up into three parts. The first part is the introduction that will first show our group’s topic through narration. The narration will continue to introduce the topic, as different clips of video games will be shown with imbedded background music to demonstrate the ideas we’re trying to convey. The background music will mostly consist of the theme soundtracks from video games that appropriately portrays the points being made. The clips will stop in the scene of two people playing board game (outdoor/indoor). The volume of the music will decrease when the narrator or actors talk. The introduction part will take around one minute. After the narrator finished the introduction, the scene will move to a room where a addicted gamer is playing video in front of the computer. He is always concentrating on his games and constantly ignores his girlfriend. His girlfriend is frustrated at him and decides to break up, his grades are getting worse, and essentially he has nothing left in his life. This scene will last around one minute. Then the camera will move to other places, e.g. basketball court, gym room, or library which people are having other activities but not video gaming. The narrator will give a conclusion and showing examples of other healthy activities. The video will lead to proper usage of games that could very well balance with existing healthy activities. This may take less than one minute.

My Team

Team Name: Game Addicts

Project: No Life Gamers

Group Members:

Chan Wai Kin (Film editor, Camera man)

Cheng Yat Sum Ianthe (Background research)

Cheong Reagan (Director, Coordinator, Narrator)

Lee Ka Ki Jeffrey (Podcast cast, Research)

Project Concept:

The video podcast will deal with the phenomena of video gaming and how it has affected our culture. Online games have taken over the leisure time of most children in the digital age, and have replaced conventional pass time such as board games, and sports. This phenomenon has lead to limitation of physical interactions and may very well become a health hazard for the future generations due to lack of exercise.

What makes a good video podcast? A Review of My Fav.

Since the late 20th century when Tim Burners Lee invented the World Wide Web, a whole new world have emerged to the public leading us to a new way of life.

The video EPIC 2015 is a video podcast released by Museum of Media History that forecast the future of internet by the year 2015. The podcast begins the epic battle between microsoft and google as a online service provider that allows user to better manipulate and navigate through available functions on the internet. The video follows closely toward the companies accumulated by google in the attempt to produce leverage over their service market against microsoft. After 2007, the snowballing effect of google was predicted to merge with amazon to produce what is known as googlezon. Google provided unparallel bandwidth and search engine capabilities while amazon provided billions of personal marketing data that allows the company to understand each user's need. Microsoft loses out on the battle while Googlezon later on dominates all media providing precise media that caters to each user. Googlezon's power over the internet forces print producers like TIMES to halt all online summaries and concentrate purely on printed media. The ethics of media becomes blurred during googlezon's domination as news are no longer fact and purely written in the way the user wants to view the world.

This podcast is put together in the form of a documentary that produces visuals through multiple imageries, which provide examples while the narrator reveals this epic battle between microsoft and google. The cutting and editing of these imageries are simple and easy to understand while the main colour theme of black and white makes the message more precise and not confusing to it's viewers. Although the video lacks any sort of animation, the mystical background music combined with the steady pace of narration provides an interesting story telling method that will keep it's viewer thinking without getting bored. The story began with a very clear introduction as to what will be discussed in the podcast, and the snowballing effect of the story ends off hitting hard on the possible issues for the future of internet. The podcast leaves it's viewer thinking about the morality of personalised news when news are no longer fact but are reconfigured to a structure that best suit our taste and preference.

The podcast lacks any groundbreaking techniques, story telling, or editing. However, after viewing this podcast, it has shown that basic narration and simple colour use are the most effective way to communicate any ideas to it's viewers.