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    a everyone um how's it going
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    so okay basically could talk about
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    narrative and try and provide us a
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    summary or a kind of insight into
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    narrative in games obviously narrative
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    is a pretty huge topic so I'm not going
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    to be able to go over the whole history
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    of narrative and narrative theory and
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    everything so I'm going to look at a
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    specific article that I find really
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    inspiring which is called game designers
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    narrative architecture by Henry Jenkins
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    and I'm going to apply that to
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    blood-borne some we use blood-borne as
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    an example of what he's talking about
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    because blood-borne is just a really
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    great game and I think it tells its
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    story in a really interesting way
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    everyone hear me okay by the way yeah
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    cool okay so um it's a great opening
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    slide and that the image is courtesy of
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    solo who's a has it his tumblr page
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    there
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    okay sunshine that dr. tom blow calm and
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    I used that which is good so a little
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    bit about me and my research I'm
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    currently writing a PhD in titled
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    ludonarrative convergence a study of
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    narrative development in recent video
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    games across reception production and
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    player contexts so we're playing out
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    here that academics and game designers
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    share a love for the colon so that's
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    something that we all have in common
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    I'm interested in production studies and
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    building bridges between academic
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    humanities Department and the industry
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    so part of my PhD is about interviewing
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    game designers about their kind of
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    practices of kind of you know
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    implementing narrative in their games
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    I'm interested in raising the profile of
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    video games as a valuable object of
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    study within humanities which is why me
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    and Tom organized this day of talks and
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    I'm interested in exploring how
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    narrative and
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    ludecke gameplay elements of games can
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    work together to create meaningful and
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    original narrative experiences so in
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    kind of video games there's generally
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    seen a conflict between a story and
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    gameplay and so this is summed up quite
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    nicely by this quotes by Greg Costigan I
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    hope I've pronounced his name correctly
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    I probably haven't so there's a direct
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    and immediate conflict between the
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    demands of a story and the demands of a
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    game diverging from a story's path is
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    likely to make for a less satisfying
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    story restricting a player's freedom of
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    action is likely to make for a less
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    satisfying game so these things are
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    often seen as in tension and in terms in
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    the academic field of game studies which
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    isn't exactly like game design that you
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    might be familiar with game studies kind
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    of a discourse that kind of is has been
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    trying to establish itself for a long
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    time within the humanities departments
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    and they've largely or have
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    traditionally split into two camps this
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    is one of the big debates in game
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    studies is lewd ology versus narratology
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    so a typical neurologists position is
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    that computer games and not narratives
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    rather than narrative tends to be
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    isolated from or even work against the
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    computer gamers of the game that's
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    Jesper Juul who's like a leading narrow
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    lead ologist and a typical narrow
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    colleges position is about Janet Marie
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    and she talks about which comes first
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    the story or the game for me it's always
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    the story that comes first because
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    storytelling is a core human activity
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    one that we take into every medium of
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    expression from the aural formulaic to
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    the digital multimedia so lewd ologists
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    are very much about moving on and
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    looking at games specifically for their
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    unique interactions and don't want to
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    know about narrative in their most
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    extreme state and narratology
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    are a bit more interested in narrative
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    and disc reiated a bit of tension so
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    things got a little heated so in an
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    article game studies org which is one of
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    the leading journals on gay
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    studies mark o/s : and said in his
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    article the gaming situation he wants to
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    annihilate for good the discussion of
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    games as stories narratives or cinema in
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    this scenario stories are just
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    uninteresting ornaments or gift
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    wrappings to games and laying any
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    emphasis on studying these kinds of
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    marketing tools is just a waste of time
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    and energy so for him narrative is just
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    a marketing tool which is a sick burn
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    for the narratology
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    out there and demonstrates I think that
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    academics can also enter into flame wars
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    so enter Henry Jenkins is like a hero of
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    mine and so he wrote this essay game
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    designers narrative architecture and one
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    of the reasons I love this so much is
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    it's a kind of a fairly early attempt to
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    kind of build a bridge between these two
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    positions so he says in this short piece
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    I hope to offer a middle ground position
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    between the lewd ologist and meratol
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    adjusts one that respects the
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    particularity of this emerging medium
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    examining game's lesser stories than a
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    spaces right with narrative possibility
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    so I'm going to explore this essay in
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    relation to blood-borne so he encourages
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    us to think about games in less
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    reductive ways okay a game story telling
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    in this reductive ways and this is some
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    of the problems he has with the lewd
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    ologists view of narrative so I think
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    they have too limited a conception of
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    narrative based on classical linear
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    storytelling rather than more
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    experimental forms he thinks they have
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    too limited a conception of narration
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    focusing on the work of the author
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    rather than the process of narrative
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    comprehension so the experience of
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    actually reading the thing and he asked
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    whether games and their entirety of
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    stories rather than and they sorry they
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    asked whether games in their entirety
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    are stories rather than whether
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    narrative enters a game a more localized
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    level which he argues and finally they
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    assume that stories are self-contained
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    rather than serving some specific
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    functions within a new transmedia
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    storytelling environment just something
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    I'll touch on again in a minute
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    so there isn't as much a big divide
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    between video games
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    literary tradition as you might think
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    Jenkins suggests there's a link between
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    spatial stories of videogames and older
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    forms of stories having like the hero's
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    Odyssey quest myths and travel writing
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    the notion of the monomyth was put
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    forward by Joseph Campbell in his book
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    the hero with a thousand faces which is
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    really famous had a huge influence on
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    things like Star Wars and has a huge
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    influence on game does game designers
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    and game critics Mary Lou Ryan's book
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    narrative as virtual reality makes the
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    case for games as building on notions of
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    immersion and interactivity that always
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    been a concern of literature so those
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    are the two big things that are always
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    talked about in relation to games and
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    she says no they've been there all along
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    they're just more intensified or
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    slightly different in games and James
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    Newman uses em4 stirs notion of flat and
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    round characters to explore how
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    characters and video games are typically
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    defined by their functions and abilities
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    so it's kind of like a wealth of
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    thinking about games using kind of more
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    literary theories and literary theories
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    can be very systematic and we all know
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    how game designers love systems so
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    there's a bit of commonality there so
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    Jenkins wants us to think about games of
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    spatial stories so he says game
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    designers don't simply tell stories they
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    design worlds and sculpt spaces so
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    considering what ways the structuring of
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    game space facilitates different kinds
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    of narrative experiences so the work the
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    designer does anticipates different
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    narrative experiences for the player
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    he's enough he also says though that
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    games are a bit different to traditional
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    stories and there's a tendency to
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    dismiss games as as not an expressive
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    medium because they're perceived to have
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    overly simplistic storytelling but as
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    Jenkins suggests spatial stories are not
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    badly constructed stories rather they're
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    stories that respond to alternative
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    aesthetic principles privileging spatial
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    exploration / plot development spatial
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    stories are held together by broadly
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    defined goals and conflicts and pushed
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    forward by the characters movement
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    across the map
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    so let's move on to blood-borne what is
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    it just briefly you probably all know
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    what it is Japanese action role-playing
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    game released in 2015 on PlayStation 4
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    developed by from software and published
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    by Bandai Namco is the spiritual
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    successor to the soul series which
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    includes Demon Souls and Dark Souls 1 2
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    and almost 3 is coming out soon and
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    we're looking forward to that
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    the lead designer is hitter taka
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    Miyazaki and he's very much considered
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    the creative force behind the game and
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    has I guess the privileged position of
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    being like an author within the
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    commercial games industry on YouTube
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    there's dozens dozens and dozens of
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    videos exploring the law of blood-borne
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    which is something that I'm going to
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    touch on a bit in this talk and I think
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    in quite interesting ways so his a few
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    of the youtubers who are engaged and
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    that kind of stuff to introduce the game
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    and this kind of thinking about I'm
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    going to use a video by Fatih Vidya
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    which is a disss or extract looking at
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    some of the lore of the game think on
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    human history imagine if in any era a
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    church was founded that had access to a
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    substance that could cure any illness
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    imagine if this church gave it freely to
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    a city how powerful that city would
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    become and how powerful the church would
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    become within it this is exactly what
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    happened in the Arnim people came far
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    and wide to be treated with the
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    miraculous blood of the gods and the
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    people of yharnam put their faith in the
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    healing church in fact what happened in
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    yharnam is eerily similar to what
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    happened in the tombs deep below where
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    the blood was originally found and as
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    you know many chalice dungeons
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    especially those of lauren are now
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    overrun by horrific beasts the lower
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    laron chalice states there are trace
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    remains of medical procedures in parts
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    of ailing Leron whether these were
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    attempts to control the scourge of the
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    beast or the cause of the outbreak is
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    unknown
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    the ailing LaRon chalice states the
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    tragedy that struck this ailing land of
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    LaRon is said to have its root in the
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    scourge of the beasts some have made the
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    dreaded extrapolation that yharnam may
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    be next Yanam was next through overuse
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    of the healing blood the city would
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    eventually succumb to the scourge of the
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    beast until then though Lawrence and the
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    healing church managed to grow in power
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    with the miraculous healing properties
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    of their special yet infected blood okay
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    so I think I think what that video
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    demonstrates is um blood-borne doesn't
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    go to any trouble to make its meaning
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    clear though that meaning is always
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    tantalizing which has resulted in
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    hundreds of deeply analytical RT
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    articles and videos on YouTube so this
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    video is a good example of the kind of
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    close textual analysis and use of
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    sources that we might expect in academia
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    which leads me to speculate that the
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    majority of the scholarly activity
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    around such games occurs in the fan
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    space Henry Jenkins has also been a key
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    figure writing about fan studies and if
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    you want to find out more about that and
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    what he believes the value of fan
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    discourses are to academia you can read
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    his book textual poachers or mat hills
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    book fan cultures very interesting so
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    Jenkins talks about four modes of
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    spatial storytelling and they will begin
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    with ease I've called them the for ease
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    of spatial storytelling so they evoke
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    enact in bed and have emergent
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    narratives and we're going to go through
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    each of those in relation to blood-borne
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    so it's sold with the evocative
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    narrative so Jenkins says such works do
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    not so much tell self-contained stories
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    as draw upon or pre-existing narrative
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    narrative competencies games can be
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    based on licenses they can rely on
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    genre conventions they can recreate
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    events they can evoke other works
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    through a process called intersexuality
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    it's basically just having one text have
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    a relationship to the other support for
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    it he talks about this occurring in
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    process that he's written extensively
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    about called transmen
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    storytelling so increasingly we inhabit
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    a world of transmedia storytelling one
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    that depends less on each individual
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    work being self-sufficient than on each
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    work contributing to a larger narrative
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    economy so for example the Star Wars
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    game may not simply retell the story of
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    Star Wars but it doesn't have to do in
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    order to enrich or expand or experience
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    the Star Wars saga so this is this is a
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    British daughter of the cosmos
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    so I actually recommend this slide to be
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    more of a surprise I should have read a
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    little bit more but basically so in
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    blood-borne you're a hunter on the night
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    of the hunt and you find yourself
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    cleansing the ruined streets of yharnam
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    of werewolves and other creatures so
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    this setting and its antagonists are
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    common tropes of gothic horror
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    eventually though you start facing
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    enemies that bear similarities with the
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    creatures in love cross Lovecraft's
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    Cthulhu Mythos hold on like a breeches
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    daughter of the cosmos everyone acts
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    surprised because I should have done
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    that just now sorry
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    so it's got tentacles and it's got an
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    unpronounceable name and that's not just
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    because it's in the Japanese slide so it
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    must be a reference to Lovecraft I'm
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    guessing so although it avoid though the
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    gamer avoids referencing Lovecraft
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    directly many have noticed at the close
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    comparison between her twisted creatures
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    and locations in the game and
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    Lovecraftian stories such as the dream
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    quest of unknown Kadath so whilst
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    blood-borne begins by evoking the gothic
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    horror it makes a transition into the
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    specific world of HP Lovecraft's notion
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    of cosmic horror and the only clue to
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    this early on is this incomprehensible
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    start on your stat sheet that's like Oh
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    strength against skin what does that
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    mean no idea so that the game does drop
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    little hints early on so cosmic horror
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    is based on Lovecraft's existential
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    worldview in which humanity is powerless
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    in the face of an indifferent universe
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    devoid of God and incomprehensibly
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    infinite so there's a little quote there
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    from him the basis of all true cosmic
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    horror is violation of
  • 15:30 - 15:34
    of nature and the profoundest violations
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    are always at least concrete and
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    describable like that there's another
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    good quote from Lovecraft which really
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    sums up this position I won't read Oh
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    have a little read if you feel like it
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    he's not a happy chap
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    so it's interesting here though that he
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    talks about one of his big themes is
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    people wanting knowledge and like
  • 15:55 - 16:00
    scientists trying to gain knowledge and
  • 15:58 - 16:02
    going mad for kind of discovering things
  • 16:00 - 16:04
    that they can't understand with their
  • 16:02 - 16:06
    puny human brains and essentially that's
  • 16:04 - 16:07
    the plot of blood-borne because the
  • 16:06 - 16:10
    founding of the healing Church of
  • 16:07 - 16:11
    yharnam is a result of academics playing
  • 16:10 - 16:14
    around with forces beyond their
  • 16:11 - 16:15
    comprehension they go to the chalice
  • 16:14 - 16:18
    demons they find the blood of the great
  • 16:15 - 16:24
    ones they start using it everything goes
  • 16:18 - 16:26
    to hell basically so um to talk about
  • 16:24 - 16:29
    briefly about a little mechanic in the
  • 16:26 - 16:32
    game which is the insight mechanic where
  • 16:29 - 16:34
    basically your knowledge of the world is
  • 16:32 - 16:36
    trapped in the form of insight which is
  • 16:34 - 16:38
    rewarded each time you first encounter
  • 16:36 - 16:40
    or beat a boss and and so there's this
  • 16:38 - 16:42
    sense that the more horrific things you
  • 16:40 - 16:44
    see in the game the more insight you
  • 16:42 - 16:46
    have in the world and in true love
  • 16:44 - 16:48
    crafty and fashion this allows you to
  • 16:46 - 16:49
    start seeing things that you couldn't
  • 16:48 - 16:53
    see before
  • 16:49 - 16:57
    so this chat up here amygdala or Amy as
  • 16:53 - 16:59
    I like to call her is these guys have
  • 16:57 - 17:01
    been hanging around on the buildings in
  • 16:59 - 17:03
    blood-borne all the time and you know
  • 17:01 - 17:04
    that they've been there even though you
  • 17:03 - 17:06
    can't see them because if you're unlucky
  • 17:04 - 17:08
    enough to go by one of them it will pick
  • 17:06 - 17:11
    you up and kill you and you won't know
  • 17:08 - 17:13
    why so I think it's interesting that as
  • 17:11 - 17:16
    a system in the game that tracks your
  • 17:13 - 17:17
    knowledge and changes the game based on
  • 17:16 - 17:19
    that knowledge actually makes the game
  • 17:17 - 17:23
    harder in some areas as well it changes
  • 17:19 - 17:25
    enemy attacks and things and amigdala is
  • 17:23 - 17:28
    also a part of the brain which is
  • 17:25 - 17:30
    associated with knowledge and emotional
  • 17:28 - 17:34
    reactions to things so I think there's a
  • 17:30 - 17:40
    a direct like thematic link there I know
  • 17:34 - 17:42
    what that was we carry on so moving on
  • 17:40 - 17:43
    so the evocative narrative of
  • 17:42 - 17:48
    blood-borne is
  • 17:43 - 17:48
    it's Lovecraftian kind of homage I guess
  • 17:48 - 17:55
    so moving on to the idea of an enacted
  • 17:51 - 17:57
    narrative Jenkins noticed that games
  • 17:55 - 18:00
    enable players to perform or witness
  • 17:57 - 18:02
    narrative events so narrative enters the
  • 18:00 - 18:04
    game on two levels in terms of broadly
  • 18:02 - 18:06
    defined goals or conflicts and on the
  • 18:04 - 18:08
    level of localized incidents in terms of
  • 18:06 - 18:11
    broadly defined goals
  • 18:08 - 18:14
    the player often has a quest that drives
  • 18:11 - 18:15
    them forward although in blood-borne you
  • 18:14 - 18:17
    eventually discover that you've been
  • 18:15 - 18:21
    manipulated by a great one all along
  • 18:17 - 18:23
    sorry spoilers that's another thing
  • 18:21 - 18:27
    academics like to do is give away the
  • 18:23 - 18:30
    ending of things so the organization of
  • 18:27 - 18:32
    the plot becomes a matter of designing
  • 18:30 - 18:34
    the geography of imaginary worlds so
  • 18:32 - 18:36
    that obstacles thought and affordances
  • 18:34 - 18:39
    facilitate the protagonist forward
  • 18:36 - 18:41
    movement towards resolution in
  • 18:39 - 18:43
    blood-borne the architecture conspires
  • 18:41 - 18:45
    to channel players towards encounters
  • 18:43 - 18:47
    that have been specifically designed to
  • 18:45 - 18:49
    challenge them a good example is the
  • 18:47 - 18:50
    sequence in old yharnam where the player
  • 18:49 - 18:52
    traverses in a series of ruined
  • 18:50 - 18:54
    buildings whilst under fire from a
  • 18:52 - 18:55
    hunter by the name of juror if you
  • 18:54 - 18:58
    approach him from a different direction
  • 18:55 - 18:59
    he's not hostile and actually speaks to
  • 18:58 - 19:02
    you about why he is protecting the
  • 18:59 - 19:05
    beasts in the area so this idea that
  • 19:02 - 19:06
    Jake Jenkins talks about that games have
  • 19:05 - 19:08
    an accordion like structures there's
  • 19:06 - 19:10
    certain plot points that are fixed
  • 19:08 - 19:16
    whereas other moments can be contracted
  • 19:10 - 19:20
    and expanded and moved around so in
  • 19:16 - 19:22
    terms of enacting narratives that
  • 19:20 - 19:26
    there's a lot about the kind of
  • 19:22 - 19:29
    geographical layer of space so in
  • 19:26 - 19:30
    blood-borne the layout of space allows
  • 19:29 - 19:32
    for the inclusion of shortcuts that
  • 19:30 - 19:34
    allow players to return quickly to
  • 19:32 - 19:36
    previous areas there's an excellent
  • 19:34 - 19:39
    video on Eurogamer actually about the
  • 19:36 - 19:42
    doors in blood-borne and how frightening
  • 19:39 - 19:45
    it is when you can open a door because
  • 19:42 - 19:47
    the game wants you to progress and kill
  • 19:45 - 19:49
    you um and doors that you can't open
  • 19:47 - 19:52
    like are likely to be shortcuts that you
  • 19:49 - 19:55
    need to find the other entrance war and
  • 19:52 - 19:56
    this map I think shows how everything
  • 19:55 - 19:59
    links up in a really into
  • 19:56 - 20:04
    stay away and this map is a bit more of
  • 19:59 - 20:04
    a artistic impression of those linkages
  • 20:04 - 20:10
    references at the bottom if you want to
  • 20:06 - 20:12
    see who made them and this is more of a
  • 20:10 - 20:15
    kind of flow chart of your progression
  • 20:12 - 20:17
    through the game I think it's
  • 20:15 - 20:19
    interesting to point out at this point
  • 20:17 - 20:21
    that there isn't actually a map that
  • 20:19 - 20:25
    exists in the game so all of these
  • 20:21 - 20:30
    wonderful things have been created by
  • 20:25 - 20:32
    the fan base which i think is great and
  • 20:30 - 20:34
    Henry Jenkins has written elsewhere that
  • 20:32 - 20:36
    defining quality of place relationship
  • 20:34 - 20:38
    to a game is the mastery of space and I
  • 20:36 - 20:42
    think this is a good example of that
  • 20:38 - 20:44
    and here's another map which is a little
  • 20:42 - 20:46
    bit more more simple but at the same
  • 20:44 - 20:48
    time complicated because it's kind of
  • 20:46 - 20:51
    charting your narrative progression
  • 20:48 - 20:52
    through the game in a spatial way so I
  • 20:51 - 20:54
    think it's interesting that you can
  • 20:52 - 20:56
    think about the narrative as a series of
  • 20:54 - 21:02
    triggers in a spatial sense and you
  • 20:56 - 21:03
    could almost map this onto this so that
  • 21:02 - 21:06
    a narrative and space work together
  • 21:03 - 21:09
    that's a good example of that but blood
  • 21:06 - 21:12
    Jenkins always also talks about micro
  • 21:09 - 21:16
    narratives so these are narrative that
  • 21:12 - 21:20
    enters the game on the on like a kind of
  • 21:16 - 21:24
    local level on a kind of more specific
  • 21:20 - 21:26
    level and is more self-contained so he
  • 21:24 - 21:28
    uses the example of attractions in
  • 21:26 - 21:31
    pioneering Soviet filmmaker Sergei
  • 21:28 - 21:34
    Eisenstein's films and particularly his
  • 21:31 - 21:36
    film Battleship Potemkin so Eisenstein
  • 21:34 - 21:38
    used the word attractions broadly to
  • 21:36 - 21:40
    describe any element within a world work
  • 21:38 - 21:43
    that produces a profound emotional
  • 21:40 - 21:44
    impact and theorized that the themes of
  • 21:43 - 21:49
    the work could be communicated across
  • 21:44 - 21:51
    and through these discrete elements so
  • 21:49 - 21:55
    here's a few shots from battleship
  • 21:51 - 21:57
    potemkin here's the steps the OD this is
  • 21:55 - 21:59
    the Odessa steps sequence so this is
  • 21:57 - 22:01
    like the Tsar's army shooting upon the
  • 21:59 - 22:03
    peasantry which supposed to be sparked
  • 22:01 - 22:05
    or for the communist revolution it's a
  • 22:03 - 22:06
    kind of propaganda film but it's
  • 22:05 - 22:08
    interesting because it's the very early
  • 22:06 - 22:10
    days of film this was the guy who
  • 22:08 - 22:12
    created film editing
  • 22:10 - 22:14
    basically and within this one big
  • 22:12 - 22:16
    contested space like Henry Jenkins talks
  • 22:14 - 22:18
    about this as a contested space just
  • 22:16 - 22:19
    like in the video game you have all of
  • 22:18 - 22:21
    these little stories happening
  • 22:19 - 22:24
    the soldiers marching forward and firing
  • 22:21 - 22:26
    a pram rolling down the stairs after the
  • 22:24 - 22:28
    mother is killed someone who's calling
  • 22:26 - 22:30
    for peace getting shot there's a few
  • 22:28 - 22:32
    other little narratives and he talks
  • 22:30 - 22:34
    about these as micro narratives
  • 22:32 - 22:37
    something that's a useful way to think
  • 22:34 - 22:41
    about them so we have micro narrative as
  • 22:37 - 22:44
    cutscene so Henry Jenkins talks about
  • 22:41 - 22:46
    how these can often be cutscenes and
  • 22:44 - 22:48
    games these micro narratives but they
  • 22:46 - 22:49
    don't have to be and I think is
  • 22:48 - 22:51
    interesting that there's only one
  • 22:49 - 22:55
    significant cutscene in blood-borne and
  • 22:51 - 22:58
    it's when you touch Lawrence's skull and
  • 22:55 - 23:02
    they then see a flashback to William and
  • 22:58 - 23:03
    Lawrence having their falling out which
  • 23:02 - 23:06
    led to the creation of the healing
  • 23:03 - 23:08
    church as a really significant moment
  • 23:06 - 23:10
    and it's narratively motivated as well
  • 23:08 - 23:11
    so it's not I don't think a
  • 23:10 - 23:13
    hard-and-fast cutscene it's basically
  • 23:11 - 23:15
    like you're seeing what the character
  • 23:13 - 23:18
    sees at that point because his knowledge
  • 23:15 - 23:23
    is is coming from the skull and is
  • 23:18 - 23:26
    seeing a historical event play out and
  • 23:23 - 23:28
    and it's got an important bit of
  • 23:26 - 23:29
    information in it as well right it's got
  • 23:28 - 23:31
    a password that you need to progress
  • 23:29 - 23:35
    through the game so it's incredibly
  • 23:31 - 23:38
    Lingus of progression
  • 23:35 - 23:41
    there's also micro narrative as soy
  • 23:38 - 23:43
    quest I think so there's lots of side
  • 23:41 - 23:45
    quests in blood-borne their focus on
  • 23:43 - 23:49
    different interesting little side
  • 23:45 - 23:50
    characters and you have to trigger them
  • 23:49 - 23:52
    in very specific ways being at the right
  • 23:50 - 23:53
    place to open to the right people at the
  • 23:52 - 23:56
    right time
  • 23:53 - 24:02
    Eileen the crow is a good example I
  • 23:56 - 24:03
    think she very so
  • 24:02 - 24:06
    she tracks down hunters who have been
  • 24:03 - 24:09
    corrupted and have become blood-drunk
  • 24:06 - 24:11
    and you must speak to her at specific
  • 24:09 - 24:13
    moments and locations to continue her
  • 24:11 - 24:15
    quest including two occasions where you
  • 24:13 - 24:18
    have to help her kill their quarry in
  • 24:15 - 24:19
    very difficult fights furthermore it's
  • 24:18 - 24:21
    possible for her to become blood drunk
  • 24:19 - 24:22
    herself causing the player to fight her
  • 24:21 - 24:24
    in a
  • 24:22 - 24:27
    particularly tragic ending to her story
  • 24:24 - 24:30
    so this incredibly nuanced little story
  • 24:27 - 24:32
    more than any other in the game asks you
  • 24:30 - 24:34
    to question the morality of the hunt and
  • 24:32 - 24:36
    sprinkles a much needed touch of
  • 24:34 - 24:38
    humanity into the world but it's well
  • 24:36 - 24:40
    hidden and might play out very
  • 24:38 - 24:41
    differently from play as a player I
  • 24:40 - 24:43
    think it's a good example of what
  • 24:41 - 24:45
    Jenkins refers to as a micro narrative
  • 24:43 - 24:46
    because it's self-contained independent
  • 24:45 - 24:49
    from the larger plot and occurs on a
  • 24:46 - 24:52
    very personal level it's also indicative
  • 24:49 - 24:54
    of the incredible variability that can
  • 24:52 - 24:56
    be built into videogame stories and how
  • 24:54 - 24:58
    their outcomes and meanings can change
  • 24:56 - 25:00
    based on player choices actions and
  • 24:58 - 25:02
    other hidden triggers which makes them a
  • 25:00 - 25:05
    fascinating but difficult object of
  • 25:02 - 25:08
    study for academics moving on to
  • 25:05 - 25:10
    embedded narratives so in literary
  • 25:08 - 25:12
    studies the russian formalists made a
  • 25:10 - 25:14
    distinction between two different
  • 25:12 - 25:18
    aspects of narrative story and plot this
  • 25:14 - 25:21
    is a classic distinction so plot is the
  • 25:18 - 25:24
    way the work is presented on the page in
  • 25:21 - 25:26
    literature the way you read it where a
  • 25:24 - 25:29
    story is the actual chronological
  • 25:26 - 25:32
    sequence and reading is an act of
  • 25:29 - 25:33
    chronologically reassembling what you're
  • 25:32 - 25:35
    reading so the classic example was the
  • 25:33 - 25:37
    detective novel where you have two
  • 25:35 - 25:40
    stories somewhat Aeneas Lee the story of
  • 25:37 - 25:43
    the crime which is unknown at the start
  • 25:40 - 25:46
    and the story of the investigator which
  • 25:43 - 25:48
    you as a reader are mirror mirroring his
  • 25:46 - 25:51
    efforts are kind of like reassembling
  • 25:48 - 25:54
    the chronological sequence of the story
  • 25:51 - 25:55
    so according to Jenkins the does game
  • 25:54 - 25:57
    designer creates two different
  • 25:55 - 26:00
    narratives one relatively unstructured
  • 25:57 - 26:02
    and controlled by the player as they
  • 26:00 - 26:04
    explore the game space and unlock its
  • 26:02 - 26:07
    secrets the other pre structured but
  • 26:04 - 26:09
    embedded within the meson son awaiting
  • 26:07 - 26:12
    discovery the game world becomes a kind
  • 26:09 - 26:14
    of information space and memory palace I
  • 26:12 - 26:16
    really like this idea of games as a
  • 26:14 - 26:20
    memory palace it's like one of my
  • 26:16 - 26:22
    favorite quotes so I think though
  • 26:20 - 26:24
    there's a challenge of reconstructing
  • 26:22 - 26:26
    the story from plot in a game on two
  • 26:24 - 26:28
    levels which is a little bit different
  • 26:26 - 26:29
    to literature so firstly the game
  • 26:28 - 26:31
    resists your efforts to read it or
  • 26:29 - 26:33
    throwing challenges at you that you must
  • 26:31 - 26:35
    overcome in your quest for meaning as
  • 26:33 - 26:38
    jenkins says embedded narrative Canon
  • 26:35 - 26:40
    often does occur within contested spaces
  • 26:38 - 26:42
    secondly the story elements once
  • 26:40 - 26:44
    discovered must be mentally reassembled
  • 26:42 - 26:46
    to create a narrative pattern which is
  • 26:44 - 26:48
    close to the process of reading as the
  • 26:46 - 26:50
    process in literary studies and
  • 26:48 - 26:55
    philosophy called hermeneutics shouldn't
  • 26:50 - 26:59
    go into okay so that's an active
  • 26:55 - 27:04
    narrative so moving on to the final
  • 26:59 - 27:08
    category sorry not the final category
  • 27:04 - 27:11
    know that this finds some still the same
  • 27:08 - 27:15
    thing yeah yeah embedded narrative sorry
  • 27:11 - 27:18
    I've lost myself anyway so embedded
  • 27:15 - 27:21
    narratives in blood-borne so Jenkins
  • 27:18 - 27:23
    talks about embedded narratives don't
  • 27:21 - 27:24
    require branching story structures but
  • 27:23 - 27:26
    rather depend on scrambling the pieces
  • 27:24 - 27:28
    of linear story and allowing us to
  • 27:26 - 27:31
    reconstruct the plot through the acts of
  • 27:28 - 27:33
    detection speculation exploration and
  • 27:31 - 27:35
    decryption so in blood-borne a lot of
  • 27:33 - 27:38
    the plot is written into item
  • 27:35 - 27:40
    descriptions dialogue of hidden NPCs and
  • 27:38 - 27:42
    into the very architecture of the game
  • 27:40 - 27:44
    world itself here's an example the
  • 27:42 - 27:48
    yharnam stone which you gain from
  • 27:44 - 27:49
    defeating the two marion queen after a
  • 27:48 - 27:51
    very long
  • 27:49 - 27:53
    she's an optional boss in a very long
  • 27:51 - 27:56
    run of the chalice dungeons which
  • 27:53 - 27:58
    incredibly difficult to be and for ages
  • 27:56 - 28:00
    people were trying to figure out what
  • 27:58 - 28:02
    this did and it turned out it didn't do
  • 28:00 - 28:06
    anything it was just there to deliver
  • 28:02 - 28:08
    its little payload of narrative and be
  • 28:06 - 28:10
    really enigmatic basically it's if you
  • 28:08 - 28:12
    read the description it's the Queen lies
  • 28:10 - 28:15
    dead but her horrific consciousness is
  • 28:12 - 28:18
    only asleep and stirs in unsettling
  • 28:15 - 28:21
    motions and the item looks a bit like
  • 28:18 - 28:26
    it's got fetus kind of thing in it which
  • 28:21 - 28:28
    is a bit weird so I like to think of
  • 28:26 - 28:30
    this quality of video game storytelling
  • 28:28 - 28:32
    as dispersed narrative where the
  • 28:30 - 28:33
    narrative is just scattered around all
  • 28:32 - 28:35
    over the place and you have to kind of
  • 28:33 - 28:40
    go around and pick it up and put it back
  • 28:35 - 28:43
    together which I really like in games so
  • 28:40 - 28:46
    the final category is emergent narrative
  • 28:43 - 28:48
    so emergent narratives are not pretty
  • 28:46 - 28:49
    structured or pre-programmed taking
  • 28:48 - 28:51
    shape through the game
  • 28:49 - 28:53
    play yet they are not as unstructured
  • 28:51 - 28:56
    chaotic and frustrating as life itself
  • 28:53 - 28:59
    so they're kind of unpredictable within
  • 28:56 - 29:01
    limits so there are those stories that
  • 28:59 - 29:02
    occur through the partially
  • 29:01 - 29:04
    unpredictable interaction of players and
  • 29:02 - 29:06
    systems basically so the more systems a
  • 29:04 - 29:09
    game has the more opportunities there
  • 29:06 - 29:11
    are for emergent storytelling yet these
  • 29:09 - 29:12
    systems are designed to create certain
  • 29:11 - 29:14
    types of gameplay just as architecture
  • 29:12 - 29:16
    anticipates certain uses and
  • 29:14 - 29:19
    interactions so these are known as
  • 29:16 - 29:22
    affordances and Jenkins uses the example
  • 29:19 - 29:23
    of urban design so urban designers exert
  • 29:22 - 29:25
    even less control than game designers
  • 29:23 - 29:27
    over how people use the space as they
  • 29:25 - 29:30
    create or what kind of scenes they
  • 29:27 - 29:32
    staged there yet some kinds of expand
  • 29:30 - 29:34
    themselves more readily to narratively
  • 29:32 - 29:41
    memorable or emotionally meaningful
  • 29:34 - 29:43
    experiences than others so you can talk
  • 29:41 - 29:44
    about emergent narrative and blood-borne
  • 29:43 - 29:47
    I think one of the most interesting
  • 29:44 - 29:49
    elements is the online functionality of
  • 29:47 - 29:53
    the game which is like the Dark Souls
  • 29:49 - 29:55
    games before it quite interesting quite
  • 29:53 - 29:59
    a symmetric quite different to any other
  • 29:55 - 30:01
    game so in blood-borne players can leave
  • 29:59 - 30:03
    messages for one another which are
  • 30:01 - 30:06
    relayed into other players games by
  • 30:03 - 30:08
    interdimensional messengers these cute
  • 30:06 - 30:09
    little guys which I love and you can
  • 30:08 - 30:13
    give them top hats so that makes me
  • 30:09 - 30:15
    happy and players can also activate
  • 30:13 - 30:17
    blood spots that mark where other
  • 30:15 - 30:19
    players fell in battle to play a
  • 30:17 - 30:21
    silhouette of that players last moments
  • 30:19 - 30:23
    potentially offering an insight into
  • 30:21 - 30:28
    what lays ahead it's an example of that
  • 30:23 - 30:30
    there and you can most importantly ring
  • 30:28 - 30:32
    a little bell to summon other players
  • 30:30 - 30:36
    into your game to help you out or to
  • 30:32 - 30:38
    invade other players games and and not
  • 30:36 - 30:41
    leave them basically so there's that
  • 30:38 - 30:43
    element of kind of emergence there were
  • 30:41 - 30:44
    players interacting together and being
  • 30:43 - 30:46
    able to help each other out create their
  • 30:44 - 30:49
    own stories within the limits of the
  • 30:46 - 30:51
    game I think it's interesting that
  • 30:49 - 30:53
    whereas most games would put all of this
  • 30:51 - 30:56
    online function entities where it's like
  • 30:53 - 30:58
    choose to go online it's all there
  • 30:56 - 31:00
    within the narrative context of the game
  • 30:58 - 31:02
    you're ringing a bell
  • 31:00 - 31:02
    because blood-borne operates on a
  • 31:02 - 31:05
    parallel you
  • 31:02 - 31:06
    verse mechanic whether the sound of the
  • 31:05 - 31:09
    Bell creates a tumbler that kind of
  • 31:06 - 31:11
    links to the other players worlds and
  • 31:09 - 31:17
    cools them forth and it's all really
  • 31:11 - 31:22
    interesting here's a another picture so
  • 31:17 - 31:25
    many good pictures from blood-borne so
  • 31:22 - 31:27
    another aspect of the emerging behavior
  • 31:25 - 31:29
    relation to blood-borne is the fact that
  • 31:27 - 31:33
    this system has actually elevated itself
  • 31:29 - 31:37
    from out of the game and now and play is
  • 31:33 - 31:40
    kind of like trade information on wiki's
  • 31:37 - 31:42
    and using YouTube videos to try and
  • 31:40 - 31:44
    interpret the lore of the game to give
  • 31:42 - 31:46
    one another advice and I think that the
  • 31:44 - 31:49
    game creates a really positive
  • 31:46 - 31:54
    collaborative environment and and that's
  • 31:49 - 31:56
    a product of the way it's designed and
  • 31:54 - 31:57
    it's worth noting as well that such
  • 31:56 - 31:59
    emergent narrative elements based on
  • 31:57 - 32:02
    online interaction are completely
  • 31:59 - 32:03
    dependent on active servers and multiple
  • 32:02 - 32:06
    players experiencing the game
  • 32:03 - 32:07
    simultaneously so this type of narrative
  • 32:06 - 32:10
    interaction is perhaps the most unique
  • 32:07 - 32:12
    to video games and the most ephemeral
  • 32:10 - 32:14
    because it's based on things outside of
  • 32:12 - 32:16
    the game itself which i think is
  • 32:14 - 32:17
    something to bear in mind if you're
  • 32:16 - 32:19
    going to pull Gooding this talk later
  • 32:17 - 32:25
    which is about the preservation of such
  • 32:19 - 32:28
    games so why is all this important
  • 32:25 - 32:29
    I hope this talk offered an insight into
  • 32:28 - 32:32
    how narrative and gameplay can work
  • 32:29 - 32:33
    together and demonstrate how interesting
  • 32:32 - 32:35
    it is to think of game designers as a
  • 32:33 - 32:37
    narrative architects rather the
  • 32:35 - 32:39
    traditional storytellers I think
  • 32:37 - 32:41
    thinking of video games storytelling in
  • 32:39 - 32:43
    spatial terms using these four different
  • 32:41 - 32:46
    models presented by Henry Jenkins could
  • 32:43 - 32:48
    lead to more creative narratives so
  • 32:46 - 32:50
    jenkins says such a mixture of in
  • 32:48 - 32:52
    accident and embedded narrative elements
  • 32:50 - 32:54
    can allow for balance between the
  • 32:52 - 32:56
    flexibility of interactivity and the
  • 32:54 - 32:59
    coherence of pre authored narrative so
  • 32:56 - 33:03
    thus bringing together narratology and
  • 32:59 - 33:03
    lewd ology and there's an academic
  • 33:03 - 33:08
    that's pretty much here there's some
  • 33:05 - 33:10
    work cited there's a little bit about me
  • 33:08 - 33:13
    there's time for questions if anyone
  • 33:10 - 33:16
    wants to ask skinny you'll have to shout
  • 33:13 - 33:27
    them out and I'll have to repeat them
  • 33:16 - 33:31
    any questions well then there are plenty
  • 33:27 - 33:31
    of videos online for you to look at
  • 33:52 - 33:55
    yeah
  • 34:04 - 34:24
    yeah yeah okay just to reiterate for the
  • 34:21 - 34:27
    video in case that wasn't picked up how
  • 34:24 - 34:29
    how specific can you go with micro
  • 34:27 - 34:33
    narratives is a little kind of tableau
  • 34:29 - 34:36
    in a corner of a room a micro narrative
  • 34:33 - 34:39
    and is any action a player takes through
  • 34:36 - 34:41
    space in a sequence a micro narrative it
  • 34:39 - 34:43
    could be like Jenkins gives the example
  • 34:41 - 34:44
    of like playing a football game and
  • 34:43 - 34:46
    giving a getting a touchdown as being a
  • 34:44 - 34:48
    micro narrative because it's something
  • 34:46 - 34:50
    that you can lift out of context and you
  • 34:48 - 34:53
    know have it as a self-contained little
  • 34:50 - 34:55
    thing and I think totally those little
  • 34:53 - 34:58
    bits of environmental storytelling where
  • 34:55 - 35:01
    you get a little tableau almost or still
  • 34:58 - 35:04
    like you said a still-life can totally
  • 35:01 - 35:05
    be like a micro narrative so I don't
  • 35:04 - 35:08
    think there's any hard and fast rule to
  • 35:05 - 35:10
    it I just think it's a really
  • 35:08 - 35:14
    interesting way to frame those kind of
  • 35:10 - 35:17
    things but yeah I mean the problem with
  • 35:14 - 35:19
    these kind of taxonomy is right is they
  • 35:17 - 35:20
    create divisions between things whereas
  • 35:19 - 35:21
    actually I think there's quite a lot of
  • 35:20 - 35:24
    overlap between these four categories
  • 35:21 - 35:27
    obviously I can't go into that because
  • 35:24 - 35:28
    20 minutes is enough to just think of a
  • 35:27 - 35:31
    taste of always talking about rather
  • 35:28 - 35:36
    than actually you know explore how
  • 35:31 - 35:38
    they're interconnected as well any other
  • 35:36 - 35:38
    questions
  • 35:41 - 35:44
    yeah
  • 36:13 - 36:20
    big influence
  • 36:17 - 36:24
    okay cool so the question is like about
  • 36:20 - 36:26
    kind of Lovecraft being used more and
  • 36:24 - 36:31
    more and what other kind of originators
  • 36:26 - 36:32
    of kind of genres and and tropes can be
  • 36:31 - 36:36
    used or are being used I think it's
  • 36:32 - 36:40
    interesting that blood that kind of love
  • 36:36 - 36:41
    craft is such a popular thing for the
  • 36:40 - 36:44
    bass games on and things you can't
  • 36:41 - 36:45
    actually throw a rock I don't know why
  • 36:44 - 36:47
    you'd be throwing rock we can't throw a
  • 36:45 - 36:49
    rock these days without hitting the
  • 36:47 - 36:51
    board game with a Lovecraftian theme
  • 36:49 - 36:53
    right and the main reason for that is it
  • 36:51 - 36:54
    cool but the secondary and
  • 36:53 - 36:58
    closely-related reason to that is it's
  • 36:54 - 37:01
    um isn't it's out of copyright so anyone
  • 36:58 - 37:04
    can just use it and so I think like the
  • 37:01 - 37:06
    more it's then used like the more people
  • 37:04 - 37:09
    become familiar with it and the more it
  • 37:06 - 37:10
    gets used but I think the interesting
  • 37:09 - 37:13
    thing with blood-borne is it doesn't
  • 37:10 - 37:17
    explicitly use it it's all very subtle
  • 37:13 - 37:19
    is like Miyazaki's use of kind of
  • 37:17 - 37:21
    western fantasy tropes in Dark Souls
  • 37:19 - 37:23
    they're there but they're kind of
  • 37:21 - 37:26
    filtered through his kind of unique
  • 37:23 - 37:29
    sensibilities and his kind of cultural
  • 37:26 - 37:32
    influences and he uses I can't remember
  • 37:29 - 37:34
    the terminology now but his specifically
  • 37:32 - 37:37
    said that he uses a lot of Japanese
  • 37:34 - 37:40
    philosophical concepts about
  • 37:37 - 37:41
    impermanence which is really interesting
  • 37:40 - 37:43
    it's really interesting to read
  • 37:41 - 37:45
    interviews with him because he clearly
  • 37:43 - 37:48
    you know is very intelligent man and
  • 37:45 - 37:51
    clip who knows what he's doing and I
  • 37:48 - 37:55
    think in terms of other kind of
  • 37:51 - 37:57
    originators of important myth AUSA's I
  • 37:55 - 38:00
    guess Sherlock Holmes like you know I
  • 37:57 - 38:02
    think Arthur Conan Doyle his his work
  • 38:00 - 38:04
    gets used a lot and is being used more
  • 38:02 - 38:06
    and more in videogames I think is
  • 38:04 - 38:08
    another interesting talk to be had about
  • 38:06 - 38:11
    because I mentioned a little bit there
  • 38:08 - 38:13
    about kind of detective fiction and
  • 38:11 - 38:15
    videogames because obviously detective
  • 38:13 - 38:17
    fiction is a really good example of how
  • 38:15 - 38:18
    story and plot works but it's a little
  • 38:17 - 38:20
    bit harder to do in videogames and when
  • 38:18 - 38:25
    videogames normally do detective stories
  • 38:20 - 38:27
    because they could be so procedural it
  • 38:25 - 38:29
    can easily get out of hand
  • 38:27 - 38:31
    be difficult they normally kind of
  • 38:29 - 38:34
    systemize that so you had something like
  • 38:31 - 38:35
    murdered soul suspect where you weren't
  • 38:34 - 38:37
    really solving a mystery were just
  • 38:35 - 38:40
    collecting little bits of things and
  • 38:37 - 38:43
    putting them together and it's I'm yet
  • 38:40 - 38:45
    to see like a detective game done really
  • 38:43 - 38:47
    well I think that gives that the player
  • 38:45 - 38:49
    the freedom to try and work it out
  • 38:47 - 38:51
    itself but that's the other one I could
  • 38:49 - 38:53
    think of is at the top of my head is
  • 38:51 - 39:07
    Sherlock Holmes and do you have any in
  • 38:53 - 39:09
    mind yeah another one
  • 39:07 - 39:11
    I'll give you which is a little bit more
  • 39:09 - 39:14
    highbrow but I think does creep into
  • 39:11 - 39:17
    things is George annuity of all gays who
  • 39:14 - 39:20
    is an Argentinean a proto sci-fi writer
  • 39:17 - 39:23
    he came up with some amazing incredible
  • 39:20 - 39:25
    mind-blowing ideas that play that you
  • 39:23 - 39:27
    know you read one of his stories and it
  • 39:25 - 39:29
    will change the way that you look at the
  • 39:27 - 39:32
    world forever his brilliant and I find
  • 39:29 - 39:34
    I'm finding that his ideas are creeping
  • 39:32 - 39:36
    into games and popular culture a little
  • 39:34 - 39:38
    bit more now
  • 39:36 - 39:42
    try I can't think of an example for the
  • 39:38 - 39:45
    top of my head but could you think of
  • 39:42 - 39:52
    one cool I know you like tall guys as
  • 39:45 - 39:55
    well oh yeah he's that oh yeah joseph
  • 39:52 - 39:55
    conrad's yeah
  • 39:56 - 40:01
    spec up to the line yes spec up the line
  • 39:59 - 40:07
    is an adaptation of the heart of
  • 40:01 - 40:09
    darkness by Joseph Conrad yeah yeah yeah
  • 40:07 - 40:11
    videogames are becoming a little bit
  • 40:09 - 40:14
    more literary and a little bit more you
  • 40:11 - 40:15
    know encouraged to kind of like newest
  • 40:14 - 40:22
    literary sources and and play around
  • 40:15 - 40:27
    with them good anyone else probably try
  • 40:22 - 40:29
    and wrap up time as its yes okay we
  • 40:27 - 40:33
    should probably wrap up but I hope you
  • 40:29 - 40:33
    enjoyed that and it wasn't it was okay
  • 40:45 - 40:47
    you
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  • Revision 1 = provided subtitles for Lecture 1.2 of Prof. Scott Plous' Social Psychology course

  • Revision 1 = provided subtitles for Lecture 1.2 of Prof. Scott Plous' Social Psychology course

  • Revision 1 = provided subtitles for Lecture 1.2 of Prof. Scott Plous' Social Psychology course

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