Thursday, February 18, 2016

Opera Video Game Paper

I have always loved the story of Romeo and Juliet so for this project I wanted to embrace it as an Opera and put my own spin on it for the video game. I think love is a cool element for a video game because it is not traditionally found in the video game market. I believe my video game would be successful because there are so many variations and ways to play.


Kylie Lowell
Art and Technology
16 February 2016
Roméo et Juliette Turned video Game

The opera Roméo et Juliette is based on William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The opera Features five acts created by Charles Gounod. Roméo et Juliette could first be watched in Paris on April 27 1867, three hundred years after the story was first told by Shakespeare himself. In the original version of this opera Juliette’s voice was sung in a soprano while her lover Romeo’s voice complemented her’s singing in tenor. In the first act of Gounod’s version of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo sneaks into a ball he is not invited to and meets Juliet for the first time. Just as they reveal their identities to each other, Tybalt the antagonist of the story realizes Romeo is an intruder and wants revenge. In the following act Romeo and Juliet exchange their vows of love. In act three Tybalt kills Romeo’s right hand man, and therefore Romeo Kills Tybalt. The duke then banishes Romeo. In act 4 Romeo and Juliet spend one last romantic night together before Romeo leaves for exile. Meanwhile Juliet is expected to marry another man. Juliet and the friar devise a plan to reunite the two lovers. Juliette will drink a potion that will make her appear dead, then Romeo can come to her tomb and whisk her away. Unfortunately in Act 5 Romeo never receives the news that Juliet faked her death. He believes Juliet is truly dead, so he too drinks poison. The lovers sing one last duet before the poison kills Romeo. Juliet, unable to live without him, stabs herself to reunite with her lover in death.
In the video Game version of this tragic opera the goal is to reunite the two lovers in life instead of in death, however, there is a twist. This video game is set in the modern era to relate to millennials. The video game operator will play the part of Romeo. The player will be able to customize Romeo’s guns, chains, tattoos, bandana, and outfit. The player will also be able to customize his damsel in distress, Juliet, to fit whatever misogynistic image he has of a woman. Her eye, hair, and skin color will be customizable. The player will also be able to pick Juliet’s body type and outfit. After the player customizes his characters he is ready to play.
In the first level of the game Romeo will start outside of the club. Unfortunately Romeo isn’t 21 and he doesn’t have a fake ID so it will not be easy to get into the club. He will have to figure out how to sneak in with out being caught be the Bouncers or Tybalt. If the player is unable to sneak in without being seen he will lose his life and be forced to start over. The game player can try to get into the club using numerous tactics. He can scale the walls, kill the guards, use disguises in typical Romeo fashion, or find a secret entrance. Once the player is inside of the club his next objective is to find Juliet without running into Tybalt. Juliet looks like all the other chicks at the club dressed in short skirts and belly tops. The only way Romeo can find her is by matching on Tinder. Once matched, Romeo can see how close he is to Juliet measured in feet. Finally the distance measurement on tinder will lead him to a door that Juliet is behind. The player then leads Romeo throw an obstacle course of climbing through lasers and being chased by bouncers until he finally reaches Juliet. The player has made it to level two.
In level two the objective is for the player to kill Tybalt, who wants to get revenge on Romeo, because until he is dead Romeo and Juliet cannot live peacefully. Level Two will be set in an alleyway where the player will have a shoot off with Tybalt. The player is only able to hide behind cars and trashcans. If the player kills Tybalt he advances, if not, he is sent back to the start of the game.
The players next step in level three is to steal capture Juliet from her home before she is forced to marry a man she does not love. To capture Juliet, Romeo has to work his way through the hotel that she lives in sneaking past or killing anyone he sees. If the player takes too long to get to Juliet she may already be drugged and therefore unable to leave with him. The player must find different objects throughout Juliet’s house and mix them up into a special potion that will wake her up. If the player mixes the wrong ingredients together he will kill Juliet. If Juliet survives and wakes up the player will pass the level.
In the final level Romeo must drive Juliet to a far away land where they will both be safe. On the road to the far away land there are landmines, cars driving the wrong direction on the roads, as well as various other surprises. In this level it seems the whole world wants to keep Romeo and Juliet from being together. If the player can make it through the deadly drive he will win the game.
This video game will be a great seller because it has all the necessary components of a video game. There are girls, guns, violence, and fast cars. The target market for this game will be men because it has the misogynistic ideas that men always save the hopeless women. The game will be something players want to play multiple times because the tactics and locations of the enemies in each level will continue to change. Other features of this game will include a two-player mode where two people can work together to save Juliet. In the bonus pack there will be a version of the game where the player can play as Tybalt and the object will be to keep Romeo and Juliet from living happily ever after.




Thursday, February 11, 2016

We're Human

I thought the experiments done on the correlation between messiness and deviation and neatness and positive attributes was very fascinating. I also liked the one about messiness and creativity . I find these correlations very interesting because I struggle to do creative projects when my room is messy. Before I can't start any creative project I have to clean my room first . I can't think with a mess on my mind . I do think there is something to be said for people with messy minds having more creativity . Clean clear minds have no needs to organize their thoughts into art. It helps us people with messy minds make something we can understand .

Paper Airplane

My paper airplane flew surprisingly well. I came in 4th in the contest for distance. Im glad I choose a more complicated design instead of making an easy plane. I personally think my plane should have won for best decorated too. I can also fold paper swans!




Technology and art: Engineering the future

I appreciate that the practice of art making is now being shared on the internet instead of just in galleries because the measure of what is or isn't good art is so subjective that I personally believe it should be up to the interpretation of the individual to decide if they like a piece. Internet has also given exposure to artist who struggled to get it in the past, allowing them to receive the praise they deserve. In the past a lot of art was considered art based on who made it and not what was made. I believe art should be judged on an individual basis and not promoted due to a popular name. The internet has given art the freedom it needs to be shared limitlessly without the effect of status. It is so important to have the internet for displaying art because there are no longer limits on who is able to create. We can all be heard through our art work if we so choose.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Diva

I really enjoyed watching Diva, I didn't think it was too slow. It kept my attention because I really wanted to know what was on the tape that belonged to the girl who the bad guys killed. My favorite part of the movie was when The weird guy who does puzzles met up with the bad officer to trade the tape for the money. I thought it was so interesting how clever he was with his planning so that he was able to "kill two birds with one stone" where he got money and got rid of the people who wanted the diva's recording. The puzzle guy was definitely my favorite character. I also enjoyed where he saved the day by turning off the lights and then moving the light switch so the bad cop fell down the elevator shop.

As far as art and technology is concerned I think that things seem very different from the Diva's perspective than ours. We live in a later society where the recording of music is a regular practice, however at the time where this movie is set recording isn't so common. The Diva was probably right to be concerned with the release of her music. She may have felt that her music would loose its authenticity or her concerts would lose their value. I however think she was just scared of hearing her own voice. I think a good point is that recording can be an effective way to make the Diva's voice timeless so people beyond her lifetime can enjoy her voice too. I personally don't think recordings take away from concert experiences because knowing the music before going to the concert makes it feel that much more special when I can sing along. I want to rewatch Diva and try to keep track of all the switching tapes next time.

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia museum is beautiful. It reminds of a cathedral church I visited when I was in Spain that had the same dome like shape. The whole dome was painted with exquisite over the top paintings that were awe inspiring. The dome shape also fulfilled the purpose of carrying sound throughout the church. Every time I see a dome it brings me back to junior year when I looked up at the dome ceiling in shock because I never thought something could be so beautiful.