Wow, one month since our last post? Amazing how time flies…

In our last article in the “Someone to Be” series, we discussed the importance of characters in the narrative setting.  It sounds obvious, but I really believe that characters always need to be the focus of a great narrative and that, while the plot may be gripping, it will not sell the audience unless they have convincing characters to connect with.

Most great fiction tells a factual truth with an imagined story.  In the film version of V for Vendetta (which is one of my favourite movies of all-time, though I acknowledge that it’s quite different from the graphic novel, which I have not read yet), V tells Evey that “artists use lies to tell the truth,” which is what gripping stories do, but that’s not enough.  This story needs to be told contextually through characters and environment.  It is through these characters that our great plots unravel: Through their feelings, experiences, obstacles and very importantly, through their connection to other characters.

In the previous installment, we experienced the plot through one character’s eyes, but now, it is time to further explore the connections between characters and the importance of the ensemble cast.

Ensemble Casts in Television

The series finale of Lost airing tomorrow, this seems like the best example to begin with.  While it could be argued that Jack, Kate or Sawyer are the central characters, it really is an ensemble cast in its truest sense.  By “ensemble cast,” I mean that all of the principle characters have (roughly) equal importance in the story and EVERY character in that show has had a back story episode while continuing to interact with others on the island.

With regards to Lost, the most engaging part of the story is watching the characters unravel the mystery of the island.  Again, it sounds obvious, but the plot is so convoluted, vague and confusing that we associate with the characters’ confoundedness because we have it ourselves as we are watching the show develop.  They are all so unsure of what is going on together that all of their relationships are strained and difficult that our voyeuristic tendencies (as the audience) completely gravitate to these struggling characters.  But, with the amazing writing going on in this show, the vagueness (and reciprocally, the overwhelming mystery) of the plot force us to focus on the characters; again, because of the absence of a really clear story to follow.

Now that the writers have the attention of the audience (to the characters), they can start developing them, which is exactly what they do.  Every episode (except the ones that are entirely backstory) has a second component where it focuses on another aspect of the character, usually a backstory, to explain the obstacles that the character needs to overcome and with such an enormous cast, there is usually one element to which someone in the audience can relate.

For example, Sawyer saw his parents killed and went on a lifelong mission to kill their murderer, masquerading as a con man throughout his journey.  Now, while that is an enticing story, the results of it leave Sawyer as a deeply troubled wanderer who has serious identity issues.  Furthermore, by jumping into other aliases, he avoids his own problems and everyone has avoided difficult problems, it something to which we can all relate.

Another character that manifests qualities that we can easy relate is Sayid, former interrogator in the Iraqi National Guard.  He tries to be helpful throughout the show, making many references to not being “the man he used to be.”  Later in the show, we learn that he was involved in the torture of many citizens and has all-encompassing feelings of remorse; again, this is somewhere we have all been, and we connect with those characters through our shared and mutual experience.

While this element is present in many (if not, all) shows with ensemble casts, I believe that Lost demonstrates it best.  Other popular shows that have had successful ensemble casts are M*A*S*H,  Battlestar Galactica (re-imagined), or Arrested Development… but what about video games?

Ensemble Casts in Video Games

The Cast of Final Fantasy VI

Most role-playing games have ensemble casts – some have a clear protagonist with a party of subordinate characters (like Breath of Fire 1, for example), but most RPGs have ensemble casts of developed characters.

Similarly with television, every member of the ensemble cast needs to have depth or else the entire cast suffers.  Literary convention calls the trope of having every member of the play have a purpose and backstory as “Chekhov’s Gunman,” named after the author, Anton Chekhov.  What “Chekhov’s Gunman” really means is that the author should not put a character into the story if they do not have a purpose or will move the plot forward.  Furthermore, to have a character effectively contribute to a story, they need to be contextually connected to the environment of the game – in other words, they need to exist in the universe of the game, not be plunked in at an opportune moment, and they way to involve the character in the timeline and atmosphere of the game is to give them a history.  In short, you need to give them someone to be.  Concurrently, when the game’s atmosphere gives them someone to be, they give the player the same gift.

Just like in a single-protagonist game, the player assumes the role of the character and they unify together, but what happens when there are multiple characters to control? Often, but not always, the more characters that are involved, the more emotional connections that can be made with the player.  I say “often, but not always” because there are games with single protagonist that do this exceptionally well – Aquaria comes to mind, where Naija (the protagonist) takes the player through a gauntlet of emotions.  But, to return the point, most characters in an ensemble cast have a backstory that will deliver a clear emotional package to the player – let’s use Final Fantasy VI as an example.

The game came out for the SNES in 1994, well before photo-realistic 3D graphics and full orchestras in gaming.  The game is 16-bit with a synthesized soundtrack, outlining the story of a rebel group seeking to overthrow a villainous empire and save the world.  Now, within that story, there 16 other stories going on: The stories within the characters.  Terra, the girl stricken with an identity crisis; Locke, the rambunctious treasure hunter who protects every woman he sees; Setzer, the zealous gambler or Sabin, the “wrestler escaped from the gym,” among others.  While these characters sound like traditional archetypes, they connect together and teach each other about the world.  As they teach other (and as the player controls them), we learn the stories that motivate them and the emotional connection that they forge with the player; taking those same characters, let’s analyze how the archetypes evolve into rounder characters:

When discovering her past and her “race” (being an Esper), Terra feels a lack of belonging and uncertainty of where she fits in within the social fabric of the game; upon reaching Kohlingen, we see that Locke’s protection of women is motivated by a mistake he made with an earlier love and tries to redeem himself with other women; while being a gambler by nature, Setzer had lost his motivation to good after the loss of his lover, Daryl (or “Darill”) and takes absurd risks to forget about her; and lastly, we discover that Sabin was actually heir to the throne of Figaro, but left because many citizens were interested more in politics than the death of his father, as well as his fear of the pressures of rule.

This is just a fraction of the stories, but the same applies to all: The backstories and connections within the characters, as well as between, engage the player to escape into their universe because their stories (though, fictional) resonate with the story of our own lives.  The same can be said about Lost, M*A*S*H* and other ensemble casts.

Engaging the Player

We understand the importance of strong characters to create a strong narrative, but how do we hook the player into diving down the rabbit hole and into the plot of the game? That will be the next article in the series: How the cast engages the player.

I hope that this article will not spawn comments of “TLDR” or “Too Long, Didn’t Read,” but thanks for making to the bottom of the page! Please leave comments and contribute to the conversation!

Until next time!
Kenley!

Hey team!

A commercial that we’ve worked on has gone live on the Manitoba Pork website.  They are doing a focus on families involved in the industry and our music is involved in a video on the Falk family! The link is below to watch!

Thanks for reading!
Jeremy and Kenley

“People can’t just give up a story… you can’t just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in.”

- Alan Lomax, Ishmael

While I am not a game designer by trade, I have worked on many different types of games and am intensely interested in the ideas of narrative and storytelling within gaming.  Most of the developers that I have worked for have really wanted their players to become immersed in the atmosphere and continue living within the framework of the game, fostering a strong sense of connection and (to some degree) escapism.

I’m really interested in what enables that escapism and what allows some games to achieve that and others to fail in its pursuit.  One idea that I’d like to explore in this series of articles is my own belief that it is character and/or role that allow us to suspend our own life and become immersed in another.  In a more complicated explanation, we can also escape into a story with the interaction between great characters, such as RPGs or RTS-style games (or, to be fair, other styles too).

Any great story is made up of great characters – let’s explore this.

Part 1 of this series focuses on individual characters and how we engage in the game through their eyes, arguing that escapism is largely due to the contextual relationship between the player, the character and the environment.

Individual Characters in Film and Literature

Sometimes, it is a single, individual character that captures our attention and steals the stage from all others.  One book that deals greatly with this ideal (and quite well, I may add) is the “Fictional 100” by Lucy Pollard-Gott, Ph.D, which lists the 100 most influential, colourful, historical, well-known and/or those with the greatest impact on the history of literature.  There are heroes, villains, side-characters, lovers, fighters… you name it.  The official website for the book is http://www.fictional100.com/ and I recommend checking it out… (though, in fairness, I am also a huge sucker for Top-Anything lists, so take it with a grain of salt!)

Some such characters include the pensive, maniacal Hamlet, the clever Sherlock Holmes or the crafty Odysseus – the story hovers around characters.  We don’t even have to limit this to literature: We can explore Heath Ledger’s legendary portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, Howard Beale (acted by Peter Finch) in 1976’s Network or any of the James Bonds – and this is just film alone! What happens when we apply this concept to gaming…?

Individual Characters in Video Games

Not every video game has a central character: Tetris, Bejeweled, Sim City… but outside of some of casual games and puzzle games, almost every game EVER has some degree of centralized character.  IGN’s ” Top 100 Games of All-Time” (a pretty serious title) is one juggernaut of a list, and about 95%-of-games or over have central characters.

Outside of being vehicles of storytelling, central characters are also an excellent means of branding for the company: Mario, Sonic, Samus Aran, Pikachu, Kratos, Cloud, Rayman, Luke Skywalker, an enormous MechWarrior, Solid Snake, Bionic Commando, Little Mac, Manny Calavera, Tony Hawk, Leon Kennedy, Master Chief, Pac-Man, Simon Belmont, Alucard, Link… you see where I’m going with this

The above characters are a BRILLIANT form of marketing because playing the games enables us to assume the role of the character.  This sounds obvious, but it’s an absolutely crucial point: I loved Mario, but when I was a kid, I enjoyed playing Mario with my friends… like, in real-life, not on the console.  I was always Toad, that was my thing.

But isn’t that how the whole thing works? By playing the game, you become the character.  This is different than film or literature, where one is observing the unraveling of the story via its setting and characters, but one actively furthers the story through their actions.

This is where I think that the immersion and escapism piece comes in: While Tetris is addictive, it’s only addictive if you’re playing to compete; if you’re playing to further a story, you need someone to be.  This is where the Ishmael quote comes in: “People can’t just give up a story… you can’t just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in.”

Sometimes we play video games for recreation, just to kill time… but for most gamers, I would argue against that.  I think that for more people who play games in a more serious way (which is a growing number), their goal is seeing the completion of the story, existing in the space/atmosphere, being engaged in the relationships of the characters and, of course, having fun.  By assuming the role of the protagonist, the player immediately has a context within the game, a foot in the door to the game’s universe and, perhaps most importantly, a job to do.  When you assume the role of Master Chief, you have a rank, a placement in the game and you can interact with the other allies/enemies in a meaningful, contextual way.  For instance, when the characters are speaking to you, they aren’t speaking to you; rather, they’re speaking to Master Chief, but Master Chief happens to be you.

Someone to be... like Samus?

Now, imagine that you weren’t Master Chief, how would that affect your job in the game? How would that affect your immersion in the title?

You could play the role of “The Stranger,” as in games like Myst or Shivers, where you just happen to be present at the game’s beginning.  If we were taking the Halo example further, you could be a Private or low-ranking soldier that exists in the context of the game’s world.  That would be okay, but it’s because you’re still assuming a character, it’s just that the character is you.

Let’s take this one step further: Assume that you are 2010, Earth-bound human, living in your apartment on 32nd Avenue (or wherever it is that you live) in your blue jeans and Led Zeppelin T-shirt, how would that affect your immersion in the game? Hard to say – you wouldn’t exist contextually in the world, at least at the beginning, but it would be the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, where you are an outsider, but having no choice except to exist in the game’s environment.

The more that I think about this, the more that I really believe that if a game has a story, the player has no choice but to be involved as a character.  BUT, this does present one problem: What if there is more than one character?

That is a question for Part 2, which will deal with Ensemble Casts and the interrelationship between the player, the game and the multiple characters between them.

Feel free to dialogue about this on the post, I’m always excited to hear the thoughts of others!

Kenley

It’s been quite some time since the blog has been updated, but it’s been busy! So expect a few posts coming up!

The first thing that we can report is that Kenley was part of a seminar series for Manitoba Music (industry association for Manitoba musicians) on composing music for video games!

Alec Holowka talking about Indie Game Development (photo courtesy of Chrissy Chubala)

The line-up for the presentations was legendary! There were:

- Indie composers (Alec Holowka of Infinite Ammo, maker of Aquaria and Marion, and Danny Baranowsky, composer of such hits as Semi Secret’s Canabalt, as well as the upcoming and highly-anticipated, Super Meat Boy).

- Film and TV (Steffan Andrews of Orchetect, composer for YTV’s League of Super Evil and of the animated feature Kung Fu Magoo)

- Audio Engineering (Andrew Yankiwski and Skot Moat from “Precursor Productions” here in Winnipeg)

- Writing and Game Development (Ryan FitzGerald of “Rogue Nations Studios,” who have worked on everything from ARGs to online media.  I’m a big fan of RadioFreeKrakow, so definitely check them out!)

I hope that I didn’t miss anyone!

In which case, we had five students from all walks of writing – from songwriting, to writing for bands, to writing for NBC!

I spoke about a few different topics of composing for games, 4 of the 7 sessions, actually.  I gave the “Introduction to Composing for Video Games,” “Repertoire,” “Loops” (with Alec) and  “Traditional Orchestration Techniques in VGM Composition,
(with some killer input from Steffan).

All the sessions were really cool – Ryan’s totally blew my mind.  In particular, he spoke about the ideas of narrative involving free will (agency) and of rewards (affordances).  I don’t want to give his whole presentation away, but he looks at storytelling in a way unlike any other – in a very interactive, open and collaborative way.  It’s as though it’s more about the dialogue creating the story rather than the “sage on the stage” model of telling and listening.  Put another way, it’s more like going to the bank and setting up your financial future with a manager and both crafting your economic tale together, rather than the deposit/withdrawl pattern of an ATM.  I could listen to that guy talk all day – go check out his work.

There will be subsequent parts, so stay tuned! I’ll leave you with a teaser – if you were to write a caption for Danny Baranowsky’s moment below, what would it be? Write your answer in the comment box!

What will the caption be?

Good luck!

Kenley

After a heavy last post, it’s time to lighten up and share some local music with you!

Moses Mayes

First, in the “Paris of the Prairies,” we have the Fusion Funk band, “Moses Mayes.”  Moses Mayes isn’t a person, but rather, the name is a dynamic and hard-groovin’ group that I’ve seen MANY times – if you haven’t seen them yet, there is no time like present!

I first saw them in Grade 10 at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival and they blew my mind – I don’t think that I’ve ever danced so hard in my life.  The tune below is called “Intrafusion” and it’s from their third disc, Second Ring, which I recommend as highly as possible!

Moses Mayes’ Website – http://www.mosesmayes.com
Moses Mayes’ MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/mosesmayes

The ladies of "Oh My Darling."

Next, we have the killer all-female folk group, Oh! My Darling, consisting of the very awesome Vanessa Kuzina (vocals/guitar/songwriter), Allison de Groot (banjo/vocals), Rosalyn Dennett (fiddle/vocals) and Marie-Josée Dandeneau (upright bass) – all of them are brilliant musicians.

Manitoba Music (the industry association for MB’s musicians) describes them as “…a powerhouse of superb female musicianship. Utilizing their keen sense of stylistic versatility, these young women have an vastly eclectic repertoire. Drawing inspiration from traditional music, their original songs are energetic and moving. They infuse their unique brand of country music with Appalachian Old Time, a Southern twang, and some funk inspired bass lines that’ll get your hips swinging while your toes are tapping…”

Their tune, “Pixou Falls” is one of the some pensive, yet driving lines that I can think of.  It’s a weird combination, it’s almost mournful, but it’s got this forward momentum that just pulls you along for the ride.

Pixou Falls – Oh My Darling (care of manitobamusic.com)
OMD’s Website
Buy their Album (which I highly recommend!)

Singer/Songwriter and Fiddler, Sierra Noble

Next on my list is singer/songwriter (and unbelievable fiddler!), Sierra Noble.  She’s hardly a hidden gem anymore, with a strong new EP called “Possibilities” and having played with some of the best fiddlers in the world on radio and TV, but she had humble Manitoba beginnings; therefore, making it onto the list!

I’ve only met her once, but she’s super cool and super nice, which is always a bonus.  I’ve included the title track from her EP below, which is a really nice track (earning her a spot on CMT, which is pretty incredible!), though I’ve also included a fiddle duet with Donny Parenteau that she did at the 2008 Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards this past year.  It’s totally unbelievable…

Possibilities:

Sierra Noble and Donny Parenteau at the 2008 Aboriginal People’s Choice Music Awards:

Okay, that’s enough for right now, but expect me to post more about local music that is amazing and deserves to be highlighted! We live in a great area for the arts and for music, so let’s support our local musicians!

Kenley

Hey all, Kenley here and, as promised, I’m writing about collaboration.

Many hands...

I would put money in saying that Winnipeg’s New Media sector is different than most other New Media sectors in the world because rather than looking in for inspiration, it looks outward to its colleagues, compatriots and counterparts.

That needs clarification.  One company from out west moved over to Winnipeg approximately one year ago and asked me about “the way that we do things here in Winnipeg.”  I happily replied that we’re really all on the same team and we commonly discuss what we’re working on, how it’s going and ask for ideas or feedback.  The head of given company (who shall remain nameless, because I haven’t asked him if I can blog about our conversation) gaped at me as though I had broken the cardinal rules in business… oh wait, I have.

In many big cities and big companies, secrecy and protectionist tendencies are of paramount importance and collaboration is a faux-pas that no company can afford: What if their product leaks? What if someone tries to copy it? What if someone does it better?

I appreciate that those are valid concerns and they are in place for a reason – Blue Harvest and Rory’s First Kiss helped to quell the fans from discovering that the companies were really making Star Wars and The Dark Knight. But, why did they have to keep the secrecy? This does the opposite of a tried and true marketing force, perhaps one of the strongest marketing forces out there: Hype.

Many Indie game companies understand this better than most.  In fact, they do the opposite: They post their developmental material as well… and blog about it… it’s almost like they bring their fans into the creation process. One killer example of this is with Bit Blot’s 2007 release of Aquaria, made by Derek Yu and Winnipegger, Alec Holowka.

The Seven Days of Aquaria – http://www.bit-blot.com/?p=27

On the first day, they take you through Concept Art and conceiving the basic elements of the game; then, on the second day, Music and a cool mix from some of the 53 tracks from the game; on the third day, we meet Jenna Sharpe, the voice actor for the game’s protagonist, Naija… you see where I’m going with this: Opening up creates hype and builds a relationship with your fans.

Other awesome examples of this include Bear McCreary’s blog on writing/conceiving/recording the music for Battlestar Galactica and Super Meat Boy Blog.  To be REALLY fair, Alec Holowka’s independent company, Infinite Ammo, has “Marion Mondays,” where  new design aspects of their new game, Marion, are released and discussed.

Where am I going with this? Many hands make light work, or in short, collaboration makes everyone better.  The last few examples weren’t ENTIRELY about collaboration, but focusing more on the idea of secrecy and how a sense of “intellectual protectionism” can be detrimental to everyone.

Winnipeg shares everything and attracts the best people from its pool to do the best work.  Winnipeg’s chapter of the International Game Developers’ Association has regular meetings every two months to showcase new ways of using lighting effects, manipulating gravity in the Unity engine and/or showcasing new games that are in development.  All of get to be inspired by crafty coding, beautiful artwork, beautiful sound design, excellent 3D modelling and stunning animation – there is no fear of stealing ideas because we are all on the same team.

One company in Winnipeg manifests that credo in everything it does: New Media Manitoba.  New Media Manitoba is like an umbrella that helps enrich all of the New Media companies within its subscription by holding seminars, bringing in speakers, running courses, hosting events and promoting the cutting-edge work that’s being done in our fair city.  New Media Manitoba had a hand in the course that Jeremy just attended… amazing work.  But again, it is through this collaboration that a shared and exponential success is nurtured – not only happening once, but a continual growth of the industry.  Again, collaboration.

Author Seth Godin discusses this idea at length in Episode 97 of CBC’s technology program, Spark and I recommend this listen for everyone  - it’s terrific.

Pick your cliche:

- Many hands make light work.
- The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
- The more that hold the net, the less that fall through…

… All of these make sense and that’s one of the reasons why Winnipeg’s New Media industry is growing by leaps and bounds.  The unified strength of our many companies is creating something special in the Paris of the Prairies and I think that it has a lot to do with collaboration and our sharing of skills.  Imagine how much further ahead we could be if we all shared our strength to create great arts and services for the world around us… if you can’t imagine, ask a friend.