O R … W H E R E ’ S T H E C A K E A N D P I Z Z A ?

VIDEO GAMES AS CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

WHAT IS ART? WHAT IS CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS?

• The use of the imagination to express ideas or feelings…- Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

• Art is to evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced, and…then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling—this is the activity of art.

– Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)

• Cultural expressions are the soul of being human, and their diversity and vitality comprise the beauty of humanity. …human expressions are at the heart of biocultural diversity. - The

Christensen Fund Or more simply put: The articulation or representation of beliefs, practices or attitudes pertaining to a particular culture.

CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS

• New generations and communities develop their own cultural expressions, such as rock, rap, comics, graffiti and computer games.

• There are close ties between comics and video games. Not only because both activities have had a rather low status; considered to be “trashy”, and in recent years even kind of nerdy and thus a natural affinity for all these years, but also because comics and video games share many of the same phrases and themes. Many computer games are about power fantasies, about controlling a hero with supernatural powers who saves the princess and half the kingdom. The similarities to superhero comics are many, both in terms of stories, aesthetics, character development and dramaturgy.

COMICS, MOVIES, VIDEO GAMES

MAX PAYNE – THE GAME

• The story is so well told and so involved that it's like you're playing a John Woo action film on your computer.

- IGN Staff, July 27, 2001

MAX PAYNE - THE MOVIE

• This game-to-film simply doesn't bring enough pain.

- by Jim Vejvoda, IGN, October 17, 2008

THE HISTORY OF FILM

Auguste and Louis Lumiere invented the cinematograph / projector in 1895.

THE HISTORY OF FILM

• Used it to capture kinetics, including the famous L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de la Ciotat.

• No narrative structure.• They didn’t see the artistic/storytelling potential• “The cinema is an invention without any future”.

(Narrative media: theater)

THE HISTORY OF FILM

Then filmmakers started noticing that you could do stuff with film that you couldn’t do with theater.Georges Méliès “A Trip to the Moon”, 1902 = special effectsStorytelling still done with theater techniques

THE HISTORY OF FILM

Orson Welles used the distinct qualities of film (the camera) as a narrative tool • Deep focus• Low angles• Careful shot construction• Pans, close-ups, etc.

THE HISTORY OF COMICS

• Scott McCloud calls comic books “Sequential Art”. • Cartoon is an art form where a

story or situation are being portrayed through multiple drawings or frames that are set after another in a sequence or series, says Wikipedia

THE HISTORY OF COMICS

• The modern comics came in the late 1800• Breakthrough as mass culture in the 1950-ies,

dominated by war and western• Superheroes ruled in the 1960-ies• Norway in the 1970-ies: The golden age of

cartoons• 1980-ies – the age of stagnation• 1990-ies humorous cartoons survives

THE HISTORY OF COMICS

Should serious works be called “comics” at all?

Art Spiegelman’s MAUS is certainly not very comical…

THE HISTORY OF COMICS

Closure = What happens between the panels.

Closure tells stories because the audience understands the panels to be sequential.

Closure is the distinct quality of Sequential Art.

THE HISTORY OF COMICS

Not all Closure is equal. Some comics use it more than others to evoke emotions and tell stories.

TOPICS AND EMOTIONS IN COMPUTER GAMES …AND IN MOVIES AND CARTOONS?

• Topics typically covered by core gameplay:• Combat / Violent Conflict• Move / Climb / Drive• Explore / Unlock• Acquire / Manage resources

• Emotions games typically evoke:• Fear• Paranoia• Revenge • Power fantasies

TOP 10 CENTRAL THEMES IN FILM….AND CARTOONS AND COMPUTER GAMES?

• 1. Good vs. Evil • 2. Love Conquers All • 3. Triumph over Adversity • 4. Individual vs. Society • 5. The Battle• 6. Death as a Part of Life• 7. Revenge• 8. The Loss of Innocence• 9. Man vs. Himself• 10. Man vs. Nature

as seen by TheScriptLab

A SIGN OF ACCEPTANCE?

• Library of my childhood and youth: Only books…but not every kind of book

• Then came the cartoons, and then movies…

• Verdal library: “Computer game is a medium that should have its place in a library, just like books and movies.” (17.05.2015)