Parts of my proposal talk about the similaritied of creating films and creating story based games and applying theories used by the older medium film to help create better games and i just remembered the book i got last year for Brians module! At least i think it was last year...that doesn't matter.
Anyway.
The book is called story by Robert McKee and i remember at the time finding some of the theories in it pretty fascinating but due to time contraints and me being a little bit rubbish i never got the the parts concerning character.
So back to the proposal i was hunting around trying to make my proposal feel a little bit more in tune with itself and maintain the themes of comparing the two industries methods when i get to my example of personalities of NPCs reflecting the personality of the protagonist (using the example of ICO mentioned in a previous post) and i realise i dont have anything which shows how this has possibly evolved from films so i spend a little time searching journal archives and google scholar to find a decent reference for this or find how they actually approach creating characters at all when i remember the book and bring it out.
IT A GOLD MINE OF QUOTES AND INFORMATION
Seriously want to finish reading this book at some point but for now i've skimmed the parts concerning character and here are some of the interesting points as advertised in the first two words of this post...
Firstly there is a part which says exactly the same thing the ICO article described which was perfect beginning with this quote which i thought summed it up quite nicely.
“In essence the protagonist creates the rest of the cast.”
It also had some pretty interesting stuff about how to create a three dimensional character and what one actually was, it spoke about two sides to a character. The Characterization which is all the characters visable traits plus their basic personality, their values and opinions on things and then what he refurs to as the characters true character which are all the traits and choices made by the character when they are under pressure or are put in a difficult position.
“True character is revealed in the choices a human
being makes under pressure – the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation
the truer the choice to the characters essential nature”
It also spoke about the difference between characters and real life. Giving an interesting point to consider when finding the balance between truly realistic character personality and those that are suitable for a game.
“their aspects are designed to be clear and knowable; whereas our fellow humans are difficult to understand, if not enigmatic."
Finally if this wasn't enough information he produces a diagram which displays how each supporting character is designed to help bring out certain aspects of the character.
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