Back to the Book

The information covered in the book on pages 168 to 189 is wide a varied but mostly talks about the use of different media in persuasive composition. This is important for our multimodal assignment because we have to effectively persuade people with our composition using images and a few words. The text went through many different things you would have to take into consideration when you are creating your work. One thing that they stressed the most is your audience. If you do not form your argument properly for your target audience you will most likely not have and effective argument. You must make sure that your audience is capable of understanding or caring your argument or it will not be effective. Another thing it talks about is the layout of the composition. Images grab attention along with bold text. In order to draw in your audience you need to be able to effectively organize your composition so that is aesthetically pleasing. This is good advice because our multimodal project will be primarily images and if they are not presented effectively they may lose power. One extremely important topic covered in the text is about the creation of an abstract. This is good to cover because along with the visual component of our project we need to have a short summary of our composition. Things that need to be covered is why we created the composition that we did and why we used the elements that we did. Envision in Depth also talks about composing our argument into a web page. Since this is one of the potential avenues that we can take in a portion of our multimodal assignment this will most likely be helpful to us when creating our project. When the text talks about creating a website as an argument it talks about effective strategies for creating a website that will effectively argue the point you would try to make. One of the final topics the text covers is creating a multimedia montage. This is very helpful because this is the entire objective of our assignment. It talks about effective ways to argue your point and gives examples of various multimodal pieces and what makes them effective.

Looking at the world

A persons place in the world has many effects on how they perceive society. Your background and place in the class structure might have you blurring together people to the point where to you there identity is there race or culture or job and not their experiences, mind or many other things that can be used to give and identity to someone. If a person has lived in a mainly isolated culture they may not care about another culture because they do not understand it, or if they are constantly exposed to other cultures do to their job or hobbies they might be more understanding to it and try to help them in a time of need. How one views society is sometimes determined by their place in society. If someone is high on the social ladder they may not care as much for those under them because they do not recognize or ignore the problems they face all the time. Also someone low on the social ladder may care about others because they recognize the problems others face. Alternatively they may ignore the other because they are more focused with their own problems. A person job may also determine how they reflect on events. A reporter may attempt to view tragic acts objectively not putting emotion into an act because they have to deal with it all the time, while someone who doesn’t deal with tragedy often may consider that same reporter heartless after seeing the same destruction and devastation. On a different note, someone’s view of their own identity may affect how they feel about society. A person who doesn’t have a good grasp on their identity may look down on society or rebel against popular culture in attempt to define themselves. In the end there are hundreds of ways one may feel about identity society and culture and it normally boils down to the individual as no two people have the same exact views.

Bibligraphy

Bibliography

This source questions the validity of calling games art. In this he notes many similarities and differences between common definitions of art and different aspects of videogames. It criticizes many aspects that of videogames that people consider art. In select portions it is mentioned that while they can be part of popular culture they will most likely never be art

Adams, Ernest W. “Will computer games ever be a legitimate art form?” Journal of Media Practice. 2006. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.35>

In this source Cooke examines several videogames. She studies components of those videogames in order to discover certain aesthetic values. These values that may or may not be present within the selected titles can be used to determine their validity as art. This source itself is a research paper

Cooke, Caitlin. “Video Games as Art: Uncovering the Layers.” 10, November, 2007. Web. 18 October 2011 <http://filebox.vt.edu/users/gurecait/Videogamesart2.pdf>

In this Journal the author examines several past definitions of art and uses philosophy to attempt to determine what can truly be defined as art and why. He goes through a long thought process that is detailed within the journal to show how he came to his conclusions on what art can be defined as.

Dean, Jeffery T. “The Nature of Concepts and the Definition of Art.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 13 February 2003. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1540-6245.00089/abstract>

In this article the author goes through several definitions of art. He states that art is not constant and the definition changes with time. He also goes through a detailed thought process. This process shows him coming to his own conclusions about the definition of art.

Dickie, George. “Defining Art.” American Philosophical Quarterly. July 1969. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20009315>

The author of the article compares videogames to other media that are now widely viewed as art that were originally viewed as wastes of time and questions weather videogames can make the same transition. One large example used is the movie industry and how movies while entertaining were viewed as a waste of time. It questions weather videogames can make the same transition from being seen as a waste of time to art.

Flaherty, Julie. “It’s a video game, certainly, but is it art?” The New York Times. 2 March 2000. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=DA-SORT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=clemson_itweb&tabID=T004&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&currentPosition=1&contentSet=GALE|A59697672&&docId=GALE|A59697672&docType=GALE&role=>

This article is written by a game developer and states why videogames need emotions to both broaden the client base and how the emotions effect the art of the game and add to make a much more meaningful experience. He talks about how several people he interviewed wouldn’t spend time on games because of the lack of emotional appeal. From there he talks about how emotions can enhance a gameplay experience and make people want to play it.

Freeman, David. “Creating emotion in games: the craft and art of Emotioneering.” Computers in Entertainment. July 2004. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1027154.1027179>

This article talks about the philosophy behind the emotions in games. One of the topics covered is why we care about what happens to the fictional characters in this crafted universe. He also points out other various imagery in the game. One of the other things mentioned is weather the character you play as has a will of his own or do you project your will onto the character.

Gee, James P. “The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy.” 17 June 2009. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://www.jamespaulgee.com/sites/default/files/pub/Zelda%20&%20philosophy%20lorez.pdf>

The article discusses how games are a form of collaborative art. It argues against statements that claim that videogames are weak and not a form of art because they lack full authoritative control. It states that the art is enhanced by the many ideas the mesh together and change each other. This can only be accomplished with more than one person being the creative mind behind the art.

Hall, Stefan. “Videogames as Collaborative Art.” 1 May 2008. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=055924f9-2ddb-40e3-bfe8-b4887d085da4%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=123>

In this paper smuts argues that by many major definitions that videogames should be considered art. He also describes many of the reasons for this in from various places. He states that videogames should be art on many of these acounts

Smuts, Aaron. “Are Video Games Art?” Contemporary Aesthetics. 2 November 2005. Web. 18 October 2011 <http://www.contempaesthetics.org/newvolume/pages/article.php?articleID=299%29>

This article talks about reactions to videogames from various places and risks thought to be posed by the games. It states that many people saw them as risks. Some thought that the games would lead to an unhealthy ultra-competitive environment. President Regan was afraid they could be used to train communist soldiers.

Squire, Kurt. “Cultural Framing of Computer/Video Games.” The international journal of computer game. July 2006. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://gamestudies.org/0102/squire/?ref=HadiZayifla.Com>

In this article Tavinor expands on various values through the game Bioshock and go on to explain how those vales define it as art. He talks about various ironies throughout the game. He also talks about the visual imagery.

Tavinor, Grant. “Bioshock and the Art of Rapture.” Philosophy and Literature. April 2009. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/philosophy_and_literature/v033/33.1.tavinor.html>

In this article Tavinor expands on how the interactive experience in videogames helps create make it art. This is because it allows an experience that allows the observer to be drawn in and see it from a new perspective. This separates from other art because they are given choices that conventional art doesn’t offer.

Tavinor, Grant. “Videogames, Interactivity, and Art.” Aesthetics Online. 2009. Web. 18 October 2011. <http://www.aesthetics-online.org/articles/index.php?articles_id=44>

Reaserch Freewrite

                Videogames have been rising in popular culture witch has led to many arguments about whether they should be classified as art. There have been many arguments for and against this classification citing many reasons for this media to not be classified as art and many reasons for it. As videogames have slowly increased in complexity and emotional depth it is becoming harder for many of those with a dissenting opinion to argue against the idea this media has become the newest form of art. Videogames should be art because they can invoke deep emotional responses; they have many parallels to literary and visual artistic media, and take a great amount of devotion from both their creators and players.

                Many sources I have already found speak a lot about the complexities of philosophies behind art supplying reasons while videogames could never fit these philosophies or how they do fit. One of the sources I have found states that videogames cannot be art because they are created by a team and have no singular creator as the developmental process occurs more like the development of an idea in a think tank. Another source argues it should be art for the same reasons because as a collaborative effort could bring a deeper more multifaceted meaning than a single person could produce. Another argument raised is that videogame developers do not create art only popular culture. In their opinion art is purchased in galleries by connoisseurs, therefore videogames are not the art because the way they are presented to the media. This is a very limited view of art which excludes many widely recognized forms of art due to personal ideologies. A few of my sources state the aesthetic values of modern videogames make them art while others state the emotional attachment one could forge with the characters.

                Many problems I plan to encounter are a lack of credible sources and my own opinions about the subject coming in to play. Some ways I may overcome these problems is that I may search for sources that mirror my own opinions and find several with dissenting opinions to use in place of my own voice on the subject. In order to find more credible sources I may search for resources outside of the internet setting when trying to find sources to use in my paper

Reaserching the topic

Video games as collaborative art
          by  Stefan Hall
this text highlights that video games are unconventional art as they require a team of artists working together and that no one artist is responsible.

Will computer games ever be a legitimate art form?
           by Ernest W. Adams
this text takes different aspects of art and compares it to video games but ultimately leaves it up to the reader to decide if it can be considered art

Are Video Games Art?
           by Aaron Smuts
this text is a persuasive peace that uses different aspects of video games and how they relate to different  aspects of both classical and modern arts to convince the reader that video games should be considered art.

Video Games as Art: Uncovering the Layers
           By Caitlin Cooke
this text is a research paper that studies various apects of videogames in order to determine how they can be portrayed as art

Reaserch topics

In recent years motion controls for videogames have been trying to subvert standard controls that have been generally used for consoles. The beginning of this started with the Wii which seemed more like a gimmick than an actual effective control scheme. Due to the large sales of Nintendo’s current console the two other big players in the video game industries quickly produced their own versions for purchase resulting in the PlayStation Move and the Xbox 360 Kinect. While motion controls are thought of as innovative due to the thought that the physical interaction that many people loose with standard controls they are extremely limiting in the way that they allow you to control your gameplay. In some ways it is even discriminatory because people with physical disabilities, like paraplegics, would be unable to effectively use these controls. Many gamers are against these controls because the alter so much from the way they are used to, or because they believe that the controls take away from the variety of experiences that are found in videogames because motion controls limit the number of things you can do as opposed to a standard control pad that has a variety of buttons that are able to be combined in various ways increasing the actions you can do.

Within the past few decades factories have been becoming more automated in replace of the unskilled laborers that would work assembly lines. These machines have increased productivity of various industries and lowered labor cost. Though the machines require the companies to hire specialists to build install and maintain these advanced pieces of equipment. This creates a demand in the minority of college educated engineers. These machines do not make mistakes due to fatigue, do not require a salary, and do not need to take breaks. These are great reduction compared to the small costs of standard maintenance.

The Chosen One!

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/You-ve-Got-What-It-Takes-Soldier-Now-Take-Care-of-What-You-ve-Got-Posters_i2920953_.htm

In this version of Uncle Sam, he is made more relatable to the common man and the soldiers he is helping recruit, in an effort the recruit more soldiers to a cause not many were supporting at the time.