Paper Planes - M.I.A.

The Perks of Narrative Gaming

It is apparent that many games that are popular within today's interest have the players tackle on the game with a narrative dictating their path. Through a narrative oriented game, players are able to follow along the story and the obstacles it brings. I believe that having a story behind a game can make the game much more intriguing and can somewhat pull the player into the game itself. With this being said, it is not only a story behind a game that has been popularized as there are many different types of ways to approach it. A game can be based solely on a book or movie. And this brings the designer of the game to question if bringing the director or author of the book or movie is a good idea. This may prove to be more efficient in making the game's goal to be oriented around the actual story. This is not the only way to address this. Game designers can also have leniency for the players. For instance, a player can come across another character in the game whom gives the player two options: to either move forward into the next level or continue attempting to accomplish the goal of that level. I believe this approach gives the gamer some type of control in their path and may be more liked than other game designs. Along with this, the game designer must be be aware of the importance of spatial dimensions. Surrounding the design around a particular story can be a great way in creating the game world and its characteristics. Having detailed game worlds makes the experience of the game way more realistic and pulls the mind of the player right into it. Let's say a game was being made for a story of a princess being rescued... The game designer can make a forest type of world with creatures who help the player along the way. Also, creating descriptive depictions of trees and flowers will make the game experience really touch into the player's desire to follow along with the story. When a player is familiar with the story already it can either challenge or aid in the player's performance. This is why I believe it is very important for game designers to stick with a story plot if they are set on making the game around it. If the story is manipulated in some way that tracks off the story plot, it will nevertheless not make sense to the player and make them play poorly. Sculpting the space of the game with detailed depictions of the game environment is a must in successfully creating a well-made game. Moreover, a game designer can create a game that has absolutely no story behind it; many games have this type of design such as the popularized game of Tetris. Most games with no story have a puzzle design to them in that there is no story behind it but the goal is the game is deliberately expressed. I believe most of these game become popular because it is not directed to a certain audience but instead can be played by any one no matter what age. This is where the importance of making higher levels harder comes into play. To consistently entertain the player if the game has a story, each world or level should be different in some ways. For example going back to the game with trying to rescue a princess, one world could be in a forest while the next world would be situated inside the castle the princess is stuck in. If a designer is planning on making a game without a story, it is important for them to do the same tactic but in a different way. Because there is no story to change the levels, the levels within this type of game would be harder and harder as the player rises in completing levels. In my opinion, I believe games that have well-made spatial dimensions and traits within it are the most entertaining and visually stimulating. Along with this, giving players options within the game to choose their own path is a good way to make the player feel like they have some control over what happens in the future of the game. Having players interact with each other in a world is also another way to really have the player feel like they are in the game. With this, players in the same world can speak with one another and also feel free to team up together to help each other in the game. As technological communication skyrockets, gaming can actually be proven to be very sociable in these type of game designs where people can actually make friends. Gaming critics must be people with a lot of gaming experience in their hands but I believe what they are mainly looking for is if the designer can express the aim to win the game clearly as well as making a visually stimulating game world with variations of the environment for different levels. If you are interested in making game designs but do not know where to start.. consider looking into individualized game websites that allow anyone and everyone to post their created game such as Addicting Games, Miniclip, etc.
Just for a little fun, I am going to post one of my favorite online game I used to play as a kid. Feel free to take a wing at it :)

http://www.miniclip.com/games/snow-drift/en/

Vaudeville: Historic Entertainment

Vaudeville acts are certainly not a fun activity people think of that comes to mind nowadays. Vaudeville shows are composed of various entertainment acts that have no relevance to each other and are performed back to back. They popularized the eighteenth century into the early twentieth century. The acts can range from dancing, singing, comedians, and many more forms of enjoyable entertainment. Before seeing this video, I was not aware that Vaudeville acts existed nor was I aware how entertaining they could be. Many times people can get bored during a play or opera even just because of the lack in change of plot or scenery. Using a variation of entertainment can be more stimulating to the audience than a couple hour long performance.
I believe creating a modern version of Vaudeville acts could be a very successful form of theater to pursue. As the generations have passed, Vaudeville shows have the potential of gaining even more fame within time's today. Every year a new hobby or form of activity is created, especially with technology and its benefits advancing. It is not only through music that this can be validated but so much more cultural developments such as beatboxing. It is almost as if it is a recreation of a talent show but with people who are professionally paid for their performances. Even just a simple skit from a movie could be a part in the series of acts.
With this being said, I am sure that there are still local theaters or possibly jazz bars that play Vaudeville oriented shows but I feel as if not many people are even aware of this form of entertainment (even I just discovered it). I also like the idea of improvising just like the show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, where the judges request a certain scenario for the three players to act and ends up being very humorous to the audience.

Popular - Kristen Chenoweth

Pertaining to my previous post about my comments on Angel's Stage Door blog, I was reminded of how much I adore Kristen Chenoweth and her voice. The first time I saw her was when she performed as Glinda in Wicked on Broadway. She has not only acted in multiple movies and tv shows, but also played parts in other theater shows on Broadway. The technology within this play is amazing to look at and Wicked is a perfect example of how theater shows, especially Broadway, in the 2000's have seriously advanced the props used as well as the special effects to heighten the entertainment made. I wanted to share a video of Chenoweth as well as Idina Menzel, whose career has skyrocketed as well, performing in Wicked together with the song, "Popular". 

WICKED

I greatly advise anyone who has not seen the play, Wicked, to definitely see it. The props and special effects of this play are PHENOMENAL. It puts on a show that has a twist to the classic story of The Wizard of Oz. It portrays the bad witch as somewhat of a nerd who takes guidance from Glinda to be beautiful. Within this story, Glinda and the bad witch are friends and help each other out. But more importantly, the main character is the bad witch who ultimately wants to defy gravity and take on the world powerfully. When the actress sings the song, "Defying Gravity", she is lifted off the ground which is depicted in such a realistic way by the directors.

However, besides this song, my most favorite has to be when Glinda sings "Popular" to the bad witch and gives her a makeover. I used to know all the lyrics to the song (actually I still do, haha). The relationship between Glinda and the bad witch is expressed in such a different way than the previous story of Dorothy who is not in this play. It is almost as if this play takes place before the witch turns bad and becomes enemies with Glinda and eventually Dorothy. In my opinion, it would be a really cool twist if the directors made a play on what happens after Dorothy goes back to Kansas in the hot air balloon.


Source of Picture: www.ideatetowin.com

Angel's Stage Door

My sister is an actress and has been doing plays/operas since she was little. Due to this, it was easy for me to pick out the operas lined up on this blog that I most definitely wanted to watch the excerpts of. With this being said, these are the comments I want to make on the excerpts I greatly appreciated:

~ Funny Girl ~
I remember seeing Funny Girl as a kid because my sister played in it. She actually played the main character, Fanny Brice, who wants to be an Broadway actress in New York City and falls in love with an entrepreneur with a gambling problem. Within the excerpt on the blog was an actress performing the song, "Don't Rain on My Parade". This song is about Fanny wanting to marry Mr. Arnstein, the entrepreneur, regardless of his issue with gambling. I found the video very entertaining in its variation of the usual people they would hire to take this role. This song also brought back memories of my sister constantly rehearsing this song in her room before her performance.

~ On the Twentieth Century ~
I am not sure exactly what the song, "Veronique", is about in the play, On the Twentieth Century. I was, however, very entertained by Kristen Chenoweth's performance. I saw her on Broadway in NYC when she was performing as the bad witch, the main character, in the play, Wicked. Her voice is so beautiful and she never fails to keep me so enjoyably focused on her performance. I did enjoy this song as well as Chenoweth's ability to make the audience laugh as she did with me when I saw her when I was little.

~ West Side Story ~
While watching this video, I realized that this blog was not trying to express a certain scene of West Side Story. The West Side Story video was showing the most prominent scenes in the play and almost portrayed itself as if it were a commercial or trailer for the play. I have never seen the West Side Story on Broadway but have seen my sister play in it when she was attending a small, local theater center. I think West Side Story is one of my absolute favorite plays to watch as it takes a modern twist on Romeo and Juliet in my eyes. It is so intriguing to watch as the actors and actresses dance and fight at the same time with such movement you can't take your eyes off it.

Within the likes of all of these excepts, the blog did not have my favorite play on it, which is Into the Woods. I saw this play on Broadway as a kid and have loved it ever since. I believe they also made this play into a movie recently... Here is most of the play I found on youtube if anyone is interested in discovering the amazing nature of this play:
Enjoy :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqCsQCsinK4

The Cunning Little Vixen: Setting the Scene

I began to watch the play, The Cunning Little Vixen, which was created by Janáček from an inspiration of a comic book. The story transitions from a cute children's tale to an ultimate tragedy. Within this opera, the vixen is captured by a forester, who ties her up outside his house and names her "Sharp-Ears". The vixen does not like being held captive outside of the forester's cottage and is ridiculed by the hens, whom she questions as to why they enjoy being tied up and unfree. After this, the forester's wife comes outside, witnessing the vixen bite the hens and then escape into the forest. The vixen then settles in a badger's home to make a home for herself. Not long after, the forester has two acquaintances over who make fun of him for letting the vixen go. Once one of the acquaintances leaves drunk, he sees the vixen who reminds him of his past lover and tries to catch her but proves to be unsuccessful. Sharp-ears ends up meeting a male fox and she falls in love with him along with becoming pregnant with the male fox's cubs. While all of this is going on, the forester searching the forest from bottom to top for the vixen and comes upon a dead hare. The poacher who killed the hare convinces the forester to use the dead hare as a trap to catch the vixen as the forester had been looking for her for days. 
This is where the story transitions from bright to a dark tale. The vixen's cubs play around the trap and as the vixen sees this she threatens the poacher to come near her or her babies. Unfortunately, the poacher shoots the vixen with a rifle and kills her. The scene after this goes back to where the forester is sitting under a tree and sees a young vixen whom he believes looks just like the mother he used to cherish. He wants to catch the cub vixen but realizes life must go on and instead lets it go. 
The meaning of this opera is to show the circle of life and also portrays the animals as having human spirits such as the vixens falling in love and one of them becoming impregnated. The use of animals in replacement of human beings is a fun twist to the story; however, the story proves to be just as emotionally stimulating to the audience due to its ability to manifest so many feelings while watching it. 
The "mise en scene" in this opera has a very foresty feel to it with all the actors dressed as the character of animals. The opera I watched, although it was made in more modern times, seems to be set up in Shakespearean times, probably to parallel when the author wrote the opera. The end of the opera is just like the scenery and setup in the beginning. It begins with the forester sitting under the tree and admiring the vixen dancing around him. This scenery and plot is exactly how the ending of the opera plays out, but instead the vixen is the cub the vixen gave birth to before she was killed. It has the meaning of life written all over it and the scenery at the end being the exact as the beginning gives pride to this. A lot of the scenery in the opera takes place around the vixen when she settles into the badger's hole to stay away from the forester. It seems that although she did not like living outside of the forester's cottage and felt captive, the forester actually loved her and this is why he let her cub go at the end of the opera. It expresses that life carries on after a death and showing the cub vixen dances by the forester gives depth to this thought. 
If I were to make this play into a video game, I would make somewhat of a puzzle oriented game that would have the Vixen running away from the poacher. To execute this type of plot to the game, I would have certain badger holes that would need to be found throughout the game's maze in order to survive from the poacher's madness. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQvLOfbvRwE