Weekly Writing
Topic: Where do you think VR falls in terms of being an additive or an expressive form (or somewhere in between)?
Muhammad Arslan Asghar, 05/September/2022
In the chapter “From Additive to Expressive Form: Beyond ‘Multimedia’”, the author Janet Murray starts the argument by dividing the mediums into two forms, additive and expressive. She explains additive form as merely an innovation or discovery within a certain expressive form of medium as it still depends on the earlier form of medium for its existence. In short, she believes that for any medium or genre to become an expressive form, it goes through a lot of changes, innovation, and updates. Author gives television as an example to additive form as it is not the last form of this medium.
In my opinion, the current version of Virtual reality falls into the category of an additive form. Although, VR has gone through a lot of changes and innovations in the last few decades and is being adopted by corporations and businesses around the globe to create simulations to test their product, it still has not reached its fullest potential. Some of the Hollywood movies and series show us how powerful this tool can be for human beings. For example, cyberpunk series "Altered Carbon" show us how VR does not only have the potential to the change the world but can also become part of our everyday lives as innovation and creativity in current modern era has no limits. Similarly, movies like "Ready Player One" show us the future of gaming and how our online lives could completely differ from our regular lives. The innovation in each of the expressive medium for the past two or three is insane. We have not had this much innovation since the beginning of the times compared to what we have achieved since the beginning of the 21st century. The examples from the movies above show that VR can have an huge impact on our daily lives in the future and is going to completely transform human societies in ways that we can not even imagine.
Topic: Environmental Storytelling
Muhammad Arslan Asghar, 19/Sept/2022
For any sort of medium, whether it’s a game, theatre or VR documentary environmental storytelling is one of the key components to keep user immersed within the story. Going through the designs of some of the popular games today, I have realised that for the most part environmental storytelling is about static objects. It is usually used to describe the setting of the scene and what happened before the player even enter the space. Let’s take Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR 2), one of the top-rated games available today not just because of its gameplay but also because of the high-resolution graphics and design. RDR-2 is a perfect example of how a game’s environment can be an effective method of storytelling. Even for those who have no idea what this game is about can immediately realise after looking at the pictures of the environment of this game that it is set in early 19th century American west. The layout of the map, colors and most importantly the static objects in the game perfectly conveys the message to the player that the game is set in 19th century American West. For instance, look at the following picture from this game:
Looking at the picture, we are easily able to recognise the stereotypical western setting. The minute static details such as the cart, the electric power poles, the font used in the scene speak as loudly as more traditional forms of storytelling. We can easily interpret these details which helps the designers of the game in furthering the narrative of the game. However, we cannot limit environmental storytelling just to static object. Animations, sound effects, overheard conversations are all part environmental storytelling. Looking at the picture above we can see a man riding horse carriage which again does not only helps in furthering the narrative of the game but can also help player in applying real world knowledge to guide them about the gameplay. In this instance, the animation helps player to identify another game object without even going through the manual or guide. Moreover, the environmental storytelling when applied to games cannot only convey information about the game world but also helps in conveying the information about the inhabitants of the world.
Lastly, environmental design can also be used to evoke certain feelings in the player. For example, look at the following picture from Uncharted 4:
Looking at the environment design of the scene, the very low ceiling, and the tight overall setting in the scene can make the player feel pressured. Now look at the end design of this scene:
This above design appears once the player has killed the enemies in the cave and moves to the next level. The wide and open setting of this scene evokes the feeling of accomplishment in the player.
Looking at the examples mentioned above, we can see that how important and effective environmental storytelling is. Whether the setting is just explaining the scene or giving clues about the gameplay or evoking emotions in the player, these designs can speak volumes.