Design choices: 'The Last of Us'

[accessed 26th February 2014]

Although I have not played 'The Last of Us' (the reason being it is out exclusively for the PS3) I came across this enlightening documentary about Naughty Dog Studios and their journey in creating a brand new IP.

The only initial premise when the studio set out to create a new game, was that they wanted something post apocalyptic. They began by looking at the book 'The World Without Us' by journalist Alan Weisman, which explores what would happen to our surroundings if humans were to suddenly disappear. Apparently water is pumped out of the New York Subway systems daily and if this were to stop, within a mere two days the streets would flood, causing vegetation to grow around the buildings. Lots of the research into how temples ruin undertaken for Naughty Dog's 'Uncharted' game series was applied to modern urban surroundings in 'The Last of Us'. This discussion of how nature consumes unmaintained urban environments shows the importance of research in creating a believable world. This comes through strongly in the concept art phase, where concept artist Aaron Limonick discusses water damage and the shifts in colour through vegetation's lifespan. Similarly to the narrative in 'I am Legend' this virtual world adopts the idea that animals have perhaps escaped from zoos and re-colonised the now rich consumed urban surroundings. There is a constant balance in this IP between beauty and suspense:

As mentioned in the title of this post, I am really interested in the design choices that determine narrative and playability. There is a constant 'Ying and Yang' relationship between how the story reads, and the game being fun and immersive. Initially the team wanted to keep the game grounded in reality, meaning that the idea of a zombie survival game was rejected. However, the idea of an infection and macabre creature-like enemies was eventually brought back in. This presents the team with the challenge of creating a whole new alien enemy. Many great design ideas come from nature, and the infection in 'The Last of Us' is inspired by the Cordyceps Fungi:

[accessed 24th february 2014]

This fungi infects insects, destroying their brains and sprouting fungi from their bodies which then spread spores, further infecting their population. Their are thousands of different species of the fungi, each specialising in one species of insect. The design team with Naughty Dog established different phases of the human infection. The final phases involve the face splitting into brutal fungi like caps. This presented the team with the question: How do they navigate if most of their facial sensors have been torn apart by the infection? The answer was to have them echolocate like Bats. This also added to the IP, giving the enemies a chilling and distinctive clicking sound as they stalk their surroundings.

Again, this theme of fungi added to the balance between beauty and terror. The final stage of the infection where enemies die and grow into their surroundings often add a sense of vibrance to the virtual environments, illustrated by this concept art piece:

There are stronger examples of the fungus adding saturated colours to the environment around the fifteen minuet mark of the 'Grounded: making of' video

Although this relates more to the game's narrative and written elements as oppose to aesthetic design choices, a final point that 'The Last of Us' appears to be notable for is its refusal follow convention, particular when it comes to the portrayal of female characters. Sadly in gaming, female roles are usually put in to place to act as overly-sexualised damsels in distress or love interests for the strong male protagonist. This Game however shows signs of strong female characters making crucial calls, particularly with the dual protagonist role of a young teenage girl. A scene is discussed where young protagonist 'Ellie' stumbles across a girls diary while exploring her abandoned bedroom. She criticises the trivial superficial worries expressed in the words, in comparison to the harsh world she is having to navigate through.

This shows promising signs, as perhaps with 'The Last of Us' setting the standards, AAA titles will be challenged to break convention and look for deeper more philosophical and even liberal narratives in their titles. Perhaps in the future we will look back at some of our recent titles to this date, and see them in same light as exploitative pulp media of decades past. This prospect is very exciting for someone like me hoping to work in the industry.

Creating A New IP

For my final project, I will be working within a small team with the goal of creating two playable video game levels. This will mean that we will producing new intellectual property, and world building as a process. As one of two concept artists, my role will be to establish the game visuals in the earliest of stages. This video about the making of Naughty Dog's 'The Last of Us' illustrates well the process of creating a brand new IP:

One of the main challenges we will face with creating a new IP, is that we aren't strictly working with any existing game mechanics. Although we will be following tutorials and working towards an isometric shooter model, we really don't know much at this point how the game will operate, and whether it will be fun for the player. There will likely be lots of going back and forth between artwork, test levels, and character animations throughout the process to ensure smooth playability. On a similar note, developers in the film talk about not 'sugar coating' feedback. We will need to be able to take blunt yet constructive criticism from each other so we can keep moving forward with the development. A good model for my workflow would perhaps be the one discussed by concept artist Aaron Limonick in the video: Beginning with a loose piece to capture the mood and start discussions. There will then likely be several more passes, thinking critically about the virtual spaces, why certain aesthetic elements exist, and how the player will navigate and hopefully become immersed in the surroundings. More so than ever, I will be working towards someone else's vision, meaning that I will receive great amounts of feedback to help visually express what the writer and other team-members are thinking of. This video relates well to our project, as Naughty Dog appears to be one of the less corporate AAA developers. There seems to be a great sense of community and a sort of positive informality. Realistically, I cannot see us meticulously planning every small job and who it will be assigned to far in advanced. I believe we will rely heavily on communication and discussion, constantly reflecting on where we are in the development stage and where we need to be (Although we will be stressing the grander deadlines, for example when we will need to have the bulk of conceptual art finished ready for environment building and character modelling)

Although we are working in the realm of the indie game, looking at a leading company like Naughty Dog highlights some of the important thought processes that are crucial in creating a successful IP

Rule of Thirds Study

The Rule of thirds is a composition principle that I have been aware of for a long time. I have attempted to use the principle based on my loose understanding of it many times with my own compositions, but feel I have never fully explored and understood the concept. I have decided to take my understanding further with this brief study.

I understand that a rule of thirds grid can be applied to an image, dividing it into 9 segments. From this, one can experiment working in thirds, for example, the subject of an image could exist in roughly six segments to the right of the image, making the composition more visually stimulating than if the subject had been placed in the dead centre. What I wasn't aware of before this study, which now seems key to its correct execution, is the idea of 'power  points'. These are the points where two lines intersect, which can really draw focus onto a subject. I have found some examples to demonstrate this:

As you can see with these images, the backdrop fits the guides, divided in both cases with the ground consuming one third, the sky the other two thirds. The subjects then slightly break out of the grid, hit by  the power points.

I tried to find a less obvious example to improve my understanding and unlock more possibilities for my own work while using the composition:

This image isn't immediately as obvious. Perhaps it's because I believe there is a slightly diagonal composition occurring. You see with the rock foreground which the tiger rests on, it seems to consume the bottom left corner segment, and then the one segment directly above that, as well as the one segment directly to the right, forming more of an 'L' shaped third. The tiger itself seems to be covered by three power points: The one on its left front paw, The one at the top of its head, and finally the animal stretches across the top guide until its tail is intersected by the final power point. This is most likely the reason that the tiger is so dominant in the image. Also notice the tiger breaks out of the grid and is covered mostly by the guides as oppose to existing inside the segments. This seems to make it pop from the background.

Based on my new knowledge of this concept, I attempted to produce a simple image to demonstrate my understanding:

With this being my first attempt, I went with more obvious approach. Like the first two examples, The ground in the backdrop sits in the first third, and the sky occupies the other two thirds above, conforming to the grid. As the tree is the focal point, it slightly breaks out of the grid, intersected by two power points. Perhaps the composition could have been improved by positioning the bird resting on the branch to be intersected by a third power point, very much like the tiger image. However, as a first attempt I feel it demonstrates further understanding of the visual principle.

I hope that with my improved knowledge of how the rule of thirds can be applied, there will be a noticeable improvement in the composition of my concept art.

Howard Shore: Film Score Composer

Having recently watched the 2002 movie 'Gangs of New York', I was captivated by one of the scores composed by Howard Shore titled 'Brooklyn Heights':



To give some background on the context and plot of the movie so that we can understand Shore's choices with the composition, 'Gangs of New York' is set during the Mid 19th Century. This was a very significant political era with the Civil War regarding slavery. It was also during this era that an influx of Irish immigrants moved to America. The main protagonist 'Amsterdam Vallon' is of Irish routes, most likely resulting in the celtic influenced section of the score beginning around the one minute mark. We can hear stringed instruments and flutes which to me communicate a theme of Irish tradition. We also hear a tradition hyme-like vocal performance, obviously Catholicism tying in very strongly with Irish culture. As the score begins, there is a very minor feel, again with the choir-like vocals. It seems to communicate loss and grieving, like something that might be sang at a funeral gathering. This perhaps is to signify the death of Amsterdam's father, 'Priest Vallon' and it's effect on the protagonist. I am personally captivated by the motif which is introduced around the 3:10 mark in the video. This melody is re-introduced at various points throughout the film, usually when see the protagonist making significant moves towards his ultimate goal, which is to avenge the death of his father. It seems to enforce motivation and drive which fits with the theme of vengeance which runs through the movie.

As music and sound design is another interest of mine, I was interested by how Shore incorporates a sense of narrative and storytelling in his compositions. I found this video:



In this video, Shore talks about how when working on this particular score for 'The Hobbit', he began by reading the book. Whilst reading, we see him 'sketch' on a music sheet the notes he hears in his mind as he reads the piece of literature. It is interesting to imagine how the moods and emotions he feels while reading the tale translate into music. This is likely what makes Shore's compositions fit in so seamlessly with the images on screen and immerse the audience.

It is interesting to consider the important role that music plays within storytelling, as piece of narrative cannot be fully effective with visuals alone. Shore's compositions are dynamic and convey the moods and themes within the stories they correspond with perfectly. So much so perhaps, that some may not even consciously distinguish the visual elements from the audio elements. This is likely Shore's intention, just like it is the editor's intention for the cuts between shots to be un-noticable to the audience.

The Gaze and the Media

Our second context of practice lecture was all about 'the male gaze'. This is where the male watches the woman, and the woman watches herself being looked at by the man. It is highly relevant in modern society as 'the look' is largely controlled by men, particularly in advertising.

To explain how the gaze works, we can take an image comparison. With the bellow image titled 'Vanity' by Hans Melmin, we see a woman examining a reflection of her face in the nude. Note that the reflection  in the small mirror is inaccurate when we consider perspective. This tells us that the painting is in some sense abstract, meaning that their is focus on the message behind the painting as oppose to photorealism. Because the perspective is skewed, the reflection begins to look like a perfect portrait, elegantly cropped with the shoulders and head in frame. perhaps this could suggest the woman's search for convention and properness, and how she would like to be received under the scrutiny of the male gaze. The viewer is almost invited to examine the females form as the image is in no way evasive, and she becomes merely an object, like a sculpture in an art gallery:

If we now take a look at this second image, we see a female applying makeup, sat on her bed. Here her form is much less elegant and conventional. Her legs are parted, yet she is still clothed. Add this to the reflection in the mirror, and we the viewer almost feels intrusive. Her reflection is correct in perspective, meaning her eyesight catches us looking at the painting. We almost feel caught in the act of peeping, their is a real sense of voyeurism with this image.

The idea of the male gaze is hugely relevant in fashion photography:

Regarding this image, theorist Rosalind Coward said 'The camera in contemporary media has been put to use as an extension of the male gaze at women on the streets.' Again there is this sense of voyeurism, catching someone in an exposed intimate act. This is taken further by including the public backdrop, adding a sense of risk and excitement to the image. Again, the woman almost becomes objectified, her sunglasses breaking eye contact so that the male viewer does not feel he is under scrutiny, as he himself scrutinises the woman in the image.

It is very rare that this gaze is reversed. Even when men are depicted in the nude, they often challenge the gaze. They are never objectified in such ways as the women in the above images.

Moving towards contextualising the ideas in the lecture, we can can see the gaze present in films, games and animation. One of the most noted transmedia characters in gaming, 'Lara Croft' is a perfect example of objectifying the female form for the pleasure of men. She is 'a visual spectacle to be consumed', she is over sexualised, and their is a sense of excitement with her destruction. We see this tradition carried on with many of the female characters in gaming. In the 'Halo' franchise, even the protagonist's computerised companion 'Cortana' is over sexualised:

This idea of digitalised sexual objects in gaming is taken further still, with the 'Miss Digital World' a competition held in Italy, where digital artists create beautiful digital women to compete. Again it is this idea of objectified women being put up for scrutiny against the male gaze. As a result, ideal definitions of beauty are manifested in society.

So why are male protagonists so versatile in age and appearance, while women are almost always depicted as young, attractive and over sexualised. Is it that men are not under the scrutiny of females and their gaze. Take Marcus Fenix from the 'Gears of War' Franchise. He is gruff, scarred and unbathed. This could however, be more fitting to the conventions of the male's traditional role in society. Marcus's rugged, masculine persona could be seen as 'sexy' under the female gaze. Perhaps this in fact reverses the gaze, as Fenix is under the scrutiny of females, whereas the male audience sees the heroic figure as an idealised reflexion of themselves. In a sense the male audience could be viewing themselves being observed and scrutinised by the female gender. Perhaps whereas as slender petite females seem to be a convention in the media, perhaps male characters also conform to certain conventions. For example, although the male protagonist varies in age and is not always portrayed as classically handsome, there is a always a trait of strength and dominance present.

We see the gaze everywhere in the media, from fashion photography, to advertising campaigns, to film and game. This comes with the general understanding that sex sells. Women become objects for marketing, playing on this sense of voyeurism that entices and excites the male market.