Susan Everett and Character Development

We recently had a talk from scriptwriter Susan Everett. She wrote a short film titled 'Mother, Mine' in 2008, about an adoptee who loses her foster mother, and attempts to reconnect with her natural mother. The film was very dark, and Susan spoke of how he she likes to explore ordinary people being pushed to extreme measures. She spoke of characters having layers which can be peeled away, and how she likes to give her characters baggage. This discussion on creating characters interested me, particularly with my interests lying in character development for games.

*Spoilers*

The troubled Girl in 'Mother, Mine' was a killer, yet we as an audience felt sympathy for her, as she tried to find a mother figure to accept her. This got me thinking of other complex characters and the layers that create their deep personalities. I am currently watching the Showtime series 'Dexter', and was reminded of Michael C. Hall's lead role as the killer turned avenger by Susan's adoptee character.

'Dexter' is a blood spatter analysts working for Miami Metro. We learn in the series that when he was a small boy, his mother was executed with a chainsaw right in front of him. Police detective Harry Morgan found young Dexter in a shipping container filled with his mother's blood. Although Dexter barely remembers the ordeal, it leaves him with a obsession with blood, and the desire to kill and chop up his victims. Harry Morgan, who sees this killer inside his adopted son Dexter, enforces a code, teaching him to kill only those who deserve to die. The series follows dexter as an adult. His stepfather Harry has deceased, yet his code still keeps Dexter's 'dark passenger' (desire to kill) in check. Because of this, Dexter becomes something a vigilante, an antihero. What is challenging about this concept is that dexter doesn't desire justice when he kills serial killers, he simply has a thirst for blood, yet has been taught how to channel it into arguably doing good.

Through the series, Dexters bond with his girlfriend Rita (original sought out as a disguise to hide Dexter's detached and monstrous true self) and her children grows stronger. Harry convinced Dexter that he was monster through his childhood. He made him feel damaged beyond repair. Dexter grows gradually more human through the series, and begins to ask himself whether he is destined to kill to keep his darkness at bay, or whether some day he can be rid of the dark passenger and live like a normal human.

With Dexters complex character comes various themes: Is there a dark passenger in all of us sitting dormant? Who deserves to live or die? How well do we know the ones close to us?  We all have our secrets and Dexter's character really explores these key themes.

Tom Evans

We recently had a talk from Tom Evans, who gave a 'Top Tips for Getting ahead in the Digital Industry' talk.

Tom has spent 8 years in the industry, and is currently a creative freelancer. Bellow are the tips he shared with us regarding pursuing a career in the digital industry. Although some may seem to contradict themselves, collectively the tips were both informative and inspiring:

1. Specialise.

2. Diversity - don't specialise too much.

3. Don't expect to get a job instantly.

4. Work experience is awesome.

5. Work experience can also be rubbish.

6. With work experience, be sure to make an effort (ask questions, make an impression).

7. Don't expect your first job to be glamorous.

8. Practice being fast.

9. Keep learning.

10. Think about what you want (research as there are more roles than you know).

Tom advised us to wait until you are ready to go freelance. This seems to be the general view shared also by digital tutor Antony Ward. He spoke how it can feel more creative for some, but not necessarily everyone. He advised us to learn to talk and write intelligently, and to be able to discuss our ideas. He explained that recruitment agencies can be 'iffy' as you don't know what they are doing on your behalf. It is also important to be proactive, and not to wait for work to come to you. This could be Blogging, entering competitions, setting up websites etc. He also advised us to network and meet interesting people who could potentially offer jobs in the future. He advised against working with friends, and to always agree a price upfront. Finally, he told us to enjoy ourselves and not to give up.

We have been very fortunate to receive talks from people who have found success in the industry, and have shared with us their journeys and wisdom on getting ahead. It seems that finding work is never an effortless and straight forward venture. You may find yourself doing less glamorous work and having to work your way up to a job that your are happy in. It seems that the ultimate outcome is to be able to work as a freelancer, although this isn't necessarily the case as some may prefer working within a company with support from a team. It seems that experience from working within companies is valuable in improving your skills as a practitioner, and making friends within the industry who could later offer you work.

Antony Ward

We recently had a talk from freelance digital artist, animator and digital tutor 'Antony Ward' (ant-online.co.uk) He spoke about his beginnings working in his bedroom with an Omega computer, right up to his work as a digital tutor.

Anthony spent two years studying Art & Design, where he actually used 'DPaint Anim' for his final project. He later dropped out during the second year.

He first joined 'Freestyle Software', a small games company based in Chesterfield, and then later Sheffield, where he took his Omega in to work with him. He left just as 3D came into the industry.

He also worked for 'Krisalis Software' based in Rotherham, who were working on an ambitious 'Lego Fantasy' game, which was later canned.

Next, he moved to 'Gremlin' in Sheffield, the first project he worked on being 'Wacky Races.' With this project we had out first introduction to Anthony's programming capitulates, as he created a piece of software called 'Creature Tools' speeding up the process of rigging 60 characters. This made Antony head of the creature department. This innovativeness demonstrates how a broader understanding of the industry pipeline and versatility as well as specialty skills can help within the game industry.

After this, Antony moved to EA, where he worked from home. In 2004, he published his first book 'Game Character Development with Maya'.

On his work with Sumo Digital as lead artist on 'Outrun', Antony spoke about how his higher role compromised his artwork input and meant he spent more time organising his team and working with spreadsheets. This may suit some, but Anthony left to peruse a freelance career.

He spoke about freelance work being a 'scary move', as there was no regular guaranteed work. He did receive more varied work, some where the poly limit he he'd grown used to within the game industry was not present, giving him more freedom. Fortunately, because of his experience in various companies and the contacts he had built up, Antony was able to find good work. he recommended gaining some experience with companies before going freelance, as experience gained from a skilled team can be valuable, and friends made in the process may be offering you work during your freelance career.

Antony published another two successful books, and now creates tutorials and video guids for '3D World' and 'Digital Tutors'.

He spoke about what's next for him, hoping to become a better artist, particularly with his drawing skills. It is inspiring to see someone with such a successful career in the creative industry, still striving to improve their craft.

Interesting Perspective

I wanted to create a final render showing my hero in his environment. Instead of a generic straight eye level angle, I wanted to attempt something more dramatic:

I chose a low shot looking up at Ram standing on a dirt mound. I gave my hero a folded arm posture, leaning over slightly creating a sense of intimidation. Again I worked with grey values and applied the initial colour using blend layers and masks. Composition wise, I almost feel that this piece has a comic book cover approach. This is due to the dark line art and crisp bold highlights. Still my perspective needs work, the character not quite sitting in the composition. It almost feels as if he is jetting out at an angle, not conforming correctly to the perspective of the environment around him. When I presented this piece in a final critique, it was suggested that to become more accurate with my perspective and even anatomy, I begin working from reference. It was also suggested that I show John Ramsey in his home:

As I want my character to contradict the tradition western superhero, Ramsey doesn't live a large mansion with a huge secret lair for his superhero actives. John lives in a trailer, which he tows from construction sight to construction sight. He keeps his RAM uniform in the chest at the far end of the room. He has basic living appliances such as stoves, a sink, a toilet and a bed. I found an online image of a trailer with his high perspective looking down. I imitated this same angle for my piece. In complete contrast to the other image in this post, this trailer scene shows Ramsey in a more vulnerable state. Like some heros who have vast wealth and in their true identities are great public figures, Ramsey is very anonymous construction worker.

Construction Site Environment

I wanted to create an environment that reflects my hero. As he works in construction, I thought a city construction site would be appropriate. In the context of gaming, this location could perhaps contain a safehouse where the player can rest and save his game progress. Cinematically, I liked the idea of having the scene set at dusk as the sun descends in the distance.  By day this area is lively and occupied by busy workers, by night there is only John Ramsey, preparing to disembark into the night and confront his corrupt adversaries:

With this piece I wanted to try and improve on my perspective drawing. To achieve this I set up a grid layer with a vanishing point. I also created a separate rule of thirds grid layer for composition purposes. I grabbed reference from the web of construction assets such as scaffolding and diggers and of course reference for the portaloo. I worked in greyscale initially to lay down the values (light to dark). Next, inspired by previously mentioned concept artist Erik Ryan, I applied blend layers to introduce light to the image. The orange light from the sun exists on a 'vivid light' blend layer, where the blue shadows are on an overlay layer. Together this creates a nice cinematic orange and teal colour bridge used often when colour grading film. I needed to add further colour dodge blend layers to add the turquoise tint to the portaloo and the subtle red tint to the barrels in the mid ground. The light layers were knocked down to around 30%, whereas the asset layers were knocked right down to around 10%. This maintains a gritty desaturated feel to the concept piece, reflecting the bleak 'anti-hero' theme surrounding my arguably unstable character.

Defiance 'Groundbreaking' Transmedia Innovation

Whilst researching 'transmedia storytelling', I found an online news article talking about 'Syky' channel's ground breaking convergence of television and MMO (massive Multiplayer Online) gaming.
Within the plot Villain 'Rynn', when escorted to a Las Vegas Prison, will apparently 'enter the game world', and unleashes a new enemy called the 'Hellbug' for players to defeat.

This demonstrates expanding the narrative outside of the hour long television spot. Once the show has ended fans of the online game will be able to continue building their own experiences, keeping them immersed in this fictional world.

This wouldn't be the first time that the platform of television and gaming have crossed over. 'Walking Dead: Survival Instinct' was a game released as a prequel to the Walking Dead TV series (comic book adaptation), where you play as Daryl Dixon, and realise his story prior to finding the group of survivors that feature in the television series. It seems that the player is given choices, whether to be stealthy or high profile, ad which survivors to join or leave. In a sense the player is given the ability to shape Daryl's back story within the timeline of the zombie apocalypse, expanding on the universe outside of the platform of television. Where this differs from Defiance's approach, is that the MMO includes enemies that are currently dictated by the plot of the weekly TV spot. In this sense fans are in the moment, experiencing and existing within this fictional narrative.

Turnarounds and Colour Tests

As I am developing a character for the platform of game, I produced some turnarounds which in theory could be handed over to a 3D modeller. For me this was a challenge of accuracy and consistency. My past turnarounds have been subtly floored in the past when taken into Maya, so I really tried to focus, using the guides in photoshop as reference. I also looked at muscle anatomy:

(image found online)

I combined elements that I liked form initial Ram designs. I liked the simplicity of the brace wearing concept, whereas I thought the utility belt form the first design would be a practical place for my character to store interrogation tools and makeshift explosives. I also amended the anatomy, taking a less top heavy approach. I do feel that the side on view appears as if the character is slightly leaning forwards. Perhaps I should have had hi less blot up right and sitting more on his lower back for a more natural relaxed pose. I also produced a turnaround for the head:

I experimented with a pressure sensitive charcoal brush for the shading with this piece. Although ultimately it gave good results, I found some elements of it to be unefficient. For example when applying pressure to create a dark shadow, once lifted, the decreasing pressure on the stylus would leave a tiny light bleed on top of the shadow.

Using my front perspective full body image, I began some quick colour tests:

The primary red and blue with a pastel-like saturation was an obvious choice. The second design looks too kaki and holds military connotations. I ultimately went for the final colour scheme. I began with the subtle greyish blue and brown scheme. I wanted to include a third interesting colour to complete the colour scheme, so confronter 'Adobe Kuler'. I found a blue and brown colour scheme with the inclusion of green, so added a very subdued green to my design. I also added a final subtle purple tint to Ram's shades to tie the design together.

Head Development and Dynamic Poses

At this stage, I wanted to turn my focus on to my hero's head. I began with some sketches:

I chose to go with the belt buckle headpiece and glasses design at the top right. Although this doesn't offer  much disguise, I feel it is memorable. When intimidating his targets attention will likely be drawn to RAM's demonic horns. The laziness of Ramsey's disguise is also a testament to his boldness. He doesn't fear his wealthy and powerful target's, and also there is nobody close to him that could  be hurt through his masked activities if his true identity were to be exposed. Perhaps the glasses should have arms to rest on Ramsey's ears as although the minimalistic glasses look stylish, perhaps they don't meet my realistic game approach.

I also wanted to consider Ram's movement. I needed poses showing his aggression when confronting his adversaries. I used silhouettes to do this:

I had the idea of equipping Ram with a handheld double wrecking ball. I thought this would be an interesting way of giving my character a range attack whilst reflecting his interest in demolition. Notice also that I am attempting more varied angles inspired by Don Bluth's character explorations. I feel that by doing this the character becomes more three dimensional. I also began to do this with facial expressions:

Although I haven't presented my work in the form of a character sheet, I feel I am beginning to demonstrate my character's personality through these dynamic poses and expressions. I feel that my understanding of facial anatomy needs improvement. I like the top three expressions, as they present interesting angles as well as portraying personality. I feel that the Bottom two designs don't meet their captions, the 'snigger' looking more like an over emphasised grin and the 'in pain' expression looking more sad and mournful. Perhaps if time permits, I could compile my design work into portfolio worthy development sheets.

Don Bluth Character Sheets

Whilst preparing to study some dynamic poses and facial expressions, I was pointed in the direction of animator Don Blooth. His approach is very stylised and exaggerated, which although contrasting with my desired realistic game approach, really captures his character's personalities:

Bluth's specialty as an animator really comes through in the facial explorations within the top image. You can see a very exaggerated use of squash and stretch. Although very cartoony, Bluth manages to capture a variety of different emotions. He also works from different angles and perspectives, showing all of the contours of the character's head. His Knight concept goes into lots of detail, even demonstrating the characters consistent height in a measurement of heads. We even see some breakdowns of the character's atire and weaponry, as well as footnotes containing measurements and points on consistency. It could be said Bluth's designs are more cluttered and chaotic than those of Thierry Doizon, yet there is still something very visually appealing and presentable about Bluth's creative design processes. 

Development Work of Thierry Doizon

I have been looking at the work of Concept artist Thierry Doizon. What really gravitates me towards his work in particular, is the presentation of his development work. This includes silhouettes and character sheets. It seems he really explores his characters in the development stages, produces an array of different variations within one concept. This piece bellow is a character sheet for 'Harry', a character produced for a Gnomon Workshop DVD:

I love the very stylised yet realistic feel to the work. I am really captured by the anatomy work with the muscle tone and the characters upright confident posture. The silhouette of the character is also memorable, the baggy trousers contrasting with the tight boots and skin tight shirt. Combine with this with the characters wild hair and you have a very strong design. Within the designs we see a turnaround for modelling where the character is positioned efficiently. The main front and back angle at the right of the sheet who's a more natural relaxed pose, telling us more about this cool character. From these design I imaging 'Harry' to have a laid back, witty and perhaps slightly arrogant personality. The sense humour comes through with the slightly smug expression on the characters face in with the main image, which simultaneously suggests an arrogance. In relevance to my transmedia project, we see a very cartoon representation of Harry within the character sheet. While much more minimalist, this cartoon design still captures what I perceive to be Harry's smug and cocky persona, demonstrating a successful translation across to a very different style.

Dozion also demonstrates great creature work:

I really love the experimentation aspect of this design sheet. Dozion is clearly experimenting with the the silhouette of the creature, carrying the same consistent style across vastly varying shapes. It really gives insight into how a concept artists develops lots of interesting ideas efficiently.

Another thing about Dozion's work is that it's very portfolio worthy. Not only does he create great concepts but he lays them out in a way that makes them even more visually appealing. This not only helps entice you in his great painting work, but also gives a sense of professionalism and perhaps organisation. His concepts aren't scattered all over the place, but arranged so that we even begin to understand his process.

Dozion's Blog: http://barontieri.blogspot.co.uk/

The 'RAM' Concept

Building on my horn wielding character sketch, I have begun to consider the character I will be creating in more depth. Here is a short paragraph describing my hero:

'John Ramsey is a Briton living in a Manhattan-like city. Ramsey works on construction sites, operating diggers and other heavy machinery. His left wing views means that he mostly hates his job, often building large corporate buildings. He prefers being assigned to demolition, a passion of his, seeing office buildings torn apart. This obsession carries over into private life, taking on the role of the masked avenger known by his adversaries as ‘Ram’. Unlike most ‘Superheroes’, Ram steers clear of street-level crime, targeting the powerful and corrupt. Ramsey has a very reclusive personality, only when wearing his mask does he begin to express himself. As Ram his personality shifts, and he becomes a very angry and frightening figure. He uses his sculpted horns as a form of intimidation, many of the people he confronts remembering him as a demon-like entity. His horns are also used to force entry through solid walls, and also as powerful weapons should his targets fight back.'

I am currently developing a 'RAM' concept which could be applied in in a game context. I feel that console gaming generally reaches out to a more mature audience. I also feel gamers enjoy a realistic approach, so I wanted RAM's attire to reflect his construction (more significantly demolition) work, as appose to a cartoon-like spandex approach. For this I gathered reference and tried some practical approaches, as well as hi-tech suited option:

I wanted my character initially to have a top-heavy gorilla-like posture, but in hindsight this compromises realism. Of the three I like the middle approach as I feel it is simple yet memorable. I do also like elements of the first, particularly the thickness of the horns and the utility belt. The armoured suit design feels almost insect-like with the large alien eyes. Also, my hero fights against the corrupt who use their wealth to cover their tracks and hide in plain sight. It seems unlikely that he would wear or even be able to afford a hi-tech expensive suit.

Practically, with the first design I experimented with a Mark Molnar custom brush collection featuring brushes form various artists. This was introduced to me by a classmate and was very helpful in creating different textures. There were soft brushes which worked well for the skin, and plenty of dry media brushes which worked well for fabric. I also applied a rust transparent render to add a grimy effect. 

Erik Ryan: Talks and Guides

While researching new techniques for my own art, I discovered some very helpful videos featuring the film and game concept artist Erik Ryan, who has been in the industry for over 8 years. It seems that one of his unique selling points is creature concepts, demonstrating a very strong understanding of animal anatomy. In this first three part video, Erik demonstrates some of the process behind a 'Darth Vader' character concept he created, as well as critiquing a student's work:






Interestingly it seems that Erik when through a very explorative silhouette phase with his 'Star Wars' Vader concept. From these thumbnail sketches he picked out successful elements to create his final piece. Later in the videos he discusses rendering, collecting images of wounds and cuts from the web and applying them to very transparent blend layers. This adds real texture and depth to image, that would be hard to achieve from brushes alone.

He really demonstrates his ability to create successful creature concepts with a critique session of a students domesticated lizard creature. The student explains that the creature should be predatory and egressive, yet tameable to be kept as a bet. This leads Erik onto to gathering lots of reference images online to refer to. He is very critical of the work, breaking it down extremely thoroughly, commenting n everything from the herbivorous hippo-like legs, to the inaccurate darker underbelly. This enforces the fact that there is a very critical benchmark within the industry. Every concept should be extremely well considered.

It is also great to see an established artist sharing the secrets of his trade. Erik discusses this during the talk, expressing the importance of team work and development through sharing tools and techniques. I have recently been picking my friends brain, who I feel is becoming a force to be reckoned with in terms of conceptual art. He has happily shared with me the new approaches he has been picking up on, and likewise I always try and share new tools and techniques that I discover. Through being critical of each others work and offering advice and pointers, I feel that one can learn far more than being reclusive and protective over your practice.

Studying the Work of Mike Mignola

In my interim Critique it was suggested that I look at the illustration work of Mike Mignola. This is likely as I stated my interest in creating a memorable hero with horns, perhaps Mignola's most recognised character being 'Hellboy', a devil-like demon detective. His work is also very gritty and macabre, which could be on some level informative towards my work as I have decided that I want to present a bleak narrative with my hero. I often take a cynical outlook on society, so am always fascinated by narratives that include political corruption and exploitation of the people. I am considering  the left-wing 'We the 99%' idea as potential focus for my hero's motives, so Mignola's macabre art could inspire my development work:

When looking at Mignola's work you can detect a very recognisable style. Interestingly, on his website the bio section describes his work as containing: 'thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black'. On a personal development note, I should be aiming to ultimately establish my own style to make my work stand apart from other talented artists within the game art industry. I imagine each concept artist will include personal flair in their designs. It is also important to relfect on the fact that Mignola is an illustrator and comic book artist. The stylised approach to his work exists very well within the flat two-dimensional media platform, but arguably the bold jagged shapes and heavy ink shadows may not translate well in the more dynamic fluid media of animation or game. Perhaps they would need to be addapted. Considering this, I searched to find out if Hellboy had ever been adapted into an animation. In fact there was an animated series, and I found this clip:

As expected, the approach here is different. The lines and shapes although still stylised feel softer and less rigid making the animation flow better and everything appear more three dimensional. These adaptations will have to be considered when I reflect on how my hero could be adapted into different areas of the media, or if in fact get time to visually present my character in two different transmedia formats.

Reflecting on my Essay

For my context of practice essay, I looked at the representation of the female gender in contemporary gaming. Through my studies, I gained a more general understanding of exploitation within the media. I saw new media as an arguably low art form driven by profit. This did provide me with a moral dilemma. Should I be pursuing a career that often prays on fetishism to shift sales? A platform that some believe focuses solely on marketing aspects, and not on artistic creative values?

To counter this view, I did learn that modern film and game has arguably played a part in breaking gender convention and empowering the independent female. If this is true, then perhaps gaming could be used as a tool to break other prejudices toward certain races, classes and creeds in the future. Perhaps even virtual worlds like for example those created by 'Bethesda' and 'Bioware' could teach us about politics, tolerance across difference races and making the right choices. In essence, gaming could be said to be character building, simulating real potential situations so that we can in a sense experience them beforehand.

It comes down to a question of values. Does having some knowledge and awareness of the sinister side of advertising and marketing within the industry, mean that I would be void of all artistic integrity by following a career path in concept art for film and games? Would it be acceptable to use the industry as a platform for creativity? Cynicism aside, I am more aware that sex sells. Should I fight this idea as a person who is against exploitation and within advertising, or should I embrace it as an artist and work to master the female form with my concept drawings? These are questions I need to start asking myself as an artist. I need to start to build my values to shape me as an individual within the vast industry of films and games.

Interim Critique

For our first critique, we were divided into small groups consisting of around five or six people. We then displayed our work on a designated computer and shared our thoughts on each other's approaches and how they relate to both our chosen practices and transmedia. I felt this smaller group format worked quite well, as we were to able to discuss our thoughts more intimately and in depth, as appose to brief five minute presentations at the front of the class.

From the feedback I gained on my work, I now feel I have a strong idea of the steps I need to take to successfully respond to the module  brief. Firstly, I am missing the crucial back story of my character. For my character to be transmedia worthy, he must exist in an exciting world, and have a clear purpose, meaning the audience can potentially relate to the hero and be interested in his journey.

From a more technical view, I need to decide on the two media platforms that I wish to explore. If I am producing a character for games (which for me and my chosen area of practice would make sense) I need to consider character turnarounds. Colour is also an important element, and a memorable colour scheme can almost become a part of a character's trademark. I also need to look at dynamic poses for my character, exploring how he would move through his environment, and hopefully produce some high quality paintings to finalise my explorations. Also, a particular pose can help make a character recognisable in the state of a silhouette. We discussed the importance of a unique recognisable silhouette.

Responsive Brief: Initial Ideas

For our responsive brief, we have been given the oppertunity to work in our chosen area of practice within the context of transmedia storytelling. I personally am interested in concept art for film and game, and I feel that my strength at the moment is character design over detailed environments. My first though was to design a superhero character. Superheroes give great examples of transmedia storytelling. A comic book hero narrative can be adapted effectively into an animated television series. We often see heroes adapted into video game characters and see them appear on the big screen. Each time they are adapted. They are re-designed to fit the media, whilst still being recognisable almost as a brand mascot. For example, a gritty hyper realistic game adaptation of a hero would likely be unsuitable for a child's cuddly toy. The cuddly toy design would likely have to be less detailed, with no sharp points or violent connotations. A teen animation series might contain a simple narrative e.g hero prevents villain form taking over world, whereas a Hollywood adaptation may explore more political themes or psychoanalysis. Perhaps the hero will be depicted as flawed, reaching out to an audience who really want to peel away at the character and feel a more deep and emotional attachment, whereas younger teens would rather see a justing bringing knight in shining armour.

I began my project by collecting a moodboard showing selected heroes existing across different media platforms:

As you can see, I produced notes on top of the moodboard picking on the adaptations relevant to the particular media platforms.

To demonstrate my understanding of transmedia, I decided that for my project I would produce two designs. I will at first embark on a design for a currently undecided media platform, which I will then adapt to fit a different platform. This way I will show an understanding of how characters must be adapted in order to stretch across different areas of the media. To begin my exploration, I produced some generic non-media specified designs, drawing inspiration from my moodoard:

My first attempt was a particularly cliche cape wearing superhero. The second attempt shows a more simple spiderman-like design, yet is still rather undefined with no real memorable silhouette. Considering how I could give my character an effective silhouette, I thought of heroes with horns such as 'Daredevil' and 'Hellboy'. I ended producing something that reflected the male sheep or 'Ram'. I thought this could be an interesting approach as it bears british denotations instead of the usually americanised hero. I reflected on this idea with another moodboard:

Hopefully by considering an original 'Ram' horned design, I can achieve a very recognisable silhouette for my hero.

'Action Chick' Context of Practice: Essay Response

In response to my exploration of the female gender and their representation within contemporary gaming, for my media artefact I worked within the are of digital art. I felt this would be an appropriate way to both contextualise my findings whilst also offering me the chance to work in my chosen area of personal practice. My response depicts a faceless, athletic heroine, bound by ropes like a puppet:

The character in a sense satirises the character of Lara Croft, presenting a toned and slightly convention breaking character, who ironically is being controlled and scrutinised by the puppeteer.

Practically, I explored further uses for custom brushes, capturing the fabric of both the brown tight jeans and the tank top that my heroine wears. Linking both personal professional development with the contextualisation of my essay, I could have perhaps explored the composition of this piece further. In my personal and professional practice model, I have spoke about exploring life drawing, working on drawing objects from different perspectives considering depth of field. Possibly by depicting my character from an elevated angle looking down on the 'Action Chick', I could have given a more dominating feel, emphasising the presence of the male gaze. Taking this concept further, perhaps I could have moved from the two dimension media of digital painting to the a game engine, modelling my action heroine and giving the user the ability to orbit and assess the virtual character's form. This third person orbiting perspective is a subject that I have discussed briefly in my essay, and would really put the male gaze into action. At this stage, I feel my response is almost like a piece of conceptual design work, which could then be adapted into the platform of gaming, exploring my idea of gender representation in contemporary gaming further.

In conclusion, I feel I have merely scratched the surface, depicting this idea of cynical puppeteering in the media of painting. With the resources available within my course, and with perhaps some collaboration (working with people who specialise in different areas) I could have put this concept to work in a virtual three dimensional environment.

An Essay Exploring the Presentation of the Female Gender in Contemporary Gaming.

This essay will look at how women are represented in today’s media, in particular within the platform of gaming. We will explore broad gender and popular culture theories such as the male gaze, feminism and high culture versus low culture, as well as various other ideas. In a more focused approach, we will examine relevant game characters such as Lara Croft, in comparison to characters in other areas of the media such as film and comic books. Using these examples, we will discuss both positive and negative arguments as to whether the female protagonist conveys beneficial gender empowerment, or becomes a fetishized spectacle to play on the male’s need for control and dominance. We will also consider how the representation of women in the media has evolved over the years, and discuss whether it has the potential to change further in the future with a potentially growing female market.

Before refining this particular study, we must first understand how the media affects the consumer and dictates popular culture in a broader sense. Firstly, we must establish this distinction between high culture and modern popular culture as we are talking about gaming. Milestone and Meyer, (2012, page 4) explained:

‘High culture is deemed intrinsically worthy, serious, quality art, while popular culture is judged superficial, simplistic and driven by profits rather than skill or quality.’ 

Through this, we can begin to see possible intentions behind mainstream media, which is said to be purely interested in reaching out to an audience in a consumer sense. If we hope to extract any form of integrity or positive gender equality messages from the female action hero in gaming, this idea certainly challenges the notion that there is any level of sympathy or support towards the female gender behind the stereotype-challenging hero. In fact here Milestone and Meyer are describing popular culture and the media as a profit driven capitalist machine, with no intention of challenging convention, unless it is to benefit the consumption of a product.

Steering clear of feminist gender issues at this stage, Gaunttlet (2002, page 3) explains how the media affects the consumer:

‘Movie Heroes, Female or male, are almost uniformly assertive and single minded. The attractive toughness of these stars, whilst not necessarily a problem, is ‘advertised’ to us continuously, and therefore should have some impact on our own lifestyle and preferences.’ 

Elaborating on the notion of these idealisms being ‘advertised’ to us constantly, we can channel some level of concern. We now understand that new consumer media revolves its practices around profit making. If in fact we are affected by these ruthless action heroes that we find in gaming, could any positive outlook be drawn from this buyer manipulation? If these virtual heroes are given the appealing characteristics that unfortunately bear no reflection or benefit to how we should interact in the real world, should we be concerned that these unrealistic traits are being carelessly forced upon the consumer? Now reconsidering the action heroine, yes we could say that a female taking on the role of protagonist supports gender equality, challenging a position usually occupied by the male gender, still, must the female action hero be portrayed so violently in order to earn respect and recognition as an equal? Should we not hope to see younger female audiences being influenced by intelligent literary female characters as oppose to violent gun wielding ones? Through understanding the cynical workings of modern media, can we become pessimistic about any positive messages, whether they be concerning gender, race or class, to be drawn from what some consider ‘low culture’ media artefacts?

Moving towards a more focused study into gender theory, when considering the possible purpose for the strong female protagonist, perhaps we can contemplate the male gaze. This is the phenomenon where men scrutinise women presented in the media, thus leading women in reality to feel that they are under constant inspection by the male gender, and must conform to the conventions of what is considered ‘sexy’ or ‘beautiful’ in the mainstream media. From the male perspective, it is this ‘peeping tom’ sensation, where the male consumer feels that they have control when they are allowed to stare at and judge the female form. This theory could suggest that even these strong female protagonists that we find in video games, despite their convention challenging personas, could still ultimately have been put in place to be examined by Men. Herbst (2004, page 9) stated: ‘Croft is an oversexualized stereotyped character who appeals primarily to males.’ It is true that perhaps Lara Croft and other female action heroes like her, are not torch bearing symbols of woman power and gender equality, but simply fetishized sexual puppets deployed only to entice and engage the male consumer. Quite feasibly, we could link this idea to the concept of scopophilia, which Mulvey (1975, pages 202-21), describes as: 'pleasure in looking at another person as an object'. One could argue that Lara Croft is in no sense a strong independent woman. This idea is immediately tainted as soon as the character is placed in a predominantly male media platform, in the state of an avatar that can be manipulated and commanded by the user. Shliener (2001, pages 221-226) made an interesting point on this:

‘Lara Croft is seen as a monstrous offspring of science: an idealized, eternally young female automaton, a malleable, well-trained techno-puppet created by and for the male gaze.’ 

Shliener here of course speaks in a literal sense. In the game series, Lara Croft is depicted as an athletic archaeologist. In reality, she is the manifestation of male fantasy and alleged female perfection, generated by a team of game developers like a sort of consumer experiment. She is possibly not an icon for women to look up to, challenging gender conventions and bridging the gap between where men have felt strong and superior, and where women have been oppressed and doubted. In fact, she could solely be a play toy that conforms to the male gaze.

Above fans have created a ‘nude’ patch, which can override Lara Crofts in game textures depicting her wearing minimal clothing. This demonstrates the male audience almost demeaning and manipulating the female hero to satisfy their sexual desires, furthering this idea of the gaze. 

Mencimer (2004, page 8) did speak about how the representation of the woman action heroes has changed over the years, using examples like Sarah Connor from the Terminator film series, in contrast to the earlier Wonder Woman. Mencimer spoke of how Wonder Woman was very slender and attractive, conforming to the voyeuristic desires of men at the time, whereas Sarah Conner was presented as a strong ‘toned’ and muscular female, leading women to strive towards rock hard abdominals and toned arms, thus entering into the previously masculine domain of weight training and body building. Unfortunately Mencimer believed:

“No doubt our action heroines have come a long way since Wonder Woman, but the feminist critics are right: Women are still only allowed to be violent within certain parameters largely proscribed by what men are willing to tolerate.” 

This idea enforces this constant need to appease the male consumer. Female action heroes are strong and violent, but only to a degree where they remain sexy and alluring to the male user. Although Lara Croft destroys enemies and explores dark and dangerous locations, her physique still meets with what modern media stereotypes deem attractive in regards to the female form. Mencimer also talked about the fact Lara Croft is presented in a third person view, meaning the player is able to orbit and examine the virtual character. It could be argued quite strongly that this form of display, where the user is constantly surveying the in-game character as oppose to seeing the virtual world in a first person perspective, plays strongly on the peeping tom sensation and the feeling of control. The male player almost becomes the cynical puppeteer, with complete dominance over the virtual female.

Despite the feminist critiques regarding the action heroine, we can find positive points, which support the idea of convention challenging protagonist. Knight (2010, pages 1-8) believed:

‘Lara Croft changed the face of video game playing. She became a role model for young girls and the star of one of the most popular video games for both males and females ‘ 

This immediately suggests that there could have been a female demographic in mind when the character was created, and supports this positive idea that Lara Croft’s masculine actions could have empowered the female user. Stuller (2010, page 3) supports this idea:

‘This lack of heroic female role models in popular culture can be distressing for a little girl, as well as a grown woman. We’re shown too many images of us as beauty queens, femme fatales, vixens, girlfriends, mothers and damsels in need of rescuing. We can be these things, but we can also be more.’

This view revolts against the traditional roles of women in the media as inferior and male dependant. Perhaps the inclusion of a female action hero within a game takes steps towards challenging the stereotype that the female gender is physically feebler, as Lara Croft is seen scaling walls and fighting dangerous animals such as bears and tigers. It seems that Stuller is in favour of the powerful female protagonist, as a source of empowerment for the female audience.

We can also possibly conisder the movement of ‘Post Feminism,’ in support of the strong yet glamorous protagonist. This is the idea that strong feminist ideologies can become oppressive to the female and in a sense counter productive. In Tasker and Nagra’s book ’Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture’ (2007, page 3), this idea was described: 

‘…postfeminism also perpetuates women as pinup, the enduring linchpin of commercial beauty culture. In fact, it has offered new rationales for guilt-free consumerism, substantially reenergizing culture…’ 

This quote leans towards the idea that perhaps the strong opposition of feminine conformity devalues the woman, disallowing her to glamourize and examine her physique. It could perhaps be argued that the athletic form of Lara Croft could encourage women to stay fit and healthy. Perhaps to some extent, having these strong female action heroes as role models can be beneficial. Conflicting feminist theories often take a negative standpoint, seeing things from the perspective of the male gaze. Although there is likely truth in the arguments regarding women as sexualised objects, putting the male user aside, can these strong independent women offer self-esteem and empowerment to the feminine audience? Where as men feel comfortable flaunting masculine traits such as competiveness, who is to say that women do not find genuine pleasure in striving toward what society deems ‘beautiful’? Could femininity be celebrated, and is masculinity necessarily transcendent? Another interesting point has been raised by Shliener (2001, pages 221-226):

‘...the appearance of female heroines in computer games, albeit male constructions of femininity, can be seen as a first step, an invitation for women to play computer games. The second step would be for women and girls to being to influence the construction of their virtual counterparts in computer games through greater participation in gaming culture and a higher level of involvement in the individual.’ 

Again, perhaps we can establish different views based on the context of who is participating in a piece of media. Yes, to the male user, there may be a slightly cynical element of dominance and control occurring with the male gaze. However, when the female audience is invited to participate, the feminine avatar becomes more a reflection of the player as appose to a sexualised virtual puppet. Now, perhaps the female protagonist’s feminine yet convention-breaking actions inform the player, offering liberation to the subjugated female user. Referring back to the quote, perhaps we are still in a transitional period, where the gaming industry at this stage remains male dominated, but the strong female characters are beginning to involve the female user. Perhaps if the female audience becomes more prominent in the games industry, game developers will begin to consider a more neutral representation of the female protagonist, as oppose to the fetishized ones that appeal primarily to the male audience. It seems that we ultimately find ourselves coming back to the same conclusion. Brown (2011, page 7), speaking about the action heroine, has the idea that:

‘She commands the narrative and controls her destiny, makes her own decisions, and fights her own battles. She is inquisitive and intelligent, physically and emotionally strong, and is clearly portrays as a heroic ideal which audience members identify. On the other hand, the action heroine perpetuates the ideal of female beauty and sexuality that has always been the primary cultural value of women in our society.’ 

Yes, the female protagonist does challenge convention; possibly offering motivation and a sense of self-belief to the female audiences, yet at the same time enforces this idea of what is considered beautiful in modern society. This raises the question, does the action ‘chick’ in gaming empower the female user, or alternatively encourage conformism in a different area. It is true that a strong independent female character could promote courage and empowerment to the female audiences, but at the same time the flawless physiques with which virtual heroines are sculpted, could also result in insecurity and self-doubt.

On reflection, we must ask ourselves the true intentions of the convention challenging action heroine. Through understanding the consumer nature of new media as a whole, the idea of the female protagonist alluring a male audience seems plausible. Again, we are arguable not looking at a fine art form (high culture), but at a media platform dominated mainly by men, in which profit is the key interest. In a sense, we could argue that we are not discussing an intellectual or compelling area of the media in which messages and philosophies are the main priority; instead we are looking at a product that is designed to be distributed. On the other hand, there is the belief that gaming is taking a more cinematic approach. On some level, this creates a market for concepts and ideas to be explored as we see in the platform of film. Take the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game series for example. It could be said that the the games explore the tie between religion and politics. The Templars in the series act as an Illuminati-like force, shaping and manipulating existence as we know it, the player belonging to a counter force who hope to prevent the Templars from achieving complete control. If this conceptual approach is being employed in gaming, perhaps we can expect to see ideas raised on feminism, particularly with the female audience potentially increasing with the introduction of the female protagonist.

On some level we see this new market emerging already. In many roleplaying games, an example being the ‘Mass Effect’ game series, the player is given the option to generate either a male or female character. The player is also given the opportunity to alter their character’s appearance, which one could argue moves away from the idea of forcing an ideology of beauty and attractiveness on the user, giving the user themselves the tools to present what they believe to be attractive. Despite this, there are still characters within the game that conform to these modern media ideologies with flawless physiques and soft delicate features. Even the female alien races within the series fit this agenda, adding a dis concerning notion that what our media deems attractive is universal.

Another point on the view of games progressing into debatably a more conceptual and cinematic art form, is that ultimately, we cannot move away from the reality that games (most importantly the triple A titles that are prominent within the media as a whole) are produced by large teams. It seems that there is no auteuristic figure dictating the content that goes in to a title, and ultimately, it is the company name which brands the work, not an individual with personal goals and creative integrity. It would seem that because of this, again we come back to the idea of a profit driven industry, with a potentially voyeuristic formula that appeals to a large male consumer audience. The ideas behind a game will not come from one visionary, but most often from a collaborative team of writers who consider what the public will regard as consumable.

Desipite this, although unintentionally perhaps on some level the inclusion of the strong powerful female in gaming has empowered the female user. I do believe that characters such as Lara Croft were originally deployed to entice a masculine audience, but perhaps positive convention breaking attitudes emerged as a by-product of the industries original intent. Perhaps there is a sense of genuine empowerment offered to the female consumer that comes with the portrayal of a deadly female protagonist, whether it be the original intent of the game company or not. 

In conclusion, we have established that females in the contemporary gaming cover two agendas. Firstly, they challenge gender stereotypes, arguably inviting a female audience to participate in the platform of gaming and to feel empowered. On the other hand, these action heroines simultaneously are in most cases over sexualised, satisfying the male user. Through understanding media as a platform for profit making, we cannot really try to extrapolate any heartfelt messages or statements on feminism from the mainstream media of gaming. Shallow and dissatisfying as it may seem, we must simply accept that these strong female protagonists as marketing tools to reach out to a vast audience of predominantly male gamers. It is difficult to foresee any change in this formulaic and in many senses voyeuristic approach. Yes, in this study we have realised a shift from the very conventional ‘Wonder Woman,’ to the more toned and muscular character of ‘Sarah Connor.’ We may in fact see further changes in how women are represented in popular culture, but ultimately, these changes will most likely be dictated by what men are willing to accept. With the Gaze being such an influential truth, it is difficult to imagine the gaming industry eluding such a predominant male audience. Unfortunately, as long as we consume the product, game developers will continue to represent women in a voyeuristic fashion.



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