starting out in my group project

 Hello, for todays blog I will be talking about my group project. In this I will discuss the topics that are in my project. I will first give a brief definition for each of the topics, then explain what I will be  doing in this project.

The first topic is console games and pc games. This topic details gaming on both console and pc platforms. Each of these platforms have strengths and weaknesses that make them viable choices. The next topic is digital augmentation of board games and table top games. Digital augmentation is mixing real life with the digital world  by using AR technology and filters. This also includes board games and table top games that have been made digital so that you can play board games online with your friends all over the world. Social games are videogames that focus on online multiplayer play that are hugely popular. Social games like Minecraft have brought many communities, cultures and religions  all around the world together to socialize and have fun. Mobile phone games make up a huge amount of people that play video games because everyone has a phone and most mobile games are free and easy to access and play. Monetisation in gaming is the way that games create an income through different ways like advertising on mobile games when an ad pops up for a few seconds or by offering an in game currency of maybe an exclusive item or more content within the game. The functionality of play can be different for everyone. The most obvious of these is to have fun above all else. Agency is what decisions the player makes that can impact either the story of the game or how your decisions affect what happens next, the reason why agency is important is because it shows that a players decision does matter and that it is worth continue playing. This is similar in the case of narratives in story telling games where certain dialogue that you choose in the game can have impacts on certain characters and plot lines.

What made me interested and wanting to work on this topic for my project is because since a young age I have always been a gamer through multiple generations of consoles. Gaming has been a life changing experience for me because I have met so many new friends from all corners of the world and we all share similar interests. Gaming has also been a great way for me to relax after a long hard day and because there are so many different genres of games there's always one that I will feel like playing no matter what mood I am in.

The topics that interest me the most in this project is probably console and pc games and monetisation in gaming. The reason why console games and pc games interest me is because I have grown up using many varieties of consoles and have moved to pc gaming. I am interested in the strengths and weaknesses of both console and pc platforms and the rivalry that exists that a lot of people dont know about that exists. I will be researching both of these topics in the group project while others in my group will research the ones that they have chosen.

Monetisation in gaming interests me because every game that you play in this generation must have a way other than purchasing the game to make an income off of its player base. They can do this through various ways such as loot boxes, skins, currency purchases and much more.

-Photo by JESHOOTS.COM - creative commons zero license. - https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-people-holding-black-gaming-consoles-442576/

Peer review #1

 For my reading task this week,  I was tasked with writing 2 comments on 2 of my course members blog posts. These comments that I made were to review the blog post using a work sheet as guidance. We were also given articles to give is a better understanding on giving and receiving feedback.

After reading both "Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback" and "be a mirror" I learned that when giving out my feedback to people that I should try to give out positive as well as negative, but when giving out negative feedback dont make it a this is right and this is wrong type of feedback. Instead I give constructive criticism that shows the writer how they can improve on their work.

By doing these feedback comments I have also learned new information that is mentioned that I can apply to myself. An example of this would be in Christelle De Gamas digital media blog where she says "turning on a computer and completing an online job application require different skills”. This section made me realise that in digital media there are vast amounts of different digital literacy skills I have also learned from Kailan Purcells Study skills, active reading and media literacy blog, she says “When the brain learns it is at 100% learning capacity and by 24 hours the next day it will only be at 50% capacity of the information learned due to less frequent revising over time.” The reason why this is useful to me is because I can keep this in mind when studying in the future so that I will be able to retain more information while studying.

Before I started doing feedback I expected it to be limited to just pointing out mistakes and parts where good information was mentioned but in reality there is also a lot of information to be learned about by reading these blog posts.

Sources

- Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback by Marshall Goldsmith. - https://marshallgoldsmith.com/articles/try-feedforward-instead-feedback/

- Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset by  Gravity Goldenberg - https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2015/12/08/be-a-mirror-give-readers-feedback-that-fosters-a-growth-mindset

- https://christelle19.blogspot.com/2021/10/digital-media.html?showComment=1634674674416#c5118484227633448992

- https://kailanp.blogspot.com/2021/10/skills-active-reading-and-media.html?showComment=1634674550498#c6182986928684826682

The production process broken down into stages

 For todays blog I will be going through 4  videos that I have watched in relation to the production process and go through the steps and stages that are mentioned in these videos.

The first video that I have watched is called 'What is Design Thinking? An Overview'. This video was done by a youtuber called AJ&Smart. Design thinking is a way of problem solving that can be used using creativity to find solutions. The reason why design thinking is so important today is (AJ&Smart) "almost every innovative company in the world uses some form of design thinking". In the video the 5 main steps for design thinking are mentioned that is a structure that is commonly used by the production industry. These 5 steps are empathise, which is trying to understand what a customer needs. Define, is using the information you gathered from the first step to try figure out what the customer needs. Ideate, is the stage where you begin coming up with your ideas to solve the problem. Prototype, is taking the ideas you came up with and taking them to the next stage by trying to see if they are viable. The final stage is test which is to take your best prototypes and get people to test them to see how well they work. This video gave me ideas of sectors that you can apply design thinking to. An example would be if you are a graphic designer creating a logo you could apply these 5 steps to make your logo.

 Another video that I watched was Film Production Stages by the YouTube channel Five Minute Film School. In this video he mentions that production is broken down into 3 parts. Pre production which is at the very beginning where the ideas of coming up with the film. This includes film writing, hiring staff to shoot the film, getting a cast for the film, organising locations to film, obtaining props, making a budget and having a schedule. The second part is production. Once you are at the production stage you should be fully committed to your film because at this stage you are paying salaries for your staff and your cast. The last stage is post production. This mostly consists of editing like visual effects, sound effects, colour correction, picture editing and music.

After watching these videos I would say that the most useful one for me at the start of m
y project would be 'What is Design Thinking? An Overview'. The reason why this video would be most useful to me is because of the 5 steps that were mentioned in this video and how they can be applied to the process of making a project.

In a group project I think that it is important to organise ourselves into roles for example someone can be a leader that can organise what work needs to be done and give people roles. Another role would be the researcher which could try find information that can be useful. Another role that could be used is scheduler/timekeeper which is making sure that there is enough time allocated for specific stages in the process and also to make sure that goals for deadlines can be reached.

A role that I think that might not be in the group project is the leader role because depending on the group they might all want to be equal and make decisions together as oppose to one person choosing what happens.

-Sources

-AJ&Smart - What Is Design Thinking? An Overview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGN6hs2gZY

- FiveMinuteFilmSchool - Film Production Stages - Five Minute Film School - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5EoMcoUI2Q

- Science Filmmaking Tips - The Process of Making a Documentary: Pre to Post Production - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hPFlGiAwEM

- Indy Mogul - 4 Easy Steps to Film a Short Documentary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-K_XbCLtVk

- Photo by Canva Studio creative commons zero license - https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-people-using-laptop-3194519/