Blog 3:

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/grace-rosebirch/2023/08/06/blog-post-3-automatic-for-the-people/

Blog 2:

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/grace-rosebirch/2023/08/03/blog-post-2-automatic-for-the-people/

Blog 1:

https://www.mediafactory.org.au/grace-rosebirch/2023/07/25/blog-post-1-automatic-for-the-people/

 Outers (as a kids cartoon)

Blog 3 Reflection:

For my final blog post I was really trying to dive deeper into the experimental ways we can use chatGPT. My group definitely had fun with pushing the boundaries and just throwing as many random ideas out there and generating it to see what came out of these ideas. Some of the scenes that came out of this trial were more realistic to what a scene in a TV show or movie would be like, others were more generic and cringe. When this happens you can refer back to the weekly reading and understand and think about the comparison between ChatGPT and a blurry JPEG. “It retains much of the information on the Web, in the same way that a jpeg retains much of the information of a higher-resolution image, but, if you’re looking for an exact sequence of bits, you won’t find it; all you will ever get is an approximation.” This approximation can be understood as the reasoning behind it being very unhumanistic with the dialogue and some of the scenes. An example of a way we tried it was giving it emotive words on certain lines and seeing if that changed the dialogue that came out. Eventually when we put in our final prompt asking for it to be like a nickelodeon kids tv show, it became a lot more believable due to the number of other prompts prior we filtered our way down to our final result. However this final scene is still not perfect to the human eye and definitely would need to be slightly changed to make it more true to the genre and also just be enjoyable to watch. 

Bibliography:

Chiang, T. (2023) CHATGPT is a blurry JPEG of the web, The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/chatgpt-is-a-blurry-jpeg-of-the-web (Accessed: 06 August 2023). 

Nickelodeon Australia (no date) Nickelodeon. Available at: https://www.nick.com.au/ (Accessed: 06 August 2023).

The Outers

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Week 1 Media Sketch AftP (1)

Real World Media

The Rise and Fall of Codae

This group’s project was about creating an immersive story experience using transmedia techniques to transport the audience into a museum-like environment. Danielle wrote “I want the sandbox to spark joy, the colours to dazzle the eye, and the discussion around our exhibition to bring people together and interact in a way that cannot be replicated through screens.” This perfectly encapsulates the experience I had as I was digging around in the sandbox finding bits and pieces of what was remains of a utopian-like world. I found it very clever how they used a made up world to reflect patterns that happen in our society. It was a less depressing way to make people face the damage we do as a society and get those conversations flowing and thoughts bubbling. 

Ready Camera One  

Music Madness

Music madness was a traditional game show style that encompassed similar editing and filming styles to shows such as Family Feud and Jeopardy. The fun and colourful intro sets the viewer up to assume the show will be light hearted and an easy watch. The intro had a nostalgic feel to it which was making me think of all the times I sat on my grandparents couch as a kid about to watch Deal or No Deal. I think this is a very clever way for them to hook the viewer in and make them want to continue watching to see what it may be about. However when I kept watching I saw it was slightly more modern than the gameshows of my childhood. Having people guess what song based on a short snippet of a music video with no sound was a really fun and authentic idea and something I found myself joining in on. Overall the project was lighthearted and fun but showed those conventions of a tradition live edited and filmed gameshow. 

The Privilege Quiz

When first looking at this project I was intrigued because it was definitely targeted more towards people who keep up with current trends or viral content. For example one of the questions being whats 9+10 and the answer being 21 is based on a very well known viral meme. This was definitely funny to see as it technically isn’t correct but in reference to the style and rules of the game it was the answer they were looking for. This was contrasting to some of the other projects in this studio as it was a more comical and not so traditional style for a game show. However I will say that the filming and set design represented a more traditional approach but it somehow all tied together nicely for a fun and very ‘relevant’ watch. 

Title: Murder Mystery

Summary: Our final project displayed a murder mystery interactive game, inspired by escape rooms. Players had to follow clues to piece the puzzle together of who killed Mrs Clement. This involved solving riddles, finding hidden keys and using their knowledge of the story to work out who was the murderer and why.

Lauren Smith  link to week 13 blog post:

Week 13 Reflection

Grace Rosebirch link to week 13 blog post:

Week 13 Reflection

Jemile Kendjer link to week 13 blog post:

Real World Media- Assignment 4 (Week 13 Reflection: Final Reflection)

1. In what ways do you hope your creative exploration is received by its audience?

The Chesterville murder mystery interactive game aspired for the audience to appreciate the game’s capacity to engross them in a captivating and suspenseful murder mystery. We aimed to provide an opportunity for active participation, allowing players to assume the role of detectives and engage in solving the case. The exploration was driven by the research question: “How do the conventions of a traditional murder mystery translate into a transmedia form of storytelling through the use of an interactive game, while maintaining a coherent narrative without compromising participant engagement and immersion?”

One significant advantage of the interactive game was the direct involvement of players in the investigation process. Through gameplay mechanics such as puzzle-solving, hidden object discovery, and narrative-altering choices, participants were able to actively contribute to the development of the story. This active engagement aimed to enhance the overall level of participant investment and interest. 

Ultimately, our aspirations revolved around the hope that the Chesterville murder mystery interactive game would be met with enthusiastic appreciation from its audience. Through our meticulous efforts to seamlessly incorporate the conventions of traditional murder mysteries into the transmedia storytelling format, while maintaining a coherent narrative and prioritising participant engagement and immersion, we sought to create an unparalleled gaming experience that would captivate players and leave a lasting impression on their minds.

1. What was it like preparing for the exhibition, and then seeing your work presented and viewed? 

Preparing for the exhibition of the Chesterville murder mystery interactive game was an exciting but intense process. We dedicated a lot of time to refining the gameplay mechanics, designing immersive visuals, and crafting an intriguing narrative. So the idea that it might not be viewed well was scary. 

We meticulously tested and fine-tuned every aspect of the game to ensure a seamless and engaging experience for the audience. And the idea that this game might actually not work was something on my mind. As we knew how it worked because we made it ourselves, what if the general public couldn’t figure it out. 

We eagerly awaited feedback from the audience, hoping that they would appreciate and enjoy the game as much as we had envisioned. But as the first person went through it was clear that all the testing had paid off. Observing players engrossed in solving the mystery, witnessing their reactions to plot twists, and hearing their discussions about the game was incredibly rewarding. As everything fell into place, and the game flowed perfectly. Three out of the four figured out with the correct amount of trial and error and one was convinced it was our ‘red herring’ that did the murder this to me was success as it wasn’t too easy or too hard. It was that perfect middle ground for people to really be involved and use their detective minds. 

1. Reflect on your collaboration for Assessment 4. How did it go? What would you do differently next time, and why?

The collaboration within our group was effective, with tasks being completed and all the elements coming together successfully. During weeks 9-11, our primary focus was on planning the story. In week 9, Lauren and I dedicated our efforts to developing the initial plot, selecting characters, and crafting the plotline. Following our presentation in week 10, we shifted our attention to working on the game mechanics. Throughout that week, we carefully planned each checkpoint, determining the events and clues that would be provided. Initially, we used bullet points in the document for convenience, intending to expand upon them later during our individual work sessions. I took responsibility for checkpoint 1 and 4, while Lauren handled checkpoint 2 and 5, with Jemile in charge of checkpoint 3.

In week 11, we used the shared Google document to ensure alignment among our respective checkpoints, ensuring a smooth flow of elements. Once this alignment was achieved, our focus shifted to preparing everything for the setup. We created a shopping list, with Lauren taking the lead in printing our papers, posters, and clues, while I collected and assembled small lockboxes with the appropriate locks for each stage. Additionally, Lauren and I visited the prop shop, considering potential props for the exhibition day.

With all the elements aligned and prepared, our attention turned to testing the game, a process that went smoothly. We collectively set up the game, meticulously going through each checkpoint, making necessary adjustments, and communicating these changes in our messenger group chat to ensure nothing was overlooked for the final day.

On the exhibition day, Lauren and I visited the prop shop once again, gathering everything we needed and transforming the room to fit our chosen theme. Seeing our collaborative vision come to life was a gratifying experience.

Looking back, I would consider dividing the workload within the first week in future projects. This would allow for a more even distribution of tasks and potentially contribute to a smoother workflow. Nevertheless, we felt well-prepared on the exhibition day, with no elements forgotten, which was highly satisfying.

All of the elements to our interactive murder mystery were now completed. We had the story, the clues and what would lead the players to the next box. The next step was figuring out the flow of the space and how the layout would work and if it was clear enough. 

The only way for us to know this was to do a walkthrough we laid each box on the ground and placed what would be next to and inside around the box. so we could visually see each section.   

Whilst doing our walkthrough we realised a few small things had to be changed in order for it to actually work. We changed one of the key locks to a number lock as it was the clues we had previously decided. We also decided to reprint a lot of our items so that they were more fitted to the theme (old looking paper). 

The main hurdle we came across during our final walkthrough was where to place each block. To make sure that we had a good flowing layout we made a few different plan to look at it as a whole. Overall we wanted the person doing the game to have to look around the room for clues and go back and fourth a few times. Hence why we separated certain numbers.

During this week of our project we decided to focus on finalising the story. However for this to become a proper murder mystery we had to do a deep dive into the conventions and tropes of what a traditional murder mystery looked like. 

When building our story we looked at a number of murder mysteries to give us inspiration. Some of these being the board game Cluedo, Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries and escape rooms we have gone to ourselves and tried out. 

Combining these areas of exploration we began to build our story. We needed to think of all the elements in the story and how they would align with each other to lead to clues and “Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story” (Jenkins, 2007). 

We knew that a common trait in a murder mystery was to have a red herring so we immediately chose the cleaner to be framed as the murder when really it was Mr Clement. This was going to be a good way to lead the player down a rabbit hole before actually being able to find out who it was.

There were elements to our story that were getting too complicated and we knew if we wanted this to flow nicely and have each element contribute with the unfolding of the story we had to simplify. We took away the affair between the cleaner and Mr clement and made it be a framing Mr clement had planned for the audience to believe it was the cleaner. This not only added a fun twist but it also took a bit of the cliche overtone away.

references:

Following our presentation pitch it was clear that there was refining to be done this week. The question we were researching was the first of many things we refined. Previously it was too wordy with unclear points. Our new and refined question being: “How do the conventions of a traditional murder mystery translate into a transmedia form of story-telling, through the use of an interactive game. How easily are we able to develop a coherent narrative without sacrificing the engagement and immersion of participants?”

Previously in our pitch we spoke about doing a pre recorded audio to read the clues thinking this would add a level of engagement that people feel lacks within these types of games/stories. Upon reflection the technical difficulties that come with this are far too much for it to run smoothly with the space and equipment we have access to, so we have changed it to do printed out scripts for each player to read. Although this may not have the same effect it definitely will be a smoother running experience.  

Another alteration we have made is moving away from the escape room element to our story. After looking into tropes of murder mysteries it was clear that to be able to fulfil our research objective it would be beneficial to make it more of an interactive game experience using some genre conventions from escape rooms but instead of the main point being to get out of the room, we have made the main objective to be uncovering who the murderer is.