Media homework
1. Give a definition of cross-platform gaming
2. Why is Microsoft's " Better Together" update so exciting for the gaming world?
3. Why might there be concerns over online child protection?
4. What is the future for cross-platform gaming, in your opinion? What are the pros and cons, for the games developers and the audience?

1.Cross-platform gaming is when you can play the game on multiple devices and play each other on different devices .
2.  The "Better Together" update for Minecraft is so exciting for the gaming world as it enables people to play the game from multiple platforms. For example, Xbox one, mobile devices and Window 10 PCs. The Minecraft update also allows people to interact and play each other on different devices, making the game accessible to a wider audience and permitting people to play wherever they are.
3.I think that there might be concerns with child protection online on Microsoft because: there are people playing from a range of ages so younger children could be exposed to something which could be considered inappropriate, younger children could communicate with someone who is older who may be trying to get their house details or try to ruin their lives in any way.
4.  I think that the future for cross-platform gaming is bright and that the cross platform software will be a valuable asset for games. I think that cross platform gaming will be great for gaming as it will allow games to be played in various places allowing people that don't have certain devices, to play it on the ones that they do have.
The advantages for the game developers is that there will be more flexibility in regards to what they can add to Minecraft.  Furthermore, they will be able to learn what type of games appeal to their audiences as they are creating games for multiple platforms. The game developers will also be able to have a financial increase as the game is being played in various places; not just on console.  The disadvantage is that the game developers will have to get major companies such as Microsoft and Sony to cooperate with each other so that they can widen their cross-platform gaming.  Unfortunately, they couldn't get Minecraft and Sony to cooperate before. As for the audience,  the advantage is that they can play Minecraft on multiple platforms and the disadvantage is that the game may occasionally start to buffer more often due to how many different platforms people are playing it on.

 

Principles of Acting: Criteria 1

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell

Machinal was first performed on September 7th, 1928 at the Plymouth theatre on Broadway. The play is set in various places such as: an office, a flat, a hotel, a speakeasy, a furnished room, a drawing room, a courtroom and in the dark. Furthermore, the play is based on a real life court case where Ruth Snyder is executed for being a murderer.

 

The stage was a proscenium arch stage which allowed the audience to get a full preview of the set as well as anything additional in the background. The original set design implements self-made human sculptures of people which showcase the repetitiveness of life, in keeping with the intended Expressionistic style. Moreover, the stage was mainly in grey to make the place look bland and the side walls were completely dull, perhaps reflecting the industrial 'Machine-like' metaphor that holds the play together.

 

Ruth Synder was an American who was executed by the electric chair due to murdering her husband. Ruth Synder was the first woman to be executed at Sing Sing since 1899. Before this happened, Ruth Synder was a housewife from Queens Village in New York and was married to Henry Judd Gray who was a corset salesmen. Eventually, she decided to come up with a plan to kill her husband.  Ruth Synder has also been accused of trying to kill her husband many times. This made her story about what happened untruthful as she has been claimed of trying to kill him before. For example, during 1927 she filled his nose with chloroform-soaked rages and tried to make it seem as if it was a burglary. This is not exactly in keeping with the narrative from the play.

 

Sophie Treadwell was a noteworthy playwright and a journalist.  In addition, she was born on the 3rd October 1885 in Stockton California and died 20th February 1970.  Her education took place in University California, Berkeley.  During her studies, she studied acting and was mentored by a successful polish actress named Helena Modjeska.  Apart from Machinal, Sophie wrote Broadway’s Bravest Women and Intimations for Saxophone.

 

The play was received in different ways.  According to David Cote, he claimed that the play was received as being pretty “weird” and that people are “sick” of these repetitive types of plays.  However, he did seem to get a gist of the story as he states that the young women was being “oppressed by social structures”  and that the play was inspired by the Ruth Snyner case.

Relevant sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie_Treadwell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Snyder

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/machinal-1

Fallout by Roy Williams

Fallout was first performed on the 5th June 2003 at Royal Court Theatre.  The play was set in the modern era and is based in South London.   The original set design looked like a basketball court at the start. This made it resemble teenager’s environment at school and set the scene of the play. As the play progresses, the stage is changed into an investigated area by the police due to the killing of Kwame.

Damilola Taylor was a Nigerian 10 year old who came to Britain to improve his life. Unfortunately, he was killed November 27th by Daniel Preddie and Richard Preddie around Peckham. There have been many theories on how he died however the policemen in charge believed that he fell on broken glass when he was confronted by these two boys.  These two boys were eventually given manslaughter as the verdict came to the conclusion that they were guilty.  Similarly, Steven Lawrence was murdered 1993. Steven Lawrence was a black man from Britain who lived in Pulmstead in London.  In his case, he was killed because he was Black. After a while, 5 people were arrested but not convicted for the crime. These people were: Neil, Jamie, David, Gary and Luke.  Both of these cases were highly recognised due to the social critique of racism and how society is socially structured.  In my opinion, this influenced Roy William to write Fallout as he wanted to display how dysfunctional society is and the issues teenagers faced due to their race and social group.

Roy Williams was born on the 5th January 1968 in Fulham London. Roy Williams was a English playwright who received many rewards such as: George Devine Award and the Evening Standard Award. When he was growing up, Roy Williams was failing in school and was raised in a single-parent household, in a family where he was one out of four children. Eventually, he graduated at Rose Bruford College at 25 years old with a degree for writing in theatre.

 

The Play had positive views. According to Michael Billington, the playwright for Fallout was impressive as it dealt with “multicultural societies" and scrutinised racial stereotypes.  Furthermore, my initial response to fallout is that it's a phenomenal play as it deals with how society is structured and makes the viewer acknowledge that society needs to be changed and adapted to present disasters like the Stephen Lawrence and Damilola Taylor case from happening again. 

Relevant sources

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2003/jun/19/theatre.artsfeatures

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/dec/03/ukcrime.race

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Damilola_Taylor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Williams_ (playwright)

Expressionism in Theatre (Machinal)

Expressionism in theatre have many characteristics and elements which include: settings and characters. The setting in Expressionistic theatre normally goes against the normal, it incorporates strange shapes and vivid colours to make the set stand out.  In Machinal, instead of making a shape, they make a machine out of their body which demonstrates the expressionist style of theatre which has been used. Moreover, the characters foreshadow the expressionistic be being nameless. For example, in Machinal the main character is called Young Woman.  The audience expects to witness something abstract and mysterious due to the style it is being performed. This is shown in Machinal in the review I mentioned earlier, David cote does think of Machinal as being “weird”.

As a result of the expressionistic style, the actor is expected to perform the character in a way that makes them look oppressed. For example, their facial expressions should be clear and you should be able to notice which facial expression they are portraying this is due to the fact that the characters have lost their individuality so their facial expressions are essential.

Considering where the play is set,  actors performing this play should be either dominant like the husband as women are being oppressed by men or timid like the women as she is being oppressed by society. For example, “twelve bucks a day!” the man playing that role should be superior and dominant and talk in a very profound tone.  

Naturalism incorporates many characteristics. For example, the character should be realistic and be performed the way the character is actually supposed to be performed.  Furthermore, the costumes are associated to the character and the stage design and the props used are realised.  The audience expects to witness a believable story just like in Fallout and it should have an excellent narrative.

Relevant Sources

http://www.thedramateacher.com/expressionism-in-the-theatre/

 

The Walt disney Company
Founded by walt and his brother in !923
Disney Timeline
1950- first live action film start
1950- starts working in TV
1955- Disneyland opens
1964- Mary poppins released (nominated for Oscars)
1966- Walt dies

Mini documentary

Questions:
Are you a gamer?
What do you like to play/ Genre preferences?

Minecraft article
1. According to the writer, why might autistic children such as his son, be attracted to minecraft?
2. Which features are included in the education version of Minecraft and how useful do you think they might be as an educational tool?
3. Why, does Bergensten suggest, have copycat versions of Minecraft been less successful?
4. What is meant by the "modding" community?
5. How important is the "sense of ownership" citied by Bergensten, for the audience for Minecraft?
6. How has Minecraft extended its brand beyond gaming and into other products?

1.

• Autistic children such as his son may have been attracted to Minecraft due to the  game allowing them to talk about their experiences. In other words, the game enables them to be more interactive and sociable in way that they don't find as easy in real life.
• Teaches them basic skills which appeals to them as they will learn some skills which will benefit their lives.

2.

• It "allows teachers to set up classroom servers" on Minecraft .
• They can learn about geography, agriculture, architecture and physics.

3.

• Bergensten agrees as he thinks that making a similar version of the game cannot top it as people have grown so much respect for the original Minecraft that they wouldn't want to play another game which is very similar.
• He also agrees as there are so many copycats which are not even close to as successful as Minecraft.

4

• customised versions which are created by the community.

5.

• The sense of ownership allows every minecraft has its own necessary component to the game.  Furthermore, children think the game is for them and feel that they have their own sense of ownership with the game. 

6.

• They have created a book novel " A boy made of blocks" .
• created crafts and medieval castles. 

https://oreofeoluwaayenileytonmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/the-guardian-has-live-news-stream-on.html

This story is left wing as it incorporates migrants being praised for contributing to society and gaining a huge amount of 20 billion for the united kingdom.  Furthermore, anything which encourages equality is a important trait of left wing political parties. For example, Jeremy Corbyn.