Fastest Growing Companies of 2010

Fastest growing gaming companies

# Company Growth rate

1 NCSoft 99.6%
2 NetEase.com 85.7%
3 Nexon Corporation 70.3%
4 Square Enix 62.1%
5 Perfect World 48.3%

Growth of gaming revenues mainly took place in Asia, the top 5 fastest growing companies are all from Asia. Out of these five, four are online computer game companies. NCSoft and Nexon are the leading South Korean companies, NetEase and Perfect World are headquartered in China.

Hamlet On The Holodock

In todays session we took a look at the narrative within Cyberspace, we mainly took this theory and focused it on Hamlet looking at the book cover and what was writtin within as there was plenty of important notes of reference towards Shakespears use of language which had a great effect on the narrative history. J.L Austin came out with a quote 'Speech act changes the world' What was ment with this saying is that through communication we can develop our surroundings and change them to what we want, which you can then link back to the idea that through the narrative stories can be told all the way through mans existance and the narrative can be passed on and influence others which can help keep the tradition.

Shakespear's famous novel 'To be or not to be' was the first to be introduced to the world inwhich a charcter speaks through the use of his inner voice. This allows the viewers to be able to be able to know what the charcter is thinking / planning on doing before he actually goes through with it, or if he even does. This is a method of creating suspense as you could take one side of the charcters options and wanting him to perform in this decision. Shakespear also brought a wide range of new vocubalory to his novels / plays and words which brought new narritive with them and made the simplest sayings become complicated and was further produced by Laurence Sterne in Tristran Shandy.



A perfect example of this kind of narative been included reminds me of the film Sin City where you view the film from different charcaters aspects and there individual storylines and the way there storys overlap, such as one scene where all the main charcaters can be seen at the bar. Also the use of shakespear method in where you can hear the narrative from the characters inner voice telling the story and expressing his emotions and possible decisions inwhich you may expect the chracter to take. It also leads to after thoughts towards the audience of what would have happened if he had took the other decision / route in the story which leads onto possibly the audience carrying on and creating a narrative.

Image Analysis

Doom 3 is a first person shooter, which has been an iconic game withing first person shooters, what with doom 1 been one of the first of its kind, from the look you can tell its based in the future in a kind of sci fi / spaceship. You can clearly tell the on kind of horror atmosphere, what with the kind of spider like monster within the game and the kind of dark and colours used within such as blacks and greys been apropiat for the feel there aiming for and is set in a a very contained area, providind the impact of claustaphobia and not much room to escape providing a challenge with the fight against the monster telling you its a game, also the desertion impact and the feel of you been all alone.

From the image taken from in game and that you are playing, we can tell this thanks to the amount of infomation you are provided with on the screen such as the health value, what weapon you are using and how many bullets you have remaining which are displayed in 2d format.

You can tell that the camera angle been used that first person view is really suitable for this type of game what with it been a shooting game as it provides you an excellent view to what you are aiming at and can see what is aproaching you with ease, You can also be informed that this game is suitable for older teens / adults due to the form of violence and monsters seen within.



The above image, is from the film Benjamin Button, the brief outline of the story is that he is born in reverse, meaning that he is born as an elderly person but as he grows up / down he begins to look younger and more healthy, just the reverse cycle.

From this image you are provided with infomation as to that Benjamin is starting to gain strength and become healthier / younger. You are provided infomation of this what with his ability to flex his muscles and his muscles seem more toned than earlier scenes. He is also able to stand up straight and look straight into the mirror and he generally looks a alot younger. The fact that you are given an overshot, informs you that it is Benjamin looking at himself in the mirror, the fact hes' looking at the mirror and posing demonstrates he has a lot more confidence in himself as you dont generall pose infron of a mirror unless your confident / happy with your image.Also The tone of thescene is pretty steady composing of a light lit mood to engage the viewers of how he is still Benjamin Button and not suggest that of another character from before but he is beginning to improve with each day gaining the much needed light.



The image is taken from the 1922 German Film Nosferatu of the main character which is called Nosferatu, this is taken from an horror film as its clear thanks to the dark graphics, and the image of a shadow figure, and it shows signs of trying to create a suspense hence you cant see the charcter, only its shadow, Also the use of sharp mishaped fingers and body u sense a gruesome charcater. You can tell that the chatcter is moving upstairs potentially to seek on a victim what with the shadow of the stairs included. you can also sense he is creeping up the stairs, trying not show any presence of him been there.

With the camera angle been viewed perfectly to show most of the character, and with morealsee all of his figure been included with the shot this allows viewers what to expect next, as you can tell from the way he is shot that he is creeping upstairs. You can also tell the audince is clearly adult based due to the dark setting and chilling atmosphere shown within this image, and the way it engrosses you within.



Taken from the James Bond franchise, the iconic opening titles are some of the best title sequences around and one which you automatically know its James Bond , ranging from the first to last film, whether or not your a fan you will know its the opening to a James Bond film, the scene captures the whole feel of the film what with James bond been an agent and the way he shoots towards the screen. and the way it looks as if your looking through a gun aim about to shoot informs of a violent / gun film

It all suggests from the image above that James Bond is the main chracter and one who everyone is gunning down, and is given this kind of smooth apeal who is always on target, both with his gun and the ladies, and the way your it feels your looking down a barrel suggests hes the one to watch within the film, and the way he kinda shoots towards suggest no one can touch him. Obviously you are informed of a teenage mature film, what with the use of guns, blood and so on.

I found this a very useful excercise, It nid of gives you an insight into creating an atmosphere such as if your going for a horror feel, very dark unlit rooms, that feel of claustophobia. Something I can dfinatly take into future projects. Definaltly the latest project I did in which I had to create a scene for a gaming environment, which I used oposite to Doom and Nosferatu atmosphere and feel. What with it been an environment for the younger apeal these were the kind of things I had to consider into creating my game.

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Essay Ideas

Here are some Ideas I thought of for my essay. I though with my interest been with illustation / concept art it was best focusing on this aspect towards my essay. I was reccomended to look into the uncanny valley within games and film. So I just made a quick brainstorm of potential areas to develop into within my essay

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Writing and Being

For this lecture we were introduced to thories of writing, what with us having to ride an essay in the near future is was definatly an apropiate lecture. All forms of writing are a kind of story telling form, whether it be about ourselves or someone else, negative or positive. Most of the time its regarded as verbal communication with friends, family, boss whatever. However we always talk in our minds too asking for self assurance or thinking whether its the right thing to proceed in or asking for advice maybe, which is a weird one to answer as how can we ask ourself for advice, but sometimes I think we regard our mind as another person and ask our inner voice for advice. Our inner voice acts as a narrator and from this we learn how to react do certain situations which other a period of time becomes its on chracter in a way and when we come to a finish ie stop writing, we are able to retuen to ourselfves and have possibly contrasting opinions in some cases to what we have just said, we let our mind come into this character when writing.

Michael Gazzaniga's view is that of an interpreter within us which creates a unique feeling to make onesself unique and this is through the interpreter having separate knowledge on our lives and our inner voice from our previous character become a history to seep into our current understanding and damage to the area of the interpreter can result in narratives created by people who have an unfixed perception of reality.

Making Notes In Relation To Text

In this weeks lecture we read 'The Medium Is The Massage' by Marshall McLuhan which is a book from 1947, which takes an in depth sight at the way technology will improve and how it will effect our lives and how we will view things. The book is an example of a really graphic book and very interesting use of imagery as demonstrated below and looks way ahead of its time which relates to the subject matter well.




Heres A few notes I took from the lecture. Im not the biggest fan of note taking, because for me I try writing down stuff and end of not hearing what is been said but I understand it is a good form of remembering key infomation, and I did learn a few things from the lecture and from my notes I can go back and revisit which is useful.




Overall from what I remember the book was a very interesting read indeed and even from its time You can really relate to the book and the changes that have happened which the book as predicted. Just look at how easy it is to keep in communication with someone, and how easy it is to track someone down say on Facebook which was mentioned in my notes, which may be regarded in both a positive and negative factor .Also alot of people tend to see no reason as to go outside ie been stuck inside and you can no alot about certain people without even meeting them such as music taste, hobbies without even speaking to them which could be regarded as knowing to much linking to the book.

contextual Influences Year 2 - Communication Theory

This week we looked into a little of communication theorys and were introduced to these seven types and these are either Transmissional or Constitutive theories and we looked at the Transmissional Theory of Cybernetic or Information Theory of Communication.

Transmissional theory is the technical side of sending and receiving messages and the unknowing of getting the messages wrong.

Constituitive theory is how messages are seen and how the message is similar to the sender as well as the receiver. Receiving a message from someone with a different cultured background which is viewed in a different perpsective.

Cybernetic theory is the steps of the transmission process into detailed steps and there are three sets of problems:

1.Technical is the coding of the transmission in terms of codes and the systems usage.
2.Semantics is the language of the message and how they it would be a problem if part of the message was lost
3.Effectiveness is the message giving the right mood through the messages wording

The Constitutive theory breaks into sub-categories that are part of the traditions

1.Semiotics-language being precise to become a clear message
2.Phenomenological Tradition-the repetitive use of a message through the understanding of physical life experiences
3.Classical Phenomonology-the viewers subjective analysis is not considered
4.Phenomonology of Perception-our knowledge is through our choices from views

Semiotics are a form that is best recieced in the advertisement industry which is used as a form of a clear message with the aim of grabbing the audiences attention by making the message apeal to the target audience by hooking them in and using the form of text and image as a clear message which is interpretated such as good quality, buy this and so on.

WEEK 2

Ill keep this post to one as it carries on from the previous week. In this wwks lecture we looked at a futher four more theories relating to communication, thhese were:

Rhetorical-this theory is one which provides much more of a viewpoint on the communcation process and is a process which isn't a single one but is a circular process in one which when sent a message you will get a reply and even forwarding particular messages to others thus creating a process which carries on.

Socio-Psychological-this theory is the scientific understanding of how the thought, behaviour and feelings of people are influenced by other peoples presence through actual, imagined and implied presence. e.g. From someone thinking of another person doing a terrible act influences you behaviour or thought towards that person.


Socio-Cultural-this theory revolves around how society contributes towards individuals development from teacher to student. e.g. A student developes by being around a teacher someone intellectual to teach the student and the students society developes them with cultural beliefs being and strong point or a negative one.


Critical-this theory is an understanding of being criticised and allowing negative feedback to be a form of positive feedback.

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Start Of A New Phase film noir

This weeks lesson was just considered as a general catch up and trying to get us all to catch up and start blogging and joing in which online conversations about certain areas of contextual studies. However we did talk about pacific genres, and the kind of style they use in relation. However we also had a little look back at some previous lectures that we had been recieving in relation to the brief we had just completed which was the title sequence and looking ahead to the two parellel briefs. We were just looking at and reminded of certain theories which we could relate to a draw influence from for the briefs.

I believe that running these lectures in parallel to the title sequence worked out really well and in generall was greatly received. It gave us a good insight into certain areas of title sequences such as imagery, typography and sound and helped us to understand and influence how to tackle these areas in apropiate to the mood and genre we were trying to set within. I found the Cinema door theory very interesting and helped me greatly with my project, as sound is a major part of the cinema door it helped me create an apropiate atmosphere and also set the story and genre and get the audience gripped, probably more than the use of images in a way. I created A kind of suspense uneasy tone as that relates well to my sequece of a crime / gang graphic novel. I was also given a great insight into the use of typorgraphy and really enjoyed the lecture before of how certain typography may be seen from a negative view because of there past connections.

Heres A few theories I have been looking at depending on the brief.

Title Sequence

- The Cinema Door
- The Emdodied Mind
- Use Of Typography

Game Art Animation

- 7 Basic Story Lines
The Quest
Voyage and Return
Rebirth
Comedy
Tragedy
Overcoming the Monster
- The Uncanny Valley

Music Video
- Discord
- The Embodied Mind

I think all these theory's could influence me on the respected brief

Contextual Influences Year 2 - The Embodied Mind

This week, we were given an introduction to the phrase The Embodied Mind, at first introduction of the title I had no idea what to expect and have never herd the term of the phrase. We discussed how the Embodied mind affects the perception of the world around us, to the point where the mind starts to understand the world through the use of our limbs. What I mean by this is when we use objects consistantly in our lives, this can be anything from a Toothbrush to a Game Controller or remote. We use them so much and understand the functions of this item, to the point in where we consider the object an extra limb, and regard them with more importance in some casses.

With the body thinking that certain objects are an extra limb that is joint to the body this has an effect on the mind as it begins to believe than on a extra limb or expanded from the use of certain objects that are in some form joint to the body because it becomes an easy transition to join the limbs of the body to objects that have been aacustomed to you and which makes the unwanted elements that aren't used become a waste and forgotten.

During this lecture we took a look into a few other thories in which we could relate to a couple of briefs which we were running parallel, these were the Game Level Part 1 and the music video brief and had to think about different theorys in which to head down and connect to the brief. I dont consider myself ever getting into film making, But I found the theoy about "discord" the most interesting and what represent film making well,it looks at how the music extract certain emotions of the viewer through melodies or moods of the sound which can help in the suspense of a thriller or build up an ending of scene. At this time I had no idea in what Kind of route I was going to take with my project, but I gained knowledge on types of sound you would use for example building up a suspense in a horror film in which Synthesizers are almost always used in horror films because they can produce otherworldly sounds, and are used alot in SCI FI films, however I also found the extract in which Alfred Hitchcock wanted no music for the 1944 film Lifeboat, because the characters are ''out on the open ocean. Interesting and asks me the wuestion do you even need music / sound effects to create a good atmosphere. I foun this topic really interesting and gives me an insight on how to create a good atmosphere in my music video and relate sound to imagery well.

The other brief we are doing at the moment is the game art brief in which we are designing and animating a character there are many theories that are available and found some stuck out more than others such as the seven basic storylines which is basically that all stories throughout history have involved some sort of connection to the seven stories that have been used constantly throughout history even though they seem different the sic structure of the story is simple and similar. This theory could give me an insight on how to animate a character and relate it well to the stoyline. Other theories around are that for example of the uncanny valley, of which we will accept the character more if it was less human like which is a really interesting factor. Like the Music theory this has given my research and influence into developing my project.

Another question we were asked was why Do people dislike comic sans ? and is it because they find it too babyish?

To be honest Im not sure how to answer this, as it just matter of opinion but I think it could have an effect on the brain and how different people see things, as the general opinion I believe is creative people such as myself who try and come up with new designs and concepts forsee it as an overused type face in the same lines with times roman and Ariel, we just see it all the time, therefor if we used it I believe it would'nt represent our creativity in trying something new. Hoever less creative people probably like it because they see it every day in popular and mainstream places they automatically persume in that its a great text to use because of how much it surrounds us in our lifes. I believe some people just find it babyish because like mentioned before its used everywhere and shows no innitiative similar to the charisma of a baby / child.

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Analysing Title Sequence

I decided to analysis the title sequence for the film "Catch Me If You Can" I decided to analysis this opening sequence as the style was something similar to what I was aiming for within my project, that kind of sillohette approach which deeply impresses me and that kind of saul bass influenced feel.

This one of my favorite title sequences, its just beautifully designed from the start to the finish, the title sequence follows the brief outline of the story and its a really apropiate use of media to useas it has that kind of 60's feel for it both in use of typography and the use of sound which connects will revealing to the audeience the time in which the film is set. Theres also some great use of kinectic typography used for example the the way the typography in animated to connect with the words foe example the way in which the word "Catch" is animated to symbolise, you cant catch me, this is an effect I really like. I really like beautiful tones of colour used often keeping them selves to three colour's which works out really effective due to the use of the silhouettes adding to the great effect created within the sequence.

I especially like the scene in which the character goes up the elevator, this effect is so simple but yet it looks graphically stunning, something Im hoping to achieve on my title sequence.The way in which the typography interacts with the screen for example is something I really aspire to and the way it feels like you interact with the next scene, to me this symbolises The the effect of the main character trying to escape, and the chase continuing, not giving to anytime to slow down. I really admire the use of imagery, such as planes and lifts, Its very appropriate to the film and and the way they are animated is beautiful, nothing to complex at all, just simple animations of them moving up and down, but the way it is sone and how it interacts with especially the typography gives the impression well of something more complex, for example like I mentioned the moment in where the lift moves up is just a square. On a similar point the way in which objects such as elevators and Aeroplanes are simplified to basic shapes is really well done and suits in with the rest of the sequence well

Theres nothing at all I could comment on in regards to things I dislike, everything seems perfect to me and is defiantly my favourite title sequence using this certain style, other sequences using a similar style or Madmen, Hustle and more notably the icon Anatomy Of Murder sequence, but this defiantly more than holds it own, everything from imagery, typography and animation is flawless and something I would like to take influence from in regards to my sequence.



Taking this into my project after analysing the sequence there is plenty of stuff Im hoping on taking into my project, what with me doing a graphic novel "100 Bullets" this is a perfect chance do try attempt a similar form of media to that which is used on The Catch Me If You Can title sequence and would defiantly be an appropriate use of media what with 100 Bullets been based on a graphic novel. So defiantly analysing this film title and breaking it down in to what I like about it has given my plenty of influence and ideas in which to develop into my own title sequence.

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Cinema as Door

For this weeks lesson we were introduced to the term "Cinema is a Doorway." The idea of this figure of speech is the way in which a film will introduce itself to the viewers and the way it will lure them in, to do this it will have something that opens up with capturing the audience's imagination, this can be obtained through a variety of methods such as setting a tone or emotion.

We then looked into how the opening of a film should remind the viewer of where the film is from such as the time its set and what its trying to message to the audience, which helps with the transition into the film world.
Other things that can help its cause is the use of sounds such as diegetic and non diegetic sounds, these are sounds the viewers can instantly relate too, also a diegetic voice can tell a stpry such as the roll of narration, for instant can be use as flashbacks or even when seeing into the future, this form is great as it can tell a little back story of the character and inform the audience whether its positive or negative impact.

Heres a few terms and there meanings I learned within the lesson too

- Paratex: Text within text, altering the meaning of one text.
- Paragon: Moving between worlds.

Also in todays lesson we were looking at the relationship between text and film and the different forms you can use emotion within. This is named Kinetic Typography which is a great way of linking text and film, however it is used by not including any footage, just the use of typography for example if its a angry tone of voice the use of typography will be big,bold and right in your face whereas on the other hand if its a quiet tone the typography will be small and timid. Its a great technique to use and one which I can gain influence within for my title sequence. Im thinking of having the typography react with the music / sound effects such as having bullet shots and having the typography splatter around a bit, and even car sounds and maybe have text apear fast and go along the screen to give effect of a kind of car chase without including any imagery which is a great idea to proceed in. Heres a few examples of kinetic typograthy in action.






Its a great use of typography and would love to experiment with this form for my title sequence, and set a good theme which will lure the audience in relating it to the term "Cinema as a Doorway"

Contextual influences Year 2 - Film Review

Welcome to the year of animation, 2010 has been a great year for 3D animated films, what with the sucsess of Despicable Me, and the well received How To Train A Dragon. And now is the turn of Megamind, A 3D animated film prodiced by dreamworks, the ever famous company responsible for big hitters such as Shrek and A Sharks Tale and boy does it rank up there with some of Dreamworks finest work.

The basic plot is about a super itelligant alien voiced by the ever poular Will Ferrel who attempts to conquer the city with his sidekick Minion voiced by David Cross. Ever since an early age however there has been a spanner in the works, who has defeated him on every attempt to take over the city, Voiced by the hugely incited Brad Pitt Metro Man has defeated him with ease on every attempt. However Megamind has one more attempt of pure evil in conquering the city left him in and to his surprise he succeeds and led to believe he has finished of the rivalry with Metro Man for good. However in conquering the city he then finds that Roxanne Ritchie, voiced by Tina Frey begins to conquer his heart, after his attempts of trying to win her over through disguising himself as Bernard, he is then found out and Megamind is left heartbroken. From that moment he begins to question himself. To the point where he begins to miss Metro Man and there long feud. So in the hope of trying to rediscover a rivalry he invents some superhero injection, to which he accidentally injects Roxanne's cameraman, voiced by Jonah Hill. However becomes too powerful for even Megamind and begins to cause havoc on the city to which Roxanne and Megamind team up with the hope of saving the city, However thats not his only goal. Theres plenty of thrills and surprises left in the story however I wouldn't want to ruin them for you.

Overall I really enjoyed The film, it has a bright and colourful feeling to the animation, with huge elements of humour mainly provided by Minion and the brilliant casting Of David Cross with his highly recognisable voice but all the characters provide moments of brilliance within the film. The storyline does feel a little cliched and feels like old recycled material from over films around, however this makes up for it with the highly light hearted appeal and not taken itself too serious. I really enjoy the goofiness of the film and just adds an extra element to the film what with the unique inventions such an a "Illiteracy beam" and something called "Typhoon Cheese" just adding to the whack concept of the film.

Overall its a thoroughly enjoyable film with beautiful animation and huge amounts of comic value, however The story feels too cliched and cheesy at times at doesn't set itself outside. Id defiantly recommend Despicable Me over this however its defiantly worth a watch in the age of animation.


7/10

Contextual Influences Year 2 - Brief Intro

A brief outline of myself, I studied pre Leeds College of arts at Chesterfield College where I took up interactive media, however more focused on the graphic side which I did enjoy, but wanted something a little more computer based, which is why im now at Leeds College of arts studying film game and animation.

The area of the course which apeals to me most is concept art, anything from coming up with character designs to game environment levels, I also have an interest in moving text, such as film title sequence and effect based projects such as After Effects. Ive also recentky become very keen on the unity software having really eyed the recent project. At this time though I feel concept art and Games designer is the best route for me.

I have to be honest the theory side of things is an area which deeply confuses me and a topic I struggle to get the grasps on, It took me a very long time to even begin to understand the term uncanny and its purpose, however I belife my knowledge on the subject has deeply improved within time. I'd have to say Id like to know about theories towards my specialism area which happenes to be as mentioned before concept art and games designer. Im not sure on pacific topics within this area but I'm quite interested by the theory of photorealism which is potentially an area I'd like to learn alot more about, but any related theory on that subject would greatly interest me.

The book I have chosen to respond to is 100 Bullets, It was really hard in choosing on a book but for the type of media I wanted to design my title sequence in, which was very graphic, syloette aproach and hand drawn text,that kind of saul bass aproach. which Is why I though 100 bullets would be great to use as withit been a graphic novel and would connect within its apropiate genre. What I want from this module is to improve my knowledge within the area of typography and image and to gain a greater understanding which I can put forward to my final piece, for example use of colour, size and font and whether its suitable to use.

Contextual Influences Year 2 - History Of Type

In todays lesson we started of our leval 5 Studious looking into typography and looking at some of the history surrounding this interesting subject. Typography has been a round at a long including the ancient eygptian times. How ever looking into fonts Johannes Guthenberg introduced the world to the idea of print making and the first insight to moveable type
. His concept involved carving wooden blocks into indiviual letters then pressing them onto the pages. This concept was mostly used in bibles as it was a very expensive venture and often people atempted to steal as the bible was thought to be worth a fortune for its time as it was considered a major breakthrough. Heres an example the font used in a book.



Below is a font called Old English, which surprisingly originated in Germany, and is conisdered a gothic typeface and is often associated with a negative presence. Is probably most famous for its involvement with Adolf Hitler, who wanted to use the font to represent Germany, thus from those days the font has always been proceeded in a negative wiew. And is also familiar with hells angels and has become a popular tatoo font and is often seen as anyone who is anti - social or wants to casue contriversy.



Following on from the typeface Old English.The next mafoj advancment in the history of typography was the Humanist Handwriting style which came from the 15 century and was invented by nicolas Jenson. This style of font is now known as Venetia Style and introduced the world to itallics which gave a feel of handwritten font.

The first moveable text arguably was that of what was included in the film trailor for the Movie Metropolis, which is a greap peice of moveable text by todays standate and its inevitable alot of title have tooken major influence from this squence, from the likes of Saul Bass to even title sequences of huge modern films such as Catch Me As You Can such was the brilliance and one in which I can take infulence from looking into my film title sequence as im going for that saul bass look which I can draw reference from the Metropolis sequence shown below