Hi Lecturer Ben
I re-watched Waltz with Bashir to refresh myself on how Ari Folman dealt with the events in the film.
Seemed to be mainly animation, no pre-meditated violence, counter punctual music and the reflective interviews/voice overs.
(what else did u suggest I watch? was it Persepolis?)
Preferably I would like to have the game set in/around Sarajevo, seems like a bit of a cop-out to have it as my theme and then make up a fictional disaster.
My current idea is to have the player use 2 characters with the game split into two halves played as an FPS
the first half from the perspective of a cameraman/journalist in the opening days of the siege (minimal use of weapons, observational/explorative role, whilst completing missions, with some integration of live footage like Waltz with Bashir)
the second half of the game would then be set 3-4 years later when NATO forces intervened (more weaponry but player is rewarded for peaceful/non-violent solutions, with possible call-outs to ease situations)
this makes the player revisit the same locations after several years of war, and teaching them to keep to a moral code. I've heard that Spec Ops the Line has a good way of keeping the player moral or at least some sort of consequence to your actions, although i havent played it yet so need to research it more
What do you think?
Lecturer Ben replied:
Hi Rob,
Just read over your email and I think that this idea is far better than yor first one. I like the idea of seeing the siege from two different angles and I also like the idea of having 'severe' moral choices in the game from NATO's perspective. I think you can create decent concept document from this - I also think that a decent art style will really drive this idea home.
Persepolis was the other animation that I told you to watch. A little more cartoony but still drives home serious messages and issues.
I will catch up with you tomorrow in class and we will have a look at your idea in a little more details, but as a starting point I think we are on the right track now.
Cheers
I watched several interviews with Ari Folman, his palpable honesty and philosophical view/way of speaking that only those with an incomplete grasp of the English language seem to have make his interviews very interesting and often eye opening.
This interview is shorter and also explores the significance of animation when tackling such a subject.
