digital-media-s-and-s

[digital-media-s-and-s]

Academic Blog: Post 2 - "Total Work of Art"

Introduction

The term Gesamtkunstwerk in translation "Total work of Art" was originally used by Karl Friedrich Trahndorff in 1827 and further popularised by a German Composer Richard Wagner.

Throughout the years the phrase was used talking about different forms of art but originally used to describe the art of theatre, as it combined the optimal experience of art from music to acting and more to give viewer and best representation of the artists creation.

Media:

Acting and blend between reality and game design:

I wanted to look at modern application of the term of Gesamtkunstwerk by prism of interactive entertainment which are videogames. There are countless production in the world of gaming that in my opinion could be classified as the total work of art but I will focus specifilty on the most recent production from Hideo Kojima "Death Stranding".

The game combines the world of acting and game development by introduction of real life award winning actors and directors like:

Norman Reedus who played the character of Sam Porter Bridges

Mads Mikkelsen as Cliff

Guillermo del Toro as Deadman

The introduction of new technologies developed through years allowing for the different application of the Gesamtkunstwerk. The technology plays a vital part of todays creation and within it's self can be categorised into a form of art as it gives as a new medium of creating and looking at art. For this specific example the art of acting can be transferred using technology through motion capture but the further step of 3D scanning the actors to use their physical appearance as if they would be acting on a stage or a front of a camera for a live action production. Thanks those methods our experience as viewers or interactive participants has been enhanced by the additional step of emersion and fading the line between reality and game production.

Sound design:

As a total work of art should be combining multiple forms of art the music and sound has not been overlooked when creating this piece of art and it plays a very vital part of gaming experience.

The music album was created as tie-in combines work of different artists, songwriters and musicians who directly impacted and influenced the final experience of Death Stranding.

The in-game soundtrack was heavily influenced by Low Roar who the game director Hideo Kojima discovered during his travels to Iceland and as he said in an article for gamerant.com: Low Roar's music would match this harsh but beautiful and pure environmental setting.

The story of game is originally set in USA but it's visual appearance is heavily influenced by Iceland's harsh environment and rocky mountain views

Iceland Meadow

In-Game environment

The Story:

The part which connect all the earlier mentioned elements is the story which allows for this production to be a cohesive piece is the story written by Hitori Nojima and Hideo Kojima which allows for all the separate elements of art piece together creating a beautiful piece of art which players can experience through the journey of Sam Porter who is a deliver man in a fictional world of Death Stranding that we learn about as we go through the journey of Sam's experience of the world. His disease, connection to the world, the politics and other characters and how it influences the look we have at the world around our protagonist.

Conclusion:

Depending on the personal experience and connection the opinion can vary from person to person by from the emotion the game has created in me, the connection to the characters and experiences they went through I strongly believe this game can be classified as a total work of art from the more modern point of view, as it captures the ultimate experience of an art for me. The possibility to interact with the environment and the story allows for complete immersion within the universe, environment, story and characters thanks to all of the elements of art, separately and together making Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding a Gesamtkunstwerk or a total work of art.