digitalmedia-by-tejas

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Critical Analysis

Xie, J., Ji, Q. & Lin, Z., 2024. Computer game design for eye contact exercise for children with autism. In: X. Fang, ed. HCI in Games. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 14730. Cham: Springer, pp. 1-15. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-031-60692-2_14

I chose the “user research design and development (pg. 203-207)” part of this study for my critical analysis, particularly because of the inspiring and thought-provoking nature of this research. The reason I chose more than 2 pages for my breakdown is because of the presence of "feedback tables" in these pages.

The authors themselves are highly reputed in the field of industrial and product design. Jizhao Xie and Qian Ji are affiliated with the highly reputed Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China, with the latter having more than 4 publications with over 51 citations, while Zicheng Lin is affiliated with Tsinghua University in Beijing and has 5 publications with over 38 citations. They approach the concept of game design in ways that could actually make a positive impact on society as a whole. This study provides a very good analysis from both a UX researcher's perspective and a game designer's viewpoint. What makes this study even more credible is its publication in the book called "Lecture Notes in Computer Science," which is a well-respected Springer series, along with this study itself being included in the highly prestigious HCII 2024 proceedings, which is a major international forum for the exchange of scientific information on human-computer interaction (HCI).

The researchers throughout their design development phase were adamant about not interfering with the inherent traits of children with autism. Their main goal for the user research section was “to make use of their innate characteristics without imposing any kind of mandatory training or norms." This itself shows that the researchers have a firm understanding of the principle of empathetic design, which in most basic terms means going beyond traditional research approaches and methods (Thomas and McDonagh, 2013). In the case of game design for autistic kids, I believe that the empathetic design approach goes beyond traditional thinking because working with highly neurodivergent kids requires a firm understanding of sensory stimuli on an individual level, along with ways to interpret them such that the entire process does not make the kids uncomfortable. These researchers demonstrate this process further down the line with their visual-based interactive approach to get user feedback on their high-fidelity prototype. The researchers opted for a three-step approach towards this phase, with interviews being step one, followed by field research and feedback.

Interviews

positives For the interviews, they chose the parents of children with ASD as their primary subject, the justification being the intimate bond and understanding a parent shares with their child, along with the pre-existing knowledge a parent of a special needs kid has about the various interventions and training programs present in society. Which I believe is highly relevant as parents generally tend to know their kids the best, especially during their young ages, and society trusts them to be the most fierce advocates for their kids. The main goal of this interview was to ethically lay out the boundaries and objectives of this research to the subjects and to get critical feedback about existing game designs.

Negatives and suggestions The sample size of the interviewing process was very small, consisting of just 4 people. A larger and more diverse sample could have provided a more nuanced data set, making the final results more reliable and relevant. Researchers should have interviewed adults with ASD as well; as adults, they would have been able to more reliably convey their perspectives and struggles to the researchers, and since it's directly coming from people with ASD, the findings would've been considered more appropriate.

Field Research and Feedback

positives The field research was conducted in the Autism Rehabilitation Training Center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, which is a highly reliable institution for autism rehabilitation in China. This is important because, for the field research, they had discussions with doctors and nurses within the center who, being a part of this institution, can be presumed to be highly qualified in this field. Their expertise enhances the credibility of the research findings, as their input directly informs the design of the intervention program. They also showed the static prototypes to the kids, making them choose their own colors, characters, and scenes; this made the kids more involved in the design decision process, making it a very user-centered design approach, which is a process in which user requirements, goals, and tasks are given the foremost priority.(Grott, 2019).  The researchers also showed empathy in their design decision-making process by using a large portable screen where kids can interact freely instead of handing them a questionnaire since these kids were observed to rarely use words for communication.

Negatives and suggestions The area of research could have been increased to schools and nurseries as well, as it would have provided a more well-rounded data set for analysis. It is also a known fact that kids with autism communicate by expressing it through facial expressions, eye contact, body movement, posture, and touch (Safira et al., 2020). While some consideration was given to these non-verbal forms of communication, I believe that by implementing a design development process that was more inclusive of these non-verbal cues, such as by using gesture recognitions or eye movement censors, could’ve given more data on the response and interactivity with the high-fidelity prototype that they were testing.

Author’s Arguments and Supporting Evidence The center argument for this study is the importance of empathetic design integration in the overall design development process of any product, especially when it has been designed for the vulnerable sections of the society, this empathetic approach is particularly evident in the "User Research and Design Development" section of this study. The said approach is seen with the researchers' principle of avoiding discomfort for the children and ensuring that any intervention aligns with their sensory and cognitive preferences of the subjects. One can even say that to build on this empathetic approach, the researchers conducted interviews with parents of children with autism and incorporated feedback from professionals at the Autism Rehabilitation Training Center. Another claim that I can identify is that interactive visual feedback can enhance engagement and accessibility for children with autism, especially for those who are not involved in conventional verbal forms of communication. They supported this argument by using large portable screens during field research, which allowed children to interact freely with static prototypes. And by analysing these non verbal cues, the researchers were able to get more data that was later used into tailoring the game specifically for the children. The success of this approach is quite visible in the feedback tables, which reveal positive responses from children and parents, validating the effectiveness of this approach.

Applications of Theoretical Frameworks

The overall adoption of relevant theories to guide the design process was well organized and implemented, with critical importance given to neurodevelopmental and emotional design theories. These frameworks cemented the researchers’s commitment to user-centered designs. By integrating Behavior Analysis Theory, Implicit Learning, Emotional Design Theory, and Neurofeedback Training, the researchers show a deep understanding of how to create an engaging and supportive game experience for children with autism. 

Conclusion To conclude, I believe this study is a very good stepping stone into designing games for children with autism. Its display of strong emphasis on empathy-based design provides a framework for future user researchers who are willing to make products that have an impact on this world in a positive way. By approaching the design development process through an empathetic lens, this study encourages a shift towards more inclusive and personalized design, and such innovations could lead to better support systems and greater empowerment for children with autism, their families, and healthcare providers worldwide." 

Furthermore, future studies could learn from the limitations of this paper and could expand the sample size, include adults with ASD, and explore advanced technologies, such as gesture recognition or eye-tracking, to incorporate non-verbal communication into the design. Finally, I can safely say that I have gained a deeper appreciation for the complexity of designing with empathy and the impacts it can make on the society.

Biblography

Grott, R., 2019. Assistive technology design and fabrication. In: Assistive Technology Service Delivery. [online] Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/user-centered-design [Accessed 5 January 2025].

Safira, I., Rangkuti, R., Nasution, E.H. and Harefa, Y., 2020. Non-verbal communication by autistic children. ELS Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, 3(4), pp.492-505. doi: 10.34050/elsjish.v3i4.8065. Available at: https://doi.org/10.34050/elsjish.v3i4.8065 [Accessed 5 January 2025].

Thomas, J. and McDonagh, D., 2013. Empathic design: Research strategies. Australasian Medical Journal, 6(1), pp.1-6. doi: 10.4066/AMJ.2013.1575. Available at: https://doi.org/10.4066/AMJ.2013.1575 [Accessed 5 January 2025].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Reader

Denden, M. et al., 2021. Effects of gender and personality differences on students’ perception of game design elements in educational gamification. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 154, p.102674. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2021.102674 [Accessed 12 November 2024]. This study was conducted with 189 undergraduate students. The main finding of this study was that the students’ responses to various game elements like feedback, progress bar, and badges, differed significantly depending on their gender and personality traits. These findings are very helpful as they can help designing more personalized and immersive gaming experiences not just in the field of educational games but also across all the different genres and platforms. This research is also relevant from the user experience point of view as it highlights the need for incorporating more inclusive spaces in our games using design strategies, increasing the overall engagement and motivation of the users.

Erhart, J. and Dooley, K. (2022) ‘‘Post goblins’ and ‘preditors’: identities, experiences, and contributions of women in Australian screen postproduction and visual effects sectors 2020/2021’, Studies in Australasian Cinema, 16(1), pp. 17–34. doi: 10.1080/17503175.2022.2037814. This article is a deep dive into the experiences of women working in post-production roles in the Australian creative industry. Ten interviews were conducted which revealed that while women are significantly involved in the workforce they still face a disproportionate amount of financial barriers and systematic disparities. This paper calls for more investigation into the unique challenges faced by women. The authors also highlights the mixed response to the #me_too movement by these women, some of them actually being concerned about the unintended consequences of such movements. The importance of this paper lies in its inclusivity, and while it's true that the sample size was quite small and very niche, it is also true that this article provides valuable insights and highlights the need to creating more inclusive and equitable workplaces within the industry.

Evans, M., 2024. “I hope there are beasties in the next one”: Positivity through interaction in death-themed digital games. In: X. Fang, ed. HCI in Games. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 14731. Cham: Springer, pp. 1-12. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-031-60695-3_12 [Accessed 7 October 2024]. This paper highlights the portrayal of deaths in video games. It focuses on how death mechanics such as grief and the afterlife combined with other general game mechanics such as narrative and aesthetics, can create an uplifting experience for the users around death. It concludes that the complex portrayal of death forces the user to look into death in a more empathetic and reflective manner. The relevance of this paper stems from the importance of writing story-driven narratives. This study would help me in creating more in-depth characters that would connect with the player on more than a surface level, making the overall product more immersive and effective.

Harman, J.L. and Brown, K.D., 2022. Illustrating a narrative: A test of game elements in game-like personality assessment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 30, pp.157-166. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijsa.12374 [Accessed 18 October 2024] Some of the biggest limitations of traditional personality assessment tests are things like lack of context and careless responding. This study offers a creative solution to this problem in the form of game-like personality measures (GPMs). Building on McCord et al.'s (2019) narrative-based GPMs, this paper also tests the inclusion of illustrations and their impact on personality measurement and the participants’ reactions. While this study found GPMs to be a promising alternative to the traditional assessment methods, it also concluded that the addition of simple static illustrations did not yield any additional benefits. This is highly relevant in today’s industry as Gen Z is more likely to be open and authentic about their mental health than previous generations (Cuncic, 2023). And with 96% of Gen Z being game enthusiasts,(Newzoo, 2023). The market potential to design Harman’s GPMs is huge.

Krisnawan, G.J. et al., 2024. Analysis of the audience's meaning making process towards the movie Disney cartoon Mulan (1998) and Disney live action Mulan (2020). E-Journal of Cultural Studies, 17(4), pp. 26-36. https://doi.org/10.24843/cs.2024.v17.i04.p03 [Accessed 24 December 2024]. This article explores the two different Mulan movies from a gender equality lens. It used Stuart hall’s reception theory to analyze the audience’s perception of the movies. In their article, they found that in both movies, audiences saw Mulan as a brave, intelligent, and resourceful heroine who transcends societal expectations and that both the films succeeded in portraying Mulan’s empowerment. They were successful in reflecting evolving societal attitudes toward gender roles. This aritcle was a good case study for the importance of culturally authentic storytelling. It also gave me an effective tool to review and analyze the post-launch user feedback that can be a part of the product development cycle.

Nylund, N., Prax, P. and Sotamaa, O., 2020. Rethinking game heritage – towards reflexivity in game preservation. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 27(3), pp.268-280. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2020.1752772 [Accessed 1 January 2025]. With gaming increasingly becoming a part of our cultural heritage in the 21st century, It has become ever more important to preserve this part of history effectively and indiscriminately, In this paper the authors linked game studies with critical heritage theories to highlight the necessity of diversifying game heritage to include local, non-commercial, and participatory gaming activities. They emphasized that game exhibitions and collections should not be limited to well-known brands. Preservation of our cultural heritage ensures unity of purpose within the community (Oyelude, 2023). These preserved artifacts serve as bookmarks in the vast pages of time. These bookmarks tell the future readers our stories. Thus it is ever so important for those stories to be unbiased and true to their very core. This paper is exactly how we can ensure that democratization of game heritage preservation.

Seel, M. (2008) ‘Realism and Anti-Realism in Film Theory’, Critical Horizons, 9(2), pp. 157–175. doi: 10.1558/crit.v9i2.157. This paper outright rejects the divide between realism and anti realism in movies. Instead, Seel proposes the idea of “indeterminism” which argues that by being indifferent to these binaries; films can achieve an interplay of “imagination of reality” with the “reality of imagination”. This complex audiovisual experience will allow the viewers to engage with the films both as immersive narratives and as artistic constructs.  This essay is highly relevant in the field of game design, as we see that most game designers often struggle between choosing hyper-realistic visuals and fantasy worlds. Seel’s concept of “indeterminism” provides an interesting framework for designing games that can simultaneously immerse players in convincing worlds while showcasing their artistic creations.

Serbanescu, A. and Nack, F., 2023. Human-AI system co-creativity for building narrative worlds. International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR). Available at: https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2023.293 [Accessed 28 December 2024]. This paper aims to bridge the gap between design studies and human-computer interactions, It’s main focus is on exploring the “human AI co-creativity” in building narrative worlds through collaboration. The authors in this paper theorized that, when AI systems act as a collaborative tool, it supports the designers in creating New worlds by offering computational creativity. It's relevant in my field because as designers, we often suffer through a phenomenon called “art block” which is a state in which imagination and creativity are blocked, despite searching for inspiration.(Głaziewicz and Golonka, 2024). And this paper can provide a guideline to using AI’s in an ethical way to move past this phase and still create enriching narratives.

Xie, J., Ji, Q. & Lin, Z., 2024. Computer game design for eye contact exercise for children with autism. In: X. Fang, ed. HCI in Games. HCII 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 14730. Cham: Springer, pp. 1-15. Available at: https://doi-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-031-60692-2_14 [Accessed 24 October 2024]. This is a study aimed at finding the implications of a game (Bonnie Manor) designed as a rehabilitation tool, for moderate-to-high functioning children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 3–10. The core game design has been refined four times after feedbacks from doctors, parents, and caregivers.The prototype during its testing at a ASD Center in China showed promising results with nearly half of the participants showing improved eye contact and focus. Studies like this give us a valuable insight of the possible implications of the work that we are doing as designers. I strongly believe that we (game designers), need to think beyond just the commercial implications of our products and start looking at the bigger picture. This study guides us into understanding the design principles for the otherwise underrepresented section of this society, making our overall design development phases more empathetic and aware. 

Yahaya, N.A.M., Awang Rambli, D.R. & Sulaiman, S., 2022. A conceptual game-based design model: Game elements for enhancing user motivation. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 12(4), pp. 281-294. https://doi.org/10.33168/JSMS.2022.0418 [Accessed 20 November 2024]. This paper reviews the existing VR based therapy applications and advocates for the integration of game elements like feedback, rewards, and goals into forest-themed virtual reality (VR) applications aimed at reducing stress.The authors also identified the lack of meaningful interactions in existing VR based therapy applications and how it limits the overall effectiveness of such products. This study provides an interesting perspective on the medical use of game elements. It highlights the problems with the current designs of the interactive media. And this will highly inform my user experience work, as it helps me improve the overall effectiveness of my products.

Bibliography

Cuncic, A., 2023. Understanding generational differences in mental health. Verywell Mind. Available at: https://www.verywellmind.com/why-gen-z-is-more-open-to-talking-about-their-mental-health-5104730  [Accessed 18 October 2024].

Głaziewicz, K. and Golonka, K., 2024. When the creative well dries up–burnout syndrome and art block in artists’ sample. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 54, p.101692. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101692 [Accessed 28 December 2024].

McCord, J.L., Harman, J.L. and Purl, J., 2019. Game‐like personality testing: An emerging mode of personality assessment. Personality and Individual Differences, 143, pp.95-102. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.02.017  [Accessed 18 October 2024].

Newzoo, 2023. How different generations engage with video games. Newzoo. Available at: https://newzoo.com/resources/trend-reports/how-different-generations-engage-with-video-games  [Accessed 18 October 2024].

Oyelude, A.A., 2023. Indigenous knowledge preservation as a sign of respect for culture: concerns of libraries, archives and museums. UKSG Insights, 36, p.21. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1629/uksg.628 [Accessed 1 January 2025].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

The Polymorphic Approach to Representation; A case study on social hierarchal representation in Bheed

10.1 Abstract

Bheed is a 2023 social drama Bollywood movie, directed and produced by Anubhav Sinha. It's an ambitious film that aims to reconstruct and explore the trauma experienced by the socially backward section of Indian society caused by the lockdowns during covid 19. Set in the dark reality of India's deeply divided society, this film uses a roadblock (figuratively and literally), to show the systematic inequality faced by millions even to this day. This makes it a perfect case study on the critiques of social representation in modern media.

10.2 Introduction

The movie Bheed is very close to me personally, as I was one of the people working in this movie. I was a CG artist and was even invited to the official premiere of this film along with the lead crew and cast. And what stuck with me from this movie is how honest and cruel it gets when it comes to portraying the dark reality of the marginalized groups in Indian society.

Fig; Bheed movie poster. Available at: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODJmNTJlZDUtZmVmNy00Y2I5LThiOTEtNDM4MDA2OTBjOThmXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg [Accessed 23 Dec. 2024].

10.3 The Visual motive and juxtaposition of characters

Bheed uses representation as a tool to highlight the effects of what is otherwise considered a "national emergency for the betterment of the people" on the marginalized and overlooked sections of society. The film uses a black-and-white style of cinematography as a deliberate choice. The reason behind that decision is to evoke a documentary-like realism in the minds of its audiences. And this aligns with Nichols' (1991) theory of "Discourse of Soberity," where he observes that "documentary speaks with a voice of soberity and purpose. Its power lies on rhetoric and its representation" (Nichols' 1991, p. 3), which roughly translates to the fact that realism in documentary filmmaking often takes away from the gravity of the subject matter. The absence of color can be interpreted as the starkness of inequalities that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated.

Fig; A scene from the movie showing the black and white color choice from the director to invoke documentary-like realism in the minds of its audiences. Available at: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BODJmNTJlZDUtZmVmNy00Y2I5LThiOTEtNDM4MDA2OTBjOThmXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_.jpg [Accessed 23 Dec. 2024].

Surya Kumar Singh Tikas, played by the lead actor Rajkumar Rao is at the center of this narrative. He is a lower-caste policeman who is tasked with enforcing lockdown measures. This juxtaposition acts as a perfect picture of helplessness while being in power. The choices faced by Surya, being a policeman yet remaining powerless in front of the system and not being able to implement meaningful change within his act, make people think about their stance while watching this movie, and his character aligns perfectly with Spivak's description of "subaltern's" inability to speak within hegemonic structures one of her key arguments in her essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" she argues that, Subaltern's voices are systematically silenced within existing means of representation— platforms from which one’s views and demands are taken seriously" (Riach, 2017, p. 38).

10.4 Intersectionality

The film uses layered structure to tell narratives, effectively employing Kimberlé Crenshaw's intersectionality, which argues that "individual identities such as gender, race, sexuality, and others, overlap and intersect and reflect macro-level forms of oppression and privilege, such as sexism, racism, and heteronormativity" (Kelly et al., 2021). It uses intersectionality to highlight how in particular the caste, class, and gender intersected during the pandemic and worked like a catalyst to exploit the pre-existing vulnerabilities of the otherwise overlooked sections of the society. The best example of intersectionality from the movie would be the character of Renu Sharma played by Kritika Kamra.

Renu is portrayed as a single mother who is also a healthcare worker. One would think that being an essential worker, Renu would be respected within the society and especially in her workplace, the reality is in starl contrast to that. The film highlights the lack of institutional support provided to them, and how her peofessional role doesnot shield her from social prejudices as she is constatnly shown as been overlooked by those in power and treated with disrespect. Her identity as a single mother adds another layer of complexities to her struggles. The burden of caregiving and earning puts her in a rather complex situation, where her personal sacrifices are often overlooked by those around her, and this aligns with various studies that were conducted on the affect of covid pandemic on women including the one titled "The impact of COVID-19 on women’s empowerment: A global perspective" by Dempere and Grassa (2023), which concluded that " the pandemic adversely affects several metrics of women’s empowerment at the community level." The potrayal of Renu being often subjected to increased rates of disrespect and moral policing by the people in the movie while totally discrediting her authority as the only nurse in that area is a direct example of this.

10.4 A critique

Anubhav Sinha's Bheed although seeks to put caste as a major factor in determining the power and vulnerability of individuals during covid lockdown. While the film offers a platform to discuss inequality, there's also a risk of simplifying the and homogenizing the dalit experience in these narratives, the use of black and white cinematography is a perfect example of that. This aligns with the term "New Casteist media" coined by Ali Saha, In their study they basically state that "There is an increasing Dalit inclusion in media, but they continue to be negatively framed" (Saha and Gunawardana, 2022). Which aligns the portyal of Dalits as "helpless" and "naive". Surya staying passive within the larger political spectrum in the film is a perfect example for that. This critical flaw reflects the broader media trend of acknowledging Dalit victimhood without fully exploring or elevating the agency and activism that Dalits have historically employed to challenge caste-based oppression.

10.5 Conclusion

Bheed is a perfect example of how movies can serve as a mirror to the society. At the end, I couldn’t help but think of my own role in how we represent marginalized voices in media. Having worked on this film, I have realized how crucial it is for us—both as storytellers and as consumers of media—to approach stories like these with both empathy and action. And this realization has refelcted throughout the blogsphere for my sources and significance classes. Over the semester, I meticulously tried to explore, analyse and find ways to implement and advocate for more inclusion within the different aspects of modern media in our society.

This class has given me the tools to critically engage and effectively deny the patriarchal and discriminatory norms instilled in me that were a direct result of growing up as a privileged male within the society. As I move forward in both my academic and professional career, I am more committed than ever to finding ways to not only represent the diverse tapestry of human experiences but to also elevate and amplify those voices that have often been silenced.

10.6 References

Dempere, J. and Grassa, R., 2023. The impact of COVID-19 on women's empowerment: A global perspective. Journal of Global Health, 13, p. 06021. Available at: https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.13.06021 [Accessed 23 December 2024].

Kelly, C., Kasperavicius, D., Duncan, D. et al., 2021. ‘Doing’ or ‘using’ intersectionality? Opportunities and challenges in incorporating intersectionality into knowledge translation theory and practice. International Journal for Equity in Health, 20, p. 187. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01509-z [Accessed 23 December 2024].

Nichols, B. (1991). Representing Reality: Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Indiana University Press

Riach, G., 2017. An Analysis of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's Can the Subaltern Speak? Macat International Limited. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/herts/reader.action?docID=4906584&ppg=39 [Accessed 23 December 2024].

Saha, A. and Gunawardana, S., 2022. Paradoxical inclusion of India’s ex-untouchables in New Casteist media. Media, Culture & Society, 44(5), pp. 863–881. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221096773 [Accessed 23 December 2024].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

The Affect of Hope: Chaplin's Speech in "The Great Dictator".

9.1 Abstract

The "Great Dictator" was a 1940s political satire movie with a runtime of 125 minutes. Written directed and produced by Charlie Chaplin, this movie is "a masterpiece that isn't just a delightful comedy and a grim agitprop drama, but a spookily accurate insight into Hitler's psychology" (Barber, 2021). And this blog is centered around one particular speech from this movie that comes at around the 1:53:55 mark of the movie. This speech lasts for approximately three minutes and thirty three seconds and is often regarded as one of the greatest speeches in cinema. The speech is a plea for humanity and has been resonating with people from around the world even today. But why does it continue to feel so powerful? Using affect theory, we can understand how Chaplin’s performance goes beyond words, creating an emotional force that stirs something deep within us.

(Fig; The Great Dictator Movie poster, Available at: https://image.tmdb.org /t/p/original/1QpO9wo7JWecZ4NiBuu625FiY1j.jpg (Accessed: 20 December 2024).)

9.2 Introduction

Affect theory is an abstract concept, with no single definition. In her journal article Marta Figlerowicz describes affect theory as "grounded in movements or flashes of mental or somatic activity rather than causal narratives of their origins and end points"(Figlerowicz, 2012). This idea conveys that human emotions are not linear and well defined, rather, they are spontaneous and fleeing across, moving from one body to the another. To expand on this notion we can look into the works of scholars like Massumi, who explain that human emotions arent just an interior, individual event; they are like rivers flowing from people to people, influencing how we connect, feel, and act in accordance with each other (Vogler, 2021). Or Sara Ahmed, who in her work "cultural politics of Emotions", deploys a model of affective contagion, focusing more on what emotions do and how they circulate rather than what they are. (Gorton, 2007)

It is this property that makes affect theory an excellent tool for analyzing this classic Charlie Chaplin piece.

9.2 The Affect of Hope

(Fig; Charlie Chaplin delivering the last speech, Available at: https://images.squar espace-cdn.com/content/v1/574f0b9a37013b939ab0b866/1489410266316-NAWXFGU9IHW3N8U9BX64/image-asset.jpeg (Accessed: 20 December 2024).)

The entirety of the final speech in "The Good Dictator" is filled with hope, But one of the most striking parts of this speech is Chaplin's declaration stating that, "The good earth is rich and can provide for everyone." The way he delivers these lines with a steady and sincere tone makes audiences feel like hope is not an abstract concept but a very tangible and real thing.

Ahmed (2010) describes hope as a “binding affect”—something that pulls people together by imagining a better future. And this affect of hope that comes from these lines have travelled for almost a century and they still hold true to this day. Bringing in the emotions of possibilities and togetherness.

And while we can say that the speech itself is full of hope, It also does not shy away from confronting the preexisting fears head-on "If you do not unite, you will be lost", but this line is more of a motivator than a paralyzing or demotivating statement. Brian Massumi describes describes fear as an emotion that can create momentum, and push us toward change (Massumi, 2002). And Chaplin brilliantly used that fear and channeled it towards something productive, conveying that while it may seem hopeless and lost, the power to act on is always in out hands.

9.3 Relevancene and Conclusion

Chaplin's speech is more relevant today than ever before. With a world grappling with more inequality, authoritarianism, and environmental crises, his call for togetherness and, kindness, and unity is as urgent as ever.

Affect theory reminds us that emotions aren’t just something we feel—they’re something we share.

And this speech is a perfect example of how timeless and legendary a piece of media can become If it masters the art of emotionally connecting with its audience. I personally believe that this movie is a very good case study for any up-and-coming storytellers on how to write a timeless classic. By analyzing and studying this human connection, I believe even we storytellers can tell tales that would hold true and speak to audiences across borders and generations just as Charlie Chaplin still speaks to us 80 years later.

9.4 References

Ahmed, S. (2010) The Promise of Happiness. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Barber, N. (2021) 'The Great Dictator: the film that dared to laugh at Hitler', BBC Culture, 5 February. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20210204-the-great-dictator-the-film-that-dared-to-laugh-at-hitler#:~:text=The%20Great%20Dictator%20is%20a,in%20a%20making%2Dof%20documentary (Accessed: 20 December 2024).

Figlerowicz, M. (2012) 'Affect Theory Dossier: An Introduction', Qui Parle, 20(2), pp. 3–18. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5250/quiparle.20.2.0003 (Accessed: 20 December 2024).

Gorton, K. (2007) 'Theorizing emotion and affect', Feminist Theory, 8(3), pp. 273–295. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1464700107082369 (Accessed: 20 December 2024).

Massumi, B. (2002) Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation. Durham: Duke University Press.

Vogler, G. (2021) 'Bridging the gap between affect and reason: on thinking-feeling in politics', Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory, 22(3), pp. 259–276. doi: 10.1080/1600910X.2021.1927782.

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Writing horror in VR with phasmophobia

Introduction

VR or virtual reality, is, at its very core, "a technology that can create a complete environment or world for the user to experience" (Cisneros et al., 2019). This basically means that it's a medium for the storyteller to recreate an entire world in a separate virtual dimension. This virtual dimension can then be accessed by users using a virtual headset and depending on the extent of immersion, the storyteller wants a user to feel, they can also be hooked to other immersive mediums like haptic suit, temperature control, etc.

Fig; My iClinic, 2023. The future of VR headsets in eye clinics. [image] Available at: https://myiclinicn.sg-host.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/the-future-vr-headsets-eye-clinics-1024x573.jpg [Accessed 6 January 2025].

Virtual reality is a very different kind of storytelling medium because, unlike other mediums, VR doesn't make your consciousness interpret the medium; instead, it makes our consciousness the medium. (Smith, 2024). This makes it the perfect channel to host a genre like horror, as fear is something way more than the cheap jumpscares and SFX we see in today's day and age. Fear is about buildup; it's one of the most primitive human emotions. And no other game takes more advantage of this than "Phasmophobia."

Phasmophobia is an indie horror game developed by a small British studio called Knetic Games. It was released on early access in September 2020, and it quickly rose to popularity thanks to its immersiveness, resulting in it winning the title of best debut game in 2020 at the "game awards.".

This blog will analyze how "phasmophobia" achieved this level of success and how VR was used as an extension of human consciousness to achieve this feat.

Overview

In Phasmophibia, immersion is the key selling point as the player takes on the role of a paranormal investigator/s who are tasked with exploring several different haunted places and identifying the types of ghosts that haunt that particular place. These haunted locations work as a perfect setup for virtual immersion, as the developers use the eerie atmosphere to their advantage by adding several physical interactions like footsteps, creaking of doors, using flashlights, etc., which are actions that require physical participation, and this physical participation makes the player directly responsible for the consequences of their actions, making it more creepy and real.

Fig: Gamerant, 2024. Phasmophobia logo over ghost. [image] Available at: https://static0.gamerantimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/wm/2024/10/phasmophobia-logo-over-ghost.jpg [Accessed 6 January 2025].

This aligns with the research done by Zhang H and their colleagues in a paper named "Decoding Fear: Exploring User Experiences in Virtual Reality, Horror Games" where they found that the virtual reality media of horror games automatically added a layer of fear response amongst the participants even before they started playing the game, especially at night or when alone. (Zhang et al., 2024).

Mechanics of Manipulating Players

As we already know, horror in VR is heavily relied on the interplay of feelings of being in control and helplessness. Phasmophobia has mastered this approach by making players responsible for each one of their actions, giving them choices, and inciting a sense of authority within them while also confronting them with unpredictable and uncontrollable events, which often and not are the direct results of the actions a player deliberately and independently takes.

Some of the key techniques phasmophobia uses to master this approach are:

Audio Design: The sound-space of this game has been meticulously perfected with things like proximity chat, footsteps, muffled whispers, electronic distortions, etc., creating a sense of omnipresent dread and making players feel like they are never alone. Even the silence within the game is quite loud, as it is littered with a plethora of other background sounds like breathing, doors creaking, etc. This makes the player question every sound they encounter, making them ask "Was that me or my friend, or did this sound come from somewhere else?"

Environment Design: Phasmobhobia uses claustrophobic settings to incite a sense of preexisting fears the players have. It uses locations like abandoned cabins and narrow hallways to further distance the player from any sense of safety and make them feel more alone and trapped. The limited field of view in VR headsets amplifies these effects, forcing players to confront their fears head-on.

Dynamic AI: The game's ghosts are governed by an AI that reacts to the player's behaviors, including spoken words; these reactions are according to the behaviors mentioned in the ghost book, which is a guide that players use to find the type of ghost within a mission. But this, at the same time, makes players directly responsible for any hauntings or deaths that happen. As for example, Shade is a type of ghost in phasmophobia who only responds to people when they are alone, so now it's on the player to decide to go alone in the haunted place to get answers from the ghost. They can totally skip it and use other clues to get to their objective, but this choice is ultimately given to the player.

Fig; The claustrophobic environment setting in Phasmophobia. The Washington Post, n.d. [Title or description of the image, e.g., Protestors in action, or relevant detail if available]. [image] Available at: https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/P7PMXMO4QBFJZI7EHEP34LZOEM.jpg [Accessed 6 January 2025].

Drawbacks of using VR in horror setup

While VR can surely increase players' sensation in playing horror games, making it feel more real, interesting, tense, and even scary (Armanto, Anthony, and Pickerling, 2021). It is also true that using Virtual Reality comes with its own set of drawbacks, most notably of which is the motion sickness and dizziness caused by wearing headsets for a long period of time (Armanto, Anthony, and Pickerling, 2021). And this is particularly important for horror games because of the heavy reliance on lights and character motion as a part of storytelling.

Conclusion

Phasmophobia highlights the unique capabilities of VR to redefine the horror genre. By using immersion, interactivity, and social dynamics as a tool to empower its story, the game creates a deeply engaging experience that challenges traditional notions of fear and entertainment. As VR continues to blur the lines between reality and fiction, the study of its psychological and cultural implications will remain a vital area of inquiry, plus we need more studies into the effects of individual elements of phasmophobia and how it affects its user in both a virtual reality setting and a normal Desktop setting. Plus there is a dire need to have increase the research being done on the motion sickness affects of a virtual reality setup, as we need to segregate and eliminate all factors contributing to the said adverse effects. For now, Phasmophobia works as an excellent case study and a testament to the potentials of VR in one of the most challenging genres in modern media.

References

Armanto, H., Anthony, G. and Pickerling, C., 2021. Implementation and Impact of Virtual Reality on Survival Horror Games. [Publisher/Journal if known]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353614055_Implementation_and_Impact_of_Virtual_Reality_on_Survival_Horror_Games [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].

Cisneros, A., Maravilla, M., Murray, B., Scretching, D., Stoddard, A. and Redmiles, E.M., 2019. Defining Virtual Reality: Insights from Research and Practice. [Publisher/Journal if known]. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332201962_Defining_virtual_reality_Insights_from_research_and_practice [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].

Smith, M., 2024. VR Storytelling. In: Proceedings of the International Moving Image Cultures Conference (IMOVICCON 2023, pp.137). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379636493_VR_Storytelling [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].

Zhang, H., Li, X., Qiu, C. and Fu, X., 2024. Decoding Fear: Exploring User Experiences in Virtual Reality Horror Games. Proceedings of the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp.1-12. Available at: https://dl-acm-org.ezproxy.herts.ac.uk/doi/pdf/10.1145/3629606.3629646 [Accessed 16 Dec. 2024].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

The Right Way to Write Gay: Mitch and Cam as a Blueprint for Authentic Representation.

9.0 Introduction;

I am someone who has always struggled with my sexuality. I have always been way to feminine for a man while also being interested in more stereotypical manlier things than a woman would. Growing up in a small town in one of India’s more conservative states, I struggled to fit into societal norms, where gender roles were rigid and confining. And that left me feeling unsure and alone. When I entered my undergrad university, people were way more accepting, and that allowed me to open up. But seeing my true self, which is more dramatic, expressive, and has more feminine traits than usual, even they started jokingly calling me confused, My friends weren’t being cruel, but their teasing, though playful, made me realize how hard it was to step outside the boundaries of what society expected of me. But this is something that's very personal to me and I want to explore it on my own terms while also not being bound in a box. And this is when I stumbled upon Mitchell Vincent “Mitch” Tucker-Pritchett and Cameron Scott "Cam" Tucker from a modern family. And this was the first time I had actually connected to a non-cis couple on the media. The entire premise of how Cam can be gay, gossip with aunties, be into makeup while also being a stern and loud football coach, just resonated to me on so many different levels. And thus when I was to write a blog on gender representation, I instantly knew which case study am analysing. In this blog, we will look into the characters of Mitch and Cam from the modern family and analyze those characters in terms of representation.

Fig, 2024. Poster of Modern Family. Available at: https://screenrant.com/modern-family-cast-character-guide/ [Accessed 11 December 2024].

9.1 Humanizing LGBTQ+;

Modern Family, is an American sitcom that premiered on ABC in 2009. Created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, modern family ran for 11 seasons and it is highly acclaimed for its portrayal of diverse family structures and its ability to balance humor with heart. It also potraied one of the first openly gay couple in modern media in the form of Mitch and Cam. At the begining of the show, Mitchell Vincent “Mitch” Tucker-Pritchett and Cameron Scott "Cam" Tucker are a gay couple, who are yet to marry but are already living together for 5 years and had just adopted their daughter Lily Tucker-Pritchett. This was one of the first representations of its kind. It was also significant for its time because gays are still to some extent ,often portrayed as being promiscuous or being “unmarried with an unsatisfiable sexual appetite” (Rodriguez, 2017). Gay relationships, even to this day are used as a means to add unnecessary intimate scenes in the mainstream media, latest example being "Vi and Caitlyn" and arcane. These scenes often do not have any depth to them, and they feel like existing just for the "fan service.". This paints a broader picture of gays being emotionally shallow and unromantic. But, by portraying a preexisting relationship with both mitch and cam being committed enough to actually adopt an interracial child and raise her , navigating through the gender and race specific challenges of raising a baby without a maternal figure, like when Lily had her periods or when she felt vulnerable about her race, just shows how brilliantly these characters were written and that gays are just as human as any one of us .

(Fig; Mitch and Cam parenting Lilly, Available at: https://screenrant.com/modern-family-camerons-dumbest-mistakes-according-reddit/ [Accessed 11 December 2024].)

Another instance where they are shown challenging the gay stereotypes is within their parenting styles. So during the start of this series we can see that Mitch is the breadwinner in their relationship while Cam stays back and watch over their daughter, tending to her needs and basically fulfilling a role thats mostly associated with women in a heterosexual relationship, but by the end of the show, the roles completely reverse where Cam gets a job as the coach of a university football team and Mitch agrees to move to a completely different city and agrees to be a stay-at-home dad for their newly adopted kid.

And this actually impacted its viewers in a positive way, as according to research titled, "The Modern Family: Confronting Attitudes and Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Through Gay Male Relationships and Gender Roles on TV" by Alice Telios from University of Missouri-St. Louis, viewers of modern family tend to have more positive outlook towards same sex marriage and by that extent towards gay couples as a whole. in her own words, Telios stated that "viewers tended to have more positive attitudes toward gay men. This difference is significant compared to non-viewers, and they also had significantly higher intentions to vote for same sex marriage legislation" (Telios, 2012).

9.3 The hits and misses;

While Modern Family excels in many aspects of LGBTQ+ representation and would definitely be considered a trendsetter and conversation starter for its time. It made people talk about and question their own pre-existing patriarchal beliefs about gay relationships. As Elizabeth McNeil, James E. Wermers, and Joshua O. Lunn wrote in their book titled "Mapping Queer Space(s) of Praxis and Pedagogy," "The gender performance in modern family challenges the viewer to comprehend the complexity of the characters as they evolve with each episode and season and perhaps, in so doing, challenges the hold those very stereotypes maintain on culture." (McNeil, Wermers, and Lunn, 2017).

But even then, one cannot say that it is not without its shortcomings. One of the major misses of modern family is their stereotypical portrayal of Mitch and Cam as individuals; they have been portrayed as “‘white, affluent, trend-setting, Perrier-drinking, frequent-flyer using, Ph.D.-holding consumer citizens with more income to spend than they know what to do with’” (Ross, 263), this reaffirms some of the preexisting stereotypes about gays as individuals, being rich and sophisticated. An alternative approach the creators could have taken is by potraying Mitch and Cam as a couple from other minority races for example black or latin, as that would add another layer of racial prejudice making their stories more complex, plus removing the financial back that Mitch and Cam currently enjoy, would also have worked as a tool to potrait the impact of American healthcare and other flawed capitalistic institutions on some of the most marginalised communities in our society. And I do acknowledge that Modern Family is supposed to be a light-hearted sitcom, but we have other examples of sitcoms doing that, for example "2 Broke Girls" where complex financial struggles have been explored while still being under the sitcom title.

9.4 Conclusion;

In conclusion, I think its' safe to say that representation in modern family can work as a good case study for future storytellers, learning from its lack of exploration of individual stereotypes of gays, I think fututre storytellers can write more grounded and intersectional characters which would definitely help not just the individuals like me who are struggling with their identities but also the society as a whole in reforming and being more emphathetic towards the unrepresented sections. Just as modern family has already influenced its viewers in a more positive way making them inclined more towards the legalisation of same-sex marriage as shown by Alice Telios in their research. This would also help "humanise" gays in our societies as people become more aware about the sophistication and depth of a gay relationship.

And on a personal level, it has encouraged me to embrace my feminine side and live more authentically, and although I still do not identify as gay, watching Mitch and Cam challenge traditional gender roles made me realize that I don’t have to follow a set script for who I’m supposed to be. Just like them, I’m learning to look beyond what society expects and be more authentic in my choices. And I hope future media builds on Modern Family's successes while addressing its shortcomings, continuing to advance the portrayal of LGBTQ+ narratives with depth and inclusivity.

9.5 Refrences;

McNeil, E., Wermers, J.E., and Lunn, J.O., eds., 2017. Mapping Queer Space(s) of Praxis and Pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan.

Rodriguez, N., 2017. Queer Media Analysis. Lecture, 22 March.

Ross, K., 2014. The Handbook of Gender, Sex, and Media. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

Telios, A., 2012. The Modern Family: Confronting Attitudes and Same-Sex Marriage Legislation Through Gay Male Relationships and Gender Roles on TV. University of Missouri-St. Louis.

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

AI and Ownership

History

The one thing that differentiates us humans from other living beings on this planet is our never-dying thirst for creativity. Creativity has been observed in humans since the beginning of humanity. Whether it be a caveman hundreds of years ago being creative after the discovery of fire and using it in a plethora of different ways or it being a normal Joe today, planning his vacation trip to Bali. But as time went on and we progressed as a society, the intellectuality of creativity increased. Creativity was already being used in major civilizations across the world to make drainage, plant crops, tell stories, perform religious rites, and make art, etc. As the complexity of creativity increased, so did the concern about the ownership of these products that were the direct result of creative minds. This led to the establishment of intellectual property rights, which fundamentally transformed the way societies valued and protected innovation. By granting creators ownership of their ideas, these developments not only incentivized creativity but also laid the groundwork for technological progress, cultural preservation, and economic growth. For example, the Greek state named Sybaris became the first place on the planet to provide intellectual property rights to its citizens back in 500 BCE (Williams, n.d.), ensuring that innovation became a cornerstone for the advancement of this society.

There were many minor and regional developments on intellectual property rights since then but the IPR we know of today can trace their roots back to the late 1800s and we had our first when we saw our first Global Intellectual Property Rights being issued to inventors in 1883 after the paris convention. The writers soon came together in 1886 for the Berne convention which led to an international level of protection for all forms of expressive arts (Williams, n.d.). And while these onwnerhip laws have pretty stable since then for the most parts, the introduction of Generative or Gen AI has sparked debates on the definition of creativity and ownership in this new age.

Introduction

Fig; iStock, 2023. Businessman touching the brain working of artificial intelligence automation predictive. [image] Available at: https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1452604857/photo/businessman-touching-the-brain-working-of-artificial-intelligence-automation-predictive.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=GkAOxzduJbUKpS2-LX_l6jSKtyhdKlnPMo2ito4xpR4= [Accessed 6 January 2025].

This blog will try to explore the complex and intertwined strings of creativity and IPR with reference to Gen AI. It will try to examine the historical framework of copyright laws that are being challenged by the AI Gen content. And being an artist, I think it is all the more important for us to explore these alleys and keep our regulations up to date with the advancing technologies and I strongly believe that by understanding the past and analyzing present debates, we can better navigate the ethical, legal, and societal implications of this technological revolution.

The lack of definition of Creativity

Fig Synaptic Potential, 2017. Creativity intelligence having fun. [image] Available at: https://synapticpotential.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/creativity-intelligence-having-fun-articles-Synaptic-Potential.jpg [Accessed 6 January 2025].

Before talking about IPR and ownership, we must address the current lack of range when it comes to how we define creativity. For example, creativity has been widely defined as the act of creating something (Cambridge University Press, n.d.). But this method of defining creativity can be quite restrictive when it comes to taking into account the dynamic interplay of various forces (person, environment and society, product and persuasion, and various interactions within each of these) (Wallia, 2019). Plus, we must not forget that the mere act of the pursuit of creativity, even when it doesn't translate into successful creative outcomes, can still benefit society as a whole and its originality and usefulness shouldn't be overlooked the way it's currently being overlooked with our definition..

This is highlighted by Chetan Wallia in his 2019 research journal called "A Dynamic Definition of Creativity." According to wallia, "It is worthwhile to recognize that while creativity brings problems to the fore and may even attempt to solve them, creation or actual achievement goes beyond creativity. The real challenge then still remains to have a holistic framework to study creativity, creation, and the creators’ evolution with all of these integrated dynamics at play."(Wallia, 2019). This is very relevant for our discussion as it paints a picture of the limitations we currently face that are often overlooked during discussions about AI ownership, as the line separating human creativity from AI fades when we broaden the definition. This new definition challenges the traditional definition of creativity, urging us to consider not only the outcomes but also the processes behind them—an approach that becomes increasingly relevant in evaluating AI-generated works as well as properly crediting the current pursuits of creativity for example the credits for the "invention" of electricity is often given to Thomas Edison, whereas it was Nikola Tesla who actually invented DC generators inturn invention electricity. Even Wingström, Hautala, and Lundman, in their paper titled Redefining creativity in the era of AI? Perspectives of computer scientists and new media artists highlighted the same issue when it comes to drawing new perspectives when it comes to the ownership of creativity, and they also help us explore this entire discussion through the lens of AI works. According to them "The future possibilities of human–AI co-creativity are endless, and we are only beginning to explore them. This requires a shift from human-centered creativity studies to co-creativity research that explains the co-constituted, complex, and spatial process between humans and AI" (Wingström, Hautala and Lundman, 2022).

Understanding the Current Implications of Gen AI towards IPR.

The rise of Gen AI in recent years has brought a big change in how we as individuals perceive creativity. AI tools like GPT and DALL-E have enabled creators to produce high-quality content with minimum human interruption. No other case better portrays this discussion than the Getty v. Stability AI case. The primary allegations by Getty Images were centered around the unauthorized use of their intellectual property. According to Getty Images, Stability AI unlawfully used 12 million images along with their metadata to train its generative model. Getty Images has raised concerns over the generated images themselves as well, raising concerns over the images produced by stability AI often containing Getty's watermark even on various grotesque contents damaging their reputation. The financial letigations of this case amounts to 1.8 trillion USD (Napitupulu, Sinaga and Hasugian, 2023).

And although the case has not been settled, it would still be of grave importance, and thus, we should keep an eye on its outcomes, as the legal boundaries associated with gen ai are continuously being redrawn. This also raises a lot of uncertainty towards the entire prospect of ownership of generative works.

The other aspect of this case—which is the secondary infringement claim would be of particular importance as If the term ‘article’ is not applied by the courts to intangible items like Stability’s AI technology Then, this may lead to actual laws being formed against the ownership of generative images which might render this entire technology as illegal, similar to that of torrents (Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP, 2024).

Future and One of the Most Likely solutions to this entire conundrum

With the advancement of AI-generated works and the lack of clear regulations and experience around this topic. It is quite hard for anyone to predict the future of AI copyrights, but one of the most likely solutions that I came across while researching this topic was by Noto La Diega in their paper titled "Artificial Intelligence and Databases in the Age of Big Machine Data." According to them, "AI work that, when kept in the public domain, would allow the extraction of value from that work, whilst also preventing monopolisation" (Noto La Diega, 2019). This basically suggests that by removing ownership claims, we will effectively remove the rights of these AI works from their developers and creators and that would allow for a more open and collaborative environment around this subject. Furthermore, this also addresses the Getty v. Stability AI case as without the ownership of the images produced, no one would profit from that, making it more like an open-source library (Majumdar, 2024).

However, this solution comes with its own set of challenges primarily the rethinking of the entire human centric IPR laws. Plus, the lack of ownership might undermine the incentives of creation and innovation.

Conclusion

To conclude, this entire topic of ownership of AI generated content is confusing alley to navigate, but at the same time the rapid development and the cases similar to the Getty v. Stability AI case makes it this entire topic of redefining creativity all the more urgent.

Therefore I believe it is necessary for policy makers, industry leader and academic scholars to work collaboratively to come up with an ethical set of guidelines through which a work done by generative ai could be analysed, while also not undermining the aspects of innovation and progress that comes along with the ownership of a produced work

References

Cambridge University Press (n.d.) Creativity. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/creativity (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Majumdar, A. (2024) Facing the music: The future of copyright law and artificial intelligence in the music industry. University College London, Faculty of Laws. (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Napitupulu, P. A., Sinaga, C. A. F. and Hasugian, A. (2023) The implication of generative artificial intelligence towards intellectual property rights: Examining the multifaceted implications of generative artificial intelligence on intellectual property rights. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375122469_The_Implication_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_towards_Intellectual_Property_Rights_Examining_the_Multifaceted_Implications_of_Generative_Artificial_Intelligence_on_Intellectual_Property_Rights (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Noto La Diega, G. (2019) The implications of generative artificial intelligence for intellectual property rights: Examining the role of AI in the future of copyright law. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3377317 (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Penningtons Manches Cooper LLP (2024) Generative AI in the courts: Getty Images v. Stability AI. Available at: https://www.penningtonslaw.com/news-publications/latest-news/2024/generative-ai-in-the-courts-getty-images-v-stability-ai (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Wallia, C. (2019) A dynamic definition of creativity. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334971061_A_Dynamic_Definition_of_Creativity (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

Wingström, R., Hautala, J. and Lundman, R. (2022) ‘Redefining creativity in the era of AI? Perspectives of computer scientists and new media artists’, Creativity Research Journal, 36(2), pp. 177–193. 

Williams, J. (n.d.) The history of intellectual property. Available at: https://www.txpatentattorney.com/blog/the-history-of-intellectual-property/ (Accessed: 23 November 2024).

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Look What You Made Her Do - Taylor Swift's Unapologetic Stance Against Sexism - A Semiotic Analysis.

3.1 Abstract

Taylor Swift is a woman who needs no introduction. She is one of the greatest singers of all time (Billboard, 2024), causing waves and fighting sexism one song at a time. This article examines the semiotics and underlying messages of Swift's songs from an anti-sexist perspective, looking at her work's influence. Furthermore, This study tries to demonstrate how Swift's songs contribute to feminist discourse, elevating her from pop icon to crucial voice in the struggle for gender equality.

Finally, I will try to correlate this and find parallels that would ultimately help us, the game (product) designers, create more inclusive games, hopefully addressing the gender gap in the overall consumer base of this media.

3.1 Introduction

For the majority of my life, I had thought that Taylor Swift is dumb and that her fans, better known as "Swifties" in pop culture were just teenage girls who couldn't find anyone to get into a relationship with. But like the hypocrite that I am, I still enjoyed her songs especially "Love Story " and "Lover".

(Sky News Taylor Swift Eras Tour Movie. Available at: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff34d9650339566e9bd843d/1697303690784-3IZVF9B1F8IBBCKI71R1/skynews-taylor-swift-eras-tour-movie_6269175.jpeg [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].) It was not until one day when I was scrolling through the internet did I found a reel on "The Eras tour", it was nothing special just some people enjoying the show. But being the person I was back then, I wanted to go to the comment section and leave a troll comment something similar to "Oh this fanbase is so cringe, it's like a cult, why are you screaming like this, she's just a random woman singing", but then I saw a comment that said, "Why is it that when it comes to sports, the same enthusiasm is seen as people enjoying and that media having a loyal fanbase, but soon as it changes into something that women enjoy, the entire narrative changes into cringe and being obsessed ". And that made me question, whether I actually did not like Taylor Swift or if it was the underlying misogyny that had been engraved in my brain by society.

Luckily "The Eras Tour Movie" release was just around the corner so I decided to give it a try. I booked tickets for myself and went in, and first 15 minutes into the movie and I was already crying, I was having goosebumps and feeling overwhelmed in a good way. It was all the love and togetherness in the atmosphere in that random theater in Bangalore 14000 km away from the States. By the end of the movie, I was a completely changed person, I had garnered a new respect for this medium and had pledged to actively fight against this misogynist mindset that kept me away from this experience all these years. This personal revelation not only altered my perception of Swift's talent, but also encouraged me to analyze how her music connects with larger issues of feminism and resistance to patriarchy.

3.2 Swift's Semiotic Universe - The Man

Before we actually start analyzing her songs, we would first need to define semiotics. According to Fatemi from the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, "Semiotics is the scientific study of sign systems, which is often used to incorporate both systems and explores the relationship between meaning and text in its broadest sense including television, movies, radio programs, works of art, painting, and magazines" (Fatemi, 2014). Which in our scenario can be roughly translated as "reading between the lines", except we will also be looking into her music videos, stage performances, the way media responds to her and even how Taylor uses imagery.

Taylor Swift is a master of semiotics, every snake, every line has a meaning behind it that's meticulously tailor-made for that exact spot. In her own words, Taylor Swift said that she likes to plant easter eggs in her videos, which can be a lyric from a piece of unreleased music or a little hint or wink to what's coming in the future.

Being a fierce advocate for feminism and equality, We often see Taylor Swift building narratives (sometimes throughout different albums), that hit hard against sexism and patriarchy. Let’s break it down by looking at one of her most impactful works - THE MAN:

(The Man poster. Available at: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhyzhb-HrVNpYlo2FWH5qFLbhCDJ1hIr6QxA&s [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].)

1. Lyrics The Man came out in 2019, with the release to Taylor's seventh album "Lover" and this song majorly addresses gender biases, especially how it manifests in a workplace setting.

“I would be complex, I would be cool, they’d say I played the field before I found someone to commit to, and that would be okay for me to do, every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you I’d be a fearless leader, I’d be an alpha type When everyone believes ya, what’s that like?”

In this, Taylor is referring to hegemonic masculinity, which basically means a societal pattern in which stereotypically male traits are idealized as the masculine cultural ideal, explaining how and why men maintain dominant social roles over women and other groups considered to be feminine (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005). With her lyrics, she is emphasizing how in this modern patriarchal capitalist society having ruthless masculine traits like fearlessness and ruthlessness is often rewarded and this masculine authority makes people trust you more easily compared to other feminine traits.

At the end of this lyric, she is asking the men in the house, that how does it feel to be looked up as always deserving and believable, How does it feel to not work extra hard to receive comparatively more credits than a woman.

“They’d say I hustle, put in the work, they wouldn’t shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve What I was wearing, if I was rude, could all be separated from my good ideas and power moves …If I was out flashin’ my dollar, I’d be a bitch not a baller…

In this paragraph, according to me, Swift is being consistent with neoliberalism, which means "the philosophical view that a society’s political and economic institutions should be robustly liberal and capitalist." (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2024). But in this definition, the "capitalist", or the money takes more precedence as described by Taylor, this can also be seen as a critique of Neolibralisation as it can be seen as a capitalist agenda to manipulate the social narrative of feminism towards money and power. Her saying that as long as she has the money, she will be respected is a testament to that. This is also in line with Anna Elomäki and Johanna Kantola's findings in their journal article titled "Theorizing Feminist Struggles in the Triangle of Neoliberalism, Conservatism, and Nationalism", where they concluded that Neoliberalism is often used as a tool to compartmentalize feminist struggles which leads to "limited analysis of political context and policies while being simultaneously underpinned by neoliberalism, conservatism, and nationalism and limited or even wrong interpretations of reasons behind the adoption of these policies." (Elomäki and Kantola, 2018). By this they basically mean that neoliberalism (along with nationalism and conservatism) is being used a tool to prevent the feminist movement to look into the broader picture whenever new policies are introduced.

I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man And I’m so sick of them coming at me again, ‘cause if I was a man, then I’d be the man

She finally binds the entire narrative together with these lines stating that she is sick of being in this hegemonic masculine system that uses tools like neolibralism to undermine sociopolitical movements like feminism. She reinstates that she is sick on all these "men" coming at her and to that extent all the women and feminists out there with all these agendas and tools and that they have to always be on guard with what they are representing and always be ahead of these men all the time. She says that none of this would have been the case if she were a man, which subtly points to the hope that if we actually embrace equality, all of these agendas and manipulations will fade away.

These interpretations align with (Caroline et al., 2023) who state that the words, phrases, and sentences used in the song “The Man” highlight the disparities and obstacles women often face in society, prompting listeners to question and challenge these norms.

2. Music Video

Taylor Swift is notorious for adding semiotics and hidden messages in her music videos. Quite evidently so, the music video for her song "The Man" is a goldmine for semiotic analysis. The video itself is a visual manifestation of the messages she wants to promote in her song.

(Taylor Swift's transformation for the music vidoe of The Man Image. Available at: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/2392/production/_111060190_taylor_2shot.jpg[Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].)

Judith Butler's concept of gender performativity which means the idea that gender is constituted through repeated actions, behaviors, and performances that align with societal norms and expectations (Butler, 2006, p. 33)., is evident in her music video, where she literally transforms into a male persona highlighting how masculity is not inherent but a choice. This act challenges the notion of fixed gender roles. Just like Butler's theory suggests, Swift demonstrates that gender is not a static state but a fluid, performative act that can be challenged and redefined (Butler, 2006, p. 45).

3.3 The Bridge Between Music to Gaming - A conclusion

The gaming industry of today is a highly segregated space. For example, Minecraft which is often regarded as the second best selling game in history with over 300 million copies (IGN, 2024), has a female participation rate of just 32% (Demand Sage, 2024). And I think developers can use Taylor's approach to fight against this glaring gender gap within the consumerbase.

Taylor's critiques of hegemony masculinity is inline with how games often reinforce traditional gender roles. By incorporating diverse, non-binary, or complex female characters, designers can break these stereotypes and promote inclusivity. Ultimately, by embracing feminist ideals in game design, like Swift does in her music, developers can help bridge the gender gap in gaming, creating more inclusive spaces and empowering players to challenge patriarchal norms.

3.4 References

Billboard, 2024. Taylor Swift among the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Available at: https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/taylor-swift-greatest-pop-stars-21st-century-1235839222/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Butler, J., 2006. Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Taylor & Francis Group. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/herts/reader.action?docID=710077&ppg=45 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Caroline, Y. P., Zahrani, T., Sitompul, M.R. and Rangkuti, R., 2023. A feminist-stylistic analysis of the Taylor Swift song entitled "The Man." KLAUSA (Kajian Linguistik Pembelajaran Bahasa dan Sastra), 7(2), pp. 115-124. Available at: https://doi.org/10.33479/klausa.v7i2.881 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Connell, R.W. and Messerschmidt, J.W., 2005. Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), pp. 829-859. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Demand Sage, 2024. Minecraft statistics. Available at: https://www.demandsage.com/minecraft-statistics/#:~:text=Minecraft's%20user%20base%20consists%20of,4000%20Minecraft%20servers%20in%202023 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Elomäki, A. and Kantola, J., 2018. Theorizing feminist struggles in the triangle of neoliberalism, conservatism, and nationalism. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 25(3), pp. 337-360. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxy013 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Fatemi, S.M., 2014. Semiotics, Overview. In: T. Teo, ed. Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. New York, NY: Springer. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_396 [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

IGN, 2024. Best-selling video games of all time: Grand Theft Auto, Minecraft, Tetris. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/best-selling-video-games-of-all-time-grand-theft-auto-minecraft-tetris [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2024. Neoliberalism. Available at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/neoliberalism/ [Accessed 14 Nov. 2024].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

The Realism Paradox; A Case for realism in animation, Grave of the Fireflies

Realism for the longest time has been associated majorly with the visual representation of the real world, so mediums like Live-action movies and photography are what many people think of when they hear the world realism.

Especially when it comes to animation as a medium. It is still widely perceived as a medium directed towards children, and many connoisseurs of realism do not even acknowledge this medium as being able to depict realism.

For example, the beliefs of famous critics like André Bazin whos depiction of realism lies in the sanctity and authenticity of photgraphic images, implying that depiction of realism is rooted to camera's ability to faithfully reproduce the real world (Matthews, 2018), which an animation cannot do in the same way.

And I would like to present "Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies" as an argument in this blog against that notion, and actually use this medium as a tool for realism. The quote from renowned film critic Roger Ebert perfectly sets the stage for this blog "Yes, it's a cartoon, and the kids have eyes like saucers, but it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made" (Ebert, 2000).

Fig: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/grave_of_the_fireflies{accessed on 8th November 2024})

Main Body Argument 1; Realism is more about the emotional connection than its' life-like rendetions.

Before diving any deep into this argument, we would need to understand that Films in particular are not strictly bound to either the realistic or the anti realistic approach of storytelling. They can be seen as ground where both of these methods coexist. As quoted by Martin Seel in his article Realism and Anti-Realism in Film Theory, " Feature films invite us to experience the world created by a filmic narrative and to enjoy their filmic rendition. Films relate indeterminately to both these poles. Their particular strength lies in their capacity to let the imagination of reality and the reality of their imagination play with each other in the awareness of the viewer in such a way that they carry or interrupt each other, that they penetrate each other, or that a delicate balance is created." (Seel, 2008).

And this is an important quote, because it challenges the very notion that realism in films can only exist when there are photorealistic elements present on the screen, widening the area of realism to other medias of storytelling with movies like stopmotion, 4DX experience and of course animations. According to Seel, there has always been a tension in the world of cinemas between realism and illusionism and the very path a movie takes to navigate these poles makes them so engaging (Seel, 2008). And this particular indeterminacy is key to the argument for "Grave of the Fireflies", when looked into from the lens of Seel, this film's use of animation and its artsyle especially it un-conventional (for the time) use of smaller eyes and more wrinkles and real facial features along with it's unapologetic depiction of actual corpses, makes it different from it's rivals in the live action medium. And this difference creates an emotional and physcological connection between it's characters and the audience in a way that feels real.

The scene where Seita catches a bunch of fireflies on a random night and releases them inside his mosquito net creating a whimsical almost dream like sequence just to be followed by a smash cut and then us (the audience) seeing both the siblings burrowing those fireflies the next morning with setsuko asking "why do fireflies have to die so young", is a perfect example of how this movie explores the juxtaposition of emotions as an indeterminate space in the hearts of its' audience by blending this fantasy moment of childlike innocence with brilliant animation and the use of warm colors to the reality of life, implying the fates of millions of "fireflies" (children) who died as a direct result of this war. This makes the audience directly face the harsh realities this movie is trying to portrait making them more connected to the story and its' characters igniting an emotion of empathy and whimsy in-turn making it "feel" more real.

Fig; The stark contrast between the firefly scene and the burial scene from grave of the fireflies. (https://www.facebook.com/AnimeCorner.Official/posts/breaking-grave-of-the-fireflies-is-coming-to-netflix-on-september-16trailer-more/892770592878719/ {accessed on 08th November 2024})

Argument 2; When done affectively, movements of your characters work as a tool to for realism.

Just as how emotional realism can draw viewers into the story, Physical realism achieved through character movements can ground them to the world that the director has created for them.

Character Movements are one of the most underrated aspects of realism, as having worked in the industry and just having an eye for human movements, I can tell that most of the live action and even animation movies for that aspect, donot make there character movements human. And by humanizing character movements I mean the small mundane things that we do in our daily lives that are just not too important to take up time in a modern film, for example tapping our feet on the ground after wearing shoes to adjust the overall feeling and make it more comfortable. This is a small gesture but it makes that event more real, as when put in a movie, it communicates with the audience that yes the character in-front of you is real in their own world and that they just like us cannot perfectly fit their shoes on their feet on the first try. This is more of an argument against the more cg heavy modern style of filmmaking, because many of the modern titles like avengers use motion capture to make their characters feel, more immersive. But while refining the mocap data they donot use this fillers breaking the illusion of realism. Even Sahra Kunz from Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave, Barcelos, in her research titled "The problem of realism in animated characters: has the Uncanny Valley been crossed" concluded that the quality of movement of characters is the main concern when it comes to the future of CG movies in regards to avoiding uncanny valley (Kunz, 2015). This uncanny valley of unnatural movements disconnects the viewer from the world, making them feel more uneasy and creeped out, which are two of the emotions you dont want your audience to feel while you are trying to make them empathetic towards a character. Isao Takahata one the other hand not just portrays the character movements effectively but he takes this a step further, he traps the viewers outside of the scene. For example the sequence where Setsuko is running around with that white blanket on her head or playing stone paper scissors with her reflections with almost childlike innocent movements makes you take a breathe and actually contemplate the emotional impact of the tragic reality that this movie has brought us into. It makes us feel helpless like we would have been, if we were alive during that period, and that makes this movie more real.

Fig; Scene where Setsuko is running with a blanket on her head, inscribing a feeling of childlike innocence into the hearts of the viewers (https://static.tumblr.com/8b96890aa0ac24416cfacff61bbdf640/lffxhhs/3ixnwtclf/tumblr_static_56qc1ptxdjocw40kwosk0w8go.png {Accessed on Novenmber 8th 2024})

Argument 3; Maybe Its Fakeness makes it Real.

Paul Wells in his book "Understanding Animation", highlights that the entire premise of defining realism in animation is almost unattenable with our current level of knowledge as there is a lack of a definition of realism within the field that can be affectively and objectively used ti define realism as a whole. (Wells, 1998:25)

According to Paul "Animation does not share the same method and approach of the live-action film. Rather, it prioritises its capacity to resist 'realism' as a mode of representation and uses its various techniques to create numerous styles which are fundamentally about 'realism'." (Wells, 1998:25).

And I believe this is an excellent counterargument against Bazin's camera centeric realism. As realism consists of more than just pixels imitating a scene from real life. And animation embraces that idea, it does not shy away from its cartoonistic nature, rather takes pride in that whether it be a movie like grave of the fireflies that was released 4 decades ago, or "Acrane 2" that is yet to release as of me writing this blog. And this was actually one of the major reasons why Akiyuki Nosaka the author of Grave of the Fireflies chose animation over the hundreds of live action offers that he got for his work as he believed that it was impossible to replicate the same paddy fields and backdrops in a live action movie plus he doubted that kids can even take on the role of acting such heavy scenes, whereas with animation these were not the problems as the entire control of the frame lies in the hands of the animators (Ghibli Blog, 2011). For example, this scene (Fig 1) from the movie, where while burrowing those fireflies Setsuko mentions about the death of their mother for the first time in front of Seita and how shes in a grave now. And we as an audience could see Seita who's been holding everything in all this while, who was trying to protect his younger sister from this harsh reality finally breaking into tears.

Fig 1; Seita crying after Setsuko mentions their dead mother to him

And although these tears or the expressions may not look the more realistic or photoaccurate with its exaggerated feature and larger than life tear drops. This scene uses animation’s "fakeness"—the stylized, non-realistic depiction—to access a deeper emotional realism that resonates universally. it still very affective potrays the message to the audience, as we feel this moment to our heart, the feeling of finally letting go something that we have been trying to hold in and the calm cry that follows afterwords is something we as an audience can relate to very much.

Conclusion.

The success that came with Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies's portrayal of realism, opens the door for the exploration od animation as a medium of serious and mature storytelling. In doing so, it paves the way for a broader understanding of how different mediums can represent reality. The power of animation lies in its ability to manipulate the frame, not to replicate life, but to evoke a deeper, more universal truth. And although there is still a need for more studies in the field of realism, I do strongly believe that these archaic and almost propagandic notion of realism can only exist when the sanctity and authenticity of photographic images is preserved is out-dated and cannot be used in today's modern world. Broadening our perspective of realism only serves our hunger for immersive storytelling as it allows us to look into other medias without any biases and preconcieved notions and makes us treat a piece of art for what it is. I would like to end this blog with this quote by Nicholas G. Chernyshevsky "The first and general purpose of all works of art, we have said, is to reproduce phenomena of real life that are of interest to man. By real life we mean, of course, not only man’s relation to the objects and beings of the objective world, but also his inner life." (Chernyshevsky, 1853).

References

Chernyshevsky, N. G. (1853) The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality, in Russian Philosophy Volume II: The Nihilists, The Populists, Critics of Religion and Culture. Quadrangle Books, 1965.

Ebert, R. (2000) Grave of the Fireflies (1988) - Great Movie Review, RogerEbert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-grave-of-the-fireflies-1988 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Ghibli Blog (2011) 'Animerica interviews: Isao Takahata and Toshiro Uratani', Ghibli Blog. Available at: https://ghiblicon.blogspot.com/2011/04/animerica-interviews-isao-takahata-and.html (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Kunz, S. (2015) 'The problem of realism in animated characters: has the Uncanny Valley been crossed?', in CONFIA 2015 Proceedings. Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave, Barcelos, pp. 73-86. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/19661 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Matthews, P. (2018) 'Divining the real: the leaps of faith in André Bazin’s film criticism', BFI. Available at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/features/andre-bazin-divining-real-film-criticism-overview (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Seel, M. (2008) 'Realism and Anti-Realism in Film Theory', Critical Horizons, 9(2), pp. 157-175. doi: 10.1558/crit.v9i2.157 (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

Wells, P. (1998) Understanding Animation. Oxford: Taylor & Francis Group. Available at: ProQuest Ebook Central (Accessed: 8 November 2024).

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Journey Through Teyvat: The Transmedia Narratives in Genshin Impact

Introduction

Genshin Impact is a role-playing, gatcha game that took the world by storm back in 2020 with its release. In its first quarter, the game earned more than $400 million in revenue (Wylie, 2024), It has been downloaded for over 139 million times since 2020. Even as of August 2024, i;e 4 years after its release it's still bringing in 61.3 million monthly active users to the platform (Sharma, 2024). And this is revolutionary because such numbers were never seen before, especially in the gatcha roleplaying genre. A significant question arises: what factors contributed to its massive success?.

(https://wallpapers.com/images/hd/genshin-impact-game-poster-wlq3ykrxbaoadjow.jpg [Accessed on November 5th 2024]) A significant aspect of Genshin Impact’s appeal lies in its lore, according to Andersen and the MoldStud Research Team (2024), "One of the key advantages of narrative-driven games is their ability to create emotional connections between players and the characters they interact with. Whether it's feeling empathy for a troubled protagonist or experiencing the thrill of triumph alongside a hero, players become emotionally invested in the outcomes of the story. This emotional engagement drives players to continue playing and uncover the game's narrative twists and turns". Genshin adds another layer to this immersion by using Jenkins' concept of transmedia storytelling as a tool, basically according to Jenkins "Each medium used in transmedia storytelling contributes uniquely to the overall narrative, adding new perspectives or layers that enhance the story rather than merely repeating it. This approach fosters deeper engagement by allowing audiences to explore different aspects of the story world through diverse experiences—be it through games, books, movies, or web series."

Genshin Impact employs Jenkins' concept in three different mediums, first, is the core gameplay, where players can sign in every day and play the quests that gradually reveal the storyline, one quest at a time. The second is the manga, narrating events from before the game’s timeline, and the third is the various events that have a limited time, so once the time is over, they cannot be played again and these events have relevant lore for the game so it adds another layer of immersion as players feel compelled to return to the game for these events. This blog will analyze one of these transmedia storytelling elements that is "in-game transmedia storytelling", and explore their role in the continued success of Genshin Impact.

In-Game Transmedia Storytelling

In his book Convergence Culture, Jenkins explains that "each medium does what it does best,' contributing unique story elements that create a richer, multi-dimensional narrative experience (Jenkins, 2006). Genshin arguably uses this concept in one of the best possible ways in the industry.

The main gameplay consists of the driving narrative which is that you are playing as one of the two siblings, and your goal is to find your other sibling who was kidnapped by the "protector of heavenly principles" 500 years ago. But it gets more complicated as we proceed forward. We learn that there are 7 nations in total representing the 7 elemental energies in the game each having their own god or archon and their corresponding elements. Now we as the main protagonist roam around in the open world of Tevat and explore these nations and do "archon quests" which are essentially the main story-driving quests in the game.

Then once we are done with the archon quests, there are world quests as well which act like little stories that give life to the world of Tevat where you get to interact with normal NPCs and learn about their daily lives and struggles. World quests even act like the prequel to the archon quests, where locals tell you stories about their nation, and how the archon came into power and help you understand the entire theme or motive of that particular archon quest better.

These world quests can either be accessed before during or after the main archon quest, and they don't appear on your quest panel until you actually explore the map and interact with the particular NPC that the quest is targetted to. This adds an extra layer of motive to the world exploration aspect of this open-world game.

After the world quest, the limited-time events are another way Genshin adds to the immersiveness of this game. These are events with a set deadline, that once gone would be lost forever. Genshin uses these events as a spoiler to upcoming archon quests. This approach also encourages fans to interact as they analyze and discuss these spoilers in their blogs, YouTube videos, and Twitter threads, creating a collaborative community of speculation and theory.

Last and quite possibly the most interesting way genshin uses transmedia storytelling is by incorporating stories in everyday scenes and objects throughout genshin, for example, every artifact set, weapon and/or enemy drop has a story behind them. The world design is meticulously crafted with embedded easter eggs that spark various different kinds of fan theories within the community. Even in-game characters contribute diverse perspectives and personal experiences, enriching the narrative landscape and deepening player engagement.

Fig; An Item from genshin, showing part of a backstory that can be finished by collecting the entire set

A Deep Analysis

Genshin gives players the option to indulge with almost all the transmedia devices within the game (except archon quests which are mandatory), making the overall experience very immersive, catering to all kinds of gamers whether it be casuals, hobbyists, or hard-core players. Its use of spoilers and easter eggs adds up to the community being more indulged in the story even when they are not playing the game. Furthermore, The events act as an effective tool to retain its player base.

Fig; A random Fan theory video on youtube with 3.5 million view, showing the overall effectiveness of genshin's transmedia storytelling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubECKgPunCs [Accessed on November 5th 2024])

Although this level of transmedia narrative can work as a double-edged sword, all these different aspects of exploration and storytelling can overwhelm a player. Plus these limited-time events were exclusionary to the new players as they often feel left out of the community as the jokes and fan theories that came out of these events are often totally alien to them, now for them to understand these events and fully get themselves immerse into the narrative, they will have to go through last 4 years worth of event information and easter eggs or wait till the game actually releases an archon quest about the same topic. For example, Genshin released the limited-time event called "Unreconciled Stars" back in November 2020 which was about the skies in Tevat being fake, and then the next time Genshin talked about this was in October 2024 in the "Natlan Archon quest", which translates to a wait time of 4 years between these two events.

The various different storytelling media in Genshin also make the entire game a very big story, the sheer size of which can scare players away from the game. This goes in line with the recent findings of Kwon, Y.-S. and Byun, H.D., in their research article called "An exploration of the limitations of transmedia storytelling: Focusing on the entertainment and education sectors". According to Kwon and Byun (2018), "From the perspective of consumers, short-term fans who are only casually interested in an entertainment product are denied the opportunity to understand an entire story because of transmedia storytelling; this means that only hardcore fans who are motivated to seek more of a story from other platforms enjoy the experience of an entire story world."

Genshin Impact could mitigate this by adding a handbook with all the previous events that a player can choose to play if they want to, this will be an un-rewarded event, as Genshin has a very calculated way to offering in-game currency and making these older events a rewarded one can seriously hamper the entire calculation of currency distribution within the game, with the sole purpose of delivering those stories to the newer audiences who are interested in the same.

Conclusion

Ultimately the numbers speak for themselves and can serve as an interesting case study for many future game developers. The effective use of transmedia storytelling, can not just make a game more immersive but also build a more active and loyal community this furthermore could be very useful especially for indie developers to establish their name in the industry. But, we mustn't forget that as game developers we are also user experience designers and as Don Norman, the father of User experience designing once said “It is not enough that we build products that function, that are understandable and usable, we also need to build products that bring joy and excitement, pleasure and fun, and, yes, beauty to people’s lives.” (Lenau & Lakhtakia, 2024).

References

Andersen, G. & MoldStud Research Team, 2024. The Importance of Storytelling in Video Game Design: Engaging Players Through Narratives [online]. Mold Studios. Available at: https://moldstud.com/articles/p-the-importance-of-storytelling-in-video-game-design-engaging-players-through-narratives [Accessed 5 November 2024].

Jenkins, H., 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.

Kwon, Y.-S. & Byun, H.D., 2018. An exploration of the limitations of transmedia storytelling: Focusing on the entertainment and education sectors [online]. ResearchGate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324842543_An_exploration_of_the_limitations_of_transmedia_storytelling_Focusing_on_the_entertainment_and_education_sectors [Accessed 5 November 2024].

Lenau, T.A. & Lakhtakia, A., 2024. Designing for Real People: The Role of Design in Human Experience in: Synthesis Lectures on Engineering, Science, and Technology. [online]. Springer. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-02091-9_2 [Accessed 5 November 2024].

Sharma, A., 2024. How Many People Play Genshin Impact? (November 2024) [online]. CharlieIntel. Available at: https://www.charlieintel.com/games/how-many-people-play-genshin-impact-player-count-190314/ [Accessed 5 November 2024].

Wylie, L., 2024. Genshin Impact Statistics and Revenue in 2024 [online]. Business of Apps. Available at: https://www.businessofapps.com/data/genshin-impact-statistics/ [Accessed 5 November 2024].

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Want some ‘Scare-otonin'?

2.1 The History of the Undead

Creepy blood curdling bedtime stories have been around since the dawn of human civilization. Being used as a way to get the kids to bed or just to keep future civilizations away from certain threats these stories have been an integral part of humanity. And naturally as humans progressed the methods of telling these stories changed.

Although, given the history of its genre, its difficult to pinpoint the origin of "horror" as a media element, However, according to India Marriott, we can accredit "Grimms’ Fairy Tales (1812)" as the first piece of horror ever published (Marriott, 2023). This book was a collection of fairy tales and legends that have been told for centuries, with popular stories like hansel and gretel as a part of their collection (Marriott, 2023).

Fast forward to the late 19th century, and the horror genre would evolve yet again, making its debut in the realm of film with the first horror film "Le Manoir du Diable", by the renowned French director releasing in 1896 Georges Méliès (New York Film Academy, 2022). And the genre has only moved forward ever since encapsulating more audiences than ever before.

But, this does beg the question of "Why do people across cultures and times love it so much? And how can we the storytellers use this evergreen genre to tell effective stories that also have meanings behind them?", well one of the answers lie in the health benefits of this genre.

{https://media.istockphoto.com/id/686063054/photo/zombie-hand-halloween-graveyard-night-monster-scary.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=WGQ4GkG_BluTo16qtEEV4KJM4zjS3jbMjeCU2flwwUw=} (Accessed on Nov 1 2024)

2.2 The curious knock on the gates of the unknown

My personal interest in this topic started with the article titled "The Psychological Benefits of Scary Play in Three Types of Horror Fans" published on July 2021 by Colten Scrivner, Mars Andersen, Uffe Schjødt and Mathias Clasen. In their study they categorised the entire fanbase into 3 different categories Adrenaline Junkies, White Knucklers, and Dark Copers, this distinction was made because of the specific reasons and benefits one had, after engaging with recreational horror. Their research concluded that "Adrenaline Junkies use recreational horror for immediate enjoyment, while White Knucklers feel they learn and develop from the experience. They also found a third category, the Dark Coper, who appears to derive both immediate enjoyment and personal learning and development. In a way, they concluded, Dark Copers may represent a kind of super consumer; an athlete of recreational horror who derives immediate pleasure from the workout and reaps the long-term benefits of training." (Scrivner et al., 2022). But this itself wasn't enough for me, as they did not dive deep into the specifics, and overall it felt pretty broad. So, I wanted to know more about the exact benefits and its effects on people, along with some real life examples not just numbers and data.

And later, We will try to use  Brian Massumi's Affect theory to analyze all the findings and bind this blog together.

2.3 Entering the Abyss

The first study I stumbled upon on this topic was by G Neil Martin titled "(Why) Do You Like Scary Movies? A Review of the Empirical Research on Psychological Responses to Horror Films". In which he basically synthesizes existing research to the connection between psychology, emotions, and demographic factors that influence the experience of the horror genre. This research concluded that "priming with information about the feared object helps reduce fear and increase enjoyment when children watch a film featuring the feared stimulus;" (Martin, 2019). This means that more exposure to potentially scary and stressful events even in the form of a movie can help build immunity to that stimulus similar to how exposure therapy works.

Fig; iStock, 2019. Scared man watching horror movies at night. [image] Available at: https://media.istockphoto.com/id/1092121720/photo/scared-man-watching-horror-movies-at-night.jpg?s=612x612&w=0&k=20&c=iKV7EbVlsEEVEKY7g0XsQ3MZNoGkaNoBEZDrMLkNtBA= [Accessed 6 January 2025].

Another article by Lindsay Weisner, published in Psychology Today titled "The benefits of true crime and horror movies" gives a more in-depth overview of the benefits of not just watching horror but the different types of horror across different sections of the population.

In her article, she states that horror media can develop various coping skills in people that can translate to an increased sense of real-life survival skills, making the population more resilience to actual global catastrophes like a worldwide pandemic (Weisner, 2021). She argues that "films that imagine surviving an end of the word scenario -- no matter how unlikely -- have been linked to a greater ability to prepare for unlikely events, and higher levels of resiliency, or the ability to bounce back when things go wrong." (Weisner, 2021).

Amongst other benefits she states that watching a good horror marathon can help with blood pressure, help exercise arteries, and release adrenaline. Furthermore, this controlled increase of heart rate leads to a spike in oxygen intake which she directly equates to the same effect as jogging. It can also be a deciding factor in a "life or death" scenario in the real world as "frequent exposure to the stuff that nightmares are made of, actually changes the way your brain processes information. The human brain is designed to keep us alive in the face of the threat. Perhaps you have heard of the “fight or flight” response? In neurological terms, when you encounter something that threatens your survival, like a big scary werewolf, your brain releases a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol causes the release of adrenaline, which in turn makes you a better fighter or a faster runner. Cortisol also increases your fear memory. And fear memory helps us avoid harmful things in the future, this increases our odds of survival the next time we come across a big scary werewolf" (Weisner, 2021).

This was a good start for the research as till now I had found various psychological and physical benefits of this genre from very reliable sources across the academic sphere. The research and conclusion goes in depth with human evolutionary traits and the role of "fear" as an emotion in the survival of the homosapiens.

2.4 The Unexpected Twist

But its not all rainbows and butterflies for the horror genre. As an article published by Ima Liana Esa1, Chairunnisa2, Salsabila Rakhfi Khoirunnisa2, Nailul Mona2 and Salva Feyza Najwa Zaferina of Universiti Teknologi Mara and Universitas Indonesia, Jl Margonda Raya, Depok titled "THE EFFECT OF WATCHING HORROR FILM ON HEALTH CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS IN INDONESIA" argues.

This research is aimed at finding the effects of the horror genre on kids aged between 10-17 years mainly their personality and emotional responses to this type of stimuli. In their research, they found that exposure to scary movies can adversely affect the mental well-being of kids. Children may encounter different emotional disruptions following exposure to horror movies, including fear, anxiety, and anticipation of unlikely events. The mental health of a child can be impacted by emotional disturbances, resulting in issues like insomnia, eating disorders, and behavioral problems. Discomfort is the sensation of unease or illness experienced by an individual. Children may face different emotional disturbances following the viewing of horror films, including fear, anxiety, anticipation of unlikely occurrences, and unease or discomfort. The emotional disruptions children feel after watching horror movies may persist for an extended period, even after the child has finished watching the film. These emotional disruptions have the potential to impact a child's psychological well-being and may result in issues like sleep disturbances, unhealthy eating habits, or behavioral issues (IL Esa, 2023).

2.5 The Arc that binds this all together

After the last article, I was pretty bummed out as, if assumed like a medicine, horror genre wasn't doing so well, having side effects that could literally change the personality of an individual. It would certainly wouldn't pass the CDC Clearance but then I came across a post on the National Geographic website that according to me affectively binds the entire blog together. This article titled "How horror movies can help people overcome real-world trauma" written by Nicole Johnson in 2020.

I will be using this post as a case study, as it was directly written from the perspective of the author based on his real life events. This would work as a great real life example to understand the overall point of the blog as well.

In his post, Johnson talks about the death of his mother in a very young age and how it affected him psychologically and emotionally to the point of him actually avoiding basic children activities like riding a bike, out of fear of dying young.

And it was actually a horror movie called "Return to horror high", that made him feel an increased sense of relief and euphoria after a long time, that movie ended up becoming his gateway movie into the horror genre and how he used horror movies as a escape way while dealing with real-life traumas like the death of other loved ones or divorce.

The then delves into the actual science behind those feelings, specifically "the exposure therapy', that's on play from behind the curtains. "Extensive research has confirmed the effectiveness of exposure therapy. It has been found particularly helpful for treating anxiety disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The treatment works by retraining the amygdala— the fear center of the brain—through a process of activating it via exposure to the feared object or situation. The benefit of a controlled fear experience like this is that it happens in a safe environment. The terror takes place under a therapist’s watchful eye, in situations that can be manipulated and ended at will. The therapeutic effect of horror movies may operate similarly: A 2018 study by Clasen, Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, and Johnson titled "Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media" found that horror fans may enjoy being scared because it helps them gain a sense of mastery or control over their fears from the safety of living room couches or darkened movie theatres" (Johnson, 2022).

2.8 An Affective Lense

Affect Theory gives a perfect lense to analyse this nuanced approach of viewing horror genre as a psychological and emotional experience. Massuimi interprets affect as “the emotional energy that occurs when the body shifts from one emotional state to another, either amplifying or reducing our ability to respond to situations.”(Lenters, 2023), in simple terms means that affect emotional energy that occurs in the body when we experience something, in this case, horror. This changes how we feel or react . This change of energy determines how we react to things. This can be used to highlight how horror films engage the viewer's emotional memory, reinforcing survival mechanisms embedded in our physiology, such as fear responses and resilience (Martin, 2019). We can also use affect theory to explain how differently individuals view horror, aligning with Scrivner et al. (2022)'s categories of Adrenaline Junkies, White Knucklers, and Dark Copers. This categorization can be related to the direct affective responses people have, where some seak immediate emotional stimulation, while others process fear for personal growth or catharsis. This also reimposes my agenda that that horror is not just about fear; it also provides emotional regulation and psychological release. On the flip side, we also see the inverse reaction to horror from children, where younger audiences were observed experiencing emotional disruptions that can affect their well-being, showing that the intensity of horror's emotional impact can vary significantly (Esa et al., 2023). By using affect theory in this case, we can see how horror can both heal and harm. The major factors being an individual’s emotional state and personal resilience.

2.7 And Cut, That's a Wrap!

Ultimately, the path of horror is a very personal journey. While horror genre can serve as powerful tools for personal growth, resilience, and coping with trauma for some, they can also pose severe challenges, particularly for younger audiences. And although the research on this subject is very limited, I think it still provides us "the storytellers" a new perspective towards this genre, and can help us tell more engaging stories in a more empathetic ways making it more user centeric and inclusive to the audience. We also saw how academic tools like the affect theory, ultimately, can be used to enriches our understanding of horror by linking embodied emotions to psychological benefits and challenges, enabling us as storytellers to craft more empathetic, emotionally resonant narratives that balance thrill with meaningful emotional engagement (Johnson, 2022).

So, the next time you dive into a scary story as a member of the audience or the storyteller, remember: it’s not just about the fright; it’s about the strength you can find and harness within.

2.7 References

2.7.1 Clasen, M., Kjeldgaard-Christiansen, J., and Johnson, J.A. (2018) 'Horror, personality, and threat simulation: A survey on the psychology of scary media', Personality and Individual Differences, 126, pp. 20-30. Available at: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-58515-001 (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.2 Esa, I.L., Chairunnisa, C., Khoirunnisa, S.R., Mona, N., and Najwa Zaferina, S.F. (n.d.) 'The effect of watching horror film on health children and adolescents in Indonesia', Atlantis Press. Available at: https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125993569.pdf (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.3 Johnson, N. (2022) 'How horror movies can help people overcome real-world trauma', National Geographic, 30 October. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/how-horror-movies-can-help-overcome-trauma-and-relieve-stress (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.4 Marriott, I. (2023) The Evolution of the Horror Genre, Gale Literature Resource Center. Available at: https://review.gale.com/2023/02/02/the-evolution-of-the-horror-genre/ (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.5 Lenters, K., 2023. Affect theory and textual variations. In R. J. Tierney, F. Rizvi and K. Ercikan, eds. International Encyclopedia of Education (Fourth Edition). Elsevier, pp. 911-917. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.07082-2 [Accessed 6 January 2025].

2.7.6 Martin, G.N. (2019) '(Why) do you like scary movies? A review of the empirical research on psychological responses to horror films', Psychological Bulletin, 145(11), pp. 1154-1172. Available at: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6813198/#abstract1 (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.7 New York Film Academy (2022) 'How horror movies have changed since their beginning', New York Film Academy. Available at: https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/how-horror-movies-have-changed-since-their-beginning/ (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.8 Scrivner, L., Garcia, S., and Gunter, R. (2022) 'The psychological benefits of scary play in three types of horror fans', Psychology of Popular Media, 11(2), pp. 186-197. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353296884_The_Psychological_Benefits_of_Scary_Play_in_Three_Types_of_Horror_Fans (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

2.7.9 Weisner, L. (2021) 'The benefits of true crime and horror movies', Psychology Today, 6 July. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-venn-diagram-life/202107/the-benefits-true-crime-and-horror-movies (Accessed: 1 November 2024).

[digitalmedia-by-tejas]

Beyond Black and White, The Intertwined Tapestry Of Duality In Princess Mononoke,

Blog #1 Princess Mononoke is a 1997 animated movie written and directed by veteran movie director Miyazaki Hayao. At its very core, the story is a tale of two sides of the same coin: human development and its ecological toll. It is when you dive deep into the narrative of the screenplay, that you realize that this piece has more to offer than just the traditional notions of duality, it can even be argued, that the very definition of the way of duality that we use to judge our conflicts is questioned in this movie, as by the end of the 2hr 13 mins runtime of this piece, one is left with more questions than answers. One is left, to think about their own ways of looking at this world. And in today's modern world when things are looking more and more divided by the day, I feel that thought provoking pieces of media like this has become the need of the hour.

So, lets sit back and take a deep dive into the narrative breakdowns of this movie, to understand this further more.

"I do believe in the power of story. I believe that stories have an important role to play in the formation of human beings, that they can stimulate, amaze and inspire their listeners.;" -Hayao Miyazaki

(Mes, T. (2019). Midnight Eye interview: Hayao Miyazaki. [online] Midnighteye.com. Available at: http://www.midnighteye.com/interviews/hayao-miyazaki/. [accessed on 11th October 2024])

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(Fig; Poster from Pincess Mononoke, Bing.com. (2024). Available at :https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.ZTKcIRBrWZ7oDH4aqlluVgHaLH?rs=1&pid=ImgDetMain [Accessed 10 Oct. 2024].)

‌Setup in a fantasy world Japan, during the Muromachi period (1336-1573). This tale centers on Prince Ashitaka, who encounters the very embodiment of hate in the form of a boar that is possessed by a demon. While fighting that boar, he is touched by the demon, inevitably possessing his arm. It is later told that the possession feeds on hate, and is going to kill him, and this is in stark contrast to the character of Ashitaka who is the embodiment of empathy and love. And this can be seen as a foreshadowing of all the characters in this movie as this movie has no villain in the most conventional sense.

"No. When you talk about plants, or an ecological system, or forest, things are very easy if you decide that bad people ruined it. But that's not what humans have been doing." -Hayao Miyazaki

(An Interview with Hayao Miyazaki. (1997). [online] Jul. Available at: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/m_on_mh.html. [accessed on 11th October 2024])

Ashitaka journeys across the country in search of a cure for his condition, hoping to come across the Shishigami, a forest spirit that resembles a deer and has the ability to grant life and death. Following this quest, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of an ever-raging war between The ironworks community of Tatara, run by the enigmatic Lady Eboshi, and Moro, the wolf god, and her ferocious human daughter San.

In this entire screenplay, instead of having a single agnostic character, Miyazaki made the 'conflict' the real negative driving force of the narrative. The conflict that is the direct result of communities fighting over limited resources, becoming blind to their true self and focusing only on the past.

The two characters who most exemplify this are Lady Iboshi and San, as both are extremely well-written characters who care deeply for their subjects but at the same time are stained by hate.

Throughout the runtime, one realizes that Lady Eboshi's iron town is a very progressive state even for modern times as Eboshi lends a hand to people she feels are most in need. Irontown's fires are maintained by the women, who used to be sex workers, who work the forges in shifts while the men go out with the livestock.

In a secluded garden, Eboshi also has a colony of lepers who make her guns. She has accepted the misfits and given them a chance when no one else would. She puts a lot of effort into enabling Irontown's women to become independent, even inside their marriages. In addition to working at the forge and openly carrying weapons when the town is under attack, these women are shown defying their husbands and the soldiers. This is an uncommon sight in the 14th-century Japan that the movie is set in. Older villagers complain that Lady Eboshi has given the women too much freedom and that they are too talkative.

However, that is her objective. According to Lady Eboshi, these women should receive better treatment because they were viewed as misfits for selling sex. In order to make them crucial to Irontown's success, Eboshi also gives them significant roles within the community. We also realize that the direct survival of the Iron Town is linked to the availability of resources within the settlement as the Iron Town is under constant threat of attacks from other communities and samurai, which in turn causes the destruction of the nearby forests.

San is the complete opposite, being raised by the wolves, she grew up to be extremely protective of the forest and as a result, started hating humanity as a whole. She along with the other gods in the forest are in constant war with the Iron Town, but as the story progresses and as the interactions between her and Ashitaka increase, we also realize that San is extremely empathetic and kind, and is just trying to live her life.

This grey side of duality makes you think about the way you judge a conflict in your daily life, it makes you realize that there is no right or wrong in most of the otherwise dichotomous-looking world we see today. This story really pushes this idea, as it does not end with a satisfactory solution to this dilemma but with both sides having a slightly more understanding of each other, just enough that they both agreed to give each other some space and cut, that's the end of the movie.

"For many, living in the gray is extremely uncomfortable. We want, and even believe, we need certainty and to be exact. Hence, we develop all-or-nothing thinking also known as black-and-white thinking or dichotomous thinking." -Autumn Collier, Psychotherapist, LCSW

(Collier, A. (n.d.). Duality: Life in the Gray . Duality: Life in the Gray. Available at: https://thewellwomanllc.com/duality-life-in-the-gray/#respond, [accessed on 11th October 2024])

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I was originally going to end the blog here, but after some discussions with Dr. Rosa Crepax, from the University of Hertfordshire, who is also my mentor for this semester, I realized that the film's exploration of moral ambiguity extends beyond the individual characters. It also challenges our understanding of societal norms, particularly those related to gender roles. This is evident in the contrasting feminist ideologies embodied by Lady Eboshi and San

Apart from featuring strong, well-written female characters, breaking away from the typical "damsels in distress" trope of its time, Princess Mononoke delves deep into the different versions of feminism embodied by these two women. After looking into the story through a feminist lens, one can actually argue that both San and Lady Eboshi are fighting over their versions of feminism.

(Ourpolitics.net. (2024). Available at: https://ourpolitics.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/feministlogo-696x551.jpg [Accessed 11 Oct. 2024].)

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While Lady Eboshi can be seen as a feminist revolutionary, who has learned to live in a patriarchal society by navigating through it's already-established patriarchal rules to her benefits, as she not only protects and flourishes her community but also encourages other women to be strong and innovative just like her, much like contemporary figures such as Taylor Swift or Jacinda Ardern.

"It means a great deal to those who are oppressed to know that they are not alone. Never let anyone tell you that what you are doing is insignificant."  - Desmond Tutu

(Amnesty International UK (2020). 15 inspiring human rights quotes. [online] www.amnesty.org.uk. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org.uk/15-inspiring-human-rights-quotes. [accessed on 11th October 2024])

In his own words, Miyazaki states that he did not wanted to make the Iron town modern. It's just that depicting the Iron Town under the rule of men would be boring. And if he had made the boss of the Iron Town a man, he would be a manager, not a revolutionary. If it's a woman, she becomes a revolutionary, even if she is doing the same thing.

‌ San, on the other hand, can be viewed as a radical norm-defying feminist who wants nothing more than to bring down this oppressive-patriarchal society, as well as its full disrespect for the natural order and masculine need for total control. Her motivations can be described by a concept known as "eco-feminism," coined by French feminist Françoise d'Eaubonne in her 1974 book Le Féminisme ou la Mort. In her work, she contends that women's exploitation and environmental degradation are intimately linked, stemming from the same patriarchal worldview that seeks ultimate dominance and control. d'Euabonne encourages using feminine traits associated with compassion and connection to cultivate a more caring and nurturing relationship with the world around us. Her ecofeminist viewpoint emphasizes the significance of moving away from repressive mechanisms that link women's exploitation to environmental degradation. And, whilst not entirely comparable, we can also see parallels between San and Dr. Vandana Shiva, an influential eco-feminist known for revolutions such as the Chipko movement, in which women like Dr. Shiva radically hugged trees in the Himalayan forests to protect them from being cut down by regressive government policies.

(Bc0a.com. (2024). Available at: https://marvel-b1-cdn.bc0a.com/f00000000299134/www.bentley.edu/sites/default/files/2022-05/shutterstock_2065180502.jpg_1224x816.jpg [Accessed 11 Oct. 2024].)

And through these breakdowns, and the overall lack of proper ending of this film, we can clearly see Miyazaki's vision of coexistence. Miyazaki stresses the moral ambiguity of both San and Lady Eboshi, implying that humans and nature are not intended to be enemies. The push and pull between advancement and preservation, or independence and revolution is a dynamic tension that must be addressed with respect and understanding, that it is not a problem to be 'solved'.

Miyazaki's vision, like life, is about realizing that both sides are part of the same whole—similar to the Shishigami, who represents both life and death.

To conclude, Princess Mononoke resonates strongly in today's world, where ecological and social divides appear more pronounced than ever. Miyazaki's complex portrayal of duality encourages the viewers to look beyond simple storylines and contemplate the sophisticatedness of humankind. The film serves as a painful reminder that our decisions affect not only ourselves, but also the lives around us. By focusing on the teachings contained in this piece of classical art, we can work to create a more compassionate and balanced connection amongst each other and try to understand each other better. References; 1. Toyama, R. (2019). Miyazaki on Mononoke-hime // Interviews // Nausicaa.net. [online] Nausicaa.net. Available at: http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/interviews/m_on_mh.html.

‌2. Napier, S. (2018). Hayao Miyazaki’s Cursed Worlds. [online] The Paris Review. Available at: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/10/22/hayao-miyazakis-cursed-worlds/.

‌3. McAndrews, M. (2019). The Complicated Power of Princess Mononoke’s Villain, Lady Eboshi. [online] Film School Rejects. Available at: https://filmschoolrejects.com/princess-mononoke-lady-eboshi-miyazaki/. 4. www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Princess Mononoke - Teaching Environmentalism to Children | Renegade Cut. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC9yw7FHGaE. [accessed on 9th October 2024]

5. TEDxMasala - Dr Vandana Shiva - Solutions to the food and ecological crisis facing us today. (2012). YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER5ZZk5atlE.

6. www.youtube.com. (n.d.). Ecofeminism explained. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhqVmlUTLjs.

7. Review, I.D. (2019). In Conversation With Dr Vandana Shiva: Chipko Taught Me Humility. [online] Feminism In India. Available at: https://feminisminindia.com/2019/10/15/vandana-shiva-interview-chipko-movement/.

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