Learning Contract

Content

What is the community that you will make your documentary?

The online gaming community in World of Warcraft – guild dynamics in particular. I think there is an interesting issue to explore here because the roles of each person in the guild is interchangable. By this I mean that although the guild leader will always be the same person (depending on how he/she performs), anyone can be a leader of the group when performing collaborative tasks.

*edit* I intend to investigate the relationships between real life acquaintances (people who know and interact with each other in the real world) and anonymous guild members (anonymous in the sense that they are only known in the guild by their character names and random pieces of information that they choose to reveal about themselves). *edit*

*The main conflict that will be analysed in this documentary are the little dramas that contribute to the power struggles that are inevitable within a group. These dramas may be as menial as the fight over ‘drops’ from bosses to as major as people leaving the guild due to discrimination or bullying by sub-groups in the guild.*

Why do you think it is a community?

I think a community is a group that has members who share common interests and sees themselves as different from everyone else (external to the general population).

The group that I’ll be documenting in the online world falls into the category of a ‘community’ as they all share the same interest (that is, to band together and fight monsters, be it strategically or just to kill).

The group members share the same gaming habits and interact with each other on a close-to-daily basis. Seeing as World of Warcraft also has a player-versus-player aspect to the game where people in one faction (either Alliance or Horde) oppose another. The people in the guild also share the same goal of aiming to kill people in the opposite faction.

What theory about community have you read that is relevant to issues in this community? Summarise the relevant ideas.

Jakonbsson and Taylor in “Sopranos meets Everquest” state that players in the online world socially interact with one another very much like in the real world. People who play with ‘real life friends’ are at more of an advantage because the community that they dwell in online becomes really similar to the one that they live in the physical world.

With guilds, members are protective of one another, just like friends are. While it is not common to have offline ties between players in the online world, there are usually one or two people within a guild that do know each other from real life.

Are you in agreement or disagreement with these ideas?

I agree with Jakobsson and Taylor that when you interact with the same members in a guild on a close-to-daily basis, even though you may not know them personally, you’ll inevitably form a relationship with them. These relationships are played out when conducting tasks in the online world.

How can you use these ideas in your documentary?

I will be using these theories in my documentary as I’ll be investigating this relationship that exists between guild members. In my case there is a different sort of relationship because I have a familial bond with a member of this guild. *edit* Also, prior to my joining this new guild, my brother (who invited me to join) already was acquaintances with 2 other members in the guild. The had already been playing the game together for a few months now.*edit* This has changed the whole dynamic of being in the online game as not all people are no longer anonymous characters.

What is the structure of the documentary?

The structure of the documentary will be linear as it will take the form of a slideshow that has video aspects embedded in it – there will be an introduction, content and a conclusion to the storyline.

* edit* The videos that will be obtained from the game will be captured using Fraps software, but since the software that I’ll be using is the free/lite version, it will only allow me to capture videos at 30 second bursts. I have already tested this piece of software and so far it works quite well on the PC. To get around this problem, I shall just be taking continuous shots, pressing the video capture shortcut as consistently as possible.

Since the game is played on a PC, the videos will be captured on the PC. I’ll have to transfer all the footage over from PC to Mac in order for it to be edited using iMovie. Looking at forum entries, it seesm that Fraps footage doesnt play  communicate very well with iMovie so I’ll be downgrading the .avi file (which will be the format of the video footage) to an older .avi version that iMovie recognizes, and work with that. *edit*

After the slideshow/video is complete, I shall be using the hypertext structure embed the slideshow/video at a number of different locations such as the Transient Spaces page on alternativecollaboration.wordpress.com, youtube, facebook group pages and interest group forums. I would also send out twitter feeds to generate interest in the video and the issue and post messages on the facebook group pages.

*edit* Possible conflicts that I expect to arise during my gameplay are:-

- people will start fighting once they start working in large groups and someone does something wrong and doesnt admit to it.

-bad language usually comes out during heroics

- members of the same class may fight over gear that drops when they kill a boss.

- some group members will take sides. *edit*

What is the style of the documentary?

The style of the documentary would fall under observational, participatory and potentatially reflexive. It would be observational and participational in the sense that I’d be exploring the aspects of leader and guild relations while being a part of the group. It would be reflexive because I’ll be drawing conclusions from the in game recordings (through Ventrilo and in game video clips) and observations. I would also potentially be using personal reflections from my previous gaming experience.

TECHNICAL

What type of media will your documentary consist of?
Video, Audio and Text

Given that your documentary will be published online, how will you tailor production and post-production to be appropriate?
I’d try to make my slideshow/video last about 10 minutes and if the file is too large to fit onto the forum or webpage, I’d be compressing it (hopefully it wont lose too much in terms of quality)

What are your skills in making this style of media?

I have skills in capturing videos and editing that I’ve taken up as a hobby. With this project however, I’ll be learning from scratch how to take in game videos but the editing process should be pretty similar.

Are you enlisting the help of any crew during the production phase of your documentary?

No.

Will you need to borrow technical equipment from the School techs? If yes, what do you want to borrow? When do you want to borrow it?
No. All the programs that I require to produce the video and create the slideshow are downloadable.

PERMISSIONS

What talent do you need to get release forms signed for?
I would potentially need to get release forms signed by the guild members if their voices are to be recorded from Ventrilo

Are you going to interview any minors?

No. The guild members are all above 18 years of age

Do you need permission to shoot on location?
No. I will not need permission as all the video recording will be done in World of Warcraft.

POST-PRODUCTION

What software do you need to edit your documentary?

iMovie

Do you have sufficient skills with that software

yes

Do you have sufficient access to that software?

yes

PUBLICATION

What social software environment will you publish your documentary to?

youtube, uni blog, blizzard forums, facebook group page *edit* instead of uploading the video on the actual blizzard forum, I’ll be uploading the video on a website called Warcraft Movies, where I am a member. It seems like a more appropriate place to host the video as there are many other similar videos already on the site *edit*

Is the media you are creating appropriate for that environment?

yes, There are other forms of media that have previously been published on these sites.

Have you become a member of that environment?
Yes.

Have you done a ‘test’ publication?
Not yet but these environments do allow videos to be published.*edit* I have already done a test of the footage capture process but I have yet to upload a test video on Warcraft Movies *edit*

Does the environment stipulate any limits that you will need to meet?

Not that I know of *edit* Warcraft Movies doesnt specify the maximum capacity of data that is allowed to be upload. Instead, the site states that the video that will be uploaded cannot be more than 25Mb per minute of footage. (For example, if the video lasts for 10 minutes, it cannot be larger than 250 Mb) Also, upon uploading the video, a form must be filled out in order to obtain permission and if a mirror is used, it will take approximately 1 week for it to get approved. *edit*

LEGAL

Have you got copyright permission for all the content you use?
I have not but all the content that I make use of will be given credit at the end of the documentary

There is no defamation or slander?
No.

Any other legal issues?
No

RISK ASSESSMENT

What are the most likely things that could go wrong with your project?
I could potentially have problems getting the guild members together

Reactions may be different when it comes to voice recordings (ppl may be over excited, fake, etc) when they find out that they are being recorded for a documentary

*edit* I might miss certain scenes if I dont get the timing right for video capture. i.e. if I dont press the video capture button every 30 seconds. *edit*

*edit* During the times I choose to capture videos in game, there may be instances where there is no conflict *edit*

What is your back-up plan if these things occur?
I will continue to take Ventrilo recordings as if the guild member is pretending, he or she cannot keep the act up for the whole time I record. I will continuously take recordings everytime I have a gaming session that requires  guild interaction.

If that doesnt work, I shall be using print screen images to show the text conversations that take place in the game as well.

*edit* with regards to the video capture problem, I’ll test out another type of video capture program that could also be used in the event that Fraps fails *edit*

*edit* If there are no conflicts that take place during my planned video capture times, I’ll use other modes of capture such as voice capture or screenshots. *edit*

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

What is the date of your rough-cut showing?
Most likely in Week 11

What is the final due date?
28th May 2010

When do you intend to start production?
I intend to start production when I’ve reached level 80 in the game as this is when guild members need each other the most in conducting heroics and raids. This is likely to be sometime in week 7 or 8

Given your production start date, have you already booked any technical equipment you need?
I do not need to book any equipment

How do these dates work in with assessment deadlines from other courses?
These work fine, but just so clashes dont occur, I’ll try to reach level 80 as soon as I can so I can get the filming out of the way.

If you are using talent, does their availability suit your production schedule?
I will not be needing external help during the production period.

Cant believe Im so behind

It’s amazing how one week can totally upset the schedule I had set for myself at the beginning of the semester.Only now do I realise that I’m quite behind on my work – it’s safe to say I have my weekend cut out for me. I couldnt get so much of what I wanted to do done during the Easter break because I had to play the perfect host. I didnt even get to see my laptop very much.

Ahhh..anyways, I may as well just get on with it. Ranting will do no good. All I can do is apologize to my lecturers for being behind schedule and try my best to catch up.

So what do I need to do now before the end of the week ?

- sort out the wireless configurations on my mac so I can do work at Labsome without having to use the desktops.

- finish answering the learning contract questions for Transient Spaces

- do some reading up on Mamp and figure out how to use it properly before the meeting with Adrian.

I’m just really glad that I’ve got the Comm Rev essay over and done with. Thats one thing to take off the checklist =D